12 Days of Christmas Nails: Day 2 (Reindeer Nail Art)

Here goes Day 2 of my Christmas themed manicures! Coming up with ideas for this theme is so much fun and it's really getting me in the mood for Christmas. I thought I'd struggle to come up with 12 designs but as it turns out, I may have a job narrowing it down to just 12!

I can remember as a child being read the poem, 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' every Christmas Eve and I always tried so hard to remember all the names of the reindeer. I'll list all the ones I can remember and you guys can fill me in on the rest... Dancer, Prancer, Donner, Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Vixen? Haha, am I right so far?

I used an unnamed Collection 2000 white as a base colour.

I outlined the main shape of the reindeer with Barry M Mushroom and then used black and white acrylic paint for the details. The antlers were done with L'Oreal Black Bean. Rudoph's nose is Barry M Red Glitter over La Femme Cherry Red.

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12 Days of Christmas Nails: Day 1

It's December! My countdown to Christmas has officially started and I'll be documenting it on my nails (of course!). It's my plan to post 12 Holiday themed manicures before Santa pays a visit . Apologies in advance if I don't manage to post 12 but I'll try my best!

I used A-England Galahad* as a base and sponged on Barry M Blue Glitter from the tips. I stamped the snowflake from Bundle Monster plate BM14 and finished it with a rhinestone and a top coat of NYC.

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♪♫ This could really be a good life...

This week is shaping up to be a very very good one! I had a job interview yesterday for a Christmas temporary position as a sales girl in a record shop which I nailed so I'll be starting that next week. Then today, I got a call from another job I applied for which is basically a Chalet Girl position but without the Alps! It's live-in so it also means I'll be able to move out of parents' place for a while. I have to go for an interview/trial kind of thing this Sunday and if I'm successful, I'll start in January - I'll keep you guys posted on that!

And to top it all off, this blog hit 2000 followers today! Thank you all so much for reading and following! I hope I say it often enough but I really don't think I could say it enough. It means the world to me that you all like my little piece of the internet enough to keep coming back and showing your support. THANK YOU!

Today is a Wednesday so here comes the pink!

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster BM205
Base Colour: Models Own Utopia
Stamping Colour: Barry M Raspberry
Accents: BYS Flirty Sparkle
Top Coat of NYC

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What Did I Do?

I realise that using song titles/lyrics is oh so very unoriginal but I'm really struggling to come up with interesting post titles!

I had an overwhelming urge to use this poptastic colour combination today and I wanted something simple and sophisticated. This stamping design just never gets old and I always get compliments about it so it's a winner in my book.

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster BM209

Base Colour: Primark - Yes Cyan!

Stamp Colour: Barry M Gold Foil

Top Coat of NYC

I made a few nail sets based on the Michael Kors studded design this week and Esther from Fab Fingertips was my first customer! She did a quick post on them today which you can see here. If you like what you see, send me an email and you can have your very own custom set, I take requests so anything you've seen here on the blog can be made in to a bespoke set just for you (see my shop for more details)

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In the Army...

I'm going to a birthday tonight and there is a dress up theme - 'army'. I'm not one for spending money on fancy dress costumes that I'll never wear again so I'm going in khaki clothing and mud/face paint, hopefully I'll look convincing! 

Fancy dress is always such a great opportunity for me to create some fun and original nail art so I painted my nails in a camouflage pattern to match the theme!

I used MUA Shade 23 as a base. To get the camo effect, I painted on random patches using BYS Fern, Barry M Mushroom and W7 Black. The insignia was created with black acrylic paint and Barry M Gold Foil.

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Day 17: Glitter

So today we come to Glitter manicures. Glitter and I have a strained relationship. I go through phases of loving it and at other times I just detest the stuff and get the urge to throw away every polish I own that contains glitter! The main reason for the hatred is the hassle it takes to remove it. I always use the foil method for removal these days to minimise any stress!

Don't forget to check out Cristina and Rie's glittery nails too!

Barry M Blue Glitter

BYS Gold Finger sponged from the tips down

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Day 14: Flowers

I have something very simple for you guys today... I used a dotting tool to create this simple flower print and I think it turned out really pretty. There's definitely a retro, 60's vibe going on with this mani.

Don't forget to check out Cristina and Rie's flower nails too!

Barry M Cyan Blue
Barbara Daly Tattoo
Barry M Gold Foil

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Day 11: Polka Dot Nails

Polka dots are so fun and easy and yet they make your nails look completely amazing!

When I first got my dotting tools I hated using them and was just never happy with my results but after a bit of practice, I absolutely love them and they're SO versatile. I use them for all kinds of nail art, not just dots.

Today's nails are in my favouritest colour ever - purple, purple and more purple!

Head over to see Rie and Cristina's Polka Dots challenges too!

Polishes used

Base colour: Barry M Berry Ice Cream

Dot Colours:

Nails Inc Victoria

Collection 2000 Minx

Barry Bright Purple

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Day 8: Metallic Nails

I think today is the perfect opportunity to show you one of the new Barry M Special Effects polishes - Gold Foil. They released a gold and silver foil and I snapped up the gold the first time I saw it on the shelf because I was in desperate need of a gold for stamping polish and a few friends had told me this works great.

It's a one coater like most chrome effect polishes but I used two out of habit. Brush strokes are very minimal and maybe I sound cray-cray, but any streaks I could see when I first applied seemed to completely disappear after a few hours. Maybe I was seeing things, who knows?!

I confessed earlier in the week that I'm a creme devotee so I normally despise finishes like this plastered all over my nails but I'm slowly growing to really love wearing it. Although, I'll probably sink back into my creme loving ways in no time and forget there ever was a day that I loved my metallic mani.

Have you seen Rie and Cristina's metallic manis yet?

2 Coats of Barry M Gold Foil
Top Coat of NYC

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Day 4: Green Nails

For today's green nails I chose Barry M Mint Green! I'm a creme finish girl at heart and Barry M make THE most amazing cremes which is probably why they're one of my favourite brands (it also helps that their polish costs a bargainous £2.95 a bottle!). Even though it needed 3 coats for opacity, it's worth it for this beautiful creamy green.

Don't forget to check out Cris and Rie's green nails today too!

3 Coats of Barry M Mint Green
Top Coat of NYC

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Day 1: Red Nails

Welcome to my attempt at the 31 Day Challenge - a set list of 31 nail designs that I must complete and post here daily for the next month! Cristina from Let Them Have Polish, Rie from Nails and Noms and I are all starting the challenge today in the hope that we will be able to egg each other on and offer one another the encouragement I'm sure we'll need at some point to post every single day for the whole month!

To see full details of the challenge, just click here to see the list of 31 Days worth of nail designs. I'll also be keeping a check-list in the sidebar so you can see which challenges I've completed and which are still to come.

Day 1 is Red Nails so I had to wear my go-to red... Barry M Raspberry. It has a slight berry hint to it as you could guess from the name but still holds its own as a sophisticated, classic red.

Don't forget to check out Cristina and Rie's take on today's challenge too!

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Essence Cool and the Gang

The lovely Christine travelled to Germany a few months back and picked up a few Essence polishes for me. Even though I'm technically in Europe, Essence is not sold here in the UK so it was super exciting to finally get my hands on some of their polishes.

Cool and the Gang is a gorgeous royal blue but I'd describe the formula as inky. I used 3 coats in an attempt to cover any Visible Nail Line but there is still a little bit showing through.

Konad Plate: Born Pretty M79
Base Colour: Essence - Cool and the Gang
Konad Colour: Barry M - Gold Foil
Top Coat of NYC

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Autumn Is Here... Apparently

Today is the first day this year that I noticed the leaves starting to fall from the trees which reminded me that it's autumn. Anyone that doesn't own a calendar could be easily fooled though because I swear it was the warmest weekend we've had all year! I heard that Saturday was the warmest October day on record in the UK... ever.

I finally got my hands on the new Barry M Foil Effects in gold. I've been needing a new gold stamping polish for a very long time and when I saw the previews of these chrome polishes I was hoping it would be my answer. I wasn't wrong. The gold is great for stamping and no doubt I'll be buying the silver soon enough.

I was hoping for a little more contrast between the two colours in this Autumn inspired manicure but I actually love the subtlety of the combination.

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster - BM210
Base Colour: MUA - Shade 23
Stamp Colour: Barry M - Gold Foil
Top Coat of NYC

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Blue and Green Barry

I feel like I write apologies way too much on here so I promise this will be the last one ever! From now on, I will just post when I post and not feel bad if it was 4 days since I last blogged.

I hate hate hate using artificial light to take my photos but I haven't had much choice recently as winter is creeping up on us and the days are just so dull. There is a lamp somewhere in my house that I think has a white bulb though so I'm going to find that and see how the two of us get along.

 Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster BM210
Base Colour: Barry M - Mint Green
Stamp Colour: Barry M - Cyan Blue
Top Coat of NYC

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Snakeskin Nails... Take Two

We are switching internet providers tonight so I'm currentlysat on the floor of my brother's bedroom with my computer plugged in to hisethernet cable. For some silly reason it's only the wireless that isn'tworking and apparently I'm the only person in the house who utilises thetechnological miracle that is wireless internet!

I have some more 'take two' nails for you today featuringone of MUA Cosmetics' new nail shades. MUA has definitely risen in myestimations a lot over the past few months. Each item from the basic line is only £1 so I supposeit's the UK's version of Essence. One can be forgiven for being a bit scepticalabout the products at first because of the bargain price tag but since first tryingthem over a year ago, I can’t see a reason to pay more than £1 for aneyeshadow! If you are in the UK and you haven’t tried MUA yet, why on earth not?!

 Anyway, I digress. Here are some more snakeskin nails foryou!





Plate: BM215
Base Colour: MUA - Shade 22
Stamp Colour: Barry M - Berry Ice Cream andSally Hansen Chrome - Anemone
Top Coat of NYC



Thanks to Kari again for the inspiration!

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Thicken Up

I know it's well documented that polishes will thicken as they get old and used but I definitely notice it most with Barry M polishes. When you first buy them, they are fairly runny and nearly all of them need at least two coats for full coverage but after just a few months, they are thick enough to use for stamping. 

Great for those of us who are always on the lookout for stamping polishes, but perhaps not ideal for people that want their polishes to last until they need to scrape the stuff from the walls of the bottle!

The weather here was kind of crappy today and I could really tell that winter is setting in. Unfortunately that means more pictures with this crummy lighting will be coming very soon as the days get shorter and generally more morose. I got some advice from Cristina about her lighting and I think I need to get some white fluorescent lighting from somewhere so I too can have pretty, colour correct pictures!

Plate: Bundle Monster BM208 and BM209
Base Colour: Cult Nails - My Kind of Cool Aid
Stamp Colour: Barry M - Bright Purple
Top Coat of NYC

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