33DC: Based On a Pattern in My Wardrobe

Oh dear, I’ve got soooo behind on my posts. I have to blame it on this mani – I was really pleased with how it turned out but the photos just didn’t come out right – the light was all wrong and you couldn’t see the pattern well. My lovely boyfriend spent ages adjusting all the setting in Lightroom trying to get the light to look right and he did a great job of saving the photo but it still looks a bit streaky and with some odd reflections – anyway not having the photo ready to post kind of threw me out of the rhythm of posting and here I am over a week late… Expect a rush of posts over the next day or two!

Anyway – this mani was based on a pattern on a winter scarf which I recently got out of my winter clothes boxes – it’s still not cold enough for it here – we’re still hitting 27C during the day although the evenings are starting to feel a bit chilly so I’m sure my winter clothes will be needed very soon.

I enjoyed doing the fine pattern on this mani and free handing patterns is a skill I always enjoy improving.

I used: Lady in Black – OPI, 2007 – Bourjois, Miss Grey- GOSH

33DC: Follow Someone’s Tutorial

There were so many great tutorials to choose from but finally I chose this one by Chalkboard Nails as I’d been on a camping trip a few days earlier and was inspired by my camouflage print picnic mat but couldn’t really think how to do camouflage nails without the help of a tutorial. I’d come across Chalkboard Nails’ tutorial a while ago and had it on my “to try” list.

I went a bit crazy on my left hand and made it a bit too busy I think but my right hand turned out simpler and maybe more effective (although I broke a nail on my right hand on that aforementioned camping trip and had had to cut them all down a but short on that hand…)

I love the result and would like to try it in unusual colours next time.

I used: My Boyfriend Scales Walls – OPI, Def Defying – China Glaze, Kalahari Kiss – China Glaze, Stylenomics – Essie, Black Taxi – Nails Inc

33DC: A Mani with 2 Patterns

I had several ideas for this mani but couldn’t get over the idea that two patterns on one nail would end up looking too busy and not very attractive. I thought about trying the “tribal” nail art again but while looking for animal print inspiration I stumbled upon this fab two pattern mani by Kayla Shevonne and it was exactly the balance I’d been dreaming of (2 interesting patterns that don’t end up clashing or making your eyes feel funny) so I decided to recreate it.

I still had the Zoya. Blu on from the day before and was enjoying wearing it so used it as my base colour. I really like the result with the two animal prints together and feel like all the searching for inspiration was definitely worth it this time!

I used: Blu – Zoya, Just Gorgeous – Anny, My Boyfriend Scales Walls – OPI, Black Taxi – Nails Inc.

Something Blue… Zoya Blu

This blog has never been about swatching polishes as I’ve always tried to have a clear focus on nail art and although I do sometimes have plain colour on my nails I don’t tend to photograph and post them. At the moment though, I’m on the hunt for the perfect blue for my wedding nails so I thought I’d share that on here and do my first bit of swatching on this blog.

So this is Zoya Blu which was the first pale blue creme I saw and thought might be perfect for my wedding in 2 months. Zoya is not a brand that’s easily available in Spain so I had to order it from the USA. It is indeed a beautiful blue and I may well have found the perfect blue on my very first try (although I’m definitely going to try a few others just to make sure!)

It has an almost pink-ish tone to it which makes it a very soft colour and flattering to my pink skin tone. I applied two coats which gave great coverage – at one coat it looked ok but a bit uneven. The formula was a bit thick but generally I didn’t have problems with the application although you can see a slight bit of wrinkling on my pinky finger – this might be because the coats went on thick and I was impatient waiting for them to dry. This is my big negative point for this polish – it took ages to dry and obviously I don’t want to worry about smudging my polish on my wedding day.

Overall I though it was a gorgeous colour but I’m hoping I might find something equally beautiful with slightly quicker drying time and less thick formula.