BFF Friday: Stud Crazy

Hi all,

Another BFF Friday today.  Today's theme is Stud Crazy.

I wanted to do a mad white and neon stud manicure, but my neon stud supply is really low so I couldn't.

Instead, I created a cling film manicure using Model's Own Sun Hat and White Light then threw a load of gold studs at it to finish it off.  My favourite nail is the chevrons and I plan to do a manicure shortly, just using them.

Don't forget to check out what Saz (My Mint Nails) has done too!

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Dreamcatcher Nail Art

Hi all,

I'm actually doing a post that isn't a BFF Friday post!  Shock, horror I know!

Those who follow me on instagram will have seen that yesterday I posted that I wasn't sure what to do with my accent nail.  I had painted four of my nails with Barry M's Greenberry (still one of my favouritest summer colours ever) and my ring finger with Model's Own White Light.  But I couldn't quite what summery piece of nail art to add to the white (though I did quite like the look as it was).

I decided to take a look through instagram and twitter, just searching the hash tag nail art.  I did a lot of browsing and found quite a few designs that had used dreamcatchers in a way.  I collected a few images together, using google to help.  These are two of the pictures that I used for inspiration:

Polish and pearls also had a pictorial which help me too.  

So using their colours and nail art inspirations, I came up with this manicure:

I used Models Own Sun Hat for the beads and my Barry M Black Nail Art pen for the dreamcatchers.

I really love this manicure but I'm really annoyed because I chipped a nail doing something in the kitchen earlier! :(

An InLinkz Link-up

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BFF Friday - Pink Tie Dye

Okay, so I have to admit I thought this weeks challenge was going to be pretty simple.  Chosen by Saz, we had to complete a tie dye manicure that had a bit of pink in it.

I have failed majorly with this.  I have tried three different manicures and all of them suck.  The photos I have chosen to show you are the best out of a very bad bunch.  Nothing worked.  I tried dragging a needle through my polishes, I tried a "sketchy" tie dye manicure.

I created my final effect by thinning my polishes with acetone before creating swirls on my nails.  I hope that they would blend into a tie dye type look.  I think though, I needed to water them down a little bit more as they didn't blend so well.

I used:

• Barry M Rose Hip
• Model's Own Pink Veneer
• Model's Own Strawberry Tart
• Model's Own Sun Hat
• Model's Own Cerise Shine

Very very pink!  I love having loads of pink polishes.

Anyway, here are the final photos

It's quite a crazy and bright look but I'm not sure it really counts as tie dye.  I'm sure Saz has done a much better job, so make sure to check out her blog to see what she came up with!

An InLinkz Link-up

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BFF Friday: Geometric Pastels

I'm neglecting this blog - I'm sorry.  I'm a rubbish blogger.  I just haven't been very inspired as far as my nails go recently.

This weeks BFF challenge was for Geometric Pastels.

For this manicure I picked two of the new Barry M Gellys - Huckleberry & Sugar Apple alongside Barry M Berry & Strawberry ice cream.

I alternated the colours to paint all my nails bar my ring finger, which I painted white.  I then used the black Barry M nail art pen to draw on my shapes, filled random gaps in with the pastel polishes then once I'd given it at least an hour to dry, I went back over the lines with the nail art pen.

I got the inspiration from this dressedupnails manicure:

 and interpreted it to fit in with my theme.  I may gave these nails a proper try at some point cos I think they look fab!

Anyway, here are my results - I'm really happy with these and I hope my manicure last me a few days!

Don't forget to check out My Mint Nails to see what she came up with for this challenge.

An InLinkz Link-up

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BFF Friday: Tribal Print with an Easter Twist

This title sounds quite obscure, right?  Yeah, I know.  It came about because I tried to do some lovely bright coloured tribal nail art and they just ended up like easter eggs!

So I persuaded Saz that this should be our theme for BFF Friday this week and she luckily agreed.

I took inspiration for my manicure from this picture:

I've started collecting pictures I find on google that I think would make lovely manicures and this was in my folder.

I decided to use the pattern from left to right, building it up on my nails then moving on to the next nail when I ran out of space. 

I used Model's Own White Light for the base then painted on the design using Blue Glint and Barry M's pink nail art pen and Greenberry as well.

Here are my results:

I was really happy with these.  They looked so bright and eye catching but a bit eastery!  Hence the twist in the tribal pattern!

Don't forget to check out My Mint Nail's design too!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Barry M Silks Nail Art

So a few weeks ago I reviewed a few of the new Barry M silk nail polishes.  Although I was impressed with the colours and how well they applied, I commented that I wasn't very happy with the usability for nail art.

I created a skittle manicure, using different styles of nail art so show off the colours.  On my thumb and middle finger I created a gradient, mixing Heather and Meadow with Pearl.  This was a painful experience.  It took me around six rounds with my make up sponge to get enough colour on the gradient and another five or six to get it to stand out as much as it does!

On my pointer and ring finger, I created a waterfall effect.  But again, the paints did not show up on the pearl so I eventually used Iconic Effects Poison Ivy and Malificent to emphasis the silks and try and get them to stand out.

Then I finished off the manicure with Barry M's White Lady on my pinky!

It's such a shame because the colours are so stunning.

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BFF Friday: Indie and an Accent

Oh my, another two weeks have passed and me and My Mint Nails are up to our old tricks with another BFF Friday.

This fortnight is Saz's choice and she decided we should use an Indie polish then match it with a nail art accent nail.  Then she messaged me today and asked if there could be two accent nails.  Luckily I hadn't done my manicure yet, so I nicely agreed.

Anyway, the indie polish I decided to use is my last unswatched Tara's Talons nail polish.  This is a fun and colourful glitter topper called "Disneyland".  Disney is one of my favourite places to go, so of course I wanted this polish.

I painted three nails with Barry M Matte White then two with Barry M Burgundy Crush.  I added Disney land onto the white nails and freehanded Mickey Mouses with a Barry M white nail art pen.

The polish is fab, just like the rest of Tara's glitter toppers.  The only issue I had with this one was that I struggled to get the Mickey glitter pieces out of the bottle but the little buggers finally showed up with a bit of fishing.

Don't forget to check out Saz's blog and find out how her manicure went!

An InLinkz Link-up

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BFF Friday: Gradient With A Twist

Hi guys,

Here is another BFF Friday.  This time around it was my turn to pick the theme and I challenged My Mint Nails to create a gradient with a twist manicure.

I picked this because we're both quite good at gradients so I wanted to push us a little further with the style.

I styled mine on one of my favourite gradient manicures, the Barry M Textured Glitter manicure.  I've also seen loads of gradient manicures where they reverse the gradient.

And I made a mess trying to combine the two.

I don't even want to talk how I did it.  My photo arm is dead because of a local anaesthetic I had in it earlier and this manicure was a bugger to clean up.

So here are my pictures:

Don't forget to check out My Mint Nail's manicure too!

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