Power-Up With Red Nails

Models Own 'Garnet' (Promotional w/ Jacques Cider)

Models Own 'Juicy Jules'

Sally Hansen Double Duty Strengthening Base & Top Coat

Seche Vite Top Coat

I mentioned in my April Favourites post that I've been on a nail polish ban for a month - using only Sally Hansen Double Duty, if anything.  My nails are so much stronger and the splitting has stopped.  I don't think polish is bad for nails, per se, but chipping and polish remover is quite damaging on mine.  So now that it's May I've begun with a bang!  I love bright red nails, I think they make me feel just a little bit empowered.  There's something so statement about red nails.  And of course, just to ensure they were even more over the top, I added a glittery ring finger as well.  Perfecto!

xx

Black Matte & Shiny French Mani

I clearly need to work on my steady hand, but since this mani isn't the most long lasting, I wasn't too bothered! This is definitely an 'occasion' design, since I think it only lasted about two days - I think the matte top coat shortens the life span, unfortunately.

For this I used Sally Hansen's Double Duty as a base coat, NYC Nail Glossies #245B (two layers), 17 Matte top coat (two layers) and Seche Vite on the tips.  It takes me absolutely ages to do since all the different layers have to dry!  But doing it whilst watching Glee takes the edge off it... NYC Glossies polishes seem to be floating around discounted sections online (for example, here), and for the price they're great quality!  They contain vinyl shine and pro vitamin B5, which means they glide on well, dry quickly, leave a lovely gloss to the nails and don't seem to ruin nails either.  Perfect!  The brushes aren't as good as Rimmel Pro or OPI polishes, but for the price (rrp £2.50) you really can't complain.

I used the 'tape trick' for this, which doesn't always work perfectly, but I think it's mostly down to practice.  Saying that, I think I'll do a tutorial for how I do mine in the next week or so, if anyone's interested?

xx

Going Gaga For A Half Moon Manicure

Not being a fan of the new pointy nail trend, I needed another slightly wacky nail design.  Cue, the alternative half moon manicure.  I think Gaga was rocking this updated 1940s nail art a while back, but since I had no equipment for a classic half moon style, I had to go pointed and modern.

I began with a base of Sally Hansen Double Duty, layered on the Nails Inc. 'Oxford Circus', cut squares of tape and angled (with minimal precision!) near the cuticle when 'Oxford Circus' had dried, and layered on OPI 'Skull & Glossbones' (blogged about here).  Peeled off the tape, covered in Seche Vite Top Coat and hey presto!

It's a little messy since it's the first attempt. Even so, I can't stop looking at my nails..

xx