Golden scales - BM-217

I really liked the scales image on BM-217, and always thought it was a shame that it wasn't a full nail design. So I decided to try making it into one today by using it twice on each nail. It worked much better than I thought it would, helped by the gold not being too opaque. 

My nails have taken a beating lately, as I started working as a waitress (my first job, woo!). I'm really glad that nail polish is acceptable where I work, as long as it's neat and tidy. So I sometimes only get to wear a design for a day before having to take it off as it's chipped already! I haven't been taking photos though, so I'll have to remember to take them. 

With my first pay slip, I bought three Barry M polishes, the first and third set of Bundle Monster plates, and some sock yarn (my knitting and sewing blog is here) :) I used one of the polishes for this mani, and I love it! Such a gorgeous colour.

Here are the details:

Sally Hansen Double Duty, as a base coat.

Barry M in Emerald Green, two coats.

Star Gazer in Gold, stamped using BM-217.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoat.

Foxglove Gradient

I've tried doing a gradient a couple of times, but was never happy with the result. Then I came across this tutorial the other day and had an 'aha' moment. This technique works really well! I've finally done a gradient I'm happy with. It's not perfect, I'd like to try it with a finer sponge. Here it is!

Here are the details:
SallyHansen double duty, as a base coat.
Rimmel 60 seconds in 730 Silver bullet, two coats.
No7 Stay Perfect in Foxglove 80, two coats on accent nail.
Sally Hansen Insta-dri top coat. 

Pink Marble

I saw a cling film manicure on a nail blog the other day (I forget which one!) and decided to give it a go. There are plenty of tutorials on youtube if you search for them, saran wrap and cling wrap are some other names for cling film. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, I tested out a few polishes and decided on these ones. I also experimented with how many times to dab the cling film on the wet polish, and in the end one dab seemed to work best. 

The base colour I used is a very bright pink, so bright that I wouldn't wear it on its own. The second colour tones it down a lot, and I much prefer it like this.

Here are the details:

Sally Hansen Double Duty, as a base coat.

Rimmel Lasting Finish in 300 pop your pink, two coats.

No7 Stay Perfect in Damson Dream, one coat (dabbed with cling film while still wet).

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoat. 

Listened to: Razor Behaviour by Gina Mobilio.

Apples - M55

I've been planning this mani for a while. Whenever I see this green polish I think of granny smith apples. I didn't think the green would stamp well, so I ended up with red apples on granny smith green :) I had trouble getting the green polish smooth, but I think that's a problem with my technique as the brush is thinner than I'm used to. I decided to only to stamp my ring finger and my thumb, as I tend to over do it with stamping. I think this mani looks better like this, than if I had stamped every nail.

Here are the details:

Sally Hansen Double Duty, as a base coat.

606 Early Green by Gosh, two coats.

Deep Red by Gosh, stamped using Konad M55.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat.

Also, I often listen to music or an audiobook while I paint my nails so I thought it would be fun to share what I'm listening to :)

Listening to: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. 

Flowers and Dots - M69

This is another old mani from last summer, and whenever I look at it that's what it reminds me of - summer. I'm not sure if it's the colour, or the back drop to the photo (a cotton summer dress that I made). But it makes me wish for hot sunny days and cool breezes. This is unfortunately the opposite of what we've got right now! The plate is also one of my favourites, though I find it difficult to keep it straight as I stamp. I just need to practice :)

Here are the details:

Sally Hansen Double Duty, as a base coat.

Rimmel 60 Seconds in 825 Sky High, two coats.

Barry M in Matt white, stamped with Konad M69. (I found the colour changed from white, to a lighter version of the Sky High polish, which I loved)

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat.