Essie - Sunday Funday

Okay so it's a bit longer than I would of liked since the last post but its summer so I've been out doing things in the sunshine! I was a bit stuck on what to do for this post but remembered I hadn't used all the essie's I recently purchased (that makes it sound like I bought 10- it was just a 3 pack of the mini ones). I'm loving the new colours that Essie have released in their summer 2013 collection and this time I decided to use Sunday Funday. This colour is a light coraly pink with a slight sparkle to it. It applies well with just two coats to get an opaque finish. The photos show it to be a lot darker than it is in real life (I took the photos when the light was fading outside).

 The glitter I put on top was Barry M's Diamond Glitter. I really like this simple silver glitter. I love the varying sizes of the glitter which makes it quite subtle but still gives the nail a lovely shimmer. Below I have picture of the glitter on just the accent nail, which I like for everyday but I wanted more of a party nail this time.

Well, I think Essie have brought some really lush colours in their summer collection and they are a pleasure to put on as they are to look at (thanks to the big essie brush!) and I look forward to using more polishes from the collection.

Till the next post....... xoxo

A new look. A new year. A new start. (Oh and some gradient nails)

From the looks of the title you may think its 1st January and I'm starting a new exercise routine. Ha! I wish. No I've redesigned the blog and I'm starting afresh. I'll still be posting about nail polish (obviously) but it will be really relaxed just showing people what new polish I've bought, how I've liked it and anything else that I've done to my nails!! So "on the with show" and heres my first set of nails to show you.....

I'd previously done this gradient effect on my nails earlier in the year with light pink fading to dark pink and silver glitter on top. It looked luuurrvleey and I had several compliments from friends. So I decided to use my favourite polish of the moment Barry M's Gelly Hi-Shine polish in Greenberry. I love this polish as the colour is so bright and perfect for summer and it goes on so well. With one coat you have a full coverage shiny nail and it dries quickly aswell. In fact I'm loving the whole Barry M Gelly polishes range and there all lush colours, good qualiy and best of all NOT EXPENSIVE!! :) The other colour I used was OPI Gargantuan Green Grape. The polish is quite sheer but creates a lovely pastel turquoisey green shade.

So to start with I put OPI's Start to Finish base & top coat to keep my nails in tip-top condition and did one coat of OPI Gargantuan Green Grape. After this had dried I poured out a splodge (about the size of a 5p piece) of each polish and mixed the edge of each splodge together slightly. I then dipped a normal make-up sponge into the polish and dabbed it onto the nail. I find this takes a little practice and the first one is always the worst (hence the little finger nail) and just use this method on all 10 nails. I find when I use a sponge quite a lot of polish gets on your skin and cuticles but this is very easily fixed with a small cotton pad and nail polish remover after the polsih has dried. Once I've sponged all the polish on the nails I put OPI's Start to Finish base & top coat on top to seal it in and it also helps the 2 colours blend together. And its finished!! I have to say I'm pretty pleased with these nails and they remind me of the sky and the ocean on a sunny day. If you want any tips on doing gradient nails I found the nailasaurus guide very helpful -- http://www.thenailasaurus.com/2012/04/gradient-nails-picture-tutorial.html

Till the next post... xoxo

Silver spotted nails

As I mentioned in my last post I decided to buy an OPI nail polish. I don't normally buy nail varnish at that price but I was in a shop and was pleasantly surprised about the range and the amount of OPI polish they had so I felt as if  had to buy one!! I decided on Cajun Shrimp which is a pinky red colour and is described by OPI on their website as 'a spicy shade of coral.' On the website it looks very orange but in real life its more pink and actually on the nails (with 2 coats) it looks quite red.

Originally I was just going to do plain nails but I decided it needed something extra. So I added silver spots to it. For this I used Rimmel London's Your Majesty and dipped a cotton bud into some nail varnish (poured out works better) and simply dotted it on the nail. I found you needed quite a lot of paint on the bud to get a full rounded spot and also don't let the polish dry up before you start doing it again. I think some of these nails turned out better than others but I'm not sure about these nails but I like the new colour (the photo shows it more red than it actually is). xx

Models own Indian Ocean

I was looking at the Models Own section in Boots when I was immediately drawn to this polish. It was so shiny and as I picked it up the light caught it and it suddenly had a blue tinge to it!! I new this was the one to buy (I had a little splurge yesterday and bought a bottle of OPI polish and polish remover as well-reviews coming later). 

When I started painting my nails with this polish I had no idea it was so sheer. Another coat later and it was still pretty see through. After another one or two coats and I was happy that the nails were opaque so I let them dry properly and put a top coat on them. The polish is very pretty and when it catch the light I cant help but admire it but I was disappointed about how sheer it was and how many coats it took for them to become opaque. So I took a look on another blog and they had put it over a light blue and I think it might look nice over a turquoise as well. I think I'm going to have to experiment with this one a bit, but I still really like the shimmer and colours of it. xx

A whole lot of Rimmel

So I was sorting out all my nail varnish into makes and it seemed I had the most Rimmel London polishes. The reason for this is probably because they are so cheap, I really like the colours they do, there available at the shop down my road, and with a few good coats the cover is good. So I was inspired by this to pick out my 5 favorite colours that went nicely together to create my next manicure.

So I picked out the 5 colours (all Rimmel remember) instyle coral, misty jade, strawberry fizz, sunshine and tangy tangerine. Some of these colours needed more coats than others. For example strawberry fizz almost looked opaque on the first coat (I love this one because it smells of strawberries when it starts to dry) but sunshine was a bit streaky on the first coat and needed 3 coats to become opaque. After doing both hands and making sure all the nails were opaque I decided to put glitter over the top (I thought this would bring it all together). I used Rimmel London disco ball. The first time I used it I expected it to be more glittery but after letting it dry I really liked the effect. To finish it off I put a coat Barry M all in one. Overall I loved these nails there so bright and summery and look like a rainbow on my nails!! xx

Sponge effect nails

I had really wanted to try this technique after seeing so many gradient nail effects on other nail blogs. This was my first time trying this technique and I was really surprised at how easy it was! For the base I used Collection 2000 french white. I found this quite difficult to put on, the first coat was very streaky and I had to put a lot of polish on the brush to get an even cover. I then poured out a bit of Rimmel London Instyle Coral (the picture shows it quite orangey but in real life its more pinky) and sponged it on my nails. I decided to make the tips of the nails opaque and then fade it out. If the paint was too thick further down I took away the paint by using another piece of the sponge. Overall, I really like these nails and next I want try out some gradient nails!! xx

A new leaf

So after spending months looking at other nail art blogs in awe and wondering if I could ever have a go, I have decided to start my own. So I introduce to you all Nail Doodles. I'm so excited about this new blog and hope to show you all my (uuurr..very amateur) nail art. I'm very open to any ideas, suggestions or questions so please feel free to comment on any posts. Since its such a hot day today (well it is where I am) I'm going to leave you with a picture of a gorgeous looking ice cream. xx