Christmas Nail Varnishes Design

If you follow my instagram account you would have seen on Christmas day, I uploaded a picture of the 3 nail polishes I received from family and friends. Luckily the 3 colours had purple tones, so I knew I could use them altogether to create some nail art.

 The O.P.I colour is called 'Lincoln Park at Midnight' which is a beautiful deep purple with a slight silver metallic running through it. The Purple Barry M polish is called 'Prickly Pear' from their Gelly collection, and the glitter Barry M is a limited edition exclusive to Superdrug.

I wanted to see what the glitter polish was like on lighter colours and darker ones so experimented with both, and then felt it needed something extra to make them pop, so I used my MoYou stamper and used the O.P.I colour to create the twirly effect. Its a very simple nail art design but I thought it was sophisticated and still festive!

Christmas Nails 3!

Sorry I have been so rubbish at posting this month, I am sure you have all been just as busy as me, and working in retail means you spend pretty much every hour in store in the run up to Christmas. A few days ago I did these nails! I think you'll agree they are pretty cute and festive. All the nail art was done free hand using Models's Own nail pens.

The green statement nail was done using the glitter effect from my Ciate Emerald collection which I reviewed a while ago. I highly suggest checking it out if you haven't already here.

I hope you all have the most fantastic Christmas! I shall be back very soon with lots of new products. Enjoy your day and relax!

Love Steph x

Organix Coconut Shampoo and Conditioner

I was drawn to Organix, because they're a cheap alternative to natural brands on the market. When low on cash, I went to the Organix section in Boots and had great fun sniffing all the Shampoos and Conditioners. Every range has the most amazing smell, but being a sucker for coconut, I finally settled on these two.

The nourishing coconut seemed the best option for my occasionally dry hair. When I started to use it, I noticed the Shampoo slightly foamed which shouldn't happen in a natural product. When I checked the bottle, I saw there was a foaming agent in the shampoo, which is not natural so I was a bit disappointed as I felt slightly mis-led. Luckily I'm not an uber hippy who would feel violated if I had such a thing on my head, but still, slightly false advertising. Anyway, the actual experience was nice, and for a while after my hair smelt lovely and coco-nutty even days after I washed it. The whipped egg whites add protein to the hair, but after a few weeks of using it, I swear I started to smell the eggy aroma on my head. I don't know whether it is because I got too used to the coconut smell. The actual condition of my hair was good, but now I have finished using these products and moved on to something else, I am preferring the new stuff. Not a huge success, but for a cheap product you can't complain. Both Shampoo and Conditioner were £5 and they left my hair in good condition. I want to try some of the other ranges within the brand so I won't write it off yet! Take a look here to see their other ranges

Nails Magazine Feature

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been so busy with Christmas shopping and work I have been using my spare time to relax and not blog. Apologies! 

Anyway, this is not a proper post, but a few months ago I saw Nails Magazine where looking for Nail bloggers to come forward for their 'readers issue'. I got in contact and have noticed today that the article with my feature is up now!

Please do have a read of the article, and I promise I will be back soon!

Christmas Nails 2!

Here is my second Christmas nail art. I said in my last Christmas nails post I wanted to use my 'Flashy Violet' colour by Mavala a bit more. I posted this picture on my Instagram a few days ago, and I think this colour is so amazing. I got so many comments when I wore this just plain on my nails. It shimmers between electric blue and a deep purple and I love it.

This colour certainly does not need anything to make it look any better, but you know me! This colour reminded me of a dark, magical Christmas-y evening. I saw some reindeer inspired nail art in my latest Scratch magazine so I took inspiration from that.

My Father Christmas flying through the sky nail art, was done using a white nail pen. I realise silhouettes are usually black, but I played around with the contrast and I think you can tell what it is meant to be!?  Originally, I used a glitter top coat by Azature which claims to have real black diamond in it! I didn't realise that the base coat in which the glitter is held together, had a black/dark blue colour, so when I painted it over the white silhouettes it really died down the colour.

To rectify the problem, I used Mavala Pure Diamond which has chunkier glitter, and painted over the whole design to make the sky more starry. I then went over the white bits again with my pen again to make it pop against the dark background.

For the Rudolph red nose, I just dotted some pink nail art pen. Are there any other types of Christmas inspired nail art you'd like to see?

Christmas Nails 1!

It's that time of year!!! Get ready to see lots of Christmas nail art! I won't just do only nail art, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't going to do a lot!

The inspiration for this nail art came from my latest December issue of my Scratch magazine. I was instantly drawn to these festive Christmas jumper style nails. I misjudged the size of my blue panels on the edges so I couldn't fit the little reindeer which I'm a bit annoyed about, but I will make sure I do some next time!

For the red base I used 'Bright Red' by Barry M. The blue panels were done with 'Flashy Violet' by Mavala which is a stunning colour. I have't worn it on its own yet, but I can't wait for when I do. I used a dotting tool and a white nail pen.

Tartan Nails

If any of you follow me on instagram (please do, it is just whatalooker), you would have seen I posted some tartan nails yesterday. I was inspired by the Wah Nails Downtown Girls book again, and I am living in tartan at the moment. It's one of those granny chic trends I have always loved, and I am so happy it is currently acceptable to wear as it is in all the high street shops. 

My tartan nails are by no means my best ever. In fact I am slightly ashamed of how bad these have come out. The lines are just far too thick and gloopy, so I will have to practice some more! My boyfriend came up with a good idea of using an old credit card to print the lines onto the nail, so they are thin and straight. My thumb nail came out the best as I think it is a bigger canvas to work on.

Next time I think I will experiment with different colours and pattern styles. I used my nail art pens for his look, and used the striper end. Although I first started out with nail art pens, I think I am starting to grow out of them for the more technical looks I want to achieve. I will have to start practicing with big girl nail art brushes soon I think!

If you have any hints or tips I can use to improve this look then please leave a comment! Any suggestions are welcomed! What sorts of colours would you use too?