Tag Archives: Matte

April 27, 2016

Not Another Springtime Mani!

By Ruth

Hey Everyone!

Gothic Gradient Nail Art

I am so thoroughly not in the mood for “spring” nails! Pastel, pastel shades everywhere!

It’s definitely Spring, the plants are growing, the birds are singing and my cherry tree is covered in lovely flowers.

But I still want to paint my nails black! 🙂

This mani has roses, that’s kind of springtime(ish) yeah?

Gothic Gradient Nail Art

The gradient is Seance from Illamasqua, and Evil from NYC, the image is from Moyou stamping plate Gothic 03 and Hit The Bottle Black as Night.

I finished it off with a coat of Seche Vite then a layer of Illamasqua matte topcoat.

Gothic Gradient Nail Art

I realized earlier (while I was doing a spot of gardening) That my nails are to long! This is a bit gross but I could probably grow a decent sized potato from the amount of soil I had to clear out from under them! It’s also becoming increasingly challenging to pick up small things lol!

I almost chopped them all off earlier, but, I thought it would be fun to try some other nail shapes before I do! 😀

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Nail Art, Nail Stamping

January 15, 2016

Purple Glittery Leopard Print!

By Ruth

Hey! 🙂

purple leopard print nail art

This is my first attempt at freehand leopard print! It seems odd that this is something I haven’t tried before, I think it’s because I have quite a few stamping plates with a leopard pattern.

I’m pretty happy with how this turned out, it’s not perfect, and my silver lines are a little bit wobbly, but I think that adds to the charm lol!

purple leopard print nail art

This is the stuff I used,

  • Sinful Colors – Mauve
  • Color Club – The Uptown
  • Chanel – Vendetta
  • China Glaze – I’d Melt Fop You
  • Seche Vite
  • Illamasqua Matte Topcoat
  • Thin Nail Art Brush

purple leopard print nail art

This took less than 10 minutes to finish, I think if I had chosen to do smaller spots it would have taken quite a bit longer. 🙂

I have to say I’m feeling a lot better, I think the horrid ills have finally gone! Yay! 😀

 

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Nail Art

November 4, 2015

Nude and White Matte Gradient

By Ruth

Hey Everyone! 😀

Matte Nude Gradient Nail Art

After all the Halloween craziness I realized that my brain and my nails needed a bit of a rest, so for the past few days I have been wearing this very neutral gradient!

Matte Nude Gradient Nail Art

There is a little tip wear but it’s surprisingly not too bad, especially seeing as I have been scrubbing fish tanks and gardening!

I used three polishes for this, Modern Love from Deborah Lippmann, Snow Me White from Sinful Colors, and Illamasqua Matte Topcoat.

Matte Nude Gradient Nail Art

😀

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Nail Art

February 21, 2015

Illamasqua Swatches Part Two

By Ruth

Hallo!

For your viewing pleasure here are the second half of the Illamasqua polishes I recently purchased!

These polishes are

  • DWS
  • Velocity
  • Scarab
  • Swarm
  • Harem
  • Regal
  • Vice
  • Scorn

Starting with a grey polish that’s been on my wish list for ages

DWS

Illamasqua DWS Swatch

DWS

DWS is a lovely light flat grey cream. The formula is fantastic, it flows easily from the brush and was opaque in two coats.

I’m so glad I got this one, I really like grey nail polish and this one is definitely going in my top 10 🙂

Velocity

Illamasqua Velocity Swatch

Velocity

Velocity is a lovely grey purple creme, like DWS the formula is fantastic, only taking two coats to be opaque.

Scarab

Illamasqua Scarab Swatch

Scarab

Scarab is a brown toned red metallic polish, this is a really foxy polish! The polish itself is a dark grey, almost black jelly which gives the finished colour a lot of depth.

This took three coats to be opaque.

I have to admit that brown/orange tinted reds are not my favorite, but this is a really flattering shade for my skin tone.

Swarm

Illamasqua Swarm Swatch

Swarm

Swarm is a black glitter topper, it’s made up of matte black micro glitter and matte black medium sized hex glitter, the glitter payoff is pretty good, I did find that the glitter tends to clump a bit  This is one coat over Illamasqua’s Collide.

Harem

Illamasqua Harem Swatch

Harem

Harem is a really pretty violet toned pink, the formula is really lovely, very creamy with loads of pigment, this is three coats.

Regal

Illamasqua Regal Swatch

Regal

Regal is a really lovely shade of dark blue, I found the formula to be a bit odd, it’s nice and easy to apply, if a little watery. I think the only way I can describe it is somewhere between a crelly and a cream, this is four coats and there is still some VNL!

Vice

Illamasqua Vice Swatch

Vice

Vice is a pretty pinkish wine. It has the lovely Latex finish, I found that it dries to a slightly more red than the shade in the bottle. This is two coats, I found that it also dries slightly faster than the glossy Illamasqua polishes.

Scorn

Illamasqua Scorn Swatch

Scorn

Scorn is an lovely satin finish black, it’s definitely one of my favorite black polishes! This is two coats.

😀

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Swatches

February 8, 2015

Pick and Mix Blue Flowers

By Ruth

Hello! 🙂

blue white and silver flowers

blue white and silver flowers

For todays pick and mix challenge I have used both prompts! Pale Blue and Flowers! 😀

blue white and silver flowers

medium size dotting tool

For this look I used

  • Azure – Rimmel London
  • Tea Bird – Filthy Gorgeous
  • Snow Me White – Sinful Colors
  • Oyster Bar – Sally Hansen, Triple Shine
  • Matte Finisher – E.L.F
  • Seche Vite
  • Medium Dotting Tool
  • Fine Nail Art Brush

Over the two coats of azure, I applied Snow Me White to the tips of my nails, then I used Oyster Bar to cover the edge (I didn’t use any tip guides so the lines where a bit wobbly).

For the flowers I used a medium sized dotting tool with some more Azure and Snow Me white, then a little dot of Tea Bird in the center.

I then finished it off with a coat of Seche Vite, then when that had dried a coat of Matte Finisher.

blue white and silver flowers

Azure, Tea Bird, Oyster Bar and Snow Me White

Comments Off on Pick and Mix Blue Flowers   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Challenges, Dots, Nail Art

November 21, 2014

Barry M Silk. Poppy, Orchid and Forest.

By Ruth

Hello 🙂

Today I have three new (I think) Barry M nail polishes from the Silk range to show you. I found these while polish hunting in Boots, and they are on a 3 for 2 offer. Bargain! 😀

Poppy   

Barry M Silk Poppy

Barry M Silk Poppy

Poppy is a really pretty pinky red with a gold and silver shimmer

It is a dream to apply, opaque in two coats, no visible brush strokes and dried within a couple of minutes. I applied this over my usual base coat.

Barry M Silk Poppy

Barry M Silk Poppy

Forest

Barry M Silk Forest

Barry M Silk Forest

I really love this dark teal colour! Along with the shimmer it also has a subtle green to purple duo-chrome colour shift.

Again the polish formula was really nice, fast drying with no visible brush strokes.

Barry M Silk Forest

Barry M Silk Forest

Orchid

Barry M Silk Orchid

Barry M Silk Orchid

Orchid is a very pretty intense magenta toned purple with silvery shimmer.

I found there was less sparkle in this polish, but the silver shimmer gives this an almost but not quite metallic quality which I think is very pretty.

Like the other two polishes the formula for this polish is lovely, opaque in two coats and dried really quickly!

Barry M Silk Orchid

Barry M Silk Orchid

I really like the finish of these silk polishes, but I love matte polish so there’s not much of a surprise there lol 😀 I have to say I much prefer these bright colours to the pastel shades from the rest of the collection.

I really hope more bright and dark colours are going to be released in this range!

😀

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Swatches

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