31DC Day 30 - Inspired By A Tutorial

Hi Goddesses

One of the things I love about the nail community is how inspiring they are.  There are so many amazing creative ladies doing amazing creative things with their manis, that days like this aren't difficult.  It's also part of the reason Monkey See, Monkey Do Mondays started - to honour and share the genius of nail bloggers.

Today's mani comes from a tutorial my beloved Sarah of Chalkboard Nails did in the summer - starfish nails.  Her mani was very different, both in colour choice and positioning, but what I loved was how simple her tutorial made the drawing of a starfish.  Previously, I'd have tried to draw a star - unsuccessfully probably - but thanks to Sarah, this is how it's done - 

Since then, I'd seen versions of this in more traditional colours, and I loved the vibrant clash of the turquoise and coral, so that's what I aimed for.

The night I did this, it wasn't my plan to at all, but the minute KBShimmer Proud Peacock landed on my nails, my head couldn't think of anything other than a seabed.

Proud Peacock is a gorgeous aqua blue jelly, laden with multi-blue coloured glitters.  I think I used 2 coats here, and I loved how at that moment, it had blueness, but also transparency, just like exotic seas.

So, then I did my starfish, using Sarah's simplified shape-building and Barry M Coral.  There's something about coral on blue that just POPS.   The lighter dots were done with Models Own Fuzzy Peach.

Overall, I really love this mani.  No, the starfish aren't perfect, but overall the colours work and the theme works. So thanks Sarah for breaking it down to a level even a splodger like me can understand!

Enjoy xx :)

Brit Nails - Models Own Fuzzy Peach

Hi Goddesses

It's Thursday, which means it must be Brit Nails Day :)  Today I have the 2nd of the 3 polishes the lovely people at Models Own sent me.  Interestingly, from the comments last week, you seem to prefer Models Own to Nails Inc, so I'll have to see what I can do about that :)

This is Fuzzy Peach which is from last year's Ice Cream Sundae Collection (which also contains one of my very favourite blues, Beth's Blue).   Now, this is a colour I have spent most of my adult polish life avoiding.  Peach gives me the heeby jeebies for some reason.  However, I realised during the Spring Challenge that a full range of pastels are required, so I drew a deep breath and ...

..... oh, not so bad :)   This was nowhere near as gruesome as I expected, partly because I think it has more heat to it than other peaches, and as I've broken another barrier recently and sashayed with coral, this didn't seem too different.

This went on as smoothly as all Models Own polishes do, and is a perfect summer shade, especially if you like your nails slightly subdued for the office.  It's a dark peach, so it has just enough subtlety if that's what you're looking, but just enough punch if you want something a bit more kapow!

I'll be honest, this isn't the sort of colour I'm ever going to love, however, it is versatile, and that's why it's a keeper for me.  And then ... when I nail arted it .....

Wow!  Doesn't that make it come to life?   I LOVED this combo, which was done using all 3 polishes I received - Fuzzy Peach, Blooming Pink and Buff Pink.

If you're looking for SIMPLE nail art, it really doesn't come much more simple than this.  Dots are really effective, really cheerful, and really easy to do.  I have used dotting tools, but I know a lot of people who dot with bobby pins, the head of a pin, cocktail sticks, dried up pens .... it's a technique you can do with things that are lying around the house.

This has large dots of Blooming Pink, with smaller dots of Buff Pink superimposed on it, and then smaller, random Blooming Pink dots, to fill in the blank spaces.

I'm a big lover of happy accidents.  I would never in a million years have bought all 3 polishes at the same time, and yet they just work together.  I particularly love how the pink takes the last little bit of cream out of the peach, and makes it more corally.

So ... now you know that next week's polish will be Buff Pink.    I don't know how I managed to Crumpetise it, but I did.

If you want to treat yourself to some Models Own, their website is here.  They get cheaper the more you buy, and they have some great box set offers.  As I said before, the polishes may be Models Own, but the views are mine.

Enjoy xx