Digit-al Dozen DOES Geometric - Red-o-rama

Hi Goddesses

As some of you know, I'm struggling at the moment.  I have a house move looming, and between packing and feeling like I SHOULD be packing, there's not a lot of time left for nails, which is why I missed last month's challenge.  I'll also be sitting out next month as it coincides with the house move, so I knew I had to do my best to fit this theme in, especially as I love it!

The theme is Geometric.  Originally, I envisaged lots of super cool freehand geometry, but when time suddenly disappeared, it was Stamping Here I Come.  Not that that's such a bad thing - there are some seriously amazing stamping plates out there at the moment, and MoYou and Uber Chic will do you proud this week.

I LOVE how this one turned out.   I also love how at first glance it's not immediately obvious how I did it, even to me!

This has the glorious Literary Lacquer Flickum Bicus on base, with some light splodging over it's coral splendour.

I then used MoYou Sci Fi 09 and stamped using red and black stripes on my stamping plate.   I love how the whole thing is just a power of colour, rather than about the design, and that it's just ever so slightly edgeeeee.

Don't forget to check out the other wonder women this week.

An InLinkz Link-up

31DC2015 Day 27 - Recreate One of Your Old Manis

Hi Goddesses

Recreating old stuff is a great way to measure your progress, or just have a more educated attempt at something that didn't quite work the way you wanted it to the first time.

I was, literally, spoilt for choice, and didn't know how I was going to pick just one, so in the end I let my RANDOM POST button do the work, and just sat there clicking til it settled on something appropriate.

I was semi-happy with the original mani.  Whilst I loved the pin which inspired it, I wasn't totally happy with my finished version, mainly because the teeny dots weren't very uniform.

I decided to redo it in a different colour scheme and I love it SO much more this time.  The base is still OPI My Vampire Is Buff, and this time the large dots are from Elevation Polish Aconcagua, a sublime jaffa holo with real depth.  The micro dots were added with "watered down" Barry M Blood Orange.

So why do I feel this one works better?  Seriously, I think it's the orange.  The originally colour scheme was very subdued, and whilst I loved the base dots, the tiny dots didn't LIFT the mani.

And now I can't wait to do this in blue :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Double Dotting

Hi Goddesses

Today I have a mani for you which drew its inspiration from this pattern I found on Pinterest -



I didn't deliberately set out to recreate it, but the image of those dots on dots hadn't strayed very far from my mind.

When I created THIS mani for DD Dotting Days, I knew it was the perfect base to try this technique on.   The base here is a combination of Literary Lacquers Aunt Beast and OPI My Vampire Is Buff.

For my smaller dots, I didn't want them to be too stark against the creamy background I'd created, so I watered my black down with some clear polish.

I am not convinced this is a total win - I think my small dots should have been tidier and more spaced out - but I like it enough to try it with some different colours at some stage.  nd yes, great big drop dot on the middle nail, I AM looking at you!

Renaissance Cosmetics Guest Post - Victorian Roses

Hi Goddesses

Earlier this week, I was the guest post for Renaissance Cosmetics, which is the brand owned by Meghan of Willpaintnailsforfood.  She is one of THE most talented bloggers out there, and now she's diversified into making polish, and a bloody good job she's done there too!

Meghan sent me 4 polishes for review, and next week, you can see all of these individually on my blog, but for today, we have some nail art featuring all 4.


Let's look at the polishes first -
index finger - Rosie-Osie
middle finger - The Danforth
ring finger - Flirt
and the green is Emerald Envy

When I chose these colours, I immediately saw roses in my head, and what gorgeous semi-gothic, Victorian roses they made!   I used Meghan's favourite polish on base - OPI My Vampire Is Buff.

These polishes are intensely rich in colour and all of them are one coaters.  Although I wouldn't usually do this kind of nail art with glitters, they lent themselves admirably to the task.

I did my roses differently this time.  I've just bought the Sam Biddle needle pen, and did some scribbling with the pen to create the petal effect.


These polishes were sent to me for an honest review.  You can buy them - and the fabulous new collection - HERE.

Digit-al Dozen Dotting Days - Literary Lacquers Aunt Beast

Hi Goddesses

Today’s dotting post is a variation of a mani I’ve done many times.  I’ve always liked mixing my dot sizes, but today, a couple of them are JUMBO!!!

Firstly, I love the colour scheme of this mani.  It’s so neutral and soothing, with that little extra bit of hhhhmmm in that taupey polish.

So, what IS that taupey polish?  Well, it’s one of the new Literary Lacquers, and quite genius it is too.  It’s called Aunt Beast and it’s from the new Wrinkle In Time Collection, and here I've paired it with the classic OPI My Vampire Is Buff.

What I love most about it is the little bits of particle in it – it’s not a smooth polish, it has life and texture and oomph.

So how did I do my jumbo dots?   Well in this mani they were done with the eraser on the end of a pencil and the end of a Berol pen.  The dotting is gloopier for using flat surfaces, but not impossible to manage.

Check back soon to see how I took this mani one step further, and don’t forget to check out my other lovely DD gals.

An InLinkz Link-up