Saturday 30 August 2014

Jade ~ VIP

Hello!

VIP is the orange polish from the Jade Special Glitz collection, a set of opaque jelly polishes with holographic sparkle. I won the set from Sally Magpies last year and I'm still super grateful!

Here it is, complete with raindrops because this is England ;-)


Now how stunning is that, really. The depth of the sparkle was just lovely. Thanks again Sally!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Friday 29 August 2014

Rainy Day Manicure

Hello!

After my more serious post earlier today (I'm really glad I went for it), I'm back with a manicure befitting of the drizzly weather we were having this morning here in North East England!

For my manicure I painted my nails a pale blue, Barry M Huckleberry, with the exceptions of my ring fingernails which I painted with Filthy Gorgeous Opulence. It's a gorgeous full glitter, silver sparkles in a blue-tinted base which give a look just like rain showers. Unfortunately the glitter and the brand in general seem to have disappeared off the face of the Earth which is a crying shame.

Onto my middle fingernails I stamped on an umbrella from my Cheeky Home Sweet Home plate. A slick of top coat and away I went!


A nice little cheer-me-up for a rainy day :-)

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Anti-Rape Nail Polish - some useful links :-)

Hello!

Over the past few days I've noticed an explosion in people sharing this article about a group of students who are exploring the possibility of making a nail polish that reacts to date-rape drugs, thus letting the potential victim know that they are in danger. I've learnt that women see this from very different angles and there's been a lot of positive debate. I wanted to acknowledge the article because this is an issue which is important to me. I personally believe that the nail polish is a well-intentioned but flawed idea, and rather than just argue my opinion I'll include some links which help shine light on the facts of rape and debunk some damaging myths xx

The nail polish is unlikely to work effectively.

This article by Jezebel details scientific concerns about the functionality of an anti-rape nail polish. Another key point is that drug-rapists use more different substances than could possibly be tested for by one product, and that the alcohol itself is the most common date rape drug.

Most rapists are people the victim knows.

The above link to Rape Crisis has a hugely helpful list tackling rape misconceptions; one of their points is that, according to official UK statistics, around 90% of rapists are already known to their victim. The invention of the nail polish centres around the idea that rapists are invisible predators dropping drugs into women's drinks, and so the polish can help women keep their guard against strangers in a crowded nightclub. However, the overwhelming likelihood is that a victim will be raped by a friend, acquaintance or partner that she would trust to accept a drink from.

Targeting potential rapists instead of victims WORKS!

This point is related to the last one. The huge, huge majority of rapists are not incurable psychopaths lurking in the shadows of a nightclub in search of their next victim. They're people with friends, girlfriends, jobs, a social life who have been given the impression by society that they can force other people into having sex with them. This final link is about an anti-rape campaign in Edmonton, Canada which targeted potential rapists, not victims. Following the launch of the campaign reports of sexual offences dropped by 10%. Stopping rape is doable, and it's doable without asking women to give up any more of our freedom, time, convenience and money than we're already expected to.

Phew! This is probably the most serious blog post I've written and it's not a pleasant subject to write about. On a lighter note, I'm writing this in between coats of a new mani and I'll be back soon with a nail polish post ;-)

Hugs,

Lisa xx


Friday 22 August 2014

YRNails Owls!

Hello!

Today I have on a fresh manicure using the second of my YRNails buys! Out of a ton of owls to choose from I picked the Happy Owl, a bluey-turquoise little fella. For my nail polishes I chose Blueberry Muffin and White Light by Models Own, and I wore the owls as accents over the white.


I can't even. These owls are beyond adorable and I'm going to get more kinds once I have the pennies. I'm the tiniest bit colour blind so couldn't tell what hue Happy Owl was before he went on my nails, but next time I'm going to pair him with a turquoise polish!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Tuesday 19 August 2014

Lisa's Little Nail Art Round-Up

Hello!

I am here with a mini collection of the nail art I've been doing lately! I haven't been well at all which is why I haven't been posting them individually ~ I'm in the middle of switching medications for my depression and it's a miserable, physically and mentally unpleasant experience. Hopefully things will get better soon. In the meantime, here are four manicures! Underneath the collage I'll tell you the details of how I did them xx

Kawaii Breakfast Manicure


This mani uses decals I just bought from YRNails and received in the post on Monday! How adorable? I paired them with complementary pastel shades from Barry M, also used in my fourth mani below ^_^


Pink Butterfly Wings Manicure


These were done using my beloved Nailz Craze stamping plate. My pastel pink is Barry M Rosehip (a favourite to use this week, I gave it a lacklustre review when I first bought it but feel I should retract that!). I stamped on the wings in black and for the white markings I used an indie glitter, Snowfall by Sonnetarium.


Reverse Glitter Manicure


This is an idea I'd tried once before, using French tip guide stickers at the base of your nails to create a reverse French glitter! My polishes were Models Own Pukka Purple and Nails Inc Noel Street.


Italian Ice Cream Skittles Manicure


This shows off the newer Barry M Gelly pastels! I'm wearing Rosehip, Coconut, Huckleberry and Almond.


Hopefully I'll be back soon :-)

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Wednesday 13 August 2014

Nautical Navy Manicure

Hello!

Today's design has a nautical theme ~ polka dots and an accent anchor over navy!

My base manicure is a half-moon design. I painted the white on first and, once that had thoroughly dried, I used page reinforcer stickers that you can buy in stationery shops as my moon guides. My navy is Barry M Blackberry. Then, once that was done, I stamped on my patterns :-)


At the moment I'm trying lots of manicure designs but not keeping them on for long! Hopefully I'll find something I want to stick with.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Monday 11 August 2014

Ballerina Manicure

Hello!

This manicure features curved pink French tips overlaid with polka dots ^_^


First I started with one coat of a sheer French shade, Bubble Bath by OPI. I gave it plenty of time to dry then used page reinforcer stickers that you can buy in stationery shops as tip guides. For my pastel pink I chose Sweet Kisses by Seventeen. I then stamped on my white polka dots and finished with top coat!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Saturday 9 August 2014

Rimmel London Space Dust ~ Moon Walking

Hello!

This is the second Space Dust polish I found in Xtras for £1.99 (see Luna Love here). Moon Walking is a shimmering textured polish which is a futuristic purple shade. Here are two coats:


I LOVE this! I'd thought that Luna Love would be my favourite of the two but I was wrong - Moon Walking is the winner. It looks so cool metallic and shiny on my nails... and the texture is very moon-like! Recommend.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Friday 8 August 2014

Rimmel London Space Dust ~ Luna Love

Hello!

I popped into Xtras yesterday to get a new bottle of W7 Black, and while I was there I saw that they had the Rimmel London Space Dusts for £1.99! I'd drooled over them previously but since they're £3.99 at full price I talked myself out of getting them. Now I am the owner of Luna Love and Moon Walking ^_^

The Space Dust polishes are shimmering textures. Luna Love is a rich fuschia colour with a sparkling blue iridescence to it. Here are two coats with no top coat:


I'm not as crazy about this as I thought I would be, but it is growing on me the longer I have it on. I'd probably choose to wear it in the Autumn for some bright colour made a bit different by the texture.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Monday 4 August 2014

Inkwell Manicure

Hello!

Today's manicure is a two-nail accent design in monochrome which I'm really quite happy with! It uses two nail art techniques, stamping and clingfilm.

For my base manicure I applied two coats of Lavender Cloud by Sally Hansen. On my ring fingers I stamped the text design from MoYou plate Princess 11. On my middle fingers I used the clingfilm (also called Saran Wrap) technique: once my base colour was dry I added a coat of black and, while that was still wet, I dabbed at it with clingfilm to get the mottled ink effect. Top coat glossed everything over!


Hugs,

Lisa xx

Sunday 3 August 2014

Golden Duck Egg Manicure

Hello!

It is currently 3:40am in England and I can't sleep, so here is my latest manicure :-)

OPI's The Man With The Golden Gun is my most extravagant polish purchase to date; I think I bought it with my first paycheque after graduating university. It has flakes of real 18 carat gold. As it's Summer I chose a light base colour, Blueberry Muffin by Models Own, to apply it over. The result is a speckled duck egg type of effect, but a very luxurious one!


When the Autumn comes around I'll be applying Golden Gun over a deep plum colour, and perhaps a navy ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx