Friday 20 November 2015

Madam Glam ~ Text Me Later

This post contains products which were sent to me for review :-)

Hello!

Madam Glam have sent me a pack of four of their nail polishes to review! They are a US company that ships all over the world. Their nail polish range has a mix of truly unique and beautiful indie glitters along with gorgeous, glossy colours. I also have a very hefty discount code for you! The code BFGeordienails will give the first 10 users 40% off, then 30% off thereafter.

The first polish I chose to wear is called Text Me Later. It's a vampy purple creme and it felt like just the right choice for the darkening days. Application was super smooth, going on perfectly in 2 coats. I'd describe it as creamy, rich and super-glossy. I genuinely love the polish which is always good when you're reviewing!

Here are 2 coats with no top coat:


It really is glossy! That formula along with the rich aubergine colour is what makes me truly love it ^_^

I will be back with more Madam Glam swatches for you as I try out my review pack!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Wednesday 18 November 2015

Blue Floral Foil Manicure

Hello!

I am very excited because yesterday I received my latest order from Charlies Nail Art in the post, and today I received a new review pack of nail polishes to try! That's a lot to keep me busy and my nails decorated.

Right now I am wearing a nail foil from my Charlies order! It cost 39p for the sheet and it's a blue floral pattern with shining silver accents. I applied it over a dark blue, Blackberry by Barry M. Here it is...


It looks really pretty and professional on my nails; I'm very happy. I had to take the photo in my kitchen doorway though because it was raining so heavily!

Be back soon with more manis.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Monday 16 November 2015

Paris Manicure

Hello!

I've done a manicure to honour those in Paris because I have a personal connection to the city and it feels right to note this on my blog. I studied French at university and, as part of my course, I lived in the banlieue (outskirts) of Paris and was a teaching assistant to schoolchildren who will now be in their late teens. I only hope that they are safe and well.

I also want to say that I support everyone's different ways of commemorating (or not) the multiple tragedies that have happened in the world over this past week. We're only human. For those seeking to help in a practical way, it looks to me like the charity Direct Relief is doing amazing work all around the world to respond to disasters.

For my manicure I did a simple Eiffel Tower motif over black. The design is from MoYou's Tourist 07 stamping plate, which I stamped on with Konad White over W7 Black.


A tout le monde à Paris... je pense à vous et je vous souhaite le courage et la sécurité pour ce nouvelle semaine.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Saturday 14 November 2015

Geordie Nails' Essentials!

Hello!

This morning I thought it'd be interesting to gather up some of the most useful nail items that I use every day and take a quick pic of them! Some are specific gems, some are generic essentials and some are household items that are surprisingly useful. I'll do a list with product names and links to buy the items where applicable...


Washing-up Sponge: You can use this for gradients, sponging on sparse glitters to get more coverage, applying tattoo-style water decals... very handy!

Glass Nail File: I received mine for review from Mont Bleu and have used it every day since to keep my nails in a neat squoval shape.

Boots Double-Faced Cotton Pads: These are for removing my nail polish. I always buy the double-faced ones because they don't fall apart when soaked with remover.

Boots Essentials Nail Polish Remover: I hugely recommend this. It only costs £1 yet it does its job perfectly and doesn't dry your skin out at all. Amazing.

Wooden Cuticle Sticks: I use these for cleaning up nail polish from my cuticles as I go along. I buy them cheap from either Tesco or Superdrug and couldn't do my nails without them.

Origami Paper: This is a random one, but I just use these little pieces of paper to wipe my cuticle sticks on as I go (and also to make little origami birds of course).

Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter: I'm on my 4th tub of this and use it every time I remove nail polish to moisturise my cuticles. I know lots of nail bloggers recommend this and with good reason!

French Tip Guides: Little stickers for getting a perfect French tip, or something more creative. Charlies Nail Art (linked) sells sheets of them for 25p.

Page Reinforcer Stickers: You get these from the stationery section! They're meant for ring binders but you can use them for half-moon manis and extra curvy French tips.

Cotton Buds: Soaked in nail polish remover, they're essential for cuticle cleanup.

Konad Black & White Stamping Polishes: Stamping is my favourite nail art technique and I go to my two bottles of Konad very often to get a good, solid pattern. I tend to shop for these on Amazon.

Stampers: Squishy stampers are my favourite! They're handy for getting full-nail patterns to apply well. My rectangular stamper was sent to me for review from Born Pretty Store, and I found the circular one on eBay.

Nail Glue: Great for getting rhinestones and charms to stay on your nails! I don't use mine that often but it's still very useful to have around.

Nail Polish Thinner: I have hundreds of bottles of nail polishes and swear by this to keep them useable. When you feel like one of your polishes is getting too thick, you just add a few drops of this. I use the brand Profile and am on my second bottle despite a little bit going a long way!

Sèche Vite Top Coat: I am also on my second bottle of this... my second salon-sized bottle. It dries quickly, adds lovely gloss to your nails and the big bottle set is a bargainous £18.49 on Amazon.

OPI Natural Nail Base Coat: This also dries quickly and does its job as a base coat wonderfully.

Peel-Off Base Coat: This is great for making glitter manicures easily removable, especially if you're not planning on wearing the mani for long. I use Miss Sporty's version but I have a strong suspicion that it is actually PVA glue... which I would recommend for cheapness ;-)

Matte Top Coat: With these you can mattify any nail polish and do manicure ideas like a chalkboard mani. I found my Nails Inc version on sale at a market stall, but quite a few high street brands offer matte top coats at a good price - I can think of Barry M, Models Own and Rimmel.

Mademoiselle by Essie: I'm including this polish because I love sheer polishes and use them very often! They're great for a traditional French or as a base for nail art, and the blushing Mademoiselle is especially lovely.


Phew!!! This list isn't exhaustive, but they are what comes to mind when I think of my essentials. Do you use any of these? Am I missing anything? Let me know!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Friday 13 November 2015

Jewelled Raindrops Manicure

Hello!

It's been starting to rain a lot here in England, and of course it's getting darker. I wanted to turn this into something positive and do a deep, sparkling raindrop manicure!

For my dark sparkles I chose the gorgeous Facets of Fuschia by Revlon. I added top coat to make the raindrops stand out on top, which I stamped on using Born Pretty stamping plate BP-L013. Extra top coat made my mani lovely and glossy!


Hugs,

Lisa xx

Wednesday 11 November 2015

Cold Comforts Manicure

Hello!

Today's mani was inspired by the steadily cooling, darkening days! I wanted to represent reading a book whilst sipping a Starbucks and wearing a woolly jumper, all on my nails. So I got out some of my MoYou stamping plates!

For the thumb I did a chalkboard coffee shop menu, stamping on the menu design from plate Cook Book 04 over black nail polish and using a matte top coat. For the index, middle and pinky nails I painted on a textured pink polish, Kingsland Road by Barry M, then used plate Fashionista 03 to add a knit pattern in silver (for a festive jumper!). And for the ring fingernail I stamped some text from plate Literature 01 over a cream colour. For a finishing touch I stamped a light coffee stain on top!


I'm sleeping a lot right now so it's hard for me to get out and take photos of my nails in the few hours of daylight that we have - I'm wearing a mani that's needed photographing for 2 days now! But I will be back on Friday with a post, I promise ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Wednesday 4 November 2015

Metallic Hearts Manicure

Hello!

Last night I cut my nails short as I fancied a change ^_^ Whenever I do this I get the urge to have something cute on my nails, so this time I went for a blue heart manicure and darkened it up a bit since it's November!

I started off with a base of Sally Hansen's Navy Baby and used my Born Pretty Store BP-L013 stamping plate to add a pattern of little hearts. My stamping polish was Models Own's Chrome Blue. Here it is!


Apologies for the slightly late blog post today - it's a combination of me not feeling very well and there being less hours of daylight in which to take photos outside!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Monday 2 November 2015

Tiger Butterfly Manicure

Hello!

We are now in November! I don't mind the cooler weather but the shorter days are a pain as they mean less time and less light for me to photograph my nails outside - especially since I'm not feeling too well at the moment. Nevertheless, I have a mani to show you ^_^

I wanted a shade to suit the month but which would still provide some exciting sparkle, and the polish that came to mind was my mini bottle of OPI Jinx! It's a rich, deep orange/gold shimmer reminiscent of a sunset or Autumn leaves. On its own it's a textured polish, but I smoothed it out with top coat in order to use it as a base for some butterfly wing stamping. I used one of the designs on my MoYou Kitty 12 stamping plate and added pieces of white glitter to complete the wings.

Because of Jinx's colour it ended up looking a bit like tiger stripes, so I'm calling this my Tiger Butterfly manicure!


I just love how rich a shade Jinx is, it's really special.

Hugs,

Lisa xx