Manicure Monday - Purple Xing

On Saturday I had a girly night round a friend’s house and I said I’d do her nails for her. She decided that she wanted purple so I brought a few colours round for her to choose from. Whist there I decided I’d paint my own and had brought this gorgeous Nina Ultra Pro polish in Purple Xing.

This is a shimmery deep purple with heaps of holographic glitter running through. It feels slightly textured because of the glitter but it doesn't affect the finish. This polish is gorgeous and I am so glad I picked it up.

What do you think?

Manicure Monday - Purple glitter gradient

I think I'm addicted to glitter gradients now... After managing to pull off my last one with the shimmery red polish and gold glitter I wanted to try again!

I've used Nails Inc - Holland St Park, Sinful Colors - Frenzy and OPI - Polka.com to create this manicure. Its really simple to do and I think it looks gorgeous.

Have you tried a glitter gradient?

Indie Nail Polish - Smitten Polish

Today I want to introduce you to another indie polish brand that I have fallen in love with. You will start to notice when you read my posts and tweets that I am obsessed with indie nail polishes. I love having something made independently that you can't buy in shops as I like to have something different from the norm.

I bought this polish from The Nail Arcade (who has since closed) but Rainbow Connection will be stocking these and many more indies in the UK from September! This polish is called Purple Polka-Dotty and is made by Smitten Polish.

This colour is SO gorgeous! It took three coats to make sure it was fully opaque as it is quite a light lilac colour. The lilac and the black glitter complement each other so well it is just a lovely polish to wear! I suppose it looks a bit like a mini egg sort of colour the way there are specks of black on the purple colour.

You may be fooled into thinking this looks a bit like Illamasqua's Speckled Lilac but this colour is much simpler having only the black specks of glitter interfering with the lilac as opposed to the other small glitter Illamasqua have used in theirs. This colour is much nicer!

If you are considering purchasing this polish or any other indie nail polish I would advise you to go for it. Every polish is individually made and so much effort is put into making sure all polishes are at the highest standard.

Do you like this colour? Have you bought indie polishes before? What are your favourite indie brands?

A girly twist on a french manicure

When it comes time to refresh my nails I'm always looking for inspiration online. My latest manicure idea came from the Maybelline Facebook page.

I decided that this week I would try a twist on a french manicure by using a bold pink on my nail and a dark purple on the tip. Taking into account I have never even tried a french manicure before or used the nail stickers I think I did an okay job.

Now for how I achieved this manicure, here are 5 easy steps:

1. Prep your nails, neaten your cuticles and apply a base coat.
2. Paint your nails with the colour you want on your nail, here I have used Shorts Story - OPI
3. You can either wait for this to completely dry or use a fast drying topcoat. Then place the nail tip guide stickers on your nail. Note that the space you are leaving at the top of your nail will be painted in the other colour. Here I could have done with a little less space...
4. When all your stickers are in place paint the other colour on the tip, I've used Vant to Bite My Neck - OPI. Ensure that once you have painted the tip wait a few seconds then immediately remove before painting the next finger.
5. Finally, paint top coat over your nail to smooth it all over.

I'm off to Florence on Wednesday, so I am sure there will be another holiday manicure to show before I go.