NOTD - Fourth of July Nails!

Hello there lovely readers!

As today's nail art has distinct red, white and blue vibes going on I think its obvious what occasion is inspiration is here ;) Every year I like to throw together a mani to mark my American cousins over on the other side of the pond's Independence Day celebrations. Any excuse to get my nail art on!

I was muchos happy with my Fourth of July nails last year which featured blue dripping glitter & a step by step tutorial so go have a peek at those HERE. I loved them so much & didn't think I could top them...maybe it was a mistake to go in with that attitude as I really wasn't happy with how these ones for this year came out but meh you win some, you lose some & I'm gonna roll with this FAIL of immense proportions!

Afternoon Tea Adventures - The Arch Hunter 486

Hello there my lovely readers!

More tea and cake reviewing time! So one of my dearest friends & favourite humans celebrated their birthday recently therefore naturally we marked said occasion with my favourite pastime...afternoon tea of course! 

I wanted to try somewhere new so after a bit of browsing, it was the Royal Afternoon Tea at The Arch London which caught my eye, so booked it I did & off we went! FYI I nearly always use the website afternoontea.co.uk as my main port of call when afternoon tea hunting, it really is fantastic as you can book everything online so easily & search for teas in any area of the UK you like. As we were spending the whole day in London, naturally I searched for one in the city.

New Shade From True Brit London - Pillar Box & Royal Guard Nail Art Tutorial

Hello there my lovely readers!

Every girl needs a signature red polish in her stash. Although in my case lets just say its more likely to be a few dozen, yet I assure you that they are all unique & entirely different tones of red...o_O

But if you are looking for a perfect Pillarbox red then look no further because my friends at True Brit London have got you covered with one of the new additions to their already outstanding nail lacquer collection.

New Shade from True Brit London - Sunday Best & Bow Tie Tutorial!

Hey there my lovely readers!

So May is upon us! And with it the return of 5 day working weeks...*wails in despair* I confess one of the many reasons I love Spring time (though its obvious that Spring is clearly broken at the moment) is the abundance of bank holidays, oh how we've been spoilt with these glorious long weekends. 

Not the greatest start to the month with yours truly having a wisdom tooth extraction which I elected to have under local anesthetic because I'm either mental or a masochist. Most likely a bit of both. So one is currently on a cocktail of painkillers & anti-inflammatory's that could knock an elephant on its ass. Happy Days *cue creepy drug induced grin*

Powering on, today I have another deliciously delightful nail polish offering from True Brit London's newly released collection, pink ladies this is one for you...

What did I tell you? Swoon worthy right? This beautiful polish goes by the title *Sunday Best & is a stunning glossy fuchsia peony pink that gets its glorious edge with the addition of an opalescent pearly shimmer giving this pink a magical iridescent glow.

Afternoon Tea Adventures - The Ritz!

Hello there lovely readers!

Aaah the Ritz...well I couldn't very well do an afternoon tea series on my blog & NOT include the infamous & quintessentially English institution that is "Tea at The Ritz" now could I? ;)

The world famous Ritz hotel in Mayfair is well known for its award winning afternoon tea affair & tis one that is on many afternoon tea fans 'must try' list including mine! So of course I was excited to finally be able to attend for mumma bears birthday last year. (yes its taken me THIS long to write about it...bad form Aysh)

New Shades From True Brit London - Seaside

Hey there my lovely readers!

Time to share another one of the pretty new shades recently launched by the nail polish brand True Brit London, today I have a shade that is just so perfect for summer I know I will be rocking this both on my fingers & tootsies for sure & is the so very suitably titled...*Seaside!

ALL THE HEART EYE EMOJIS. Isn't it puuuuuurdy?! 

New Shades from True Brit London - Nostalgia

Hey there lovely readers!

I'm excited to share with you a few of the divine new nail polish shades that have been released by one of my favourite brands True Brit London, these new additions have recently joined their already stunning array of lacquers available. 

Its no secret how much I adore this brand, True Brit London nail polishes really are something else.  Not only are the shades & formulations top notch, but they really have nailed it in the packaging stakes with their gorgeous chunky ice cube shaped embossed bottles that exude luxury, only without the hefty price tag. I also love their quintessentially classy vibe, seeking inspiration for their collections in all things from history to traditionally British themes. You can check out my previous True Brit London posts & swatches HERE.  

I have four of the new shades to share with you but I wanted to give each shade the attention it deserves so will split up each post individually. To get the ball rolling we are starting things with the distinctly unique Nostalgia*.

Olympics 2016 TeamGB Nails!

Hello there lovely readers,

Now I wasn't actually planning on doing an Olympics themed manicure dolls! But unless you've been living under a rock these past few weeks, its hard NOT to get absorbed in the goings on over in Rio right now, especially the incredible performances from the Team GB athletes! Seriously how amazing have they done & it really is so great to see so much positivity & inspiration in a time where there seems to be so much sadness going on in the world. So in honour of the Olympics & a subtle nod to Team GB I've done a suitably styled mani which I'll show you how to create as well!

As you can see I've gone for some GB flag tips with some Gold, Silver & Bronze medals thrown in there too & its honestly so easy to do :) First things first, gather together the polishes you'll be using. Here I've opted for some Nails Inc, KIKO & Models Own to help create this design.

To start things off you'll need these nifty little french mani guides which you can get super cheaply of Ebay. I always make sure I have these in constant supply! Place a guide on each of your nails,about a quarter of the way down as you'll only be painting the top part of your nail.

Now begin with applying your blue, this is Nails Inc Denim, a nice thick opaque blue crème so only one coat is needed. Wait for the blue to dry as now you'll be adding the white detail of you flag & the last thing you want is the blue running into the white!

I used the KIKO french manicure for white tips nail lacquer which I LOVE & has replaced ALL of my nail art pens. The thin brush is perfect for detailed nail art, I only hope they still do it as I want to stock up on these babies!

Using the brush, apply a line along the bottom edge (so right above by the mani guide) & one horizontal line in the centre going up to the tip.

Then add two diagonal lines going up from either side of your horizontal line.

Now grabbing your red polish & a thin nail art brush, I've used Nails Inc St James, apply a thinner line on top of the white, making sure you still leave a bit of white showing.

Aaaaand finally, because y'all know I am a sparkle FIEND, as an additional touch I went over the red with a bit of red glitter courtesy of Nails Inc Trafalgar Square.

Now you can (slowly) peel off your mani guides, don't worry if you have any smudges or your edges aren't perfect, this can easily be rectified with a small brush & some acetone. And you have your GB flag tips!

You can leave these as they are but I couldn't NOT put some medals on too, so using a dotting tool & Models Own 25 Carat Gold, Sonia Kashuk Smoke & Mirrors & Models Own Cherry Pie, I added me on some Gold, Silver & Bronze medals along the cuticle.

Finish with topcoat & you're done! Told ya it was easy.

Hope you liked the mani dolls, how are you celebrating the Olympics this year? Thank for reading & keep up the awesomeness Team GB!

Lotsa love to ya!

Fourth of July Drip Nails Tutorial!

Hello there lovely readers!

Hope you're all having a top weekend, especially my American beauts on the other side of the pond! Oooh what I wouldn't give to be back in the states right now as this weekend sees the US celebrating its Fourth of July Independence Day meaning days of fab parties & fun times.

Naturally I couldn't resist marking the occasion in the way I know best & getting my nail art on. Using the American patriotic colours of red, white & blue I went for some dripping glitter Fourth of July Nails plus I've done a step by step tutorial so you can create these too!

I saw a picture of a similar design in a Daily Mail article of all places & thought ooooh what a fun & innovative way to do patriotic nails! Plus I love drip nail art (see my chocolate drip nails on the left of the page) & haven't done the design in yonks, perfect time to remedy that with this :)

If you want to re-create this design as well then keep on reading dolls...

First start with your red base, here I've applied just one coat of Nails Inc St James as I knew there would be a few layers of polish on top & didn't want to overdo it.

Then using the thin striper brush from my Models own white nail art pen I applied three vertical stripes down the length of the nail.

Now for the drips! Start by applying three dots on to the nail using a dotting tool as shown with your chosen blue polish, here I've used Nails Inc Baker Street.

Next, using a thin nail art brush, draw three vertical lines going down from your dots to the tips.

Using the same thin brush, curve the edges of the straight lines into your dots as well as applying polish along the tips of your nails to create your drip effect!

You can skip this next step but my inner magpie was calling for an extra bit of sparkle so I applied a bit of blue blingy glitter polish from Color Club on top.

For a final touch I just applied a wee red star rhinestone underneath my drips to finish.

Apply your topcoat & you're done! Sparkly Fourth of July nails ready for Independence Day party celebrations!

Thanks as always for reading! Have a fab weekend whatever you may be doing my dears!

Lotsa love to ya!