NOTD - Peek-A-Boo Panda Nails for #artists4earth

Hey there lovely readers!

Coming at ya with some cuteness today with these sweet Peek-A-Boo- Panda Nails, not just for the good vibes because who DOESN'T want an adorable bear on their nails, but more importantly for a good cause too!   

NOTD - Earth Day Nails

Hello there my lovely readers!

Aaaah I am SO happy with how this finished design came out, so much so that it actually may be my most favourite nail art look of the month! Hurrah for nail art wins. I've had so many fails of late I was beginning to despair...

NOTD - Dr Seuss The Cat In The Hat Nails

Hey there lovely readers!

Something a tad, crazy & quirky, for today's nail art I think  is an apt way ti describe this design hah!

Halloween Nails - Ghoulish Yin Yang Ghosts!

Hello there lovely readers!

We are officially now in my favourite time of year, Autumn & October with its abundance of candles & cosy nights soothes my soul greatly & of course most importantly tis October which holds the best holiday of all...Halloween!

Not sure how one will be marking the occasion this year, every time plans are made I always seem to end up changing mind last minute & having a low key celebration...lets see how it pans out this year. In the run up to the big day, you know I like to get into the spirit of things in my favorite way of course!

I have lots of ideas floating around, though how many of these will actually see the light of day remains to be seen. But lets start things of with a ghoulish vibe shall we with some spooky ghost nails with a Yin Yang twist! I saw this design on YouTube & absolutely LOVED the idea of incorporating two tone ghosts to form a Yin Yang symbol, easy to do on account of their curvy ghoulish shapes.

NOTD - Anna Sui New York Fashion Week Inspired Nails

Hello there lovely readers!

I have a bit of a backlog at the moment of nail art that I want to share on this here blog, as I've mentioned before I've been partaking in a few nail art challenges on Instagram of late which are not only fun but have been really good for me to get creative & challenge myself when it comes to my nail art which as you know I love!

You can have a peek at my Instagram of course (@aysh_xox) where I've been regularly posting my designs but seeing as I have this space on the interwebs too, I wanted to share them on here as well.

I LOVE finding inspiration for nail art in EVERYTHING. However one of my favourite places to seek inspo is in the world of fashion. There really is so much room to have fun & explore. One of the first challenges I took part in, I was overjoyed upon hearing Fashion was the theme. 

I went to browsing online for a piece to inspire me & I was immediately caught by this beautiful Anna Sui dress that Gigi walked on the runway during New York Fashion Week & I simply had to recreate it on my nails.

NOTD - Toothless the Dragon Nails!

Hello there lovely readers!

A spot of fun randomness with today's nail art....I love finding inspiration in all things, especially one of my greatest joys...animated movies! 

Browsing through Netflix the other day I came across one of my favourites & I'm sure a film that is for many others too...How To Train Your Dragon. I've yet to find anyone of any age who DOESN'T love this movie & I think we know its mostly down to the bloomin adorable Toothless.

I was in the mood for something dark yet fun so I decided to use the lovely Toothless as my inspiration and created this Toothless Dragon Tips design!

Haha different non? But I'm chuffed with how they came out, I certainly did my work colleagues heads in the next day asking them WHO they thought it was on my nails...& 99% of them got it right! Currently NOT talking to the 1% who thought it was the rabbit ghost from Watership Down.... AHEM. O_O

Anyhoos for my Toothless nails a suitable black was required & rather than use a plain black polish I reached for this pretty by Illamasqua called Creator which is filled with teeny silver microglitters giving it a fun edge & I felt would actually add to the effect of the dragon like scaly skin.

Using my black polish & a fine nail art brush I freehanded my Toothless faces to each nail. To do this start by drawing on a U shape about 3/4 of the way on the centre of the nail.

Then continuing on from the bottom curve of your U shape, draw 2 lines either side, downwards to the tips, curving out slightly to create the face, before filling in.

Add on 2 little spikes in middle of the U for his horns & then for the eyes I simply dotted on two white dots, before going over with a neon green (this makes the neon pop)

Final step is adding on 2 thin dragon pupils on to your eyes with a spot of black polish & a fine brush before finishing with topcoat...Hello Toothless!

Hope you liked, now thinking of other animated characters I can bring to life on my nails....Thanks as always for stopping by darklings! 

Lotsa love to ya!

Huntsman Winters War - Evil Queen Ravenna Inspired Nails!

Hey lovely readers!

I finally watched the new Huntsman Winters War film recently which went down a treat! I thoroughly enjoyed the first film, Kristen Stewart's awful performance aside, the combination of Chris Hemsworth & Charlize Theron's fantastically crazy Evil Queen was divine & knowing that Emily Blunt was present portraying Freya the Snow Queen in this film, I simply I couldn't miss it & it didn't disappoint :)

I knew when looking at the promos prior to release that I had to attempt a mani inspired by each of the queens, Ravenna with her dark gothic gold and Freya with her icy silver was just screaming nail inspiration to me! So lets start things off with the Evil Queen Ravenna...

Unfortunately I did this mani in the evening by which time all decent lighting was lost therefore I had to wait the next morning to snap pics! Because of this it wasn't as neat as the day before, having lost a few shards & a bit of lifting! But I'm rolling with it anyhoos ;)

I started with two coats of this Revlon polish Enthrall, quite fitting actually, which I actually only picked up last week after spotting it in Poundland! The dark olive/black with a stunning golden shimmer running through immediately made me think of Ravenna. So gothic-ly pretty!

Its a bit difficult to see but I added a few sharp downwards streaks of black polish from the cuticles using a thin nail art brush & black polish.

I then used some pretty gold flakes I picked up from Born Pretty Store, using a wet brush to help pick up the shards of gold, I just placed a few pieces on top of the black streaks by the cuticle edge of the nail also.

Whilst doing a recent Born Pretty Haul (FYI you can use my code TRUW10 for 10% off your order) I couldn't resist picking up a few spike nail art charms too! This I added on to my ring finger as an accent using a bit of topcoat to help secure it down.

Finish with a thick coat of topcoat & thats it! A dark gothic gold (& perhaps slightly dangerous) manicure suitable for any Evil Queen! You may need to add a good few topcoats to keep those gold flakes in place!

Thanks as always for reading! Stay tuned for a frosty themed mani for Freya...

Lotsa love to ya!

What I Wore...Pirating

Hey there lovely readers!

Mixing things up a tad in between all the nail art action with a little "What I Wore" post for you today lovelies!

As you might know already if you follow me on social media (@Aysh_tmb) one of my current obsessions is the shopping app DEPOP, I'm forever going on about it & its become my go to place to browse first. I've found some amazing clothes/shoes purchases on there, all for bargainous prices, including a brand new Pyon Lolita coat for £40 & most recently a new pair of LE Irregular Choice loafers for a tenner! So yup, I am a hardcore Depop-er, send help ;)

Today's outfit includes another recent Depop purchase...some sleek new booties. I was after a pair of knee highs as my current ones were getting a bit worse for wear & came across this lovely pair from Next that seemed to fit the bill nicely.

They are made from sturdy leather which is great for battling the elements, lets face it in England thats a necessity as you never know when the heavens will open most unpredictably! A bit of a heel twas also a requirement for the height challenged individual that is yours truly & the length hitting to just below the knee is perfect.

The outfit itself consists of a vintage blouse with a bit of old age sleeve action going on that was picked up donkeys ago from a charity shop yet still remains one of my favs, I heart bell sleeves muchly, instantly transforming what would be an ordinary piece into something more feminine. It was a tad chilly (Spring where are you?!) so I threw on a trusty black t shirt underneath.

On top of that I threw on my Topshop velvet black playsuit, another fav, I always get lovely comments on this whenever I wear it, not only is it pretty, soft & BLACK (the goth girl is content) but its so darn cosy too! Except maybe when one needs to use the washroom & forgets until the last minute that you're wearing a one piece...*cue speedy panicked unzipping* O_o

Leggings were required to finish the outfit. All together the ensemble kinda bought pirate vibes to mind, but I managed to hold myself back from adding an eye patch to complete the look. Perhaps next time. Thanks as always for stopping by beauts!

Lotsa love to ya!

NOTD - Louboutin Inspired Gradient Nails

Hello there my lovely readers!

Aaaah Louboutins...a name I'm sure many are familiar with & whose iconic shoes are present on most gals wish lists! I'm still yet to be fortunate enough to call a pair my own but one day...it will be. The same goes for the beautiful Louboutin nail polish with its stunning bottle, I confess its mostly for the bottle that I want it...one day you WILL be mine!

In the mean time I guess I can still get my wee fix by using the infamous red & black colours to inspire my nail art which is what I've done today with these Louboutin inspired gradient nails...

I wasn't entirely happy with how these came out if I'm honest, I'm still practicing doing gradients with darker colours which I'm finding a tad more tricky so do forgive me! This was one of those manis that looked much better at distance haha! But practice makes perfect so I'll persevere for sure :)

For my Louboutin nails I of course required a nice red & black polish, here I've used W7 Black & Bad Apple Red Delicious.

To start first apply a coat of red polish as your base to do your gradient on top of, then wait for it to completely dry.

Then grab a piece of makeup sponge, I guess you can use any old sponge but I like using these. I pick up a bag from good old Poundworld.

The gradient will go from red to black so apply a stripe of each shade side by side onto your sponge, then dab onto the nail with up/down, side to side motions to create your faded gradient look.

Do this a few times, adding more polish to your sponge, to get a nice opaque finish or until your happy with the effect. To finish I also dabbed a bit of Ulta3 Outasight which is a black glitter, onto the tips for an added touch.

Go over with a nice thick coat of topcoat & you're done! Now gradients can be messy, I used ZAP!, a liquid latex nail art skin protector to help with the clean up part of this manicure,which I'll be reviewing in full for you in my next post so do keep posted for that!

FYI the ring bling is Hugo Sophia :) Thanks for reading lovelies!

Lotsa love to ya!

What I Wore...Glitter Goth

Hello there lovely readers!

Blimey January is a toughie eh? That struggle of re-joining the gym which is still pending action & you wonder if it EVER will...the excruciatingly slow wait for the next pay day to come round *gazes far in to the abyss*... I'd gotten so used to 3 or 4 day weeks in the last month of December that getting back into the swing of a five day working week is proving a hard task! A holiday is required methinks to counter all this stress, but good news is that New York episode 2 is officially booked & confirmed for June this year & I cannot WAIT! *cue happy dance* After falling head over heels with the city last year I knew I'd be returning for sure & to do so in the summer months where hopefully the weather will be good is the cherry on top. 

Anyhoos trooping onwards for now with a wee outfit post for you today beauts, just to mix it up a tad.

Those who know me well know that bargain hunting is a task I take seriously & not without a touch of pride! Snapping up a good deal is most satisfying, Depop is my addiction, having discovered some ace finds, most recently a Vintage Star Wars skirt featured HERE as well as a new Lolita coat which I nabbed for only £40! As they retail for up to £200 I think that definitely qualifies as a bargain buy. When it comes to shopping in stores I tend to be more weary, I don't do well in crowds & often the sale racks look like a bomb site that breaks me out in a sweat to even contemplate facing! However there is the rare occasion where I manage to discover a treasure hidden away, one such find was this piece of glitter goodness in H&M no less.

GLITTAAH! Oh yus the inner pixie was definitely happy with this sparkly number as well as satisfying my dark soul ;) I do have a soft spot for H&M as they occasionally roll out stellar items like this divine long tee with skeleton rib-cage detail along the front & sleeves covered in beautiful turquoise glitter, its glinting was what caused me to pause whilst strolling by.

The shirt is made up from a thin black see through cotton, very comfy but some underlining twas required, wouldn't want to flash any dodgy parts haha! This was rectified with the simple addition of a long sleeve black t shirt which in this current freezing climate we are experiencing was necessary too! Layers for the win.

I am a lover & loyal wearer of dresses, nothing makes me feel happier than donning a swirling skirt & I'd say 80% of my wardrobe is entirely made up of swishy numbers of some sort, so this is quite different for me. However I adore channeling the gothic vibes on occasion also so this satisfies that perfectly.

Here I've teamed it with some velvet baroque leggings from Zara & my Biker Boots which were a Debenhams purchase many moons ago, finishing the look with a bit of waist cinching courtesy of a gothic leather belt.

So yup definitely happy with this addition to my wardrobe! Thanks as always for reading beauties! Next time your passing by H&M do have a browsy through their sales section, you never what treasures you might find ;)

Lotsa love to ya

Star Wars Storm Trooper Nails & What I Wore....

Hello there lovely readers!

Still very much on the Star Wars high here dolls. I thought I'd share with you the nails & outfit I wore to watch the film with my gang of fellow sci fi fans last week. Don't worry I didn't go as an ewok or jawa or any of the other wonderful suggestions my work colleagues kindly recommended to someone of my height... O_o Though there were a few Jedi's Knights strolling about!

I did however manage to nab this beaut one off piece vintage skirt from Depop, my favourite shopping app, I am seriously addicted to it! You can find such great bargains, I recently picked up a stunning brand new Lolita coat for a fraction of the retail price & this was another one of my finds. Do excuse the quick mirror selfie snaps! But...at least I can show you my snazzy new phone cover... ;) Also a Depop purchase!

The skirt is originally from brand MyTribe & made from the most superb vintage Return of The Jedi print material, with an elasticated waist, no belt is required so I can eat to my hearts content whilst wearing it which is most important. I paired it with a simple black lace top & knee high boots. It may be my new favourite piece & will definitely get a lot of loving! 

Moving on to the nails, if you caught my LAST POST you'll know that I recently recreated some R2D2 nails! As much as I loved these, the design was a bit palpitation inducing with its detail so for this occasion I decided to simplify it a tad with some black & white storm trooper nails!

For these you need just a white & black polish or nail art pen which I'm sure every gal has in her arsenal :)

For my white base I used two coats of Models Own White Out Hypergel, I absolutely love this range of polishes from Models Own, the white especially is guaranteed a glossy smooth opaque finish & they are also great for gradients!

I decided to use black polish with a fine brush instead of a nail art pen but use whatever you fell most confident with! Dipping your brush into you polish, start with two triangular shapes side by side for the storm troopers eyes.

Then draw a slightly upwards curved horizontal line above the eyes for the top of the helmet. Next draw another curved line, this one curving downwards below the eyes for the mouth.

Finish with three small vertical lines on the tips of the nails below the mouth to complete the ventilator of the mask.

Topcoat & that's it! I would've like to have added more detail but these were done in a rush as is obvious from a few of the lines looking more like grimaces haha! Storm troopers with gas alas.

Thanks as always for reading & may the force be with you always my lovelies!

Lotsa love to ya!