Red October Flowers

Ελληνικά/ Greek

"Subtle" and "red" don't usually go together, but in this case I think they do. I have been doing a lot of subtle nail art lately and nude nails which is generally unusual for me, but I've been enjoying it. This particular combination feels so good on! It reminds me of a top I used to have with a similar colour combination and design. Sadly it was ruined by a nasty black sock that found its way to my laundry and turned everything an ugly shade of grey.

The m73 is one of my favourite plates. This floral design is pretty and not too in-your-face floral. It reminds me a lot of designs I used to do freehand. Here it is:

The breakdown

*1 coat of NailTek base coat
*2 coats of Essie - Jazz
*konad plate m73
*Stamping polish: Creative Nail Design - #431House of Rebels
*1 coat of Seche Vite Top coat

This is Halloween

Halloween is on Monday and it's fnally time to use the Halloween-themed designs on the Bundle Monster plates. I also decided to attempt a gradient nail using a sponge. I think it's ok for a first try!

The colour I used as a base was a jelly orange I made (or frankened as people tend to call these polishes) last year that I was craving for a jelly orange to match my favourite lip-gloss. It also saved me from buying O.P.I.'s Texas collection's jellies that came out a little bit later.

For sponging I used

1 layer of Oil of Olay - 680 Shimmering Sable (dark brown base with a bronze shimmer)

2 layers of Nubar  - Dark Castle (darkest grey with a metallic sheen) and 

1 layer of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

This is a picture I took with only the brown polish sponged on. 

After everything was nice and dry I used StarGazer Chrome 232 (silver) for stamping.

A few days earlier I had attempted to do another similar mani over ManGlaze's Matte is Murder, but the StarGazer Chrome 237 (gold) wasn't bright enough over black. Oh well.. It's still fantastic over other colours!

Happy Halloween!

Autumnal Irony: H&M - Looks Great on You

The gloom of winter is fast approaching and I wanted to wear a rust/terracotta kind of colour. H&M's Looks Great on You was perfect for what I wanted!

Two days later I got a bit tired of it and decided to use a stamp design that is the complete opposite of the current weather: flowers (Konad plate 51). 

Mannequin Hands with Essie's Jazz

In Greek/Ελληνικά

Essie's Jazz polish is a beige nude. It's a very flattering colour and I hope they never make the mistake of discontinuing it. It's really classic, beautiful and chic. 

Three coats are required for full coverage and it's a little bit runny, but I love it because it doesn't have a lot of white pigment and isn't stark. Not much else to say really, it's just perfect! 

Summer Blue : W7 - 18 Stellar

Last week in the UK we had the most unusually spectacular weather. It was so warm and beautiful; definitely much warmer than it had been all summer. Hence, I needed something summery and bright on my nails to match my outfit and my mood! 

W7 is a british budget brand that I wouldn't normally buy since their formula is not 3-free, but the colour was so pretty that I couldn't resist. Plus, it was only £2.00.

No18 Stellar is a gorgeous cerulean blue that is bright without being loud. The formula was quite a surprise! It was smooth like butter and was perfect in 2 coats. I wore it for three days and it remained perfect. No chipping and no white edges - at all! It was so smooth I am tempted to have a look at more at some point. And it didn't stain my nails!

Btw the ring is one of my creations!

 And here's a couple of beautiful autumnal pictures! I miss the heat of last week! 

Stranger Seaweeds: OPI Stranger Tides & Here today...Aragon Tomorrow

I rarely -if ever- do the same mani combination a second time. This one is different though. It's already the third time I've had it on since this summer.

OPI's Pirates of the Caribbean collection was one of  my favourites. I don't know what it is that attracted me to those colours, but I really love the ones I got. Stranger Tides is a cream light sage green that leans a tad towards yellow. I never thought I'd like such a nail colour, but I do!

OPI's Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow on the other hand is a polish I never quite made friends with. When I had seen it in store the lighting made it look like a dark creamy olive green. I was so disappointed when I took it out of the bag to discover it was an almost-black jelly green colour that I haven't used it more than a couple of times in the two years I've had it. I think now that there are olive green polishes out there and I can have the colour I want, I'll wear it and see it again for what it is and not what it isn't.

As soon as I had Stranger Tides on the idea popped into my head for this combination using konad plate m63. HTAT is the exact colour of wakame seaweed! I was very pleased with the end result since it looks like seaweed in the sea when there's a bit of wind and there's a lot of sand in the water.

And a picture to show you why you should occasionally file the rubbery part of your stamper. After a while it starts to not pick up the designs so well, but with a little bit of filing it's good as new!