Pastel Galaxy with MoYou London Stamping Nail Art Tutorial

PRESS SAMPLE 

Hello my lovelies! We have been having a discussion about nail colours on Life in Lacquers Facebook page, why don't you pop over and join in?!


Today I have a review and video on MoYou London Hipster Plate 7. Here's a quick look at what I came up with

For the tutorial and more pictures please join us after the jump! 

Moyra Estelle 907 Review and Swatch

Today I got some nail mail from Moyra UK and I couldn't wait to get this shade on!
Moyra is a European brand which is now sold in the UK. I have reviewed a few of their polishes before and use them regularly.
They are a budget brand (the most they cost is £4, think BarryM type pricing) but they are by far my favourite budget brand. They are better than BarryM in my opinion as I just love the Moyra brush. Its flatter and wider so, for me, makes application easier.

This is Estelle. Also known as No. 907. A lot of the Moyra polishes don't have names but use numbers instead.

This is from their Gel Look range. They are highly pigmented but not thick unlike the BarryM Gellys. I find them very easy to apply and the pictures show 2 coats with KBShimmer Clearly On Top topcoat.
It was quite shiny by itself but also slower drying.
No streaks or blotches which I have found to be a problem with other dark reds.

Estelle is a strange shade of red. In direct light it can be quite bright like the pictures but in low or artificial light it turns to quite a muddy deep red. Think old blood...Gross.
Although it bares a resemblance to gore, it still looks very classy and I do really like it.
I have always been a great fan of reds and feel they do suit me.

All in all this shade is fab and there are no complaints from me!
This shade and many others are available from Moyra UK, prices start at £3 (£2 sale running for a very limited time)

Mylar Nail Art

Heres a new one for me.... Mylar.

I first heard about it years ago when I was working as a nail tech but I had never tried it.Until now!
I know Mylar can be great encapsulated in gel or acrylic but I was unsure how to use it with polish.

This is shade Iridescent Hot Pink and in the bag you get 5g but that is loads!

I basically just put it on top of wet nail polish to stick it and then topped with topcoat. 2 coats needed at least. If you are one of those people who don't like things sticking on your nails then this wouldn't be for you at all.

I really like this Mylar. Its pink but also looks blue and even Orange sometimes. I think it adds a unique dimension.
I was in a massive grump doing this nail art so as you can see its not my best. I just hate Rose Hip by +Barry M . Its streaky and hard to apply. It gets me in a rage every time I use it! I just love the colour though... Anyone know of any alternatives?

I used a darker pink acrylic and a nail art brush from Effect Beauty to do the squiggles and dots.

You can buy the nail art brushes and Mylar from Effect Beauty. They sell everything you could ever want in regards to nail art plus you can get 10% off using code LACQUER

Like I said Mylar may not be for everyone but sticky up bits don't bother me and I rather like it.

*press sample, All opinions expressed are honest and my own*

GUEST POST Dotty Mani by BGPolish

Hey there you lot! I'm new around here.. My name is Catriona from BGPolish and I am doing a guest post for the lovely Jade! I thought about a lot of different things I could do for you today, but I finally came up with something! Gold and Silver Bubbles!

In this look I began with painting my nails in Barry M Silver Foil and then I painted two large lines on either side of the nail coming downwards and two shorter lines in the middle with Barry M Gold Foil. After this I took Silver with a large dotting tool and dotted over the gold, and a small to dot gold on the silver.

I topped this with Seche Vite, and I really hope you like it, I also hope you can understand my ramblings. If you liked this design please pop over to my blog and have a look around, and thank you so much to Jade for putting up with me and letting me guest post! - Always.


Thanks so much for posting for me Catriona and I love your metallic mani!! 

Love Skittle Nail Art

This mani is super cute, even if I do say so myself :)

This is a skittle mani a la Nailasaurus, as you all know I love +The Nailasaurus.

 She is a real inspiration to me :)

I got sent these really lush Love charms from Effect Beauty. The feature a little diamante and I really love them. I did bent them a little to get them to sit flatter but I think it would probably sit better if I had bigger or longer nails. 

Doing different nail arts on different nails is quite fun as you get to try out different designs and see what you like :) 

I used BarryM Rose Hip for the base, I really dislike the formula of this polish.

 Intensely.

I also used Zoya Areej and Barry M Dragon Fruit. 

What so you all think? 

The Love charms are available to buy from Effect Beauty and used LACQUER at the checkout for 10% off. 

some of these products were sent to me for my honest review. please see my disclaimer for details. 

B is for Butterflies Nail art

New BarryM Gellys are MINE! 

I havent bought any mainstream polishes in soooo long as I have really only been excited by indies. BUT when BarryM brought out the new Gellys it rekindled my love for the ones I already own and then I decided I needed more! 

The new gellys I have bought seem in no way as thick as the others I have which I am a bit disappointed about as I love using them for art and stamping but as we all know they will thicken up in time. 

This is another one of those faffing nail arts where I have no idea or plan I just go with it..... 

So this is what I went with. 

I went for a waterfall (Nailasaurus inspired) then added some Happy Hands B Is For Butterflies to the ring finger. 

Macro bottle shot  *i didn't get any flowers or butterflies on my nails :( *

The middle finger is a sponging technique using the the Gelly polishes, I think it looks washed out like watercolours, I just call it mottling LOL 

I used, from the Gelly Range, Huckleberry as the base and then Prickly Pear and Greenberry for the add ons. Oh and I used a Color Club glitter striper too (squint and ya may see it LOL) 

Like I said they are a lot thinner so that was a tad annoying but I still like the overall look.

I am in LOVE with pastels and I think we will be seeing a lot of them again this summer.

What do you think? Do you love pastels? 

Sorbet Seams For Lovers in a Rush

Today we have another swatch from the very fashionable Sorbet Seams. 

Sorbet Seams is an indie brand based in Belgium and run by Sally Meyvis. 

As you may remember I swatched Coffee and Flowers a couple days ago, you can see it HERE 

This is For Lovers in a Rush.

It has a mixture of glitter in ice blue, silver and gold holo.

I chose to layer this topper over Lychee by BarryM. 

I thought this looked elegant but with a flash of fun and glam.

I like how it catches the light. 

I chose to do a glitter fade today, with a feature ring finger, mixing it up! 

The ring finger has two coats so you can see the sort of coverage. 

It has a fantastic coverage and it really isn't thick to apply. 

I used 1 coat of Seche Vite and that left the nails smooth. 

I love this topper and have really really love the bottles they come in! 

SOOOO trendy! 

To buy this and other Sorbet Seams polishes please head on over to their ETSY store.

**this polish was sent to me for my HONEST review, please see my disclaimer page for more info**

Breast Cancer Awareness Week Day 4

Today we have something a bit blingy! 

I have used studs and two different sizes of pearls both purchased from +BornPretty BPS 

I used Essie Cascade Cool and BarryM Gelly Grapefruit. 

All topped off with Color Club topcoat. 

Again my pics are not great. I really need some help lol 

I used a Fan brush to make this design and set the pearls and studs in the topcoat. 

What do you think of today's design? I love a bit of bling! 

Please spare a moment to look at the other girlies work tonight... Breast Cancer Awareness Nail-Supporters

Pish Posh and Polish	Nail Parade!	No More Nail Polish Mum!
Monkey Nails	Emma's Little Corner	The Pink PrincessZ
Life in Lacquer	Neon Sparkly Nails

Simple Stripes

Yesterday I went to TK Maxx and found a set of Color Clubs for £9.99. The set features seven colours from the Girl About Town collection.

I have only ever tried one Color Club before and was keen to try some more! 

I chose to use Silver Lake. A very light grey. I used two coats for perfect coverage. The formula and application are fab. Although I don't think it suits my skin tone.

Again, my pics are not great. In fact I seem to be getting worse! Lighting is rubbish! I am so close to investing in a light box but I just don't know (opinions VERY welcome!)

I used a tiny brush from a nail art set by Essence. I bought it from Sally Magpies (and its on half price clearance!)

Its so thin and really nice to use. 

I used BarryM Gelly in Blackberry to so the stripes but I found it got thick very quickly so was very hard to get straight lines :( 

What do you think? What's your fave brush to use? 

Have a great weekend! 

NOTD: Mysterious Lines

I love BarryM gelly polishes but i hardly ever use them. I find them a bit thick sometimes so I think that puts me off when I go to pick my colours.

I have wanted to use Sick Lacquers Mysterious Ways for ages and last week I wore it on a night out, but forgot to take photos DUH!
Everytime I use a new Sick Lacquers polish I always say to my other half  "this is my favorite one, you know."
I just love them all so much I can't actually decide which one I like best. The formula is always great, never too thick (my pet hate) and have great coverage in two coats.
I hand painted the lines using a very small brush that I have cut down some of the strands to make it even thinner.

 For this funky line mani I used Sick Lacquers Mysterious Ways. BarryM Gelly in Guava and Grapefruit. All Pictured with 2 coats.

Whenever I photograph Guava its never bloody right. Its alot more of a teal in real life and you can really see the green hue. Its not this blue pictured here. *SIGH*

Mysterious Ways has a white base which is opaque in two coats. It features glitter in a vast array of sizes and colours. 

You can find Sick LacquersHERE

What do you think of this bright mani? 

Harry Potter Nail Art!

Hello everyone!! 

This weekend my lovely husband drove me nearly 3 hours away to go on the Harry Potter Studio Tour! 

I am a massive Harry Potter Geek and it was amazing to see all the props and scenery! My favourite part was walking down Diagon Alley, I also enjoyed looking at the Ministry of Magic bits and bobs. 

The tour was amazing and we had a great time away. 

Obviously I have done some nail art for the occasion! 

I used BarryMs Black Multi Glitter and white acyclic paint for this look. I also used MoYou Back to the 80's 2 stamping plate for the little finger. 

The black has loads of lovely glitter in but it really shows in the sunlight! It is also a one coater pretty much so that helps too. 

What do you think? Are you a fan of the books and/or films? Who is your fave character? Mine is Ron Weasley for sure  <3 !!! 

Scatterbrains!

I am having a bit of a scatterbrain day today so I thought I would use this beaut called Scatterbrains from Sick Lacquers.

See what I did there?!

This is a funky polish indeed. Bright hexes and black shards in a milky base. If you look closely there is also micro pink glitter! 

My nail art actually SUCKS on this. I am not happy really but if I had done the triangles straighter it would have looked fab. 

I used BarryM's Gelly in Grapefruit and Blueberry to do the design. 

The studs are from the Born Pretty Store. You can buy them HERE 

Sick Lacquers Scatterbrains is available from Peggie and John HERE

Neon Graffiti Nails

Capturing neon's have got to be one of the hardest things in the world, okay its not brain surgery, but its up there. This is no where near how bright it is in real life. I mean I could halt a plane with these nails :P

Here is my take on a graffiti style stamping. 

Its nowhere near as crisp or lovely as I would want and the clean up was a pain in the proverbial's BUT its so bright I just love it!

I first used a white base, if you do not use a white base the neon's will be streaky.

Products Used 

Orly Glowstick 

China Glaze Kiwi Cool-Ada

BarryM White 

Konad Black. 

Cheeky Musical Nails Jumbo Plate

Seche Vite Top coat 

To do the gradient I first did a base of BarryM white, then applied two coats of GlowStick. 

I used a makeup sponge to then blend in the green. 

So what do you think of neon nail polish? Love it or hate it?

Mr Bump Nail Art!

I'm back baby!! 

Last week I dropped the laptop and smashed the screen DOH! 

I now have it back so normal blogging can resume!! 

In honor of the constant mishaps in my life, here's Mr Bump!

Products Used

Essie Avenue Maintain 

BarryM Confetti in Bubblegum 

BarryM Matt White

Acrylic Paint

Seche Vite top coat

This post is also the first post using my new Canon and the first time I have used watermarks. 

What do you think? Are watermarks necessary, do they detract from the photo? 

Pastel Textured Mani With Pearls

Today has been really nice weather so here's a lovely pastel mani to bring out your tan!

I was really not sure about textured polish but I actually really like this!

These are Station Road, Ridley Road and Kingsland Road by BarryM.

I have blogged about another textured polish by InVogue, which you can find HERE

This polish isnt textured enough that it annoys me, but textured enough to feel and see it. 

The yellow (Station Road) has glitter in it but I coulent really notice it that much, 

The pearls are from Sparkly Nails. They come in packs of 45 and sell for £1.50.

You can buy the pearls, along wuth a massive range of nail art products HERE

They are really easy to use. Just use a damp orange wood stick to pick them up and place onto damp topcoat. Sometimes I place them onto nail adhesive to make them really last. 

Sparkly Nails also offer same day dispatch and free delivery for orders over £20. 

What do you all think of textured nail polish? Love it or hate it?

*some of these products were sent to me for an HONEST review. The views on this product are COMPLETELY my own.*

Artsy Rose Nail Art

Today 2 of my new stamping plates by Cheeky turned up.... 

So expect to see lots of stamping from now on! 

This is from the Home Sweet Home Jumbo plate 2013. 

I purchased them from +Amazon.co.uk. But because they came directly from Asia they took approx 12 working days to arrive. 

They have a nice range of patterns on. The full designs are a lot bigger than usual, but this isn't necessarily a good thing. looking at a few designs I am wondering if they will even fit on my nails. 

Only time will tell I suppose. 

But i really am looking forward to trying the new designs as there are some really funky ones! 

Products Used 

CND Sticky Base

BarryM Matte White 

Essie She's Pampered

Konad Special Polish in Black 

Seche Vite 

To do this I made circles in Shes Pampered first then indiviually stamped over them after. 

I think this does look a bit messy but i actually really like that, this pattern reminds me of Clarice Cliff in some ways. 

This also fits in to the new white nail trend! I have seen a lot of people wearin white nail polish recently, i remember the first time I wore white nail polish a few years ago.....

 My auntie said it looked like Tip-Ex LOL....

Nautical Style Nail Art

 Nautical nails are one of my favorite designs to do. I have no idea why, but I especially love an anchor lol!

I hand painted the anchor, but now I look back at it, it looks a tad naff lol

I did this design for the Nail Polish Lovers group on Google+ 

Products used 

Cheeky plates CH36 and CH 49 and Konad stamping polish in black and white. 

Essie Butler Please and BarryM Blueberry Ice Cream 

Whats your fave theme of nail art to do? 

Bright Leopard Print with Studs

Im Back!!!!

Have you missed me?

My laptop was poorly so it had to go to laptop hospital.

All is well again so here i am!

Today we have a very bright summer mani

I used BarryM Gelly in Guava and W7 in Its Pink!

I also used BarryM in Black for the print.

The W7 polish is the brightest colour I own and unfortunately I couldn't get the camera to capture the colour properly :( It is a lovely pink neon. 

The studs are from the Born Pretty Store.

Nail Luxxe Guest Post Week 2

 

 Hi everyone, Nail Luxxe here!

Jade's let me pop over again to show you another look :)

White and gold is one of my all time favorite colour pairings. So I decided to translate that onto my nails in today's manicure, which uses all Barry Ms.

Starting with one coat of White I painted the whole nail and waited for it to dry.  Then I went in with a beauty sponge and dabbed Barry M's Gold Foil from the top of the nail to the centre, easing the pressure as I went.  (If it wasn't for Jade I wouldn't even know that this is referred to as a 'mottling technique'!) To complete it, I added a coat of topcoat.

For some reason it makes me think of desert sand, maybe because of the textured effect. Or it could have something to do with the beautifully hot weather we've been having lately!

I hope you have a great rest of the week.

Nail Luxxe xoxo

You can check out Nail Luxxe HERE

Zebra Print Nail Art

 

Here I have again used the mottling technique used in posts HERE and HERE

I think this is one of my most fave techniques as its so easy to do and cant be achieved on both hands easily.

 

I used BarryM's Blueberry Ice Cream as a base then used BarryM's Guava, OPI If You Moust, You Moust for the mottling and Accessorize Damselfly for the glitter.

 

I used a Bundle Monster Stamp for the zebra print but I also painted over it with black polish to make it stand out more.

 

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend!