Saturday 29 November 2014

Hey, Swatch It! Black Cat Lacquer Aries

Hey y'all!

Happy Caturday!  Okay, so I'm never the cat meme girl to be honest, but I had to do it in honor of today's Swatch It brand - Black Cat Lacquers!  A couple months back, I did some clearance retail therapy online and found some great US indies through UK stockists.  I went back and forth on this particular polish because it's not *really* my shade of red, but ultimately I broke down and got it because it was so pretty and because it was created for my particular astrological sign.  This is Black Cat Lacquer Aries.

Black Cat Lacquer Aries swatch.

Friday 28 November 2014

Holo Leopard nail art

Hey y'all!

Happy Black Friday!  Today I have a quick and easy nail art look for you that will sparkle and shine without requiring too much effort from your food-coma'd state.  This leopard print is done in autumn/fall friendly shades, and doesn't take an art degree to pull off!

Easy autumn/fall holographic leopard print nail art.

Thursday 27 November 2014

Fall-ing for Nail Art: Traditional Thanksgiving

Hey y'all!

Happy Thanksgiving!  To my US readers, I hope you're all stuffed to the gills with yummy food and in the company of loved ones.  At the very least, I hope each and everyone one of you can find something for which to be thankful, and that goes for all of you, regardless of your national origin or geographic location.  Today's final prompt in the Fall-ing for Nail Art challenge is Traditional Thanksgiving images, and I bounced back on forth for this prompt for several days, trying to find something that wasn't too cliched or that hasn't been seen a million times already.  I've got a very untraditional take on traditional images, and it was inspired by my shopping trip today where I was really overloaded with all the Christmas decorations and sales going up in November.  It seems to happen earlier and earlier with each passing year, and here in the UK I was actually seeing Christmas sales going up before Halloween!

Christmas sales and decorations nail art.

Wednesday 26 November 2014

Fall-ing for Nail Art: Elegant Gold and Purple

Hey y'all!

Happy Humpday!  Today's prompt for the Fall-ing for Nail Art challenge brings us to Fall Inspired Colors.  Now, most people tend to think of reds, oranges, yellows, and browns when it comes to fall colors, but I went a different direction to create this look.

An elegant gold and purple nail art look.

Tuesday 25 November 2014

Fall-ing for Nail Art: Cinnamon Apples

Hey y'all!

I'm back today with another look for the Fall-ing for Nail Art challenge, and this time the prompt is Fall Foods!  I had a good long think about all the ways I could interpret this prompt and finally settled on a combo that creates one of my favorite fragrances of autumn: cinnamon and apples!

Cinnamon and apple nail art.

Monday 24 November 2014

Fall-ing for Nail Art: Fall Leaves

Hey y'all!

This week, the Challenge Your Nail Art group is back with another week-long challenge, this time centered around Fall/Autumn and Thanksgiving.  We'll be running daily nail art through Thursday this week, which should lead you all right into Black Friday and money-spending madness as we headroll into the Christmas season.  Today's prompt is Fall Leaves and/or Trees, and I've created this stamped look for you.

Fall or Autumn leaves nail art with marbled stamping over a glittery base.

Saturday 22 November 2014

Hey, Swatch It! ILNP Black Orchid

Hey y'all!

Happy Saturday!  Last week I showed you Iconic, ILNP's rose gold holographic polish.  Today I have another holo from the Fall 2014 collection, and this one's a personal squeeing favorite.  Black Orchid is a dark eggplant holo gem that I just couldn't stop staring at!

Swatch and review of ILNP Black Orchid.

Friday 21 November 2014

Peacock fantasy nail art

*** This post contains items which were sent for review and affiliate links. ***

Hey y'all!

Happy Friday!  Today I've got a quickie post for you, to show off some nail art created with a stamping plate from bornprettystore I received for review.

Nail art using Born Pretty 04 Dancing Peacock plate.

Wednesday 19 November 2014

Hey, Check it! Square matte glitter nail art

*** This post contains items which were sent for review and affiliate links. ***

Hey y'all!

Well, my shopping expedition on Monday was a bust.  The shop we were going to for my leather jacket closed on us, and I just wasn't successful finding anything in the other places we looked, so we came home and I'm back to shopping online to find what I'm after.  Jacket troubles aside, however, I've got some more new nail art goodies from bornprettystore to show off today, in the form of some thin plastic matte square "glitters" that I used to create this red and black checkered nail art.

Red and black checkered nail art using square matte glitters from born pretty store.

Monday 17 November 2014

Art Gecko Nail Art

*** This post contains items which were sent for review and affiliate links. ***

Hey y'all!

Monday's here again, but luckily Mr. Faff is off work today, so we're going to indulge in some retail therapy... mostly because I need a new leather jacket, so we're off to the shops.  However, I can say that my nails will look fabulous doing it!  Today I have the cutest nail charms to show you, which I received for review from bornprettystore, and I'm calling this look... art gecko. :)

Art gecko nail art.

Saturday 15 November 2014

Hey, Swatch It! Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Ink or Swim

Hey y'all!

Happy Saturday, once again!  Can you seriously believe we're already halfway through November, and Christmas is less than 6 weeks away?  I just don't even want to think about it!  Now that I've put that cheery thought in your head, how about I show you a gorgeous indie polish?  Octopus Party Nail Lacquer came on my radar earlier this year, and it appears that I was not alone.  Dave has a knack for mixing absolutely gorgeous colors and glitters, and I have truly felt lucky to own the ones I have, including this shiny pretty, Ink or Swim.

Swatch and review of Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Ink or Swim.

Friday 14 November 2014

Texas Traveling Nails

Hey y'all!

Happy Friday!  I've been gearing up behind the scenes to power through the rest of the year, and hopefully to start posting to my neglected YouTube channel again on a weekly basis.  My hope is that I'll be able to do nail polish swatches and art here on the blog, and use my channel to do tutorials for polish nail art and... acrylics/gels!  Since taking my tech training, I've been gathering supplies and practicing with them so that I can hopefully start those weekly videos before the end of the year!  I'm waiting now for my gel supplies to arrive, along with a training practice hand, which I'll use for the videos since I've decided I'm rubbish at keeping my own hands in frame while I'm working on them.  In the mean time though, I've still got a lot of polish nail art to show you, and I'm starting with the nails I did last month before setting off on our trip to Texas.  I wanted something sparkly and burnt orange and white (because I'm a Longhorn, afterall), and threw these together the night before we left (in a rush because I still had to pack!).

Texas tribute nail art featuring burnt orange OPI Chop-Sticking To My Story and Mentality Revelry under matte top coat.

Wednesday 12 November 2014

Guest Post: Jenni of Nail Art Novice

Hey y'all!

Today's post ends this round of Faffy guest stars, and I could not have picked a sweeter blogger to fill the spot than this lovely lady.  Written by yet another of my UK nail blogger buddies, Jenni's blog has been incredibly good to me, as I believe I have won at least 3 prizes in various giveaways over the last couple of years.  Beyond just being a great giveaway piñata, she's a fellow geek and loves playing with new colors and techniques as much as I do!  I happily present to you, the Nail Art Novice!

Hello Fixin' To Faff lovelies! My name is Jenni and I blog over at Nail Art Novice. Ali kindly did a guest post for me whilst I was in Australia this summer, so I thought it was about time I returned the favour!

My mani today is an autumnal skittle-I absolutely love Autumn, it's my favourite season, I love the colours and the weather and collecting conkers and scrunching through leaves and all of it! I grabbed a handful of autumn-y colours and sat down to do this mani, sort of winging it as I went!


Monday 10 November 2014

Guest Post: Elicia of Deliciate Nails

Hey y'all!

Welcome back to another week of guest posters at the FaffZone (thanks, Anne).  Hope you all had a relaxing weekend and are getting all your bits and bobs ready for the coming holidays.  Today I'm handing over the reins to another lovely UK blogger with gorgeous nails and an eye for color which both make me quite jealous!  Bonus points, because we almost share a first name.  Please welcome the beautiful and talented Elicia of Deliciate Nails!

Hello Readers!

Big thank you to the lovely Ali for letting me pop over to share one of my manis with you all! I’m pretty new to blogging so appreciate being able to reach a wider audience and as a regular reader and fan of Ali’s blog it’s certainly an honour.

Little bit about me – I’m Elicia from Deliciate Nails, 28 years old (booo), live in Sheffield, South Yorkshire and have a mild obsession with nail polish as I’m sure most of you readers do too! I started blogging just this year and am still picking lots up and learning.

The mani I created for this post is probably not very appropriate for this time of year but I just love bold bright nails and want to wear brights all year round!



Saturday 8 November 2014

Hey, Swatch It! ILNP Iconic

Hey y'all!

Have you been enjoying the changing weather and the line of guest posts?  In the past week, I've definitely had to pull out my sweaters/jumpers and furry slippers, and cranking on the heat during the day.  Sadly, I also packed away all my flipflops and open-toed shoes to replace them with my boots.  On the plus side, this means I don't have to worry about shaving my legs for at least 4 months!  On the plus side, cooler weather also means that a lot of indie polish makers are releasing some fabulous fall and winter collections, and today's swatches are from just such a collection.  I picked up a few new ILNPs whilst we were in Texas, and today I want to show you Iconic.

Swatch of ILNP Iconic.

Friday 7 November 2014

Guest Post: Rachel of Nail Parade!

Hey y'all!

Today the guest post series continues, where I hand over the steering wheel to another UK nail blogger, Rachel.  This lovely young lady dabbles in a bit of everything on her blog beyond just swatches and nail art, including her life, her books, her makeup, and even scouting!  It's my pleasure to introduce you to the nails which lead the Nail Parade!


Hey everyone! My name's Rachel and I'm from the blog Nail Parade!  Today I'm bringing a cute little hearts design for your nails, which I have featured on my blog before, but that was quite a while ago now so I'm bringing it back!  And don't worry, you don't need to be super amazing at using nail art brushes (I know I'm not!) because it doesn't even require them! All you need is 3 nail polishes. 

Wednesday 5 November 2014

Guest Post: Roz of Roz's Nail-Scapades

Hey y'all!

Today's guest feature is the lovely and talented blogger behind Roz's Nail-Scapades, whom I met through the British Nail Bloggers group on FB.  She is probably the most faithful TPT and GOT blogger I can think of, and her designs never fail to delight me.  Take it away, Roz!

Hi everyone,

I am so happy to be bringing you this mani. I would first of all like to thank Ali for giving me this opportunity to do a guest blog post on her blog. Thanks hun :)

What I have for you today is a watermarble extravaganza with the Kiko Milano Polishes I bought back in March. There is a store which opened in the next town over to me in Leeds and I just had to visit it. I bought 3 polishes when I was there and I want to show you today how they look when watermarbled and what my experience was.

Monday 3 November 2014

Guest Post: Sam of FingerFood Nails

Hey y'all!

Today I am so happy to be able to share with you a guest post by an incredibly talented woman who I have been lucky enough to call a cyberbuddy.  Shortly after joining the ranks of the British Nail Bloggers, I was quickly drawn to her beautifully artistic work (she's the mistress of the flowy, abstract look), and her use of bold, bright colors is as much an identifying trait as her impeccable brush skills.  Please welcome Sam, the brains and the beauty behind FingerFood Nails.

Hello everyone! As Ali has hopped back over the pond for a while she has asked for some guest posts and being one of her biggest fans, not only as an awesome nail artist, but also as a lovely human being who I love chatting with over the interweb (our "Wizard of Oz" battle is still a favourite), I couldn't resist.

I wasn't sure where to start as I'm barely painting my nails these days, but about a month ago I finally caved and ordered some stamping polishes from Mundo de Unas. I loved the simple mani I created to try the first one out so much that I wanted to share it and this seemed like a good opportunity :)

Saturday 1 November 2014

Hey, Swatch It! ellagee LE Bling In The New Year Collection

*** This post contains items which were purchased at a blogger discount for the purpose of review. ***

Hey y'all!

With Halloween now past us, it's time to start looking towards the holidays and all the beautiful makeup and polish collections that come with them.  I have an exciting preview to show you for a collection that opens for pre-order TODAY!  While I was in Texas earlier this month, I connected with Laura of ellagee, and she gave me the opportunity to show you a trio from her new Limited Edition Bling In The New Year collection.