Doctor Crafty's Green and Orange Abstract - NCC Recreations

Hey y'all!

It's finally Friday!  This makes for exciting news for most of the us, and today I'm excited to be able to bring you my final recreation for this month's Nail Challenge Collaborative theme, celebrating 3 years of nail art goodness.  Today I've decided to recreate Doctor Crafty's Green and Orange Abstract Geometric nail art, which I thought was a really unique and colorful, fun look.

Multichrome Black Lace nail art

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On Saturday's swatch I showed you a beautiful multichrome shifting polish.  While multichromes are certainly beautiful on their own, after a couple of days, even they can begin to feel a bit "blah."  Today I'd like to show you how a little bit of creative stamping can up your mani game and extend the life of a mani for at least a couple more days.

Hey, Swatch It! ILNP Peace (H)

Hey y'all!

Happy Saturday!  For today's Swatch It, I have another gorgeous Ultrachrome polish from ILNP, made extra special by the addition of a bit of holo sparkle!  This is the holographic version of Peace.

31DC-D27 - Recreate One Of Your Old Manis

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Today's prompt for the 31-Day Challenge has us revisiting our archives to recreate a look we've already done.  I had a hard time deciding between remastering a look I flopped the first time around or revamping a look that I got right, and ultimately decided that I had to recreate one that had a request for a tutorial which I never got around to.  I still haven't done the tutorial, mind you, but at least I'm dusting off the original look for another go. 

31DC-D15 - Green Base

Hey y'all!

We're just about halfway through this 31-day challenge, and the fatigue is starting to show on me, but I still feel like I'm accidentally coming up with some cool looking nail art, so on I persevere.  Today's prompt is Green Base, so I grabbed a handful of green polishes in different finishes, and went to work adapting an older technique to suit my purpose.

Holo Leopard nail art

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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!

Fall-ing for Nail Art: Elegant Gold and Purple

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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.

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!

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.

Autumn Nail Art: Burgundy plaid

Hey y'all!

I've been really excited seeing so many fall/autumn nail art designs created lately, and it has definitely put me in the mood to do some of my own.  Today's look features a classic fall color scheme along with a classic fall print.  Check out this burgundy plaid look!

Guest post for BG Polish

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I'm guest posting today over at the home of my girl Catriona at BGPolish.  Check it out if you want to see a full breakdown and color pics for this stamped holo nail foil nail art.

Colour Me Crazy - Green

*** This post contains items which were sent for review. ***

Hey y'all!

Happy August!  For today's Colour Me Crazy challenge, I pulled a shiny out of my untrieds pile to do a little bit of experimenting.  I had a hunch that ILNP's Ultrachromes would stamp over black.  Since the lovely people at MoYou Nails sent me 3 new plates to review, I decided to test my theory.  Check out that gorgeous green-to-purple shift!

VividLacquer meets ILNP

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Today's nail art look is the teeny tiny baby of two of my favorite indie nail brands - ILNP and VividLacquer.  I submitted this look to a nail art competition being hosted by Cat at BGPolish, and wanted to share the lovely results with you!

Tutorial: Duochrome pebble nail art

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

Hey y'all!

Today I have a tutorial video for you on how to create these color-shifting nails with a colorful oval stud on the accent nail:

Mani Monday: Holy Holo Half Moons nail art

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

Hey y'all!

Happy Monday, everyone!  Today you get a special three-in-one post, as I've got a fantastic US indie polish I purchased on our trip last month and glequins which were sent for review from Born Pretty Store, and some sparkly nail art to boot!

Hols Haul!

Hey y'all!

First off... today's my birthday, but I'm finally going to the doctor to take care of the lingering sinus and sore throat problems that we brought back with us from Texas last month.  As promised, I wanted to give you guys a haul post that trip, and today's your lucky day.  I certainly did quite the spree, beginning in January by online ordering things and having them shipped to Momma Faff's house.  By the time it was all said and done, there were a few too many boxes and she got onto me about it.  I couldn't help it - I needed things!  Anyway... the morning after we arrived, I sat down to the most wonderful breakfast of coffee and opening boxes, and managed to consolidate everything into one tiny pic that went on my Instagram feed immediately.

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow...

Hey y'all!

Happy St. Patrick's day - the day when everyone claims just a bit o' the Irish heritage, if only long enough to drink beer and dance a jig!  I plan on doing some arm-curls tonight, so I have to make sure I show you these gaelic nails before I do, lest I be taken by the Guinness and forget!

First, though, a blessing:

May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.
Read more at http://www.theholidayspot.com/patrick/irish_blessings_and_sayings.htm#6HXuVOsThkshOcuJ.99

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow,
and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.

And here's the nails!

Llama Nails Holiday Challenge week 11 - New Year's Day Tabula Rasa

Hey y'all!

First off, let me wish one and all a happy new year.  2014 came in with a distinctly "whomp whomp" in the Faff house last night.  We opened a bottle of bubbly, but between the two of us didn't manage to drink it all.  The remaining glass wound up going into the slowcooker with my black-eyed peas (called black-eyed beans in the UK).

Typical new year food in most southern states should include black-eyed peas (symbolizing wealth because they look a bit like coins to some people, and prosperity because they swell when cooked), collard greens or another green vegetable (symbolizing money), cornbread (symbolizing gold), and a pork product (because pigs are meant to symbolizing progress and embracing challenges because they root forwards in the dirt).  Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any cornmeal here in my part of the UK, so there won't be any cornbread on my plate this year but I reckon that's okay because making cornbread from scratch is a bit of a pain anyway.  I'll have to remember to buy some packets of cornbread mix next time I visit home and squirrel them away in the cupboard for January 1, 2015.  Anyway... followers on my Instagram may have already seen I've got my black-eyed peas in the slowcooker today with bacon lardons, onions, and chopped tomatoes, and I'll have some steamed broccoli on my plate as well since I never really liked collard greens (or any other of the "greens" for that matter).  Mr. Faff thinks my dinner stinks.  He just doesn't know good southern food, and he's a picker eater anyway.

For today's manicure theme, I did something a little bit different.  I originally intended this manicure to be a New Year's Eve mani rather than a New Year's Day, but after getting into the look, I decided it actually made more sense as a Jan 1 manicure.  I made a geometric pattern on all of my nails and my accent nail is a tabula rasa.  For me, this represents maintaining beauty and sparkle throughout the year while keeping a blank slate for writing my own destiny.

Llama Nails Holiday Challenge week 10: Christmas

Hey y'all!

First off, let me wish all of you a Merry Christmas!  I'm going to keep today's post relatively faff-free, but picture-heavy, because I kind of love this manicure for the Llama Nails challenge: Christmas.
 

Llama Nails Holiday Challenge week 9: Winter

Hey y'all!

Hard to believe Christmas is only a week away, isn't it?  Here in southwestern England, the weather has been quite mild for what I expected midway through December.  We've had a few nights of drizzling rain filled with teeny little tufts of micro snowflakes, which hubby says they call sleet.  After some research, it turns out that once again, this is another word that has completely different meanings in the UK vs US.  Back home, sleet is rain with actual ice in it, not to be confused with hail, which is bigger.  Apparently here, they call them "ice pellets".  It's true, we really are two countries divided by a common language.  In any event, the winter is here, but I expect it to get much worse before it gets better.

This week's theme for the Llama Nails challenge is, in fact, Winter.  I wanted to capture some traditional wintery images, even if we haven't really experienced much of it where I live.