Loose Glitter Gradient - What I Did Wednesday

Hey y'all!

I had a really hard time deciding what kind of nail art I should do with my swatch of Nail Pattern Boldness Allons-Y because it is just so beautiful, I didn't want to cover it up or take away from that sparkly goodness!  Ultimately while looking through my supplies I decided the only thing to do over glitter was add MOAR GLITTAH!

31DC-D21 - 3 Shades of Green/Yellow

Hey y'all!

Happy Humpday!  Today's prompt for the 31-Day Challenge is to use 3 Shades of Green and/or Yellow, which I kind of did a couple of days ago in green and I don't have 3 shades of yellow that are far enough apart to actually make a look with them so I am doing green again.  Isn't that exciting?  Pfft.  Whatever.  I don't need your pity.  I decided to make a double-stamping look into a bamboo forest and throw in a yellow accent nail just for SnGs.

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.

Magical Mondays and 31DC-D12 - Film

Hey y'all!

Happy Magical Monday!  Today I'm back with the next installment of the collab series I'm doing with Belle Glamour, celebrating one of our favorite mutual interests, Harry Potter.  It also works out quite nicely that today's prompt for the 31-Day Challenge is Film, so I could kill two birds with one stone!  This month, Cat and I are showcasing our favorite characters from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorceror's) Stone.  My personal favorite character is Hagrid, played by Robbie Coltrane in the films.

31DC-D5 - Dotting Tools

Hey y'all!

Monday's here, and I guess it's officially time to get back to the grind - the holidays are over and we've got a brand new year ahead of us.  I hope if you made resolutions and/or goals that you've not already given up on them.  Remember that even if you stumble, you can get right back up again and keep going!  This year I'm going to start working on getting out and interacting with my new community more than I have been thus far - between the culture shock and my own social anxiety, it has been incredibly hard for me to try to make new friends here locally, so it's become a goal of mine to change that.  I have no clever segue from that into today's nail art, so I'll just say that today we're working with the theme of dotting tools, and I created this fun look that I'm calling a peanut butter and jelly dotticure.

Magical Mondays: Harry Potter

Hey y'all!

Happy Monday!  Today I'm stepping outside of the 12 Days of Christmas challenge to bring you the first of a new collaboration series that I'm starting with Catriona of Belle Glamour.  If you've been around a while, you'll have heard me mention Cat in the past - she is the first British blogger friend that I made after starting Fixin To Faff, and what began as a business arrangement has blossomed into a friendship that I truly cherish, as she provides me with almost daily giggles and regales me with stories of her wee Sophie.  Among our other common interests is a love for all things Harry Potter, so we've decided to set aside the first Monday of every month to bring you two nail art looks centered around a common Harry Potter theme.  Of course the only theme we could possibly choose to christen our new collaboration is the boy who lived himself, Harry.

12DOC: Snowmen

Hey y'all!

Happy Friday!  Can you believe we've already made it through the first week of December, and Christmas is only 3 weeks away?  Sometimes it feels like the first half of the year drags on and takes forever, then as soon as September hits, everything whizzes past!  Marching right along in the 12 Days of Christmas challenge is today's prompt: Snowmen, so I turned once again to that trusty pack of nail charms I bought at Poundland, and added some freehand nail art to flesh out my look.

Black and White and Pink All Over

Hey y'all!

Happy Humpday! October is turning up to be a sort of surreal month for me.  It's a little too personal to share with the whole wide world, but suffice it to say that I'm going through some growing pains as an epat and as a wife.  I haven't been participating much lately with the Axis of Ineptitude, mostly because I just haven't felt like "writing," and the writing I have been doing is all nail stuff.  The "nail stuff" has pretty much consumed the last couple months for me.  I've thrown myself in to creating as much content as possible and for a few weeks there, I was posting new content 6 times a week!  That's an incredible pace, which I cannot maintain, so I'm slowing it down and will be trying to regulate my posting to Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Saturday.  That should be 3 days of nail art during the week, and swatching on Saturday.  I think that's a liveable pace and shouldn't rattle me too badly.  Today, I'm tying in to two different prompts - one for the Pick-n-Mix challenge, and one for the Axis, so I'll start by showing you the nail art, and then I'll do some faffing at the end for those who want to read it.

From the vault: Space Odessey nail art

Hey y'all!

I'm pulling another nail art look out of the vault for you guys today, because I am still trying to heal up the buffer-burned bits on my cuticles from last week.  Starting next week, I'll be creating all new nail art for nubbins as I blog my journey back to strong, healthy nails.  Today, however, I've got a super easy space look that I created several months back.

House of Flying Daggers Nail Art

Hey y'all!

The second prompt of the Inspire Me Nails Challenge is Movies, and this week's prompt for the Llama Nails Book/Movie Challenge is Action, so I created this nail art based on one of my favorite scenes in 2004's House of Flying Daggers.

Science/Technology Nail Art, featuring bornprettystore stamping

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

Hey y'all!

This week's prompt for the FingerFood Theme Buffet is Science/Technology, and coincidentally I received a really cool plate from bornprettystore to review, so in true kismet fashion, today you get this science themed nail art.

Depression Awareness - #fightforlightandlive

Hey y'all!

You may have figured out by now that depression lives in my home. Without rehashing old news, I can confidently say that if anything good were to come out of the Robin Williams' tragedy, it's that it has put depression, anxiety, and mental illness as a whole on the brains and lips of people around the world. In an effort to keep that movement going, @nailsandpolkadots has organized today's hashtag of #fightforlightandlive, and nail bloggers (and hopefully nail enthusiasts) around the world are posting green manis for Depression Awareness. Of course, I felt the pull to participate.

Glasswing Butterfly Nail Art

Hey y'all!

I recently joined yet another Facebook group for nail artists and enthusiasts, Inspire Me Nails.  The current challenge is Weird, Wonderful Nature, wherein you create nail art inspired by nature.  I found a gorgeous inspiration pic and created these nails, inspired by the incredible Glasswing Butterfly.

Five Easy Ways to Extend a Manicure!

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If you haven't already subscribed to my YouTube channel, what are you waiting for?  Today I posted a video showing 5 different techniques for covering chipped polish, for those nights when you have to be somewhere but don't have time to do a new manicure or go to the salon.

Rainbow Houndstooth nail art - FFTB

Hey y'all!

First off... totally psyched because this is my 200th post!  Today I have a fun bit of nail art that I liked so much I actually wore it on both hands for like 3 whole days!   I haven't really done that with challenge nail art looks much this year because frankly, it seems like as soon as I've taken pics of one look, it's time to take it off and paint another one.  However, granting myself a pass from completing "EveryPrompt for EveryChallenge" has loosened the pressure I put on myself, and is allowing me to actually enjoy some of the nail art I put together, including today's rainbow houndstooth design I created for the FingerFood's Theme Buffet prompt: Rainbows.

Battle of: the Matte Top Coats!

Hey y'all!

Before we get into this, I just want to take a moment to thank you all for the really astonishing amount of support I received for my No H8 post a couple days ago.  I'm kind of taken aback by it, to be honest, and feeling thoroughly humbled that so many of you read it and took the time to show your support!  That said, I hope I can continue to bring you back to read my ramblings.  :)  I've been threatening to do this post for a while now, and a week of challenge prompts that left me, well, "less-than-inspired" provides a good opportunity to show you my breakdown of five mainstream matte topcoats in the first of what I hope to become a series of "Battle of:" challenges.

Yellow Pig's Day!

Hey y'all!

Something synchronous happened recently, which led to the GOT prompt  for this week (yellow) falling on July 17, otherwise known as Yellow Pig's Day, and I had to do some celebratory nail art to salute the universe for such an occurrence.

#ManiMonday - Box of Chocolates Nail Art

Hey y'all!

I want to apologize in advance for today's very picture-heavy post, but some of you may already be aware that today is officially celebrated as CHOCOLATE DAY.  Seriously.  There's a whole day for it.  Supposedly on this day in 1550, the joy that is chocolate was introduced to Europe, and civilization (and a woman's monthly cycle) has never been the same.  I'm serious.  You can look it up if you want.  I'll wait.

See?  So, in honor of this most auspicious of anniversaries, I present to you a box of chocolates for your nails:

ManiMonday: Wimbledon Nail Art, featuring e.l.f.

*** This post contains some sample products which were sent for review. ***

Hey y'all!

In the midst of all the World Cup frenzy, another big sporting event has been taking place right here in England.  Wimbledon's final matches are this Friday, so I thought y'all might wanna see some nail art inspired by the Wimbledon Championships.

Red White & Blue and Fireworks too!

Hey y'all!

Continuing on my slightly homesick nail art journey, I wanted to sneak in a patriotic Independence Day mani for y'all, with full knowledge that these Brits may kick me out for doing so.  In fairness, I drink more tea than I throw in the harbor, and while I still haven't started using all those extraneous "U"s in my writing, I have begun naturally referring to my phone as my mobile instead of my cell, and I now complain about how many adverts interrupt my television, rather than fast-forwarding through the commercials.  Expat life really does change a person, yo.  Anyway... the upcoming holiday gave me a chance to showcase a beautiful UK indie that I picked up from a shop which closed earlier this year, and I was able to snatch up several bottles before they were gone for good.  Additionally, I got to play with a new stamping plate from Vivid Lacquer, so all's good on the home front, and I bring you this installment of Sunday Stamping.