Nail Art

Nails

Snowman Nail Art Tutorial

December 20, 2013

It’s not long before I ditch the festive cuties for the elegant red and gold nails for Christmas day. (I’ll show you guys nearer the day!) So here’s another quick and easy cute festive nail art!

What I used:

Etos Quick Dry in White
Kate Spade Nails inc in “New York Noir”
Kate Spade Nails inc in “Soho Silver”
Avon Nailwear Pro + in “blue escape”
Jesse’s Girl in “Beauty Guru”
Nail art brush/dotter (you can use an old painbrush and tooth pick)

I used blue for the base – there’s something about this colour that makes me think of Christmas (and Gemma!).

Next paint two circles on your “feature nail” to form the Snowman”

Using a dotter tool or toothpick, add some “Snow” to the rest of the nails

Taking a silver, make 5 small dots and a dot in the middle to form little Snowflakes. This is a bit like a tiny dot to dot.

Once dried, add some little hands, eyes and buttons on the Snowman

Finish up with an Orange nose and a top coat!

Totally hellbent for all of the blue things

-Pants

Nails

Reindeer Nail Art Tutorial

December 18, 2013

My second festive nail of 2013! These cute little reindeer’s are pretty easy to do.

What I used:

Etos quick dry in blue and white (see here for my latest Etos Rotterdam spoils)
Kate Spade New York by Nails inc in “New York Noir” (This colour is absolutely amazing) for my black
Avon Nailwear Pro + in “Vintage Boutique”
Révérence de Bastion “No 4″
A brush and dotter tool
Obligatory Nails inc top coat

Start with your base colour (not to be confused with your base coat, which you have already applied – obviously!). I went for this beautiful blue, but you can choose whatever you like.

Using the brown, paint the top middle of each nail. Almost as if you are painting a nail on your nail.

Using your brush tool, add some ears and some antlers. This doesn’t have to be neat, if looks a little funkier and adds to the effect if it isn’t completely perfect.

Once dry, use your dotting tool to add some eyes.

Add a nose to each nail, just put a blob of black varnish where you wan’t it. I used a red for one of my nails.

Finish up by adding a black eye on top of your white with the dotter tool and once dry, add your top coat.

Have you dabbled with some festive nail arts recently? If so, we’d love to show what you’ve been up to!

Totally hellbent for character infused nails

-Pants

Nails

Nail Tutorial – 1950s style roses and polka dots

November 12, 2013

Gem and I went to our friends wedding (evidence of the hen party we survived found here) the other weekend. Both feeling somewhat under the weather, we scrubbed up relatively well.

Alas, it was a 1950s esque red and black themed wedding, so naturally I went for a red rockabilly style dress to make up for the lack of my usual red hair.

This surely called for some distinct 1950’s nail art to go with it, so I have a play after some internet scouring. It’s also worth noting that I did my nails on the Friday evening, and didn’t remove my intact nail polish until Thursday the following week! The nails inc top coat is just -that- good.

Here’s the goodies I used for this nail:

As always I applied a base coat, filed my nails and did my cuticles.

I first applied Ciaté’s “Pocket Money” (another beautiful nail of the day from this shade can be found here) You can use any neutral or “toned down” shade for this really.

On all but my feature nail (whichever you choose), I used my trusty Avon Nailwear Pro+ “Licorice” to paint the tips and allowed this to dry.

Once dry, I lined the black with Révérence de Bastion “No 4” and added some Polka Dots with my dotting tool, I have to admit, the dots weren’t as bright as I’d anticipated so next time I may try this with a white underneath.

Now for the roses, I placed a blob of No 7 “Devil’s Delight” and a blob of Avons “licorice” on my nail wheel (or anywhere you don’t mind staining with varnish)

Using my nail brush, I mixed some black and red and made multiple C’s on my nail to get the rose effect. I layered this alternating the colours and once dry I used the black to add some leaves and the Révérence de Bastion “No 4” to highlight. Add a few polka dots and leave to dry. Make sure you pee or do any other hand based tasks before starting this!

Once dry, lather on the top coat and enjoy!

Totally hellbent for 1950’s themed weddings and nails!

-Pants

Beauty Boxes

Miss Glossybox September/October 2013

September 16, 2013

Miss Glossybox is the younger sibling of the HBFL favourite, Glossybox. A bi-monthly subscription beauty box aimed at teenagers.

The box costs £7.00 (+£2.95 P&P) and everyone receives the same items.

Absolutely loving this box! The seven (SEVEN!) treats inside are all things I will use which is a rarity amongst beauty boxes.

There are four full size products, two samples and an accessory so well worth the money!

NYC In a NY colour minute – Times Square

NYC are quickly becoming one of my favourite go to budget brands, especially their varnishes! Times Square is a gorgeous corally red with a hint of orange, and is a welcome addition to my sprawling collection of crimson polishes. I’m especially fond of fast dry formulas these days, and can’t understand why all polishes can’t dry as fast!

Full size product

£1.79 from Superdrug

NYC Nail Art Creation – Silverism

Another NYC polish, but this time with a tiny tiny brush for nail-art. I’m not sure the silver and red compliment each other very well, but I’ll certainly be having a play around with this and my blue polishes!

Full size product.

I couldn’t find a link to this anywhere online – perhaps a new release coming soon? At any rate it will be under £2.50 along with the rest of the range and available at Superdrug.

Beauty UK Posh Pout – Corally incorrect

Yet another copy of the Clinique Chubby Sticks, and this time from budget brand Beauty UK. I’ve not tried this brand out before, but Amie loves them so perhaps this gorgeous red will swing them into my favour. This is described as a “Moisturising twist-up tinted lip balm” but it has a lot more colour pay-off than you would expect from that description. I’d describe it more as a sheer glossy lipstick.

Full size product.

£2.99 from Beauty Uk

JvG Soft Touch Eyeliner

One can never have too many black eyeliners. This reminds me of the Avon Supershock gel pencils but far far less greasy. It’s not a bold enough black for my own person tastes, but it applies well and I have to admit is very long lasting. Might have to try this out on the waterline on stage for a real test of it’s waterproof (Or sweat proof!) capabilities!

Full size product.

£6.95 from Monushop

Katy Perry Killer Queen EDP

You know how I always complain about perfume samples in beauty boxes? Eek…well…I was really glad to see this one! I’m in love after a single spritz and this has gone on the top of my Christmas wish list (I’m aware it’s only September…)

Just gorgeous, and I know the full size bottle will look incredible on my dressing table!

P.S Loving the bad-ass trailer, I’m a bit of a KP fangirl (-100 krieg points?)

1.5ml Sample

£29 for 50ml at Superdrug

Skinetica Anti-Blemish Gel

A brand I’m not familiar with, but I’m always willing to try out anything that promises to “soothe calm and banish skin blemishes with results in 2-3 days”. It also claims to double as a toner and a base for make-up so I’m looking forward to giving this a try!

Sample size (amount unspecified)

£6.99 from Skinetica

Gabrielle Aplin mirror and album sampler

Genius marketing and a cute mirror to boot. The back of the mirror has a link to a youtube video where you can check out a sample of the album. Not my kind of thing but not exactly painful to my ears either.

Very cute and handy mirror!

You can get your very own Miss Glossybox here for £7.00 plus P&P

Totally hellbent for so many goodies in one box!

– Gem