Matte Polka Dot

Hello folks! I've still been rather uninspired plus I've managed to misplace my nail art brushes so today's pot is ever simple in all honesty. 

For some reason I'd always done Polk dots in black or white on top of a coloured base, but I'd never thought to do the dots in a darker version of the base. Silly me! Then I thought it'd look nice with a slick of matte topcoat on top. 

For this post I used Essie Lilacism  and Sinful Colours Amethyst. 

I've noticed that the photos I've been posting are ridiculously blurry even though they look decent quality when on my phone. I'm not sure if it's because I used an app to add a watermark and the app messes with the quality or it it's the blogger app I'm using :/ is anyone else having this problem?! It looks normal quality when I'm writing the post though D: 

Bits and Bobs

Sorry for not many updates recently, been a bit bogged down with uni deadlines and general life decisions... Been pondering if I actually enjoy being at uni and only decided to go back because I felt I had to and not because I wanted to...meh.

Anyhoos, this is a bit of a spammy post, just some photos of some designs that I did offhand, testing out some methods/new polishes that I felt didn't warrant a whole post on their own...

China Glaze: Electric Pineapple, Papaya Punch
Mattified with GOSH matt effect.

Swirly accent nail

China Glaze: First Mate
Barry M: Gold Foil

On another note, I've (semi) decided to start selling false nail sets with premade designs to raise a bit of cash and to sort of have a job :p It's gonna take a while because I need the time and money to start it up, but going to start with just 20 at first in case it doesn't kick off as well as I'm hoping :p It's a bit scary venturing off on my own business venture, like, in case I get in trouble with the law or something hehe. But hopefully things go okay and I dont get put in jail or something XD

Mono ABCs and Minty Spots

Hello again, I've been posting fairly frequently for some reason... I'm going through some family troubles atm and I'm guessing I'm doing my nails to take my mind off stuff :)

The first mani is a monochrome letter design...but it looks like a pile of poop cos I didn't have any of my nail brushes with me (I use nail art brushes to clean up round the edges) and I had a black polish pen/striper, but I felt like I could've done better if I used my brushes :/ I dont think the letters are spaced out well and the letters are rather messy, so it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, but it might be one I'll try again :)

White: Ultra Pro, French White
Black: Models Own, nail art pen

The next mani is SO much neater because I managed to go home and pick up my nail art brushes and dotting tools :D (and some gems hehe) Sorry about my cuticles, I know it's a nail blogger taboo to have manky cuticles, but I sometimes forget to put cream on before I take a photo. I'm not bff with my cuticles...they're all weirdly shaped compared to other bloggers' that I've seen. Some of mine are square shaped, some oval and some or just wonky, so i need to sit and clean up my polish so it kind of gives the illusion that all my cuticles are the same shape or even. Plus, I seem to have all this extra cuticles skin compared to other's...I'm debating whether to just clip them off (even though you're not supposed to). I usually use Sally Hansen's Cuticle Remover, but it doesn't seem to remove enough of my skin :( If anybody has some cuticle fixing methods they'd like to share then feel free to comment! :)

Light Green: Models Own, Jade Stone
Dark Green: Models Own, Top Turqoise
White: Ultra Pro, French White
Matte Topcoat: GOSH, Matt Effect Top Coat

I hadn't used the turqoise Models Own for yonks, and I'e now rediscovered my love for it! it's such a lovely blueish green! Models Own has such a good range of colours for a drugstore brand :) I like this mani cos I like the contrast of the light and dark greens, and the plain and dotty patterns. I also adore the matte look, wish it caught on a bit more :( The bow on my ring finger (and my thumb which isn't pictured) is just a dot gem with two heart gems on either side, nifty isn't it? I'm not a fan of hearts so I wasn't sure if i'd ever get round to using heart gems...A design for Valentines Day might be a bit tricky though hehe...

Until next time! :)

Double Post! - Matte Flakies & Peach and Black

Hello folks! Today'sa double post! Not intentionally I must say, I intended to finish the first mani the day after I done the base, as I done it quite late at night, however I messed it up royally -_-

Grey: Models Own, Grey Day
Flake Topcoat: Andrea Fullerton Nail Boutique,  Gemostone Overcoat
Matte Topcoat: GOSH, matte effect topcoat

My plan for the grey mani was to draw some white clouds so it'd look like a rainy day, however, I completely failed on drawing the clouds so I ended up having to take it off. However, I did like the base on it's own, I like the contrast of the shimmer of the flakie with the matte of the grey base. I actually bought the flakey topcoat before the whole flakey trend kicked off, but I dont tend to use it much cos I don't actually use glitter topcoats too often. However it does add a lovely effect to cream polishes :)

So, with the mani in the bin, I ended up doing this...debatable...mani...you can say that I'm not as pleased with it as I usually am with my designs :/ I've been craving to do a peachy coloured mani for a while but once it got to it, I didn't really know what to do with it. -_-

Peach: Barry M,  Peach Melba

Um, I thought bows would be a nice idea and that black would be a nice contrast, not too girly y'know. I can't remember where exactly I bought the bows, but it was on a site where you get 10 in a pack for a couple of pounds. Not sure if it's worth the money for just 10, but it's kind of hard to find small bow gems on ebay :(

Not sure why I added the dot gems...ugh, the more I talk about this, the more I detest it...I'll no doubt change it tomorrow, I have the day off (after only going back today hehe). Even though I have an exam to study for...

Anyhoos, see you later! :)

Change of blog name, Matte Crackle Clash & Rainbow Connection Ring

Happy 2012 folks, hope you've all settled after plenty of food and drink over Christmas and New Year! And hopefully you will have has a less windy time than the UK, blowy times have had public transport cancelled and motorways have even been shut off :( I recently changed my blog name from Fizzy Vimto Nails to Laquerised. Think I was worried in case Vimto would've been on my case for copyright :p Not sure if there's anyone else out there with Laquerised as their name as well, so please let me know if you find someone, don't want to get into trouble!

Anyhoos, I haven't got much of an interesting manicure today, just some Barry M purple crackle over W7 teal and mattified with some gosh. I didn't realise till afterwards that the colours were a bit too dark to see the contrast :/ I also need to work on my hand position a bit better, I've finally got into the habit of taking photos of my nails against a white background so there's nothing too distracting and the colours pop a bit better...Hopefully learn some techniques from other bloogers out there, if you have any suggestions, then feel free :)

Teal: W7, Teal

Crackle: Barry M, Purple Rain

Matte Topcaoat: GOSH, Matt Effect

This is my first W7 polish, in fact I'd never even heard of the brand before, but it was on sale in New Look for £1.50, and I saw it when I was exchanging some clothes, so thought I'd pick it up since I don't own a teal polish and it was a bargain for a standard sized bottle. The Barry M crackle was one I'd been wanting for a while and a lovely friend of mine's gave it to me for Christmas! It's a lovely dark purple with a slight hint of shimmer to it. Not sure if it's limited edition or not, but it's one to pick up and have in your collection! I also think it cracks better than the black one, don't know if Barry M have changed their formula since they've released more colours, but it's a definite improvement :)

Another present that I particularly loved was a nail polish ring from Etsy made from OPI's Rainbow Connection form The Muppet Collection.

Nail polish jewellery is still new concept to me, but it's just various form of jewellery with nail polish embedded in the stone somehow. I think it's a great idea, especially if it's a polish you can't get your hands on because of it not being sold in your country, or if it's a polish that's sold out (like Rainbow Connection!) I 

Please excuse my chipped mattified Facets of Fuchia -_-

I'm not sure how much this cost as Mr Laquerised got me this, but a quick look at other nail polish jewellery on Etsy shows they're only a few dollars per piece depending where you buy from and postage isn't much more either. Who'd have known I'd have been able to join my love fro jewellery and polish together!

So that's pretty much it really, I have a few nail ideas jotted down in my notebook, so hopefully I'll get started on some more interesting manicures! :)

Keep Safe!

Pastel Humbugs (And my new camera!)

Hello people! Sorry for the absence lately, I've been studying for a test and didn't have time (nor creativity) for nail stuff...which leads me onto how it's now test/exam time for me, so things might be a bit quiet for the next month...which saddens me cos I like doing nail stuff, even if it end up like crap half the time :p But i might fit in a few simple designs (like this one) so hopefully I'll still get to do some things :(

Also, new camera finally! :D I found a Samsung ST550 on ebay, with 3 memory cards, a case and an exra battery on ebay for just £60...bargaiiiiin! :D I didn't actually have money at the time, but Mr Vimto bought it for me as an early Christmas present, so he says...I say that cos I don't like him buying things for me and he's disguising this as a present :p

Anyways, back to the point... I hate winter and was clinging on to summer by staring longingly at my summery shades...and somehow matte pastels with glossy stripes popped into my head :)

Pinky: Models Own, Lilac Dream.

Ring: Revlon, Sunshine Sparkle (over Revlon, White On White)

Middle: Barry M, Blue Moon (over Revlon, White On White)

Index: Barry M, Peach Melba

Thumb (unseen): Models Own, Jade Stone

Matte topcoat: GOSH

White Stripes: Revlon, White On White

This reminds me if colourful humbugs and ice cream....I miss summer... *sigh*

Well, as I head off for exactly 4 weeks of energy drinks, 12 hour library shifts and lots and lots of writing...have a safe month and hopefully see you soon! :)

Glitter overload

I'd heard about the glorious density of the Barry M glitters, so decided to get a lovely blue one when I bought a tonne (suppose you could call it a haul....) a week or so ago. And it did not disappoint....it was more or less opaque in just 2 coats, but added a third to make sure there was no bare spots. I was amazed at how dense it was, and completely fell in love with it. However I did take a step back and realise it wasn't going to be so fantastic when I had uni late on in the day, so decided to tone it down a tad with some matte topcoat. Still loved it nonetheless ;)

Oh, I apologise for not cleaning up properly. I was too excited XD

Out of rubbish comes a gem!

I remember doing my nails quite late one night and I had a 9am start the next day. It had been a rather poopy day, and already had a headache before the nail polish/acetone fumes even reached me so I wasn't in the best of moods to do my nails. But my previous nails had been chipping, and I have a habit of peeling my nail polish once it chips...it's already destroyed, so I see no harm in making it worse :p And I've gotten to the point where I cannot stand my bare nails. And they're now pretty stained ¬_¬

So looking at my stash of gems and polish I ended up doing this...flower?...ish thing. I hadn't had a previous idea of what to do, so I was basically winging this idea. And I did not like it. I liked the base colour (Collecion 2000, Parma Violets, if I believe so) Dunno, it didn't seem interesting enough...a bit plain. Maybe I've been brainwashed by my previous designs...but I wasn't in any particular mood for a plain and simple design, ironic considering my mood :P

So i was sitting pondering what design looks rather fancy yet simple, and the infamous drips came into mind, and form there came layering and matte effect! I grabbed a light and dark colour and a white and began my design, and here's what came out of it...

Once I finished I realised there wasn't an accent nail, so I grabbed a blue and silver glitter polish and attacked my ring finger. I love a bit of matte polish, and I ended up really liking these nails :)

"You can't look at a cupcake without smiling"

I'd seen the legendary drip effect nails on various tumblrs and youtubes, so I decided to try my hand at it. I wanted to do some sort of pastel colour but not sure which one to choose, so decided to choose all of them and do some cupcake-ish ones :3 I decided to make them look a bit more cupcake-y, so decided to use some colour coordinated strand glitter and micro breads at sprinkles. I got them off ebay, so they were very cheap, sad thing was that the ink ran off the beads one i put some top coat on :( as you can  see, I added some matte topcoat onto the coloured part to give it a bit of exra dimension.

Matte neon half moon manicure

Must admit that I'm a bit of a stalker in my local Sally's. I mainly buy drugstore brands like Model's Own, Barry M, Collection 200 etc, so Sally's is my haven with OPI and Chine Glaze, polishes I deemd too expensive. Until one day when I'd just got paid and decided to buy some. It was buy one get one half price on OPI, and I also found some decent reduced OPIs as well. And because I'd got some OPI's, I felt obliged to get some China Glaze too :p

I'd seen people doing half moon manicures so I thought I'd dabble in a bit myself, as I liked the simple idea of contrasting 2 colours with a simple design.

I done this design by using hole reinforcers from WHS Smith and placing them at the bottom of my nail (on top of my base colour) to achieve the half moon affect, and paining another colour on top.

The 2 colours I'd used were actually already matte, so I decided to not use a topcoat to keep the effect.