Cute Snowy Christmas nails

I only managed one other Christmas mani, this cute snowy manicure. I used Celestial Cosmetics Sapphires of Tarth, from the Game of Thrones collection as base. Then used Illamasqua Blizzard for the falling snow effect and Formula X White Matter for the fallen snow. The silver glitter is also Celestial, the LE December 2014. Decal from Born Pretty store that I got last year (if you have a photographic memory you'll have recognised that I used the same decal last Christmas). Topped with Essence gel look top coat. 

I think the mix of finishes made it very effective. My nail art has been more miss than hit lately, so it was nice to get one to turn out nice and cute. Although I am not sure what caused the bubbles on the index finger. Anyway... it wasn't obvious and I just drew your attention to it for no real reason!

The nailguytv said these were "very cool". That made me very proud! Lol. He was on Nail'd It! I want to watch that so badly. 

Illamasqua Fire Rose

I know I am slack. Just so much happening, this gets left by the wayside. I've over committed myself a little and have assignments to do and lots of work (not all of it paid). I am currently doing some "pro bono" work, that is, I'm doing some work experience with a defence team in a long criminal trial. So it's all happening, but it means that I am court everyday and actually need to tone down my nails.

But it's the weekend now and the first thing I did was paint some sparkly nails. I am wearing right now Illamasqua Fire Rose. A girly pink textured polish. It's currently on sale for half price ($12) along with the others from this collection and some other polishes too.

Illamasqua Speckled Gradient for Easter

So the last time I went past the Illamasqua counter at Myer, I picked up three speckled polishes for $5 each!  These are Mottle (green), Fragile (blue) and Speckle (purple). Scare (pink) was on sale too, but I didn't like the shade and passed. I also paid full retail price for red lip liner and lipstick... which was not so much of a bargain... I have always been a heavy eye makeup girl, but have been slowly developing a collection of bold lipsticks collection. So much easier to do than eyes too, tbh.

The Illamasqua lady had suggested that these would go well as a gradient. I agreed and this is the result. 

The black glitter made it a little messy. But it was the perfect Easter manicure without doing literal eggs, which I wore over the Easter weekend. I put on an off-white base to help the colours pop and to minimise the number of layers I needed to sponge on.

It just felt like it should be matte. So I made it so the next day.

Colour vs Negative Glitter toppers

Nothing makes me look more like an amateur than seeing the amazing Nailasaurus using the same glitter topper and make it look 10 times better.

But anyhow, this is me using the Delush Star Gazer, with Illamasqua Blizzard on the accent nail.

A very lady-like two-toned pastel colour block manicure

I wanted something that looked a bit interesting and matched my outfit, but didn't have the time to go all out. Then I saw this manicure tutorial on the Lulu blog and realised I could adapt it for my outfit.I had a lovely lavender purple that I wanted to try out. It's a Napoleon polish, but I have a feeling it may only come as a limited edition with this clutch bag set (white swan). I'd gotten it for my sister as a birthday present, because I knew she'd like the purple, but the ungrateful b***h didn't like the bag and didn't even bother looking inside. SO IT'S ALL MINE NOW.

What do you think? It's not quite as neat, but I did paint this just before going to bed and I was more concerned about time then perfection. Plus adding the UV topcoat, made it even thicker. Next time, I will definitely wait a bit longer between layers and do thinner coats.

I was worried the lavender would be hard to get opaque, but it actually goes on really well. I am very happy with it and it's the only light purple in my whole collection.

Btw, the mint is my trusty Sally Hansen and the gold is the only polish I have that comes with a stripper brush. I picked that up in either Germany or Austria last year.