MILV Water decals looks

I've been quiet here, so now I have quite the backlog of nail photos to share! Today I'm here about the MILV decals that Powder Perfect had recently started stocking. They make it super easy for me to be creative and impress people at work and because it's not a "dangerous goods" I can have it posted without fear to me here!

MILV S177 - card suit patterns

Picked these due to my newfound obsession with poker... it's a long story. I'll just say I found it a fascinating mind game to watch.

 

I actually love how the skittle card suits turned out even though my original idea totally failed to translate.

MILV N204 - Floral print

Florals are a little unusual for me, I don't usually got for such looks... but they aren't really in wishy washy colours, but is rather retro looking. 

I did them as double accents and tried my three new The Body Shop nail polishes on the other nails... I may have picked this packet of decals to try next just to try the new polishes out (hey, they were 3 for 2!) They're great polishes, I tried to do a quick swatch of them the other night, but it was too dark to take good photos. I might swatch them again and share.

Sadly, I had some shrinkage, I think it was a combo of the top coat plus not stretching the decal a little bit as I laid it down...

I'm trying to stick to a no buy as I want to move in the near future (my landlady seems to think she's my mother). The only exception has been the two polishes below for a quid each and the full set of Celestial Cosmetics' for the Hella Holo customs group. Cannot wait for them to arrive (via the UK group buy)!

Aqualicious Neon Nails

I've been just a little excited about all my American goodies, so I went straight to posting those and skipped this gorgeous aqua neon manicure. I loved this look so much, I actually did it twice, with only minor changes (had to use different decals).

So the glitter polish is Emily de Molly Bo Peep. The base on the other nails is China Glaze Aquadelic (Thanks again, Alicea!). The plain aqua is actually a touch darker than Bo Peep, but you can't tell unless you looked at them closely in person. The nail stickers are from the Born Pretty Store - I purchased the whole set, because, you know, NEON.

And yes, I tried them under UV light, and of course, it glows! I'll try to take a photo next time!

Retro decals with Alanna Renee Hedwig

One that's been sitting in my drafts for a while. I'm playing a never-ending game of catch up with photos, as I so rarely download the photos and then take another few weeks to write something to go with it. Maybe I should consider a switch to Instagram? The wannabe pro photog inside me can't bear the idea of not getting high quality photos to share with the world though. 

Anyway, to some nails.

I purchased these water decals from the Born Pretty Store. But to do a whole mani with them seemed a bit busy for my tastes, so I went with the double accent look with them. The decals are actually transparent, not with a white background, but in the end I decided that white was the best base for the decals. The Alanna Renee Hedwig had the little bits of glitter in the same colour family. 

I really wanted to love it, with its Harry Potter reference, clean logo and workplace friendliness. But it is actually not a very good polish. 

The next time I use it, I'd put down a white base, as it took me about 3-4 coats to make opaque and I probably should have thought to add some nail polish thinner, as it was rather thick and lumpy. 

If it all goes well, I might even get my Easter manicure up here before the EOFY! I actually rather love the nails I'm sporting right now.

Merry Christmas Skittle

Merry Christmas! This year is the first for years that the whole family will be home all day together. Between trips and the fact that my dad works in Crown, it's not actually a common occurrence. 

My mum went and stocked up our kitchen at the market and I'm looking forward to some fresh seafood and meaty steaks.I did my nails, but then got a lot of chipping... So they're cute, but not necessarily perfect. Here's a phone snap anyway!

Polishes used are OPI My boyfriend scales walls and A oui bit of red, Ulta3 Jelly and a gold striper I picked up in Germany or Austria (much the sameness). Panda and snowman decals from the bornprettystore.

Blue French Manicure with gold decal

I tried to do something elegant and understated. It turned out not as much, but cute nonetheless. I used a gold decal that I got off the Born Pretty Store. I tried to link it, but when I followed the link from my order, it was dead. Anyhow, it was a great big sheet of gold decals of Christmas-sy prints.

The light blue is Natio Turquoise and the navy is Maybelline Sapphire Siren.

31 Day Challenge 2013 – 12 Stripes

So I am a little behind on posting my challenge nails. It had been crazy busy with research papers and visiting cousins. It all got so much that my immune system was wrecked and I caught a cold! I have been doing my nails, but they haven't made it onto the blog until now.

I was keen use my new Essie Banc and some new nail decals. I thought the end result was super cute!

The pink and green were the two Natio polishes I picked up a short while ago that I posted. Rose and Azure, respectively. 

But I gotta be more careful with the decals next time. Look what I did to one of my bunnies when I put the top coat on :(