My Nails Are My Canvas

I've started using acrylic paint in my freehand nail art recently. It has it's advantages and disadvantages over nail polish so I just thought I'd share my thoughts for any of you that are curious about acrylic paint and using it on your nails.

Why it's better than nail polish

♥ It's more pigmented. There's no need to go over and over the same spot if 

♥ It doesn't dry out as quickly as polish. I blob out my colours on to a sheet of clear plastic, my 'palette' if you will, and when I use polish I'm constantly having to put out out new blobs of polish as it dries up. One blob of acrylic paint will last the whole manicure without drying up. 

Why it's worse than nail polish

♥ It's hard to work with at first because it's a different consistency to nail polish, so it just feels a bit alien. The best way to describe the difference is that it's less forgiving than polish. You have to be much more careful with the brush. After a few goes, you get used to this though.

♥ It takes a bit more work to remove, but will come off with your regular polish remover.

I really like using acrylic paint and I'll continue to use it since I think the pros far outweigh the cons. If you're on the fence about trying it yourself, I say go for it, but find it cheap somewhere. I paid 99p per bottle in Ryman stationers.

Models Own Purple Grey

White Acrylic PaintFreehan

The line design is by Wah Nails and it's called 'Basket Case'

The accent finger is my attempt at the pop art work, Crying Girl, by Roy Lichtenstein. It's not my best work but from a distance it looks alright, so I left it on!

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Would You Buyasaurus?

I've been thinking for a while about painting my own nail sets and selling them. Last week, I finally got round to ordering some sets after the lovely Paige gave me a link to a good seller on eBay. I need to do a bit more research about pricing etc. but I'm trying to gage whether anyone would be interested in buying my sets. They will mostly be freehand designs but I'll take personalised orders for any nail design you've ever seen on this blog! So... would anyone consider buying a set of nails from me?

Plate: Bundle Monster BM05
Base Colour: Models Own - Utopia
Stamp Colour: GOSH - Metallic Purple
BYS Fern for the stalks
Top Coat of NYC

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Just a Sprinkling

I picked up this new  No7 polish last weekend just before my £5 off No7 voucher expired. I noticed that they have quite a few new shades and the 'Speed Dry' colours are gone, or rather replaced with 'Stay Perfect' equivalents, and every bottle is decorated with a 'New brush and formula' sticker. I loved the formula on this and the brush has a domed end which is much better than the old brushes which were long and thin with a square end.

I love this colour! It's a summery turquoise and I was worried it would be too similar to Barry M Cyan Blue which I already have but I can definitely see a difference which I can't describe. I just know it's different. But maybe I'm seeing things to justify buying this colour!

Base Colour: No7 Stand Back

Models Own Juicy Jules and E.L.F. Twinkle sponged on

Models Own Utopia and Purple Smash Up

It's Pink Wednesday and after a few weeks since my last PW post I'm back with a brand new polish to show you!

I don't have very many light colours in my stash at all, and even fewer are pastel shades. I decided to pick up this colour from Models Own since the summer is coming and I want to wear some brighter, more jolly colours on my nails! I wasn't sure if I would like it but I really do and I've worn it quite a few times since I bought it.

The formula isn't great on this polish which I can only describe as pasty. There was a lot of dragging and splotchiness but it's such a pretty colour that I can put up with its pitfalls.

3 coats of Models Own Utopia
Top Coat of NYC

While I was in Boots I noticed a lone bottle of Purple Smash Up on the shelf so of course I grabbed it straight away. I was really surprised to see it as I didn't know the colour ones were released yet, let alone that you could buy them in store - I thought you'd only be able to get them online - so I think I was just in the right time at the right place but I'm still puzzled as to why it was there because this was at least a week ago and as far as I'm aware, they only launched online five days ago.

I think the Models Own Smash Up polishes are the first decent crackles that are readily available here in the UK, especially now that there are quite a few colours to choose from with more on the way. The Barry M Nail Effects just don't do it for me because the colours are so boring and basic.

3 coats of Models Own Utopia and NYC top coat
Coat of Models Own Purple Smash Up
2 top coats of NYC

If you enlarge the picture, you'll see that this polish is metallic. There are tiny pieces of blue, purple and even pink glitter.

Revision Nails

Civil Twilight - Letters From The Sky

I have a short attention span. I always have and probably always will. It doesn't affect me all the time, just when I have to do something really boring! I can get totally engrossed in something I enjoy and waste away hours on end without even realising but as soon as I have to concentrate on something I'm not interested in for more than twenty minutes, everything else becomes infinitely exciting. Even cleaning starts to look like a more appealing option that what I'm doing.

It's not a good trait to have when it comes to studying.

I have a lot of exams coming up and I kept giving up on my revision to paint my nails so I decided I needed a mani that I wouldn't want to take off.

I know glitter is a massive pain to remove so I decided to apply a very thick, glitter manicure that I wouldn't be tempted to remove any time soon due to all the effort that would entail.

I decided on Models Own Juicy Jules because I absolutely love this holographic glitter polish but I've never worn it on its own before.

There are loads of pictures because I just couldn't narrow it down. This polish is so pretty.

Gosh Holographic
Models Own Juicy Jules
NYC Top Coat

I applied 2 coats of Gosh Holographic first because I didn't trust the glitter to cover the whole nail without leaving little gaps.

I probably used 4 or 5 coats of the Juicy Jules to make it super removal proof and then a few coats of NYC Top Coat to smooth things over.

In Sunlight

And slightly blurry so you can see the rainbow.

In Artificial Light

The colours sparkle more under artificial light. I spent a lot of time admiring the glitter when I was in my exam because there were fluorescent lights which made it super gorgeous and distracting!

And blurry for the holo-ness...

Stripes n Hearts

I originally posted this on Thursday in the midst of the Blogger break down, so it might look familiar to those of you that caught a glimpse before it disappeared. I found it yesterday tucked away in my drafts so I thought I'd post it again! Here's hoping it'll stay put this time.

Plate: Bundle Monster BM209

Base Colour: Models Own Peacock Green

Konad Colour: Stargazer White

Top Coat of NYC

Got Daisies?

This is my favourite so far of all the ones I've done with the new Bundle Monster plates. I wasn't sure how it would turn out when I decided to add a bit of extra detail by filling in the flowers. Sometimes, especially if I pick a bad colour, details like that can make things look overdone but this isn't one of those times. 

I wouldn't expect that green/blue to compliment the purple shades as well as it does but it's just one of those lucky combinations that works without even trying.

 

Plate: Bundle Monster BM224

Base Colour: Models Own Purple Grey

Stamp Colour: GOSH Metallic Purple
China Glaze Adore applied with a brush for the centres of the flowers

Top Coat of NYC

Glitter Daisies

I picked up this Urban Outfitters polish in a charity shop (thrift store) a few weeks ago for just £1. There was a whole tub of them but I most of the colours didn't really catch my eye. I assume they were old stock because they also had loads of Urban Outfitters jewellery but it was still fairly expensive so I didn't buy any.

They've tried to scribble out the brand and original price on the side but the pen they used is only like 20% opaque!

Plate: Bundle Monster BM205

Base Colour: Urban Outfitters - Denim Blue

Stamp Colour: Stargazer 118

I used Models Own Juicy Jules to fill in a few of the flowers with a little nail brush

Top Coat of NYC

Starlight

What an eventful week I've had! I had a great night out on Saturday with my friends and managed to wake up bright and early on Sunday morning to catch a train home to surprise my Mum for Mother's Day. I came back to my house on Tuesday afternoon and spent the evening relaxing. 

I was looking forward to a fun packed Wednesday. I'd planned an afternoon in the park while the sun had his hat on and was looking forward to either another night out or a trip to the cinema but it all went downhill on my way home from uni. If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know all about my woes!

As I was walking home I tripped on some uneven ground and reeeeallly hurt my ankle. At first I thought it wasn't that bad and that I'd be able to hobble home but then I looked down and it had already swollen a lot (picture of the swelling here if you like injuries and whatnot!). I called my friends to come and rescue me and we got a lift to the hospital where we spent the rest of the afternoon. I had an x-ray and luckily it isn't a break, just a bad sprain, so they sent me home with crutches and some information about caring for a sprained ankle. I've spent practically every hour since then stuck in bed with my foot propped up and I'm starting to get cabin fever! It will be a long while until I take my ability to walk for granted again. Everything is such a hassle with only the one leg functioning properly.

Plate: Bundle Monster - BM05

Base Colour: Barry M Bright Purple

Stamp Colour: GOSH Metallic Purple

Models Own Juicy Jules in the center of the stars

Top Coat of NYC

The Nailasaurus is One Year Old!

It was my blog's birthday last night and I missed it. I saw that Steph @ Imperfectly Painted is having a blogaversary giveaway so I decided to have a look back and see when my first post was because I knew it must be coming up to a year and it was exactly one year to the day! I feel kinda bad that I missed it. Like I should have had a giveaway, or at the least a post, prepared but oh well. I'm planning a giveaway soon to make up for it.
I got Juicy Jules last weekend and I'm infatuated with it! It is without doubt THE sparkliest polish I own and it's just stunning in the sun. I plan on wearing it a lot in the summer.

The base colour is Urban Outfitters Matte Black and I used a sponge to apply the Juicy Jules to the tips in a gradient.I used two coats of NYC to finish it off.


And out of focus so you can see all the amazing holographicness of the glitter...

Brrrrrr

I'm still waiting on some sunlight so I can swatch Barry M Dusky Mauve but until then, here's another 'dupe' for Chanel's Paradoxal. It doesn't have the lavendery shimmer but I would say it's a good match for the underlying dark purple colour.

Konad Plate: M71

Base Colour: Models Own - Purple Grey

Konad Colour: Sally Hansen Chrome - Amber

Top Coat of NYC

Simples...

I don't have a lot of time for nail art with this silly assignment due on Thursday so today's mani is just a simple take on a French Manicure. I'm one of those people who leaves everything until the last possible minute. I have a 1700 word essay plus a 500 word report due on Thursday morning and I haven't even started them yet!

I don't know what my problem is. I know I'm going to end up sat at my desk at 4 o' clock on Thursday morning after staying up all night, crying because I haven't got enough words or decent content, telling myself that this won't happen next time but it always does. Is anyone else a serial procrastinator?

Sorry for the rant!

I used E.L.F. Innocence as a base and Models Own Purple Grey for the tips and dots which I did with a dotting tool. Topped off with NYC In A New York Minute Top Coat.

Models Own Peacock Green

Plate: Bundle Monster - BM12
Base Colour: Models Own - Peacock Green
Stamp Colour: Stargazer - 118 White
Top Coat of NYC

Models Own Purple Grey

I won a giveaway at Forever The Ugly Duckling last week and here is one of the polishes from the beautiful selection.

It's a bit tricky to see the design but I promise it's there!

Plate: Bundle Monster - BM08
Base Colour: Models Own - Purple Grey
Stamp Colour: Sally Hansen Chrome - Anemone
Top Coat of GOSH

Models Own Mixed Up

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I ended up not having the chance to use an Alice nail polish today, so I dug into a Models Own I've had my eye on since they arrive: Mixed Up. It's super fine black glitter and medium holo glitter in a clear base, and I love it. Mixed Up took three coats, but then I use seventeen trillion coats of Diamont to smooth it out. I'm going to have to sandblast this off, but it's worth it.

Models Own Mixed Up Nail Polish, Three Coats

Since I'm all happy with it, I thought I'd share it with you. That's it for today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

Models Own Lime Light & Konad S9

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm still going strong with the Saint Patrick's Day Greens! Today I have Models Own Lime Light, which required three coats. Here's Lime Light alone.

Models Own Lime Light Nail Polish, Three Coats

As is often the case with neons, I still had a bit of VNL after three coats, so I stamped a pattern from Konad Plate S9 over it to cover it up, using White Konad Special Polish.

Models Own Lime Light Nail Polish, Three Coats & Konad S9 in Konad White

Yesterday I also had the good fortune of picking up some Revlons I got for a very fair price on Ebay, including some Street Wears I never thought I'd see and one particular old Revlon I was sure I'd never get my hands on (or get on my hands, for that matter). I really want to make it to St. Pat's with the greens but it's awfully tempting to do a couple posts on the Street Wears! Maybe I'll take the weekend off from the greens so I can show them to you - I'm excited about them.

On an unrelated note, I got word that Konad USA is nixing the discount codes for Konad supplies, including at my beloved WowSoCool. At the time I got the email, it was unclear when the dead cutoff would be, but I believe the codes will work through today. Go get cheapo Konad stuff while you can!

That's the update for now, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Models Own Peacock Green Nail Polish

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today's another quickie - just a picture of Models Own Peacock Green nail polish. I used two coats, but think I could have afforded a third.

Models Own Peacock Green Nail Polish, Two Coats

That's all for now, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Models Own Green Tea & Drawing Winner

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I just did the random drawing of an entry for the Iron Butterfly giveaway, and the winner was Lin. Lin, you have an email from me telling you that you won.

Just so this would be a real post, I have nail polish pictures. I'd ordered some Models Own nail polish, and I went and picked it up this morning. You'll see a few of them in the next couple of weeks, for I chose quite a few greens, and I really like the one I used today. It went on really well and was a two coater. This is Models Own Green Tea,a green creme, alone.

Models Own Green Tea Nail Polish, Two Coats

I added a patterns from Konad plate M80 to my tips in Konad White Special Nail Polish.

Models Own Green Tea Nail Polish, Two Coats with Konad M80

I have a few other colors to show you as well, but those can wait until after Saint Patrick's Day!

That's it for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!