Nails of the Day ~ Wicked

Today's nails are 17's High Gloss nails varnish in Wicked.
I really like how it looked to start with, it had this really subtle red/purple shimmer to it, but it sort of dulled over time, I'm not sure it that's because I didn't put a top coat on. On the plus side, it matches my hair now (which can be seen here).
My application is always so messy, I try and clean it up with cotton buds and varnish remover but it doesn't seem to make that much of a differnece. Do you have any tips for neat varnish application?

Nails of the Day ~ Blueberry Ice Cream

Today's nail varnish is BarryM's Blueberry Ice Cream.
When buying this it was a toss up between this shade or Blue Moon, which looked a little too pale. I can't make my mind up about. I don't mind this shade but I find it a bit too bright, I think I would have preferred the other one in the end. This shade is fine though and it'll probably grow on me (like so many things I have do). It looks more or less pale in different lights which makes me change my mind about it constantly...which is kind of fun really. Normal Barry M is really good but this particular colour was a bit too thick when applying, although this might not be a Barry M fault but a "left in a hot place" fault, or something?

What's your favourite pale blue varnish?

Baby, You're a Firework.

For most people when it comes to this time of year they think of Halloween and get excited. For me, not so much. Don't get me wrong, I do love Halloween but Guy Fawkes Night is where my heart truely lies. I absolutely love it. The fireworks, the sparklers, the candy floss, everyone regardless of age gathering to watch the display. This year like most years I went to the local display in the my home village and really enjoyed it (as always).

 My favourite ones, the purple looks a lot richer in the light.

In honour of my favourite unoffical holiday (not that there are many of those really...) I did some firework inspired nail art. I've only just started getting into nail varnish and the fun it entails, so they're a little messy, but all in all I'm happy with them. They didn't take too long and contrary to what I thought would happen, the glitter stayed on my nails (without a topcoat) instead of steadily depositing itself onto everything.

There was supposed to be a bit more of a theme based around black, pink and teal but I wanted to experiment with different colours and combinations. I used normal glitter, which I have a lot of because I always buy a few bags at a local crafts fair I go to every year. It's nice to have found another use for it (apart from the occasional Christmas or birthday card).

 I also really like these ones too, love the teal & pink combo.

It wasn't really a very complicated process, but I'll explain it anyway:

1. Base coat, I chose black, teal and pinky red.

2. Get a clear top coat, paint on generously and quickly sprinkle glitter at the tip of nail (or dip nail in glitter - which looks amazing)

3. You can add a top coat after this but I don't think it's worth it.

This lasted 3 days before it started chipping which is pretty good considering the wear and tear my hands go through.

I think for a more accurate firework look just doing all black base nails and then different colours of glitter on top works really well. The nail varnishes I used are:

Black - Claire's Accessories

Teal - 17 Fast Finish in Peacock

Reddy/pink - 17 Lasting Fix in Chateau