Lovely Lace

Hi everyone, today I've got a lovely little mani to show you using another of my new purchases! I recently got hold of MUAs 'Pistachio Ice Cream' polish, which is a lovely pale turquoise colour. 

I like to wear colours like this nice and thick so I've done four coats for this mani, and for quite a thick polish this actually dries quite quickly which is always good! And for only £1 it's also an absolute bargain! 

I've used a white nail art pen to create the lace pattern on top. Make sure your base colour is completely dry before doing this so you don't ruin the finish. You could always use a small nail brush to do the lace pattern if you don't have a nail art pen. 

I've done the lace pattern freehand and just went with whatever pattern I fancied, and I've done a slight accent nail on the ring finger by doing a criss-cross pattern with a couple of simple flowers to make it look different from the other nails. 

So I hope you like today's mani. I'm loving this MUA colour soo much and it's such a steal at only £1 so I'm definitely a happy bunny! 

Nicole x

@nicolesnailsuk 
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BarryM Silk Swatches

Hi everyone, I'm back! Sorry about my absence this week, I've not been feeling too well! But anyway, today I've got a review for you to have a read of :) 

Barrym recently released their new 'silk' range so today's review is showing you some of their new colours. I went out to get them on the release date and had real trouble getting hold of them as everywhere had sold out! I managed to get 3 colours in the end, white (pearl), green (meadow) and lilac (heather) and I have to say I'm loving them! 

The silk range is a really lovely collection of shimmer polishes, but they dry matte, which is a really nice change to other polishes. The lilac colour is my favourite as it's really pretty and the pearl white is going to make a nice change to a normal bright white! 

They dry super quick as well and go on lovely and smooth and look great! I've chosen to put two coats on, which I found fine for heather and meadow, but looking at the pictures now the pearl could of done with a third coat I think! These polishes are also really nice with just one thin coat, which gives your nails a lovely subtle shimmer. 

So all in all I've got no complaints at all about these, the colours are lovely and great for spring! Go out and get some! 

Nicole x 
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Models Own Madness!

Hi everyone today I've got some lovely swatches to show you from Models Own. These are my first polishes from them and I'm really pleased with them :) I treated myself to two polishes from their new hyper gel range: 'lilac sheen' and 'naked glow' and a glitter polish from the Hed Kandi range 'Ibiza mix'. 

I have to say I think 'naked glow' is my new favourite nude colour! It's a lovely creamy beige, perfect on its own for a lovely nude look. And 'lilac sheen' is a gorgeous pale lilac colour that looks awesome. 

The hyper gels go on really nice and smooth, but be warned! You can't just slap them on quickly when your in a rush like some thin, quick drying polishes. Keep the layers thin and make sure it's completely dry before adding the next coat because it's not very forgiving! And it does take a bit longer to dry compared to normal polishes, but it's so worth it! I'm completely in love with both colours and can't wait to add more to my collection! 

The Ibiza mix glitter is gorgeous, I got a little carried away trying to build up the layers to get a thicker look to the glitter, so it didn't dry too well but that's my own fault! I also found it worked really well for a graduated look as it's really easy to control how much glitter you want on. 

So in conclusion I am one happy nail polish addict and really pleased I decided 




to finally get some models own polishes! They are also a bargain at only £5 a bottle! Love them! 

Nicole x 

@nicolesnailsuk
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Tutorial time!

Welcome to today's tutorial time. I've done some more experimenting for you today for this tutorial. I've created some newspaper printed nails for you to try at home. 

For this you'll need some cut up newspaper, some cotton pads and some form of alcohol, I've used vodka (the tutorials online I've read recently have suggested rubbing alcohol). 

First of all choose a really pale base colour. I've used white, but origanially tried a light brown but the effect didn't show well on the darker colour. Wait until it's really dry (a good hour at least) and then put some alcohol onto the cotton pad, in the same way you'd use remover. 

Then place a square of newspaper onto the pad, gently press the paper down until you can see the paper has soaked up the alcohol. Carefully place the paper and the pad onto your nail, try your best not to move it/let it slide or the pattern won't be crisp. Press firmly on your nail for a few seconds and then gently pull the pad and paper away. This should leave the newspaper print on your nail. 

Mine didn't come out quite as dark as I expected but I actually like the faded look of it, and I also liked how they aren't all in straight lines. 

I'm particularly proud of the stars on my ring finger, which I cut out from the event section of the paper! 

You'll need to put a top coat on otherwise the print will wash off, but make sure you wait quite a while of it will pull the ink down the nail and smudge it. 

So I hope you like today's tutorial. Come back soon to see more! 
Nicole x 

@nicolesnailsuk
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BarryM nail corrector pen

Hi everyone, today I've got a little review for you all to have a read of. I recently purchased BarryM's nail corrector pen and I'm absolutely loving it! 

I bought it from Superdrug along with a couple of polishes in their 3-4-2 offer and it was £4.99, which to be honest is a bargain! 

The pen has a fairly small tip for cleaning up the edges of your nails, and is especially good for doing the opposite hand to the one you write with! It also comes with two extra tips, which is great, especially if you use the pen to correct a dark colour such a black, because it stays on the nib slightly. 

I found it best to have some tissue to hand just to help wipe up the excess and completely clean the colour from around the nails. 

So I'm definitely loving this product and think it's well worth the money! 

Nicole x 
@nicolesnailsuk
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Black and gold

Hi everyone, welcome to today's post. Sorry about the lack of posts over the weekend, it's been a busy one! 

Anyway today I've got a lovely matte design to show you, seeing as I got a new matte top coat over the weekend. 

I've used BarryM's matte black for the base and then used a dotting tool to add the gold dots to each finger. It's a nice and simple design for you to try. I find the matte polish doesn't last long without a matte top coat but I can't afford to buy a proper one. So at the weekend I was in Primark and found a bottle of matte top coat for £2 in there! I was very impressed and it works really well, but just be warned it takes quite a while to dry. 

I hope you like today's matte design, tomorrow I've got a lovely little review for you to read :) 

Nicole x 

@nicolesnailsuk
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Tutorial Time!

Hi everyone, today I've got a mini tutorial for you all and it's also my last valentines day themed design. 

This is a really simple and really pretty design to do at home. I've used BarryM's textured glitter to do this but you can use whatever you fancy! The pink glitter is 'princess' and the white on my ring finger is 'lady'. I've used two coats on each finger. 

Once the base colour is dry use a dotting tool, or a small nail brush would also work. Place two dots either side of each other about 3/4s of the way up your nail. Then put more polish on the tool and drag down gently.

Then just fill in the heart shape you've created with more polish until you are happy with the size and colour. And that's it, your done! If you want to keep the texture of the polish, either don't use any top coat or just put one thin layer on to keep the texture there. And obviously the smoother you want it, the more shiny top coat you put on :) 

So I hope you've enjoyed my final valentines tutorial. Have a great valentines day everyone! 

Nicole x 
@nicolesnailsuk
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Green Aztec

Hi everyone, today I've got an Aztec style design to show you :) keeping with my theme of trying to buy different colours that I wouldn't normally go for, I recently purchased BarryM's 'key lime' gelly polish. I normally don't like green but actually I'm really liking this colour, and I've had loads of compliments at work on it :) 

Once the green base colour was dry I've used BarryM's black nail art pen to create an Aztec style pattern on my ring finger and thumb. I didn't follow any rules or practice at all with the pattern, I just went with whatever I felt like! 

As you know I love a bit of glitter so I've added BarryM's diamond glitter to my middle finger, which is my favourite glitter as it's extra sparkly! 

I then topped it off with BarryM's clear top coat, and I've used my new purchase BarryM's corrector pen to tidy up the edges. 

So I hope you like today's design, come back tomorrow for more! 
Nicole x 

@nicolesnailsuk
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Pretty purple

Hi everyone, today I've got a little design to show you inspired by one of my candle holders. I've used BarryM's vivid purple for the base colour and BarryM's gold for the pattern. 

I used a small nail brush to create the gold design, once the purple was completely dry. 

This is a really simple design for you to try at home, and you can use any object to inspire the pattern. And just make sure you seal it with top coat to protect the design. 

So I hope you like today's nails. Return tomorrow to see one of my Aztec designs :) 

Nicole x 
@nicolesnailsuk
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Tutorial time!

So today I've got a bit of an experimental tutorial time for you all. Over the weekend I decided to try a water marbling effect on my nails.

Now to be honest this is not as easy as the short tutorials make it look on Pinterest! And it's very very messy! To start with you'll need a bowl of water, make sure you use something you don't mind ruining, I used an old tub that I can't find the lid for! Then choose a collection of colours. I've used BarryM's 'blue moon', white and 'watermelon' for this. I found it best to put one of the colours on first as I base colour, in case you get any gaps. 

Then add a drop of each colour on top of each other onto the water. This then creates a film for you to stick your finger into. Use a toothpick or old pencil to swirl the colours into a pattern of your choice and then your ready to make a mess! You'll need to protect your fingers for this as it gets everywhere, you can either use tape or Vaseline. I used Vaseline and covered half of my finger, then once the excess is dry you can just peel it off. 

Carefully dip your nail into the water, you can't just pull it straight out again, you'll need to use the toothpick to cut off the excess paint around your finger, otherwise you'll pull the whole lot out of the water! 

And once it's dry, just clean up round the edges. I have to be honest here, I got in an absolute mess (much to the enjoy of my husband who just sat and laughed at me!) and I did find the whole process quite difficult. But I think with a bit of practice I'll be able to create some really pretty designs using this method :) the other way I found quite good, was to let the pattern dry on top of the water and then gently pull the polish away, which leaves you with a film that you can put onto your nail and then use top coat to seal it on top. This was very fiddly and you have to be really gentle but it does work well! 

So give it a go at home and see what you think! 

Nicole x 
@nicolesnailsuk
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Hearts and Lace

Today I've got another valentines themed post for you all! This ones a nice and girly manicure, with hearts and lace. I've used rimmel's 'ring a ring o' roses' for the base colour and BarryM's white nail pen for the detailing, and topped it off with rimmel's new ultra shine top coat. 

So this is the first time I've done a lace pattern and it's actually quite easy, especially with the nail art pen, and you can make it your own and do any sort of pattern you fancy. You can also get stickers and transfers for these sort of designs, but I like to do everything freehand if I can :)

I've taken inspiration from my cath kidston valentines tutorial and added a similar heart to my index finger. And then of course you've got to have a bit of sparkle so I've used BarryM's rose quartz glitter to jazz it up!

I hope you like today's valentines design. Come back on Monday to see more! 
Nicole x

@nicolesnailsuk
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Gold leopard print

Afternoon everyone, today I've got a swatch of one of my newest purchases from BarryM. I've gone for their gold nail effect polish, which I am loving. 

I don't normally go for golds, but I thought I would go for something different and I'm really glad I did! 

The polish dries really quick and two coats was plenty :) I've decided to jazz it up a bit with a simple leopard print pattern. This is so easy to do using my good old barrym nail art pens, and you can do them as small or big as you want! 

The gold has a slight matte finish to it without any top coat, but I've added a normal shine top coat to these to give them a nice glossy finish. 

So I hope you like today's colour, I'm loving it and I'm thinking I will now have to purchase the silver polish to go with it!

Have a great day everyone! 

Nicole x 
@nicolesnailsuk
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Tutorial time!

Hi everyone, welcome to today's tutorial time :) today I have a valentines day, Cath Kidston inspired tutorial for you to try. 

I recently purchased BarryM's Gelly hi-shine 'pomegranate' which is the perfect colour for valentines designs. It's a really lovely dark pink (almost red). For this design you'll also need BarryM's 'blue moon' and their white and pink nail art pens. 

I hadn't actually planned this tutorial, and this post was just going to show you pomegranate swatches, so I added some little red gems to my nails. I then changed my mind and created these valentines nails instead! 

First paint your nails with the pomegranate, there's a couple of different ways you can create the heart in the middle, because just painting a light blue heart on the top doesn't work too well. I waited until the base colour was dry and then used a cotton bud dipped in remover to remove a heart shape in the middle of my nail. The other way is to cut out a small heart shape piece of tape, stick it on your nail and then paint the pomegranate on, but this is a but fiddly. 

Next fill in the heart with the blue polish, I used a small nail art brush to do this and a couple of coats should be fine. It doesn't matter how smooth this dries because you won't be able to see much once you've done the rest of the design. And then use the white nail art pen to trace round the edges of the heart. Next add tiny arches around the outside of the heart.

Once all this is dry, add a rose in the middle of the blue heart. You can see my rose tutorials in my previous posts. Do this using whichever one you fancy doing. I just drew a small circle with the pink nail art pen and once it was dry used the pomegranate and a small nail bush to add the tiny lines and details. Once this is done use green to add the leaves. 

And that's it! As its quite a time consuming design I decided to just do it on each ring finger and then added polka dots with the white nail pen on my other nails. 

I hope you enjoyed this valentines tutorial, return for more designs soon! 

Nicole x 

@nicolesnailsuk
Instagram: #nicolesnailsuk
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Turquoise and glitter

Hi everyone, today I've got a lovely turquoise design to show you that's really simple to do! 

I've used Nails Inc 'haymarket' for the base colour and BarryM's textured glitter 'lady' for the pattern. 

I created the patterns freestyle, and just did whatever popped into my head at the time! And I just used normal false nail glue to glue on the little bow on my ring finger! 

The bow will stick really well and last up to a week sometimes as long as there's enough glue and you sit patiently and wait for the glue to dry! Then just add top coat once your done! 

So that's today's design, a nice and easy one for you to try at home :) 

Nicole x 

@nicolesnailsuk

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My first client

Hi everyone, hope you all had an awesome weekend :) today I've got something a bit different to show you. Last week I had an old school friend get on contact and ask me to do her nails for a wedding. So she became my first official client, and I thought I'd show you the designs I created for her! 

She was wearing an red dress to the wedding so we went for a red background and then using small brushes and nail art pens I created a different design on each finger. 

I was so nervous seeing as she was the first person outside of family that I'd done this for, but she seemed really pleased with the results and said everyone at the wedding loved them :) 

So I hope you like today's designs, return tomorrow to see more!

Nicole x

@nicolesnailsuk

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