Ciate's 2013 Christmas Advent Calendar

It is way too early to be thinking of Christmas, but I received an email a few days ago from Selfridges informing me that Ciate was going to be doing another nail polish advent calendar this year. I have checked it out, although it is not yet available to buy. 

I am a little disappointed that they have also decided to show you all the colours this year, where's the element of surprise? I understand the logic, people want to know what they are buying, but then on the other hand now I've seen the colour range (a mix of pastels, metallics and caviar beads) I'm not sold! My opinion may change the nearer we get to Christmas, when I'll have to face the dilemma of whether to get a traditional chocolate calendar or this little beauty again!

Until next time...

Ladybird Nails

I'm not entirely sure I remember how to even post on here, it has been so long! Anyway, I began to worry I had lost my nail art mojo as the months went by, but I rediscovered my love of all things nails a few weeks ago when procrastinating from having to do work by searching through Pinterest. I found this beautiful ladybird design and wanted to see if I still 'had it'...

I used Revlon's Coconut Crush (it actually smells like coconuts!) for the base of the little ladybird nails, and Rimmel's Red Carpet for my accent nail and the ladybirds themselves. 

I love this design, it is simple and understated.

Until next time...

Snow Blizzard Nails

Brrrr it's cold! Today's nail design is inspired by the current wintry weather conditions in the UK. 

This design included a sponging technique to create a snowfall effect. I have never used this technique before, so I'm not quite sure. 

Next I want to try out an ombre nail effect by using a sponging technique. 

Until Next Time...

Yaba Daba Doooo Nails

If you couldn't tell by the title of this post I have done The Flintstones inspired nails. 

I'm not usually the biggest fan of orange nails but I love this design; it's simple yet effective! Now every time I look at my nails I can't help but hum the show's theme-tune... 

Until Next Yaba Daba Dooo Time...

Marvel Comics: Spider-Man Nails

I have found some of my biggest nail art 'supporters' have been at work, people seem to take a genuine interest in my passion and for that I am extremely grateful. More recently people have even begun to give me design ideas and themes they would like to see. A comic book theme was suggested by a few people, so I decided to do Spider-Man nails. 

The hardest part was in fact the 'spiderweb French manicure' fingers, which I had to attempt several times. 

Until Next Time...

Sunflower Nail Art

After a wonderful Christmas break it is finally back to work tomorrow, so I decided to do a bright and colourful nail design to help lift my post-Christmas mood blues. 

As a New Years promise I decided my first port of inspiration should be Ciate Advent Calendar because there are so many polishes that are still hidden away behind each little door, which seems a little sad! As my theme was bright and colourful Big Yellow Taxi, a beautiful canary yellow colour, immediately caught my eye. Firstly it reminded me of my travels to New York (I think more because of the name than anything), and then sunflowers as it is nearly spring (wishful thinking?!). I wanted a bright base, so I chose to use Revlon's Blue Lagoon, which is a sparkly baby blue colour. 

Until Next Time...

New Year, New Beginnings!

Happy New Year!

I have decided this is going to be the year. The year for what? I'm not entirely sure, but I'm hoping for big things; wild adventures, fun, friends, happiness, family, creativity, and of course nail challenges! I am definitely feeling positive about 2013 but I know it won't all be smooth sailing. So I chose to start the new year off with a Yin & Yang design to help illustrate my feelings about the year ahead...

Until Next Time...

New Years Eve Nails

2012 is officially over! It was an okay year but I am expecting more fun, nail painting and adventure in 2013! To start the year off I opted for a simple black and gold firework design with a caviar manicure accent nail (well it is New Years after all!)

I want to try to work through my Ciate advent calendar, so this design incorporated 3 bottles from the collection; Ladylike Luxe (gold polish used as the base for the caviar beads and firework designs), Twilight (black polish with a gold undertone) and Bumble Bee (the black and gold Ciate caviar beads).

I really like this design and I feel it sums up NYE perfectly. 

Until Next Time...

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 12

Zooey Deschanel's Christmas Sweater Nails

I made it to the final day of the challenge (even if it was a little behind schedule)! The last theme in the challenge was my favourite Christmas design. Last year I saw Zooey Deschanel's Christmas sweater nails on Instagram and I was instantly hooked on nail art!

 Before this point I had only ever dabbled in French manicures, so I had never actually done a nail art design. I attempted to recreate Zooey's design on my own nails but these were the days before I discovered dotting tools and paint brushes, so from what I can recall I used a bobby pin and a sewing pin. Needless to say it ended in disaster (and very nearly tears) when the nail polish went flying through the air and splattered my brand new Iphone, thankfully because it was shiny and new it had the ultimate protection and was saved - it really was a Christmas miracle! I ended up going on YouTube and discovered CutePolish's channel and followed her step by step tutorial on santa hats, and with that my obsession with all things nails began...

So I decided to face my fear and attempt the Christmas jumper design again...

I decided to shake up the design a little by doing red on a cream background, which I think worked really well. I am also very pleased with the reindeer, as I attempted a similar design on a friend a few weeks ago and the reindeer was too fat and antler-less.

I have learnt a lot about nails and nail art by doing this challenge, and I feel I have improved my skills by attempting more difficult designs.

I hope you have enjoyed my challenge :) Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Until Next Time...

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 11

Day 11 of the nail challenge was based on my favourite Christmas film - The Muppet Christmas Carol. It is a family tradition to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol every Christmas Eve, and this year was no different although we did manage to fall asleep halfway through - sacrilege! 

Originally I had grand plans to do all of The Muppets but it ended up just being a festive Kermit. 

Until Next Time...

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 10

I know I am VERY behind on my blog posts, Christmas coupled with my sister coming home from University has meant its been a week of Christmas TV/films, chocolate, presents, cupcake making, chocolate, sale shopping and more chocolate, but I am officially back!

Day 10 of my Christmas nail challenge was based on the song ' Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas', so I decided to do little gift-wrapped presents on each nail.

I decided to alternate the red and the green to make it feel extra Christmassy. 

Until Next Time...

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 9

Time is definitely not my friend at the moment! The countdown is now officially on to Christmas, which has resulted in a lot less time! So I decided to try a quick and simple design for today's challenge, 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer'...

Although the design is simple I think it is still very cute and if nothing else the red nose gives away that it is Rudolph inspired if nothing else (well I hope so anyway!).

Until next time...

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 8

Holly & the Ivy was today's nail art theme. I wasn't looking forward to it thanks to my Christmas pudding ivy attempts. After a little google search for inspiration I came across Cutepolish's recent YouTube video for a quick and simple design...

I don't particularly think the ivy looks like ivy but I still like the overall look and I think it definitely feels Christmassy. 

I started with a French manicure design, using masking tape and Rimmel's French Manicure White. The then used a festive red and green to complete the holly and ivy look.

Until next time...

Ciate Advent Calendar Days 13 to 16

On day 13 I finally got one of Ciate's special edition nail polishes, specifically created for the advent calendar. It is blue glitter polish called Glass Slipper. 

 Ciate Mini (5ml) - Glass Slipper

Next I got a coral polish called Speed Dial. It is very thin and required 3 coats for a full coverage (plus there was already nail varnish on the bottle upon opening the door, tut tut)!

  Ciate Mini (5ml) - Speed Dial

Day 15 has to be one of my favourite colours so far - a beautiful sea blue green (or turquoise if you wish). Another 'thicker' polish from Ciate, which I like better than the thinner more watery ones. 

                                                         

                   Ciate Mini (5ml) - Headliner

Today a bright canary yellow was behind door number 16. I love the name - Big Yellow Taxi - it instantly transported me back 5 years when my friend and I visited New York for Christmas!

                                                

                  Ciate Mini (5ml) - Big Yellow Taxi

Until next time...

The Holidays Are Coming...

It has been a hectic weekend filled with festive fun and frivolities, so I am a little behind on my posts. Yesterday I went to Birmingham with a friend to see the Coca Cola lorry, which is currently touring the UK. I also aimed to get the last of my Christmas shopping done but I ended up buying more for myself than for anyone else (opps!).

Birmingham's Bulldeer

Always Coca Cola!

The rest of my weekend has been spent wrapping presents (felt like an elf Santa's workshop!), thankfully today I had Michael Buble to keep me company.

Until next time...

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 7

Today's nail art challenge was centered around Christmas fairy lights or the song Christmas Lights by Coldplay. 

It was my first time using a sponge to create a gradient effect but I'm not sure about it. I think the design would look better on longer nails as I struggled to fit the lights on. 

I used Revlon's Blue Lagoon as the base, it is a beautiful baby blue colour with a white/silver sparkle (I brought it last week from Poundworld - bargain!). I used Essie's Blanc and a make up sponge to try to create the snowy gradient effect. I then used a black striper to create the wire and a small brush to create green, blue, red and yellow fairy lights.

I feel my motivation has been lacking a little today, not entirely sure why (maybe it is because I'm half way through my challenge - phew)! Holly and the Ivy next...I'm hoping to muster up an easy-ish design as I struggled to do the holly on my Christmas pud nails. 

Until next time...