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 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...

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...

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 4

Today's nail art challenge was based on the song 'Frosty the Snowman'.

I used Blanc by Essie and Miss Sporty's Twinkle Shine (my current glitter polish favourite) as a base colour. I then used a black striper and dotting tool to create the snowman's (snowmen's?) hat, coal eyes and mouth. I used a silver glitter striper to add detail to the hat and George's Sunset Orange to draw sideways triangles for the nose.

I hope you like it!

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 3

Today's nail art challenge was based around the song 'Oh Christmas Tree'. I wanted to do something slightly different from the traditional block colour design with a decorated tree, so I opted for a winter Christmas tree snow scene instead.

I used a clear glitter polish as a base coat, and then I painted the tips of my nails white to imitate snowfall on the ground. I used two green polishes to create the trees; Camouflage by Rimmel and Emerald City by Revlon. To finish I used a small dotting tool to create white and silver snowflakes over the top of the design.

Until next time...

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 2

My second nail art design was based on my favourite Christmas book; How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss.

I can always remember Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone 2 watching the cartoon version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. A few years later (although I'm sure in reality it was a good 10 years or so after) I can vividly remember watching The Grinch starring Jim Carey at the cinema.

However, it wasn't until recently I actually read the book. I instantly loved it and now I reread it every Christmas.

The Grinch took a little time and a lot of patience but I am pleased with the result :)

Until next time...

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Usually I spend my Sundays working and preparing things for the following week, but I really wanted to go to a Christmas fair to see if I could buy some one-of-a-kind stocking fillers. We went to the breathtaking Newstead Abbey, somewhere I haven't been since I was a child. The weather was perfect; a crisp winters morning with beautiful blue skies.

Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire

Although the sun was shining it was still very chilly (-1°C according to the car's thermometer), so I tried to wrap up warm...

I wore my red jeans from Republic (with tights underneath), a cardigan from Monki, and my black knee length boots from New Look. My coat was a steal from George at £19 a few months ago. The red fairisle gloves, which were from La Senza last year, are most definitely my favourite part of the outfit! 

Until next time...

Ciate Advent Calendar - Day 2

Today, behind door number 2 of my Ciate advent calendar, was Dangerous Affair. It is a beautiful deep red polish, perfect for the festive season.

The consistency of the polish is quite thin so at least two coats is required for a full coverage. 

Ciate Mini (5ml) - Dangerous Affair

These are my first Ciate nail polishes so I'm still fanscinated by the bottles - they are gorgeous, I love the little bow too!

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 1

YAY it is finally December, and I get to start my 12 days of Christmas nail art challenge! Today's design was based around the song 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'...

Last year I did one of my very first nail art designs - Santa hats (using CutePolish's YouTube tutorial), so this year I wanted to do one better and incorporate Santa's face in the design.

All that is required for the design is a red, white and gold polish. I also used a black striper and a range of dotting tools to create the eyes, nose, buttons and fur. 

My next nail art design will be based on my favourite Christmas book.

Until next time...

Ciate Advent Calendar - Day 1

It is the 1st of December, which means I can finally open my Ciate Christmas Advent Calendar :) I was so excited to finally open the little door to see what was inside...

Cupcake Queen is a bright pink colour with a subtle blue shimmer underneath. I'm not sure it is exactly my colour but I'm sure I can find a nail art use for it!

 Ciate Mini (5ml) - Cupcake Queen