Seagull Nails!

Hi everyone!

I wanted to quickly share a new manicure design that I've been wearing for the past few days. I love the way it looks!

These are my seagull nails :) It took me a long time to complete these but I'm really happy with the result. I started off with a light blue background for the sky, then painted the lower half of my nails in a darker blue shade for the sea and then painted the tips of my nails in an orange colour for the sand. Once this background was dry, I painted on the seagull, inspired by +Mllrdesign on Instagram. I absolutely loved her design and so I had to recreate the little bird about to set off on flight on my nails too, all done in different nail polish shades. 

I hope you all like this summery manicure, let me know what you think in the comments and leave requests for me below too :)

Speak to you all again soon!

xxx

Galaxy Nails

Hi everyone, I'm back with a new manicure to show you all!

I created a galaxy on my nails!

I had done a galaxy design about 6 months ago but I decided that I wanted to create a more colourful version and so the base of this manicure was a navy blue colour instead of the black that I used in my previous design. I also used more purples and pinks this time around and then added some glitter for the stars as well as some hand drawn stars with white polish.

Creating this design is pretty easy, simply paint on the colours that you want onto a makeup sponge, one at a time, and sponge the colours onto your nails in different sections. The best thing about this technique as that you get a different result every time so all of your nails will look slightly different, just like a night sky. It's really fun to experiment with which colours look best so give it a go!

Clean up around your nails when you're done using a cotton bud dipped into nail polish remover and then seal in your design with a thick glossy top coat!

I really hope you guys liked this one, I always love a good galaxy manicure on my nails :)
See you all really soon!
xxx

Travel Makeup Essentials 2014!

Hi all, hope you're well!

So I'm back from my trip to Scotland, all relaxed and ready for some more blogging! I had an absolutely amazing time and I will share some pictures will you all soon.

For today however, I wanted to do something a little bit different. I get asked a lot about the make up that I'm using, etc. so I thought I'd share my travel makeup essentials with you today, seeing as I'm fresh from travelling myself.

The first things that I always take with me on holiday are body wash, moisturiser and shampoo. I know that they usually provide these in hotels but I find these pretty drying/sticky on my skin and some don't even smell that nice. So better safe than sorry I say! I used the Next Gold Body Wash and Body Cream which smell AMAZING and are the perfect size for travelling.

Where you can buy it: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-NEXT-Gold-Gift-Set-30ml-Spray-Body-Lotion-Body-Wash-/161195052650

 My shampoo was just my usual Head & Shoulders Dry Scalp Care with Almond Oil.

For more information: http://www.headandshoulders.co.uk/anti-dandruff/dry-scalp-care

I like to keep my make up pretty simple so for the base of my face make-up, I used a Rimmel pressed powder to even out my skin tone. I don't like using foundation and especially wouldn't use it on holiday. I used my flat kabuki brush (which again is the perfect travel size) to apply the powder where I needed it.

I used the same brush to add my highlighter to the top of my cheeks. I'm a bit of a highlighter freak and I love the glowy appearance I get from doing this. I use the Rimmel Sun Shimmer Shimmering Bronzer as it compliments my skin colour really well.

Where you can buy it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rimmel-London-Sunshimmer-Shimmering-Bronzer/dp/B0084N13UQ 

Onto my eyes, I use Rimmel London Exaggerate Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner to line the top of my eyes. This is the best liquid eye liner that I have ever used; the applicator is amazingly precise and easy to use and the formula is so highly pigmented and lasts ALL DAY.
Where you can buy it: http://www.boots.com/en/Rimmel-London-Exaggerate-Waterproof-Liquid-Eye-Liner_1296951/?

For my water line I use Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Khol Kajal Eye Liner. This stuff doesn't budge and the formula is so creamy and soft and easy to apply. It's amazing.
Where you can buy it: http://www.feelunique.com/p/Rimmel-Scandaleyes-Waterproof-Khol-Kajal-Eye-Liner?

My mascara is this absolute beauty. I cannot say enough good things about this. I posted a picture on my instagram page of my eyes after using this mascara, so go and check it out for yourself :) @vaish92. Where you can buy it: http://www.boots.com/en/L'Oreal-Paris-Volume-Million-Lashes-Excess-Black-Mascara_1321248/?

For my lips I kept it super simple and natural with this which is my all time fave: Smith's Rosebud Lip Salve. Where you can buy it: http://www.cultbeauty.co.uk/smiths-rosebud-salve-rosebud-lip-balm.html?

Onto perfumes, I took two tiny bottles with me. The first was this: Thierry Mugler's Womanity. I always get so many compliments when I wear this so I had to take it with me on holiday.

The second was a scent I had never worn before but honestly, it's become one of my most worn scents. When some of my family walked into my hotel room the other day, after I had used this, they literally said "Wow your room smells so nice, what did you use?!" So definitely a winner.

Finally, when travelling, I NEED to have my nail things in case my nails chip or break (#nailaddict). And then of course, I carry around other emergency bits and bobs too (all in tiny travel size haha!)

I hope that this has been somewhat useful to you during this holiday season. Thank you so much for reading and I will be back soon with a new nail art design!
Love! xxxxxx

Summer Neons

Hi guys!

So I'm going on holiday to Scotland for a few days and I thought it would only be fitting to create a holiday manicure.

I wanted my nails to stand out (especially in the ton of pictures I'm bound to take!) and so I went with bright neon colours. I couldn't decide on a specific colour however so I painted my nails in three different polishes and I love how they look together.

Click on the picture to see it in large!

All three polishes are from the Color Club Poptastic Collection and the specific shades are:

Purple: Pucci-Licious (blue-toned purple).

Pink: Poptastic (bright neon pink).

Green: Twiggie (light pastel neon green).

Link to this collection:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/111073132346?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Color-Club-Poptastic-Polish-Collection/dp/B003BDPYB8

I love Color Club nail polishes and I especially adore these ones as they are highly pigmented (only requiring one coat for full coverage) and they last for a long time on my nails. This was a must, of course, because I don't want chipped nail polish on holiday!

On top of these polishes I added some nail stickers and then finished off the design by adding a few dots and lines to my taste with some white nail polish.

I also used a thick layer of American Apparel's Clear topcoat to make sure the stickers stayed in place and to ensure that the manicure would last all week!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer, I'll see you all after my trip! :)

xxx

Lace Nails

Hi everyone, hope you're well!

Today I decided to paint my nails in an intricate lace design and the aim was to make this manicure look as fine and delicate as possible. I created this design by drawing curved lines in the corners of my nails and straight lines between these to join the curves up, creating the final look. Almost like an intricate web!

Take a look, what do you think? :)
(You can click on the pictures to see them in full size!)

The base colour I used was Rimmel's Frisky Clover, a dark salmon pink which is definitely more of an autumn nail colour but I thought it would really make the white lace design 'pop', as opposed to a lighter pink base which you may find in traditional lace manicures.

Here is a picture of my nails after I added a top coat :)

Here is a link to this polish :)

Rimmel 60 Seconds - 290 Frisky Clover: http://www.shopcade.com/product/rimmel-london-60-seconds-nail-polish-290-frisky-clover/51928515646fcb2151009d9f

If you give this design a go, be sure to tag me on Instagram @cutetickleangel so I can see your recreations :)

Have a lovely weekend and I'll see you next week!

xxx

Rainbow Gradient

Hello everyone, hope you're all well!

Today I'm back with a new manicure and this one is super bright and eye-catching, perfect for the weather that we've been having recently. I love rocking multi-coloured nails once in a while because they always draw a lot of attention to my hands and they give those boring outfits that "pop" of colour. :)

These are my neon rainbow gradient nails and even though the final result looks like this took forever to do, this design was actually really quick and simple to complete.

Here are the polishes I used (along with links if you want to purchase any of them):

1. Revlon - Plum Attraction: http://www.boots.com/en/Revlon-Nail-Enamel_33582/
2. Revlon Top Speed - Royal: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/131105441354?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108
3. Barry M - Cobalt Blue: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barry-Nail-Paint-Cobalt-Blue/dp/B004TLB1LS
4. Sally Hansen - Barely Blue Bell: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hansen-Limited-Edition-Designer-Collection/dp/B00HXWMJDO/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1405805112&sr=1-2-fkmr0&keywords=barely+bluebell+sally+hansen
5. Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - In Record Lime: http://www.xtras.co.uk/sally-hansen-insta-dri-nail-varnish-9-17ml-50-in-record-lime.html
6. Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Butter-fly Stroke: http://www.sallyhansen.com/nails/nail-color/color/insta-dri%C2%AE
7. Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Man-go Team: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SALLY-HANSEN-NAIL-POLISH-INSTA-DRY-MAN-GO-TEAM-CREME-LIMITED-EDITION-/330980961707?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d1000adab
8. Maybelline Forever Strong Pro - Couture Orange: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAYBELLINE-FOREVER-STRONG-PRO-NAIL-POLISH-VARNISH-10ML-460-COUTURE-ORANGE-/111415194748?pt=Nail_Polish&hash=item19f0dcf47c
9. Nails Inc - Special K Red: (Limited Edition).

When doing gradient nails, I like to make sure the polishes I use are as pigmented as possible because this gives the best effect. So the polishes listed above are the ones that I recommend.

The technique for doing gradient nails is really simple. Take a makeup sponge and paint on 3 of the colours in rows one below the other, as shown.

Now just sponge this onto your nails and dab until you are satisfied with the look. The sponge's texture blends the colours together to give the gradient effect. Use a topcoat to smooth out the colours and complete the manicure.

I really hope you liked this look, let me know what you thought in the comments below! Also leave a comment on what nail design you would like to see next! Thanks so much for reading, I'll see you in my next post, next week! :)

Sunset nails... and I'm back!

Hello there! So urm... I last blogged over a year ago... Oops.

I don't really know what happened, I guess I just decided that blogging wasn't for me and that I wanted to work more on perfecting my nail art designs. Looking back now, I wasn't happy with the content I was posting, the huge time gaps between posts and even the quality of my pictures.

Recently however, I decided to give this another go, and I think this past year has taught me a lot. So I really hope you like what's to come.

So without further ado, here's my latest nail art design :)

These are my pop art sunset nails, inspired by @chorubim on Instagram (check her out, she's awesome!). I've always had a thing for pop art ever since we studied Andy Warhol's work in high school and I think this manicure encapsulates that fun, bold and colourful nature that pop art is so often about. So when I saw Cho's post, I couldn't help but recreate this design.

I started off with a light blue shade (seen in the middle of my nails) as a base colour for all of my nails. This is Sally Hansen's Barely Blue Bell, part of the Complete Salon Manicure range.

I then lightly brushed on a purple polish, to the bottom third of my nails, ensuring that there wasn't much polish on the brush (by wiping off all the excess) so I could get a more streaky, 'brushed' effect which works well for this pop art look and helps to form the gradient. The purple polish I used was Sally Hansen's Perfect Plum in the Nail Growth Miracle formula.

I used the same technique for the tips of my nails, using a blue polish. This was Barry M's Cobalt Blue (an oldie but a goodie!).

I then went in with a pin dipped into black polish and added the silhouette of a safari landscape. Finally I painted the golden sun on my ring finger using Sally Hansen's Man-go Team! from their Insta-Dri range which is a colour I have completely fallen in love with!

I love the way the finished design looks and here are the links to the polishes I used, in case you want to purchase any of them :)

• Sally Hansen's Barely Blue Bell: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hansen-Limited-Edition-Designer-Collection/dp/B00HXWMJDO/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1405805112&sr=1-2-fkmr0&keywords=barely+bluebell+sally+hansen
• Sally Hansen's Perfect Plum: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sally-Hansen-Growth-Miracle-Perfect/dp/B00HY7LZ9W
• Barry M's Cobalt Blue: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barry-Nail-Paint-Cobalt-Blue/dp/B004TLB1LS
• Sally Hansen's Man-go Team!: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SALLY-HANSEN-NAIL-POLISH-INSTA-DRY-MAN-GO-TEAM-CREME-LIMITED-EDITION-/330980961707?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d1000adab

Leave me a comment on what nail design you would like to see next! Thanks so much for reading, I'll see you in my next post, next week! :)