OUT OF OFFICE REPLY!

With a heavy heart, I have just chopped off my now quite long nails right down to the tip, as I am going away for a week on the Isle of May tomorrow... No nail polish all week! I think there will be bird ringing all week! Can't wait to see the puffins.. Lets hope the weather will be good! Better be, I need to review that suncream I got.. :)

While I am off packing, please enjoy some of yesterday's nail work photos I have posted above! :) The pink is Rimmel 60 sec "Funtime Fuschia" and little purple nail gems. The French mani is OPI "Alpine Snow" and China Glaze "Innocence". A big thank you to the willing participants! :)

♥ ♥ Happy 1st Birthday My Blog! ♥ ♥

Tomorrow is a very special day! It is time to celebrate this blog's 1st birthday! :) Thank you to all my lovely readers, who come back and comment time after time! I will try and keep things interesting for you for another year!

I share with you today a very special mani, duo-tone with Rimmel LycraPRO "Urban Princess" (pink) and Bloom "Isla" (purple). OK so you've seen these polishes together before you say, but they are so frickin' good they deserve the praise!

Also, I give to you some of today's work (and it's NOT typing or mail merge!) - a set of little acrylic nails topped with a French mani with China Glaze "Innocence"! A big thank you to the willing participant who shall not be named! :) This is a tip for all you nail biter girls out there -

yes, a nail tech can give you lovely long nails too!

♥ ♥ ♥

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY,

PRETTY PERFECT BEAUTY!

♥ ♥ ♥

NOTD: Barry M "Bright Red"

This is the most infuriating colour to photograph so far... My camera captures this lovely bright colour block red a lot more orangey than it is, no matter in which light I use.

Anyway, this is another incredibly smooth Barry M, and I am loving the colour - a naughty and rebellious red! I am working a lot this week in my day job, I was helping out at the local 10k road race today and I've got nail tech clients in the evenings, so I felt like something glossy and vibrant for Monday morning, and this is just the ticket!

My nails and cuticles are a disaster zone right now, I think it will be good for them when I got away next week to be polish free and just fed a truckload of Solaroil...

Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

PSSST...

Hey guys, go check out talented Enamelcoated...

NAIL ART: Texture Play

I am really excited about the swathe of new, matte nail polishes that the big companies are putting out this autumn! I think my love for matte started with a nail polish from Savina - "Marine Life". When I was cruising the nail polish blogs this morning, and came across some really exciting designs on All Lacquered Up.

I just HAD to try it. And it looks very exciting if you have the patience and the right tools. "Marine Life" dries to a sumptuous satiny finish, so I decided not to spoil it by putting more colour on, so I instead dotted the thick, quick-dry top coat Sally Hansen Mega Shine on. Don't be tempted to dot more than once in the same place though, folks, it makes air bubbles in the quick dry formula of the top coat.. You can see this in some of the dots. Oh, and FYI - you can't Konad with Seche Vite top coat... :-/

For my black design I used 2 coats of Rimmel 60sec "Blackout" and then a coat of Nailtek II Foundation on top. This kind of matte base coat is just as effective in mattifying any polish as any of the snazzy new matte top coats from Orly, Nubar or Zoya coming out this year. Then I used Nail Art Striper in black for a simple diagonal pattern. Isn't that sooo futuristic looking?? :)

Matte is the new shiny. Oh my, it's going to be an exciting autumn again! :)

NOTD: China Glaze "Paper Chasing"

Holy shizzle!! OK, so when Scrangie swatched this, I knew I would love it!!

And I do. To a certain extent. The formula is ok, but not great - this is 3 coats, with still visible nail line. I was fighting with even coverage. But the colour is soo lovely! But not top score for China Glaze this time.

But I am in love with the crisp, cool, bright green - it's like fresh grass with dew on it. But the formula is not so endearing...

Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Sorry I've been somewhat absent lately kids, got so much on just now. But I have some exciting stuff coming up on the blog that I've not got round to writing it up yet! So stay tuned! :)

NOTD: Barry M "Fuchsia" with dotz

I can't get enough of my dotting tools :) One day I will do proper marbleizing when I have time. I stashed away my new polishes today from my latest swaps, there are so many wonderful American polishes in there I have not had a chance to try yet!

This colour is one of the new colours this summer from Barry M - from the same collection as my beloved "Mint Green". This is 2 coats over Seche Clear with Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat. The white dots is an ancient bottle of Isadora French Manicure White... It's at least 10 years old, probably more, and its horrifically thick and stringy and fantastic for use with the dotting tool :)

Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

NOTD: Rimmel Play Fast "Pop Quiz"

I got this fantastic polish in a swap from America, and its cooler than I thought! It's flaky and glittery, sort of nude-ish, goldy.. and peachy. I love it! It has a very similar brush to the new Rimmels launched in the UK so its great to apply. This is 3 coats, as it is quite sheer. It eats top coat however, so you need 2 coats of top coat to keep it smooth.

Love it :) I've been into the darks lately and my nails were quite hideously stained green from "Date Night"... Nothing that BubbleWhite and a stiff manicure brush can't handle! That dark thing on my index finger is actually bruised cuticle from a week or so ago when I caught my finger in my cupboard door :( Ouch. Hope it grows out soon.

Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

NOTD: Barielle Shades "Date Night"

This is the 3rd and final of my Barielles. "Date Night" is a deep glowing polish just like "Secret Encounter" and it is opaque in 1 coat only if you are not bothered by VNL (visible nail line).

I am not sure which one I prefer of these. "Decadence" is that crisp luscious teal you keep staring at, but "Date Night" is a true dark green that you just don't get a lot. And "Secret Encounter" is work safe and at the same time a sexy vampy polish. In fact, I think I love them all equally :)

Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

NOTD: Barielle Shades "Secret Encounter"

This is my second Barielle Shades polish, which a lovely American lady sent to me in a swap :) I must say these are better than I thought they would be, and I can't wait to try the third polish she sent me - "Date Night", which is a dark forest green shimmer. And we all know how I love green! :)

"Secret Encounter" is Zoya "Yasmeen" darker, naughtier, older sister - a delicious dark purple with a fuschia shimmer. It literally glows from within! It applies really well too. This is 2 coats over Nailtek II base coat and with Poshe top coat.

That reminds me to do another Zoya "Yasmeen" manicure, I have worn it but somehow I haven't showed it to you yet :) Stay tuned!

Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

NOTD: Illamasqua "Rampage"

Sometimes a frenzy stirs in the nail polish lover's community. Such a frenzy occured for China Glaze "Emerald Sparkle", and lately, for Illamasqua nail polish, in particular for the dark green creme "Rampage".

I had to have it. I have worn it since Thursday night. That's 4 days. And very few nail polishes survive past the second day before I crave something new on my tips... And "Rampage"only showed minimal tipwear after being out recording spiders all day today!

It applies well, this is 2 coats. I was surprised when it dried matte! The pigment in it must be related to neon pigments. This is with Poshe top coat. Please excuse the rubbish lightning, I couldn't find the right light on Thursday as I was not at home this week. Also excuse the crappy cuticles, they're misbehaving badly lately :(

Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ +

NOTD: Mulensa #60 and Max Factor "Earth Stone"

It's actually weekend mani - for my first day at my new job tomorrow I am rocking Rimmel LycraPRO "Urban Princess" again. I love finding new cheap brands of nail polish :) This brand is called Mulensa and the number is 60 so it has no real name. I got it for a killer bargain on eBay, 99p. It's very good for a cheap brand, I am glad I got this greeny one and a pinky one with similar finish. Brush was OK, if you're careful you can hardly see the brush strokes.

My ring finger is Max Factor "Earth Stone". I got it because I had a coupon so it was really cheap. I really like the colour, but the brush is ehm, not so good. The polish seems to pool in the brush and then release an avalanche of polish when you least expect it :( Hence all the mess. You can't get rid of the brush strokes easy either. But love the colour!

And stay tuned for this weekend, something lovely will be coming up... :)

First acrylic nails, and what I've been up to today...

I spent most of yesterday afternoon doing acrylics, and this is the first results, not great but not too bad! :) Camera ran out of battery after these photos, but now have to practice my hands 60 times for the final exam so plenty more opportunity to photograph some finished acrylics :)

Today I worked on my tan while catching spiders in St Cyrus Nature Reserve in Scotland. The day ended with a freak intense hail storm, but it was very warm and sunny for the most part. Here I am shaking the tree to get spiders to fall out of the hawthorn tree onto the plastic sheeting and then I suck up the spider and put them into pots with that bit of plastic tubing :)

NOTD: Barielle Shades "Decadence"

This is a lovely colour isn't it? :) Nice opaque coverage in two coats and a lovely deep glow. It dries fairly quickly too. The only gripe I have is the brush. It overloads easily, making the lovely formula pool in the brush and suddenly releases an avalanche of nail polish onto your nail :(

I got this is a swap from America, but there is whispers that Barielle is breaking out the Shades range is the UK soon!

I'm off to do some studying for my exciting new course - Essential Nails Acrylic Tip and Overlay. It comes complete with the creepy nail trainer hand... :/ I am also fully insured now so I will restart my mobile nail tech business. It's amazing how the acrylic products have moved on in twelve years - I think I will have a ball doing my course :)