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!

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HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY,

PRETTY PERFECT BEAUTY!

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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:
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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:

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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:
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