MiliManicure

Gradient manicures have never been easier after you've tried the amazing peel off liquid tape around your nails. This may look like it was time consuming but it really didn't take long at all since it's amazingly mess free once you've peeled the tape off. Pure magic!

Today I bring you a matte manicure for midweek. It's a textured sand polish by Kiko and even though I'm not a big fan of textured polishes, this one contains slightly finer grains than a few others I've tried. It dries as a matte finish therefore I haven't applied a shiny top coat for this look.

The finished look.

Two coats of Kiko Sugar Mat - 635

Stamped using MoYou Kaleidoscope plate 03, Butter London - Be My Dahling and Kiko - 334.

Finished with Rimmel - Matte Finish Top coat.

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone's having a good weekend, now that it's not freezing temperatures again in London.

I got this polish by Natural Collection free as part of an offer at Boots and I thought since it's too early to wear this shade on it's own why not use it as a stamping shade instead. I went for a rich brown as a base and using this Antique Coral I stamped a butterfly and flower print using my Born Pretty plate. When stamping, I didn't realise that this was in fact a sheer polish, therefore the results were very different to what I was expecting. Nevertheless, I think I quite like the soft stamping effect against the dark brown.

The finished look with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat.

Two coats of Nails inc - Richmond Terrace.

Stamped using Natural Collection - Antique Coral and BP-L008 plate.

Finished off with Top coat.

I received my first ever plate from the Born Pretty Store (I know I'm very late) and I'm already in love with the amazing, elegant designs contained within the BP-L 008 plate. I'm super excited to share more of these prints with you soon in my future posts as I think they'll work well with many interesting colour combinations.

See the city in a new light this weekend as the LumiereLDN light festival hits the streets of London where the capital's most iconic areas are lit up in the first ever light festival. The areas of Mayfair, King's Cross, Piccadilly, Regent Street, St. James's, Trafalgar Square and Westminster are all transformed throughout the evenings of 14-17th Jan with LED and art installations by various artists.

The finished look with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top coat.

Two coats of LA Colors - Black Velvet.

I used bright colours, a striper brush and a dotting tool to create a free hand design.

The installations I have tried to recreate here are as follows (starting with the pinky finger): Les Lumineroles, IFO, Garden of Light and Litre of Light.

IFO (Identified Flying Object) by Jacques Rival.

Dresses by Tae gon KIM.

Litre of Light by Mick Stephenson, Central Saint Martins Students & MyShelter Foundation (this one was my personal favourite!!)

Litre of Light shaped into a heart (can you believe these are just plastic bottles filled with water?! It's so pretty!)

It was one of those days where I looked at my collection, picked the first three shades I saw and combined them together! I'm finding myself lack a bit of inspiration and time this week, but hopefully I'll be back to my creative self soon.

I saw a pink to black gradient on Instagram (so not completely random choice I guess) and it looked amazing, especially because I'd never think to combine those colours for a gradient manicure. I'll definitely try and find the post and recreate it when I get the chance.

The finished look with Sally Hansen - Diamond Flash Top coat.

Two coats of Essie - Mademoiselle.

Stamped using Jumbo plate B and Revlon - Ginger Melon and Rimmel - Black Pearl.

After what felt like the longest week ever; suffering from holiday blues and tackling work life and everyday routine again, this weekend definitely couldn't come any quicker.

I couldn't decide whether I wanted a splash of colour for todays manicure or if I wanted to match this gloomy, grim weather and go dark, so I've gone for best of both and opted for a bit of a neutral choice - black and white.

The finished look with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top coat.

Two coats of Maybelline - White sail (I had to steal this image from a previous manicure as I forgot to take one this time!)

Stamped using LA Colors - Black velvet and Jumbo plate B.

Finished off with top coat.

Now that we've all settled back into normality and taken down those festive trees and lights, it's time for me to go back to creating non themed manicures without feeling guilty about it.

I'm suffering from an extreme case of the Monday blues this morning, as two weeks of holidays sadly come to an end. Not only has it been a nice relaxing break from work but it's also been great catching up with friends and family and spending some quality me time. As sad as it feels setting an alarm again and heading to work, I don't think any more days being lazy at home would have done me any good.
Here's a blue water marbled manicure to help brighten up your day a little (or at least your nails!)

The finished look with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat.

Water marbled using Kiko - 334, Nails Inc - Baker Street and NYC - Raindrop.

I really like the way the pattern turned out on these. Definitely getting better at this :)