Gel II - Carrot Cake

As the title says - just a simple picture to show the colour of Gel II Carrot Cake :)

come fly with me - kite nails

Here we have Gell II 'Bunny Hopping' with Kite stamping.
Simple but lovely. 

Movember Nails

I am so late in posting this, I apologise. 

Here is my Movember nails to show support in all those men out there donning daft 'taches in order to raise awareness of cancer.

Halloween Nails - Jack o lantern

I am SO sorry in the late posting - I have just found this in an album.

I LOVE these too!

I used Gellux and water decals to create this little masterpiece, which I thought looked very effective!

Snowflake Toes

Here I used Gell II 'Bunny Hopping' and used silver glitter powder to create the ombre effect. 
I then found my biggest Snowflake stamp and topped it off with it on the big toe nail.
My client was upset it is too cold for flip flops!!

Bauble Nails

Here we have Gel II 'Bunny Hopping' which is the most lovely pastel purple colour.

I added some silver bauble water decals to complete the christmassy look and viola.

Client loved them, as did I.

I cannot recommend Gell II enough - it's fabulous to work with, really lasts and looks awesome.

The extreme shine top coat is an absolute must, as it does exactly what it says on the tin!

Fancy French - Christmas Twist

I have a client who wanted something subtle, so I went for a lovely subtle Gellux French Manicure with some gorgeous little Christmas tree water decals.

Hopefully if hew boss spots them, she will think they are far to gorgeous to be mad at her :)

Frozen Nails

Here are my Anna and Elsa nails.

I used Irrisitible glitter on top of O.P.I. Gel polish and used Gel II Extreme White with Water Decals.

A great and simple little design that looked fab!

Festive Toes with Stamping

I have a toe client. She is a regular and I LOVE going to see her. We have such a giggle and she has become a friend, not just a client.

She decided she would like some festive feet. She chose the colours and the stamp and I got to work.

We used Gell II 'Come to Me' with a MoYou Festive Stamp.

She was made up and I think they look brilliant!

Holographic Pink Nails with Festive Stamping

Photos just cannot do this glitter justice!
Here I used Gell II as a base and pressed in a holograph pink Spectra-flare glitter from the-colour-shack on eBay. They are by far the BEST glitters I have found for the job.
I always use a base colour as close to the colour of the glitter as possible.
I used MoYou Festive Plate for the ring finger.
A Happy client ready for her Xmas Party.
They look STUNNING. These are one of my favourites.

Fancy French with a Christmas Twist

One of my staff (from my day job as a nursery manager) has always bitten her nails.

And I mean BITTEN. They were short, stumpy and very unhealthy.

She decided she wanted to have acrylics on for her wedding and while they were on, got out the habit of biting. When she removed them, she loved that her nails, albeit wrecked from the acrylics (she went to a NSS) were long.

So, the biting stopped. Once she had proved to me that she really had broken the habit, I offered to do her a 5 week course of IBX and also gave her some quality cuticle oil. 

She applied the cuticle oil twice a day as directed and with the IBX treatment her nails began to thrive.

My regret it not taking a before and after photo, as even I didn't expect the results that became apparent after 3 weeks. Application of IBX is once weekly.

IBX works from WITHIN the nail. It truly is the most magnificent treatment. My client is SO proud of her nails now. No more hiding in pockets or gloves, and seeing her face light up when she sees them makes my day. She has done all the hard work in breaking the habit of biting. To be able to see the difference really is rewarding.

She wanted some party nails. She has never before had a Gel Polish manicure, much less a french one!

Here, I am proud to present her nails. Fancy French polished with O.P.I. Gel colour Pedal Faster Suzi, with Gellux Silver on the ring finger - glitter pressed into the tacky layer. Topped off with MoYou Festive Stamping Plate.

Animal Print - leopard - with glitter

EVENTUALLY!!! A WHITE WITH A FLAWLESS FINISH!!

As any nail technicians out there will vouch for, trying to find a White that has a flawless finish is near impossible. I have tried SO many brands and had basically given up. 

I had so many designs on pinterest that I wanted to try out, but having whites that looked wishy washy, blotchy, uneven and basically crap, I was completely disheartened.

UNTIL I found Gell II in my life. I went to Olympia Beauty this year and went straight for the Gel II stand. I wasn't disappointed. The staff were lovely - second to none - and the products looked too good to be true. Hence I only purchased a few.

Extreme Arctic White was one of these purchases. I was in love after the colour pop I did for it. Stripped my nails bare and set to work. I HAD to have this product on!

I used the white on all but my ring fingers, where I popped some silver glitter on. I added a few pieces of silver foil, finished it off with some black lines to make Leopard print and viola.

I think they look great :D

Gell II - 'Come to Me'

My client 'loves' this colour, so much so she wanted a stamp saying so!

Gel II really has impressed her, so much so I have ordered some colours in just for her, as she no longer wants the use the other two brands I carry!

Look out world - Gell II is taking over - and not before time either!

Christmas Jumper Nails

Today I managed to squeeze in some time to treat myself!
I sat and wondered what on earth to do on my nails, and after having a look at my MoYou Festive Plate, I decided to give a few of them a whirl, and it turns out it looks fab. Well, I think so anyway!
Here I used Gel II as a base and pressed in a holographic red glitter into the tacky layer, then adding the stamping.
I was so pleased with the outcome!

Lavender and Holographic Silver Mica Powder

I LOVE  this set I have on at the mo.

I started off with the Gellux 'Luna Light' from the metallic range. I then pressed in a lavender cosmetic grade mica powder on the top and a holographic silver version on the bottom.

Finished with a leafy stamping design with White Konad Stamping polish.

TIP: I found that sometimes if you don't cap the nails properly etc of only use one top coat, the powder on the free edge can sometimes start to thin - therefore whatever colour I use on the free edge, I try to match as closely as possible as a base colour over the base layer and under the powder.

I also ALWAYS use two top coats over the powder - the same as I do on the stamping.

Don't forget to use a top coat in between the poser and the stamping too ;)

A friend pointed out the were very Frozen-esque - which has given me an idea - so stay tuned :D

Baby shower nails

I went to a baby shower on Friday, so decided to try something new for my nails.
I used O.P.I. Passion and applied two coats, then wiped the tacky layer OFF - trust me ;)
I painted on white tips, and cured - then pressed pink and blue neon powders from S2, 'IRRISITIBLE' into the tacky layer (this is why you wipe the passion tacky layer off - the powder will now only stick to the tacky french tips you have left)
They weren't as ombre as I wanted. I currently suck at getting the colours to overlap nicely. Youtube tutorials make it look so easy. Maybe it is and I'm just failing miserable at it.
Anyway, I then stamped over it using my baby plate.
I really wasn't sure about the outcome to be honest. It wasn't like what I had in my head. 
Oh well, you can't have it all . . . 

Bridal French with stamping

I was SO excited to do these nails. I had a feeling I was going to be able to do something a little different with this one. My beautiful bride client wanted some French popped on her nails, but when I brought out my MoYou bridal stamping plate - I saw her little eyes light up! It was a total mission to get the tux on straight and took several attempts, but with deep breaths and  Perseverance we pretty much got there in the end. This was a great start to her 'happily ever after . . . ' 

Fancy French - Hearts

My client today wanted a Fancy French and loved the hearts I'm currently modelling.

I used O.P.I. Pedal Faster Suzi and Alpine White teamed with the Pueen #41 with Konad White Stamping polish.

I just can't get over how easy the Pueen is to use and how is picks up perfectly each and every time.

Get yours here. Sparkly-nails are normally prompt delivery and the prices are great.

MegaMix gel transformer!

Holy Moly!
I'd heard bits and bobs about this supposed "miracle gel" that turns things into gel polish. So - I read up about it.
The more I read, the more I was completely intrigued. It could turn normal polish into gel polish - this was impressive alone - but then it can also turn acrylic powders and Mica Powders etc into gel polish! 'Good going' I thought. But to turn your favourite eyeshadow into gel polish??? Woah! This is stuff of pure wizardry.
Needless to say I ordered the little pot of magic. 

Little pot of goodness

Now, you WILL be able to get it in a polish bottle, but there were issues with the white bottle not turning out to be UV proof (bet someone got in trouble for that little oversight, ha!) so for now it's just in pots until they get black bottles to protect it from setting inside.  Order yours from here.

It arrived this morning and I couldn't wait for a little play. In order of top to bottom below there is: Baby Pink - mica powder - from ileah on ebay  Pistachio Green - mica powder - from ileah  Cinnamon - mica powder - also from ileah O.P.I - normal polish - 'next stop the bikini zone' Colour Club - normal holographic polish - 'Beyond' Cuiccio - normal polish - 'Sicillian Summer'

Now I admit, I did think it was going to be a faff and palaver and to be honest - didn't think the mica powders would be very opaque or easy to brush on. I thought it would be powdery and 'bitty' if that makes sense? Total opposite.

I actually found the powders much more user friendly than the polish I transformed. I popped some powder into a dapper dish and then used a gel brush to pick some gel out of the pot. I improvised and used a dotting tool to scrape it off the brush into the pot, so I could get more gel out if needed. It was about half and half. Then I mixed the powder with the brush and... viola! 
I did use Irrisistible pigment powders and found you still need the white base coat to make the colours 'pop' but was chuffed to see it only took one coat. I took a photo of the pink but it was an awful image and didn't do it justice so sorry about that :/ 
I found with the powders two coats was perfect. 
The polish I wasn't so impressed with - but this is probably down to the washy washy colours.  I will try again with more opaque colours, as I found it took 3 or 4 layers to make opaque.  They also didn't seem as 'set' as the others, but again, I wouldn't necessarily say it was the product, as it was my first go, I may have needed more/less of either the polish or the gel. All in all this was really impressive.  I haven't got any eyeshadow I like that I'm willing to take chunks out of, so I'll try it with some horrid colour ;) that I won't miss and I'll upload that when I've done it.
I would definitely recommend this product. I thought it was going to be a fun novelty thing, but actually, I was really pleasantly surprised with the way the powders went to gel and were not in the slightest 'bitty' as I suspected they would be!
The only thing that would be a bonus - I think - would be to get little empty UV proof pots to make bigger batches of homemade colours with the mica powder etc. I can see now that some colours are going to fly with this product, so to save precious time to be able to mix larger quantities to keep would be fantastic. 

I may just have to see if I can get my hands on some empty pots from somewhere . . . 

MoYou Tropial Ombre Stamping

One of my regulars bought a new skirt and we did nails to match.

Gave me a fab chance to try some more tropical colours with my tropical plates from MoYou

I'm so impressed with the quality of stamping from these plates, I've ordered another 4 plates this morning. 

I really live way beyond my means when it comes to nail stuff!!