Inspiration is Everwhere NOTD

Hola chiquillas! Hoy les traigo la muestra fehaciente de que la inspiración está en todos lados. El nailart de hoy está inspirado en... mi pijama! Siempre me ha gustado la combinación de colores y líneas que tiene así que ayer me decidí y llevé el diseño a mis uñas. Como base usé a-england Galahad y Finger Paints Papier Maché. Para las franjitas de color de los accent usé Essence Miss Lavender, Essie Splash of Grenadine, Galahad y Orly Gumdrop.

Hello girs! Today I bring you a mani that I did to prove that you can truly find inspiration everywhere. Today's nailart was inspired by... my pj's! I have a fleece striped pajamas that is my favorite for the winter time, and I've always loved the color combo and the stripes together and I always thought "wow, this could make a cool nailart!". So finally yesterday I got to translate the design to my nails.

As a base I used a-england Galahad, except on my accent nails for which I used Finger Paints Papier Maché. Galahad is very easy to work with and almost applies itself on my nails, but my Papier Maché is kinda old and thick and gloopy so it was a bit more difficult to apply (couldn't find my thinner).

For the stripes on the accents I used four colors: Essence Miss Lavender, Essie Splash of Grenadine, a-england Galahad and Orly Gumdrop. I waited for the base color to dry thoroughly (which was a challenge, I am very impatient with nailart lol) then I applied little bits of striping tape and filled in between the tape with my colors. Then I removed the tape inmediatly.

However, my lines were not so crisp and clean so I went over them with a striping brush. But they look fine from a distance so... success!

Overall, I am very happy with the end result I got even though the process was incredibly a bit frustrating. Tape manicures are supposed to be super easy, right? But whenever possible I prefer to recreate the effect with a brush, no one is going to be inspecting my nails with a magnifying glass, right? ;)

Thanks for reading!

Galaxy nails

Hola chicas! Hoy les traigo un nailart de uñas galácticas que hice. Sin embargo, fue casi imposible sacarle fotos decentes, por eso solo hay una en este post. Es muy sencillo hacer este nailart, sólo se necesita una esponja cortada en pequeños trozos para ir aplicando el color más precisamente (yo usé una esponja de cocina brutalmente mutilada con una tijera jajaja). Creo que la parte más díficil es elegir qué colores de esmalte usar. Espero les guste, gracias por leer :)

Hi girls! Today I bring you my first galaxy nails manicure. I'm really happy with how this turned out, even though I'm already thinking of ways to improve them for the next time I do one.

Galaxy nails are basically made by sponging several different polishes and adding white dots, or glitter (or both, in my case) to create a cosmic-like art.

Sadly, this was impossible to photograph, I don't know why, so you only get one shot of this. Sorry! :(

For the base I painted two coats of Essence Galactic Black, a shimmery black from their old collection. Then over it I sponged several colors to create the nebulas, always starting with Finger Paints Papier Maché so the other colors would show better:

Essence Passion for Fashion and Jordana Silky Purple for the purple nebulae
Essence Viva la Green and A-England Galahad for the green nebulae

Finally, I added some dots with a dotting tool and Papier Maché and topped it all off with a sparkly holographic glitter top coat (Etienne Disco Glitter, which is a mix of micro and hex holo glitter, similar to China Glaze Techno).

Have you tried galaxy nails? Link me your manis in the comments, I'd love to see what you've done. Thanks for reading! :)

a-england sisters

Hi girls! Several weeks ago Adina from a-england polishes held a wonderful promo and I used the chance to add two new beauties from this brand to my collection.

I had heard many wonderful things of the scattered holos from a-england (and had personally witnessed their magic with Ascalon). I wanted one of the scattered holos from their first collection, but I couldn't decide which (they looked so close!). So I ordered both in the hope that, after trying them, it'd be easier to choose just one to keep.

So after some weeks of wait I got Lady of the Lake (purple) and Tristam (blue) on the mail. At first I was a little disappointed because on the bottle both colors look extremely close.

So I swatched it on my nails in the hopes that the difference would translate better. All the pics are 2 coats of nail polish, plus base coat and topcoat (using it didn't dull the holo effect).

First we have Lady of the Lake which is a dusty purple with a subtle scattered holo effect.

Then came Tristam, a dark blue with the same scattered holo.

These pictures were taken in direct sunlight in the hopes of capturing the holo, while staying color accurate. I'm awful at it though, these polishes look a million times better in person. The holo effect is really evident in sunlight and adds a nice depth to the colors.

Both Lady of The Lake and Tristam were a dream to apply, like I've come to expect from all a-englands they're just flawless. I even got to wear them for almost a week with only minor tipwear and a tiny chip on one finger.

So, are you wondering which one I kept? After wearing them for days I decided it's worth to keep both, at least for the time being. I couldn't decide on a favorite from this pair of 'sister' polishes.

Have you tried a-england? They are a bit pricey but well worth it, in my opinion, because of their formula and unique colors (plus Adina offers free international shipping).

Mani for a Purpose: PCOS Awareness

Hi girls! Today I want to share a special mani I did for a blog hop. Norelis from Fierce Makeup and Nails proposed this idea to spread awareness for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome also known as PCOS, a disease that has personally affected her, as it does to thousands of women.

But what is PCOS? From Pub Med Health

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition in which a woman has an imbalance of a female sex hormones. This may lead to menstrual cycle changes, cysts in the ovaries, trouble getting pregnant, and other health changes.

PCOS can present different symptoms on women, some are:

• Significant weight gain
• Facial hair increase
• Blood sugar problems
• Insulin intolerance
• Significant hair loss
• Depression and anxiety
• Infertility
• Cysts
• Excessive blood loss
• Irregular or extreme menstrual cycles

For this cause some nail bloggers united by creating teal and white manis, the colors for the PCOS Awareness.

I started with a-england Galahad a beautiful dusty teal that barely needs 2 coats to be opaque (I think you can get away with one thick coat, but I do mine thin, so I did two).

Then I added a coat of Lynnderella Love, Lace & Lilacs, with a little bit of dabbing for better glitter placement. I liked how it looked over this different color base, with its mix of opaque white and iridescent glitter it almost looks like snow falling.

It's a very simple mani but I found the effect really cute. Don't forget to visit the other bloggers participating and go teal for September! :)

a-england Ascalon

Hi guys! Today I have a swatch of one of my first a-england polishes to share with you, which is Ascalon from The Legend collection.

Ascalon is a dark grey base with scattered holographic particles and a beautiful green/lavender shimmer. Somehow, it reminds me of pigeons. You know, they are grey, but also have this green and lavender shimmery feathers. Not that it is a bad thing, it just reminded me of that.

This polish has a nice formula, a bit tricky on the first coat, but it evened out beautifully on the second. I got to enjoy this pretty for around 4 days with only minimal tipwear and no chips.

My swatches don't do it justice, though and I'll revisit this swatch in the future. The day was overcast when I took the pics so the holo particles didn't want to come out to play :( The great thing is that, even when there's no holo, you still get some beautiful duochrome action. No matter the lighting condition, Ascalon doesn't disappoint.

You can get this and other polishes directly from a-england, they retail for £9.00, with worldwide free shipping.