London Baby!

Okay folks, in a few hours I will get on a plane and go to my 'home away from home', London!!

I have been lucky enough to live in this great city for nearly 2 years and got to work in some pretty great schools (and some not so great ones), and I also have meet some of the most special people in my life. I am soooo excited!

I thought, to mark the occasion, I would create a British inspired nail art for you all... 

Red: Sinful Colors - Ruby Ruby

White: 17 - Mini Skirt

Blue: Sinful Colors - Endless Blue

I used The Nailasaurus' tutorial to create this... mine came out no where near as good as Sams, but I tried.


Anyway... my bags are nearly packed and I will be gone for 4 weeks (jealous??).  But don't worry, I have spent the last few weeks going a bit nail art crazy to come up with some blog entries for while I'm away. So you can still get your weekly dose of my crazy hobby.

Enjoy!

It's a BOY!

I am a huge sucker for the Royal Family... I mean, I'm pretty much an honorary member as I was there for the Royal Wedding and the Queen's Coronation and even the announcement of Kate's pregnancy (hehe).

But, in all seriousness, for the events of the Royal Family, ESPECIALLY Kate and Will, I find myself swept up in a whirlwind of emotion. And the birth of little Prince George was no different.

I was up a the crack of dawn, watching the telly, filled with so much joy and excitement it was ridiculous. And seeing him yesterday with his proud Mum and Dad was beautiful.

So I thought I would dedicate an entry to the new prince...

Blue: Essence - Absolutely Blue

White: Sally Hansen - White On

Silver: Barry M - Foil

Shimmer: Rhasdala - Sea Spray 

I was originally going to use a baby blue but seeing Kate's dress that day inspired me to go with a cornflour blue instead.

I also used a shimmer on the ring finger but it is not very noticeable in the pictures. So you guys will have to use your imagination.

Plum Nails

I have finally bought my very first Chine Glaze nail polish, I know! I know! What has taken me so long??? Well considering I am only working part time, nail polish sometimes has to come in second in the list of priorities (shocking, I know!). This means that more high end nail polish like Chine Glaze or OPI isn't that easy to come by.

But on my trip to 'Oz Nail and Beauty Supplies' in Sunshine I came across a range of high end polish as really reasonable prices. So I nearly went nuts!! I walked around picking up polish after polish, when finally I had over $60 dollars worth! :S  So I needed to set myself a budget and put a whole bunch back (will go back for them later).

It the 3 polishes I ended up picking up, I got this beautiful China Glaze - Seduce Me. 

And today, I decided to use it for a mani...

China Glaze, what an amazing polish. Glides on well, beautiful coverage, and long lasting. Defiantly the crème de la crème of polishes. 

I started off by painting my nails with this beautiful plum colour and then on my ring finger I used Chi Chi - Just Chillaxin. When they were dry I painted very thin tips to each nail using Sally Hansen - Black Out. 

My only problem with this colour I could not capture the proper colour on film. Even though this mani looks good on camera (above) it looks 10 times better in real life.... :(

So any suggestion out there on how to capture the true colour of a polish?? Need some tips and techniques? HELP!

Mint Manis for Tahlia Joy...

For Tahlia...

My mint mani...

Kiko - Shade 389

Barry M - Foil 

For all the full details on this beautiful day check out Nail Polish Wars blog page.

Mint Mani's for Talia

Hey Guys!

Some of you may be aware of the tragic loss of Talia Joy this week.  She was an amazing 13 year old with a passion for beauty and make-up but tragically lost her battle with cancer on the 16th July 2013.

So we are asking all those out there in the beauty blogger world to pay tribute to this brave and beautiful girl by painting your nails mint.
Her last ever post was of her sporting a beautiful mint coloured polish, so we thought we would all band together and have a Mint Mani day for Talia.

So everyone get involved... grab your favour green/mint colour and get painting. We wanna see those beautiful green nails shine tomorrow!

B xx

Pink Sequins

So a few weeks ago I was given some really pretty Anna Sui nail jewellery. They are these little tiny circle sequins that give off this beautiful rainbow colours when it catches the light.
I originally was going to but it over black or a dark colour, but I think the sequins would be lost with such a strong colour, so I want the complete opposite with a baby pink colour by ChiChi. 

I started off with a few coats of ChiChi - Blonde Ambition (which is my new favourite colour) and then I covered my ring and middle finger with the sequins.
These pictures do not give this manicure any justice, the way the sequins catch the light....so pretty!

Hope you like it!

5 shades of grey...

I decided to do a ombre grey nail art.

I was originally going to do it from black to white (and all the grey shades in between) but then I thought if I mix some of the colours I could make a proper ombre effect. So here it is...

Black: BC & Co - Shade 11

Dark Grey: Maybelline - Impeccable Greys

Light Grey: Kiko - Shade 329

White: 17 - Mini Skirt 

What do you think? 

Guest hands... my aunty Petula!

So today is my Aunty Petula's birthday, I am NOT going to say how old she is because she will kill me...

I will, however, show you the special birthday nails I did for her.
The only requirement I was given is that there had to be 'sparkle'...

I used a dark purple colour for the base and then did the tips in a sparkle purple. They came out great! 

This a pic of my Mum (right), my aunty Petula (left)
and I'm the poser in the front. 

Jowita Photography

Hi All!

So I know all of you are expecting nails today, but instead I am going to share with you something a little bit different. For all you creative, artistic people out there, this one is for you....

Last week I had the privilege to work with an aspiring photographer, Jowita Majewski.

Jowita and I met many years ago when we both started teaching in Sunshine. This reserved but brilliant teacher and I soon became quick friends (probably because we are complete opposites) and began our 'interesting' journey together. A journey which lead us from Melbourne to Essex, from Barcelona to London and back again.

Today, I am still teaching (if you call substitute teaching, the real deal) but Jowita has been brave enough to follow her dreams, and start up her very own glamour photography business.
You may think this is not a big deal, but trust me it is! To give up a stable job, put your money and hopes all on the line like that? It can only really be summed up in one word.... courageous.

So after 'ummming' and 'ahhhing' I finally mustered up my only bit of courage and asked Jowita to take my picture.
Now, I am no stranger to the glamour photography experience, I have had many photos done before but for some reason I was never 100% happy with how I turned out. Granted, each time I went I had changed and evolved, but I guess the only thing I really wanted from this experience was have a little token showing me as a 'grown up', a 'women'. So that was the challenge I set Jowita (no pressure, huh?).

On the day I took my outfit changes and my courage and heading to her home studio.

And what an experience it was!! She created this environment where I could FINALLY be the true me. She was graceful and humble and made me feel at ease. I didn't have some random person snapping at me (like other bigger studios), she took the time to make sure every photo was what I wanted, that I looked beautiful in every frame, whether it be the lowering of the chin or the 'smize'.
Not only did I get to catch up with a true friend that day but I left there feeling beautiful. I left there with a sense of confidence, which is a rarity for me.

The purpose of this post is not just to show off my new pictures (wink wink) but to show that EVERY women deserves to feel beautiful. And that little voice inside you that is so doubtful, be silenced!

So for all those Melbournians out there who have always wanted some 'glamour shots' defiantly consider Jowita.

I have put all her links at the bottom of this post so check out her work, and maybe show her some love??

Website: http://www.jowita.com.au/
Blog: http://jowitaphotography.blogspot.com.au/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jowitaphotographer?fref=ts


 B xox

New look!

Hey Guys!

I think it was about time I changed things up a bit.

Still stuck with the greys and coral colours, but jazzed it up a bit.

So what do you think of my new look?

Inspired by.... Superman!

Is it a bird?? Is it a plane?? NO! It's SUPERMAN!! 

I have been lucky enough to have had many Supermans in my lifetime... for the wholesome Christopher Reeve and Dean Cain to the 'yummy' Henry Cavill (drool), THIS is a tribute to 'Superman'....

I absolutely love these nails!! They took me forever to do, and I think they cam out great.

Enjoy!

-B xx

PS: Just another pic of the hunky Henry Cavill, just because I can! 

Images from:

www.ecuadortimes.net
www.bdlive.co.za
007gentleman.blogspot.com
indy1jones2.deviantart.com 

Give away extended!!!

I have extended the give away for 3 MORE DAYS!!!

The more times you tweet about the give away the more chances to have to enter. Or leave a comment on one of my posts and you can get a second entry. 

SO get sharing!!!!

OK... so here's the deal:

I have 2 different prizes to give away.

Each prize will consist of 2 nail polishes AND a surprise goodie!

Here's how to enter.

There are 2 mandatory requirements for this give away.
1. Follow my blog.
2. 'Like' me on Facebook.

Once you have done this (or if you already have) just click the tabs on Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There are also some other ways to add to your chances.

Entries close on the 10th July and winners will be notified by Facebook.

GOOD LUCK!!

- B xx

Happy 4th of July!!!

4 years ago I was lucky enough to celebrate 4th of July in the US... and it was AWESOME!!!
So here is a little shout out to all my American friends....

HAPPY 4TH of JULY!!! 

Enjoy! 

-B xx

Some of my friends in the 4th of July spirit!

Celebrating 4th of July in 2009

Orange and Grey Squares!

Hey Everyone!
So last week someone inspired my next nail art design. She was telling me about this beautiful house that was    mostly white with grey and orange square sections. Now that got thinking... how can I transfer this to my nails. Well, after 3 attempts (yes, I said three) I finally was happy with what I had created... here they are.

I used:

White: Sally Hansen - White On

Orange: Rimmel - Hot and Spicy

Dark Grey: Maybelline - Impeccable Greys

Light Grey: Kiko - Shade 329

I started by painting my thumb, middle and ring finger in the white. On my pointer and my thumb I used label sticker to create this beautiful half moon shape in the dark grey.
Once the white had dried I used nail tape to create these long rectangular shapes and square shapes then, painted them the different colours.

Like I said before this took me 3 goes to get right. And if you look closely at my middle finger the colours have bled into the white a bit which REALLY annoys me. But sometimes you just have to let it go. hehe

Anyway I hope you liked it?

B xx