NOTD - OPI Nicole's 'It Starts With Me'

Whilst on my travels in NYC, I managed to pick up a number of different polishes, including the OPI Nicole range - which I have so far not seen in the UK.  I got a number of colours as they were on offer, and will be gradually updating my blog with them as I try them out.

First up was 'It Starts with Me' which is a shimmery pink/bronze colour.  It is a lovely metallic colour, with great coverage after just one coat, but I used two with to and base coats.  As with most of the OPI polishes, it is a great consistency, not too fluid, but not too thick either.

I did however have 2 problems (neither of which are material or would stop me using them!), one is the bottle shape, which is not standard - is has a thicker bottom rather that a 'normal' bottle shape, and I found this a little trickier to hold.  The second was the brush which is a perfect stroke one.  I think the idea is to be able to paint your nail in one stroke, and the brush has a tapered end - but I found this very annoying!  I like me standard, or pro-wide brush by OPI!  For those not great at applying lacquer, I can see why this may be helpful.

Anyway, I love the colour - and after flicking through my Scratch Magazine and seeing the article and cover using Fimo canes, I decided to have a play!!  These are too thick I know, but will match the dress I am wearing tonight!

I used Lumos base and top coat, OPI's Nicole's It Starts With Me, Flower Fimo Cane and OPI Nail Adhesive

After Base and 2 coats of colour

 You can see the coverage and shimmer in the lacquer

 I added Fimo slices to me ring and thumb nails, with yellow and green acrylic paint dots to 'fill in' the gaps

 I am not happy with the thumb nails, but do like the ring fingers! A little thicker than I would normally use them, but think this works well!

Have you had success with Fimo slices or the Nicole range from OPI?

Hope you are all well and have a great weekend!!

Claire xxxx

Weekly Blog Round Up - Week 6!!!!!!

Hey Guys,
Hope you have all had a good week!!  Here is this weeks blog round up - take a look at these great updates!!
Claire xxx

LingLing made her first franken http://wuliaonails.blogspot.com/2011/04/first-franken-polish.html

Ladyluck shared some new polishes http://ladyluckbeauty.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-babies-home.html

Sharon was inspired to try a new rainbow look http://polishinfatuated.blogspot.com/2011/02/rainbow-nails.html

Claire showed us her TOWIE inspired manicure http://toptwentynails.blogspot.com/2011/04/notd-inspired-by-only-way-is-essex.html

The Nail Addict showed that spring has sprung http://thenailaddict.blogspot.com/2011/05/third-spring-manicure.html

Happy Birthday to Jen! http://moondancerjen.blogspot.com/2011/05/happy-birthday-to-me-giveaway-for-you.html

Emily had a creative idea for her rainbow manicure http://emilysnailfiles.blogspot.com/2011/04/its-meee-mario.html

Nicole used funky donkey for some funky nails http://nicnacksnails.blogspot.com/2011/05/opi-funky-donkey.html

Theresa reviewed some nails fit for a princess http://theresabloor.blogspot.com/2011/04/nail-design-of-day-royal-wedding-by.html

Grace has more wedding fever with bridal inspired nails!  http://ooooohpretty.blogspot.com/2011/05/well-i-know-that-most-of-wedding-fever.html

If you would like to be involved in future round ups contact Stacie at http://kawaiinailart.blogspot.com

Weekly Blog Round Up - Week 5!!!!!

Hey Guys, 

Hope that you all have a lovely weekend, this is week 5 of the weekly blog round up and we hope that you enjoy all the different blogs, inspiration and information you find on all our blogs.  Do let us know what you think and if there is anything you would like to see!

Claire xxx 

Stacie went Rockabilly http://kawaiinailart.blogspot.com/2011/04/rockabilly-nails.html over at Kawaii Nail Art

The Nail Addict created some beautiful butterfly nails which look like damask silk http://thenailaddict.blogspot.com/2011/04/you-give-me-butterflies.html

Claire at Top Twenty Nails road tested some CND Shellac http://toptwentynails.blogspot.com/2011/04/shellacs-rock-royalty-great-purple-long.html

Sharon mixed 2 blues to create a gorgeous effect http://polishinfatuated.blogspot.com/2011/04/beautiful-squishy-jelly.html

Linda was inspired by tokidoki and Sanrio http://wuliaonails.blogspot.com/2011/04/tokidoki-for-sanrio.html

Emily decorated her nails perfectly for Easter http://emilysnailfiles.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-manicure.html

Grace showed her patriotic side with these cool Britannia nails http://ooooohpretty.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-royal-wedding-nails.html

Gradient or Holo? Jen went for both http://moondancerjen.blogspot.com/2011/04/purple-holo-gradient.html

Lena stamped with bundle monster on Essie Bermuda shorts http://thestudentsguidetonailpolish.blogspot.com/2011/04/essie-bermuda-shorts-preview.html

If you would like to be involved in future round ups contact Stacie at http://kawaiinailart.blogspot.com

Shellac's Rock Royalty! A great purple long lasting manicure!

Hey Guys,

I am off to NYC this weekend and wanted to nails to last.  I have run out of time to do something funky and Royal Wedding related, so went for the next best thing with Shellac's 'Rock Royalty'.  This is a great dark purple colour that will go with anything!

Shellac is different to many of the soak off gels available on the market.  Shellac is a hybrid nail polish, and it is thinner than most of the gels I have been using.  I find that it will last up to 14 days on most clients and soaks off so quickly.  I have not used this colour before so I am looking forward to seeing how it wears.

These are my nails for the week and I am looking forward to showing off all the new polishes I can get hold of in America next week!

What are your experiences of Shellac?!

Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend - I will be updating again next week!!

Claire xxxxx

UPDATE

Hey Guys,

As promised, I have updated you on my Shellac!! After 10 days wear they still looked perfect, but  I really wanted to try out some of my new lacquers so soaked them off!  

Great for holiday nails and everyday manicures in my book!

These are how they looked

I soaked them off for 10 minutes using Expert touch and Magis Wraps

I scrapped off any remaining Shellac with the rubber end of my reusable cuticle stick and they were as good as when I put them on!!

Please ignore the state of my nails - it if from taking my buff of gels and then acrylics and many other systems!!!

Hope this helps!!

Claire xxx

Pink Wednesday! OPI, Shellac and NCO Pinks!!!

There has been a great call for pink nails from my clients this week - so just thought I would share some of them with you!

Hope you are all having a lovely week, Thanks for visiting!

Love, Claire xxx

These are my friends Honeymoon nails - I have used OPI's Axxium's Soak off gel in Pompeii Purple.  I think they look great for a sunshine break!

This client didn't want gels, so went for the same colour but lacquer rather than gel.  What a great colour match!

These are NCO nail enhancements in Dark Pink.  Such a pretty colour!

My client did not want anything too bright, so we went for Shellac's Strawberry Smoothie in 3 coats.

NOTD Inspired by 'The Only Way Is Essex'

Hi Guys,

I hope that you are all having a wonderful long weekend?!  I have been trying to enjoy some sunshine and am soaking it all in before my trip to NYC next week!  Any suggestions for polishes I could pick up that I can't get over here?

My husband has been watching The Only Way Is Essex and called me down to see the nails on last weeks episode, and my nails today were inspired by them!  The ones on the show have 3D acrylic bows, but after a major FAIL with my coloured acrylic, I went for just polka dots instead!!

For this I have used polish, but will be doing this with either my Axxium's or Shellac for my holiday as I think they look cute!!  The dots are not as uniformed as I would like, but I am heading out in a bit and just went with the flow!

Products used are:
OPI's Alpine Snow (White), Strawberry Margarita (Pink), Lady In Black (Black), OPI's Ridge Filler Base Coat and Lumos Top Coat.  For the dots I used a dotting tool.

Here are some pictures:

Both thumbs are black with white dots

 The ring fingers are pink with white dots and other fingers are white with pink dotted tips and a black 'snake' which could be done with crystals

What do you think? Thanks for reading, have a great week!!!

Claire xxx

Weekly Blog Round Up - Week 4!!!!

Claire gave us a right royal review http://toptwentynails.blogspot.com/2011/04/kate-will-nails-inc-limited-edition.html

Grace has gone psychedelic with her 60's inspired nail design http://ooooohpretty.blogspot.com/2011/04/hairspray-part-two.html

Dawn showed us how to have some fun http://thenailaddict.blogspot.com/2011/04/just-for-fun.html

Nicole funked up her French http://nicnacksnails.blogspot.com/2011/04/funky-french.html

Emily had a diet coke break http://emilysnailfiles.blogspot.com/2011/04/diet-coke-inspired.html

Linda was inspired by Despicable Me http://wuliaonails.blogspot.com/2011/04/despicable-easter-art.html

If you would like to be involved in future round ups contact Stacie at http://kawaiinailart.blogspot.com

Hope that you have a had a great week - and enjoy the Easter weekend!  Why not try out these designs, we would love to know how you get on!

Claire xxx