Winter Survival Tips for Hands and Nails

I work in an office so my fingers take a lot of beating on keyboards, drying up due to air conditioners, radiators heating inside, and it is really cold here in the UK, which also doesn't help.
Pair that up with running a nail art blog, and you really gotta look after your skin.

I know my hands have not looked the best at times, but after a lot of trial and error, reminding myself to be better at looking after my hands and nails, I have found a couple of things that works for me, and that might work for you as well.

Since I am prone to very dry skin, that breaks up, gets red, itchy, hangnails and all that stuff, finding a solution has not been the easiest at times.

Add pregnancy hormones to the mix, and you have to be vigil.

Scrubbing and peeling DIY

Lotions and moisturisers DIY

I got hold of some 100% pure Aloe Vera Gel, and mixed in with Coconut oil (60% coconut oil, and 40% Aloe Vera Gel if you want to make it yourself). Rub it in on your skin. Before taking pictures I take a soft cloth and dab away the shine and my skin looks a lot better on pictures even on bad skin-days. It is also great for when you just stepped out of the shower for a nice treat.
A little trick I learned from grandma.

When I have a pampering session I grab my homemade lotion bar and give my hands a little massage. The lotion-bars contains 3 ingredients and does wonders to the skin. Coconut oil, beeswax and a little avocado oil (equal parts of all ingredients).

Melt the coconut oil and mix in the remaining ingredients. Pour in silicon moulds of your choice. 

Leave for a day to dry, and put in a container and keep in a cool place. Massage on hands as needed.

Store moisturisers

Lets say you don't feel like mixing up stuff in the kitchen and order in oils and beeswax from Amazon, what about store bought moisturisers?

Lush

I keep these two tubs of Lush - Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter (seriously the BEST stuff i have encountered for dry cuticles) and a tub of the Lush - Helping Hands Hand Cream.
The Helping Hand is very calming and moisturising for when my skin gets very itchy. Unfortunately it doesn't last long on my skin, and I have to keep reapplying it. I have found out that if I have itchy skin, I can apply Lush - Helping Hand, and then follow up with another moisturiser after half an hour or so. This way I get itchy free skin, and the second moisturiser helps on keeping my skin nice and soft.
Lush - Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter is for many the holy grail of cuticle butter on the market, and I am a huge fan as well, but on broken skin, I would strongly advise against it.
If you have a sore nose with a cold, dabbing on a little bit of this around your nose with a cotton, sure makes the skin feel a lot nicer.
If you like to hike in the mountains, bring this with you next time and if it gets cold up there, apply some of this on your face so it won't suffer from the harsh wind and cold.

Burt Bees & Body Shop

In the office I have a tin of Burt Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, a tube of Body Shop Chanvre Creme Protectrice Mains (hemp moisturizer for extreme dry skin). I also keep a pair of cotton gloves handy, so if my hands are getting extremely dry, I can moisturize and put the gloves on for a little bit with both products on my cuticles and hands.

Also repeat this at night time if I have particular dry and/or itchy skin that day. The Body Shop -Chanvre Creme Protectrice Mains (now called: Hemp Hand Protector) is great at dealing with both dry and itchy skin. I recently discovered that The Body Shop has changed the label on this line from when I last purchased a tube of their hemp moisturizer. They currently (at the time of writing this) has them on 50% discount. So if you like this moisturizer, now is the time to stock up. I know I did, plus some extra for Christmas presents.
With this one, little goes a long way, but it has a strange scent (hemp) to it that doesn't do very well in an office environment.

In my kitchen I had the Burt Bees Almond and Milk Hand Cream, I find that this one is specially good after washing up when your skin really needs something to bring moisture back.
I recently ran out of this and found that replacing it with my Honey and Coconut Lotion Bars does the same job. So I crushed up two bars in the old Almond and Milk Hand Cream jar and been using that ever since.

Burt's Bees 

I have a Burt Bees Hand Salve in my bag, as well as Pure Argan Oil in a small polish bottle.
I would compare the Burt Bees Hand Salve with Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter in terms of just how much moisture it provides. While Lush - Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter can feel a bit stingy on broken skin Burt Bees Hand Salve soothes it and helps the healing process

Atrix

I wanted to talk about Atrix - Intensive Protection Cream. Like Lush - Helping Hands, a product designed for nurses struggling with skin-dryness due to high frequent washing and harsh products. It contains Chamomile which is great for itchy skin, and is thicker than Lush - Helping Hands and therefor lasts longer without having any problems with it feeling slippery on the hands.  

atrix® Intensive Protection Cream can be obtained in tube form in the following countries:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Serbia/Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Slovakia, Taiwan, Ukraine

I discovered that this is also available at Superdrugs under the name: Atrixo Intensive Protection Cream, currently being sold for £3.15

Another product from Atrix that is really good is Atrix - Professional Repair Cream. This one is available to purchase in the UK through various sites and Amazon. Atrix - Professional Repair Cream is best for those hands that looks beyond saving, and with daily use can bring even the roughest hands to youthful glow.

atrix® Professional Repair Cream can be obtained in the following countries:

Austria, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, UK

Boots and Superdrug

I also keep a bottle of Nail Apothecary - Nail Elixir at my desk in the nail cave. I find that while this does give some moisture it mostly just looks nice without actually giving any deep moisture. Nail Apothecary - Nail Elixir is therefor best as a touch up product or a summertime product.

A product similar to the before mentioned Atrix  Intensive Protection Cream aka Atrixo - Intensive Protection Cream (for those in the UK), is Neutrogena - Norwegian Formula Hand and Nail Cream, it's lacking on the calming ingredients and it looks somewhat glossy on the hands which is why I would recommend Atrix/Atrixo over the Neutrogena any day.

For transitioning into warmer weather when you don't need as much moisture added to the skin two products I really enjoy is the Superdrug - Hand Cream and Nivea - Q10 Plus Age Defying Hand Cream. Both products keeps the skin looking its best, sinks into the skin quickly without leaving the skin feeling greasy.

UK Indies 

UK Indie Stores has some awesome stuff for keeping hands and nails in good condition during the cold season, be it from Etsy or directly from the maker. 

Soap Dodger

Some time ago I purchased the Soap Dodger Cuticle Balm as I was curious to test it out. It has a very light texture and melts very quickly into the skin. The scent is nice and fresh which reminds me of lemon gelato di crema. In terms of moisture delivery it is very good, but Lush - Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter provides a bit more. I feel like adding Soap Dodger - Cuticle Balm on top of other more moisturising products really seals it all in.

Another product that I have tried has been the Soap Dodger - Cuticle Oil I got this as a free sample when I did a large haul from them a while back. I am not a huge fan of the scent on it, but it gives decent moisture. When I add this to all my nails it has usually soaked up before I get to rub it in. It works great for pictures, but not so much for a daily Cuticle Oil in my opinion.

Opulent Essences

The winner for me in terms of Cuticle Oils has been the Opulent Essences - Nail/ Cuticle Oil , it has a nice and pleasant scent with a soya bean oil base. It is very high on moisture, sinks into the skin rather quick but not too quick so you have time to apply to all your nails before the product is gone and you feel like applying it all over again.

There you have my top Winter Survival Tips for Hands and Nails. 

Untried Indie Polish - Happy Hands Nail Polish - Sandcastles in the Sand

3rd trimester is rapidly approaching in my pregnancy, and while I am waiting for baby I wanted to dive into some of my untried polishes. 

One of the things I really love doing is looking for interesting polishes from indie companies. 

#itrustindiepolish

and all that ya know. 

Happy Hands Nail Polish - Sandcastles in the Sand is a gorgeous glitter polish with a pale beige base, blue and yellow square glitter and smaller yellow hex glitters. 

It reminds me of Easter...

The Happy Hands Nail Polish shop was set to "Holiday Mode" back in January 2014, so I don't think this brand is around anymore. I am sorry about that. 

I choose to pair this with Moyra - Damask and Barry M - Gelly - Blue Grape 

Happy Hands Nail Polish -  Sandcastles in the Sand stamped with  Barry M - Gelly - Blue Grape  using Moyra - Damask

Happy Hands Nail Polish -  Sandcastles in the Sand stamped with  Barry M - Gelly - Blue Grape  using Moyra - Damask. Closeup to really show off the glitter polish. Stunning, right?

KIKO - Magnetic Nail Lacquer - 705 - Emerald Turquoise

One of the things I try to do, as a nail blogger, is to make sure I try out new techniques and types of polishes. When the KIKO - Magnetic Nail Lacquer came out 4-5 years or so back, I bought the ones I could get hold of.

Back then, I was still struggling with brittle nails after having been a nail biter for so long. My nail shape was not the best, and I just didn't have the practice that I have now.
If you want to dive in my archive to the last time I wore a magnet polish, follow this link.



I have seen some brands from Russia come out with magnetic polishes, and it is only a matter of time before others follow. Right?
Do you think magnetic polishes are on the comeback, or is this just a blast from the past?



Today I am going to show you KIKO - Magnetic Nail Lacquer - 705 - Emerald Turquoise, I know this is Discontinued, but I am sure some of you have these buried in your Helmers or nail polish racks/stash, completely forgotten.

Magnetic Nail Lacquer is a 5-free nail polish: it is formulated without adding harsh ingredients such as Toluene, Camphor, DBP, Formaldehyde Resin and Formaldehyde

I used the KIKO - Nail Art Magnet 01 - Stripes for today's look. This was the only Magnet that I managed to find when these first came out, but if you have magnetic polishes the KIKO - Nail Art Magnets are still for sale, just not the magnet polishes...

KIKO - Magnetic Nail Lacquer - 705 - Emerald Turquoise

KIKO - Magnetic Nail Lacquer - 705 - Emerald Turquoise

I really like how these turned out, so I wanted to do some nail art on top of the base.

I chose Bundlemonster - BM509 to preserve the nautical feel. I used Wet N Wild - Black Creme as stamping polish because I know I can trust it to do a good job.

Sadly, I think I have received a bad plate with this one. First I tried the diamond shape with the anchors - could barely make out the image. Then I tried the trident image - after several attempts I got a decent transfer and used this for my index finger.

For the rest of the nails I used the rope design which was well etched and transferred like a dream. 

KIKO - Magnetic Nail Lacquer - 705 - Emerald Turquoise stamped with Bundlemonster - BM509

KIKO Magnetic - 705 #magneticpolish #kikocosmetics #magneticnails #instanails #instanailart #kikotrendsetters #secretarysnailart

A video posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on Apr 24, 2016 at 4:41am PDT

Baby Announcement and Gender Reveal Mani

So excited to announce that we are expecting a little baby 1st of March 2017! #babygirl #babylykke #babyannouncement

A photo posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on Oct 10, 2016 at 1:39pm PDT

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you might have heard the good news already.
I am expecting a baby girl the 1st of March 2017.

As some of you have noticed I have been absent from the blog for a while. Pregnancy so far has not been the easiest on me, and I feel like I have been running back n' forth to the hospital and home for months now.
At first it was breathing issues, then a severe chest infection, and lately a slipping disc from being inactive and not looking out for my spine.

I am getting a lot better now, and the baby belly has dropped a little so I can breath easier. Making my life a bit more manageable.

I just wanted to log in here and let you all know what's going on in my life. I have done a couple of hauls both nail polish and nail art items that I am excited to show you all.

Bundlemonster Occasions Collection - Family Ties Mani 

For this mani I used Barry M - Silk - Orchid as a base colour, for the stamping I used Bundlemonster Occasions Collection - Family Ties in BM-S231 and BM-S232 in Wet N Wild - Black Creme and filled in with Barry M - Gelly . Acai Smoothie and Barry M - Gelly - Fondant making a decal for the ring and middle finger.

If you are going to / or have a Baby Shower, this set from Bundlemonster is the only set I have seen that delivers what you need for such an occasion.

I have heard the Moyra - Childhood might be a good stamping plate for this purpose as well, but I have not seen or heard of any other stamping plates that has these kind of images.

I absolutely adore the finished look, and been wearing it for about 2 weeks now.

Halloween Nails

A while ago I did a Charlies Nail Art Haul, and for Halloween this year (I know the post is up late), I was wearing the Halloween Wraps from that Haul.

The wraps were easy to apply and adjust to each nail, they had a slight textured surface so I applied two coats of topcoat to seal them in.
I wore this look for 4 days without them falling off. In my book that is a success.

Charlies Nail Art Halloween Wraps

The really cool thing about these wraps is that the skulls and bones actually light up in the dark. The light they emitted never went dull, like some other wraps I have encountered before, which was super awesome.

Ready for Halloween 🎃 #secretarysnailart #nailsoftheday #nailart #nails2inspire #nailsofinstagramonfb #halloween #halloweennails #wraps #nailwraps #skullsandbones #glowinthedark #glowinthedarknails #charliesnailart

A photo posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on Oct 27, 2016 at 1:32pm PDT

Border and Mosaic Nails

Sometimes I just feel like switching things up a little, and pull out techniques that I haven't used for a while. Since my past two posts on here has been kinda serious, I wanted to lighten up the mood with today's nails.

We are revisiting Border Nails.

I know some people know this style better as Frame Nails, but they are one and the same technique.


For this look I am using three polishes:

H&M - Beige is one of my oldest polishes and I am surprised it is still kicking and hasn't dried all up. It has been with me since the very beginning. No wonder it is also, half empty. 

I actually won FNUG - Love Chic in a competition when FNUG first launched, and I got to choose a couple of shades from their line. Their polishes are amazing, a bit on the pricey side, but the staying power of these babies beats most of my other polishes to the boot. 

W7 - Buff is like the accident polish of this look. I never really liked this particular polish, it is too thin to be worn alone, but it works great for sponging. I think W7 make great polishes but W7- Buff is a dud. 

I also used a thin striping brush and a sponge for this look. 

First I started out with applying one coat of H&M - Beige, and once it was dry I placed 2 drops of H&M - Beige and 3 drops of W7- Buff to my Uber Chic Mat and dipped a sponge in to pick up the two colours. Dab dab dab on to the nails. 

It created a nice washed out marbled look. 

Then I went in with a striping brush and FNUG - Love Chic and framed the nails. 

FNUG - Love Chic Border Nails with H&M - Beige and W7 - Buff sponged in the middle as a washed marble look.

I am still learning to get my lines even with my striping brush, but this is definitely looking a whole better than last years attempts at border nails. 

Practise makes perfect, right?

I wore this look for a couple of days, and decided to switch up up and do Mosaic Nails. 

Grabbing my striping brush again and FNUG - Love Chic, I managed to get a couple days more wear.

FNUG - Love Chic Mosaic Nails with H&M - Beige and W7 - Buff sponged in the middle as a washed marble look.

Which one is your favourite?

Sharing The Love For Ane Li

We have lost an incredibly talented young Norwegian lady in the Nail Polish Community to depression. She was a huge inspiration to me, and shared with us her talented works of art on Instagram and Youtube. If you are not familiar with her work, I would advise you to check out her Instagram account.


As Robin Williams said:

 “I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy because they know what it’s like to feel absolutely worthless and they don’t want anyone else to feel like that.”

A handful of bloggers has decided to get together and re-create Ane Li's manicures in her memory, we are using #sharingtheloveforaneli if you want to check out the others creation on various social medias.

I was inspired to do a recreation of Ane Li's first stamping nail art look. I love stamping, and I remember seeing this look on her Instagram page thinking I should try it out. After all, I already owned the same plate as she used.

For today's look I am therefor using Bundlemonster BM-S107 (for the first time), using Wet n Wild - Black Creme. My base polish is Ard As Nails - Chelle from The Blogsquad Collection.
I recently did a large haul from Soap Dodger, purchasing some of the more recent collections from Ard As Nails. I will have a separate video up with Live Swatches for those of you interested in that.

Ard As Nails - Chelle is a pale grey-pink with a hint of lavender holographic polish.

Ard As Nail - Chelle from the Blogsquad Collection, stamping with Bundlemonster BM-S107

Check out the original in the video below.

Quick video on how I did the black and white stamping ☺️ ~ I used @bundlemonster stamping plate BM-S107 for all my nails 🎀 You can get 10% off everything from bundlemonster.com with my code ✨ANELI✨ (direct link in my bio!) #bundlemonster ~ The pink stuff around my nails is also from @bundlemonster ✨ ~ Polishes used: Black and white stamping polishes from @bundlemonster Essie 'good to go' Opi 'matte topcoat' ~ Song: Mockingbird by eminem

A video posted by Nails + Tutorials :3 (@ane_li) on Apr 1, 2016 at 11:17am PDT

Mint Manis for Talia Joy

Savina - Royalty with accent in Princess Lacquer - Reign with China Glaze - For Audrey and Savina - Royalty over, and a baby blue bow.

Words become poor when we are talking about loss of a human being, and Talia was such a huge inspiration for so many people. First time I heard about Talia Joy was on Ellen's Show, she was so energetic and full of life. My grandmother call those kind of people for angels:

Angels shine on us with their light and bless us with their presence for a while, until they have to go back to heaven.

"Finding Dory" is soon hitting the cinemas around the world, and I for one will be sending out a thought to all the lives that Talia touched and to the people she left behind.

For those of you who didn't know much about Talia she was a 13 year old girl that was diagnosed with cancer at a young age. Around the time she was diagnosed she was introduced to makeup. She soon after started a YouTube channel that hit 1,000,000 subscribers. She made beauty videos, vlogs, and cancer updates. She passed away July 16, 2013 after battling cancer for over 6 years. She was a true fighter, a beautiful girl and always reminded us that a little fishy told her to "just keep swimming".

After her death there was a lot of petitions to have Pixar make a separate movie about Dory and dedicate it to Talia.

"You can't change yesterday, you can't predict tomorrow. Live now and don't take it for granted!"
Talia Joy on Twitter

Check out the awesome girls that participated in #anglesfortalia. @dmcastellano @savannanailsit @sittingpolishpretty @taylornails @ice.hard.nails @nails_by_courtney.s @nail.dazed @insomniaccatnails @polishedcalla @ladytheresa28 @missusfroggy @lovelacquernola @nextstagenails @nails_by_kale @lala_lacquer @stormysway79 @theworldofcos @bexdennis23 @ttluvsnails @nailsonparade @fyreblossomnails @mimi35c @sarahs.nail.endeavors @secretarysnailart @nailcraftaddict @melanie.minerva @nailartbylara @nailsbybuttercup @bethcruzan @sezies_nails @nailsby.lily @liberosnails @nails.in.arizona @lacquer_vault @paygebee @glacewing

A photo posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on Jul 16, 2016 at 5:50am PDT

There is are also a hashtag circulating for this from when this was originally done back in 2013, which is #MintManisForTaliaJoy, so be sure to check out the other social media sites too - there have literally been thousands of Mint Mani postings, and more to come.

For anyone posting anything about Talia, her family has asked that you use the hashtag #TaliasLegacy as well.

If you want to see the first mani that I did in honor of Talia Joy, follow this link. 

Inner Peace

The story that follow is a short glimpse of my life as a young teenager, and how I learned to meditate. If you skip further down I will show you a manicure that I did using Bundlemonster BMXL-175 Work It stamping plate. The stamping plate has images related to Yoga and Meditation

When I was 15 years old my mother took me to a camp for a week. Not only was it our first camping trip together, it was also the first time we really sat down and talked about our issues and I started unravel the mess of stories that made up my biological family.
If you have read some of my other stories on here, you might know that I am a foster-child, and that I moved to my own flat when I was 14 years old.

I think my mother had wanted to open up for a long time, she just didn't quite know where to start. The NA -camp was for her a healing place, and she wanted to go there with me, partially for backup and moral support, but also because she wanted to create a bond between us and get to know "the real me".


Thinking back, I remember the island we went to, as filled with broken souls and the smell of salt water.

The days were filled with meetings, some open meetings and some closed meetings (meetings only for people with an addiction). I ended up attending all the open meetings, and was even asked to host one myself. There was a lot of openness in the meetings, and I think we all touched each others hearts the week we where there. I certainly learned a lot.

As a person used to get up early in the morning, I quickly discovered that there was only one other person there who did the same. Each morning he would get up, wash his face in the cold water and greet the sun as it rose lazily on the sky. It did not take long until I joined in on his morning ritual and he taught me some basics about Meditation and Yoga.

When you picture a Yogi in your head you might picture an old man with semi long hair and a bushy beard, and that is exactly how this man looked. Later I was to meet another Yogi that looked nothing like the first. This one was in his late 20's with handsome sun bleached hair, a strong but lean body sitting on a pile of pillows in Camden Market, London. That is an entirely different story.

I was seeking for something back then, and these two helped me find it.

“You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day — unless you’re too busy. Then you should sit for an hour.” -Zen proverb 

 For today's manicure I used Barry M - Cream Soda as a base, and stamped using Barry M - Ballerina. Barry M - Ballerina is from the core line and has therefor the black cap, be warned that not all of the polishes in the core line from Barry M stamp as well as the Gelly line.

Barry M - Cream Soda with Bundlemonster BMXL-175 stamped using Barry M - Ballerina over. 

I hope you enjoyed my little story, and nail art.

Royal Polish - Shining Armor

Very rarely do I go for solid black polish, but this polish from Royal Polish packs just enough of glitter for it to not feel "too black" for me. Being somewhat of an Office-Goth it's a bit strange that I don't like black nail polish, I suppose that I find it all just a bit "too dark" altogether; with black shoes, black pants, black jacket, black stockings... Most of my wardrobe is black, grey or navy after all.

Today I am showing you Royal Polish - Shining Armour.

Royal Polish - Shining Armour has a black jelly base and is packed with round silver glitters, some small and some slightly bigger. It covers completely in 2 coats, thought I did find it to drag a little of the first coat when applying the second coat. With a topcoat over it feels smooth, and sits nice and flat on the nail. When looking at it with the naked eye it almost looks as if there is a grey tinge in the slightly larger silver glitters.

Royal Polish - Shining Armor

Now that I have gotten accustomed with using UNT peelable basecoat, I am starting to feel more confident in using more glitter polishes from my stash. Left unloved for so long, and finally getting to see the outside of my Helmer.

Since the polish is so packed with glitter it leaves little room to incorporate nail art with it. I wore it for a couple of days, and then decided to change it up and make an accent nail using this polish.

OPI - Crown Me Already and  Royal Polish - Shining Armor 

I also added some stamping using Wet n Wild - Black Creme and Moyra - Damask stamping plate.
Love the finished look and I hope you did too!

Royal Polish - Shining Armor

Charlies Nail Art Haul

A parcel arrived at my door, and it contained a lot of nail art stuff that I am excited to show you.

 I wanted to try a new company and decided to order from Charlies Nail Art. 
Some people call this the UK's version of BornPrettyStore, and since I have worked with BornPrettyStore before I thought I would look into this company. The plus obviously being that they are local and you don't have to wait for 4+ weeks before getting your stuff. 

When you are a blogger and wants to stay on trend those 4 weeks can mean a lot of difference. 

While the stock is not the same as BornPrettyStore some of the individual items and brands seems to be. 

Contained:

1 Wrap

1 French Guides

2 pk. Stickers

1 pk. Studs

6 Rhinestones 

1 pk. Holo Shreddies

 Several pairs of Nail Art Charms

1 bag of assorted Fimo slices

3 Foils

3 pk. of Glitter

1 pk. Flocking Powder

Charlies Nail Art does world wide shipping, for UK residents orders under £20 postage is £1.75 in postage, with orders over £20 with no postage charge.

I had my parcel in 2 days from ordering, so I am very happy with the response time. 

It will do good to note that all the foils on Charlies Nail Art are intended to be no-foil-glue-needed foils, but I have heard that for the best result, one should still use foil glue. Charlies Nail Art does not sell foil glue, so I think the best place to get that is still Dollarnailart, which is where I have been buying my foils and glue for years.

That being said, I think it was a lot of fun opening this Loot Bag. For £6.99 the content of the bag is totally worth it. It also gives a good idea of what sort of products you can get from the company without spending hours on putting together an order. 

Is there any particular product you would like to see me using for my next nail art?

Lonely Assassins - Dr.Who Inspired Nail Art

The title is a warning, if you are scared of Weeping Angels it might not be a good idea to continue reading this post.

I was feeling inspired by My Online Shop MJ - JV - 31 stamping plate and decided to create a Weeping Angel Nail Art design.


If you are not sure what a Weeping Angel is, here is a little quote from Wikipedia:

Weeping Angels, also known as the Lonely Assassins are a race of predatory creatures from the long-running sci-fi series Doctor Who, resembling stone statues. They were introduced in the 2007 episode "Blink". Since their initial appearance, they have been persistently nominated as one of the most popular and frightening Doctor Who monsters. Steven Moffat, their creator, attributes their appeal to childhood games such as Grandmother's Footsteps and the notion that every statue might secretly be a disguised Weeping Angel.

For this Nail Art look I used two coats of Freckles - Jadis and Barry M - Cream Soda with My Online Shop MJ - JV - 31. I recently did a Youtube video of this stamping plate  if you want to have a look at it some more.
The pale shades that I choose to work with for this look makes it look like the Weeping Angels are not there when the nails are in the shade, bring them out in the light and the Weeping Angels appear. 

Spooky. 

Weeping Angels Nail Art

Weeping Angels Nail Art

Hope you all liked this look, and that I am not giving anyone nightmares out there.

My Online Shop - MJ JR31 - Stamping Plate

Today we are going to have a closer look at the My Online Shop - MJ JR31 Stamping Plate that I purchased earlier his year from Nail Artisan UK.

The plate can also be purchased from StoreEnvy for those of you not in the UK. 
I can personally vouch for Nail Artisan UK, as that is where I purchased this plate, and Alex who run the shop is a great lady. I have never purchased from StoreEnvy before.

If you love UK shows like Dr.Who, Sherlock Holmes, or even Harry Potter this is the plate for you.
In the video below I am pointing out some interesting images from this plate, and giving you some suggestions on how to use this plate for your next mani.

Overall I think it was a bit random that there was one image from Firefly on this plate among all the more British shows, that being said I absolutely LOVE Firefly and even though there is only one image here I am very happy with having it. I have been informed that there is also some Percy Jackson related images on this plate... but I have no idea which image that could be.

If you know, please give me a nudge.


Adding this plate to my collection meant that my plate holder that I purchased not that long ago to hold my overflow of stamping plates is full, and I will have to start looking for another one.

My Online Shop JR plates are the same size as my Moyou London, Bundlemonster, Petla and BPS XL plates. I am getting quite a selection of plates now, and looking forward to get cranking on more stamping plate reviews like this. 

What is your favourite stamping plate?

Inspired By Pink Floyd

I am super excited to share this with you all. Me and TheHumbleBear from Instagram decided to do a twinmani. We ended up chatting for a long time and discovered that we both grew up listening to Pink Floyd. A lot. 

I used to sit ready with my cassette recorder in case a Pink Floyd, or Sting song would come on the radio, ready to tape. I think I still got some of my favourites on a cassette at mums place. 

I would have them on in the background when reading books, which was something I was always doing (unless I was doing homework). 

Polishes that I used for this Pink Floyd Themed Nail Art

I haven't done a freehand nail art look in a while, so I decided to grab my striping brushes and a box of nail polishes for this look. 

I sat in the living room, trying it out for filming, and as you can see from the video it is not enough light in there and the natural light from the windows is causing a lot of flickering in the light (our house came with 3 over friendly pigeons that like to fly back n forth in front of our windows) Will pull down the blinds and add more light next time. 

Products used:
Wet n Wild - Black Creme
Barry M - Coconut
Barry M - Plum
Barry M - Blue Grape
Barry M - Yellow (Superdrug LTD)
Barry M - Mango
Barry M - Lime Green
L'oreal - Scarlet Vamp
OPI - Sheer Enchantment
Sally Hansen - Pearly Whites

Two thin striping brushes from Bundlemonster

Pink Floyd - Galaxy Nail Art

My main inspiration for this nail art look was Insomia over at DeviantArt. 

When talking about Pink Floyd you can not escape mentioning their album The Dark Side of the Moon, so when me and TheHumbleBear did out nail art looks, we both did one based on the cover of that album.

When I was living in Spain 2 years ago, I came across this wall, and had to take a picture.

I Wish You Were Beer 

Be sure to check out TheHumbleBear over at Instagram, and send her my love. We had so much fun with this twinmani, and hope you liked the looks that we created. 

Pink Floyd 🌈~ One of my favourite bands 💖😘💖 #Art #AcrylicPaint #Intricate #CuteNailArt #Wishyouwerehere #PinkFloyd #RainbowNails #Polish #Asian #NailArt #NormalPolish #NailArtist #Gelish #Manicure #PrestoGel #InkArt #Favourite #Nailstagram #SharingArt #ArtDiscover #like4like #HandPaintedNailArt #Presto #OOTD #AngelPro #GellyFit #NOTD #POTD #Nails #LOVE

A photo posted by BearBearley 🐻 (@thehumblebear) on May 23, 2016 at 5:50pm PDT

Neon Watermarble

I really want to be a "Watermarble Witch", it sounds kinda awesome, and I hear Youtubers talk about it "like, all the time". This week alone I have seen 3 videos being posted where it has been mentioned. 

Totally crazy. 

Neon Watermarble using Opulent Essences - Lime and Opulent Essences - Orange 

It's been a year since my last meeting with watermarble, so it's about time I get back into it. 

I started out with one coat of Sinful Color - Snow Me White, then I prepped my skin with some Liquid Latex. I buy mine from Nail Artisan UK, (in case you are looking for a place to buy).

Whatever is #secretarysnailart up to now? @nail_artisan_by_alex - Magic Mask Liquid Latex from Nail Artisan and Sinful Color - Snow Me White

A photo posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on May 15, 2016 at 9:14am PDT

It looks strange, but it is Oh So Satisfying to peel it off the skin afterwards. Practically Zero clean up makes nail art so much more enjoyable.


In a small round container that I got my coconut jelly in from the Chinese Market. They are perfect for watermarble when doing one and one nail.

I alternated between dropping Opulent Essences - Lime and Opulent Essences - Orange in the container, before making a design and dipping my nails.

Neon Nail Art Mani using Opulent Essences - Lime and Opulent Essences - Orange from Taste The Rainbow Collection. 

Nude + Neon Love

I hope you are not tired of seeing my Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection. Today I have for you all another neon polish look. 

There has been a couple of comments about the wear-ability of neon polish, some of you have jobs that doesn't allow overly bright nails. Luckily, my job allows me to wear bright polishes, so I created a look that incorporates a nude polish to accommodate more for those occasions when we want to wear neon polishes, but have to tone it down a couple of notches. 

For today's look I used Opulent Essences - Strawberry, Opulent Essences - Grape and  Opulent Essences - Lime as well as a Claudia - 002 - Like A Dream. 

First I painted all nails with two coats of Claudia - 002 - Like A Dream, and added a quick dry topcoat, because today I am working with vinyls.

Using a rose vinyl that I had purchased from She Sells Seashells (say that 10 times, fast), I went in randomly with spots here and there using Opulent Essences - Strawberry and Opulent Essences - Grape.

A small detail brush and Opulent Essences - Lime did the trick when adding leaves under the rose. 

I just love how the rose turned out, and will definitely use the vinyl again. Gorgeous!

To complete the look I used BM 705 from the 2015 Secret Garden Collection to add some wording to the rest of the nails. In direct sunlight as seen below you can not quite make out the wording, and it gives a nice textured look to the nails, but in indirect artificial lighting you can totally see the wording. 

Nude + Neon Love using  Opulent Essences - Strawberry, Opulent Essences - Grape with nail vinyl and  Opulent Essences - Lime over Claudia - 002 - Like A Dream. 

Office appropriate neon and nude nail art look, I hope you liked it, I certainly did, and this was the first time I got to properly play around with nail vinyls, and I have to say I am liking it so far.

I just wanted to quickly add that I purchased this collection with my own money, and are not sponsored in any way.

I have been moving house the past couple of weeks, and I had left this collection out so that I could pack my polishes for the move and still have something to paint my nails with. Getting organised and sorted is taking a lot longer than I thought. If you are curious as to how my house is looking, and how I am organising things, check out my Instagram, I have posted a couple of pictures. 

Gradient Neon Stamping

This week I am celebrating my 4th year of blogging here on Secretary's Nail Art, and to celebrate with style I am trying out something a bit new in terms on nail art. 

Today I have for you a subtle splatter and neon gradient stamping nail art look. 

I am using polishes from Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection that I purchased for my own money a couple of months back. 

This collection is filled with vibrant neon polishes, and I have had so much fun playing around with them. Below you can see a picture of the polishes used today over Sinful Color - Snow Me White. 

Opulent Essences - Strawberry, Opulent Essences - Orange, Opulent Essences - Blueberry and Opulent Essences - Lime.

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection polishes used in this manicure. 

For the splatter I used a baby toothbrush and splashed some polish over my white base polish, Sinful Color - Snow Me White. I wanted a light spray of colour, so that it would look more like small specks over the white than those large splatters you often see features in nail art looks. 

Then I picked up my Bundlemonster BM-XL204, Beaching Nails stamping plate and put Opulent Essences - Blueberry and Opulent Essences - Lime on each half of the image before scraping 2-3 times lightly over in order to blend the colours to create a gradient effect in the stamping. I think it came out the best on the long finger, but I definitely think I am on to something here.

Just need a little bit more practise on gradient stamping. 

Subtle splatter with neon gradient stamping. 

About Opulent Essences:

Opulent Essences is a Vegan Friendly Nail Polish Maker from the UK. Behind the brand is the duo Sharon and Zoe. They are awesome, and so are their polishes.
Etsy Store
Instagram

If you want to see more nail art looks from this collection, follow the Label: Opulent Essences.


About Bundlemonster:
Started in 2009, sells an arrange of nail art products and stamping polishes. Located in Hawaii, sometimes shipping and taxes for us UK girls can get a bit expensive, but luckily you can get most of their products from Rainbow Connection UK .

Happy Blogiversary

Can you believe it's been 4 years already?!

It all started 5 years ago, but I didn't plunge into the blogging world for another year as I wanted to lay the grounds first, and get better at painting my nails.

Back then, I didn't even know there was such a thing as nail bloggers, but the first year was very educational; I found the nail polish community and stayed ever since.



My first polish as a newly initiated polish-aholic was Depend - 124. There is barely any left in the bottle, the tags are all worn out from the multiple uses, but I have loved this polish.

My favourite way of wearing this polish was as a "funky French", a step further than just your ordinary French manicure.

You can see the original post here.

Depend - 124 

One of the first stamping nail art looks that I did on this blog was of Sinful Color - Neon Melon, with some dotticure and again, a funky French. Already here you can see my trusted Wet N Wild - Black Creme for all things stamping related.

You can see the original post here.

Neon Yellow with black French tips

My goal when I started this, was to do about 200 posts each year with nail arts, swatches and hauls, I have stuck to this goal since I started and very happy with how that has turned out.

This year I have passed the 1.000 mark on visitors a day, a doubling from last year, something I am very happy about. Mainly because it tells me that people like seeing what I do. 

This year has seen the return of the above mentioned "funky French", a nail art look I did a lot in my first year on the blog. It was also one of those looks that ended up being this year most visited blogpost. 

I used a lot of polishes in this look and the accent decal had me bent over it carefully placing each polish for a good hour or so.  You can see the original post over here.

Barry M - Gelly - Paprika with Qgirl - 032 (from BornPrettyStore) stamped over in Barry M - Superdrug Limited Edition Yellow, Barry M - Vintage Violet, Barry M - Gelly - Mustard, Barry M - Gelly - Mango, Barry M - Gelly - Chilli, Barry M - Gelly - Dragon, Barry M - Beery I/C, Barry M - Fuschia, Barry M - Gelly - Blueberry, Barry M - Gelly - Blue Grape and Barry M - Gelly - Plum. 

Another nail art look that has been loved by the readers was my Russian Flowers manicure, you can see that post over here. The look was the stark opposite of the one above, while the above mentioned nail art look had a lot of polishes in it and stamping involved, this one had only two polishes in a subtle gradient and some water decals. Proving that sometimes less is more.

Misa - Russian Sage gradient with Yes Love - 27 - Shiny Glitter. With BornPrettyStore flowers

Another post that has been viewed a lot this year has been my swatch of Color Club - Barely There you can see the original post here. We all need a palate cleanser every now and then, and this polish seems to do the trick for many of you out there. 

Swatch: Color Club - Barely there

I want to thank you all for your continued support all these years, thanks to all of you who have been here from the start, and those who have joined along this journey. 

I hope there will be many more.