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

Follow The Milkyway

A product in this post was purchased using an affiliate discount and nail polish was previously sent for swatching purposes.

Kids can be naughty from time to time. It's a fact. They bend rules, and push limits.

I remember the first time I disobeyed the rules regarding bedtime; it was the night of the Leonid Meteor Shower in November of 1998 (kinda makes me feel old...). It was around 3 am, and I had  managed to sneak out of the house and out to a large field of dirt, the potatoes all gone, not far from where I lived. 

I had asked to be allowed to see it, but was told it was not for young girls, and it was far to late at night. That, and there was wolves in the area, having killed our sheep and goat just the year before...

I was prepared with blankets and layers of woollen clothes to fight off the Norwegian Chill. 

There, alone in the dark I got to see the most spectacular view in my life. It has to be the longest I have ever sat completely still, and I didn't return back inside until it was well after 5 am. No one had notice, and I never told them about it. 

I wanted to start with this story, because it was that night that I started to truly be fascinated by the night-sky, and whenever there is a meteor shower, lunar/solar eclipse I try to get to see them. 

Earlier this year I sat on the roof to one of my dear friends in Norway, both wrapped in blankets on a sun chair looking at a meteor shower. It was magical.

It was reminiscing over these moments in my life, that inspired me to create this look.  

Opulent Essences - Gravity over black with waterdecals and some simple dotticure.

Opulent Essences - Gravity 

A product in this post was purchased using an affiliate discount and nail polish was previously sent for swatching purposes.

Opulent Essences - Devils Gold

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine, nothing else to disclaim.

Opulent Essences - Devils Gold

Devil's Goldan excellent definition for oil considering the problems it is causing
We are living in a fools paradise if we think we can rely on the Devil's Gold forever.

 

Opulent Essences - Devil's Gold while the name might make you think about oil, this not an oil-spill / oil-slick sort of polish, it is a semi sheer black jelly base with golden flakes and smooth glitter. that shifts in green, gold and blurple, a blueish purple.


Opulent Essences is a Vegan Friendly Nail Polish Maker from the UK. Behind the brand is the duo Sharon and Zoe, if you ever have any questions, the girls are lovely to chat with.

Etsy Store
Instagram

Devils Gold 10 ml - 6 £

Opulent Essences - Devils Gold

Today has been super busy with house-hunting, and I found this gorgeous little terrace house close by a park, that I have filled out the paperwork for and applied for.

If I get this place I will get a larger nail polish room, and it does not have to function as a Nail Cave / Spare Bedroom, it will ONLY be for my nail polishes. 

Fingers crossed.

For the picture swatches on the blog here, you can see one coat of Opulent Essences - Devils Gold over Wet n Wild - Black Creme. On the Live Swatch in the video over here, you can see what Opulent Essences - Devils Gold looks like layered over Barry M - Blue Grape, a cobalt blue polish (dupe for YSL - Bleu Majorelle)

More color combos for Opulent Essences - Devils Gold

For the nail art today I opted for a simple accent stamping using Moyra - Ornaments plate 03.
I used Sinful Color - Snow Me White for this.

Opulent Essences - Devils Gold layered over Wet n Wild - Black Creme with accent Barry M - Blue Grape, Opulent Essences - Devils Gold over and stamped using Sinful Color - Snow Me White and Moyra - Ornaments - 03

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine, nothing else to disclaim.

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Orange

Today I am showing you another neon polish from the Taste The Rainbow Collection by Opulent Essence. If you are feeling the tug towards this collection, head over to the Opulent Essences Etsy store. They have so many cool polishes for sale, I am sure you will find one that is right for you.

A huge bonus in my book is that they are Vegan friendly!

You can find a Live Swatch that I did over at my YouTube Channel for the entire collection, by following this link.

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow - Orange

Here you can see Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Orange applied in 2 coats over 1 coat of Sinful Color - Snow Me White. The swatching stick has one coat.

I wanted to use some of my newer stamping plates, so I grabbed two plates from my Bundlemonster pile. BMXL178 - WORK IT! and BMXL204 - Beaching Nails. 

Let's do some doublestamping again!

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow - Orange with doublestamping using Bundlemonster BMXL178 - WORK IT! and BMXL204 - Beaching Nails with Beyu 377 and Wet n Wild - Black Creme

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow - Orange with doublestamping using Bundlemonster BMXL178 - WORK IT! and BMXL204 - Beaching Nails with Beyu 377 and Wet n Wild - Black Creme

For the stamping this time I used a duochrome polish Beyu - 377, I have had it forever and really wanted to use it for something, I think it worked great for this background image. The black from Wet N Wild  against the duochrome gives a nice effect when paired with a neon. 

Little reminder of what it looks like alone.

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow - Orange

@opulent_essences - Orange This super glossy neon orange takes only two coats. Check out my full Live Swatch and review of the Taste The Rainbow Collection from Opulent Essences on my Youtube channel, link in the bio #secretarysnailart #neon #neonpolish #indiepolish #indieswatch #opulentessences #ukpolish

A video posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on Mar 27, 2016 at 3:07pm PDT

Tribute to David Bowie

As many of you may have heard David Bowie (link to the official fan site) is no longer with us. After battling cancer for 18 months, he died peacefully surrounded by his family.

The man who released "Space Oddity" in 1969, which was his commercial breakthrough, did the introduction to The Snowman in 1982, considered to be among the top 100 Rock Artist Of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine, and even has a spider named in his honor. 

There are many more things that can be said about this iconic artists, his latest album has received great reviews, and I am so happy to have lived in the same time as him.

Today I have a nail art look inspired by one of David Bowie's many eclectic outfits.  The striped bodysuit from the Aladdin Sane tour in 1973 to be specific.

For this look I used Barry M - Quick Dry - Pit Stop, which reminded me why I haven't bought the rest of Barry M's Quick Dry collection, the polish goes on smooth, but ones dried it leaves tiny bubbles on my nails. Ugh. Barry M - Quick Dry - Pit Stop is seen below with two coats.

Barry M - Quick Dry - Pit Stop

Luckily, I am covering it up with a stamp, using Wet N Wild - Black Creme, like that was a surprise, and Bundlemonster BM-221.

Tribute to David Bowie and his striped bodysuit from the Aladdin Sane tour (1978)

MSMD - Christmas Baubles

Today I have for you a MSMD - Monkey See, Monkey Do I don't know how long it is since last time I did one of these, but I am sure it has been a couple of years now.
So I am bringing it back!

Today I am recreating Celeste Laureen's Christmas Ornament Designs from 2013, she recently recreated it herself, and you can find that over at her Instagram page.  Apparently her original design had been stolen and someone had cropped out her watermark and spread it all over Pinterest with another watermark. Shame on them.
Someone on PAA was asking who it belonged to and I was able to direct them to the rightful owner.

I liked the design so much I decided to recreate it myself.
Celeste Laureen used Essie - Bobbing For Baubles, and even though I have that polish I decided to use a lighter background colour for this.
'Ard As Nails - Mauve. This polish doesn't actually have that name, as it was a Custom Polish, but as it is a mauve shade, more specifically #B784A7 aka Opera Mauve. I am going to call this polish; Mauve for future reference.

It will make it easier for to me keep order in my stash.

On the nails you can see 2 coats of  'Ard As Nails - Mauve you could easily get away with one coat, but the after effects of my sugar craze yesterday has left me a bit shaky, so I needed a second coat. This polish is absolutely amazing, and it wears like iron on me. It has a subtle shimmer/holoness to it, and the shade is just the perfect work appropriate polish.

'Ard As Nails - Mauve 

Then I grabbed China Glaze -Mistletoe Kisses, China Glaze - Ruby Pumps, China Glaze - Midnight Kiss, and OPI - Moonraker, as well as a striper brush and Wet N Wild - Black Creme. I made large round circles with the polishes and traced around the baubles.

'Ard As Nails - Mauve with Christmas Baubles using  China Glaze -Mistletoe Kisses, China Glaze - Ruby Pumps, China Glaze - Midnight Kiss, and OPI - Moonraker

I hope you liked this look, be sure to follow me on the blog, Facebook, or Google + for more Christmas nail art designs.

For more Christmas themed nails check out my other designs here.

Guest Nails: Shattered Glass

I received this product of my own choosing, free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store.

This is the third installation of Guestnails! Sam is such a patience soul, and has allowed me to do her nails again. Last time I did her nails we attempted at pond manicure, and made some decals with a Bundlemonster stamping plate.
I stated in the last post, that we wouldn't do something as elaborate next time. Oh, how wrong I was.

It might have taken almost an hour all in all, which is a lot less than the koi fish pond design took, but it did my head in.

Shattered Glass Nails

We started out with a coat of black polish (Wet n Wild - Black Creme) on all the nails, while that was drying I cut up the foil to the width of her nails and then into shards. I did it this way because I wanted it to look more like actual shattered glass, instead of just shards of reflective paper on some nails.
This way when I added them to the nails, it would leave a thin stripe of black showing between the "glass". Neat and tidy, like the OCD person I can be.

That was more difficult that I imagined.

It looked amazing for a little while, then the shards started poking out of the several layers of topcoat, and by the morning after, at least one shard was missing on each nail.
Think If I do this again, I will try it would with a Gel-like topcoat instead...

If you want to try your hands on some Shattered Glass look, you can get the  Shiny Laser Foils at BornPrettyStore for  $6.08. By applying my code RAMG10 you get 10% off all full priced items.
BornPrettyStore always offer free Worldwide shipping.
Remember that it can get really busy around the holidays, so if you send an order out now, it will most likely not make it in time for Christmas, but rather arrive on the other side of New Years Eve.
It can take about a month before my orders arrive, and I am in the UK.

Shattered Glass Nails

What is your experience with Shattered Glass manicures?


For more Christmas themed nails check out my other designs here.

I received this product of my own choosing, free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store.

Autumn Fields

Contains affiliate link.  Contains product previously sent for reviewing purposes.

When I first got the Qgirl plate, I had so many ideas in my head on what I wanted to do with it. That's why this is my second post with this design.

For this manicure I used Qgirl-032 from BornPrettyStore,and choose the "wheatfield" looking design again, which I absolutely love.

To make this I first dropped a few drops of Barry M - Gelly - Cardamom, Barry M - Gelly - Mustard, and Barry M - Gelly -Paprika on a plastic sheet. Then I took my Creative Stamper, and picked up the polish with a little twist and lift. I transferred this to one of my nails as an accent.
The other nails got painted in two coats of polish in the same colours.

Barry M - Gelly - Cardamom, Barry M - Gelly - Mustard, and Barry M - Gelly -Paprika

Then I proceeded to the stamping, after making sure it was all dry enough. I used my trusty Wet n Wild - Black Creme to stamp with. I have been using this polish for all my black stamping since I first discovered it in 2011. It has never failed on me, and when I moved to the UK, I got a US friend to send me some backups, without here, I would be lost.

Barry M - Gelly - Cardamom, Barry M - Gelly - Mustard, and Barry M - Gelly -Paprika stamped with QGirl - 032 from BornPrettyStore

It reminds me of a field in the various stages of growth. Clay-like earth, freshly sowed, and ready to harvest. Makes me happy to look at. 

If you want to pick up this plate it is the"Bird Animal Pattern Nail Art Stamp Template Image Plate Pattern #Qgirl-032" and it costs $ 2,99 at BornPrettyStore.

BornPrettyStore offers free shipping worldwide, and if you use my code (RAMG10) you get 10% off your order.

Until next time, have a great weekend everyone!

Leadlighting flowers

The days are going well here in Spain, life as a gametester is challenging and also a lot of fun. I get to use everything I know about the game, from being an old fan, as well as all the things I have learned as a Secretary. I am really looking forward to the release, when I can lean back, give myself a pat on the shoulder for a job well done.

I have been seeing this leadlight technique mentioned a lot of places, it's totally the rave of the summer.

I didn't bring that many polishes that would be great for this, so I needed to mix the colours I did bring with some clear polish to make this work for me. I didn't quite do it right, but as a first attempt, I think it's a good one. 

So for this manicure I mixed following colours with clear polish to create this look:
Barry M - Superdrug Limited Edition Yellow
ESSIE - Mojito Madness
Savina - Royalty

All this over 2 coats of Wet n Wild - Tropicalia

I stamped using Wet n Wild - Black Creme, using Cheeky - Jumbo plate - Princess Charming

Leadlight technique

Leadlight technique

Have you jumped on the Leadlight - technique wagon as well?
Any particular polishes you find works the best for this kind of technique?
Let me know in the comment field below!

Holy Motherboard

I love computers, and all tech related stuff, and that's why I bought the Sci-Fi Collection plate from Moyou-London, i my little haul. I decided to only get the 06 plate, the rest of the Sci-Fi Collection what a bit to childish for my taste.

Sorry for not being very active on the blog lately, I am going though a hectic week with hospital appointments and interview + tests for a job. I have my fingers crossed for this particular job that means I will be moving to Spain for 3 months. I am so excited to hear back from them later this week. Next week is my birthday, so it could not have come on a more appropriate time.

Last week I posted my review on the Moyou-London Sci-Fi Collection plate 06, and posted it on my YT-channel, as well as here on the blog. You can find that post here. 

Feel free to subscribe to my YT-Channel here. 

This is the manicure I created using the Moyou-London Sci-Fi Collection plate 06. I did two different designs for this, and used two images from the plate.

Kiko - Holographic - 401 (indirect light)

Kiko - Holographic - 401 (direct sunlight)

Kiko - Holographic - 401 (no sun)

I just love this polish. I don't own a lot of Kiko polishes, but the Holographic ones are SO amazing.  I used two coats of this manicure. It's freaking amazing. I used Wet & Wild - Black Creme for stamping.

Kiki - 401 stamped with motherboard designs from the Sci-Fi collection plate 06 (direct sunlight)

Kiki - 401 stamped with motherboard designs from the Sci-Fi collection plate 06 (direct sunlight)

Kiki - 401 stamped with motherboard designs from the Sci-Fi collection plate 06 (no sun)

Kiki - 401 stamped with motherboard designs from the Sci-Fi collection plate 06 (no sun)

This way you get to see the amazing holographic polish shine through, I wore this for a bit and felt the need to stamp on the ringfinger as well, and this is how that ended up looking. 

Kiki - 401 stamped with motherboard designs from the Sci-Fi collection plate 06 (direct sunlight)

Any thoughts out there? Let me know in the comment section below. Have a great day everyone.

It Better Be Math

Some people hate math, and others enjoy it. I consider myself to be somewhere in between those two. It depends on the type of math...

I used to have a professor that was incredibly awesome. He would make a joke about any type of math, and then spend the rest of the session explaining how the equation (or any type of mathematically question that was the topic that day) worked. I loved it, and it is not a surprise that while I had this professor, my math grades where good.

So when I got my hands on the Scholar Collection plate, and it had math written all over it, I wanted to start out easy.

The sleeve of the MoYou-London Scholar Collection Stamping Plate

The MoYou-London Scholar Collection Stamping Plate

I started out using Barry M - Gelly - Lychee as base coat. I made black french tips with Wet & Wild - Black Creme, and stamped using the same Wet & Wild. 

I am not quite agreeing with the shade of Lychee, I don't think it fits very well with my pale skin at the moment, but as soon as I get a bit of a tan, I think this polish will look a lot better on me. 

Barry M - Gelly - Lychee

Barry M - Gelly - Lychee with black french tips and stamping

Barry M - Gelly - Lychee with black french tips and stamping

Barry M - Gelly - Lychee with black french tips and stamping

Are you a math loving girl?

The Easter Eggs Hatched

Today I have for you an Easter Egg manicure. I don't really celebrate Easter, but I love holidays, so I am throwing myself into this one as well.

Last year I did three different Easter manicures, all using the same background polish.
Field of Marigolds
Easter Nails - A skittle Adventure
Easter Nails

I have been on the lookout for a really good yellow polish for this years Easter manicure. I even bought a yellow texture! 
But even so, when it was time to do Easter nails again, I  am tempted to go for the same polish as last year. I managed to stay away, and opted for this B*O polish instead, that I bought from Born Pretty Store. It's called 62, and it's more like an orangey-yellow.

I used 3 coats of B*O - 62 for this manicure and finished it off with Sally Hansen - Sugar Coat - Sugar Fix. I also added some wings, eyes and beak using Nordic Cap - NP07, Sinful Color - Snow Me White (I have also bought myself a backup of this polish as it's running very low), and Wet n Wild - Black (I really need a backup of this, very soon)

Happy Easter Everyone!

For more Easter-manis click here.

Want my Bawdy in foil

The title made me giggle, so I had to use it. No I am not going to undergo some weird-ass spa-treatment. It is ofcourse, nail polish related. It's no other than China Glaze - Want My Bawdy, with silver foil over it, and some stamping.

I decided to use some of the foils I bought at TGR in Norway while I was on my Christmas holiday.
I am trying to do a manicure with everyone of these foils. I was asked if they all preformed the same. So why not try them all out (?)
The foil came in a set of 4 and it cost NOK 10 (£1). They don't require foil glue or anything, just a sticky surface. so polish your nails with the base colour you want, wait until it goes tacky and apply the foil. Easy as that. For the record of all things foil. I used Gina Tricot Basecoat and Topcoat for this manicure, like last time.
I have already used the other three from this set, and you can see that by clicking here, here, here, and here
The other reason for doing this combo, was the magical trick I just learned. How to avoid streaks on polishes. It's very simple actually. Sponge the last coat. Why didn't I think of that?!

I also added some nail stamping using Cheeky Jumbo plate 3  European Romance.

I used two coats of China Glaze - Want My Bawdy and then sponged the third coat. When it was tacky I added the foil, and added topcoat before and after stamping. I stamped using Wet n Wild - Black.

I was so proud over how well these swatches turned out, I had to add a few extra pictures of it, last time I tried this polish, I had streaks, and bubbles. However, I must add, the stamping I did last time was gorgeous. You can see the post here. 

Hope you are all having a great start on the Easter Weekend. I will be back soon with some Easter manicures.