HPB Presents: My Job

I know I don't often mention my job, but today's theme in the Hobby Polish Bloggers group is, "your job". I suppose that would require me to talk about it, a little.

As some of you might have guessed my job has to do about tech and computers. As I am not allowed to fully disclose all that I do, I can tell you this much. 

For this manicure I used China Glaze - Jungle Queen, W7 - Silver Suede, and Sinful Color - Snow Me White. I used Moyou London Scifi Collection - 06 and Cheeky - CH54

 China Glaze - Jungle Queen stamped using Moyou London - Scifi Collection - 06 with W7 - Silver Suede 

China Glaze - Jungle Queen stamped using Moyou London - Scifi Collection - 06 with W7 - Silver Suede and Cheeky - CH54 with Sinful Color - Snow Me White

I really love the end result, and my workmates though this was a well representation of what I work with. So there you have it, My Job.


How to have fun with the IT Department:

Excuse me, Sir.
I seem to have run out of ink on my keyboard.

Lean back and watch their reactions. Priceless.

An InLinkz Link-up

Confessionails: LoveThyPolish - Magic Forest

I have been wanting to do something like this for a while now, and I finally decided on doing it.

I bring you, Confessionails. Get it? Confessions, and nails mashed together. I will do a couple of these Confessionails and set up the hashtag on Pinterest and stuff to make it easier to find.

Firstly lets start with a new to me, polish. I got my hands on this lovely green shade, LoveThyPolish - Magic Forest. LoveThyPolish was an Australian brand, and is sadly no longer around. Sorry girls.

I got my hands on this polish when a girl here in the UK decided to sell all her nail polishes as she was not longer into the hobby. I thought it was sad to stash them away and not love them anymore so I took it in, along with a bunch of other polishes that I will show one by one.

 LoveThyPolish - Magic Forest

LoveThyPolish - Magic Forest

It really is a gorgeous polish, don't you think?

For this manicure I used Moyou London  - Scholar Collection - 01, Uber Chic - Zombie Love Ltd and BornPrettyStore - BPL - 021. for all the stamping I used Sinful Color - Snow Me White.
I really like how this all came together. See the confession?

Confessionails: He Wants Me For My Brains

Fashion Statement Nails

Every morning I go past a wallpaper shop on my way to work. Sometimes I am inspired by the new strips of wallpaper in the window, and I try to recreate the look on my nails.
This is what I did today.

For this manicure I used two coats of Barry M - Matte - Copa Cabana. I left the middle finger bare, so you can see the base color in all its vibrant glory.
As far as mattes go, this one is insane! It's all coral-y red epikness.

I found the perfect stamping image on the Moyou London - Fashionista - 08, and used Barry M - Gelly - Cardamom for that.

Barry M - Matte - Copa Cabana, stamped with Moyou London - Fashionista - 08 using Barry M - Gelly . Cardamom.

I really love how this turned out, and to me, it looks very High Fashion.


You might have noticed that I have shown a lot of Barry M polishes on my blog lately, and if you are in the US, might have been a bit frustrated that you can't get your hands on these.
Now that my new system is up, I have discovered that a large part of my polishes where in fact untrieds (!), and I have really wanted to use more of them, and not just horde them, ya know.

Barry M happen to be the brand that I had the most untrieds from, so I started there.

I am fast approaching my 400 post (!) it is kinda scary, and also very exciting, as I have blogged on here for 3 years now, and my goal when I started was to do 100 posts a year.
You can say I definitely managed to do that!

Until next time!

For the Love of Coffee

I am a bit late to the party here, but it was Secretary's Nail Art's 3 year anniversary the 1th of June.
I was celebrating with a well deserved holiday in Finland, and I am all Sauna'ed out (if that is even a thing), and ready to hit the keyboard again and show you all the new designs I have made.

I have also completed my Nail Cave aka Office Room at home, so there will be pictures of that coming soon as well. I love sitting here, and working, I feel so at home.

I have almost finished my project on swatching all my nail polishes to swatching sticks, and reorganizing them in alphabetic order in my Helmers, so that will be an exciting post as well.

I am very excited to show it to you all, but for now, that will have to wait.

One of the first nail art designs I did way before there even was a blog was cupcakes and coffee nails, so when I got my hands on Moyou London - The Cookbook Collection - 04 I knew I had to do that again. So since I did a Throwback Thursday  last year, I thought I would do a Coffee Nail. Last years Coffee Manicure was a bit tame, so I decided to turn up the heat.

I chose three different design from the 04 plate, and used Essie - Little Brown Dress to stamp with.

One a plastic surface I placed a few drops of Barry M - Cappucino, Barry M - Matte - Mocha, and Barry M - Gelly - Almond (I didn't have another polish with a coffee related name, so had to choose a non-coffee named polish for the third one). With my Creative Stamper Head I pressed the three shades together and transfered that to my nails. I really like how this makes the background more interesting. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of this step as it was too dark, at that point.
But I have some OttLights on it's way, so that won't be a problem much longer.

Moyou London - the Cook Book Collection - 04 manicure (before topcoat)

Moyou London - the Cook Book Collection - 04 manicure (after topcoat)

I LOVE this design, and could not stop looking at my nails, neither could one of my coworkers. Haha. He was gobsmacked over how gorgeous they where.

HPB Presents: Flowers

As some of you already know, I recently got my hands on a HUGE lemming of mine. Mallard by The PolishAholic. So, for my birthday, that was the 13th of May, I decided that the best way to celebrate would be to wear it. 

Hobby Polish Blogger is currently doing a May Blog Link-Up where the theme is Flowers.
I was also looking for an opportunity to play around with my brand new Creative Stamper, so I grabbed my Moyou London - Mother Nature Plate Collection 05, and decided to stamp the flowers.

I read up on Lacquer Or Leave Her! post about "Which Stamper Should I Use, where Mishka goes in depth on how to use stampers, and most importantly for me, how to use the Creative Stamper. It is a great post, and if you ever have stamping problems, or are new to stamping and want's to get into it, this is a great place to start.

Mallard By PolishAholic

Mallard By PolishAholic

For this manicure I used two coats of Mallard By The PolishAholics, followed by the rose stamping image from Moyou London - Mother Nature Plate Collection 05, and used the arch of the gate on my index and little finger. I stamped using Barry M - Paprika.

Mallard By PolishAholic stamped with Barry M - Paprika using Moyou London - Mother Nature collection Plate 05

So there you have it, a last minute contribution for the HPB May Blog Link-Up. I really enjoyed getting back to doing these, and will try to do more of them in the future.
It was sad covering up Mallard By PolishAholic, but the manicure turned out very nicely, and I got some compliments in the office.

An InLinkz Link-up

Alice in Wonderland

I have been so busy with moving from a shared house to a flat.
Now, I can focus on my stuff, and not have to worry about having to sanitize the kitchen every time I want to make dinner. The flat has two bedrooms and one of them will be a guest room / nail and computer room. I am very excited.

I am planning on taking an IKEA trip soon to get the desk and shelves for my nail- computer area.
Since I started this blog; this is my 5th move, and this is by far the shortest move I have done in that time. I might post some pictures here when the room is done, and you get to see the three stages of nail room/area  that I have had through the years. From a little nook in a bedroom, to a corner in a living room, to a complete room.

Let's get back to the topic of nail polish. I have a gorgeous manicure to show you, and I wore the hell out of it.

I went to Norway for Christmas, and stopped a couple of hours in London on my way back to Northern Ireland. While in London, I can across this little shop with loads of nifty little things, and in one end there was a little box with nail polish. I knew I had to visit it, and bring some of those darlings with me. One of those polishes was HEMA - 56 - Holographic Bordeaux.

HEMA - 56 - Holographic Bordeaux

On this swatch you see two coats, and it was easy to apply and this is such a gorgeous polish.

I had recently done a little Moyou London haul, and I was dying to try them out. 

Moyou London Fashionista 08 - used the design shown above my thumb here

I choose to use a combination of Moyou London Fashionista plate 08 and Moyou London Alice In Wonderland plate 01 for this manicure. I choose the part of the plate that said:

Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.

Paired the saying with a damask print from the Moyou London Fashionista plate 08, I think this looks very pretty together. I love how Sally Hansen - 640 - Plum Luck looks stamped over the holographic. 

Until next time, stay curious, stay alert, and follow that rabbit! 

A writers manicure

I was totally inspired by Mishka over at Lacquer or Leave Her! for todays manicure. You can find her post: Review and Before & After: Moyou London Scholar Collection 02 and 06 here.

Quick view of the original.

Property of Lacquer or Leave Her

This manicure is so gorgeous. It's amazingly gorgeous. I can not praise it enough. hopefully my recreation with a twist will get as much love as the original. If you are not already a subscriber of her, I would highly recommend checking her out.

For this manicure I used the same plate as Mishka did in her manicure, but I also added one plate from MASH - 39, for a background image. I wanted my nails to look like notebooks, and since I don't have the Scholar Collection plate 06, I found an image that kinda looks the same on another plate.

I used a several different nail polishes for this manicure. W7 - Buff on the tips over Barry M - Lychee, and ESSIE - Little Brown Dress as an accent. Stamped using Makeup Mekka - Charlotte Grey and Barry M - Lychee, and ESSIE - Little Brown Dress.

This is how it all started.

A writers manicure

A writers manicure

A writers manicure

A writers manicure

Can I just say that I am totally in LOVE with this manicure. I just LOVE LOVE it. And I love how the ink came out, when I used a brush over it to make it look more like it was "wiped" away. 

A single vine of roses

I have been wanting to do a rose manicure for a while, and when I was packing up stuff to go to Wales for a week, I decided to bring along my stamping plates and some polishes to do a rose mani. 

Having seen how it turned out, I am so glad I did. It's a bit unconventional, but I am sure you will all love it.
I wore this nail art together with a ballon-skirt that I bought last year, that is black with roses on.

Barry M - Superdrug Limited Ed. Yellow

Barry M - Superdrug Limited Ed. Yellow

 This is such a bright base, it covered well in two-three coats and went on smoothly. You can no longer find this polish in Superdrug, but I found one at my local Factory outlet for a pound. I wish I had bought this polish earlier, cause it would make a perfect yellow for Easter. This does however mean that my quest for next years Easter Yellow is over (!).

I stamped using Barry M - Gelly - Watermelon and the MoYou-London Mother Nature Collection - 05.
I like it when I can pull together a complete look with only polishes in the same brand. Barry M - Gelly - Watermelon stamped really well. I am surprised over how smooth it all went.

As soon as I finished this manicure, I was ushered into the car, so I didn't get time to take a proper picture posing with the bottle like I always do. This is me stretching my fingertips in the car admiring the mani. 

I did notice that the light the hand you use when transferring the image from the stamper to your nails the lighter the gelly will appear on your nails. The heavier hand, the darker it transfers. Just a thing to keep in mind when stamping with gelly polishes. 

Since I was inspired to do this mani, due to my skirt, I had to take a picture with the skirt and the nails together. I am so proud over this manicure. So pretty. 

Have you ever matched your nails to the print on your dress?
What is your thoughts about it?

- Let me know in the comment section below, I'll love to hear your thoughts about it

Once upon a time ...

 Once upon a time there was a young little girl, with golden hair as long as the ocean. In her curls lived birds...

Okay maybe not. Though I am sure, that would make a great manicure as well.  I decided to go a bit more edgy than that for this "Once Upon a Time" -mani.

Sorry for being completely MIA on you all, I have been spending a week in Wales, catching up with good friends and preparing to move to Spain for the summer. I am so excited to go and work there, it's going to be so exciting.

I started out with 2 coats of Barry M - Gelly - Plum.

Barry M - Gelly - Plum

Barry M - Gelly - Plum

It did stain a little, so if you get this polish, you have now been warned. I find that these gelly polishes takes a while to dry on me, but I love the glossy feel they give of, and how "polished" my nails look with them. 

I had yet to show you a manicure using the MoYou-London Scholar Collection plate - 02.
I wanted to show the versatility of these plates, in not just being able to create interesting manicures within the obvious theme of each plate, but also how you can work in your other plates as well.
I used Cheeky - Viva Mexico (a plate I have not used until now) together with the Scholar plate, and I really liked how they all played together nicely and created this look.

MoYou-London - Scholar Collection - 02

Cheeky - Viva Mexico 

 For a full review of this plate, check out my video on Youtube

I stamped using my trusted Sinful Color - Snow Me White, and Wet & Wild - Black Creme. I also used Essie - Navigate Her for the lime, and a dotting tool for the salt.

Once Upon A Time - manicure

Once Upon A Time In Mexico

Once Upon A Time In Mexico

What do you girls think? I like how the black polish almost disappears in the plum, and only shows in certain light conditions. 

Nail-related birthday presents

Not to brag or anything, but I think my boyfriend just got the "Boyfriend of the Year Award". 

This is what he got me for my birthday.

I had prior to my birthday mentioned like a gazillion times how cool the MoYou-London plates are. He saw me oohing and aaahing over my MoYou-London haul that I did last month. Mentioning that I wanted more plates from them. 

To make the next haul at MoYou-London be smoother, I set up a "wish-list". A Wish-list my boyfriend found. And he bought me ALL the plates on the list that was in stock. This means 5 new plates for me!!!!

I can not express just how excited I am over this. This goes beyond my wildest dreams of what I could get for my b-day. 

MoYou-London plates

MoYou-London Tourist Collection - 01

MoYou-London - Mother Nature collection - 03

MoYou-London - Mother Nature collection - 07

MoYou-London - Scholar collection - 03

MoYou-London - Mother Nature collection - 06

Not just did he get me 5 MoYou-London plates, he also got me another Helmer.

I had mentioned that I would like another Helmer at some point, cause I am lacking storage place at my Nail Station, and we can squeeze in another Helmer between the one I already have and the couch.  To save my nails, he also built it for me. Ah my Hero. 

Ikea - Helmer

But it doesn't stop there...

He also got me some board games, and he did my nails. I will be back later with the nails that he did for my birthday. They might surprise you. They were definitely board game relate. 

Have your OH ever given you a lot of nail-relate items for your birthday?

Let me know in the comments below.

All bits are created equal

I am not going all political on you here today, but this statement is true. There has been a lot of talk about Net Neutrality in the medias lately, and I wanted to make a manicure that would be fitting for the topic.

I wore this manicure for the Bristol Comic Con this weekend, and I was dressed as R2D2. It was a lot of fun.

The Secretary as R2D2

I decided to use Maybelline - Street Artist -  Alley Attitude for this manicure, there as been a lot of searching on my page for this polish, so I decided it was about time I use it for something, and not just have a swatch on my page.

I also used MoYou-London Sci-Fi collection plate 06, and Sally Hansen - Diamonds and Rubies.  I think you can all guess one of the images I choose from this plate.

MoYou-London Sci-Fi Collection - 06, with the selected images for this mani

FNUG - Bandana

Maybelline - Street Artist - Alley Attitude over FNUG - Bandana, and stamped using Sally Hansen - Diamonds and Rubies

Maybelline - Street Artist - Alley Attitude over FNUG - Bandana, and stamped using Sally Hansen - Diamonds and Rubies

Let me know what you think in the comments below!