Diabetes Awareness

Diabetes is a life-long health condition, and in the UK alone there are 3.3 million people diagnosed with diabetes. It is estimated that almost 600.000 people live with the condition never having been tested for it. It is therefor incredible important to raise awareness for this conditions.

There are two main types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2, where as type 1 is the most commen, UK is seeing a rise in the numbers of people with type 2. To explain the differences Diabetes UK has made this illustration.

Different types of Diabetes

When I went to school one of my classmates was diagnosed with diabetes, I remember feeling sad for him when he had to excuse himself from the classroom to take his insulin jab.
Later I would learn that my family has a history of Diabetes, while I am luck to not have the condition myself I know plenty who do.

When Leah asked if I wanted to join in on a Diabetes Awareness link -up I had to say yes.

For those of you who don't know, I donated my blog-income for November month to Pancreatic Research Funds. In total this raised £6.25. Finding a Cure starts with awareness.


Today's prompt with Crumpets Nail Tarts is grey + colour + pattern. My pattern this week is "stamped" so I was very lucky with that.

I started out with 3 coats of China Glaze - Pelican Gray, I stamped over using Ciate - Paint Pots - Vintage with Bundlemonster BM-321 on two nails and BM-315 on the rest.

China Glaze - Pelican Gray

China Glaze - Pelican Gray, stamped with Bundlemonster BM-321 and BM-315 using Ciate - Paint Pots - Vintage

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

My Garden is full of... Carrots

I love carrots, and when I was a little girl I would sometimes pretend to be a bunny.  With two large front-teeth, carrot in hand I would imitate bunnies better than anyone I know. Except for actual bunnies. This is Squee Ember and is probably the most famous bunny that I know in all of UK.

Used with permission from Squee, and Sam Ember.

For as long as I can remember I have always loved carrots.
This is why I decided to make Carrot-nails. Squee approved.

I had been dying to use Ard As Nails - The Chunk from "Here Comes The Boys" Collection from Soap Dodger.  this hunk of a polish is only 3.50£ for a mini or 6.50£ for a full size.
All Soap Dodger polishes are 5-free.

I had bought the full size, which is what I normally do. I always get so afraid of using polishes when they come in mini's as they will run out faster, and thus end up not using them at all...
Logic, right?

I used two coats of Ard As Nails - The Chunk, topped that with one coat of Nayll - I Found Loot, a franken I had made for me a while back.

If you like the idea of Frankening your own polishes, check out this post for a little Frankening 101.

I did the stamping using Bundlemonster - Secret Garden Collection - BM-705, and Cheeky - Jumbo plate 7 - Home Sweet Home (link to review of said plate). My stamping polish was Essie - Little Brown Dress.

'Ard As Nails - The Chunk

'Ard As Nails - The Chunk with one coat of Nayll - I Found Loot 

'Ard As Nails - The Chunk with one coat of Nayll - I Found Loot, stamped with Essie - Little Brown Dress with Bundlemonster BM705 and Cheeky - Jumbo plate 7 - Home Sweet Home.

'Ard As Nails - The Chunk with one coat of Nayll - I Found Loot, stamped with Essie - Little Brown Dress with Bundlemonster BM705 and Cheeky - Jumbo plate 7 - Home Sweet Home

What is your favorite vegetable? Do you love carrots as much as I do?

Glitter holo-roses

Today I will show you a look I did a year or so back, that was lost in time and space. It was all...

Source: WaywardDoodles

Let's get our heads out of the Dr. Who show and back to the topic of nails.

This look was inspired by another look that I did using Kiko - 493.  I did one of my coworkers nails while I lived in Madrid, Spain, back when I worked for Electronic Arts. We stamped with a rose stamping image using Kiko - 493, and I wanted a similar look just for an accent.

So this time I chose another rose stamping image, Cheeky - Jumbo plate 07 - Home Sweet Home.
I painted all nails except ringfinger with Kiko - 493 and the accent ringfinger with Kiko - 400.
Stamped using Kiko - 493.

I like how the glitter looks over the gunmetal holographic polish. Think it turned out very well.

Kiko - 493, accent Kiko - 400, stamped using Bundlemonster - BM323

Kiko - 493, accent Kiko - 400, stamped using Bundlemonster - BM323

Discovering this look in my archive was great, and I have many good memories from my time in Madrid, Spain.

Pancreatic Cancer Awareness

A nail polish in this post was gifted to me, nothing else to disclose.

I dedicate this post to every person that is a survivor, going through this battle of Pancreatic Cancer.

This type of Cancer doesn't get much attention in the media, but it's one of the worst Cancers among the rest. According to a recent global survey found that 60% of people know "absolute nothing" about this disease.

Source: uchealth.com

Pancreatic cancer begins when abnormal cells in the pancreas grow out of control and form a tumor. The symptoms associated with pancreatic cancer are often vague, similar to symptoms caused by other conditions and may not be present in early stages of the disease. To learn more about pancreatic cancer symptoms, types of pancreatic cancer, diagnosis, treatments and more click on the link.

My blog-income for November month was donated to Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund. In total this raised £6.25. Every little help.

I started out with Barry M - Gelly - Guava. I just love this polish, and even though the first coat was a little bit streaky, it covered completely in 2 coats.

I then grabbed my Bundlemonster BM-321 as an accent nail and Uber Chic Collection 3 stamping plate, using 3-01 for the remaining nails. I did all the stamping using Ard As Nails - Blogger Girl. I love how this polish stamps, it was so easy to work with.

I am so happy with how this look came together.

Barry M - Gelly - Guava 

Barry M - Gelly - Guava

Barry M - Gelly - Guava - Stamped using Bundlemonster BM-321 and Uber Chic 3-01

Barry M - Gelly - Guava - Stamped using Bundlemonster BM-321 and Uber Chic 3-01

A nail polish in this post was gifted to me, nothing else to disclose.

An InLinkz Link-up

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

Classic Halloween with Barry M

Halloween is over and I wanted to share this Halloween manicure I didn't get it up on my blog in time for the event. This one is perhaps a little more conventional Halloween than my previous ones.

Zombie Pond
Zombie Love - A Pretty Serious Production


I must have done 4 different designs using these two polishes and various Halloween plates and settled on this look .

One of my attempts started out like this:

Gradient using Barry M - Gelly - Satsuma and Barry M- Berry Cosmo

Once I got the design on, I hated it, and didn't feel like doing the gradient all over again. So this is the only picture of that attempt.

Oh, that gradient thou. Looks great. 

For this manicure I used Barry M - Gelly - Satsuma and Barry M- Berry Cosmo.

Sidenote: Barry M- Berry Cosmo falls between Barry M - Vintage Violet and Barry M - Gelly - Plum in shade and if you got the previous two, and love purples, check this one out as well.

I dug out some Bundlemonster stamping plates, as I have been so obsessed over my newer plates lately that I felt like going back.  BM - 305. Pumpkins!

A Classic Halloween manicure using Barry M - Gelly - Satsuma and Barry M- Berry Cosmo

Sadly I didn't manage to get this one out on my blog in time for the festivities, but there you have it. A Classic take on a Halloween manicure

An InLinkz Link-up

'Ard As Nails - Blaze

I recently discovered Ard As Nails on Google+, so I started looking around for reviews and selected a couple of nail polishes that I wanted to try. Ard As Nails is an Indie (Handmade) Nail Varnish range created by the makers of Soap-Dodger. Their nail polishes are all 5 free, cruelty free and Vegan friendly.

I started chatting to Kat the woman behind it all, and I instantly fell in love with her. Her passion shines through her work, and customer service. So when I finally got my order placed I was very excited to try them out.

Today I have for you Ard As Nails - Blaze, a polish in The Medal Collection.
At the time of writing it is currently not available in the shop.

'Ard As Nails - The Medal Collection - Blaze

'Ard As Nails - The Medal Collection - Blaze

Shown on the pictures are three coats of polish, you could get away with two coats, but I am terrible afraid of VNL (Visible Nail Lines), so I added a third coat to be safe. The first picture shows the polish in natural light, there is a subtle holographic shine to it. When placing my hand in the lightbox with artificial light you can see the holoness a lot better, direct sunlight does that same.

I really like this bronze shade, and love the added holoness to it, I think it makes it stand out from other polishes and makes it unique. Exactly what I was looking for. Uniqueness.

My collection of nail polish is just passing the 500 mark, and the last thing I want is to clip on another swatching stick of a polish looking the same as the others I have.

I wanted to do some nail art with this, and ended up placing some tape on my nails and sponge over using Cirque - Josephine. Cirque - Josephine is a gorgeous dark green holographic polish and I just love how those two look paired together.
Makes me wish I had tried to stamp or sponge a gradient with Cirque - Josephine instead.

'Ard As Nails - The Medal Collection - Blaze with Cirque - Josephine

I tried to change up how the crosses looks on my nails, almost like tiny presents waiting to be opened.

If you want to find out more about 'Ard As Nails, you can head over to Ard As Nails Facebook Page, or their shop Soap Dodger .


Feeling ready for Christmas just yet? I am almost done with all the presents, and the city is already filled with Christmas lights.