CND Shellac Nail Art - Iced Cappuccino and Konad Stamping

Hello lovely people! I have another Shellac and Konad experiment to share with you this evening as modelled by the lovely Stacey of course! After the success of my last manicures (here and here) Konad and Shellac is proving to be quite a pairing with my friends and family!

The theme she really wanted to focus on was a 'tribal' style manicure so this time we had a little browse of my Konad plates and picked out the fantastic designs you can see above. In terms of colour we were a little limited as Shellac is pretty lacking in the yellow/green/blue department for a colourful tribal pattern, so we kept it more elegant but just as intricate with simple black and gold.

For the base I used two coats of CND Shellac in Iced Cappuccino (see a swatch here) curing for 2 minutes after both. I then used my Konad Special Polish in Black and the repeating frame pattern from the S6 plate to stamp onto the thumb, middle and little finger. Then I again used the polish with the circular pattern from the S6 plate to stamp onto the first and ring finger. Once the Konad polish had dried, I added a black French manicure tip to the first and ring finger, cured for 2 minutes, then applied top coat to all nails and cured for a final 2 minutes. Voila!

Disclaimer - All products used for this manicure were bought myself, for more info about myself and CND Shellac please check out my disclaimer page here. I might not be a professional, but I sure love me some Shellac nail art :)

CND Shellac Nail Art - Purple Purple and Konad Stamping

Now for the second CND Shellac post of the evening, as promised, in my last post here.

Stacey was also due for another 'shellacking' (in fact, I spent the afternoon at Nat's so I could do both hers and Stacey's together) and she wanted something a bit more glam for her hen do later that week. She decided to go with Purple Purple, Konad Stamping in white and a swash of purple glitter. Very glitzy indeed!

So to recreate the look... apply Shellac as you normally would - P.E.P, Shellac base coat, 2 coats of Shellac Purple Purple. Then after curing the second Purple Purple coat, I used my Konad polish in White to stamp the diamond design from the M14 plate. I then stamped around it with the sparkle design on the same plate to add some glamour! The Konad special polish dries really quickly so I didn't need to wait at all to apply the glitter swash. Instead of just applying top coat, I mixed it with a little GOSH Nail Glitter in Purple Amethyst in a palette and then used a nail art brush to apply it to the nails. So the top coat had the effect of a glitter sprinkling in it.

Again, a design you could also try with normal polish. Enjoy!

Disclaimer - All products used for this manicure were bought myself, for more info about myself and CND Shellac please check out my disclaimer page here. I might not be a professional, but I sure love me some Shellac nail art :)

CND Shellac Nail Art - Studio White and Konad Stamping

It's been a while since my last CND Shellac post, so I have a couple for you this evening, both involving some more Konad Stamping, after the success of my initial Konad and Shellac experiment (that I posted about here).

Nat was due for another 'shellacking' and decided to go for something a little more girly, but would go with most outfit choices for the fortnight. So she chose Studio White with Konad Stamping in pink and a swash of silver glitter. I think it turned out rather well, and I like the minimal stamping on just the ring finger.

So to recreate the look... apply Shellac as you normally would - P.E.P, Shellac base coat, 2 coats of Shellac Studio White. Then after curing the second Studio White coat, I used my Konad polish in Pink to stamp the bow design from the M38 plate. I stamped it around two to three times on the nail to create almost a 'wallpaper' of bows and mini hearts. The Konad special polish dries really quickly so I didn't need to wait at all to apply the glitter swash. Instead of just applying top coat, I mixed it with a little GOSH Nail Glitter in Silver in a palette and then used a nail art brush to apply it to the nails. So the top coat had the effect of a glitter sprinkling in it.

Again, a design you could also try with normal polish. Enjoy!

Disclaimer - All products used for this manicure were bought myself, for more info about myself and CND Shellac please check out my disclaimer page here. I might not be a professional, but I sure love me some Shellac nail art :)

Orly - Ancient Jade

Another quick one today, in fact, one I forgot to post a little while ago. I wanted to show you the swatch of the mini Orly polish in Ancient Jade, that I got in the very first SheSaidBeauty Box back in March - I reviewed it here on Brush Up and Make-up! 

This is a gorgeous creme in the perfect jade green colour but was extremely disappointing in application. I don't own any similar colours to this, so was eager to try this out straight away. But I found the formula very gloopy and difficult to apply thinly or without brush stroke marks. I gave it a good shake and tried again a few weeks later in the hope that something may have changed, but alas no, it was still awful to apply. In fact the first coat was the easiest, the second seemed to go on even thicker, but to make this shade truly opaque it really does need two coats. So I had to make do with gloopiness. It was made somewhat better by adding my Jessica Brilliance top coat, but I can see that it still doesn't look entirely smooth close up.


I have found this problem before with other mini nail polishes (maybe it's because they're smaller in size??) so it hasn't put me off Orly all together and I will certainly want to try some of their other polishes in the future.

Orly mini nail polishes (5.3ml) are available from Boots for £5.00 (although I can't see this exact shade listed)

Disclaimer - I have subscribed to the SheSaidBeuaty Box service out of my own choice and money and am not compensated in any way for this review.... but if you want to sign up to SheSaidBeauty and you use my referral link then I can get a free box. Well, who doesn't want a free beauty box??!

Filthy Gorgeous London - Valentine

Just a quick one this morning before I rush off into school to sort out the classroom ready for Monday - yes, I know I'm on Easter holidays but trust me, there is no escape for us teachers sometimes! I wanted to show you the swatch of the Filthy Gorgeous London nail polish in Valentine, that I got in the recent SheSaidBeauty Box (April's) - I reviewed it here on Brush Up and Make-up! 

This is a gorgeous rich, glossy, pink-toned red (no hint of blue) that was an absolute dream to apply. It went on really smoothly, dried quite quickly and looked lovely on (pictured with Jessica Brilliance top coat). I was disappointed that we weren't sent the 'normal' branded bottle that Filthy Grogeous do - silver lace pattern on the lid and the branding charm that hangs off the bottle neck. But having heard of this brand from other bloggers but never tried it out, I was overall pleased to add this 3-free (no toluene, formaldehyde or DBP) brand of polish to my collection. It lasted fairly average I would say - some tip wear and minor chips after a couple of days but by the fourth and fifth day it really had to be removed.

Filthy Gorgeous London nail polishes (10ml) are available from Debenhams for £9.00

Disclaimer - I have subscribed to the SheSaidBeuaty Box service out of my own choice and money and am not compensated in any way for this review.... but if you want to sign up to SheSaidBeauty and you use my referral link then I can get a free box. Well, who doesn't want a free beauty box??!

Viva La Nails Nail Art - Stickers

Following my last post on the Viva La Nails Water Decals (or nail tattoos to you and I) I thought I'd show you some other manicures I've done but this time with their stickers. As I mentioned in my last post I received some samples from a company called Viva La Nails around a month or so ago and decided to try them out - if you also have a blog/website/you tube channel dedicated to nails then check out this free sample pack that they offer for review, worth £12 (£2.95 P&P charge does apply though):

Viva La Nails sample pack - get yours here

Rhinestone Stickers WS02

Heart Stickers (no longer available)

CND Shellac Hot Pop Pink with Heart Stickers

CND Shellac Beau and Cream Puff with Flower stickers WS02

In the sample pack I received three sets of nail stickers and three sets of Water Decals (see previous post here). Having already tried the tattoos out on myself, I had a couple of friends who wanted to try the stickers. So let me introduce you to Stacey and Rachel....


Stacey (I'm convinced) is actually addicted to Shellac manicures! Ever since I did her first one a few months back, she's been regularly asking for more, so of course I obliged with the cute heart stickers that paired perfectly with my new Shellac shade Hot Pop Pink. To apply, I did the full Shellac manicure as always, but just after curing the second coat of colour, I put on the stickers and some extra diamantés, and then applied the top coat. These look gorgeous on, but the stickers started to lift as the top coat were curing, so didn't leave a smooth finish and I had to apply two coats to try and stop the stickers from catching and lifting more. It hasn't put me off trying more stickers though - what I think I will do next time is use a little nail glue to make sure they are well and truly stuck flat. 


Secondly, Rachel wanted to treat herself to a second Shellac mani after she loved her first one so much. So for her Birthday treat she went for something a little more classic and opted for my new Shellac shades of Beau and Cream Puff as a french manicure and then added a little diamanté sticker to each ring finger. I applied these in the same way as Stacey's and actually had no trouble with them lifting this time. The WS02 stickers are perfect for adding a little elegance, especially to a french manicure, and as Rachel said herself, it would make a perfect bridal manicure.


If you want to get yourself some nail stickers then check out all of the designs at Viva La Nails and take advantage of their 20% off Easter Sale!

To get 20% off ALL nail products at Viva La Nails use the coupon code EASTER20
at the checkout but hurry as this promotion is only valid until midnight on Monday 9th April!

Disclaimer - this post is sponsored by www.vivalanails.co.uk and the products in this review were given to me free for my consideration. My reviews are 100% honest and I assure you that I really do love these quirky nail art designs. I, of course, welcome any more freebies to decorate my nails with... Failing that I hope to be purchasing some myself in the future :)

Viva La Nails Nail Art - Water Decals

Wow! I have a serious backlog of nail posts to do! So I guess I better get started before I run out of Easter holidays to do them in...

First up, I wanted to show you some recent manicures of mine, courtesy of a company called Viva La Nails. I received some samples from them around a month or so ago and decided to try them out - if you also have a blog/website/you tube channel dedicated to nails then check out this free sample pack that they offer for review, worth £12 (£2.95 P&P charge does apply though):

Viva La Nails sample pack - get yours here

Viva La Nails Water Decals COL03 and COL17

CND Shellac Beau and Water Decals COL03

CND Shellac Cream Puff and Water Decals COL17

In the sample pack I received three sets of nail stickers (look out for a post on them soon) and three sets of Water Decals - or as I prefer to call them, nail tattoos! I decided to try out two of the water decals, over a simple Shellac manicure to see how they fared and I was extremely pleased with the result.

The above two pictures show both of the designs (which I sported whilst my nails were going through a particularly short period). The first was the daisy like pattern over Shellac Beau and the following week I tried the second, the purple pansy pattern over Shellac Cream Puff.

The tattoos themselves were really easy to apply - much like the temporary tattoos you wore as a kid! I found the following steps the easiest way to apply them:

1) Cut out the individual design for each nail keeping the plastic sheet over each as you do so (bear in mind that as you look at the pack of patterns that is how they will look on the nails - not reversed or anything)
2) Turn over each design (so the plastic sheet is now underneath) and wet the back with a piece of damp cotton wool
3) Apply a little pressure then slide the wet backing paper off the design - the pattern should now be on the plastic sheet
4) Take the plastic sheet and hover over the nail you wish to place the design on, when you are happy press down on the nail and then carefully peel back the plastic sheet
5) Gently press down over the design with a fingertip to ensure it is all stuck flat
6) Seal your design with topcoat and Voila!

These lasted really well, didn't come off (until I took off my Shellac) or fade or chip and I am already eyeing up buying me some more - I really like BW05 and COL25.

If you want to get yourself some nail tattoos then check out all of the designs at Viva La Nails and take advantage of their 20% off Easter Sale!

To get 20% off ALL nail products at Viva La Nails use the coupon code EASTER20 at the checkout but hurry as this promotion is only valid until midnight on Monday 9th April!

Disclaimer - this post is sponsored by www.vivalanails.co.uk and the products in this review were given to me free for my consideration. My reviews are 100% honest and I assure you that I really do love these quirky nail art designs. I, of course, welcome any more freebies to decorate my nails with... Failing that I hope to be purchasing some myself in the future :)