Nailed it. If by nailing it, you mean the creation of some well-intended but scarily sub-par Addams Family inspired nail art, then yes. Totally nailed it.

Dark spark. Even the princess of darkness herself couldn't be opposed to some decorative accessories, right? So it seemed only apt to channel the Addams' preoccupation with all things dark and deathly in these nail art creations.

Rock on. Both ideas use mostly Barry M nail varnishes and the Barry M nail art pen. The first creation is composed of the shades White and Rockstar (to perfectly capture their pale complexion and punk-rock attitude) while the second example is an homage to Wednesday in all her crazy, kooky glory, with hand drawn arrows and coffins and bottles (oh my!) 

I went to watch Maleficent a little while ago and I've been a bit obsessed with the soundtrack ever since. While most people tend to liken themselves to Disney princesses, I am weirdly proud to say I share more similarities with Maleficent! It's a running joke with my friends that I prefer puppies to children so Jolie's indifference towards the young Aurora definitely fed into that! The film got me thinking about my other favourite villains and since it's been ages since I drew or painted anything, I decided to embrace my inner villainy with some watercolour paintings. Then it struck me - I could take this one step further and  create an OOTD and NOTD to match! First up is my polar opposite, the devilish dog-hating Cruella De Vil!
 

White shirt - Primark Leather look leggings - Dorothy Perkins Dalmatian Print Creepers - Fashion Union

Whilst I admire her commitment to monochrome, I'd never ever wear fur so I went for a slightly more modern take on the De Vil classic! I bought these Dalmatian Creepers probably over a year ago now but I've hardly worn them; I've been too scared to get the Dalmatian print dirty! I love them though, creepers are perfect for adding a subtle bit of height but are still comfortable and casual. My leather look leggings are probably one of my staple items, so easy to style and great with all types of top, from smart shirts to baggy tees!
For my nails I used Barry M's Matt White for the base and then Maybelline's Onyx for the paw print and the Dalmatian print spots. I had a bit of help from a wooden skewer to write the 'woof' but overall, I'm pretty proud of this nail art attempt!

In Part 2, I take on the Evil Queen from Snow White. Deliciously devilish!
 

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I scheduled a few posts in advance this because the next few days will see me in the last stretch of my dissertation! All efforts will be directed into that, leaving little time for anything other than sleeping, eating, researching and writing! I featured this little patchwork nail art attempt on my Instagram a few weeks ago and I was (embarrassingly) really quite proud of it! I'm loving white-based nail art at the moment, it's like doodling on paper only far harder. This wasn't even too time consuming and since I had no black nail varnish to hand, I improvised with black liquid eyeliner. Worked a treat!

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Better late than never, but this was the finished product! I was most proud of my zebra nail art though. It was painstakingly long to complete and I foolishly didn't practice before hand but the nails ended up looking okay! As usual my left hand far surpassed my right but I'd like to think both hands were passable.

It seems I change my nails more often than I change TV channels, not that I'm complaining - what's the point of buying nail varnish if you're not going to use it! Plus it gives me something to blog about since I can't really afford to buy anything new for the indeterminate future. Sob, sob, sob.

It's no secret that pink is far from my favourite colour but my Misstify nail varnish from Missguided, which I think I've blogged about before, is somehow still one of my firm favourites. Of course I couldn't wear a plain pink coat on my fingertips without at least trying to toughen it up a little bit. Cue another of my old faithfuls - Barry M crackle effect, in black.

The idea was to create some sort of Aztec-y style design on my nails. Fabulous idea.. in my head. Somewhat harder to paint on my nails! After a few failed attempts at drawing on a design, I gave up and nearly settled for plain, old pink. That resolution lasted all of three minutes and in a (very poor) attempt to be (somewhat) edgy and alternative, I swiped a quick flick of the crackle varnish across each nail and this was the end result! I actually kind of like it, it's not too try hard and okay, technically it's not nail art but it was super easy to do and a style anyone can achieve!

Happy Jade :)

Firstly, it feels so good to have a working laptop again! Well, partially working - we've actually had to order a new one since it would really not have been ideal for this one to completely conk out half way through my final year at uni! So I have that arriving to look forward to, though I'm a great barrier to change so trying to get used to Windows 8 is going to cause a bit of a problem!

 

As for my NOTD, hardly any problems were caused in creating this easy-to-do nail art. Spots and dots are done all the time but I like the simplicity of the design. I really wanted to make the most of my bright yellow Barry M varnish before summer leaves England for good and it's back to stuffing poorly painted autumnal nails into two pairs of gloves!

I used the yellow as the base and used the blunt end of a cheap wooden skewer (the type for BBQs!) to dip into the pink FCUK varnish.

It's bright, it's playful and so quick and easy to do. Dots are always my nail art back up and I love how these ones turned out. I'm always on the look out for new nail art designs to try, what are your favourites?

 

Jade :)

I'm procrastinating. With glitter. Or to be more specific, with Barry M's Amethyst Glitter (and friends.)

I feel a bit like a series one Ted Mosby: I have fallen in love with my new glittery purchase very, very quickly.

 

 

I like to think it's fate - my birthstone is Amethyst. Of course, I could instead just be loving the time it took me to paint my nails because I am running out of reasons to keep putting off my uni work, but I've been on a massive HIMYM hype this week and couldn't resist a Mosby mention.

 

I saw a design pretty similar to this on Instagram (only the one I saw was much better. Manly hands don't necessarily make for steady ones.) However, it goes to prove that if even I can make this look half decent, this design is pretty much a given for everyone else. Go you!

 

Putting on the glitz (I swear these jokes will stop soon) using my left hand ended up being annoyingly frustrating, and my right hand has a dodgy looking paint job on the thumb and forefinger as a result. But after a lot of perseverance (and mental proliferation) I managed a half decent job and from a distance, I actually like this design a lot.

It's pretty simple: a base coat followed by painting on the white tips. After the tips have dried, on goes the glitter and the best thing about this design is that the glitter hides the unsmooth application my french manicure usually produces. To top it off, add a top coat of clear nail varnish - I put on an extra top coat to be on the safe side.

 

 

 So there you have it :) A bit of glitz is always good, right?

Jade :)

So peaches isn't technically correct but its a little bit catchier than satsumas with white dots. I blogged about my new Gel Shine Barry M nail varnishes a few weeks ago but I love this one so much it's making a return, this time with a friend.

Normally reserved for my poor attempts at french manicures, my white Natural Collection nail varnish has now found itself a spot in the limelight. (These "witty" puns are getting worse and worse. Sorry.)

This design has probably been done so many times by other (far more artistic) people but it's such a good design to do when you've got a pretty boring morning ahead of you. Which I did have on Sunday.

I am forever painting my nails - without nail varnish, my man hands look even more manly than these pictures depict. Honestly, they're huge. As you can see, I've struggled a bit with smudges but that has more to do with the fact that a) I'm a massive fidget and b) that I have an overactive dog to contend with than the design itself. Oh, and the fact that my man hands really aren't that steady.

Still, I'm looking forward to trying a lot more nail designs this spring and summer. I tend to opt for block colours in winter because my hands are almost always covered with gloves; spring and summer are when I like to experiment a little bit more, with lighter colours and more interesting designs.

If that's not an incentive for this awful wintry weather to disappear, I don't know what is!

Jade :)

Although looking out my window as I sit in my uni room, it would be more appropriate to title this post Fields of Snow. We've had a good couple of inches the last couple of days and everywhere looks so pretty. Perry, our snow creation, also looks pretty. (Pretty odd.)

Meet Perry :)

In an attempt to stop my revision-driven comfort eating, I tried out a box from Graze. I think the idea of graze is brilliant but it turns out it's just not for me. Surprise, surprise. I am probably the world's fussiest twenty year old and whilst there are tons of healthy snacks to choose from, my palette is particularly limiting. Nevertheless, it's worth a try if you're a fan of healthy food or just fancy something a bit different.


Another reason I'm glad my exams and essays are finally over? I can paint my nails again. I don't cope well (at all) with exams and have a terrible tendency to bite my nails when I get nervous. Accordingly, I haven't bothered to paint my nails whilst I've been working because either my nails are too short or I chip all the varnish. But after handing in my last essay, blitzing my bedroom and having a celebratory browse online, I sat down, caught up with Big Bang Theory and painted my nails. It's the simple things.



You can't see particularly well but I used the gold foil varnish as a base and the Gold Mine Glitter for the tips. I got these two nail varnishes as a Christmas present from my mum and I love them. I wear black a lot: both for dance and for day wear so these colours match at least 80% of my wardrobe. My mum is way more than just a pretty face.



Who else has been bombarded with the white stuff? I can't wait to head home (trains permitting!) and take my dog out in the snow. Like I said, simple things :)

And of course I couldn't forget adding a touch of glitter on top - Rimmel: Disco Ball, you've stolen my heart. The flag design (which is also on my thumb) did take a while to do, purely because I did two coats of the Barry M blue base coat so time racked up as I waited for the nails to dry but it's definitely worth the wait. I'm so excited to be heading to the Olympics tomorrow and can't wait to support Team GB.

I was going to try and do the Olympic rings on my nails but oddly circles posed more of a challenged than the flag! Anyone else had a go at Olympic nail art?