31 Day Nail Challenge: Week 25 - Inspired by Fashion

Only 6 more weeks of the challenge left! Then what will I do with myself?

I didn't really know what to do this week because I don't really follow fashion. I tend to buy clothes that have cute animals on them or that look cosy. In fact this is about as involved in fashion as I'll get:

I do like oversized jumpers/cardigans

I do like pencil skirts

I do like lace

I do like shift dresses

I do like brogues

I do like skinny jeans

I do like blazers

I don't get the whole disco pants thing

I don't like studs

I really don't understand tops or jumpers that are much shorter at the front than the back

I don't like slogan t-shirts

I don't like pointy shoes

I don't like trainer/heel hybrids.. I mean what is the deal there!?

There, that'll do. Actually, my biggest fashion peeve is when people wear sheer leggings with short tops.
COVER YOUR BUM I CAN SEE YOUR PANTS.

That is all.

So having a very vague grasp of what is "hip" and "happening" I decided to do a google search for this years trends. Turns out that each year has a colour, who knew? And this year it's Emerald Green. So I chose a green base (not emerald, I was in the mood for pastel). The polish I used was Nails Inc Wimbledon which I got in a set (only £10 at the moment if you're interested!). Hurray step one of fashionable nails complete!

I had a browse through Glamour Magazine's photos of the London Fashion Week catwalks and noticed a bit of a trend for stripes and flowers... cue step two of fashionable nails!

Now the first picture might look like a girl in pants, a tea cosy and space boots.. and the second might look like she stepped straight out of bed and onto the catwalk (except who has bed hair like that!?), but what do I know? I took the monochrome flowers and the vertical stripes as my inspiration. Mostly because I love pyjamas.

 Now these could have been better, but they could have been a lot worse. The green is showing up as very yellow in the pictures and it's not that yellow in real life. I tried to reverse the stripe/flower colours on my ring fingers but the white flowers don't show up so well so I shouldn't have bothered.. this mani looks a bit like a 5 year old did it, but I don't mind it too much, I tried at least and it MUST be super fashionable. Look at those flowers and stripes; SO hot right now.

Gemx did a much better job than me this week! 

"So this week is nails inspired by fashion. I'm not a huge follower of fashion. I pretty much wear the same kind of stuff I wore ten years ago (I buy new clothes, it's not the same actually clothes, but a similar style :P). It was London Fashion Week last week so I had a look at the trends to see if I could get some inspiration. Before I did this I thought to myself, wouldn't it be awesome if holographic nail polish was put on clothes in some way...and well, I was a little surprised when that's exactly what I saw!! Any excuse to crack open the Make Up Store holos :) I used Make Up Store Britta and Illamasqua Jan."
Here's the inspiration Gem used: (also from the Glamour Mag pictures)

I have to admit I'm pretty jealous of Illamasqua Jan. I wanted to order it but it's discontinued and when I ordered it from Debenhams they emailed me the next day to say they couldn't fulfil my order =( so I guess I'll never own it. It's such a pretty shade so I'm a bit bummed. It looks gorgeous with Britta too! 

That's it for this week, I hope I haven't embarrassed myself too much in my admittance of being a fashion noob but there we go. Alli has moved her blog back to its old address but hasn't posted for a couple of weeks, she's busy moving house so I guess we'll let her off =P

-Leisha

Worth Watching #1

Well here it is! Worth Watching is a new feature that I'm working on =) in this series of posts I aim to show you what I'm currently enjoying on television, on catch up, in the cinema and on DVD.

Having been ill this week I have spent most of my time in bed with paracetamol and my iPad. This means I've been watching a ton of catch up tv. I've discovered some really good dramas and I'd like to share them with you before they become unavailable!

I'm definitely a catch up tv kind of girl. I love that I can watch it whenever suits me. Living at home means that my parents have exclusive access to the family television so I don't really get the opportunity to watch what I would like. Catch up tv means that I can pick and choose my own broadcasting schedule and also means, with the help of apps, that I can watch from the comfort of my own room. 

In the UK we are so lucky to have access to BBC iPlayer. The BBC is well renound for its stunning dramas (I mean who can forget the 1995 Pride and Prejudice in a hurry?) and they're still churning them out at a fantastic rate. ITV also produces some wonderful dramas (Downton Abbey, anyone?) but their online player is littered with adverts which can sully the experience somewhat. I haven't perused Chanel 4 for any good dramas for a while.. If you have any recommendations then do let me know! 

Without further ado here are my top picks for what's currently on the catchup apps at the moment!

Mr Selfridge (Broadcast Sunday 9pm ITV - DVD release March 8th)
Mr Selfridge is a fantastic drama full of lavish costumes and sets. It, rather obviously, revolves around Mr Selfridge, the creator of Selfridge's department store on Oxford Street in London. I have been watching this since it started and have finally caught up. I always like to leave it and episode in lieu for when I really crave to watch it but it was so gripping I watched two in a row one night and have been anticipating the next ever since. Mr Selfridge himself isn't always the most likeable character but he isn't exactly unlikeable either. He makes rather ambiguous moral choices but always tries to help people. The shop itself is full of quirky characters and a central role is given to Agnes Towler, a shop girl from a lowly background who is shown kindness by Mr Selfridge and quickly becomes an important part of his team. Another interesting character is Lady Mae Loxley who is a shrewd and clever member of the Women's Rights Movement and has her foot in the door of Selfridges by being married to the main benefactor. I also love that Frances O'Connor (from Mansfield Park) plays Mrs Selfridge; she has to be one of the prettiest and most intelligent actresses ever. There are intertwined relationships throughout and more than one character is left heartbroken. We also see domestic violence and alcoholism included within the plots. Despite this the series manages to maintain an upbeat and lively feel to it and it is never depressing for too long. I highly recommend that you look into watching this series as I know that you'll enjoy it.

Dancing on the Edge (Broadcast Monday 9pm BBC 2 - DVD release March 11th)
I wanted to see this mainly for the fact that I recognised Angel Coulby (Gwen from Merlin) in one of the main roles during the trailers. This drama isn't at all what I thought it would be and that's a good thing! I won't tell you what genre I would put this in because I really don't want to spoil it for you, but let's say there's a plot twist that totally changes the direction of the series and is one I totally didn't expect! The main character is a man called Louis Lester who is the frontman of a jazz band bearing his name that sees itself grow in fame to a large extent. He is played by Chiwetel Ejiofor (whose name I'm not even going to pretend to know how to pronounce) who I instantly recognised from Serenity and Love Actually. I love his accent, totally RP. Anthony Head is also in this, which means its got to be good. I loved him in Buffy, I loved him in Persuasion, in fact I don't think I've seen him in anything bad at all. Another actor I recognised is John Goodman (who, despite his numerous high profile roles, will always be Pacha fro The Emperor's New Groove to me!) who plays Mr Masterson, an extravagent American business magnate. The drama is cleverly done, it's first scenes are set in 1933 then it shows what happened previously to get to that point. I have watched 4 episodes so far and I think I'm just at the point where the 'before' and 'now' come together. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Ripper Street (Broadcast Sunday 9pm BBC 1 - DVD release March 18th)
I have to admit I'm only one episode in with this but oh my it's good! I did at first say out loud "What the hell is Mr Darcy doing in an underground fighting club?!" but once I got over that initial shock I got really into it! I've been putting off watching it because I thought it would be scary.. and I don't enjoy being scared.. but it's not. It's clever and it's engaging. Matthew Macfadyen is indeed the main character and no, he's not Mr Darcy this time. He plays a police detective that has been plunged back into the world of murder and other sordid practices following the wake of the Ripper murders in Whitechappel (1888) several years (at least I assume several years) previously. I also recognised Amanda Hale (Mary Musgrove in the 2007 adaptation of Persuasion) as Mr Darcy's, sorry Detective Inspector Reid's Wife. The story is fairly fast paced and is very graphic in places but at the same time strangely enjoyable? It sounds weird to call it enjoyable in a way.. it's very disturbing because Edmund Reid was a real person involved in the Ripper murders.. that and the fact that the murders were real too and very brutal.

I wholly recommend all of these series. Make sure you catch them soon as well, Ripper Street is being removed from iPlayer on 3rd March and the early episode of Mr Selfridge are already disappearing off ITV Player because they don't hold entire series' like the BBC does. The DVD's will be out soon though and will be worth purchasing, especially as DVDs don't contain adverts in the middle of the episodes! All of these series are in hour long episodes so you'll get a lot of viewing just from these three. I hope you try them out and that you enjoy them!

-Leisha

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Week 24 - Inspired by a Book

Hiya again,

Sorry this is a bit late! I've been really ill with a horrible cold so I've been in bed feeling sorry for myself this week =( sympathy please! But I'm here now. Also I always seem to be apologising for something lol I know you guys don't really mind!

Anyway. I love reading and I love books. The feel of them, the smell of them. There is an old book shop in Winchester that I loved to visit when I was at Uni, there's something so romantic about book shops don't you think? I have a small collection of books myself, mostly classics, historical fictions and fantasy.

It wasn't too hard to choose a particular book as I've been wanting to feature this series on my blog for a while now. I also wanted to avoid the obvious choices such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.

Here are my nails this week:

They are based on a series of books by C. J. Sansom called The Matthew Shardlake Series, which comprises of 5 murder mysteries set in Tudor England. Now, I love a good murder mystery and these are the cream of the crop. Not only are the plots thick with intrigue and suspense but the characters are so well written that you can identify and empathise with them. This makes the plot twists even more shocking and enjoyable. I whole heartily recommend these books. Make sure you read them in order.

Dissolution

Dark Fire

Sovereign

Revelation

Heartstone

The colours I used for this are as follows:

No7 - Snowflake (horrible to work with, don't bother buying this one)
China Glaze - Red Satin (for the splatter)
Rio Nail Art Pens (for the rose)
Barry M - Gold Foil (for the crown)
No7 - Gold Glitter (for the centre of the rose and on the crown)

The Tudor Rose is an amalgamation of the White rose of York and the Red rose of Lancaster. After the Wars of the Roses (another fascinating period to study) the two were combined to unite the houses. The victor, Henry VII was a Tudor on his father's side and a Lancastrian on his Mothers (Margaret Beaufort). He married Elizabeth of York (the daughter of Edward IV) to end the Wars and to legitimise his claim to the crown. So the Tudor rose is both a symbol of unity and of dominion; the red rose is large and the white rose is smaller and encased within it.

The blood splatter is rather obvious, it represents the murders within the series. I used a straw dipped in the polish bottle to create the splatters, there are loads of tutorials online so if you want to have a go then have a google!

The crown relates directly to Henry VIII who features heavily within the books. The third book, Sovereign, is about the progress to York (1541) where Henry takes his entire household on a trip to the north of the country to get the local lords and barons to submit to him in an attempt to quell the rebellions that were taking place there. He was married to Katherine Howard at the time.... and we all know what happens to her in the end. Eek.

I love Tudor history. It's so rich and full! There is also extensive documentation of the period which helps historians work out what really happened. At the same time though there are still lots of mysteries, for example did Anne Boleyn really have an affair? Did she deserve to be beheaded or was it a fix by Henry VIII so that he could remarry? I guess there are some things we'll never know but there are loads of speculations and the history of the time is fascinating to read about. I love that the Shardlake series contain so many real events in them, it gives them a depth that otherwise they may not have had.

Gemx also picked a murder-based book! Ah they're so good!

"Again this week was really difficult to choose a book out of so many, but very fun to do! 
The book I choose is The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss. It's a series of spy novels featuring the very dandy Lucifer Box and it is full of murder, intrigue and debauchery. I tried to base my nails this week on the book cover. So I have the a gun, the boutonnière flowers and a cigarette.
I used OPI DS Classic as the base and then used Andrea Fulerton nail art colours in black and silver and a bit of Models Own Golden Peach and Revlon Cherries in the Snow for colouring in the flowers.
If you like Victorian era spy novels that are a little bit funny and cheeky you will love this book!"

These nails are so cool! I think Gem has done a fab job, especially with the gun; it looks super! I need to pick this book up for sure, even the cover looks good (I'm a sucker for good cover art!) I like that Gem used neutral colours like the book cover, I didn't think to do that with mine!

So there we have it. Do please give these books a read. I'll be doing a better review of the Shardlake series very soon. I would suggest you go and see Alli's nails but for some reason her blog appears to have been removed.. I don't know why.. I'm sure there'll be an explanation =)

-Leisha

EDIT: I added Gem's picture and text =) apparently the email didn't send properly last week because I never got it =( sorry Gem, they're up now!

Valentine's OOTN

So I'm running late with my nail post this week (again) because I have an interview tomorrow and I want to keep my nails neutral just in case.. I'll be doing the next part of the challenge as soon as I get home so look out for that sometime tomorrow evening!

Anyway, I am feeling brave today and thought I'd show you what I wore for Valentine's =) unfortunately a lot of the pictures are too dark.. But a couple came out ok and though I look pretty derpy you can see my gorgeous dress!

Valentine's this year had to wait a day because the Mr and I live in different counties at the moment and see each other at weekends. We went for a lovely Thai meal (I loooveeee Thai food!) and I used it as an excuse to dress up.

Dress: Dorothy Perkins

Cardigan H&M

Tights: Primark

Shoes: Hush Puppies

Bag: New Look

I love this dress. I was very naughty and shouldn't have bought it but at least it was in the sale. I got it the previous weekend having vowed not to buy anything but I couldn't resist it. It's covered in freaking bunnies!! I couldn't just leave it in the shop now could I!?

It was £65 down to £30 and I got 25% Student discount on top of that (yay for student boyfriends!)  so I got it for £22.50 which is a bargain in my opinion. I love it so much, the shape is very flattering and though I usually buy size 10 (they didn't have any left) the 8 fits me just fine. In fact, i think it is better because I have tried 10's on in DP before and the band around the waist gaped so I didn't purchase.. No gaping here! Nice and snug =) I don't have any other dresses in this shape and I think that might have to change. I love the sheer material at the top, it allows for a sweetheart neckline without it being or feeling too revealing. Oh and did I mention THE BUNNIES!!

Here is my eye makeup.. I was trying something new using my other naughty Illamasqua sale purchase (I'm a sucker for sales) which I'll show you sometime. I need to practise.. It looked a lot better in person. The light isn't great and my phone camera isn't ideal. Remind me to save for a proper camera please.

Urban Decay: Eyeshadow Primer Potion (now owned by L'Oreal and therefore no longer CF)

Sinful Colours: Sha Sha Pink (blush but I used it as a shadow)

Illamasqua: Savage (shadow)

Illamasqua: Paint (pencil)

Illamasqua: Hype (shadow)

Sleek: Ink Pot (gel Liner)

I love yellow and purple! And the combination made my blue eyes pop which was welcome =)  I did wear a lipstick but it wore off (I took the pictures at the end of the night) so I'll do that in a separate post!

Well that was different! I hope you liked this post, do let me know!

-Lei

Bonus Pics:

 [Beautiful Roses <3 and Cat Necklace]

31 Day Nail Challenge: Week 23 - Inspired by a Movie

Sorry this post is a bit late, I was away from home until late last night so I didn't get to do my nails or post.. that was today's job!

I've known what I wanted to do for this post for a while now so it was nice not to have to make too many decisions! Just the colour, the design, the shapes, the positions -.-

So anyway I chose to do my nails based on My Neighbour Totoro by Studio Ghibli. I love this film, it's so cute and quirky and the characters are actually amazing! Here are my nails:

I'm so pleased with these! I added the heart because it's Valentine's this week and coloured it like his fuzzy belly <3

I used Nails Inc Oxford as the base (a more watery version of Models Own Beth's Blue), No7 Grey Skies for Totoro and my Rio nail art pens for the rest.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm going on about, here is Totoro:

So yay! Totoro nails!

Gemx's nails are awesome this week! They're right up my street and I know Alli will appreciate them too!

Here's what she had to say:

"This week I had to pick a movie and I had a hard time choosing! It was also my boyfriends birthday so I let him pick. He really like the galaxy nails from a few weeks ago and his sister and I had planned to have a Star Trek themed cake, so I went for Star Trek nails too! I nailed them in a similar way to the galaxy nails and added the Starfleet insignia. They are really blue and sparkly in person, but it's snowing here today so the light is a little rubbish.
I used Filthy Gorgeous Twilight as a base and then sponged on some Kiko 255 and some Models Own Snow White and then some Orly Space Cadet and Orly Halleys Comet, which always look good over black. Finally I sponged on a crazy amount of Technic Mermaid, which will be fun to remove, but it is such a nice glitter! The insignia I drew on using Andrea Fulerton nail art brushes in silver and black.
I've always been a Star Trek fan and I am really looking forward to Into Darkness and a bit of Benedict Cumberbatch being the baddie!"

I love the insignia! How cool is that! I feel a bit left out now that everyone has done super geek sci fi nails.. but I love my Totoro nails too much to be sad about it haha!

Have a lookie at Alli's nails this week, they're so pretty!

That's it for now, I have a few different sorts of posts in the pipeline because I'm aware that I only post once a week now and I'd like to post more =)

Thanks for reading!

-Lei.

50 Facts About Me

I've seen this post flying around at the moment and I thought I'd have a go. It was hard to get going at first but once I'd started it was easy to fill the 50 spaces! If anyone has any questions about any of the things then do ask =)

50 Facts About Me

1: A lot of my friends hate coconut but I LOVE it.

2: I play a level 90 Night Elf Feral (cat) Druid on World of Warcraft.

3: I have 3 lava lamps in my room, one of which is 2/3 of a metre high.

4: I also have a 2/3 metre high glitter lamp lol.

5: I have way too much stuff in my room but find it hard to be ruthless and throw things away.

6: I own 3 guitars: my first is a red Encore starter guitar that I covered in stickers. Then I bought a bright yellow Jackson that I imported from America with the money I got from my very first job. And for Christmas this year I received a beautiful Luna parlour acoustic <3


7: I have to keep my nails short so that I can play them but that's ok because I don't like my nails long anyway.

8: I graduated with a 2:1 honours degree in Medieval History from Winchester University in 2011.

9: I used to go clubbing by myself on Monday's at the local Metal/Rock night and then walk home by myself at 2am.

10: I haven't dyed my hair for 5 years. It used to be red or purple and down to my waist. At uni I had blonde highlights but I let them grow out.

11: My favourite dinosaur is Mamenchisaurus.

12: I very much enjoy Lindt chocolate and Guylian Chocolate Seashells

 

13: My favourite cake is lemon drizzle

14: I love lychee flavoured things. Lychee sorbet is actually amazing.

15: I have overly large big toes that make holes in all of my favourite socks -.-

16: If I get control of the remote I'll change the channel to Star Trek or Murder She Wrote.

17: I tend to procrastinate and work best under a bit of pressure.

18: My film collection consists mainly of Disney, Studio Ghibli and period dramas. I am also partial to a good airplane disaster movie.



19: I sleep way too much, mostly because at the moment I have nothing to get up for.

20: I don't like taking painkillers and if a headache isn't too bad I'd rather suffer in silence than dose myself up.

21: I do most of the cooking in my household and often wonder what my parents would do if I didn't bother.

22: I take my time with purchases, preferring to want something for ages before finally treating myself as opposed to impulse buying.

23: I prefer normal chocolate buttons to the giant ones.

24: I have a bad habit of pulling out my hair when my hands aren't busy. It's not so bad lately but I had to get a fringe a couple of years ago because I'd pulled most of the front bits and they were growing back all wispy and short.. I think it's the texture of my hair.. Some of them are v wiry and I tug at them and smooth them with my nails until they break. I wish I could stop. I actually sit on my hands or get something else to fiddle with now.

25: I am the survivor of a mentally and emotionally abusive 6-year relationship.

26: It's been two years since I last saw him but I still have nightmares about everything he did to me.

27: I occasionally suffer from panic attacks due to hyper-sensitivity. I cannot deal with too many sensory stimuli (eg crowds and noise).

28: I like to use words like stimuli.

29: Actually my previous relationship experience could explain my panic attacks and hair pulling. Joy.

30: I used to be way more confident and outgoing but I'm a lot more reserved and quiet now. Again probably due to the above.

31: My cat Willow has been with me since 2003 and has helped me through so much. She honestly is my best friend and just her being near me is enough to lift my mood. She is such a kind and innocent soul. I love her so much. 

32: My favourite Nintendo character is Yoshi and my brother gets annoyed because I always pick Yoshi on mario kart lol "pick another character for a change" ... "but I like Yoshi.." 

33: I miss the days when building Lego was the most challenging thing I'd have to face.

34: I have mild scoliosis where my lower spine has 3-4 twisted vertebra. I get back ache a lot and have to do a lot of movement exercises to strengthen my core muscles.

35: On a trip to town my shopping weaknesses are Whittard, Paperchase (Stickers!), Superdrug, Dorothy Perkins and H&M. We recently got a LUSH store here but I have enough bath bombs to last a year so I have avoided it. I'd love to be able to afford Topshop, River Island and Miss Selfridge but unfortunately my budget doesn't allow except during sales.

36: My favourite makeup brands are Barry M, Illamasqua, GOSH and MUA.

37: My favourite nail polish brands are Barry M, Models Own, China Glaze, Deborah Lippmann, Zoya and Make Up Store.

38: When my brother and I were in Primary School our mum used to give us 25p for penny sweets every Friday. Friday was the best day of the week back then.

39: I used to work in retail but having been in a 9-5 job with a nice break at Christmas there is no way I can go back to working weekends and holidays.

40: I didn't have many friends in the last couple of years at Primary School and had even fewer during High School. I was bullied a lot because I was tall and very thin so I looked like a stick and I have a big wonky nose. I have grown into my height and my nose a bit now lol fortunately. But I hated High School.

41: I have about 5 pairs of high heels that I can't walk in. BUT THEY'RE SO PRETTY.

42: I have 4 pairs of high heels that I CAN walk in! Hurray they're pretty too!

43: I own a 3DS, DS lite, DS Original, Gameboy Colour, Gameboy Original, Wii, N64 and a SNES (Nintendo fan girl right here). I want a Wii-U but can't afford to get one at the moment. It's on the birthday list.

44: When I was stuck with a decision or wanted to be sure I was doing something right I would consult my tarot cards and rune stones. I haven't used them in years though.

45: I love tea pots but I don't drink tea LOL I like the Whittard instant fruit teas though (Lychee & Mango and Peach Melba are my favourites).

46: I can't wait to get my own house and host dinner parties. I have this image of a really nice 3 course meal followed by card games and wine. Does this mean I'm old?

47: I get cold very easily and often wear my dressing gown over my clothes around the house.

48: I try to see the beauty in everything.

49: I love saving money, hate spending money but like having shiny new things. This often results in mental turmoil as I make myself feel guilty over everything I spend.

50: I am grateful to every person that reads and follows my blog <3 (even though sometimes I wish there were more of you!).

There we go, that's it. I hope you've got a better idea about who I am now =) some of those things I haven't told anyone before so feel privileged!

-Leisha

31 Day Blog Challenge: Week 22 - Inspired by a Song

I had several ideas for this weeks challenge, my immediate thought was to do Yellow by Coldplay and just do insanely yellow nails lol but it seemed like a bit of a cheat... Then I thought about doing something classical like Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven and doing my nails with phases of the moon. Then I struck gold. This is the song I decided on in the end:

"I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" by The Ink Spots

I've been totally geeking out about this song choice because it was used a lot in the Fallout series of games and having played a fair amount of Fallout 3 at the boyfriends house it's a song that has stuck with me.

Fallout 3 is a post-apocalyptic game set in the Washington area of North America in 2277 after a nuclear war over resources that occurred 200 years previously. Your character has been sheltered in a bunker called Vault 101, which was designed to protect people from nuclear fallout following the war. During the game you escape the bunker into the wasteland beyond and set about exploring it whilst trying to track down your father who escaped just before you. It's a fab, freestyle game that really gets you thinking. I guess it's typically a man-game because of the guns and gritty graphics style but I really enjoyed it too!

The song itself is from 1941 and the whole of the music in the game is from a similar era. Here are the lyrics and a video with in-game footage so you can hear it in full and get a feel for it!

I don't want to set the world on fire

I just want to start

A flame in your heart

In my heart I have but one desire

And that one is you

No other will do

I've lost all ambition for worldly acclaim

I just want to be the one you love

And with your admission that you feel the same

I'll have reached the goal I'm dreaming of

Believe me!

I don't want to set the world on fire

I just want to start

A flame in your heart

This second video is a pre-release "teaser" that includes the song. This still gives me goosebumps. I think it's the combination of the cheery music and the hopeless surroundings. I felt the same about the music in "Jeepers Creepers" if anyone remembers that film.

I took inspiration for my nail design from the first two lines of the song. Here are the pictures:

I accidentally did the heart the wrong way up on my right hand, which is why there's only one picture of it lol but let's just ignore that and check out the cool contrast between the matte black and the super shiny glitter!

The polishes I used for this are as follows:
Filth Gorgeous - Twilight
Rimmel (Not CF) - Matte Finish Top Coat
Models Own - Prussian Blue
China Glaze - Electrify, Pure Joy and Gaga for Green
Rio Nail Art Pens

I'm really happy with the way these have turned out =) as I said above I really like the matte and glitter together and I am pleased with my little Earths! Electrify is such a pretty glitter, I wasn't sure whether to get it or not but it's really sparkly in person and I'm very glad it's mine. It goes well with Pure Joy though the gold is more yellow in Electrify. I thought at first they might be the reverse of each other and they would be if the gold was the same shade.

And now for something completely different

Gemx's nail art this week is super girly and pretty! Check out how gorgeous this is!

"I decided to choose Rachel Stamp - My Sweet Rose. 
Rachel Stamp were one of my favourite bands when I was 16 and obsessed with early Manic Street Preachers and this is one of my favourite songs. It's trashy and fun! :) I wish I had gone to see them live, but when they were touring I was under 18 and couldn't get in anywhere :(
I was going to do one rose nail and the rest in leopard print, but my first rose turned out better than I expected so I did a rose on every nail :)
I used a base of Kiko 221 ( a sheer pinky gold). Then for the roses I used OPI Shorts Story and Missguided Misstify. Then I used w7 Cosmic Green glitter for the petals and I finally found my Andrea Fullerton black striper, which I used for the stem.
I think I'm going to enjoy these next set of challenges, the hardest thing is deciding out of all the options what to do!"
Here is the video she linked me:

I haven't heard the song or band before so I can't comment on her taste in music lol but I LOVE the rose nail art! They're so striking yet delicate at the same time. Gorgeous job Gem!

That's it (finally) for this week's challenge! Make sure you pop over and check out Alli's design too!

-Leisha.

Outake: Willow was wondering why I was not giving her attention whilst taking photos!

"STROKE MY FAAACE"