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"

31 Day Nail Challenge: Week 21 - Inspired by a Colour

Is it just me or does this weeks challenge seem a bit of a cop out? Inspired by a colour? Any colour? I took it to mean that I could do anything at all. So I did.

After several failed attempts at trying to create a blurple that I was happy with, I gave up on that idea. My attentions then turned to turquoise and a 'glitter' top coat I had recently bought so I decided to just go with it.

I used 2 coats of Models Own Top Turquoise. What a lovely colour. I really enjoy a good turquoise lol and this is definitely a good one. The top coat is Nails Inc Brick Lane Grafitti, which is packed with black and white 'glitter' (the inverted commas are because glitter should really be shiny but this isn't). There are teeny tiny black and white dots, larger but still small black and white hexes and black and white bars. This is one coat. It's pretty dense. Also it's hard to put the glitter where you want it because it's so small it's not very moveable. I really like this look but I wish the white was more.. white. lol it's a bit like Nubar White Polka Dot in that the white is sheer and pearlised. I would rather it was opaque like the black. That's my only complaint about this though, I really like the look it gives.

This is Top Turquoise on its own. It's slightly more green irl but I couldn't capture the colour.

Gem chose a really gorgeous colour this week!

"I kind of cheated and picked my favourite nail polish colour which is a mix of red, purple and pink, I'm never sure which describes it better.
This is OPI No Spain No Gain and Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle. I used to have my hair a similar colour and I loved it, but as it got longer it was too much to re-dye every week. I love Razzle Dazzle, it's such a nice glitter and it's opaque enough to wear on it's own as well."

Totally not cheating if you ask me, the challenge was very non-specific and this is such a lovely colour I can see why she picked it! I actually have a mini DL Razzle Dazzle from my December 2011 Glossy Box (back when Glossy Box was actually worth the money..) but I haven't used it yet. It's so cute though in its little bottle lol aww. The pain of hair dye is something I know all too well. I don't dye it any more for the exact same reason. Plus I don't hate my natural colour any more. Yay me.

Anyway I love Gem's nails, they look so classy and red suits everyone =) thanks Gemma and best of luck with your deadlines this week!

That's it for now! Why don't you see what Alli did for her nails this week?

-Leisha.

EDIT: Added Gems picture and comment.. and then rambled a bit afterwards..

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Week 20 - Water Marbled

Wow only 11 weeks to go! Then what am I going to do haha!

My water marbled nails didn't turn out exactly as I expected.. the colours didn't pop as much as I wanted them to, probably because I didn't use a white base (couldn't be bothered). I had fun though! Yes I managed to dribble polish all over my desk.. yes my hands got covered in it.. yes I have just spent the last 10 mins frantically trying to get it out of my dressing gown, but hey it's worth it right? Believe it or not these pics are post-clean up, it just didn't want to come off!

The colours I used were Models Own- Beth's Blue and Prussian Blue, Barry M- Lemon Ice Cream and China Glaze- Traffic Jam.

I did my right hand first (top pics) and my left (dominant) hand second (bottom pics) and as you can see they're pretty different! I got better at making patterns as I went along.. I like both though, I just wish I'd been more careful with it haha!

TIPS FOR WATER MARBLING:

*Tape all of your fingers leaving the nail bare before you start. Trust me you'll be glad of this even though you won't be able to move your fingers properly.
*Choose a mix of both light and dark colours to give your water marble some contrast.

*If you have made a particularly nice pattern, dip more than one finger at a time! I did the 4 fingers on my left  hand in one fell swoop which meant I used a lot less polish/time.

*Don't stab your freshly marbled finger with the cocktail stick when trying to remove excess polish from the water. I did this a lot because I wasn't paying attention and as a result I have blobs all over my nails.

*Make sure there is no cat hair floating in the water BEFORE you drop the polish into it.

Gem's nails are a lovely mix of colours this week!

"Ok...I apologise for the awful picture/nails/disaster. I'm really glad Leisha's nails came out all pretty and lovely, because mine are AWFUL! I was worried that no one could replicate the lovely water marbled nails I've seen on other blogs. Definitely, well done to Leisha, it must have taken you ages! :)

I had a base coat of Illamasqua Raindrops and in my head I was thinking of adding blue and white and imagined myself being left with a pretty bluey/grey water marbled nails in the end. In my head they were awesome...instead I made a lot of mess and was left with ugly, bubbly bleurgh! I tried :P And I apologise for sharing this picture. I think I need to have another go at this at some point, when I've recovered from the experience."

Bless her lol I don't think it's a disaster at all! I love the colours together actually and think that they work really well. It's a shame there are some bubbles but sometimes it's very hard to avoid. I think the disappointment comes from it not turning out as expected but neither did mine. Water marbles have a mind of their own you just have to go with it! Next time I'd suggest a white base and including the Illamasqua (of which I am very jealous lol) in the marbling =) I like the ring finger best, it looks like the crest of a wave! 

Don't forget to check out Alli's pretty pink marbled nails!!

-Leisha.

EDIT: I change the post to include Gem's nails because I accidentally pressed Publish instead of Preview earlier! (Oops).