It’s been a while since I blogged! After I watched the Avengers, I had a chance to perform at the Royal Wedding, which was amazing but totally threw me out of my nail polish, blogging and Instagram routine.

Left hand: chartreuse base with minimalist double stamping and a matte finish

Left hand: chartreuse base with minimalist double stamping and a matte finish

Where have I been?

I’ve been doing my nails, and my Instagram is back up and running, but it was nice having a longer break as well. I’ve been feeling a little uninspired so I took on a challenge from When Colours Collide, which was a design using mostly chartreuse. I love any weird or ugly colours, and this is one of my favourites.

I’ve done some striking designs with chartreuse before, and it always looks good with black, but to push me out of my comfort zone a little, I paired it with rose-gold and dark grey instead.

Close up on the double stamping - rose-gold under charcoal grey

Close up on the double stamping – rose-gold under charcoal grey

Polishes and tools

Jessica Fusion
Orly Bonder
Cirque Hustle
Superchic Lacquer Pheromone
Primark Rose Gold foil (no name)
Painted Polish Stamped in Charcoal
MoYou London Pro Collection XL 27
Seche Vite
BWC Matte Top Coat

I couldn’t choose between a creme – Cirque Hustle – and holo – Superchic Lacquer Pheromone – so I used both. The design was a bit more minimalist on purpose. I really like MoYou London’s Instagram feed at the moment, it’s really chic. I was trying to capture that effortlessness.

A closed look: chartreuse base with double stamping and a matte top coat

A closer look: chartreuse base with double stamping and a matte top coat

Stamping made less easy…

To get the single line of the design on my feature nail was a bit of a faff. The design doesn’t lend itself to a vertical line so I had to pick the longest horizontal line I could. Plus double stamping meant I did that all twice. I’m a glutton for punishment!

As you can see, a horizontal line of this design wasn’t long enough!

As you can see, a horizontal line of this design wasn’t long enough!

Once that was all (finally) done and cleaned up, I sealed it in with Seche Vite. You’ll see there’s a mixture of matte and glossy finishes in the photos. My lovely friend Kim found some interesting polishes from a brand called BWC, including this matte top coat. Back to that MoYou inspiration, with the matte I think!

It’s a nice brand, judging just on this polish. BWC stands for Beauty Without Cruelty, so there’s are CF friendly and were great value at £3 each.

Despite the matte finish, the holo still shows and glows

Despite the matte finish, the holo still shows and glows

What’s next on the blog?

I think I’ll try and get back into blogging on a schedule again, but I want to shake up my posts somewhat. They’ve become very formulaic and too much in line with what Yoast demands with the little traffic lights for SEO.

Superchic Lacquer’s Pheromone with double stamping and a glossy top coat

Superchic Lacquer’s Pheromone with double stamping and a glossy top coat

I want to bring a bit more fun, chat and personality to my posts, so a bit less focus on the steps of how I created each design. I’ll definitely keep the listing of polishes and tools I used, and make sure I explain any different or unusual techniques.