Halloween 2017 Makeup and Nails!

Hi lovelies!

Happy Halloween!! If you've been following me for any period of time, you'll know that I love Halloween, and usually do something on the blog every year, so I couldn't let the occasion pass without doing something special.

I went to a makeup event at Spooktober a few days ago and as I was coming straight from work, I didn't have many options, so I created this quick and easy look. However, I literally did that in 5 minutes in my car outside the venue, so I did want to do something here on the blog that would take a bit more effort.

Now, I've always wanted to try the mermaid look and then I received a Halloween challenge from one of my favorite brands, Rimmel London, where I was challenged to recreate a look created for them by British Blogger/Youtuber called CocoChicBlog. The look is called the 'Dark Mermaid', and encompasses ombre brows, fish scales, smudgy tear stains and a dark lip. Here is my take on it, together with a few small touches of my own! I also decided to do nails to match, which you can see later on in this post.

Before we go further, I'll just admit that I wasn't too happy with this look for a couple of reasons.

1) I couldn't buy proper fishnet stockings anywhere! I went to four different stores on the weekend before finally giving up and buying the pair I used here, but the fishnet pattern was quite small, which became a real struggle when I slipped it over my head, so the 'fish scale' pattern wasn't as clear as I'd have liked.

2) I had really hoped to finish work early, finish this look and take the photos in natural light, as I'd managed to do for the manicure photos. Unfortunately, I left work a little later than expected, by which time the weather had taken a turn for the worse and started storming, so I had to take these photos by the light of my makeup desk which is quite warm. Still, something is always better than nothing, right?

Keep reading after the jump!

NOTD: Fourth of July 2017 Manicure!

Hi lovelies,

You know, I usually have some form of nail art every week, yet I either run out of time to take photos (I take all my photos in natural light and so I have to wait for the weekends because the sun is gone by the time I get home on weekdays), or I simply forget to share and get distracted by other things...I've been a bad blogger!

It did strike me a few days ago that the Fourth of July was coming up, so I decided to come up with some Independence Day inspired nails. I pulled out one of my favorite polishes, a deep electric blue by a brand called Eclipse. It's such a beautiful shade on it's own that I had to share a couple of photos.

I can't remember where I bought it from and there's no name on the label, only the number #611. I then used a thin striping brush to paint on red polish (Zoya Karina) over white polish (Sally Hansen White On), before topping it with a red diamante.

Fourth of July 2017 Manicure!

 Keep reading after the jump!

Barry M Vintage Violet and Cling Wrap Nail Art Mani!

Hi lovelies,

I recently picked up this gorgeous polish called Vintage Violet from Barry M, and it's completely captured my heart!

Vintage Violet is what I would call a smokey, blackened violet creme, and it's such uniquely gorgeous shade that would fit a lot of skintones.

Barry M Vintage Violet.

Keep reading after the jump!

NOTD: The dry brush manicure (with feature accent nail).

Hi lovelies!

Happy Friyay!

I wanted to share some quick and simple nail art I did recently using the dry brush technique. In case you're wondering what the dry brush technique is, you simply scrape off almost all the polish off your brush until it's almost dry, then stroke it across the nail! It actually feels quite therapeutic, and you can get different patterns by alternating brush stroke directions and also changing colours.

Before I get any further, I do apologise for the smudge of red polish on my ring finger cuticle bed...I was rushing to take photos and didn't notice it at the time!

The dry brush manicure.

I used three Sally Hansen Miracle Gel polishes in Dig Fig, Birthday Suit and Game of Chromes. I used Birthday Suit as my base polish on all my nails except my ring finger, where I used Dig Fig instead. I then simply used the dry brush technique to use the remaining two shades on each nail, alternating directions with each stroke. I wasn't overly impressed with the design when I first did it, but it was quite late so I left it to the next day, and by then, it had grown on me so I decided to keep it!

Keep reading after the jump!

NOTD - OPI Wooden Shoe Like To Know?

Hi lovelies!

I hope you're all keeping warm and dry! I'm rugged up in my PJs, a fluffy sunshine yellow bathrobe and with a cup of hot green tea by my side as I type this! But hey, at least I have pretty nails...which brings me to the topic of this post!

As you may or may not know, I am currently hosting an Instagram challenge over on my Instagram page, #7dayswithmm. I thought it would be a fun way to challenge myself (and whoever decided to join me), and also have a bit of fun along the way! Just to sweeten the pot a little, I'm also giving away a set of Maybelline lipsticks (the ones I wrote about here) and an amazeballs Clinique gift pack! It's not too late to join in if you're so inclined!

Anyhoo, the theme for Day 4 was nails, so here's what I came up with! I used OPI Wooden Shoe Like To Know for my base, OPI Liquid Sand in Honey Ryder for my middle finger, and an accent nail with dry marbling using Revlon Gold Coin and Orly Liquid Vinyl on my ring finger.

What do you think, lovelies? I'd love to hear your feedback!

Much love,
MM.
x

Stone Marble Manicure!

Hi lovelies,

It's been too long since I've shared some nail art with you...I've still been playing, I just never seem to be able to get a good photo before I take my mani off! Darn these winter hours with limited natural light.

There's only one thing I love more than rose gold, and it's marble. It often pops up in my photos (case in point below, and yes, a review of these will be forthcoming), and I thought it would make a beautiful accent manicure too.

It was a really easy mani to do. I began by painting my nails with the chosen base colours (Orly Mirror Mirror and Sally Hansen White On). Next, I used the cling foil technique with Orly Mirror Mirror (tutorial here, but please excuse the terrible photos, it was in my early days of blogging), to create a little texture over the white that also tied in with the rest of the mani. I then used a very fine tipped nail brush to 'draw' on the veining to emulate the striations in marble. Lastly, I applied a thick layer of top coat while the 'veining' was still wet, to smear the lines for a more realistic look. Overall, I'm pretty happy with my first attempt and I can't stop looking at my nails!

There you go, lovelies, my first attempt at a marble manicure! What do you think? I'd love to hear your feedback!

I also used a mattifying topcoat on my nails just after I wrote this post, and I quite like the effect! I'll try to take more photos and update this post, it's definitely a different look to wearing it glossy.

Much love,
MM.
x


PS- Linking up with Ingrid from Fabulous and Fun Life on her Blog Link Up Party, so do go check out all the other amazing posts from this week! 

V-Day Nails 2016!

Happy V-Day, lovelies!

How did/ are you going to celebrate?

I decided to celebrate by doing some themed nails! Here's what I came up with. I used Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in Pink Tank for my base, then stamped on top with Konad black, before adding a few gold studs as a finishing touch!

There you go, lovelies! My simple Valentine's Day nails. I'd love to know what you think, and let me know if you've done any V-day looks/nails, I'd love to see! 

Much love,

MM.

x

Halloween 2015 Nails!

Hi lovelies,

I do apologise for the lack of posts on the blog lately...somehow time has just gotten away from me! I promise to do better, and I have something very exciting coming up in the next couple of days...so do keep an eye out for it!

In the meantime, I couldn't let Halloween pass by without doing my nails in a simple look I'll call an arty take on your typical Halloween shades. I chose Revlon ColorStay Gel Envy colours in Hot Hand (orange) and BlackJack (black), using this technique described here.

 
Keep reading after the jump!

14 Simple Nail Polish Hacks You Need To Know.

Hello lovelies!

In keeping with my post here, I've decided to get back into the habit of doing more editorials here on The Made Up Maiden. I'd almost forgotten how much fun they are! One thing I get asked for by a lot of readers on my Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and in real life are tips on how I manage to get my manicures and nail art done, so here are some handy tips that I hope you'll find as useful as I do!

More photos of this manicure here.

1) Finding the lid of your favourite polish jammed shut? Hold it under hot water or immerse it in a bowl of hot water to help loosen the lid.

2) This photo from Nailed-It perfectly demonstrates the technique I use when painting my nails. If you follow it well, you'll never have a problem with painting your nails! Remember, practice makes perfect, so if you fail, try and try again!

Keep reading after the jump!

Blue and red stamping fun with the Konad M98 plate.

Hi lovelies,

As you might be able to tell, I ran out of ideas with what to call this manicure. Any suggestions? If so, leave them in the comments, because I'd dearly love to hear it!

I used the double stamping technique for this mani where I stamped over a white polish base with the red Konad polish, and then stamped with the blue Konad polish over the top. I used the same plate design for both sets of stamping, which is the abstract geometric design pictured below. For some reason, it was smudging slightly as it came off the Konad plate, so it's not my neatest work, but let's consider this a work in progress since I've never used the double stamping method before!

Keep reading after the jump! 

I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) - Masquerade Review & Swatches.

Hi lovelies!

I have a new I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) shade to share with you today, and dare I say, it just might be the new favourite of my entire polish collection! That's no small feat considering I own about 400 polishes...but it's hard not to love a polish with more moods than I have!

This is another holographic polish, just like Bishop (H) which I shared with you last week. This one is a lot more intense than Bishop (H), though, as it shifts between pink, violet, purple, copper, gold and forest green. Consider yourself warned, because this is going to be a very photo-heavy post as I attempt to do this gorgeous polish justice!

ILNP - Masquerade.

Keep reading after the jump!

I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) - Bishop (H) Review & Swatches.

Hi lovelies!

Wow, it has been ages since my last polish post, which is crazy because I've always got polish on! Where has the time gone, this year has simply flown by!

I wanted to share a simple manicure with you, and that's a gorgeous duochrome polish from I Love Nail Polish, one of my favourite indie polish stores. Barbara, the owner of ILNP, is based in the States, so shipping can be a little on the expensive side, but her polishes are truly gorgeous and completely worth it. I've got about twenty of her polishes, I think, and almost all are holographics.

Bishop (H) is the holographic version of an earlier polish (Bishop) that she released. Bishop (H) is a pale olive green shade that tends towards gold with the right lighting. These polishes don't require a base polish to truly pop, and you can also see tiny holographic particles suspended in the polish even when it's dry.

I Love Nail Polish Bishop (H) in shade.

Keep reading after the jump!

Halloween Gory Blood Splattered Nails!

Hi lovelies!

Here are a few photos of the Blood Splattered nails I'm wearing for Halloween! I used stamping for these, using my Bundle Monster plate in BM416, over white polish. I mixed in a little black Konad polish with the red Konad polish for added definition.

I purposely stamped as messily as possible, and left them looking bloody in my Halloween Zombie Doll post, but I've cleaned them up in the photos below.

Keep reading after the jump!

Floral Konad Stamping Manicures.

Hi lovelies!

I've been going crazy with stamping manicures this week! A friend gave me some gorgeous stamping polishes to test out as she's planning on bringing out a range soon, and the colours were so gorgeous, it inspired me to take out my stamping plates and get adventurous!

For the first mani, I used Konad plate M89 and stamped rose polish over black for all nails except my ring finger, where I used purple polish over black (Liquid Vinyl from ORLY). I really liked this mani, and it got me a lot of compliments from strangers as I was out and about!

With the second mani, I decided to use a different design from the same Konad plate (M89) for my ring finger, and then used the lotus and butterfly designs from Konad plate M39 for the remaining fingers. I used violet (with black randomly scraped over the plate to give definition) for the butterflies, and scarlet for the lotus flowers (also with black for definition), stamped over Sally Hansen White On. I also stamped the violet polish over Rimmel Black Cherry for the ring finger, which gave it an interesting blue tinge!

I'm pretty pleased with these stamping efforts, the second mani took me a lot longer to do because I kept messing things up, but overall, I think I did pretty well for a beginner!

What do you think, lovelies? Do you like these? Which manicure do you prefer?

Much love,
MM.
x

An Abundance of Nail Art - Blue/Green, Orange/Red and Metallic/Black Manicures!

Hi lovelies,

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in a nail art challenge hosted by one of my favourite websites, Beautyheaven! They had four weeks with different themes per week, and all you had to do was submit a mani fitting each theme. I love participating in challenges because it really gets your creativity flowing!

Week 1 was purple/pink so here's what I came up with.

Week 2 was green/blue, which I kinda struggled with, so I ended up going with light blue polish as a base with green stamping on the top. I did actually create another look but I decided I didn't like it so I wasn't going to share it!

 Keep reading after the jump!

Pink and purple nail art!

Hi lovelies,

Here's a pink and purple nail art manicure I came up with. I used OPI Pink Friday for the base, and then used a fine tipped brush to draw lines using BYS polish in Ultra Violet. It was really easy and barely took any time at all!

Keep reading after the jump!

Teeez Trend Cosmetics - Carmine Craze.

Hi lovelies!

Happy Friday! It's freezing, hailing and thundering here in Melbourne, so I hope you're staying warm and dry if you're based here too! And if you aren't, lucky you!

A couple of weeks ago, I introduced you to Carmine Craze by Teeez Trend Cosmetics, which I received in my June Lust Have It Box. In case you weren't aware, Carmine is a deep red pigment which is found in a lot of food/cosmetics/paint products. In this case, it's quite an apt name as the shade is what I'd call a deep rusty red. A couple of readers asked to see it on my nails, so here it is!

The colour was really pretty, but unfortunately, this polish was a little hard to work with. The design of the bottle (while gorgeous), is quite slim, and unfortunately, the brush wand was a little too thick. This meant that quite a lot of polish built up on the neck of the bottle each time it was pulled out. The polish itself applied quite well, but I did notice early tip wear within a day or two even with the use of my regular base and topcoat (which I use for all my manicures).

Overall, it's quite a pretty choice for our current winter conditions, particularly if you don't mind only wearing it for a day or two.

What do you think of this, lovelies? Are you a fan of the shade?

Much love,
MM.
x

Introducing Playboy Five Shades of Grey - Velvet Party Collection!

Hi lovelies,

Everyone has heard of the famous Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy; which, incidentally, I didn't actually find particularly interesting, did you? Anyhow, I digress. While I knew that Playboy make some lovely body sprays (which I'm totally addicted to spraying on after my shower and before applying perfume), I didn't know they had polishes in their range! I couldn't resist when I was offered the chance to try them, so here are five gorgeous shades from the Velvet Party Collection, aptly titled, Five Shades of Grey*!

Playboy Five Shades of Grey - Velvet Party Collection

Each of the shades have been given a sexy Slavic name, which is pretty apt as some of the shades are simply stunning, dark and mysterious, much like something a spy would wear (my imagination might be getting a wee bit carried away here). Word of warning, this is going to be a very photo heavy post, so pull up a chair and get comfy, as I take you through the five shades of grey from the Playboy range.

Keep reading after the jump!

Winter Nail Art Tutorial - The Winter Smoke Manicure.

Hi lovelies,

Happy Hump Day! We're over the middle of the week, so it's a clear stretch to the weekend now!

I just wanted to let you all know that I have another editorial up on the Lipstick Republic website, it's a tutorial on how to create the manicure below! This one is inspired by the cold, wet and dreary weather in Melbourne of late.

All you need are three different polish shades and a dotting tool (or bobby pin). I chose to use ORLY Mirror Mirror for my base, and Sally Hansen White On and ORLY Liquid Vinyl for the design.

L-R: ORLY Liquid Vinyl, Sally Hansen White On, ORLY Mirror Mirror and dotting tool.

Keep reading after the jump!

The Heartbeat Manicure!

Hi lovelies!

Here's some nail art I did a little while ago, using some Duri polishes I got from the Lust Have It Fashion and Beauty (FAB) box. I've decided to call it the heartbeat manicure!

All I did was use Sleeping Beauty Indigo and Call Me Maybe (don't they have the most adorable names?) by Duri for a base, and then drew freehand designs on it using my Sally Hansen black nail art pen. I tried to fill in the hearts with my Sally Hansen white nail art pen but it got cranky on me so I gave up.

Keep reading after the jump!