Talon-tastic Thursday: Adele's Grammy mani

I'm over on Beaut.ie today with a tutorial for the gorgeous two-tone manicure Adele wore to the Grammys - check it out for details of how you too can get the Louboutin look on a Penneys loafers budget!

{Image source: Beaut.ie}

Talon-tastic Thursday: Kate Spade AW12

So, I am a little bit in love with the nails that celebrity manicurist Deborah Lippmann created for Kate Spade's AW12 presentation during New York Fashion Week.

The exaggerated, pointed oval shape is ladylike but not staid - a little bit kooky and bang on trend - and the imperfect, almost haphazard nude polka dots are striking without being shouty or OTT. Conservative cool, if you will.

The charm of these manicures lies chiefly in the irregular placement and size of the dots, but I was initially surprised by that since it seemed at odds with the perfectly polka dotted pieces in the collection.

Still, it makes the look easy peasy to recreate at home! 

1. Apply a base coat, followed by two thin, even coats of black creme polish.
2. Use a contrasting shade to create the polka dots. Swirl the shaft of the nail polish brush around the inner neck of the bottle as you take it out to remove any excess, and then wipe both sides of the brush clean on the inside of the neck; this serves to flatten the brush slightly. Use a corner of the flattened brush to pick up a small bead of polish and gently press this onto the nail to create a dot of colour.
3. Repeat at random all over the nail, varying the amount of polish and pressure you use to change the size of the dots.
4. Finish with a layer of top coat and admire your lovely new paint job!

Products used:
Orly Bonder Rubberized Polish Gripping Basecoat
Barry M Black (Lippmann used Fade To Black from her eponymous nail polish line)
Clarins French White (Lippmann used Deborah Lippmann I'm Not Innocent, a light peachy nude shade) 
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat


{Image sources: 1. Kate Spade; 2. Bellasugar; 3. Glamour}

Talon-tastic Tuesday: Polka Hearts How To

Last week I was working on something a little bit different for all my lovely readers: my first ever video tutorial, in which I demonstrated a couple of different techniques and tools that you could use to achieve the super simple polka heart designs from my Valentine's Day nail wheel.

Unfortunately I couldn't upload the stupid thing - insert technical difficulties notice here - but they're actually easy enough to DIY without a full-on video tutorial.

Oh, and incase you're wondering what polka hearts are, they're basically the lovechild of a polka dot and a small heart and like to hang out en masse to create a super cute repeating pattern.

Simples!

1. Apply two thin, even coats of your chosen base colour.
2-3. Use a nail art pen or brush (or pick up a small amount of polish with an old ballpoint pen, toothpick, paperclip, or hairpin) to create two small dots side-by-side on the nail.
4. Create a V shape underneath the dots with your chosen tool to complete the heart, and repeat all over the nail.

Alternatively, you can create the hearts by laying down two angled lines which meet at the bottom - this little diagram created by Rebecca over at Rebecca Likes Nails explains what I mean very succinctly:

Are you wearing anything Valentine-ish on your nails today?

Manicure Monday: Valentine's nails for you to try at home

You really don't need much in the way of supplies or instructions to achieve these cute script nails, which I've been dying to try my hand at since spotting them on the MUA Cosmetics blog a couple of weeks ago. Simply use a black nail art pen, marker, or even liquid eyeliner atop two coats of your chosen colour to get your joined-up writing on.

Thinner lines and smaller letters will make for a more subtle look - bonus points for doodling little heart balloons on the thumbs!

Products used:
OPI Start To Finish
Essie Escapades
Black Nails Supreme nail art pen
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

OMG AMAZE: Mary Katrantzou for Topshop SS12

Their last collaboration failed to set my world alight, but it was lust at first sight when I spotted the images for Mary Katrantzou's upcoming capsule collection for Topshop.

Swoon!

Nine pieces featuring the designer's signature bold and beautiful prints will go on sale from selected Topshop stores and the website on February 17th. The floral trousers and tees in the line are a bit pedestrian, IMHO, but if I somehow manage to win the Euromillions without playing between now and next Friday, I'd quite like to get myself this bubble skirt dress (£350), silk tunic dress (£150), and long-sleeved jersey dress (£180.)


{Image sources: 1. Vogue; 2. Topshop; 3. Topshop}

Talon-tastic Tuesday: The wheel of love

As far as I'm concerned, the very best thing about Valentine's Day is that it affords me an excellent excuse to wear my heart on my nails...

... and paint V-Day themed nail wheels. Obviously!

Pricey but pretty: Premium glitter clutches

My apparently insatiable inner magpie would dearly love to get its little claws on Anya Hindmarch's multi-glitter Valerie bag, but I'm afraid that Valerie is just way too rich for my blood. 

Kate Spade's new "I Kissed A Frog" clutch is also rather beyond my evening bag budget (or at least it would be, if I actually had an evening bag budget) but that hasn't stopped me from falling for it. 

What can I tell you; the magpie has great (albeit expensive) taste. 

If I was the sort of person who used the word "adorbs", I would definitely be breaking it out to describe this bag. Glitter clutch + tiny frog clasp with crown = be still my kitsch-loving magpie heart.


Note: Kate Spade price based on conversion from $328. UK store price not available at the time of writing.

Talon-tastic Tuesday: Glamorous tribal vibes

I'm very familiar with the line "self praise is no praise" but, since I'm not usually big on self-promotion, I hope you'll forgive me for saying that this black 'n' gold manicure is freakin' AWESOME. It's probably my favourite to date, actually; I can't stop looking at my nails.

The base colour is my latest polish purchase, Topshop Crystal Clouds (£6), with all detailing hand-drawn by me using black and white nail art pens.

And yes, I did the other hand too.

Spot the difference.

The look of disgust that crossed his face should have been my first clue, the fact that he actually physically recoiled should have given the game away, but it was only when he used my actual name that I knew things were really serious.

"Lynda. Those are bloody awful" Himself said loudly in the middle of Topshop as I delightedly introduced him to a pair of cropped navy polka-dot trousers that I reckoned were my passport to instant SS12 chic.

So of course I did what any good girlfriend would do.

I bought the man repeller trousers that look like they're coming down with a case of velvety measles.

As it happens, I haven't had occasion to wear them out of the house yet *shakes fist at snow* but I have been thinking hard about what I'll pair them with when I do!

None of these items represent a massive departure from my usual style - in fact, I own several of them already - and I sort of wish I could mix up my look a bit more in honour of the mad measle-y trews.

Any suggestions?

Talon-tastic Thursday: Inspired by David Duchovny

When I was about 14 or 15, my best friend and I were thoroughly obsessed with The X Files in general and with Mulder in particular.

{via io9} 

We would regularly detour to the local video shop on our way home from school to swoon over the tiny photos of David Duchovny looking devastatingly ridey on the back of the Kalifornia VHS case, which had an 18s cert and which I'm pretty sure we tried - unsuccessfully - to rent on more than one occasion.

{via Movieclips}

One of my most treasured possessions at the time was a colour photocopy of an enormous photo of Duchovny lying across a pale blue or green leather couch, from what I think was a Sunday Times magazine belonging to another friend. It was a different picture, though, which eventually led me to today's paint job.

I never actually had a copy of the inspiration photo, but what sticks in my head about it was that Duchovny was wearing pink and red together - a pink t-shirt and red boxing gloves, maybe? - and I vividly remember thinking that he made that clashing colour combo look goooood.

With that picture in mind, I used OPI Elephantastic Pink and Barry M Red Glitter to create this manicure, and I have to tell you that I kinda love it!