Friday 13 May 2011

Nails Nirvana...

I love nail varnish. I think it's my favourite cosmetic. Lipstick is all very well, but unless you spend an inordinate amount of time checking yourself out in the window of Primark, you don't get to appreciate it much. Ok, so other people have to suffer my usually bare daytime face, but I get to admire a manicure all day. And have you ever got out of the washing up by triumphantly telling your other half you've just put mascara on? I don't think so.

But it wasn't always this way. Years of bribery from my parents, inability to undo knots or successfully fight with my younger sister failed to stop me mangling my fingertips with my teeth. I became immune to the taste of Stop n' Grow (remember that? My insides are probably a post-Chernobyl disaster area) and it seemed inevitable that my hands would always resemble those of Kurt Cobain - bitten nails, chipped polish, ideas for Hole’s second album…


Me after a hard night

Getting married was the first incentive to look a little more ladylike (my 'something blue' was my pedicure) and somehow I managed to quit chewing. However it was winning a year's worth of nails inc. manicures in a Glamour magazine competition that caused the polish love to really take root. I have what I like to think of as an edited collection of essential nail varnishes these days - a mini suitcase tin and a make-up bag full - but have been following polish blogs recently, and keep finding looks I never knew I needed. The PolishAholic has lots of nail art posts - I'm in love with her latest look using decals she posted yesterday - and fuckyeahprettynails has all kinds of craziness.

That said, I don't go in for acrylic/gel nail talons or those dodgy looking air brush designs - some of which do make an appearance on fuckyeah - so I was excited to see this idea for cheapo nail art when watching C4’s Super Scrimpers the other day. Gem Fatale from the fab blog of the same name was the younger thriftster featured last week, and suggested using a hair grip as the perfect tool to do a polka-dot pattern over your base coat. Just tip a small amount out of the bottle – I poured it onto a tin foil covered plate – and use the bobble end of the grip to dip in the varnish. Voila! 


Base: nails inc. The Hills collection Melrose Avenue
 Spots: nails inc Monmouth Street 
Gem also has excellent tutorials for leopard and tiger print - I am a trashy rock chick at heart so those will definitely be next!


Has anyone watched much of Super Scrimpers? I enjoyed it when Gem was on, but Mrs Moneypenny’s advice to the spendthrift couple who were featured seemed to be much what anyone with half a brain could offer. Buying two brand new DVDs a week and got no money? Stop buying DVDs! It reminded me of the tedious money saving articles which are recycled constantly in glossy magazines and are never any use to me. “Make your own lunch instead of buying from Pret a Manger”, “Cancel that gym membership you never use”, “Put all your debt onto one credit card with a 0% introductory rate”. I could write this stuff in my sleep. It’s on a par with fashion editorials on Summer style entitled “Nautical but Nice”. Sigh. Are you listening, Cosmopolitan?

Lakota x

PS. If you entered my giveaway yesterday, Blogger has eaten half the comments, so please check and try again if necessary. And if not - off you go! Win the launch issue of Trashion Magazine

20 comments:

  1. Or anything from bad hairdressers to female circumcision with the headline: ‘The unkindest cut of all’!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ooh *looks down at manky mum nails* ive so got to get my nails up to scratch, they were nice for my wedding, grew amazingly when preggers but now they are a bit sorry looking. Love super scrimpers, especially the fontaine family on the first one (no relation promise!). Mwah Scarlett x

    ReplyDelete
  3. oooH lOVELY! I love nail polish and usually opt for Revlon or OPI but the students nagged me to try Barry M. Vintage Vix swears by it too - anyway it is blooming fab and the colours are ultra amazing!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was just laughing to myself remembering a French and Saunders clip where Dawn says 'I was on the phone, trying to sound like somebody who wears nail varnish'.
    You'd be cross with me, I have lovely strong nails but never file them, polish them or look after them.
    this is a great beauty blog:http://beautysbadhabitblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/notd-to-circus.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lovely nails! I can't get enough of Barry M...fab colours. I stopped watching Super Scrimpers....it annoyed me so much because of its nagging tone and constant stating of the bleedin' obvious!
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ooooh! Spotty nails!! Good call!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Amazing! I'm gonna give this a go on Sunday! x

    ReplyDelete
  8. soooo cuteeeeee, love the polkadot nails!!! i'm going to give this a try although i'm not one who do my nails besides clip them very short as they tend to live short coz i'm super clumsy and hubby says also that i lack calcium coz my nails break easily but i always love looking at other people's nails, so cute and lovely!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Just painted my toenails blue with WonderWoman Spirit of truth - a gift from my daughter. Feel splendid!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh I dream of beautiful nails, for years my nails were the envy of many, but alas two kids later and a job as a checkout assistant at the local supermarket my nails are...well a mess really :((

    Love yours though...I'm jealous

    Have watched a bit of the Super Scrimpers hoping to pick up a few good tips, but have been a bit disappointed..common sense as you say

    ReplyDelete
  11. That did make me laugh - I was only bemoaning the crappy recycled nautical fashion in women's mags every May/June to a friend the other day! Loving that nail look BTW.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The flat end of a pin is really good for doing even finer dots! I used to decorate my nails with flowers using that method :) x

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi there! I love the nail polish, it's gorgeous, and not as hard to do as it looks it seems. I definitely need to address my nails they are embarrassing at the moment, they even have earth embedded underneath them... the shame! Ooh, didn't spot that you had a giveaway, off to check it out.. hope you have a lovely weekend! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  14. Kurt as an inspiration for nail polish is really crazy and funky! I looove the idea :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I always shout at the TV when Superscrimpers is on - that one woman who used her tights to make tomato sauce or something..EW! Life is too short for that stuff.

    But yes, some of the tips are useful and I like your nails - cute. You'd hate mine - sure they are strong and neat and straight edged but with not one bottle of polish in sight. I wash too many dishes and hate using gloves - painted nails would be wrecked in a day.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Haha, I think I was the other way round. I used to have a massive collection on nail polish in every colour. I remember being very proud of my sheep in a sunny field nails-a mis spent youth? Now I have the sheep chewing my fingers so cant even remember what its like to have pretty nails,but if I did would hope the Kurt Cobain look does come back in fashion.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I don't feel right without my nails looking good although I hate having them done!!

    I can never resist buying nail polishes either!

    Victoria xx

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great nails, I must try that! I've been adoring Barry M since 1982, nothing comes close for funky colours and durability plus it's animal friendly, too.
    That Super Scrimpers really annoys me. Most of it is stating the blooming obvious or using odd people to make thrifty living seem like the choice of nutters. xxx

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love nail varnish too, and this is a look I've got to try!

    Right with you on the old rope being trotted out by the mag hags - how about those awful 'Capsule Wardrobe' articles that say all you need is a beige sweater, trenchcoat and pair of black trousers? zzzzzzzzzzzzz

    ReplyDelete
  20. Your nails are so cute! Thanks for coming over at the Creative Bloggers' Party & HOp :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment - it's no fun unless I know what you think!

If you ask a question others might want answering too I'll reply here in the comments - if it's personal, I'll reply directly by email if you're set up.