Nail blogger secrets for pretty nails 4: Glitter isn’t normal polish

Part 4 of the Nail Blogger Secrets series looks at the most enticing, yet most frustrating of polish genres: glitter. How do you get it, how do you use it, and how do you get rid of it? There’s a special moment when a polish-lovin’ nail fiend first discovers glitter. Not fine, sprinkly glitter top coat (though those deserve love …

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Nail blogger secrets for pretty nails 3: Clean-up is your sneaky BFF

Part 3 of the Nail Blogger Secrets series is devoted to clean-up. Clean-up and quick dry top coat were the two discoveries that converted me from casual nail fan to full-blown addict. Life-changing? Yes, I would say so! Click through for part 1 (top coats) and part 2 (nail maintenance). Most nail bloggers and Instagram girls don’t need to airbrush …

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Nail blogger secrets for pretty nails 2: Prep that base

Here’s the second installment of my Nail Blogger Secrets series (you can check out the first post on top coats here). Today we’re discussing the prep work before you slap on a colourful polish – it’s more important than the polishing itself! We’re going to cover the whole shebang of routines, including diet, moisturisers, cuticle removers, nail strengtheners, filing, and …

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Nail blogger secrets for pretty nails 1: Top coat the mother

Here’s a series I’ve wanted to write for a long time. Like many other nail addicts, I’m a bit sick of people assuming that: the only reason our nails look good is an ungodly amount of Photoshop; and/or it takes a lot of skill or special equipment to get nice nails. Neither of these is true. There are tons of …

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How to make Lemony Flutter smooth again (tutorial)

This post is for Anthea (Nailed Obsession/Sayuri) who drew my attention to this problem. Hope you like it! If you’re a fan of Lush’s cult cuticle balm Lemony Flutter, you may have discovered that some tubs of it are smooth as butter, while other tubs contain gritty sand-sized particles. Why is this? As you might expect, Lush doesn’t intentionally make …

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How does matte top coat work, and DIY matte top coat recipe

Two tutorials in a row? What on earth is happening?? Thanks to a reader email, I’ve been looking at matte top coats and DIY-ing them recently. Before we get to the DIY part, here’s how matte top coats work – it’s pretty simple! Much like linear vs scattered holo finishes, it’s all about how smooth the surface is – in …

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Striping Tape Nail Art Tutorial for piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013!

I can’t believe it’s been a year since the last piCture pOlish Blog Fest! This year, no new shades are being launched but we’ve been asked to create a nail art tutorial featuring piCture pOlishes. I’ve used Hope, Dorothy and Ruby Blou to make an easy and bold striping tape design:  What I used: Block nails:– Striping tape (silver, from …

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Permanent Marker Nail Art Tutorial (aka I’m Nail MacGyver!)

I feel like I’ve been on fire with DIY nail things lately! Here’s my latest discovery – how to successfully use permanent marker on your nails. I’m not too shabby with a fine brush (years of weighing out micrograms in a lab will do that to you), but I can’t count the number of times I’ve wanted to just throw …

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