The Walking Dead

It's that time of the year again..... Halloween! 

There were so many designs that I was debating to do for the Polish Party Halloween challenge but since the return on my favorite programme 'The Walking Dead' I've been slightly obsessed with zombies so i thought, what better tutorial to do than the look of rotting flesh dripping with blood!? 

For this tutorial, I used Models Own 'Aciiid' and 'Purple Ash' which blended together give the perfect horrible zombie 'fleshy' colour! I also used my red Rio nail art pen - you don't necessarily need to use a nail art pen for this, but i just found it easier to work with.

... I didn't do a step by step picture tutorial because this is such an easy look to achieve and literally takes a couple of minutes! 

- So to start with paint all your nails with the lime green 'Aciiid' 

- Then put a couple of blobs of the 'Purple Ash' onto a piece of scrap paper and using a small sponge start getting messy!! Just dab and blend the darker colour all over the nails and down onto your skin.. be careful not to overdo this bit as you still want to let the lime green colour come through!

- Next, grab your red colour and start drawing blood around the cuticles/edges of the nails and also do some red streaks down your fingers. Then using a clean edge of your sponge just blend the red in slightly.

- Now add a few fine streaks of the red and 'purple ash' on the nails, and again just lightly blend them in using the sponge.

- Dip the sponge back into the 'Purple Ash' and darken the red colour slightly, and also sponge some of the lime green 'Aciiid' down onto your fingers to make your flesh look like its rotting!!

- Finally, just keep blending the colours together over the nail and on your skin until your happy with the effect. 

And that's it!! I didn't put a top coat on these as you don't want the nails to look glossy!

This literally took me about 10 minutes to do, it's so quick and easy and extremely fun to get that messy with nail varnish and not having to worry about being neat and precise! 

I hope you like this look, if you're dressing up as a zombie for halloween then this would be perfect to do!

Thank you for taking the time out to read this tutorial!
- Sophie x

P.S. don't forget to check out all the other Polish Party girl's Halloween tutorials below as they are amazing! 

Autumn bloom

Hi everyone,

Today i've done a tutorial for possibly my favourite pattern to date.. a autumnal vintage floral design...

Autumn is by far my favourite season, and i love being able to go back to wearing warm, rich, dark colours for the season.. and of course to make it a bit more 'me' i had to do some flowers on there!

(before i start please excuse the poor quality of my pictures! my camera isn't the best, and it doesn't help when there is poor lighting in my room!)

To begin with paint your base colour.. 

I used my all time favourite autumnal colour - Models Own 'Purple Ash'.. Oh my.. this colour is just amazing! its a gorgeous purple/brown/taupe colour and as with all models own colours gives amazing coverage!

Then using a light colour, I chose 'Lemon Meringue' as you can see above from Models Own (again!) and just paint random splurges to make the base shape of your flowers.. this bit doesn't have to be neat, the messier the better in fact as it all adds to the vintage look!

Then you'll need two more colours, one slightly darker, and then another one step darker.. I used another beauty from Models Own - 'Fuzzy Peach' and my red Rio nail art pen.

For this bit i used a fine nail art brush and put a dot of each colour onto a piece of paper and then just painted random flecks and swirls onto each flower.. I also painted a little blob of the red in the centre of each flower just to add depth and shadow.

Finally you just need two shades of green for your leaves (you can just use the one shade if you don't have two) - I used 'Aciiid' from Models Own (can you tell that they are my favourite nail brand?) and my green Rio nail art pen..

Paint a couple of triangular shaped leaves onto each flower with the lighter shade, and then add a couple of flecks of the darker colour to mimic the veins in the leaves..

Then just seal with your favourite topcoat and your done! 

This pattern is so easy and quick to do! you can be really messy and random as it doesn't take any precision at all, and of course it creates a perfect look for autumn! 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, leave any comments below with any suggestions as to what kind of pattern you would like me to do next!

Thank you for taking the time out to read this tutorial, I really appreciate it!

- Sophie x

Liebster Award

Today its a bit of a different post to my usual tutorials, but recently I was nominated for a 'Liebster Award' from the lovely CandySaysx.

I'd never heard of the Liebster award until I started blogging so after hunting around the internet I grasped a better idea of the award and what it entails. Basically its an award that bloggers give to fellow bloggers, but the one catch is that they have to have under 200 followers - so it's a brilliant way to discover and promote new and upcoming blogs! 

You answer a set of questions given to you by your nominee and then once you've answered the questions, you tag and nominate ten of your favourite new blogs and so on... 

I was so touched when I was nominated and it just shows and i've finally managed to find the time to answer the questions CandySaysx set for me, so here it goes....

1) If you could go into one shop and have anything and everything you wanted for free, which shop would you choose?
I'm completely torn with this question so i've got no choice but to cheat and say Selfridges, that way I'd have access to all the goodies off the high street such as my fave Topshop, and amazing designer labels! Plus the added bonus of the beauty section and most importantly the food hall! Who doesn't love a good food section?! 

2) Which mascara do you use?

I use so many different mascaras that all pretty much do the same job but i get pressured into trying new ones by the tempting offers in boots! At the moment i'm using new Revlon Lash Potion Mascara  which i'm loving! It's got a large bristle brush which separate your lashes without leaving you with the dreaded "spider" lashes.

3) Which fashion house would you most like to work for?

I'd have to say Topshop.. This is always my go-to store when I want to treat myself or when I just want to have a general browse at the latest trends.. but it does love to drain my bank account!

4) Who influences your style?

 I've got a mega girl crush on Zooey Deschanel and because I love all things vintage, her style would probably be my biggest influence. Although there are others such as Lucy Hale (from Pretty Little Liars) because she has a bit of a mixed style which ranges from girly dresses to jeans and converse.

5) What would you typically wear on a first date?

If I was going to quite a fancy place for my first date then i'd wear a floaty dress, blazer and I'd probably even brave a pair of heels despite my hatred for them! 

If it a more 'casual' first date then i'd stick to my blazer, but i'd wear a more laid back skater dress and a nice pair of flats.

6) Eyes or lips; or are you one of those brave people who emphasises both?

Definitely eyes! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love a bold red lip, but I've only felt brave enough a couple of times to actually venture outside wearing red lipstick, so i tend to fall back into my safety net of emphasising my eyes more and then wearing a more natural lip colour.

7) Do you have something hanging in your wardrobe which you’ve never worn?

I've got too many things hanging in my wardrobe that i've never worn, but we won't go into how much of a hoarder i am right now though....

8) Do you have a favourite pair of shoes?

Definitely my black Topshop Mary Jane T-Bar shoes.. they scream "granny chic" and most people probably think they are hideous, but I love them too much to care! 

9) What cheers you up if you are sad?

If i'm feeling down or sad then I tend to just watch a couple of episodes of New Girl or The Big Bang Theory and it normally does the trick!

And of course, just ranting and unloading all my sadness onto my friends works a treat to! 

10) If you won a holiday for two, who would you take with you and why?

I'd take my lovely mom, and pay her back for all the amazing things she's done for me over the years.

11) What is your favourite thing about blogging?

Ermm i think it's just meeting all the other lovely bloggers that are out there, but also just having an outlet where I can share all my likes and obviously my love for nails! Sometimes you do feel like your talking to yourself, but even when you just get one comment on your blog post it makes it all worth the effort and dedication!

....

And thats it! Its a different styled post to what I normally do, but I was so honoured to be nominated for a Liebster Award I couldn't just ignore it! 

Here are my 10 nominees - go check out their amazing blogs if you havent already! ...

• Pinkglows Pretty Polish
• Fundamentally Flawless 
• The Naily Mail
• Sara Louise
• Little Tip Off
• Nails by Waggie
• Sweet-Dreams Nails 
• The Imperfect 10
• Polish Your Day 
• Fitz Reviews

and here are my questions for all you lovely ladies...

1. What's the one beauty product you couldn't live without?
2. What's your all time favourite nail varnish?
3. What's the first thing you would do if you won the lottery?
4. What made you want to start a blog?
5. If you could have a super power, what would it be?
6. If you could become best friends with a character from any novel, who would you choose?
7. What's your favourite fashion style?
8. Do you have any guilty pleasures?
9. Favourite magazine?
10. Are you a pudding/desert girl, or do you prefer savoury foods?
11. If you travel back in time only once, which period or event in history would you choose to travel back to?

I hope you all enjoyed reading this (and i hope i didn't bore you all too much with my answers aha!)

- Sophie x