Negative space and Floral Tutorial

Its still summer in Britain, although the weather’s been really crappy the last couple of weeks.

To brighten up this dull, grey day, I decided to do  pink mani with a white negative space freehand floral design on my ring finger.

Here’s how I did it:

1) Start with a completely dry nude base.

2) Place striping tape horizontally on your nail and paint over it with white polish. Remove tape immediately

3) Clean up around your nail if you need to with an angled brushed dipped in acetone.

4) Create two/three petals in the upper corner of your nail. Once they’ve dried for a couple of minutes, outline them with a darker shade and add a couple of lines on petals.

5) Seal with topcoat

6) Apply a dot of glue and add rhinestone to your flower and surround it with gold caviar beads.

Thank you for reading.

Love,

Bee xx

Easy Rock Cakes Recipe

Rock cakes are simply the easiest cake to make, so easy, anyone can make them, Children love making them too as from start to finish takes no time and this recipe is pretty foolproof, so there is a great sense of achievement. Very soon they are on the plate, all lovely and warm and ready to be eaten. My mother in law (who knows a thing or two about baking), loved it so much, she even asked me for the recipe! Here’s the recipe: Ingredients

• 226g self-raising flour
• 113g demerara sugar plus some for sprinkling (if you don’t have any, granulated sugar works just as well)
• 113g butter
• 113g dried mixed fruit (currants, sultanas, peel etc.)
• 1 egg
• a splash of milk
• 1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (if, like me, you are cinnamons biggest fan, then add a whole tsp instead of half.)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl and then add the ground mixed spice and the cinnamon. Mix through well.
2. Next, add the margarine and mix to resemble fine breadcrumbs with your fingers. Add the sugar and mixed fruit then mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Pour a beaten egg into the mixture until it comes together to a sticky, dough ball. You made need a little milk at this point but add it a splash at a time.
3. Place the mixture in generous lumps on a baking tray and then sprinkle with sugar. Don’t smooth them out too much at this stage as they look much better when cooked, if they remain lumpy.
4. Bake in the oven for 10-20 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. (normally I would check at 10 minutes with a skewer as I like mine very moist) Then Enjoy! They are perfect with cups of tea and coffee and delicious with clotted cream when still warm from the oven!!

Thanks for reading! Love, Bee xx

Geometric Lines Nailart Tutorial

Hey Lovelies!

Sorry my post is late, my little man is not very well and with my husband away in Dubai for business, Its been hard finding time to do anything.

So for today’s manicure I decided to do something different. Wasn’t sure what to call this type of design  but how cares if it looks good, right?!

My manicure was inspired by the lovely @badgirlnails She is a very talented lady and very popular on instagram. If you love doing your nails and feeling a bit uninspired, you should check out her instagram.

1) Start with a completely dry white base. Place a few strips of striping tape criss crossing your nails or which ever style you prefer.

2) Paint any colours which work well together (I used Ciate’s cabaret, ‘big yellow taxi’ and ‘headliner’) randomly onto a latex-free makeup sponge and dab them onto your nails.Repeat this process 2-3 times (I only done this once, because I didn’t have much time),with a few minutes drying time in between coats.

3) Remove the tape immediately after your final sponging coat.

4) Clean up around your cuticles. I used a q-tip and an angled brush dipped in acetone.

5) Seal your design with a top coat.

If you have any questions, give me a shout!

Have a lovely day y’all!

Love,

Bee xxx

Revlon ‘Plum Night’ nail polish tie dye grungy effect nailart

These are the nails I am wearing at the moment. The nail enamel is Revlon – 799 Plum Night! This little beauty I picked up from Poundland (yes, I did!), which I was so pleased about as they retail at around £6. 50 at Boots. I love the colour and you can get away with just applying one coat. I do find that its quite runny, but I cant complain as I only paid a pound for it!

I decided on a simple tie dye grungy effect design on the ring finger using Revlon plum night, white nail polish and a metallic turquoise.

To recreate the nailart which you could do with any colours which work well together, this is what you do:

1) Paint your nail one coat of white, let it dry.

2) Repeat step 1.

3) Drop chosen nail polish colours randomly on your nail.

4) Take plastic wrap and press it on the nail then remove.

5) Let nail dry completely before applying top coat.

Thank you for stopping by

Love,

Bee xxx

Benefits of cuticle oil

Using cuticle oil  is essential to my nail care routine. If you have never used cuticle oil or have never heard of cuticle oil, I will explain why using cuticle oil is good as part of your nail care routine and the benefits of using it.

The main purpose of cuticle oil is to deeply moisturize the cuticle,  the skin and surrounding nail area. It also helps increase circulation in the nail bed and can stimulate new nail growth. When cuticles or the surrounding nail are extremely dry and cracked, to the point of separation of the nail area from the cuticle, the oil provides quick repair and protection. The oil deeply moisturizes the area, repairs the nail, stops the cracking and eventually allows the nail to reattach.

I am a trained manicurist and have used many different cuticle oils over the years, but have to say that CND Solar Oil is by far my favourite and I have been using it for the past 2 years!

The award-winning cuticle oil is infused with jojoba oil and vitamin E. I use a drop of Solar Oil on each nail every day and found that my nails were stronger, healthier nails and it hydrated cuticle area.

Unfortunately, CND Solar Oil cannot be purchased direct from CND (US) or Sweet Squared (UK) as they only deal with professionals, however, some nails salons does sell them to clients.

Let me know if you use drugstore cuticle oil and your thoughts on it.

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment on this post.

Thank you for stopping by.

Love,

Bee  xxx

Nails of the day

Today, I want to share the manicure I am wearing at the moment.  I have purchased Rimmel’s 60 seconds Super Shine in Danny boy blue about 2 weeks ago and have to say that I absolutely love it! For £2.99 you cant really go wrong with this nail polish. It  delivers on the shine factor and best of all, you don’t have to wait a lifetime for your polish to dry.

On my middle finger I applied Barry M’s Matt White, using a nail art striper brush, drawn a  diamond shape with silver nail polish and Rimmel’s danny boy blue.

On my ring finger I’ve applied a base coat and used Ciate’s Tinsel Trail and individually placed the glitter on my nail.  All my nails was then sealed with a top coat and gems added for a bit of extra bling.

What colour are you rocking on your nails?

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment on this post.

Thank you for stopping by, have a good day y’all!

xxx

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

#ManicureMonday – Easy Floral Nailart Tutorial

Step by step tutorial on how to create this floral nail art

I know that I have not posted anything for a while, but I am in the process of moving house and as all mums knows, trying to pack boxes whilst having a toddler running around unpacking everything you packed, can be even more hard work!

I  thought I would do a floral nail tutorial for #manimonday. This is super fun and also super easy to do. To make this bright and colourful, I used a variety of colours.

Things you will need:

White Nail Polish

Nail polish colour/s of your choice for flowers

Gold nail polish

Foil

Dotting tool / toothpick

1) Apply base coat to all your nails.

2) Apply x1 coat white nail polish to all your nails, allow to dry. Repeat this step once  your nails are dry.

3) Drip some of the your chosen nail polish colour onto the foil and dip your dotting tool into the nail polish

4) With our dotting tool, place four dots on your nails  to form the petals of your flower.

5) Dip into gold nail polish with smaller end of the dotting tool and place this in the middle of your flower. Allow the design to dry.

6) Apply top coat to your nails

Voila! You ready to show off your beautiful floral nails!

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment on this post.

xx

Negative space nailart tutorial

Step by Step instructions on how to create this negative space nailart.

The design of my nails was inspired by my Hugo Boss watch my husband bought me last year. I love how this looks so neat on my short nails. Negative space nails have been a trend since fashion week a number of months ago.

What you will need:

Base Coat

White Nail Polish – I love Rimmel’s 60 seconds ‘White Hot Love’ – its a one coat nail polish so is perfect for this nailart

Top Coat – I used Naio’s Air Dry Top Coat

Gold Strip Tape – This can be purchased on Ebay or Amazon

A pair of scissors

Self Adhesive Labels – This you can purchase in any supermarket, it will normally be in the stationery aisle

Cuticle clipper

Cuticle Oil – I use CND’s Solar Oil which I just love

Nail art brush or an old make up brush will do

Nail polish remover

1) Take one self adhesive label and cut some strips with the pair of scissors.

2) Apply base coat to all 10 nails. Let this dry completely. This is important as you do not want the strips to peel off some of the base coat when you stick them on your nails.

Pinky finger design – Take one strip and place it in the middle of your nail. Paint your entire nail with  white polish. Pull off the strip after painting your nail. Another way of doing it, is to paint your entire nail white. Take a small nail art brush and dip it in a small amount of nail polish remover. Keeping your brush still and rotate your finger slowly, gliding the brush along your nail.

Ring finger design –  Take one strip and place this under your smile line. Take the second strip and place it by your cuticle. Paint the entire nail white then pull off the strips.

Middle finger design – Place one strip horizontally across your nail. Place the second strip  so it forms a ‘V’ shape. Paint over the entire nail with the white polish then pull off the strips.

Index finger design – Place two strips of the label to form a ‘V’ shape in the middle of your nail. Paint the ‘V’ shape but be careful not to go over the strips. Pull off the strips once you completed painting your nail.

Thumb finger design – Place x2 thinly cut strips in the middle of your nail leaving a gap between them. Paint the gap between the two strips with the white polish. Pull off the strips once you completed painting your nail.

4) Ensure your nails dry completely as you don’t want your freshly painted design to smudge.

*** Tip*** If your lines aren’t neat, dip your nail art brush in a small amount of nail polish remover. Keeping the brush still, rotate your finger slowly to clean up your lines.

5) You can leave your nails as it is, as it looks good without the gold tape as well or you can place your gold tape as shown in the above picture.

*** Top Tip***  If you are using the gold strip tape, what I find works for me is to place the tape directly onto the nail and rolling the tape across the nail then cutting it with the cuticle cutter. I find cutting it to lengths can  loose its stickiness.

6) Apply a top coat and let your nails dry completely.

7) Apply cuticle oil to nails.

.

Pink Polka Dot Nails Tutorial

Step by Step super easy tutorial on how to do this pink polka dot nails

I love polka dots and with this light pink colour, my nails looks so girlie. This mani is super easy to do! What you will need:  Pink Nail Polish – I used Ciate’s ‘Strawberry Milkshake’ White Nail Polish – I used Rimmel’s 60 seconds ‘White Hot Love’ Base coat Top Coat – I used Naio Air Dry Top Coat Silver glitter nail polish – I used Ciate’s ‘Celestial’ (optional) Foil Dotting tool – If you don’t have one, you can also use the back of a pin or a toothpick Cuticle Oil – I use CND’s solar oil (optional) Method: 1) Apply a base coat (you can use the top coat as a base) to all 10 nails. 2) Apply one coat of your chosen pink nail polish to 9/10 nails. If you are using silver glitter nail polish, apply one coat to your ring finger and allow to dry. 3) Apply a second coat of your choice pink nail polish to all 9/10 nails. If you are using silver glitter nail polish, apply this second coat to your ring finger and allow to dry 4) Drop a small amount of the white nail polish on the piece of foil. Dip your dotting tool/toothpick/pin into the white polish. 5) Apply the dots, starting with a row in the middle of your nail, as you will then find it easier as to where to place the other dots. Allow to dry fully. This is important because if you do not let it dry thoroughly, then the polka dots will smudge. 6) Apply top coat. Sit, back relax and let your nails dry. Optional – Apply cuticle oil to condition your nails and cuticles. Top Tip – If you don’t have a lot of time, try to use quick dry nail polish where possible as this will cut down on the dry time!

DIY Banana, Lemon and Honey Face Mask

3 ingredients away to glowing, smoother and blemish free skin. Best of all, its in your kitchen cupboard!

Lately my skin’s been looking dull and tired.  As all mums knows, we hardly have time to think, let alone going to the spa for a facial. I also want to get rid of my blemishes without the hefty bill.

One of my friends told me to try this mask and I’m so glad I did! My skin feels amazing! Its glowing, feels really smooth and some of the blemishes on my face have lighten.

Benefits:

Banana contains Vitamins A, B &E and Potassium. The vitamine B in the banana is a natural anti-aging ingredient and also reduces dryness and moisturise the skin.  Vitamin E reduces the appearance of wrinkles and is known as The Protector. Potassium moisturises the skin and hydrates skin cells.

Honey gets rid of  bacteria and prevent acne and pimples.

Lemon contains citric acid and will lighten dark skin, reducing the appearance dark spots and pimples blemishes.

Ingredients

1 medium size banana

1 tsp of honey

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Method

1) Take a ripe banana and mash it with  a fork in a bowl until its  smooth and lump free. Add 1 tsp. of honey and 1 tsp. of lemon juice and mix the ingredients thoroughly.

2) Wash your face with a mild soap and use a soft towel to pat it dry.

3)Rub the mask into your face, using your clean fingers. If needed apply a second coat to make the ingredients penetrate deep into skin.

4) Keep your mask on for 10-15 minutes and wash your face with lukewarm water without using any soap.

*** If you are trying this mask, ensure you are doing it over the bathroom sink as the mask can drip. Also do it in a t shirt you don’t mind getting dirty.  Tie back your hair if you don’t want it to get sticky. The leftover mask can be kept in the fridge for up to one week. Use this mask only twice a week ***