12 Days of Christmas - Day 5 {Nails}

Don't let your nails detract from all the effort you have put into making yourself fabulous this season.

The hands are often neglected yet they are one of the first things that people (men especially) notice when talking to us.

Change it up a bit! Steer away from the nude nails or classic French manicure & add some festive sparkle.

You could dress up your French manicure simply by adding a snowflake and a gem. 

Have a look at my Pinterest board over here for a tutorial on snowflake painting.

Add a ombré glitter effect to your solid base using this simple technique:

Pinterest Link

My favourite is the candy stripes. Not as difficult as you may think.

Pinterest Link

Cut some strips of varying thicknesses out of Sellotape and stick on your nail (already painted with a base colour, for example white)

Paint over in red. Peel tape off and finish with a topcoat when dry.

Something very important to consider when choosing 2 colours: polish must be a solid colour that completely masks the colour underneath, or else you end up with a terrible effect when completed.

See my nails Christmas 2013:

The green was not dark enough to mask the red underneath. Not a nice result at all!

If you're pressed for time/not creative/hate doing your nails- then go with something simple:

Paint your nails in your favourite colour (for a dramatic evening look, opt for something bold like red or purple) & paint an accent nail using a contrasting colour or texture. Glitter gives you instant "glam".

Glitter Glam

Zoya Pixie Dust in Solange (gold glitter) is a nice polish to try this season.

Source

Liquid Sand by OPI gives an edgier finish if you are against the girlie sparkle as it dries to a Matte finish.

OPI Liquid Sand

No matter what effect you decide upon, just be sure to finish with a (quick dry) top coat to ensure the polish remains chip-free for the duration of the party & wave your hands with pride!

Deep Breathe and Jump

I am really gob-smacked at how quickly time flies - and I am not even having fun!

I didn't get to finish the Blog everyday in May challenge and that is because of my birthday. I would like to say I celebrated so much that I am still recovering, alas, quite the opposite.

In the 5 years I have worked for my company I have had 3/5 really bad birthdays. I took a full day leave so as not to have a repeat of my birthday last year (I was late for my own plans and I cried on the way home)

Despite the good intentions, my 1st call of the day was my boss. Not to wish me (he had forgotten) but to ask me to do work. I reminded him it was my birthday and for the following response: "oh, happy birthday... so can you find out what is happening and let me know?"
After that 2 work colleagues knowing I was off for the day, still bothered me with unimportant work stuff that could have waited for the following day.

Instead of a fun day at mom's work having my hair done and being spoilt by my mom, I sat in tears in the beauty salon and cried in front of strangers.
I had wanted to make a big change, but in light of my high emotions, we played it safe.
I cut off 6cm, dyed my hair dark brown and added a few red streaks.

Mom then painted my nails with an awesome new nail polish called Liquid Sand. It's dark grey with flecks of red glitter. Once you get used to the rough texture, it's really funky.
I think my mom is more in tune with the latest fashions than I am!

The girls were quite sweet and arranged this for me:

I will never get my birthday back. It's ruined forever.
My mom was excited to spend a birthday with me having some girl time and instead she had to watch me on my phone and hand me tissues.

So I made a decision. A big decision. I will share soon.

But this is why I have not been blogging since 29 May.

I miss it, and I find it extremely therapeutic. I will still finish the Blog Everyday in May challenge... eventually.