Extra Relaxed 31 Day Challenge - Day 8 - Metallic

Day 8 (week 8) of the ER31DC - Metallic.
So sorry for posting this so late.  First of I did it late (Sunday), and then I got so busy at work I just did not have time to post.  But here it is at last.  I also ordered from Frangance Direct, and used two of my new Sally Hansen lacquers.  I've not used SH before and found the brush quite nice (square) I used two coats here but I did find that it needed longer to dry (hence the nicks and dents on my middle finger).  Perhaps I need to be more patient!  Any hoot lovely colours and I can't wait to try the others I orders. (Will do a haul post later).

Items Used:

OPI Nail Envy
NYC quick dry top coat
Sally Hansen - Pedal to the Metal - Grey/lavender
Sally Hansen - Purple Pulse - Purple
Striping Tape

Ask a British Blogger...."How do you store your polish?"

I've trying to write this post for ages but just couldn't get my head round it.  So I have come to the conclusion to just go for it.  So here goes......

Before I started blogging my polish collection was already growing steadily, mainly OPI, as I had a wonderful store in the USA who sold it at a reasonable price and shipping was really good too to the UK. But then OPI made a big thing about e-tailers selling OPI online and this particular store sold off all their OPI in a big sale- i couldn't resist and bought a whole load!  Up to this point my polish was stored in biscuit tins, which were categorised by make and then by colour.  I must have had at least six or seven tins.

Then I found blogging and a replacement for OPI (which I still buy but only at sales prices) - China Glaze, LA Girl, BarryM, Color Club but to name a few.  My nail polish addiction well and truly started and spiralled out of control and  my stash started to grow and I needed a better way to store...... that is when I heard of the Helmer from Ikea.

I bought my first Helmer (see post here, here and here) way back in April 2011, I put my stash in it and it was nearly full. By the end of the week I had to go back and get my second one for the rest of my ever growing collection. By September 2011 my collection and addiction got worse and we had to pop back and get another Helmer.  But this time I bought a spare as well just in case!..... aaaggghhhhhh.  So at present I have three Helmers and they are all full!  I need to make up my fourth one for the new haul I have from Fragrance Direct and other outlets.  I also have a handy carry box in which I put my nail gems, stickers that I use regularly along with other bits and bobs.  Another visit to Ikea also beckons ...... perhaps?

At the moment I store by colour, but I have SO many unused polish/lacquer that I need to think of another way of storing/filing so I use those in one way or another.

So that's it, I use Helmers for storage and I love them as they hold so much and are quite reasonably priced.

And now.... picture heavy, here is my collection as @ present (with about 40 odd still to be filed!)

Extra Relaxed 31 Day Challenge - Day 7 - Black and White

Day 7 (week 7) of the ER31DC - Black and White.
This was an easy'ish manicure to do.  I taped off the bottom half and painted my nails from the cuticle in white.  Took off the tape and painted the bottom half with black.  Using black and white acrylic paint, I painted on the three lines using opposite colours, a coat of SV and voila......

Items Used:
OPI Nail Envy
Seche Vite top coat
Sinful Colors - Black on Black
China Glaze - White on White
Acrylic Paints - Black and White

Extra Relaxed 31 Day Challenge - Day 6 - VIOLET

Day 6 (week 6) of the ER31DC - VIOLET. This week the theme is violet.  I am lacking inspiration so went searching the web and came across this striking manicure. She is a brilliant nail artist, go check her out on youtube.  Anyway here is my violet take on this one.

Items used:
OPI Nail Envy
China Glaze - Tantalize Me - shimmer lilac
Acrylic Paint - blue and lilac to make violet, black
random white nail polish
NYC quick dry top coat

Extra Relaxed 31 Day Challenge - Day 5 - BLUE

Day 5 (week 5) of the ER31DC - Blue. I haven't worn nail polish for over a week and a half since being ill. The last ER31DC was just photographed and immediately taken off!  So my nails were crying out to be painted and what a lovely colour this is, blue, my favourite.  A few dots to make it a bit more interesting and voila....

Items Used:

OPI Nail Envy
NYC Quick Dry Top Coat
LA Girl Disco - Deejay (Base colour)
Color Club - Factory Girl
Dotting tools