proving my talents and sheer beauty

I have been sat in bed for the past three days with tonsillitis, I keep going to write you up a lovely blog post and then I think 'I have no energy to type' and stick on another crappy 90's film. I did have the energy to do my nails though, and so I have summoned the energy to show them off :)

These nails are a little difficult and have taken a fair bit of practice (to do a good tutorial I'd need the means to video myself doing my own nails, which I do not) to get them the way I like them, the only downside to them is I cannot do the other hand (something I have always had the OCD'ness to do). So I just walk around with one gorgeous hand of nails and another with plain boring ones.. so what hahaha.

I LOVE doing paisley nails I've shown you before here (but I particularly love this colour pairing - it has a grecian feel). 

I decided to do them though after my lovely friend Ella showed me some by WAH nails, Topshop on Instagram, asking me to learn how to do them for her - I was all 'ahem, do not doubt my talent woman' and so here they are.. (you may have seen them on IG already but they make it onto the blog they are that pretty).

I used my navy blue Rio Professional Nail Art Pen and Andrea Fulerton White Nail Polish..

Another occurence of the last couple of days is the #NoMakeUpSelfie, a sudden viral breast cancer awareness trend. I hope you have all taken part I have and I HATE people seeing me without my best friend, mascara... See this is sheer beauty ;) PS If you do the selfie you HAVE to donate otherwise its a little pointless (Text BEAT to 70007 to donate £3 to Cancer Research UK)

Night night beautifuls xxxxxx

@pawsandclaws for instgramming

@pawsnclaws101 for twittering

the positive in seeing the negative

You, my lovely followers and friends have been missing out. Yes indeed, I speak the truth. you have been missing out on some of my nail art lately - unless you follow my instagram/twitter - as I little miss naughty nail blogger haven't been uploading all my nail art to my blog.

In this case I have decided to show you not one, but TWO lots of nail art I have done (one you have seen in technique before, but not in colour) and the other is fresh as a daisy just for you.

Firstly I wanted to show you the nail art I entered into the @glittr Instagram competition with a black and white theme... I obviously didn't win (sniffles) or you would have heard my excitement from miles away (wherever you may be). Here I showed you one of my favourite techniques in a a design I hadn't tried before and ended up LOVING so much I want to do it in different colours everyday, however I am too much of an experimenter to do that. I used my Blackout and Winter Baby Color Show polishes by Maybelline for this design and if you look at my previous post there is a quick how to that explains how EASY it is to achieve this design.

The next is a design inspired by designs by @naildecor on instagram. I love the negative space trend that has been circulating lately, it's so funky and fresh (yes I can say fresh). I have tried it a couple of times here  for Valentine's day and here for my denim inspired design. I think I am getting the hang of it and my new brushes definitley help, so if you are going to try negative space here are my tips:

1. Use brushes! - To paint and to clean up and to neaten up

2. Try cotton buds/pads to create your negative space - Using cotton buds to rub out the area you want is tricky so try wrapping a varnish remover soaked cotton pad around the end of a dotting tool/brush (or anything long and thin).

3. Experiment where possible - whether you own a nail wheel or just use one clean nail to try different designs over and over as this is the best way to get used to being patient and steady handed (this rule applies to most if not all detailed designs!)

I used a random blue polish with no label that I got on a knock off market on Brick Lane (haha!) and my Andrea Fulerton White Polish that came in a glitter kit of hers, I topped it off with my new Rimmel Matte Finish Top Coat.

Let me know what you think lovelies xx

@pawsnclaws101 to tweet me
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gelly on a plate

Finally decided to give this gel effect varnish craze a go as the idea seemed interesting. And even though I've never had the real thing .. My friends and mum get them regularly and recommend them for their long lasting quality and no chip policy. However appealing this sounded I was never keen to invest due to fact I have a tendency to change my nails 2-3 times a week (I've even had those rare quiet weeks where I've had time to redo them every day)...

So, this alternate polish sounded really quite perfect. I picked the Mayfair Lane shade by Nails Inc and gave it a glitter tip and even added, on researching, a non chip coat of my all time love, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat.

The result?

I loved the result, I was expecting a really thick consistency but it went on and felt like a regular polish. Once it had dried it just looked and felt the same as a good polish... no different really.

The chipperness?

I don't really have a job that means I am prone to chipping my nail varnish however I always manage to somehow. So, I was bound to chip them .. and so I did today.. I applied the nail varnish 3 days ago and honestly this is 2 days over my average wait to chip a nail. So I was impressed with the wait.. I think on anyone else it would have been a week!

The aftermath?
The only thing I am not very impressed with this polish is that my nails now feel really brittle and they were just starting to feel strong.. especially the tips where I've been chipping away the nail polish on the tube ride home, which means I have broken two of my nails ahhh!

I think despite the aftermath, if I treat my nails with something, the polish is successful in it's mission and I do think I'll invest in some more gel effect polishes. Will you?

the slump is over

Yes, you heard right, I'm back. Three days away crying in assignment hell. Mostly from tears of utter hysterics thanks to my Irish assignment buddy shouting PENIS down my ear.. but they were tears none the less.

But it's over.. yayyyyy. And I realised I haven't told you all about my new favourite film.. The Wolf of Wall Street. The Leo Di Caprio spectacular expression of sex, money and drugs. Sounds like fun, looks like fun...

So here is a quick inspired nail art in tribute of my new love.

All it took was my amazing Winter Baby White and Blackout Black Maybelline Color Show polishes and my new foils I got for 1.99 on Ebay the other day! Plus a top coat of my favourite investment of the week my Sally Hensen Insta-Dry Top Coat.. I'm in love again ;) Get yourself a couple of thin brushes and way you go. Easy as pie. I wanted to show you some Great Gatsby inspired nail art I did when that came out but weirdly I can't find the picture anywhere.. So next time I have a couple of hours on my hands I'll have to give them another go.

Bye bye Leo lovers.

Abigail xxx

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paisley princess

When I was about 13 years old, my mum kept up her time old tradition of the Pyjama Christmas present - given on Christmas Eve it is a gift that I have gotten and given for as long as I can remember - But this one particular Christmas my mother gave me the best pj's I ever got! Pink Paisley.. need I say more?

This was when I realised my adoration for the intricate and ever so vintage look that paisley patterns give. Granted, the paisley shirt only your Grandad buys in a second hand charity shop and wears when he decides he is 'Super hip and trendy' like the wonderful yet unfortunate David Tennant, is not a good example...

It is a pattern I can pretty much love ANYWHERE :)

So it is only natural that over time I have done many paisley designs when it comes down to my nail art, testing different styles, shapes and colours to see which I like best...

Some where ugly as, some where Saved By The Bell inspired, some where simple and some where favourties.

Today I have done some inspired nail art based on the current paisley I have picked out for my new and very different laptop background - I have gone from pink and fluffy to monochrome and sharp. All it took was Maybelline's Colour Show in Blackout with a matte top coat from George Asda Matte Manicure range in clear and a White Pearl Rio Professional Nail Care pen :) So here it is... Inspiration to final design ...

Instagram me your paisley @pawsandclaws101

Or tweet me :) @pawsnclaws101

Abigail xxx

flower power

simple but no so easy.. see what you can do and instagram me the results  @pawsandclaws101

lace & frills tutorial

So.. I missed out on posting yesterday and I feel terrible! I was doing so well.. so to make up for it here is a tutorial...

Todays tutorial is my simple lace design...

This design is so easy to do.. all you need is below:

• 3 colours of nail polish (preferably one colour for the base and two shades of one colour for the detail) 
• a dotting tool/needle
• base/top coat
• a steady hand

For my 3 colours I chose GOSH polish in High school flirt, Max Factor Gloss Finity in lilac lace and B. polish in Mulberry.

Step 1: Apply generous coat of base colour. 

Step 2: Using the large dotting tool add a cloud of your second colour to the tip of the nail. 

Step 3: Using a very small dotting tool/needle dot two lines of small dots along the edge of the cloud in the third colour you have chosen. 

Step 4: Add medium dots of the base coat to the cloud at the tip of your nail to create a 'holey effect'

Step 5: Using a the small dotting too again, in the third colour, dot and drag to create teardrops at the edges of your design.

Step 6: Top coat and breathe ..

Tah dah!

Let me know if you have a go at it @pawsandclaws101
Check out my instagram for more designs and other fun bits and bobs :)

Abigail xxx