Nail Mail Monday

Hello!

Today I've got some Nail Mail to show you,

I picked up these pretties from Rainbow Connection UK last week.

From Left to Rights is Picture Polish 'Free' & 'Mermaid' & Illyrian Polish 'Charming'.

I also picked up this Creative Shop stamping plate. Such fun designs!

I couldn't resist the new UberChic Unicorn stamping plate from Nail Artisan. So cute!

Thanks for visiting,

Have a lovely day,

Helen xx

The Walking Dead Nails & Walker Stalker Con London 2017 Review

Hello!

No Nail Mail this week but with The Walking Dead Season 7 finale upon us I thought it was a good time to post my Walker Stalker Con London 2017 review and obviously nails were done for the occasion! 

I posted a review in 2016 of my experience at the first Walker Stalker Con London, I had a General Admission ticket last year and although I still had an amazing time the queuing etc... did take away from my enjoyment a little so this year I splashed out a bit for a VIP ticket!

The VIP ticket gives you perks such as faster queuing over GA. Priority panel seating and we got in an hour and a half earlier than GA which was a much more relaxing experience than last years craziness. 

Walker Stalker have a 'will call' on the Friday before the weekend starts so we picked up the tickets early to avoid the queues on the Saturday. Will Call was SO! well organised this year and only took around 10 minutes to pick up the VIP admission tickets - Straight to the desk because we had priority queuing and then picked up my photo op and autograph tickets which took about 45 minutes - No priority queues for this.   

We arrived about half 8 for the doors at 9. The Platinum and Gold VIPs were let in first and then us. The hall at Olympia was so much better laid out this year. Pictures below:

This was the convention floor with the merch in the centre and autographs around the sides and on the upper level with the panel seating to the back of the hall and a big open floor space next to it. Last year this was where the photo ops were but they had been moved into the back hanger creating a much more open feel. Last year was a claustrophobic nightmare! This year I don't think I felt too 'crammed in' the whole weekend. I know they sold less tickets this year as well and I think they hit the nail on the head with numbers.

Hall with just VIP attendees.

Photo Ops and second panel stage to the right of these lines.

There was new artwork for lanyard passes as well this year. How cool is that zombie!

First thing Saturday I had my Norman Reedus Autograph. These were pre-sold for GA & VIP this year which meant a much less crowded Norman line. Much more relaxed. I still waited around 3 hours as Gold & Platinum had priority. I was lucky that Jefferey Dean Morgan came to say Hi! Safe to say my mind went blank as soon as I met Norman and ended up talking about blood sugar levels and didn't show him my nails. I'm hoping next year I'll be lucky to snag another autograph and maybe not become a mute next time! Norman was lovely though, and hugged me!!

After this we went to a few panels and looked at the merch and also managed to fit in a Lauren Cohen Autograph in the afternoon. She was lovely but definitely doesn't spend as long chatting to fans as Norman so her line moved very quickly. We walked straight through with our VIP Passes.

The cos players this year were awesome and really added to the experience, There was also a scare maze with professional zombies and a photo booth for pictures, I didn't try this as, as much as I enjoy The Walking Dead, I would have been a complete wuss with the jump scares!

Sunday we arrived around half 9 and went straight in. We were hoping to get a sketch from Charlie Adlard but the queue time was too long so we went and watched some more panels instead. I had a Photo Op with Norman in the afternoon. It was fairly well organised this year but the Photo Op security people were very loud and unhelpful. We had to wait quite a while but Norman is often running late so I was expecting it. The Photo Op is very fast, like 30 seconds. I probably won't get any Photo Ops next year as I preferred the autographs where there's time for some interaction before being moved along.

We spent the rest of the day watching panels and looking at the merch. I think I could have got some more autographs if I'd wanted but the prices had gone up quite a bit from last year and I enjoy the panels so didn't want to miss any. Next year I might try for some more autographs depending on who's announced.

Overall I was so pleased Walker Stalker had taken on all the complaints from last year and frankly I think sorted all the problems! VIP was definitely worth the extra money. Less queuing was definitely appreciated and the priority seating at panels was great as I love that aspect of the con. The early entry made getting your bearings much less stressful. The merch was much better, both quality & quantity. The Volunteers did an amazing job and seemed much better informed than last year. My only complaint was that despite being let in at 9 most of the stars didn't arrive until 10 meaning the hour I was hoping to maybe squeeze some easy autographs in didn't really happen. Also the pre-sale autos for Norman & Jefferey way overran and people were there past closing time as the tried to fit everyone in. I had a group A ticket so this wasn't an issue for me but the later groups ran very late, nightmare if you had trains to catch etc... Credit to them both for staying well into the evening to see everyone though. They have such long crazy days!!

Also I think I'd now like all my nail pictures to be posed on Norman Reedus if that's ok! Best place my Right hand has ever been!

Got my VIP ticket booked for next year already!

So onto the nails! I always find my Walking Dead Nails turn out similar to ones I've done before but I just really like this design!!

I used my trusty OPI 'My Boyfriend Scales Walls' as a base and dry brushed using Models Own 'Red Lustre' & 'Raven Red' for the blood effect.

I used stamping plates Uber Chic 'Zombie Love 01' Sugar Bubbles '001' & Creative Shop Plate '35'. I stamped with Colour Alike Black Stamping Polish and my Fab Ur Nails Jumbo Stamper.

I topped it all off with a coat of HK Girl Top Coat. So Shiny!

If you've got any questions about Walker Stalker Con feel free to comment or contact me on my social media.

Here's hoping our favourite characters survive the Season 7 Finale!

Thanks for visiting,

Have a lovely day,

Helen xx

The Walking Dead Season 7 Nails with Delush Polish 'Poisoned Vine'

Hello!

So today is the day. After a very very very long wait of wondering and discussing, the Season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead is nearly upon us! I've had to avoid all social media and news websites today to avoid spoilers from the US airing yesterday. I'm relieved the premiere is here but so scared and sad that we're going to loose someone. I really must get better at detaching myself from fictional characters (like that's ever going to happen!).

Obviously I had to do some Nails befitting for The Walking Dead's return! I really love these!

I used heaps of stuff for these. Read on for the details!

So first of all I used the stunning 'Poisoned Vine' by Delush Polish as my base. This gorgeous blackened red needed just two coats. It dried super fast and had a great formula that was very self levelling. (Excellent for the pre The Walking Dead premiere excitement shakes!) It's such a beautiful vampy polish that I was sad to be covering it with stamping.

For my walker hand prints on my thumb I used my Color Club 'Splatter' stamping plate and stamped with Color Alike 'Kind of White' Stamping Polish and my Fab Ur Nails Jumbo Stamper. I know a lot of people have had trouble with the new Color Club plates. I had hoped to use my clear stamper with this design but it just wouldn't pick the image up. The Jumbo Stamper worked perfectly though.

For my Lucille leftovers on my pointer finger I used all the same tools as my thumb and then sponged on some blood stains with a make up sponge and Color Alike Stamping polish 'Red Dragon'. 

For my middle finger I used my Creative Shop No.35 stamping plate and stamped with Color Alike 'Kind of White' Stamping Polish and my Fab Ur Nails Clear Stamper. I was super impressed with this plate as the image is very detailed but everything worked great.

For Lucille on my ring finger I used my Sugar Bubbles 001 stamping plate and stamped with Color Alike 'Silver King' Stamping Polish and my Fab Ur Nails Jumbo Stamper. I then sponged on some blood stains with a make up sponge and Color Alike Stamping polish 'Red Dragon'. 

For my Walker arms on my little finger I used my Uber Chic 'Zombie Love' stamping plate and stamped with Color Alike 'Kind of White' Stamping Polish and my Fab Ur Nails Jumbo Stamper. 

I used the latex barrier Zap from Rainbow Connection UK to help with clean up.

This was my first time using a lot of these products. I wanted to mention the Color Alike 'Kind of White' stamping polish specifically. I knew I was playing with stamping fire using a white over a dark red base as I figured as soon as I applied my HK Girl top coat everything would get a bit smudged and the stamping lines wouldn't be as crisp. I braced myself but nothing of the sort occurred. There was no smudging whatsoever! Stamping goals achieved! Applause for Color Alike!

I really enjoyed doing some proper nail art for these and think I will definitely try to do more stamping than I have been. I think its just finding the time and energy at the moment.

I'm so so so excited for tonight! I think Negan is going to bring us a lot of heartache though! I hope you love these nails as much as I do! Apart from the UberChic plate this is all available from Rainbow Connection UK!

It's nearly time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for visiting,

Have a lovely day,

Helen xx

Nail Mail Monday - An Epic Edition!

Hello!

Today I have the biggest Nail Mail Monday Haul yet. When all these polishes arrived in the space of a week and a bit I; for the first time, began thinking that maybe I buy too much nail polish.  (I know, the very thought!) But this only lasted for 10 minutes before I was persuaded by all the pretties before me and how it would have been rude of me to leave them sitting in the store rooms of numerous shops! Make sure your sitting for this and have a bit of time to swoon over these stunners!

First up is my haul from Rainbow Connection UK. About a month ago Annette announced that lots of new brands would be coming to RC and when she said one of them was Illyrian I was sooooo excited. I've lusted after this US based brand for ages; especially their shimmers, and now I could finally make them mine! 

From Left to Right is Illyrian 'Astral', 'Dream Catcher', 'Unearthly Whisper' & 'Winter is Coming'. The Summer Nights Trio 'Blue Moon', 'Dazed' & 'Fireflies' & 'Mad World' August COTM

I also added my first Creative Shop stamping plate to my RC order. Mainly because of The Walking Dead & Game of Thrones images but I'm also excited to try this brand out. The images are all so detailed it will be good to see if they transfer well onto the stamper.

Creative Shop Stamping Plate 35

I have discovered a very dangerous thing called a US Postal address. You can set up an account with a company who will give you a US address to ship to and then when you've compiled enough items you can ship them altogether to cut shipping costs. Hello all the polishes I've lusted after for ages plus new US based exclusives!

First up is the Shiro Cosmetics Femme Fatale Cosmetics Exclusives! I also got a couple of eyeshadow samples with my order. Excited to try these!

I also got the new Live Love Polish Femme Fatale Cosmetics exclusives.

From Left to Right is Femme Fatale Cosmetics 'Shadow Stair', 'Sorrow Wing', 'Coral Grove' , 'Sea Glimmer', 'Siren Song' & 'Twinkling Eve'.

Also in my parcel was my Emily de Molly haul from the Limited Edition Sale. 

From Left to Right is Emily de Molly LE 33, 35, 37, 38, 39 & 40. 

I also purchased my first Aliquid Lacquer plus some other polishes from destashes, mainly Femme Fatales!

From Left to Right is Aliquid Lacquer 'Mourning Dove', Colors by Llarowe 'The Fallen' & Femme Fatale Cosmetics 'Midnight Masquerade', 'Highgarden', 'Lantern Waste', 'Mad as a Hatter', 'Cydonia Glimmer', 'Fire in the Sky', 'Ghostwoven' & 'Snow Globe (Faded)'.

I also received my BeautySoFly Femme Fatale Cosmetics exclusives this week.

My Femme Fatale Cosmetics exclusives from Hypnotic Polish arrived as well much quicker than I expected.

  

From Left to Right is Femme Fatale Cosmetics 'Glacier Nether', 'Sky Mirror', 'The Third Moon', 'Castle in the Sky', 'Iolite Streams', 'Labyrinth Gate' & 'Rubine Veil'.

And as if that wasn't enough my Femme Fatale Haul from the September Oops Shade Sale arrived!

From Left to Right is Femme Fatale Cosmetics 'Back in '82', 'COTM Chirp', 'D-Qwon's Dance Grooves', 'Glamour Shots', 'Hunting Wolverines in Alaska' (Thermal), 'Skills in Magic', 'Starla', 'Summer All Year Round' & 'The Nessie Alliance'.

I also added some HK Girl Top Coat and a new Sea Salt Hair Spray from Sixteen 92 to my Femme Fatale Cosmetics Order. It smells amazing and I've been using it lots already for a bit of extra volume in my hair and some pretty waves!

Phew! Congratulations if you made it to the end! Hope you enjoyed this Epic Haul! I certainly did!

Thanks for visiting,

Have a lovely day,

Helen xx