New Years Blogolutions!

Hi there!

So i can only apologise for my absence. I'm sure many of you can relate to this period of the year being the most hectic and stressful, and i genuinely haven't had a minute to myself. I've still got some hectic weeks at work ahead of me but all being well it should all settle down in February so i can really invest some more time in to this blog, and also other creative areas of my life such as drawing/painting etc.

Obviously it's new years eve tonight, and im sat at home stuffing my face with chocolate and pining over my euro millions ticket just preying i'll win.. (Think of the nail polish i could buy!!) I have to say i do not celebrate new years, at all, full stop. I can't think of a single Dec 31st that i wasn't at home being grumpy.

That being said i'm going to turn my negativity in to something positive for my blog. New years blogolutions! See what i did there? ;) It's just a few things i want to change/incorporate to better my posts etc. And here they are..

Number 1: To structure posts to twice a week, potentially Tuesdays and Fridays. I feel like reducing my posts will take the stress out of trying to post all the time, and will increase the quality of my nail art because i wont be rushing all of the time! Obviously on slower weeks at work i'll be able to post more, but i'd definitely like them to become a lot less sporadic. 

Number 2: To increase the quality of my photos. This might mean playing around with different settings, editing features etc. so you might have to be a little patient with me! I'd like to master a few key hand poses and just get my blog a little more routine.

Number 3: To experiment more! Before i started blogging i was trying every nail art going and then for some reason i seem to have run out of inspiration for it. Hopefully when i've got a little more free time i can start having fun with it again, and i think that will reflect in my posts.

Well that's about it, unfortunately no nail photos right now. But keep an eye out over the next couple of days! Hope you all have a lovely evening, whether you're celebrating or not. And thank you to everyone who is still following me despite my lack of posts, it means a lot!

Becky x

12DOC Advent Challenge: Santa Baby!

Hi there!

Good news.. i'm feeling a lot better now and didn't turn in to a zombie, hoozah! Bad news.. i'm so terribly behind on my challenge. So i've decided to scrap the days and just complete a few more of the challenges time permitting. I'm sure i'm not the only one struggling to get everything sorted at the moment!

Here's the Santa challenge manicure. It didn't quite turn out as planned, blame the cold, or my befuddled brain. But it was still a big hit at work the next day so i guess i can't complain.. classics are classic for a reason :)

To create this look i used:

Sinful Colors - Sugar Sugar

Barry M - White & Black Nail Art Pens

Gold Gel Pen

Seche Vite - Top Coat

Ah the moment when people stare at you funny for stealing decorations from the tree ;P

Has anyone else tackled the classic Santa nails look? If so i'd love to see! Leave a comment below with a link :)

Becky x

12 DOC Advent Challenge: All Lit Up!

Hi there!

So apparently everything in the world is trying to stop me from blogging. Silly shifts at work, a Zombie virus  bad cold, annd internet problems. But i'm here with the fifth challenge and the sixth has been photographed and ready to edit so should be up soon! I think for my next challenge i'll call it 'The Oh Well' as in.. if i don't do a challenge post then oh well!

Anywho! On to the nails. I can only apologise for the sheer cruddiness of the photos. I blame my camera, my weird kitchen lighting and the fact that i was concentrating more on being able to breathe than getting a good shot for that. 

To create this look i used:

China Glaze - Running In Circles

Sinful Colors - Snow Me White

Barry M - Black Nail Art Pen

Seche Vite - Top Coat

Various gems from Ebay

Edit: So, i would take credit for this but i didn't do it. I uploaded this post and then Google alerted me i'd uploaded an 'auto awesome' photo and made it all sparkly and stuff for me. Genuine true story. I'm just as baffled as you are.. but it's pretty so i thought id add it!

Edit again: So apparently google is awesome and are turning christmassy photos even christmassy..er.

Not sure how i feel about this one. I do however looove the green.. it's my first China Glaze and i'm a very happy bunny indeed. It looked a little sheer on the brush but went on really well and could of easily gotten away with one coat if i felt like being lazy! I've been making quite a few purchases from Nail Polish Direct and they've always been fantastic. It's free delivery when you spend £10 (lets face it, thats easily done) and they always have loads on sale. They have so many China Glaze polishes for only £5 at the moment, so definitely head over there! Plus it's super quick delivery, didn't even have time to pout about the wait haha.

Next challenge will hopefully be up tomorrow as my connection in so slooooow. Hope you're all feeling festive!

Becky x

12 DOC Challenge: Christmas Critters!

Hello there!

So today's challenge was to create a manicure with lots of cute little Christmas animals.. and that was what i had planned. However, after i sat down, base coat ready to be adorned with some little penguins and polar bears, a thought struck me. What could out-festive a penguin? Only one thing sprang to mind.. and so, i give to you, the armadillo manicure.

Okay, this just got a little weird, even for me. Let me explain! For those of who you don't know the reference to this then shame on you. This is possibly from the best episode of Friends, ever. If you still don't know what i'm talking about, watch this video. If you do know, then watch it anyway because it's awesome.

To create this look i used:

Claire's Accessories - Light Denim Effect 

No7 - Stay Perfect Shimmer Top Coat

Revlon - Stunning

Claire's Accessories - Fluffy

Barry M - Black & White Nail Art Pens

Silver Gel Pen

Seche Vite - Top Coat

So uh, it's not quite what i was expecting to do.. but i like spur of the moment manicures! What do you think, have i made it festive enough? I'm off to shake my belly like a bowl full of jelly!

Becky x

12 DOC Advent Challenge: Winter Woolies

Hi there!

So first off i'd like to apologise for posting this challenge two days late.. i have been one heck of a poorly blogger! I hate taking sick days with a passion, but i've had the weekend off work and i've literally spent it in bed :(

Despite that i've managed to claw together this post, and will show you today's planned post, tomorrow.. hope that's ok with you guys :) 

The challenge is Winter Woolies, and i've got a special manicure to show you! Now i'm a very simple person, it doesn't take much to make me get all nerdy and excited. So when i saw the iddy biddy hats that have been knitted for Innocent Smoothie bottles it's safe to say i freaked the hell out. They're so cute and tiny! And the fact it's all for a great cause just tops it off! So if you haven't figured it out, that's what today's post is themed on :)

If you haven't heard about The Innocent Big Knit then click the piccy below to find out more! It's all been put together to help the older generation through the winter, with 25p from each bottle being donated to AgeUK.

On to the manicure! For this look i used:

Sinful Colors - Easy Going (base colour)

Nails Inc - Pink

Claire's Accessories - Green

Miss Sporty - Pink

Barry M - Bubblegum Feather Effect

MUA - Plum Noir

MUA - Frozen Yoghurt

Claire's Accessories - Purple

Barry M - Black & White Nail Art Pens

Think this entire idea deserves a thumbs up!

Oh i'm so cheesy! Anywho, i'm going to end this post with a few more adorable pictures of knitted hats, because who could get bored of looking at them!? Oh, and head over to my Facebook page to check out the results of my giveaway!

Look at the teeeeeny tiny christmas pudding! *dies*

That's it for today, will be back tomorrow!

Becky x

Just a quick shout to say i'm taking part in Will Paint Nails For Food's Blogger's Bootcamp, Group Critique. I've received one review which has already proved helpful, so thank you! I'll be picking a few blogs to visit in the next couple of days.. i really suggest signing up and giving it a go! It's always great to get some positive feedback, and i'm sure we all take pride in our blogs so if we can make them more user friendly then it can only be a good thing! Click the photo below to be taken to the blogpost.. Also, check out her blog if you haven't already, it's one of my favourite nail blogs out there! :)

Over and out :P

12 DOC Advent Challenge: Candy Mania!

Hi people!

Apologies that this post is a day late, got home from work yesterday and put my head on my pillow for two seconds and.. zzzzzzzzzz. I was a very tired blogger indeed. But! Hopefully you wont mind the wait, as i think this look is one of my favourites so far :)

So today's (or yesterdays) challenge was to create a look based on candy canes! I ended up with a really bright, fun and cartoony manicure. It went down really well at work, i received loads of comments! I absolutely love it when people ask if my nails were done professionally and where i went to get them done, getting to say 'Oh no, i did these myself' always makes me feel good, even if it does seem trivial to some people. In fact that's why i called my blog Pause For Polish, because if someone stops just to look at your nails you know you've done a good job :)

Anyway, less talk, more nails!

To create this look i used:

Rimmel London - Mind The Gap Victoria

Sinful Colors - Hottie

Nails Inc - Un named Red (t'was a freebie!)

Barry M - White Nail Art Pen

Barry M - Black Nail Art Pen

Seche Vite - Top Coat

So what do you think? Certainly look festive don't they! Hottie by Sinful colors is one of my favourite glitter polishes, it's so gorgeous! These are really straight forward but i'd be happy to make a tutorial if anyone wants one :)

If you want to see all of the challenge posts together (there's only two so far) then pop over to my Facebook page and there's an album just for this 12 DOC challenge. Don't forget you can also enter my giveaway which ends on the 7th! Click the photo below to be taken to the page to enter :)

That's it for today, the next challenge should be up tomorrow!

Becky x

 

GIVEAWAY TIME!

..As promised, it's giveaway time!

This is my first giveaway and i'm just a teensy bit excited :) Time for the details!

I'll be running this on my Facebook page and it's open to anyone in the UK. It will run for a week, starting today and ending on the 7th. To enter all you have to do is like and share the photo on your FB wall (or blog). There's a first and second prize.. 1st is seven random polishes from Claire's Accessories, and 2nd is three leather polishes from Claire's as well. I love Claire's Accessories polish (and not just because i work there!) so thought it only fit to use them in my first giveaway. Plus i already have a few of them myself and have used them in previous looks which i'll provide the links for. 

Click the image below to be taken to the page to enter!

Here's a few clearer shots of the polish for you..

The leather polishes are pretty self explanatory so i'll quickly run through the 1st prize polishes from left to right. 1st: A blue based holographic glitter polish. 2nd: A pinky/champagne coloured glitter polish. 3rd: A purple based fine holographic glitter. 4th: A deep metallic bluey/purple. 5th: Blue and green bar glitter in a clear base. 6th: Light denim effect. 7th: A beigey/brown littered with black and white glitter.

These all look a lot better in real life, hopefully you're as excited as i am haha!

Here's a few links to previous mani's for you to check out the colours, just click the image to be taken to the post..

Beige leather polish:

And some other polishes:

So get on to my Facebook page for your chance to win! :)

Becky x

12 Days Of Christmas: All Wrapped Up

Hi there lovelies!

It's the 1st of December which means two things.. Firstly, i'm starting my own 12 Days of Christmas Advent Challenge! And secondly, i'm hosting my very first giveaway :D

I'll tell you more about the giveaway in a separate post, but let's crack on with today's manicure. These are the prompts for the 12 challenges, which i'll be posting every other day up until Christmas Eve. Anyone can join in, whether it's all 12 or just the odd one or two! 

So today's challenge is a look based on a wrapping paper design. I chose this gorgeous design by John Lewis that you can purchase here. 

I loved its simplicity and colours, so went for a nice subtle mani to match. 

To create this look i used:

Natural Collections - Unnamed Pink (2 coats)

W7 - Mirror Blue Mirror

W7 - Pink Suede

Claire's Accessories - Unnamed Pink

Born Pretty - Matte Top Coat

Barry M - White Nail Art Pen

Dotting tools

If i'm honest i'm not 100% happy with this manicure. I wish i'd left out the accent nails and just dotted them all the same. The matte effect did look beautiful though and it's definitely one of those mani's that just looks better in real life!

Stay tuned on the giveaway update,

Becky x