Don't Count Your Chickens

I did this nail art for the Easter nail art competition at Nailpolis. I didn't want to go too obvious and paint chicks and bunnies on my nails so I decided to do pastel patterned nails.

To start I used Technic Pretty Pastels polishes in Pool Party (middle finger), Mr Blue Sky (little finger) and Canary (thumb and ring finger). Technic polishes are available for £1 each from Bodycare or for £1.25 from lovethymakeup.com. On my index finger I used Rimmel 60 Seconds shade Sweet Lavender (Poundworld).

On my thumb, middle and little fingers I used two coats of the pastel polish followed by a coat of Technic Black Mirror, a gorgeous glitter polish with medium and small matte black hex glitter and lots of tiny transparent holographic hex glitter that sparkles in a rainbow of colours. I added another coat of the Technic Pretty Pastels, which have a quite sheer crelly-ish formula, then finished with a second coat of Black Mirror. This gives a speckled effect that is a little bit like the Models Own Speckled Egg collection with added sparkle. On my ring and index fingers I used the pastel shades alone without the glitter.

I painted the black and white patterns using acrylic model paints. The triangle pattern was loosely inspired by the idea of broken eggshells and the pattern on my index and ring finger is based on stylised chicken feathers found in Mexican folk art.

I topped everything with Limited Collection Matte Top Coat from Marks & Spencer. I bought this yesterday using some cashback I earned through Topcashback on my Christmas shopping and had forgotten all about until now. You get a little extra money if you request your cashback in M&S vouchers and I'd been wanting to try this top coat for ages. I love the look of matte nails and although the P.S. Matte Top Coat I bought from Primark does the job for less money, it is very thick and gloopy and tends to soften all your previous layers of varnish and takes hours to redry. If the varnish underneath is more than two coats thick, your nails can remain dentable for a whole day!

This Limited Collection Matte Top Coat is not a disappointment. It applies thinly, evenly and smoothly and it dries quickly to a tough, completely matte finish. Now I can wear matte nails without having to spend a whole evening not using my hands while they dry. Even though it usually costs £3.50, I think that is a very reasonable price for the quality. The other widely available matte top coats from Essie and O.P.I. are £8-£12 a bottle, and although the Limited Collection top coat is smaller at only 8ml, it still works out better value per millilitre. The smaller bottle means it is less likely to get gloopy towards the bottom too.

I love the effect that matte top coat over holographic glitter gives, and I think these nails feel cute and Eastery, but grown-up too. Well, as grown-up as glittery pastel Easter-themed nails can be!
Do you have any Easter nail art planned?