THIS WEEK'S NAILS- MARCH 2015

This week's nails comes to you from my friend's sparkle-themed 18th birthday party. I went for the more subtle sparkly nails and makeup, as oppossed to the full-on sparkly outfit.

As with everytime I paint my nails, I always go for a high-quality base coat to avoid nail damage and staining. My base coat of choice for the past year has been Essie 'Grow Stronger', which basically does what it says on the tin. I never skip the base coat step of painting my nails (I never bother to wear a top coat, though, I don't even own one). 

I don't often go for sparkly or glittery nails, Christmas 2014 was the first time I'd worn a glitter nail varnish in about two years.

I painted my nails with Essie 'After School Boy Blazer', a favourite of mine for about a year; I always use two coats of Essie nail varnishes. Everyone knows that I love the formula for Essie nail varnishes, but what I love even more is the wide, flat brush that enables you to paint your entire nail perfectly in about two strokes. Not only is it so much easier for those who are awful at painting nails (like me), but it also makes for streak-free nails at the end of it all. Essie 'After School Boy Blazer' is the perfect navy blue for me, looking almost black in certain lights.

For the glitter I used Barry M 'Jingle Bells' (which I got at Christmas, obviously). I was initially going to go for a standard gold glitter to go with the dark blue, though I went with 'Jingle Bells' more interesting mix of gold and red glitter. Barry M 'Jingle Bells' is a mix of small and large pieces of glitter. My one problem with 'Jingle Bells' is that it is very liquidy and the glitter is quite hard to get on your nails, meaning that you often end up with more clear nail varnish than glitter on your nails.

I am really pleased with this look, the dark colour and the glitters makes it perfect for the winter, and I think it looks great when paired with glittery eye makeup and a black dress.