Liebstered IN THE FACE

So I got nominated for a couple of Liebsters again. And I'm going to cheat and not do them properly again-because I always feel awkward about asking people to do something like this (because I am, deep down, a stereotypical Brit!) and I'd feel bad not doing them myself. Also I really enjoy this sort of thing every once in a while-it gives you a chance to find out a little about the person behind the nails and I've always loved reading them, so here's hoping you guys will too!
It's weird how these things always seem to come along like buses though isn't it-two nominations within five days of each other! This time it was the lovely Erika from The Polished Fangirl and Dil from I 'Art Nails (loving that name, by the way!) so I'm going to answer all their questions here.

Erika's Questions:
1. If you were told you could only keep 10 polishes for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Gulp, that's a hard one! I'd probably have to choose some of my Barry M gellies because they give great coverage in one-two coats and they're really bright shiny colours that you can use for stamping and lots of other nail art effects quite well. Plus a silver holo because holos.

2. What is your favourite style of nail art?
On me I love silly things like my Monsters Uni nail art or my Doc Martens ones. Actual art on my nails! I love gradients though, and tape manis too-I've seen some fabulous ones on other people.

3. What hobbies do you have besides nail art?
I'm learning to play bass guitar, I'm also learning to swing dance and I LOVE to go on stage whenever I can. Also theatre, I want to see ALL the theatre.

4. What was your favourite vacation ever?
Ooh, that's a tricky one! I'd have to say either Rome last year (because it was amazing) or Slovenia the year before that because I laughed constantly for 4 days. Awesome people and awesome memories from both =)

5. Are you in a relationship? If so, what is he/she like?
I am in a relationship, albeit one that's only 3 months old! He's Australian, tall and skinny with blueish hair and he (like me) loves science and theatre. He makes me laugh a lot and he's just as soppy as I am which is kinda awesome really. (Don't tell him I said that though, haha)

6. What's your ideal comfort food?
I don't know really, while I may be a big girl I don't think I comfort eat-I tend to go off my food when bad things happen. Probably chocolate though, if I had to name one.

7. Do you have any equally (or even more) obsessed polish loving friends or are you alone in your dedication?
My best mate Rara (who regularly posts on this blog) is just as bad as I am and she's a terrible influence on me! She's definitely better than I am though, sigh!

8. What was the first polish you ever bought?
Honestly, I can't remember. Probably by free choice a Stargazer in bright green or bright orange I would guess.

9. Are you into make-up as well as polish? What are your favourite make-up products?
I'm really not into make-up at all, most days I don't even wear any! My most used product is my mascara-a Collection 2000 one. I've got quite long eyelashes so I just buy the cheapest one around for a bit of colour.

10. What's your favourite colour family?
Long time readers of this blog will know the answer to this-blues and greens!

11. If someone paid you a million dollars not to paint your nails for a week would you do it?
Are you mad? Of course I would! I may be an addict but I can cope for a week for that much dough! Hell I'd do it for a lot less to be honest, it's not a hardship to me!


Dil's Questions
1. If you had three wishes what would they be?
Probably exactly the same as I said last time-a job and a home in Sheffield and the ability to drive without having to learn! I'm willing to work for the rest, haha.

2. What beauty item(s) do you carry around in your bag?
A pot of Vaseline (or a stick of Nivea in the summer months) and that's it.

3. What song would be the soundtrack to your life?
Erm...just one???  I don't think I could pick one that would have been the soundtrack to my entire life, because I connect with song lyrics on an emotional level so songs that mean something are constantly changing. I can't choose!

4. If you could be any character in any book or film, who would you be?
Ooh, so many possibilities! OK...soo...I'd probably pick Agnes Nitt in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books (please tell me someone out there reading this knows who I mean?!) because I played her on stage once and she was fabulous. She was a stompy goth witch with a fabulous voice who wasn't afraid to speak her mind and had incredible hair. She was AMAZING. This picture is all Agnes and I LOVE it:

5. What is your favourite perfume/fragrance?
I don't really have a "signature scent" really. I've recently got back into a Body Shop perfume called Indian Night Jasmine, which is really lovely and lasts all day.

6. What has been your biggest beauty/fashion faux pas?
Probably when I was starting to try out make-up when I was 13 or so, I slathered it all over my face in a way that must have looked completely awful!

7. Natural or Acrylic nails?
Personally I prefer natural ones every time. I couldn't be dealing with acrylics and some of the ones I've seen on people are so long they're like scary talons!

8. If you could have a lifetime supply of make-up, what brand would you choose?
If this is including nail varnish probably Barry M! I don't own any of their make-up though...so I'd go with Clinique for that because it works well with my skin and is really nice quality.

9. If you could have a date with any celebrity, who would it be?
It depends what mood I was in really! If I wanted someone pretty to ogle then it'd be Chris Hemsworth (who plays Thor-Phwoar!) but if I wanted a really good intellectual/funny conversation I'd pick someone like Neil Gaiman or Sarah Millican, because I imagine we'd have a good old time and laugh far too loudly in public, haha.

10. If you could invite 5 people to a dinner party (dead or alive), who would it be?
Ahh, I hate these questions, I always feel pressured to answer them in a witty and funny way or something. Although as this question doesn't specify they have to be famous then I am going to say my boyfriend and my best friends because I know it'd be an evening I would enjoy without question, and we'd have lots to talk about and much laughter. Totally evaded the real question there =p

11. Why did you start blogging?
Originally I started blogging because I wanted a little corner of the internet where I could express myself-state my opinions and write about my life. I started nail blogging because I wanted somewhere to share my nail art and where I could meet people who were also interested in it and have some (virtual) nail art friends. I'm really glad I have both of my blogs though, I've "met" some really fabulous people through blogging and really love it!

OK, that's all for now, thanks again to the two ladies who nominated me!

~Nail Art Novice~

Lovely Liebsters and Other Things...

I recently came across this picture, I think it's my
favourite Liebster pic of them all!

I got nominated for a Liebster award by Megan at Megan Box Nails and then on the same day also got nominated for a 'Best Blog' award by Kate at Pimped Out Nails and on reading them they seem very similar so I thought I'd skirt around the rules a little and combine them both together. I found a bit of background to the Liebsters on this blog, if you have no idea what they are-chances are though you've come across some on other people's blogs before.
So what I'm going to do is skip out the 11 facts part of the Liebster (if you're bitterly disappointed check out my first 31BPC post instead) and just answer the 11 questions from each of the lovely ladies who nominated me.



Megan's Questions:
1. What was your dream last night?
Heh, I always have really weird dreams. I can't remember all of it but I know at one point I ended up getting my ear pierced four times even though I had originally gone in for an entirely different piercing. There was a lot of running and hiding from things too, I seem to recall. ODD.

2. Do you believe in love at first sight?
I believe in lust at first sight, yes, not so sure about love. I think you can't love someone properly without knowing them well first, but you can certainly fancy them from the first meeting!

3. Did you have a fear when you were little that terrified you, but now you couldn't care less about?
Erm...no, not really. I was a pretty fearless child. I've actually got more afraid of stupid things since I got older, although I've never liked crowds, even as a child and definitely not as an adult.

4. What's one thing you like about yourself?
I like quite a lot about myself, really. I'm quite a confident person, and I like the fact that I will talk to anyone, even in awkward situations.

5. Favourite clothing brand?
Most of my stuff comes from Dorothy Perkins so I guess there, or Qwertee T-shirts!

6. What's one word you use the most?
This changes fairly frequently, but I know at the moment I am definitely over using the word 'marvellous'-sounds ridiculously British but I kinda like the hint of eccentricity =p

7. What's the last movie you watched?
Erm...I actually had to turn my TV on to see what was in my DVD player. Apparently it's Gnomeo and Juliet, which is a very excellent film =)

8. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Stratford-upon-Avon, Britain. I sort of fell in love with it last time I went, I want to live in a tiny Tudor cottage with a higgeldy-piggedly roof and lots of beautiful knick-knacks inside. When I get rich. Other than that I'd settle for wonderful Sheffield! (I'm a home bird, I have no desire to live anywhere except this wonderful rainy little country!)

9. If you could change one thing about the world regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Well that's a big question! I'd either make it so David Cameron never came to power in Britain to mess EVERYTHING up again, or I'd make sure that everyone in the world had access to free healthcare and education, regardless of location, gender, etc etc. Y'know, if I had a magic wand.

10. Type of music you dislike the most?
Can I say modern music in general? I don't like most of the stuff that's around today. If I had to pick one genre though it'd probably be drum and bass, it's just awful NOISE to me.

11. If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be?
Oooh, someone awesome like Neil Gaiman or Stephen Fry who I would be able to have an intellectual conversation with and would make me laugh.


Kate's Questions:
1.What is your favourite blog/website to look at?
You mean I have to only choose one?!?! Too hard!
OK so my favourite go-to website for procrastination is notalwaysright.com which is a site where people submit stories of stupid/rude customers to so other people can read and enjoy them. I think it's brilliant, personally!

2. What do you want to get out of blogging?
I really love the communities I have found through blogging, letting me interact with people who have similar interests to me. I want to improve my nail art technique as well as get to know more of these awesome ladies.

3. What made you decide to start your blog?
I'd got to the point where I was starting to enjoy doing different effects on my nails and wanted to share them with people-but none of my friends were ever interested or even noticed! I thought I'd start a blog to help me improve my technique, record all my efforts and hopefully find some people to talk about polish and nail art with =)

4. What is your one favourite nail polish?
Again this is a hard one...and there's so many I love that I don't even own! I've recently fallen for L'Oreal's Magic Croisette though-a lovely royal blue with greeny/aquay/goldy shimmers running through it.

5. If you had to choose one nail design to have for the rest of your life what would it be?
Fishtails/Braided manis, I really love how they look and how easy they are to do, and obviously there's endless colour combinations for them!

6. Do you have any tattoos?
Yes, I have one on my left foot that reads 'All The World's A Stage', which is a quote from my favourite Shakespeare play and also very applicable to my life!

7. What is your one go-to product that you can't live without?
Probably something boring like Vaseline or some other form of lip balm. I have never been able to tolerate having dry or cracked lips.

8. Who is No. 1 on your list of dream dates?
I honestly don't think I have a list of dream dates-is that weird? Oooh I do quite fancy Robert Sheehan though, with his lovely hazel eyes and big pouty lips...OK I may have just started a list of dream dates now!

9. Are you an Apple or PC user?
I am whole heartedly a PC user. I don't own any Apple products (no, not even an iPod!) and I will keep on refusing to buy them until they take over and monopolise everything. I don't really have a good reason for this, I just don't really like them, plus they're SUPER expensive!

10. What is your No. 1 beauty tip?
Erm, I don't think I have one really. I'm very much for loving yourself over changing the way you look so I guess my best tip would be something like you don't have to change yourself/cover yourself up to be beautiful, just change the way you look at yourself and find the beauty that everyone else can see.

11. Are you happy in life and what would you change if you could?
Generally I'm very happy in my life, and wouldn't change much, certainly not much about myself. If I could have 3 wishes though I'd have a job, a home in Sheffield and the ability to drive without having to learn, then I'd be perfectly contented.

So there we are. I'm also going to skip tagging other bloggers in this, because I've not exactly done it conventionally anyway, and I always feel a tiny bit awkward asking someone to do something like this, just in case they don't want to or something. Also I know a lot of people have already received a Liebster award so I don't want to re-nominate anyone by accident.

Thanks a lot to the two lovelies who nominated me-Megan and Kate- I've really enjoyed doing this! Your questions were brilliant and really interesting to answer.

~Nail Art Novice~