Pink Lightning

Today's manicure is simple, but I think it turned out quite striking.

I started with 2 coats of China Glaze You Drive Me Coconuts. It's an almost neon jelly-finish pink polish from China Glaze's Sunsational summer collection. The "jelly-ness" of this polish isn't super obvious in the photos or in real life. The formula is a bit streaky and you can see a bit on my ring finger how you can get bald spots if you don't let each layer dry enough. The color is darker in real life than in the first photo; it's a deeper pink, if that makes sense.

Indoors, fluorescent light

I then added 3 diagonal stripes of Sally Hansen Chrome in white gold to each finger. I used a long striping brush which I dipped in the polish, wiped off the excess and then dragged across my nail starting at the outside edge. Because my nail beds are quite curved, I could never finish the stripes in one pass, so I would touch up the inside end of the stripes by dragging the very tip of the brush back over the stripe in the opposite direction.

Indoors, fluorescent light

In the above photo, you can see how You Drive Me Coconuts has a satin finish, probably because it is almost a neon color. If I had used a third coat to even out the bald spots this would have been a nice in between creme and matte finish to leave without top coat. 

Indoors, with flash. No top coat.

The above photo with flash is probably the most color accurate for the pink.

Indoors, fluorescent light. With top coat. 

White Gold is exactly what the name suggests, a silver chrome finish polish with hints of gold. It's a gorgeous color that I really need to try stamping with sometime. Below you can see a bit of the gold part of the finish.

Indoors, with flash. With top coat. 

I can't stop looking at my fingers with this manicure. What's your favourite simple, but stunning mani style?

See you again soon!

Purple Craze

I do love me some purple, so this week I went a little crazy with it!

I started with 2 coats of Essie Waltz on all my nails. On my index, middle and pinky fingers I water-marbled with Waltz, Revlon Fresh Cut Lilac, Essence break through, and OPI Lincoln Park After Dark.

Waltz is a beautiful milky almost white jelly polish; you can see a swatch of it by itself here. Fresh cut lilac is a sheer pink toned mauve with shimmer. Break through is pure purple, only slightly more red than blue leaning and you can see 2 coats of it own its own here. LPAD is a gorgeous vampy almost-black purple.

Fluorescent light indoors

On my ring finger and thumb, I sponged a purple gradient starting with Lilac, then break though and finally LPAD on the tips.

I didn't like the look of the gradient on its own; it wasn't blended enough for my liking. So to cover it up a little, I added one coat of OPI Divine Swine, small purple glitter and medium silver hex glitter in a clear base. There's lots of silver in the bottle and it's easy to get them onto the brush, but you really have to drag it to get it on the nail and then dab it around where you want it.

Indoors fluorescent lighting

Indoor with flash

I finished the whole mani with a coat of OPI Rapid Dry (a new bottle - I forgot how much I love this stuff when it's new).

Below on my middle finger you can see what happens if you don't clean all the polish out of the water before pulling out your finger; you can get some of the polish from the water folding back onto your nail, which is why there is that vertical ripple down the middle of my middle finger.

Right hand. Sunlight. 

Something you can see in the sunlight is how when you marble with a shimmer polish, the shimmer tends to spread into neighbouring colors. You can really see that in the above photo on the pinky and below on the middle finger. 

Left hand. Sunlight. 

See you again soon!

Garden Party

After a week of bright colour blocks on my nails, I thought it was time for something a bit more subtle.

This week, I have 2 coats of Essence modern romance. It's a peach-leaning pastel pink with very subtle pink shimmer. You can see the shimmer in the bottle, but it most light you don't notice it on the nail. On my ring finger I did 2 coats of OPI my vampire is buff. I think MVIB might be my favourite nude, creamy, opaque, flattering ... love it!

Fluorescent light

Over modern romance I stamped with plate BM-224  in Konad special white. If you have trouble stamping, I definitely recommend starting with Konad special polishes; they are made for stamping and pick up the images much more easily on the first try.

Pre-cleanup and top coat: I wish images would stay this crisp after top coat. 

On my ring finger I did a 'dot gradient' (decreasing sized dots) in Nfu-oh 62, a gorgeous peachy-nude holographic. (To see how I make dots check out my Easter Skittles manicure.)

Indoors, fluorescent light

I covered my ring finger in OPI rapid dry. If you buy this top coat, be warned the end of the bottle gets super gloopy, hard to apply, bubbles on the nail and yellows ever so slightly. I've put about 15 drops of thinner in it so far with no improvement.

Indoors, sunlight

Since the shimmer of modern romance was basically lost anyway, I decided to use Essie Matte About You on the rest of my fingers. It gave the manicure a really subtle, sophisticated feel that reminded me of a wedding or afternoon tea/garden party. Hence the name of this manicure!

See you again soon!

Sun Blocks

 This week the sun came out and stayed for several days. It finally feels like summer is coming, so I had to do something summery on my nails. Plus I had to try the 2 new China Glaze Sunsational Summer polishes I picked up.

I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme wear Mellow Yellow. It was quite streaky and I would have used at least 3 coats if I were to wear this on its own.

Then I used scotch tape to block off half of each of my nails. I tried to cover up the streakiest or worst looking portion of the yellow on each nail while keeping the 'random' look. Then I used one thicker coat of China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle, removing the tape immediately to keep the lines as crisp as possible. 

With flash

Then I blocked off some halves and some quarters of my nails with tape and did one thick coat of China Glaze You Drive me Coconuts. You drive me coconuts is a jelly finish, so you can see how the color is altered over the yellow and blue, particularly where I've covered both on one nail. I prefer it over the yellow because it's brighter and retains more of the pink, but it gives a cool patchwork effect either way. 

Fluorescent light

I touched up a few spots with a nail art brush where polish had leaked under my tape. Then I finished the whole thing with a coat of OPI rapid dry. My bottle is getting low, so there are quite a few bubbles on some of my fingers and my left hand got a little smudge and just wasn't looking as great as I'd like, so I have a rare shot of my right hand for you today.

Natural light.

Overall it's bright and summery, super shiny and has attracted a lot of attention already. My 4 year old niece couldn't stop touching my fingers when she saw them!

See you again soon!

Honey Ryder

I LOVE James Bond! I have all the movies. So when I finally saw the new OPI liquid sand Bond Girls collection for sale, I had to contain myself and only buy half of them. I've already put Tiffany Case on my toes and this week I have a simple mani on my hands with Honey Ryder.

I used essie protein base coat and 2 coats of Honey Ryder. On my ring finger a did 3 simple stripes of Ink Nail art in gold. Obviously, no top coat. The dry time for the liquid sand was pretty good actually, although I didn't leave it quite long enough before I started cooking dinner and you can see the result on my middle finger in a couple of the photos.

Under fluorescent lamp

Sunshine. Most colour accurate.

Indirect sunlight.

The pictures don't do justice to the shimmer that this polish has; the texture really catches the light. I think this polish lives up to the Bond name. It's like gold meets champagne and I love it!

See you again soon!

Rhapsody in Blue

Today I have as much blue as I could cram into one manicure for Austism awareness month. 

I started with Essie protein base coat and 2 coats of no name brand Mondorama on all but my ring finger.  On my ring finger I used 2 coats of Finger Paints cerulean seascape. In retrospect, I may have just stamped on one finger and then called this manicure a day; it didn't end up quite how I had imagined it. 

To my ring finger I added some no name blue glitter polish to the tip and then put 3 blue rhinestones along the tip line. I usually dump a few rhinestones onto the parchment I'm working on and pick them up with a dotting tool dipped in a small dab of clear polish. 

On my index and middle finger, I sponged the tips with Revlon PetalChrome. I'm not sure I'm loving the effect of sponging with a chrome polish; it shows off every imperfection and any unevenness in your sponging. Sometimes the way it catches the light makes it looks like you got a glob of polish on your nail instead of purposeful sponging. 

Over top of the sponging, I did a coat of OPI rapid dry then I stamped with Konad special polish in blue and Bundle Monster plate BM-201. 

On my pinky and thumb, I water-marbled with PetalChrome, Cerulean Seascape, Mondorama and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue me away. I like the effect of chrome in the water marble, but it does tend to dry quite quickly, so you will have to work fast to swirl the polish. 

I finished my index and middle finger with a coat of Essie Matte About You. I smudged my left index finger after I put the matte on. Below is a before and after that shows why investing in a long thin striper brush is a must!

Maybe a little busy for me overall, but each individual technique turned out pretty well. 

Bonus! I apologize to those of you, like me, who hate feet. After I did my blue mani, I came across OPI's new Bond girl collection and had to buy a few. I couldn't not try them, so I took the pink off my toes (not too well, didn't want to ruin the new mani ... you can see the residue) and tried the blue one, of course! Tiffany Case is a textured glitter that shines like a blue disco ball - it's packed with so much small blue and silver glitter that you have to get super close before you notice the base is actually a matte polish. 

What do you think of the liquid sand trend?

See you again soon!

Black & White, Straight up with a Twist

Bought a new almost white polish today, so I decided to do a simple black and white manicure.

I started with a base coat of Essie's protein base coat. I just started using it, so we'll see if it actually makes a difference on my nails. Then I used 3 coats of Essie Waltz. It's a gorgeous milky white, but it is quite sheer. The coverage was okay after 3 coats, leaves some visible nail line and has almost a jelly-like finish; it maybe could have used a 4th coat for more opacity. It would be a great polish to franken with some pastel glitter ... but that's for another day.

For the tips, I used Essence chic reloaded. Chic reloaded is black with pink and blue shimmer that makes it look almost charcoal grey in some lighting. Instead of a classic french tip, I went with a curve. I used a long thin striper brush to paint the outline of the curve first. Then I filled it in with one thick coat using the striper brush.

A nice combination of macro settings, acetone remover and not moisturizing before a photo make my skin look like a 70 year old's. 

Finally, I added some black flower nail stickers to my thumb and ring finger and finished with a coat of OPI rapid dry.

I got to do something with manicure that I haven't been able to do recently ... take a picture in the sunlight! It really shows off the shimmer of chic reloaded.

I really like how this mani turned out. Simple and classy, but with a funky twist, just enough to keep it interesting. What do you think?

See you again soon!

Easter Skittles

I had to change my nails for Easter. I thought it would be fitting to do pastel skittle nails (different colour on each nail).

From pinky to thumb I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen mint sorbet, 2 coats OPI my vampire is buff, 3 coats OPI pinking of you, 2 coats no name mondorama and 2 coats no name liquid affair. Mint sorbet and mondorama cover best in 2 coats. Liquid affair and my vampire is buff were passible, a bit streaky, typical for cremes, but nothing a good top coat couldn't cover.

I added some dots in Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On. To make dots I put a drop of polish on a stamping plate, mirror or some wax paper. I dip a small dotting tool in the polish and dot my tips starting at the middle and working out. I re-dip after 2 or 3 dots. I don't usually push my dotting tool all the way down on the nail because sometimes it dents the base coat or pulls up the polish (especially since the white I was using is old and thickening).

I added a cross in Orly prince charming to my ring finger with a long striping brush. As usual, I finished the whole manicure with a coat of OPI rapid dry, which is getting low and a bit thick, so it's beginning to leave bubbles on my nails. 

I'm loving how spring-y these pastel skittles look and I'm enjoying the sunshine that is finally out and creating some warmth! Happy Easter everyone!

See you again soon!

25 Again

For my 25th birthday, I threw myself a cocktail party with a pink and black theme. This mani reminds me of that party.

I started with 2 coats of NYX illusions. It was a little bit streaky and possibly could have used a third coat if I were to wear it on its own. The first picture shows the most true to life version of the base color.

Then I added pink and black rhinestones to my thumb and ring fingers. When putting rhinestones on, I always put a small dab or stripe of clear polish where I want the rhinestones; then I take a dotting tool and touch the tip to the wet clear polish and use it to pick up the rhinestones so they are already right side up and ready to just be placed on my nail.

With my tiny NYX bottle.

On my other 3 fingers, I sponged a England Bridal Veil on the tips. I just use a round flat makeup sponge for this. Especially when sponging a dark colour, start at the very tip of your nail and work down; that way you don't end up with a sharp line from the end of your sponge instead of a nice gradient. This way about 2 or 3 coats of sponging per nail.

Then a little clean up, a coat of OPI rapid dry top coat, with generous dabs over the rhinestones to prevent them from snagging on anything, and voila!

The shimmer in Bridal Veil is not quite as evident in real life as it is in the above picture. 

You may notice I'm trying out some new watermarks in these pictures. Any preferences?

See you again soon!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

With so much talk of the imminent demise of Google reader and people jumping ship to Bloglovin', I thought I'd throw my hat in the bloglovin' ring and make it even easier for you to follow me!

The Violet Frontier

Purple is one of my favourite colors, so I thought it was about time to do a manicure with a springy mauve. 

I started with 2 coats of some no name brand light purple cream that I've had forever called mondorama. It could have been a 1 coater with thicker coats. I may have to try stamping with it sometime. Then I used a piece of striping tape on a diagonal along the tip of my nail and a piece of clear tape along the same diagonal a few millimeters below the striping tape. I painted over the tip with Essence oh my glitter and immediately removed the tape. I let it dry slightly before applying OPI rapid dry top coat so I didn't pull my stripes. 

Helpful hint for taped manicures. If like me you are too impatient to wait for your base coat to be dry all the way through before taping, take the tape and press the sticky side gently to your skin and peel it off before you stick it to your nails. The dead skin cells that stick to the tape (gross, I know) will make it less sticky and not as likely to peel off your base coat. 

See you again soon!

Terra Cotta Stamping

I actually had this manicure on last week, but I've been too busy with school to post it.

I started with 2 coats of Essence off to miami! It was basically impossible to capture the true color in my pictures. It's a medium orangey-coral color, not as bright neon-ish as it looks below, but darker than it looks when you see it in the bottle. I really wanted it to look on my nails how it looked in the bottle, but c'est la vie.

Then I stamped with BM plate 208 in OPI's Music Hall Curtain Call. I tried to use the 'matching' positive and negative cracked images, but the polish did not take as well in the larger stamp areas. It didn't get picked up by the stamp as well, and was a bit too thin for the larger image areas. 

I like the way Music Hall Curtain Call stamped the design with the thinner lines though. It gave the whole manicure a clay and bricks type feel; hence the name of the post. I finished with a coat of OPI rapid dry and a coat of Essie Matte About You on my thumbs and ring fingers. 

On my thumb you can see the positive image stamped and how it's not quite as crisp as the lines. Also I notice that whenever I use a matte top coat, those nails begin to chip a lot faster. 

See you again soon!

Beige Menagerie

I just bought a gorgeous new nude from OPI's Euro Centrale collection and wanted to try it out with something a bit lighter on my nails after last week's mani.

I started with 3 coats of OPI My Vampire is Buff. The formula is very streaky and could maybe have used a 4th coat to even it out, but the nude color is a gorgeous very light cream leaning a little peachy.

I normally don't like too many different designs on my nails, but I have so many nail art supplies I want to use that I decided to use a few of them today. To my index and middle fingers I added some 3d nail art stickers. My ring finger I did with a small dotting tool and Quo by Orly First Class. I used the same color to do a line of dots at the tip of my thumb. On my pinky I added two coats of Essence space queen, which is small opalescent glitter in a clear base. 

It's a bit hard to see in the pictures, but you can see if you look closely at my pinky above that I also wrapped my tips with First Class, which adds a gorgeous bit of copper mystery to the ends. I topped the whole mani with OPI rapid dry.

I'm loving the combination of the nude with the copper and the sparkle! 

See you again soon!

Holo Birthday to Me

What kind of nail blogger would I be if I didn't put on a fresh manicure for my birthday? I knew I wanted something dramatic and sparkly!

I started a base of Essence Date in the Moonlight. It's a gorgeous dark navy with blue shimmer and it was opaque in only 2 coats. The shimmer is quite subtle in most lights. 

Then I sponged on Nails inc Electric Lane Holographic Top Coat at the base of my nails. I used a round makeup sponged dipped in a small amount of electric lane and sponged on 2 or 3 layers and dabbed a little extra with the polish brush right at the cuticle. Below you can see how the sponging changes the texture of the polish before top coat. 

Left: With top coat Middle, Right: After sponging, before top coat

I put tape around the edges of my nails to save myself cleaning up glitter off my fingers forever. Below you can see the scattered holo of the sponging. In some lights it looks light it may even have a slight linear holo effect if you put it on thick enough. 

Of course, I finished the manicure with a coat of OPI Rapid Dry. 

Words cannot express how happy I am with this mani! I don't even think the pictures do its sparkly goodness justice. 

See you again soon!