Stamping Decal Mix & Match mani

Hi loves!

Happy almost Friday :)

Just a little quickie.  Pinkie finger has one coat of China Glaze Liquid Crystal over China Glaze Smoke and Ashes.  Ring and middle finger have China Glaze Traffic Jam, stripped with China Glaze For Audrey and various striper polishes.

 

On my index finger is China Glaze For Audrey, then using THIS tutorial I made my own nail decal using one of the BM stamping plates.  I filled some spots in using CG Traffic Jam & Frostbite, then applied top coat on top.  Once that was dry I applied a top coat to my nail, peeled the decal off of the stamper then applied it to my nail.  As you can see there is a TON of bubbling that occurred.  I'll have to give this another try, but I have a feeling these decals are better used for smaller stamping pictures and not full nail patterns.  Of course it could also just be user error since this was my first try :)  

What do you all think of the home made nail decals? :)

Guest post at Peace, Love & Polish

Hey guys!

Head on over to Heather at Peace, Love and Polish's blog and check out the mani I did for her  :)  Click on the photo to see the post!

Have a great Monday!!

NCLA Nail Wraps in Jazzi Review

Hi all!

I was given the opportunity, thanks to Nail Polish Canada, to try out some NCLA nail wraps.  Wraps are not something I typically go for since I enjoy polishing my nails, but after trying these out I think I may have changed my mind a little bit.

Here are NCLA Nail Wraps in Jazzi.  Each Nail Wrap Kit includes: Two sheets of 22 wraps (good for 3-4 applications), a NCLA nail file, easy-to-follow directions. 

I paired the wraps with Color Club Poptastic & Dress for the Parade and added random dots in Gosh Deep Purple.

 

To use these you start off by wiping your nails clean with polish remover.  Then you apply a base coat, and once that's dry you choose a wrap that will fit your nail, peel it off its backing and apply it to your nail.  These are fairly pliable so if you need to stretch it a little bit to make it fit the shape of your nail you can do so without the fear of ripping the wrap.

Once your satisfied with the placement of the wrap, you fold over the left overs at the tip and file it off, apply top coat and voila!  Instant mani.

These were by far the easiest wraps to apply.  The size options are unlimited so you can really find one that will fit your nails perfectly.  I had absolutely no issues with wrinkling, there was just a slight bubble on my thumb nail that I couldn't push out but in the long run it didn't affect the longevity of the wrap.  I had these on for 3 full days with no lifting at all - I just felt the urge to change my mani so I removed them.  Removal was super easy, you just peel them off!

These are now available HERE on the Nail Polish Canada website - they retail for $16 but shipping on these is FREE!

*Products provided for honest review

OPI Bond Girls: Honey Ryder and Jinx

Hi all!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend :)  Mine was pretty mellow, which is something I need everyone once in a while!

I don't know about you guys, but I am completely smitten by the Liquid Sand polishes that OPI has released so far.  When Nail Polish Canada put the Bond Girls collection up on their website I purchased them all without a second thought.. And I'm so glad I did!

Here is OPI Honey Ryder (gold) and Jinx (red-ish, orange-ish, coral-ish).  These two go together so well because of the gold shimmer in Jinx.  I loved this combo a lot!

What do you all think of the textured polishes?  Love it or hate it?

Pastel Skittlette

Hi loves!

Happy Friday!  I'm so happy to have a long weekend.. Not that much is actually happening, I have to work on my thesis, but at least I can do that while wearing pj's ;)

 I'm starting to feel like a little bit of a one trick pony with these mix n' match manis I keep doing, but I can't stop!!  I love that it allows me to use several polishes at once and that it allows me to do more than just one nail art 'thing' at a time.

I don't normally gravitate towards pastel polish, and I don't know why, because once I actually apply them I love how girlie and delicate they look.

This mani features all Essie polishes - the base on my index and middle fingers is Navigate Her, one of my favourite green polishes ever!  I added A Crewed Interest on my ring finger, and Beyond Cozy on my pinkie.

I dotted my index and ring finger with A Crewed Interest, then using what I think is a MASH plate (it may have been Gals, my memory completely fails me right now.. sorry guys) I stamped using Konad White polish.  And I finished the whole mani by using a round stud from the BornPretty Store mixed stud wheel.

Have a great weekend everyone :)

Floral & Stripes

Hi all!

There have been some amazing floral nail art going around lately, so I decided to give it a try.  I hadn't done flowers in what seems like ages!  

When I started this look I wasn't sure just what I was going for, but I'm super happy with how they turned out!  On my pinkie I have a base of OPI Solitaire and dots are OPI Tifanny Case, both from the new Bond Girls Liquid Sand line.  My ring finger is China Glaze Electric Beat, and the purple flowers are China Glaze Gothic Lolita.  To outline and detail the flowers I used OPI Eurso..Euro.

 

On my middle and index finger I have China Glaze Gothic Lolita with flowers done using  Electric Beat and Eurso.. Euro.  A white stripping polish was used for the strips.

Thanks for having a look!

Another Studded Mani

Hi all

Here is another manicure that I did using the mixed studs from Born Pretty Store.

I started with Gosh Holographic Hero, a polish I absolutely love!  It applied really well too, which is always a bonus.  Once that was dry I free handed a wide stripe using China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy.

 

Then I added a few various sized studs.  I stuck them on with top coat, then finished it off by adding two thin coats of top coat on top.  

I had to take a photo with flash to show off the pretty holo, and of course the wheel with all the awesome studs!

 I don't know why I waited so long to purchase studs.  It's a form of nail art that can easily give an edgy look to so many different types of manis :)

Thanks for reading, hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

And of course, if you would like to purchase anything from the Born Pretty Store, don't forget to use my 10% off coupon code UTL91

Born Pretty Store: Mixed Stud Review

Hi all

I'm sure you're all well aware of the amazing-ness that is the Born Pretty Store.  They carry a wide variety of nail art supplies at amazing price, and the best part is their FREE world wide shipping! 

Today's review was done using star shaped studs from an assorted stud wheel.

There are round and square studs in various sizes, elliptical, heart and hallow studs, in either silver or gold, with some medium sized black studs.  The nail art combinations from this one wheel are absolutely endless.

This manicure was done using OPI Stay the Night from the Mariah Carey collection on my pinkie and index finger.  Sticking with the red and black theme I applied Essie Head Mistress to my middle and ring finger, then sponged on OPI Black Onyx at the tips.

To apply the studs I simply dabbed on a bit of top coat where I intended for the studs to be and applied them using a dotting tool.  I finished it off with a generous layer of top coat to seal them on.

The assorted studs are so. much. FUN!  I absolutely love the fact that you can purchase one simple thing and end up with several different looks since there are a total of 300 studs.  The stars were a little big for my curvy nails and stuck up a little bit but I found that they stayed on really well for the two days that I wore this mani.  I did lose one but simply because I was taking my pants off and the corner of one star got stuck and ended up popping off.

If you would like to try out some of these fun studs or any other nail art goodies, you can take 10% off your purchase by using coupon code UTL91!!

*Products provided for honest review

Blue + Flakies

Hi all

Quickie for today.  Here's an amazing combo that I unfortunately did not think of :P  If you're on Instagram, I suggest you follow @MrsLochness, she comes up with stunning manicures, and I have her to thank for thinking of pairing these two gorgeous polishes.

What you see here is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Pacific Blue topped with Finger Paints - Flashy then mattified using the Joe Fresh Matte top coat.

Isn't it beautiful?  Unfortunately I jacked up my ring finger nail so these didn't last very long at all, but I enjoyed this mani while it lasted :)

My first watercolour!

Hi all,

I've been feeling a little uninspired lately so I made a list of things I wanted to try out, and a watercolour mani was #1 on the list.  So I sucked up my fear and gave it a go.  I don't know why this technique intimidated me so much, but it ended up being super easy and actually really fun to do!

I started with 2 coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, then equipped with a little bit of acetone and a fluffy brush I started blobbing polish and moving it around with my acetone-dipped brush.

The colours used were Color Club Warhol (pink), Color Club Boys Wear Blue (blue) and Color Club Express Yourself (purple).  I loved the end results, and it ended up getting a ton of compliments, which made me super happy :P

Have you given the watercolout technique a try yet?  What did you think?

Happy Monday!

Cling Wrapping & Holo Stamping

Hi all,


Happy Friday!  We're supposed to have a super nice weekend here on the east coast and I'm sooo looking forward to hanging out in the sun :)

Just a quickie today:

This started out with a base of Julep Rose, which I wore alone for a little while.  But not being able to leave plain nails alone, I applied OPI Pink Friday on top and then used the clingwrap method to remove some of it.  I usually apply another colour using the cling wrap but decided to go a different route this time and liked the outcome a lot!  I found it had more of a marbled look.

Then using Ricki's Frosty Lavender (a color club dupe) I stamped the stripes using one of my Gals plate whose number I can't recall right now.  This was so pretty but I suck at taking photos of holo polish so the above picture will have to do.  Trust me when I say though that this does it no justice - it was much prettier irl!

Have a great weekend!  Thanks for reading :)