Distressed Grungy Nails

Hi all,

Happy Halloween!

I'm sad I didn't do more than one Halloween mani but I just couldn't bring myself to doing anything.  I find I have a hard time following 'themes' when it comes to painting my nails haha.  Probably why I suck at doing challenges, too.

So these nails were inspired by THIS mani done by Sarah over at Chalkboard Nails.

This was done by painting my base coat in OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh, then I used the distressed method to paint on OPI Fly, OPI Did It on Em, Color Club Miss Robinson and OPI Black Onyx. 

To acheive this look all you have to do is wipe your polish brush on the neck of the bottle until almost all the polish has been wiped off, then swipe the almost dry brush over the nail.

 

What you're left with is this really cool 'melty' effect on the nail!  Finishing off with the black made the other colours pop so I would say that black is a must in this case :)

Also - fist pictures in my new DIY lightbox.  I have to play with the settings a little bit more to make the colours pop but so far so good.  No more chasing day light!

Born Pretty Holo Polish Review

Hi all,

I'm sure by now you all know that Born Pretty now carries Holo polish.. right? If you didn't know, now you do.  And it's amazing!

 

I'm wearing Holo Polish #12, a gorgeous dark teal-ish colour.  The swatch above is in just natural light, what you mostly see the polish look like.

But here it is in it's full glory under full sunlight.  Look at the sparkle!  The formula on this polish is also amazing - it doesn't cause dragging or bald spots like other holo polishes do.  What you see here is two super easy coats.

It's so pretty, I can't wait to get my hands on more of these!

They retail for $4.59 to $5.59 USD but the bottles are a little bit smaller than regular polish bottles at 6mL.  The holo is super pretty though and definitely worth the wait for shipping!

If you'd like to try out the Born Pretty Holo Polishes you can shop HERE and save 10% off your order using discount code provided below:

*Product provided for honest review.  All opinions are my own.

KKCenterHK Neon Purple Studs

Hi all,

Hope everyone had a good weekend :)

I was given the opportunity again to review some products from KKCenterHK.  I've really been digging studs lately - so I chose some in my favourite colour!
 

I got the 2mm neon purple round studs found HERE.  You get about 100 studs in a small plastic container with a screw on lid.  They're matte in finish which looks really cool, but I topped them off with top coat so they ended up shiny.  Either way, they're really pretty.

For this mani I started with Bonita Chrome my Nail, a lovely silver polish with an awesome formula.  I topped that off with a holo silver glitter polish from Claire's.  On my ring finger I have Essie Butler Please then using a dotting tool I added the three studs.  On my middle and index I have three coats of China Glaze That's Shore Bright and stamped using a Pueen plate and A England Tristam.

The studs are like any other of that size, super easy to use and they stayed on until I picked them off a few days later :)

You can purchase them HERE and get 10% off using code "ofknitandnails" when you check out!

*Products provided for honest review.

Copy Cat Manicure

Hi all,

I'm going to keep this one short and sweet.  I absolutely fell head over heels over THIS mani done by Marta of Chit Chat Nails, who's manicures continue to awe me every time she posts something new.

So in order to not mess with an already good thing, I pretty much copied her manicure.

I did change some colours because I didn't want it to be 100% the same but still.. I'd say it's 90% copied ;)  I started with Orly Purple Pleather on my pointer and pinky.  This polish is from their Plastix Satin collection and dries to a rubber like finish - it's super pretty!  I added little square studs from Born Pretty Store on my pinky.

My middle and ring finger have a base of Orly Decades of Dysfunction, then I added a little glitter gradient using Orly Pixie Powder and Halo.  Can I just say how pretty Pixie Powder is?  I know you can't see too much of it here but it added the perfect amount of light purple sheen to the tips of my nails - soo pretty.

I then stamped using the splatter image from the Bundle Monster Fan Collection plates and topped it off with OPI The Man With the Golden Gun.

What do you all think?  They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, would you agree?  I loved this mani on Marta and I loved wearing this mani THANKS to Marta :)

Happy Friday!

Halloween Nail Art

Hi all,

While my parents were visiting during our Thanksgiving weekend we took the opportunity to drive out to Upper Canada Village to visit their amazing display of 6000+ carved pumpkins.  It was a beautiful night, we walked around for 2 hours checking out all of the set ups.. just amazing.

I decided to go with matchy nails even though it'd be dark and no one would see them :P

I started out with a base of Color Club Dress for the Parade then using a triangle makeup sponge I created the gradient using Dress for the Parade, Essie Orange! It's Obvious and She's Pampered.

 

I then stamped using various images from the new Bundle Monster Holiday collection and Konad Black polish.  How cute are these?   Spider web on my pointer, creepy little eyes on my middle finger, skeletal face on my ring finger and a bunch of little pumpkin faces on my pinky.  I am loving the two new BM plate sets!

Are any of you dressing up this year?  I went out with my guy and my sister this weekend and picked out our costumes for a party we're going to on Friday - I'm pretty excited about dressing up this year :)

Glitter Placement + BornPretty Review

Hi all!

I'm so behind on this review!  I've had a few Born Pretty store items to review for a while now but with the move things just kind of got put on the back burner for a bit.  I got these diamond shaped glitter pieces from them with the idea of doing glitter placement after seeing THIS (and all of her other wonder glitter placement manis, seriously!  Can they get any more awesome?).

So.  This is what I came up with.  I obviously need a little bit more practice but I liked the look of this anyway:

I used a base of OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest then one by one using a dotting tool and some top coat I placed the glitter bits on my nail.  I had intended to cover one nail entirely but I learned that I'm not that patient :/

This polish was so hard to photograph!  The pinkish hue is nothing but my shirt reflecting off of my nails, ha.

What do you all think of glitter placement?  I think it's a pretty neat style of nail art and anyone can do it so long as you have the time and patience :)

These diamond shaped glitter are now available here in either gold or silver.  You get TONS of them in one little glass bottle for only $2.09 USD and of course Born Pretty has free shipping world wide.  You can also save 10% off of your order when you use the code UTL91 at check out!

*Glitter provided for review

Feeling Peacock-y

Hi all!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to my fellow Canadians!  I hope you're all stuffed with turkey.. I ended up having two turkey dinners this weekend, and both were awesome - there's nothing I love more than a good Turkey dinner with all the fixings.. yum!

Anyway.

Here's another oldie that's been sitting on my camera for more than a month now.  One of my faves yet!

This is pretty much the theme and colour palette for my wedding - jewel tones and peacock, I love everything about them!  I started out with Color Club Metamorphosis on my pinky, which is a lot more vibrant in real life but the sun kind of washed the colour out.

On my index and middle finger I used Layla Ceramic Effect in The Butterfly Effect a gorgeous purple jelly polish with flakies that flash red to orange to green. 

For my ring finger I started with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls then using various striping polishes I free handed the peacock feather.  It was SUPER easy and so much fun.  I filled the 'eye' using Essie Good as Gold, Color Club Lumin-Icent and Metamorphosis.

I loved this one :)

Thanks for reading!

Alcatraz Rocks & The Impossible Liquid Sand

Hi all!

Just a quickie swatch of quite possibly my favourite textured polish yet!

Here is OPI Alcatraz Rocks, which OPI describes as a textured grey but is actually a beautiful dark blue with a multitude of different coloured glitter thrown in there.

It. is. BEAUTIFUL!  I can't get enough of this shade and constantly found myself grabbing my hands and staring at my nails.  How's that for a confession? :P 

I paired it with one of the Mariah Carey liquid sand shades, OPI The Impossible which is also a stunner.  I am absolutely LOVING the liquid sands.  Alcatraz Rocks is also stunning with top coat on but I couldn't capture the depth and dimension of it on camera so I left those pictures out.  If you haven't got your hands on this polish yet, you MUST!

What are your thoughts on textured polishes?

Incoco Nail Appliques - In Bloom

Hi Loves

A while back I was given the opportunity to review some nail applique's from Incoco and posted about the first set of strips here.  This is the second set that I've tried out, and I have to say.. I love them.

I'm realllly sorry about the quality of this photo.. The man and I were on our house hunting trip and living out of hotel with terrible lighting.. which resulted in the following horrible pic.

Instructions on how to properly apply these can be found on Incoco's website, HERE.

These particular strips are called In Bloom, "One of nature's first signs of spring, Cherry Blossoms over a pink base make this nail design light and airy."

I started off by wiping my nails with acetone.  They recommend buffing but I didn't have a buffing block with me so I skipped that part .  Each package has two sheets of eight double ended appliques so finding a perfect size for your nails is pretty easy.  Once I sized them up, I peeled off the protective plastic, removed the applique from the backing and easily pressed them on to my nails using either my finger or the provided orange wood stick, and filed off the excess.

After 3 or 4 days of wear, this is what they looked like.  I filed my nails down a teeny little bit which actually made the strips look better.  The only noticeable chip was on my pinky, and I'm pretty sure I aided that by subconciously picking at it on the plane ride back home.  Oops

However, this is what my right hand looked like.  This is my dominant hand so I use it a lot more than my left.  There was no dishwashing when I wore these because I wasn't home for the week.. They just cracked and chipped super quickly.  I don't remember the first strips doing this so it may just be the dry hotel air, or something I did (like not buffing, maybe?)

Regardless.. these are great when you're not home and don't have access to all of your nail supplies but still want something cute and artsy to wear on your nails :)

Removal on these was a breeze, I just used regular acetone like I would on any other manicure!

These appliques retail for $8.99CAD over at the Incoco website, and there are a ton of cute designs to choose from.  Shipping is free on any purchase over $50 :)

Incoco Links:

 

Website: https://www.incoco.com/Default.aspx

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/incoco

Twitter: https://twitter.com/incoco

Instagram: http://instagram.com/incocoproducts

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/incoco/

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/IncocoProducts

 * Product provided for my honest review

Blue Gradient + Gold Accent

Hi loves,

Back in August the boy and I went to our friends wedding.  I had bought this dress from Forever 21 and, though white and thought to be taboo (the bride didn't care, I checked), decided to wear it for the wedding.. and sported this mani to be all matchy matchy with it. 

I started out with a base of China Glaze Electric Beat which matched the starfish on the dress PERFECTLY, and used Orly Luxe for the gold accent finger (to match the gold studs on the dress).  I topped that off with OPI When Monkey's Fly (which no longer has curling glitter...).

For the gradient I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and a triangle makeup brush until the desired gradient effect was achieved.  Super easy but I got a bunch of compliments on this mani (and the dress, too!).

And oldie but a goodie.. If only I could get my nails back to this length again!

Thanks for having a read :)

Gold & Mint mixed mani

Hi all!

Earlier in September I had the pleasure of meeting up with a few nail gals in Halifax.. a few weeks before I had to move away, unfortunately :P  If you'd like to read about it, Kelsie wrote a post over on her (fabulous) blog!

This is the mani I sported for our gathering.  I chose a mint and gold combo, going with ever beautiful Essie Mint Candy Apple as my base for all but my pinkie, and Orly Luxe on my pinky and for all of the gold accents. 

I used small round studs (from Born Pretty Store, found here) on my middle finger and free handed some leopard print.  On my pinky I added a coat of Color Club Gingerbread glitter to add a little extra sparkle.

Thanks for reading, hope you're all having a good start to your week :)

Fall inspired Skittlette

Hi loves

Another quickie today :)

I put this mani together after a few cold and rainy Halifax days, which put me in the mood for a Fall inspired look.

I started with OPI Honey Ryder on my pinkie, and OPI Chatters me Up on my ring and middle finger.  This was an exclusive polish to the salon Chatters in Canada.. it's such a beautifully sparkly polish!  Then using a Pueen stamp and Essie Good as Gold I added the image on both fingers.

On my pointer finger I added two coats of Essie Don't Sweater It.  Once dried I placed striping tape and one coat of Essie Recessionista. 

This was a fun look - I'm so happy to be able to sport darker shades on my tips again :)

Red Leopard

Hi Loves,

I've now moved provinces, am settled into our new house and finally have internet!  I'm going to try my hardest to post on a regular schedule again :)

Here's something from the vault:

Essie She's Pampered on my pointer and middle finger, and Essie Where's my Chauffeur on my ring and pinky.  Then I stamped the leopard print with what I think is a bundle monster plate (I can't remember :/) and filled in some spots with She's Pampered :)

Happy Thursday everyone :)