Poptastic Watermarble

Oh Hey!

She's alive :)

After being tipped off that Winners currently had some Color Club sets in, I drove my butt over there and accidently brought a few home with me, one of which was the new Poptastic collection.

And since it's so beautiful the last few days, I figured I'd break them in and enjoy the last few days of 'summer' with matchy nails :)

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I'm so happy with how this water marble turned out.  I avoided even attempting one of these for so so long because I was so intimidated.  Glad I gave it a try though because, hello, amazing nails that I can't stop staring at!

I started with a base of China Glaze Snow and then used all 6 shades in the Poptastic collection; Belle Bottom Babe, Foxy Mama, Kapow!, Not-SO-Mellow Yellow, Peace, Love & Polish and Right On. 

As bright as they look now, they're actually much brighter IRL!

Happy Friday all!

Grey and Yellow Skittlette

Good morning!

Here's a quickie post showing this cute mani that I wore a couple of weeks ago.

This mani started with a base of Essie Power Clutch, then using the dry brush method I added Essie Chinchilly and China Glaze Elephant Walk to create a neat marbled effect.

Then using Color Club Dressed for the Parade mixed with Konad White I stamped the zig zag pattern from BM 423 on my pointer and middle fingers.

On my ring finger is an image from Mash 37.

I mixed the white and yellow polishes on the plate itself, I covered the image with half yellow and half white and scraped a bunch of times quickly to mix the colours and make the yellow opaque so it showed up on the dark base.  I followed a tutorial but I can't find it anymore.. if anyone knows who's tutorial that was please share!

Then on my pinky I used one coat of Maybelline Color Show Street Art - Green Graffiti.  I love these matte glitters :)

Have a great Monday everyone!

Another Late Valentine's Mani

Good morning!

This wasn't a mani I was really planning on posting but I'm at my parents house for the week and haven't really painted my nails and so need to rely on older manis :P

I was on my water marbling kick when I came up with this look.  My index and pinky were done using A England Excaliber, China Glaze Hey Sailor and OPI Black Onyx.

These looked so cool but I had SUCH a hard time marbling with the silver.. it dried way too fast.

For the middle and ring finger I started with a base of China Glaze Hey Sailor then stamped an image from Pueen 35 and Konad Special polish.

I actually really liked this mani, but I only realized way too late that there was cat hair on my nails when I took a picture of it, lol.  I tried to edit them out but my editing skills aren't really existent :P

I hope you're all having a good week! :)

Peek-a-boo Music Notes Stamping

Hi all!

How is everyone's weekend going?  I'm getting pretty tired of winter to be honest lol.  I try not to complain about the weather since it's out of our control but come on!  The snowbanks that border my driveway are legit taller than I am.  It's time for it to all melt ;)

This is something I did pretty quickly the other week.  It was initially meant to be for a guest post but I decided the quality of the work wasn't something I wanted to send in :P

I started with OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and stamped using BM-411 on my ring finger and Pueen-47 on the rest of the nails in Konad Special Black.

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I then freehanded the V's using Zoya Savita and outlined them with China Glaze Crush Crush Baby from the Crinkled Chrome collection.

I really liked this look but it drives me crazy that my lines aren't perfect and that I have no patience for tape mani's lol.  So it didn't last terribly long :P

Happy Sunday everyone!

Double Stamping over OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OP!?

Hi all!  Happy Saturday :)

Just a quickie today - I decided to try some double stamping this week, something I'd never done before.  And it turned out to be so fun!

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This look started with a base of OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OPI? stamped with BM-414 (fingerprint) with China Glaze Dress me Up then stamped again with BM-301 and Sally Hansen Insta Dri In a Blink Blue.

Have a great weekend!

Grey and Pink - CG Elephant Walk and OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender

Good morning!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of watching the Olympic qualifying rounds of figure skating with some of my family - it was so good (and so, so intense)!

While these nails don't really scream figure skating competition, I made them a little sparkly, which so many figure skating costumes are, so it seemed a little fitting :)

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I adore a good colour combo like pink and grey.  It's just the perfect amount of dainty and girly, no?

I used China Glaze Elephant Walk, which is an awesome medium shade of shimmery grey, and used OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender as my accent nail.  These two shades were pretty much meant for each other, I think :)

I then topped Elephant Walk with Orly Embrace, an amazing Pink medium hex glitter polish with smaller pink holo glitter bits.. it's SO sparkly in real life!

Using Elephant Walk and Pueen-08 I stamped the cute dots on my ring finger.  I swear the XL sticky stamper has changed my stamping life so much - I can't get enough of it!

Another Holiday Mani

Hi loves

Happy Saturday!  What's everyone's plans for the weekend?  I have a family Christmas gathering tonight that I'm very much looking forward to :)

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I am loving the new Bundle Monster plates.. they came out with such cute images this year between the Holiday collection and the blogger creations - I can't stop using them!

I stamped the bells and mittens from BM-H03 with China Glaze Hey Sailor on top of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.  On my ring finger is Orly Ma Cherie stamped with BM-H01, and I filled in the heart with OPI Pure 18k White Gold flakes :)

Annnd on my pinkie is something you've seen before HERE, Gosh Forest Floor with Orly Mermaid Tale and Monster Mash.

Thanks for reading! :)

NPC Holiday Challenge Week 2: Decorations

Hi all!

Here is my entry for the second week of the Nail Polish Canada Holiday Challenge.  This week's theme was decorations.. I ended up redo-ing these nails three times!  Ha.  I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out though :)

I created an 'abstract tree' I guess you can see, with a string of lights and 'hung' ornaments :)

I started with a base of Gosh Forest Floor then using a fan brush I created wisps with Color Club Not Just for Kelly Green, China Glaze Gaga For Green and OPI Gargatuan Green Grape.

Then using a black striping polish and various colours I painted on the lights on the tip of my nails, and finished things off by adding different sized and coloured rhinestones for the ornaments :)

If you like this manicure please click HERE and vote for me, or vote for which ever manicure you like best :)

Thanks a bunch!

Mo' nails.

Happy Thursday!

Things have been busy round here - I had my mom and two of my best friends over last weekend to go wedding dress shopping annnd I found my dress!  Now I'm just bummed about having to wait 7 more months before wearing it.  haha.

So - I figured before November ends I should post my Movember nails.  How is it almost December already?!

How cute are the mustache's?! I started with a base of Essie Cute as a Button on my index and middle fingers, then stamped my index with BM-402.  On my middle finger is a water decal from Born Pretty store. 

On my ring finger is Essie Beyond Cozy, one of my favourite glittery polish.  And on my pinky is China Glaze Bump in The Night with OPI Solitaire polka dots.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!  Hope you're all enjoying time with your loved ones :)

Thanks for reading. 

Black and White mani

Wahh I've been a bad blogger and I don't even have an excuse!  I've been knitting a lot trying to finish a pair of socks before next week so my nails are being neglected.  Boo!

I was feeling uninspired so I asked C what I should do and he said black and white.. so I did!

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I started out with a base of Orly Dayglow then created a gradient using China Glaze Elephant Walk on the tips.  I love gradients!

On my ring finger I added a coat of Lush Lacquer Salt N Peppa, then I used Bundle Monster plate 406 to stamp on the cute hart pattern.

I'm loving black and white lately!  What are your thoughts?

Nimbus Nails

Happy Friday!

Here's hoping you're all having a good weekend :) Call me crazy but I'm in a Christmas decorating mood so all of our decor is going up this weekend!  All I need now is a little bit of snow ;)

So I'm sure you're all following The Nailasaurus (if you're not, you should be) and thus have seen her Nimbus mani tutorial.  I decided to give it a try not too long ago.  It's so fun and super easy to do, too.

 

I started out with a white base or Orly Dayglow, then using way too many polishes I started dabbing away at my nails. I really need to start writing down all the polishes I use because I can't remember them now.  But the ones I do remember were Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, Sally Hansen Blue me Away, China Glaze Electric Beat, China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle, Color Club Express Yourself and OPI Steady as She Rose.

On my pinky I added Color Club Jingle Jangle since the purple and blue glitter matched the colour scheme of the mani, and on my ring finger I stamped the chevron pattern from Bundle Monster plate 423 in Konad White polish.

Have you tried the Nimbus method yet? 

Thanks for reading!

Born Pretty Feather Review

Happy Saturday!

I hope you have better plans than me this weekend - with all of the moving and settling in the last little bits of my grad thesis have been put on the back burner so I'm working on finishing it all off for good!

I've seen a lot of cool real feather manis floating around the blogosphere, and they always intrigued me but I never really gave them a shot until I was sent some feathers from Born Pretty.  I had attempted using the feathers over a month ago and nothing worked, which actually resulted in my Peacock feather mani that I ended up loving so much - I guess I was determined to have a feather on my nail that day :P

That being said, I was determined to make this work.  So I took a piece of these Fancy Feathers in colour #5 and finally managed to get it to stay on my nail! 

I waited for my base of Orly Dayglow to dry, added a layer of topcoat and waited for it to get a bit tacky then gently pushed a cut up piece of feather onto it.  When it was placed to my liking I covered it up with top coat then cut off the little bits that were too big for my nail.

For the rest of the mani I used China Glaze Frostbite, a lovely shimmery royal blue polish.  I then stamped some feathers using the new Bundle Monster set and Konad White polish.

I really like the feather nail art look, but I like it better on others I think. 

If you'd like to give this look a try you can purchase your feathers HERE for $0.99 USD, plus free shipping world wide.  You can also get a 10% discount by using the code provided below:

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.

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 :)

KKCenterHk stamping plate review

Hi all!

I am alive and well .. posts will continue to be scarce around here for the next little while.  My guy and I are packing up and moving half way across the country next week.  I'm hoping to have a few posts scheduled so that it's not complete radio silence on here but it all depends on just how busy things get.

Moving on - I had the opportunity to try out a stamping plate from KKCenterHK not too long ago.  I chose this one, because I love all things nautical :)

I started with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls on my middle and ring finger.  Once that was dry I added striping tape and covered the nail with China Glaze Hey Sailor!  Pointer and pinky finger have Sinful Color Cold Leather from the new Leather collection (which is amazing!). 

Then using Konad Special Polishes in White and Black I stamped 4 different images from the plate.  I got a little too impatient though and ended up smearing my two skulls, boo.  The images though were nice and crisp - my white polish was a bit separated and that's the reason for the missing spots in the skulls and crossbones.  And the blob of black in the middle of the Ship's Wheel is simply due to the smaller & harder stamp that I used, and not due to the plate at all.

Overall this was a great plate to stamp from and a good addition to my plate collection.  The only issue I have with the plate is there's no backing, making the edges super sharp!

You can get yours for $5.05USD by clicking here, with an added 10% off by using code OFKNITANDNAILS at check out.

Stamping plate was a PR sample sent to me for review. All opinions are my own!

KKCenterHK stud review

Hi loves.

Here's a fun mani that I did while trying out rectangular studs from KKCenterHK.  I kept things a simple for this one but these studs are so versatile really!

I used China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle on my index and middle finger, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls on my ring finger, stamped using a Pueen plate and Konad Pink polish.  My pinky has China Glaze That's Shore Bright topped with Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coats in Tweedy.

 

Then I placed top coat where I wanted the studs to be, used a dotting tool and put them on the nail and pressed down on them a little bit.  Top coated the rest of my mani and was good to go.  I think so far these are my favourite 'oversized' studs.. they sat pretty much perfectly flat on the nail with no edge to catch anything on.  They stayed on for the duration of my mani.. so around 2 days, and probably would have held on for a bit longer had I given them the chance to!

You can find these studs here, they retail for $4.73 USD for 50 studs but using 'ofknitandnails' at check out will give you 10% off your order :)

Studs were a PR sample sent to me for review. All opinions are my own!

Born Pretty Water Decals review

Hi all!

I'm back today with another fun Born Pretty Store review :)  I've been seeing so many fun manicures lately where water decals were involved, and they've all looked really cute and super easy so I thought I'd give them a try.

For this manicure I started with a perfect nude polish, OPI - My Vampire is Buff, then opted to do a funky french using China Glaze - Too Yacht to Handle & Sun of a Peach.

Once that dried, I cut up my cute little moustache decals found here (although I can't find the exact decal sheet that I have, the one I was sent was solely different shaped mustaches), soaked them in water for about 10 seconds, then using tweezer I carefully peeled them off the backing and placed them onto my nail.

 

Using a tiny piece of paper towel I blotted off the excess water, let that dry then topped it off with top coat.

These water decals are SO easy to use.  My initial thought is that they would be super delicate and they'd fold on themselves but none of that actually happened.  I was even able to move them around on my nail until they were where I wanted them to be.  I absolutely love love love these, a quick and easy form of nail art.  If you're on the go or just don't feel up to spending that extra time and effort on a fun mani, this is definitely the way to go!

  Born Pretty store has a bunch of fun water decals for you to choose from here, and shipping is free world wide!

Don't forget to also take 10% off your purchase by using this coupon code:

Dots & Bows (BornPretty Store Review)

Hi all!

I have another review today for cute little nail art accents from Born Pretty Store.

 

I chose these cute resin bows.  I love seeing manicures that have these adorable bows, they give nails such a girlie feel to it!

To make it even more cutesie I paired the bow with a simple dotticure:

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I started with a base of China Glaze That's Shore Bright from the Sunsational collection, then alternated between China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle and Sun of a Peach for the dots.  Then using some nail glue I stuck on one of the bows.  On my other hand to test out the difference I stuck it on with top coat.

As much as I loved this look.. the bows didn't stay on for very long at all.  Maybe because my nails are too curved and the back of the bow is pretty flat?  The bow stuck on with top coat fell off maybe an hour later, but that may have been my fault as I forgot about it and ran my fingers through my hair.  And the one stuck on with the glue fell off in my sleep so it probably got caught on a sheet.

 

Not the best quality picture but you can see how much the sides of the bow stick up off of my nail.

Regardless of the bows falling off super fast I will still use them.  Maybe for a special occasion or a night out where I'm okay with my mani only lasting a short little while.  They're just too cute to pass up!

These bows retail for $0.99 and shipping from Born Pretty is free world wide!

You can also get 10% off your next purchase using coupon code UTL91:

**Product provided for my consideration and honest review.