Brazilian Florals + a mini update

Good morning!

I'm back!  Albeit briefly as I am on holidays next week but for now I'll ease back into blogging.  I've missed it :)

How bout a little update?

On June 28th, the man and I got hitched:

It was a beautiful and insanely hot day.  It went perfectly, but that's because I didn't care if things went wrong.  If they did, I wasn't aware of them because I was just focused on enjoying my day :)

Now that things are winding down, I'm trying to focus on my unfinished grad thesis.  And trying to get back into nail art.  I went months where they were either bare or just plainly painted, but lately I feel like I
got my mojo back ;)

That being said, here's a 'from the vault' mani that I did eons ago.  And because of that I can't really remember which polish I used.

For the base on my index and middle finger, I want to say I used OPI Did you Ear about Van Gogh? but I'm not 100% sure.  The leafy stamp is from the Pueen Buffet set, using OPI AmazON, AmazOFF from their Brazilian collection, which is also the base on my ring and pinki finger.

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I used OPI Which is Witch? for the reverse glitter gradient.  Such beautiful glitter, my bottle is showing some serious use!

As for the flowers on my index and ring finger.. I really can't even guess which polishes I used :/  I should really start keeping a log of each mani in a notebook, it would make life a little bit easier :)

Potential wedding nails?

Hi loves!

I hope you're all having a good week so far!

So most of you know I'm getting married this summer.. and we chose to base our colours around peacock feathers since I love jewel tones :)  I've been brain storming mani ideas, and after seeing a post in the Adventures in Stamping Facebook group I knew I had to recreate it and see if it could be a wedding day mani contender :)

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I first started with a base of Orly Dayglow, then using a sponge I crated a gradient with Zoya Savita, Orly Royal Navy and Zoya Veruschuka.  The purple of Savita shows up way better IRL, my camera kind of turned it blue.  Boo.

I added some sparkle on my ring finger because, why not?  I added Sally Hansen Twinkle Toes-ty, which is an awesome rose gold holo glitter that I just picked up while grocery shopping :P

I then stamped the peacock feathers using Essie Penny Talk and Pueen09.  I really like this stamp but I find the feathers a little too big for my baby sized nails so I'm hoping THIS one will be better :)

What are your thoughts on these?  I really don't want the typical nude wedding nails.  The only thing I would do differently is stamp in silver but.. I've still got 4 months to play around and figure that out :)

Sparlky Reverse Gradient + OPI Liquid Sands

Happy Tuesday!


I hope everyone's week is off to a good start!  It's pretty cold here today so my plan is to stay in and do some chores around the house - I'm too much of a wimp to venture out haha.

So I finally decided to purchase some of the Mariah Carey holiday polishes the other week.  I was holding off, teetering between needing and then not needing them.  But then Nail Polish Canada sent out an email saying they were limited stock so I finally bought the liquid sands I was eye balling!

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I started with a base of OPI My Favorite Ornament.  I love these champagne-y glitter polishes.. I actually went through my collection the other day and found that I have a few that could almost be dupes but aren't quite there.. I guess I'm just a sucker for them ;)

I did a reverse gradient using Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rockstar Pink, an awesome glitter polish gifted to me by my fiance at Christmas ;)

On my ring finger I used two coats of the AH-MAZING OPI Kiss me at Midnight.  I didn't expect to love this shade as much as I did, I thought it was 'just' another blue textured polish but it's a perfect shade of cornflower blue that is unlike all other blue textured polishes that I have!  I added dots in OPI Baby Please Come Home and called it a day.

So sparkly!

Have a great day everyone :)

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!

Something Bright

Happy Saturday!  

After all of the typical red/green/gold/white holiday manicures I was craving something bright and cheerful, so naturally I reached for pink.  Totally not 'holiday' nor is it dark and vampy winter shade, just what I needed!

This mani started with OPI Kiss me on the Tulips on my pinky and index finger.  On top of that, I layerd OPI Polka.com and Orly Spazmatic.

My middle and ring finger have the gorgeous OPI Fly, and using the distressed method I added Kiss me on the Tulips.

I then stamped an image from Pueen-15 using Konad black polish.

I initially just wanted the ring and middle fingers to be stamped but after accidentally stamping my index finger and liking the look I just went with it and stamped them all instead of re-doing that one nail.

I felt like this was such a refreshing mani - I kept it on for days!

Have a great weekend, and as always, thanks for reading :)

Red & Gold Chinese Mani

Just after the new year, the boy and I decided to go on an *actual* date and saw a performance put on by a classical Chinese dance company, which was an amazing show!

So in honour of this, I pulled out the new Bundle Monster plates that have what I believe are images for the Chinese New Year, and put them to good use :)

I started off with one of the most perfect candy apple red polishes out there, Essie She's Pampered. It's so juicy!  I almost felt the urge to just leave it be but decided to continue on with my initial plans.

Using BM-H15 and Essie Good as Gold I stamped the dragon on my middle finger and the Chinese symbol on my pointer and pinkie.

And because I had just gotten Sally Hansen Salon Manicure - Crown Jewels which fit perfectly with my red and gold theme, I happily layered it onto my ring finger (and my thumb).  It was such an eye catching mani - I just loved the red and gold combination!

Black and Silver New Year's Mani

Another super late post but I'm all caught up after this one :) 

I'm not a huge fan of the crazy crowds on New Year's Eve and always opt for quieter evenings with friends and family instead.. but that didn't stop me from sporting some NYE appropriate nails!

These were pretty much inspired by Serene at Copy Cat Claws.. I loved her mani so much that I did something similar :)

This look started with a simple black base of OPI Black Onyx on all but my ring finger, which has a base of Gosh Silver.

Then using Essie Nothing Else Metals, No Place Like Chrome and Blue Rhapsody I stamped the fire works using BM-H14 although you really can't tell the difference between the three shades sadly.

Using the same Bundle Monster plate and Konad Black I stamped the Champagne bottle on my ring finger.  Everyone had a hard time figuring out what that image was until I told them what to look for though.. I feel like it's just too big for my tiny nail, plus I smeared it lol.

And to finish off I I added Color Club Platinum Record to my middle finger, topped it all off with Joe Fresh Matte Top Coat and went out to celebrate NYE with a handful of my aunts and uncles that live in the area :)

Pink and Purple Funky French

Hi all!

I'm so behind on posts!  I actually still have a Christmas mani to post but that will have to wait a few days since photos aren't even uploaded to my computer yet!  Holidays are just so busy.

This mani was entirely inspired by one of my favourite bloggers, Heather from Peace, Love & Polish.  She always does really fun french manicures and after seeing THIS one I felt the need to also do a funky french :)

I started with a 'base' of Finger Paints Flecked, which is a green to blue shifting flakie.  When my base was dried I used OPI Suzi & The 7 Dusseldorfs and Color Club Hot Like Lava to create the funky french.

Then to clean up the lines a little bit I used a blue glitter striper polish to outline the tip.

What do you all think of funky french manis?  I rarely ever do them but I have to admit I really loved this look!

And in the case that I don't post again before the 1st, I want to wish each and everyone of you a safe and happy New Year!

Color Club Holiday Splendor

Sometimes a simple glittery manicure is just as fun as any kind of nail art.  I wanted to paint my nails but I just didn't want it taking for ever so I pulled out this gem and happily painted!

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This beauty is Color Club Holiday Splendor from the 2011 Beyond the Mistletoe collection.  It's got a green jelly base and is jam packed with holo glitter bits - it's soo pretty!

 My lightbox kind of washed out the beauty of this polish which is unfortunate because in real life it's stunning :)  And thanks to Elmer's Glue removal of this was super easy!

Happy Wednesday :)

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. 

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!

Interview Nails

Hi loves

I had a couple of interviews a few weeks ago and decided to keep things pretty simple.  I figure I can get crazy after I landed the job (which I didn't, but I'm okay with that - they weren't something I was terribly excited about lol)

For the base I have three coats of OPI Care to Danse then created a subtle glitter gradient using OPI Which is Witch? at the tips.

 

I had initially planned on using OPI Lights of Emerald City for the glitter gradient but I didn't like how the big white square glitter looked on there so.. I guess we can say I used it for an accidental accent nail ;)

Happy Wednesday!

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.

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

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 :)

China Glaze Fancy Pants

Hi all!

Yikes, it's been a little while since I last wrote a blog post.  While I want to be sorry, I'm not really :P  I'm in my home province, spending a whole lot of time with my very big family.  The passed weekend we had our annual family horseshoe tournament and this next weekend we celebrate my grandparents 65th wedding anniversary.  How crazy is that?

You'll notice that I have a new nail shape.  I'm not sure how much I like it yet, but in the last few months I picked up a few new hobbies, one of which is hula hooping, or hoop dancing.  And because of it I've broken SO MANY nails.  So, I'm trying this out and see if they'll stop snapping every time the hoop hits my hand.

Right now I'm at home working on my thesis so I took a bit of me time.  I had two huge nail fails yesterday, and I'm not super happy with this current mani but what can you do?

This is China Glaze Fancy Pants, a beauuutiful blurple with amazing shimmer.  On my middle and pinkie finger we have dots and stripes in Essie No Place Like Chrome.

My index and ring finger have this gorgeous glitter that I don't use nearly enough, Icing Written in the Stars.

I'm holding my hoop in the last two pictures.. how pretty is it?!  It's made out of heavy PVC piping though, which is why my nails have been snapping.. Maybe once I actually get good it won't happen so much ;)

Happy belated Canada Day to my Canadian lovelies, and Happy early 4th of July to my American loves, hope you celebrate(d) with those you love the most :)

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? :)

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 :)