Nude & Gold Stamping

Hi there!

I'm a terrible blogger!  I haven't yet found the balance between working full time, planning my wedding and painting my nails.. sometimes something just has to give, and sadly in this case it's been my favourite hobby.  Boo.

~*~*~

How cute is this combo though?  Gold and nude just look so good together!

I started with OPI My Vampire is Buff and using Essie Good as Gold and an image from Pueen-33 I stamped over my base.

Then I added some small square studs to my ring finger, and used OPI Honey Ryder as a pinkie and thumb accent :)

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

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!

Feeling Festive - Red and Gold

Hi all!

I don't normally find myself sticking to themes when it comes to my nails.. which is why I have a hard time sticking to challenges, I like my nails to reflect what I'm in the mood for or what I'm feeling, not something I'm 'told' to do, you know?

That being said, I can't get enough of Christmas nails lately!  This mani isn't totally Christmas but it's red and gold and to me that feels pretty festive.

It's also the hardest mani to photograph!

The base is OPI Deutsch You Want Me Baby?, the fabulous glowy red from the German collection - absolutely perfect for the holidays!

 

 
Then I stamped with Orly Luxe and Pueen-14.

Have a great day guys!

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!

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 :)

Half Moon Leopards

Hi loves!

The other day I turned to pinterest for inspiration since I wasn't really feeling particularly motivated to do anything too fancy.  The mani I recreated has been seen floating around pinterest for quite some time and I love it every time I do see it :)

I started out with two thin coats of my favourite gold polish Orly Luxe.  When that was dry I applied Orly Ma Cherie to created the half moon look.  This polish is kind of a hyprid between a jelly and a creme, but it was sheer enough that the gold underneath peeked through giving it a cool metallic look!

 

Then I added leopard spots using Orly Buried Alive and outlined them with a black creme polish.  This was so flashy and so much fun to wear!

Also - yay nubbies!  The free edge on my index finger broke off completely when I was clearing snow from my car so I decided to chop them all off and start fresh.  I kind love them though :)

Hope you're all having a fab weekend, thanks for reading!

Revlon Moon Candy and Expressionist polish Review

Not long ago Revlon Canada's Facebook page posted something about becoming a Revlon Select, where they were looking for 500 applicants to review some of their newest product.  I filled out the form not thinking much of it, and to my surprise I got chosen!

I got sent two of their new dual ended polishes (and some other goodies that I will review in another post).  I'm sure you've heard of them before, the Revlon Moon Candy polishes that have a base colour and a mylar flakie topper, and the Revlon Expressionist line, which comes with a base colour on one end, and a striping  polish on the other end.

Revlon Expressionist in Vincent Van Gold and Revlon Moon Candy in Orbit

 

Revlon Moon Candy - Orbit on my ring finger & Revlon Expressionist - Vincent Van Gold on the remainder of my fingers.

 Both polishes that were sent to me had gorgeous purple bases.  The base for Vincent Van Gold had some blue and pink shimmer to it, whereas the base for Orbit was a dark purple creme.  I've read that the Moon Candy bases are one coaters, and if they're all like this one they most definitely are!  I hardly ever paint on just one coat but this one really didn't need a second.  

I used two coats for Vincent Van Gold.

Then using the other end, I added one easy coat of the flakies.  These aren't your typical flakies though, and I had a few that didn't lie completely flat but that got remedied with a thick layer of top coat.

And because I'm not the best at doing free hand nail art using a striping brush, I just used the other end of Vincent Van Gold and just painted on simple gold stripes.

Striping brush from the Revlon Expressionist polish

I really liked the two polishes they sent me.  The striping polish was opaque enough that I didn't need to go over the stripes a second time and I only used one coat of the flakie topper.  The formula for both base colours' was good and not streaky at all.

The only thing I didn't like from these is the packaging.  It's actually really awkward to paint your nails with these since there's another polish attached to the brush which makes it super top heavy!  I had more cleanup to do than usual since the brush was a little harder to control.

What do you all think of these?  I like them, but I think I would rather them come in a set where they polishes aren't attached to each other :P

This post contains product(s) provided to me for my honest review.

Christmas Lights

Hi loves!

One of my favourite things about Christmas is seeing decorated homes.  I remember being little and driving around everywhere with my parents just admiring homes that were completely lit up.. This hasn't happened in years, but last night C and I took a little stroll around our neighbourhood and checked out all of the nicely lit up decorations.  It was so nice :)

I mention this because we did this while I was sporting a Christmas lights mani!

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I've been wanting to do a Christmas lights mani since last year!  I'm so happy that I finally got to try this out.  The base is China Glaze Angel Wings, which is so, so beautiful on it's own.  My pictures definitely don't do the sparkly holo any justice!

 

Then using a black striper polish I drew on the strings, then using Essie Snap Happy (red), Color Club Not Just For Kelly (green), Dress for the Parade (yellow), Boys Wear Blue (blue) & Express Yourself (purple) (all from the pride collection)  and a small nail art brush I painted on the light bulbs.  

This was so fun, I really enjoyed wearing it for a few days :)

What's your favourite thing about the holidays?  Share away :D

Feeling Blue

Hi loves!

Happy Fridayyyy :)  Here's something I wore earlier in the week.. I loved this, and wish I could have kept it on longer but it chipped within 2 days.  Boo.

 

This was probably my best gradient yet!  All polishes used in this many are Essie.  I started off with two easy coats of Where's my Chauffeur?, then using a makeup sponge I sponged on all at the same time:  Bobbing for Baubles, Butler Please and Where's my Chauffeur?.  I then added two coats of OPI The Man With the Golden Gun, which was supposed to be a Christmas present, but C was too excited to keep it hidden until then.  Ha.  I love that my hunny enables this polish addiction ;)

 

For the accent I started with two coats of No Place like Chrome the using striping tape I created squared and painted them in using the same blue polishes used above.

What are your thoughts on gradients?

Have a great weekend everyone :)

All I Want for Christmas...

Hi!

Happy December, my favourite month of the year :)   I love the snow (which we don't really get in Halifax.. but I still love it), the Christmas decor, the parties.  Plus I get to fly home and see my family :)

The second theme for Nail Polish Canada's challenge was gifts.  I kept things simple, since that's how we like to keep our Christmas'.  

So what could I possibly want?  Just family time.  I hardly get to see my family - I haven't seen my siblings or my niece since Christmas of last year, and this summer I got to spend an entire 4 days with my parents and my nephew.  I can't wait to see everyone again!

And, in the new year, my fiance is deploying for ~7 months, so I'm just trying to spend as much quality time with him as possible and so here's the awkward claw pose with an anchor in honour of him and the navy.  Cheesy, right? :P

Don't forget to vote for your favourite mani over here!

Nicole by OPI Holiday glitters!

Hi everyone!

Quick post today!  Over the weekend (while trying to warm up during the Christmas parade) I picked up one of the Nicole by OPI Christmas polishes and immediately put it to good use :)

Nicole by OPI - All is Glam, All is bright and on my accent is last years Nicole by OPI polish My Sleigh's in the Shop.  I love these polishes, the silver microglitter with copper flecks and the magenta with gold totally scream Christmas to me!

Happy Thanksgiving to those south of the border!  I hope your day is wonderful :)

Last Fall Hurrah

Hi loves!

This was my last Autumn type mani before all of the winter and Christmas nails begin popping up.  Some trees here still have leaves and we have yet to see a snowfall in the city but there's that undeniable chill in the air that keeps reminding us that winter isn't too far back!

 

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For this I used  OPI Danke-Shiny Red and stamped the leaves using one of the Red Angel plates and Essie Good as Gold & Penny Talk (except you can't really see the difference!).

This one got lots of compliments!

Except, if you look closely you'll see that I have a TERRIBLE break on my pinky, and because of this I'm now sporting super nubs.  I think they're cute, though :)  You'll see those in my next post!

Fall Gradient

Hi loves!

I love me a good gradient mani, and after getting the Orly Fired Up collection I couldn't help myself but wear some of the shades into a gradient manicure.

 

 

I started out with a base of Orly Rapture, which is an amazing chocolate brown creme polish, and added Orly Smolder on my ring finger.  Using Orly Flare I created the gold gradient from the free edge down.  To make it a bit more fun I sponged on top of striping tape to create my accent nail :)

What are your thoughts on gradient manis?

Thanks for reading!

Fall Golf Socks

Hi loves!

Here's a fall mani I wore this weekend :)  I love red/orange/gold combos, there's something so classic feeling about it isn't there?  It just seems timeless to me.

 

I started with a base of OPI Deutsch You Want Me Baby? and OPI Unfor-Greta-Bly Blue as my accent.  I then stamped using Essie - Good as Gold and a stamping image from a large stamping plate I bought over at You Mix Cosmetics (I don't think they sell them anymore though).  On my accent I added two coats of Lacquisty Golf Socks.

Golf Socks is SUCH a fun glitter polish.  It has a dark blue jelly base, small orange hex glitter, and large blue, orange and gold hexes.  This is the newer version that was sent me to unexpectedly as the first version of Golf Socks had bleeding glitter.   I have to say, I love the newer version much better ;)

Chrome and Neon Chevrons

Hi all!

I've been loving the new Essie chrome polishes.  Yes, the formula is SUPER tricky to work with, and it's not very forgiving of any type of flaws on the nail but.. I love them!

I started with a base of Essie Good as Gold, then using tape created the double chevron in OPI - Black Onyx and China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy.  Such a fun look!

 

And because my little boy Swift always gets in the way of my picture taking I figure I'd add a little cuteness to this post ;)

Thanks for looking, hope you all have a great weekend!

NOTD: Red, Black & Blue

Hi all!

TGIF!  The first week back at work after holidays is always the hardest, I managed, but I'm so glad to see the weekend :)

For this mani, I couldn't decide just what I wanted to do, so I used a bit of a combination of things.

I recently got a few more of the Orly Flash Glam FX glitters and I knew I wanted to use them, but I also wanted to play with the new Bundle Monster plates, and this is what I came up with.

Index and middle fingers I have Color Club - Boys Wear blue, stamped with Orly - Luxe.  Ring finger and thumb is OPI - Black Onyx layered with the gorgeous Orly - Spazmatic and Orly - Sashay My Way.  Then for the pinky I used China Glaze - Hey Sailor and Orly's Sashay My Way.

 

Ideally, I feel like I should love this, but I don't think I totally feel it at the moment.   Maybe there's just too much going on?  Regardless, it's staying put for a little while longer :)

China Glaze - Hey Sailor

OPI - Black Onyx

Color Club - Boys Wear Blue

Orly - Spazmatic

Orly - Sashay My Way

Orly - Luxe

Hope you all have a fab weekend :)

Stamping Fail?

Hi all!

Quick post showing you my latest stamped mani.  I got the new Bundle Monster plates and I was dying to use them.  I decided on the lightning bolt image.  My stamping wasn't terrible, but I certainly had to fill in some areas with my black striping polish.  And then, when I added top coat it smeared like crazy!  It looks good if you're not looking at it from too close ;)

 

I started with a base of Essie - A Crewed Interest and Navigate Her for the accent.  I added a coat of Essie's As Gold as it Gets on top of Navigate Her, then individually placed gold glitter bits from from Orly Sashay My Way on top.

 

For the rest of the nails I stamped the lightening bolts using WnW Black Creme.  Then my top coat smeared them so in an effort to cover that up a bit I added a coat of Essie's Pure Pearlfection :)

Not a bad stamping effort for my first time in a while, but definitely far from my best work.  Ah well, can't have them all hey?

 

Essie - A Crewed Interest

Essie - Navigate Her

Essie - As Gold as it Gets

Orly - Sashay my Way

Essie - Pure Pearlfection

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you're all enjoying your Wednesday!