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!

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!

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 :)

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!

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 :)

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