Potential Wedding Nails #2

Good morning!

Here's another mani I put together as my potential wedding nails.  These are a bit softer than my first attempt but still have the added touch of colour that I want!

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I started out with one of my favourite nudes - Orly Decades of Dysfunction then using my new Emily de Molly EDM04 plate I created a stamping gradient.

For the stamping, from cuticle to tip, I used: Sally Hansen Insta Dri Grape Escape, Sally Hansen Insta Dry Emerald Express and Orly Royal Navy.

I would like for the purple to be a little bit more plum, and the blue a little darker but I think this is a pretty good contender.  Not in your face but totally suits the peacock theme :)

 Any suggestions for a good opaque plum polish that I could use for stamping?

I hope you're all having a great week!

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 :)

Skittles Mani

Happy Humpday!

I hope everyone is having a good week! 

I decided to give advanced stamping a second go after really liking the results the first time and built onto my manicure based on that.

 I started out with Cult Cosmetics Runyon on my index and pinkie fingers, and Orly You're Blushing on my middle and ring fingers.

Then I did some advanced stamping on my ring finger using Gals GA2 and filled some of the houndstooth patterns in with Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, Color Club Red-Ical Gypsy and Cult Cosmetics Runyan.  I clearly still need some practice on the advance stamping front but it turned out okay!  I then free handed the half moon to cover up some stamping imperfections :P

Using the same shades I added some dots to my index, plus some strips to my middle finger but added some blue glitter from a striper polish.

And to finish off the look I added some star shaped studs that I bought from the Born Pretty Store.  These studs are the perfect size for little finger nails and sat flat on my nail.  They're so cute!

Have a great day!

Valentine's Day Stamping

This is a bit early but I figured I'd get a head start :)  There are so many awesome valentine's/love themed plates out there - I had a hard time choosing what to use.  I think my mani came out pretty cute though!

I first started with a base of Orly Ma Cherie on my middle finger and pinkie.  This is such a gorgeous squishy, juicy red.  I then stamped the hearts from plate Pueen-41 with Konad White, and added a second coat of Ma Cherie on top to created a stamping sandwich.

On my index and ring fingers I added two coats of Revlon Cherries in the Snow and stamped with Color Club I Believe in Amour and used an image from BM-H17 on my index and Winstonia-207 on my ring finger.

I then stamped the image on my pinkie using BM-H17 also and the "Love" image from BM-H16.  The holographic dots were done using Gosh Holographic Hero :)

What do you guys think of Valentine's themed nails?  Too much? :P

Have a great weekend guys!

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!

Mix 'n Match tape mani

Happy hump day!

Last week I was in the tape mani kind of mood.. These moods don't come all too often, and after being done with this mani I realized why.  They take too. damn. long.  I was so sick of painting my nails after this haha.

I started off with Orly Reflection on my ring finger and OPI Eurso Euro on the rest.

Side note - I can't find ANY information on Reflection - if it's from a specific collection or just regular stock, I can't even find swatches of it.  It's so weird!  Does anyone have any information on it?  It's super pretty.. I don't think I have anything like it in my stash.

 

Once my base was really dry I taped it off and either added A England Excalibur (the silver polish) or OPI Can't Find My Czechbook and waited for those to dry so I could stamp the roses using Pueen-22 and Konad Black and waited for that to dry.

Then I taped off various parts of my nails again and added OPI Vesper to all but my middle finger to which I added Orly Reflection on the tip.

In the end I really did like this look, but due to the time and effort required.. I don't think it's something I will do on a regular basis :P  The tips were pretty thick that the nails on my dominant hand started chipping pretty much the next day.  Boo.

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 :)

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! :)

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!

Christmas Stamping

Good morning!

Last Friday I ended up going on a pub crawl with my old roommate - it was Christmas 'themed' in that people wore silly Christmas hats and sweaters, santa suits, garlands.. I had mini lights wrapped around me - and holiday nails :)

My index and middle finger have a base of OPI Meep Meep Meep, an older beauty that I'm happy to have re-discovered.  I stamped using Essie No Place Like Chrome and Gals 27. 

My ring finger has the beautiful OPI Designer de Better with a strip down the center of Essie Ignite the Night.

On my pinky is Gosh Forest Floor with Orly Mermaid Tale and Monster Mash.

Fun mani for a fun night but it ended up chipping the next day, boo!

Happy Thursday ladies!

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?

Remembrance Day Nails

Just a quickie today - here at my nails in honour of those who have served and those currently serving, especially my grandpa, my fiance, my brother in law and father in law :)

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Base is Orly Decades of Dysfunction, one of my all time favourite polishes.  Then using a small brush I painted on Essie Navigate Her as the light green then went over everything with Revlon Posh.

For the poppies I used Orly Ignite and OPI Black Onyx for the center.  

Hope everyone had a good day today :)

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 :)

Punk Rock Princess

Happy Saturday!

I hope everyone has some exciting plans for the weekend?  I don't, but I'm feeling like I need a slow weekend to recoup a little bit :)

This is a fun mani that I wore earlier this week.  Kind of reminded me of Avril Lavigne when she first came out, hence the punk rock princess title ;)

 

For this look I used Illamasqua Scorn on my ring finger.  This is such a fun polish in that it dries kind of suede like.  I added a few glittery half stripes using OPI Which is Witch?

 

The remainder of my fingers have Orly Purple Crush, which is really a neon like pink that I absolutely love.  Then I stamped the stars with an image from Mash-49 and Konad Black.  The only thing I'm peeved about is the insane amount of bubbling that occurred after applying my top coat.  I guess I need to thin it out a little bit.  

Regardless of the bubbling, I loved wearing this mani :)

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!

Valentine's Day Mani

Sorry this is a few days late!  This is the mani I wore for Valentine's day.  I hope everyone had a good one :)  I chose to celebrate by going out dancing until 4am - my feet are still killing me today!

 

My index and pinkie have Orly Purple Crush, which is a gorgeous pink jelly polish (and definitely not purple...), whereas my middle and ring fingers have Orly Decades of Dusfunction, probably my favourite nude polish to date!  
 

All stamped images come from Bundle Monster plates, the glitter on my middle finger is OPI Gettin' Miss Piggy With It and the hearts on my pink were done using Zoya Blaze, Aurora and Storm (which are my first Zoya's except for a super old bottle that I've had for years - Zoya polish is pretty impossible to find out here).

I loved wearing this mani, it was so cute and girly :)

Stamped Fowl Play

Hi loves!

I was doing so good with posting every few days and then I got super busy and something had to give.  Sigh. 

One polish I find myself grabbing for quite often is Orly Fowl Play.. there's just something about it that keeps attracting me to it.. maybe it's the purpley base, or the flakies, I don't know but I just love it! 

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Here it is stamped using Essie Nothing Else Metals and Gals GA29.  It reminded me a little bit of retro curtains which I loved -- I wore this for 5 days which never happens!

 

If you notice, my ring finger has a red tinge, I wanted to see what it looked like over a red base and found it didn't make a difference so I decided to skip it for the rest of my fingers lol.  To the naked eye you couldn't see a difference :)

Hope you are all having a fabulous week, thanks for reading!