My First Ruffian - OPI This Gown Needs a Crown & Visions of Love

Happy Friday all!

I hope you all have some fun plans for the weekend :)  I'm strapping on my snowboard for the first time in 3 years tomorrow.. I'm actually a little bit nervous, ha!

I've been feeling a little uninspired lately but after seeing these two next to one another I knew they'd look really good together.  I'd also never attempted a ruffian mani before, can you believe it?  They're so cute but for some reason I never thought to do one on myself until yesterday.

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I started off with two easy coats of OPI This Gown Needs a Crown.  I finally decided it was time to purchase this last week from Nail Polish Canada (which only took 2 days to get here, whoa!) and I'm so glad I did!  It's so much prettier in person than it is in swatches :)

Then using OPI Visions of Love I created the ruffian on top.  It was actually a little tricky to get clean lines near the cuticle area but I think for my first time it turned out alright :)  I really liked wearing this.  It's so so simple but I kept catching myself staring at them.

What are your thoughts on Ruffian nails?

Have a great weekend everyone!

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 :)

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.

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 :)

Remembrance Day

 Hi loves!

This is so late, I know.  These are the nails I sported for Remembrance Day!

 

My pointer and ring finger are China Glaze Hey Sailor, my middle finger is Revlon Aloof with poppies that I dotted on using Hey Sailor and China Glaze Loubou Heels for the centre, and my pinky is OPI Designer, de Better!

This was a super quick mani that I did right before going to a ceremony where both my father in law and my fiancé dressed up in their military dress uniforms (air force for my FIL and navy for my fiance) and both gave a little speech about being military.  It was a super nice and intimate ceremony as we were visiting our sister in law who happens to live in the middle of nowhere :P

 

Here's a crappy cell pick of my love in his uniform (with my hand, obviously, I couldn't let him steal the spotlight ;)

Irish Valentine

Hi loves!

Today's title is brought to you by the middle aged man in the elevator at work that asked me what my nails said after I kindly pushed the floor button for him.  I proudly showed him my nails, and he goes "oh cool, so kind of like an Irish Valentine?!" and so.. these are now known as the Irish Valentine nails :)

 

After seeing a few blog posts lately of Revlon's Posh, I picked it up this week while running a few errands.  It's such a pretty green creme.  And the formula was perfect, this is two thin coats :)

 

To dress it up a little I added tiny silver hearts using Essie No Place like Chrome and a medium sized dotting tool. And there you have it, Irish Valentine nails ;)

Chrome Funky French

Hi all!

Sorry for my absence once again.. we've hardly been home due to the weather being so nice :)

Here's a quick post of a mani I did last week while playing around with Essie's mirror metallic polishes.  It's not a typical mani for me, I tend to lean more for the colourful manis but I must say I really loved this, it just felt like a classic mani with a bit of a twist :)

 

I started off with a sheer pink base of Essie - Sugar Daddy, then once that was dry I used tape and painted on the diagonal tips using Essie's Blue Rhapsody.

 

Then I added another strip of tape and added Essie's No Place Like Chrome to finish it off.  

I loved this look, it just felt super feminine :)  What do you think of the funky french nails?

Nautical Nails

Happy Humpday!

These are nails I've been wanting to try out for a while now, seeing as my darling fiancé (I don't know if I'll ever get used to saying that) is a sailor for the Canadian Navy.  He's currently at sea for the week, so before his ship left the harbour I sent him a picture of my nails with a cute little note :P

 

I kept these simple enough, but a quick google search will yield amazing nautical nails that are floating around the blogosphere! 

 I started with a base of GOSH - Silver, then using small strips of tape I added a coat of Essie - Bobbing for Baubles on top of the silver to create the navy stripes.

 

For the accent I just used one coat of Bobbing for Baubles (such an amazing, opaque, navy creme polish with an equally amazing formula!), and using a striping brush I drew on the anchor using the silver polish.

 

 

And to add a little cute touch, I used a medium sized dotting tool and China Glaze's Hey Sailor and added the little red hearts on the tip of my nails! 

 

Gosh - Silver

Essie - Bobbing for Baubles

China Glaze - Hey Sailor

Have you tried nautical nails?  Leave a link in the comment so I can check them out :)

Pink and Grey

Hi everyone!

Here's a cute mani that I did over the weekend, I love this one so much!   My stamping is improving, but there are still a few flaws that bother me.  It looks good if you don't stare at it from too close ;)

 

The pink polish is Color Club I Believe in Amour, stamped with Essie's Power Clutch using one of the new Bundle Monster plates.  I initially wanted to stamp with a silver polish but I think this turned out much nicer :)

 

For the accent I used Gosh Silver, a beautiful silver foil polish.  I dabbed on some China Glaze Lorelei's Tiara on the tip, then one coat of Revlon's Stunning, which just gives it a little extra sparkle.

NOW.  For some exciting news.  My boyfriend proposed to me over the weekend, it was the sweetest thing ever.  He's so not the romantic type but he did really well ;)  And so that's why I'm sporting a dainty, girly kind of manicure, to complement the beautiful ring I'm now sporting on my finger!

I absolutely adore it!
 

And an awkward photo showing the little sapphire that's embedded, and the classic Birk's Blue Box (which, Jayne from Cosmetic Proof used as inspiration for a mani, found here ;)

Happy Tuesday everyone and thanks for looking :)