Nails by Kayla Shevonne: September 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

Music Video Nail Art Series - Beyoncé 1+1

Hey guys!

Today I have the final (for now) instalment of my music video series for you. I say for now because beginning October 1st I'll be doing a Halloween series and that'll take up the entire month of October (except for my birthday mani which I'll be sporting for my 24th birthday on October 12th). However I'm really enjoying this music video series so I definitely want to return to it after my Halloween one!

Today's mani was another request from you guys and this one is for a video that I actually hadn't even seen until I looked it up. I've been watching countdown shows a lot lately for this series so I was surprised to see a Beyoncé video that hasn't shown up on any countdowns! Maybe this one is just a little too steamy for cable, haha.

The video actually doesn't offer a whole lot of inspiration but in a few scenes Beyoncé is wearing leopard print lingerie so I was quickly inspired by that. However, I knew I needed something else and there's a lot of red throughout the video so I decided to go with a half-moon mani with red and classic leopard print.
As I was finishing up my mani I knew I had seen something similar before and sure enough, the queen of freehand nail art, Melissa from The Daily Nail had already done this type of mani!
Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy mine as well!

Products:
OPI Chip Skip
CND Stickey Base Coat
American Apparel - California Trooper (base)
China Glaze - Ruby Deer (half moons)
China Glaze - Classic Camel (leopard spots)
OPI - Suzi Loves Cowboys (outline of spots)
Seche Vite Top Coat

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Featured Blog - September: Chalkboard Nails

Hey guys!

Welcome to September's featured blog post! I've known for a couple of weeks which blog I would be featuring this month so I'm actually on time with this one!
For my newer followers who haven't seen one of my featured blog posts before, check out my Featured Blogs tab at the top of the page for more information.

I have been following Sarah's blog for a while now but she's really started to stand out to me this month while she's been taking part in a 31 day nail challenge. I've come to realize just how amazingly talented and creative she is and she's one of the very few bloggers whose posts I look forward to everyday!

On her blog you'll find a mix of nail polish swatches and a lot of freehand nail art. She updates really frequently so there's always something to look at and she takes really great, clear photos which is something that we can all really appreciate. Oh and I also appreciate the look/layout of her site - it's clean, easy to navigate and easy on the eyes.

Here's just a peak at some of her work:

Keep reading to find out more about this great blog!

Nail Art Tutorial - Peacock Feathers

Hey guys!

When I posted my peacock feathers design last week I didn't anticipate how popular it would be/how much you guys would like it! Since I posted it I've had 6 request forms filled out asking for a tutorial, aside from the several requests in the comments section of the original post.

So, since so many of you want a tutorial for this, here it is!

As a refresher, here's the design that you all liked so much:

Keep reading for the tutorial!

Review & Swatches - OPI Touring America Collection

Hey guys!

I have had these polishes for a few weeks now but I just haven't gotten around to posting the review/swatches until now. However, since I now have some Christmas polishes that I want to start reviewing (and that you guys seem to want to see asap), I figured I should probably finish reviewing all of the fall polishes I have around first.

Because I'm much later than everyone else in reviewing these and you've probably all seen these polishes a hundred times already, I didn't go into as much detail as I usually would in my reviews.

Keep reading for the review and swatches!

Music Video Nail Art Series - Anjulie Brand New Bitch

Hey guys!

Today I've got another instalment of my music video series to show you! Thanks for all the requests that you've been sending me - I've watched all of the videos you've requested and this is the first one that I was inspired by.

This video is pretty dark in general but there are a bunch of pops of neon colours so I wanted to include both black and neons together, which is what led me to the funky french. Anjulie is also wearing some black tape on her face in the shape of a backwards L so I wanted to incorporate that as well, which is where the accent nail came from.

Hope you guys like this one! And I've included the video below in case some of you haven't seen it before and you'd like to see my inspiration (and a quick warning: there's some NSFW language in the video).

Products:
OPI Chip Skip
CND Stickey Base Coat
OPI - Alpine Snow (base under neons)
China Glaze - Shocking Pink (neon pink areas)
China Glaze - Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (neon yellow areas)
China Glaze - Kiwi Cool-Ada (neon green areas)
Wet 'n' Wild - Black Creme (french tips, backwards L shape)
Seche Vite Top Coat

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Manicuring 101 - Anatomy of the Nail

Hey guys!

Today I have the second instalment of my Manicuring 101 Series for you!
I got many comments in my latest giveaway form that you were excited to see more of this series so I'm happy to hear that this is something that you're all interested in.

I'll try to get more instalments for this series up soon so that I don't get too far behind again. And if there's anything about nail care in particular that you'd like to see a Manicuring 101 post about, let me know in the comments!

Products:
OPI Chip Skip
CND Stickey Base Coat
Zoya - Julieanne (base)
Essie - Super Bossa Nova (sponged over base)
Essie - Braziliant (sponged over base)
Orly - Spark (sponged over base)
China Glaze - White on White (stars)
Seche Vite Top Coat

BAZINGA!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Essie Braziliant Giveaway - Winner Announced!

Hey guys!

Today I'll be announcing the winner of my Essie Braziliant Giveaway! Once again I loved reading all of the comments you left for me in the giveaway form. I think that's become my absolute favourite reason to host giveaways and the time that goes into running them is totally worth it to read all of your comments.

For this giveaway there were 636 individual entries and when I added in the additional entries, there was a total of 1342 entries!

So without further adieu, the lucky winner who has won the entire 6 piece Essie Braziliant Collection is ...

Review & Swatches - CND The Look for Fall/Winter 2011

Hey guys!

Today I have a new trio by CND to show you! It's this year's The Look set for Fall/Winter and it includes two creme polishes and one new effect polish.

I don't own much from the CND brand but I'm starting to get more into the brand the more I see from them, so let's see what this new set has to offer.

Keep reading for the review and swatches!

Glee Nail Art

Hey guys!

Is anyone else a total gleek like me? Are you as excited for the season 3 premiere tomorrow night as I am? Well to show you just how excited I am I decided to do a glee inspired nail art design!

Enjoy! And enjoy tomorrow night's episode too!

Products:
OPI Chip Skip
CND Stickey Base Coat
Orly - Spark (base)
China Glaze - Hey Sailor (letters)
China Glaze - Sexy in the City (slushie splatters)
Seche Vite Top Coat

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Most Requested Post - My Nail Polish Collection!

Hey guys!

It's finally here!

This post will give you an in-depth look into my nail polish collection - something that has been requested for a long time now. As always, I'm waiting on a few polishes in the mail but it's not too many that would make me hold off on posting this. I've also listed the polishes I'm waiting on after the appropriate picture.

A few of you might remember my first collection post which was over a year ago and is definitely no match for what I've got now. It's interesting to look back and compare though!

Alright, let's get to it! Here's an overview of where I store everything:

Keep reading to see my full polish collection!

Nail Art Tutorial - Sunflowers

Hey guys!

I know it's been a while since I've done a tutorial for you but other posts kept taking priority over this one! I finally made it a point to post this one today though and I'll try to work on getting tutorials up more frequently.

Today's tutorial is for my sunflower nail art design which was a part of my floral nail art series and this was the design you guys chose as the next tutorial you wanted to see in a sidebar poll that I had quite some time ago. If there are any of my other previous designs that you'd like to see tutorials for, fill out the same form that you would to send me a nail art request here but just be sure to specify that your request is for a tutorial.

To refresh, here's the design I'll be showing you how to do today:

Keep reading for a step-by-step tutorial!

Swatches - Layering with Sally Hansen Pumpkin Spice

Hey guys!

On Wednesday I posted swatches and a review of the new Sally Hansen shade Pumpkin Spice and a couple of you asked to see it layered, so that's what I'll be doing for you today.

As I said in my review, I don't really get the hype about this shade but did layering it change my mind?

Keep reading to find out!

Peacock Feathers Nail Art

Hey guys!

Today I have a design for you that I have been waiting to do for many months. I first came up with it sometime in Spring but the colours weren't very "season appropriate" so I decided to hold off for a few months. Well, now the colours are more appropriate so I was very excited to finally be able to do this design!

And I know I said I would be returning to my music video series this week but I really wanted to do this design and I also have a few other designs in the works that'll need to be done before I return to the music video series (and you'll understand why that is when I post them). Keep your requests coming though! I have watched all of the videos you've requested so far and I've been writing down some inspirations based on the videos.

Anyway, here's my peacock feather design!

Products:
OPI Chip Skip
CND Stickey Base Coat
Orly - Glitz & Glamour (base)
Orly - Halley's Comet (feather details)
Orly - Lunar Eclipse (feather details)
Orly - Out of this World (feather details)
Orly - It's Not Rocket Science (feather details)
China Glaze - Liquid Leather (feather details)
Seche Vite Top Coat

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Review & Swatches - Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pumpkin Spice

Hey guys!

Today I have a polish for you that I picked up in my most recent drugstore haul and that has been garnering some buzz amongst the nail polish community - Sally Hansen Pumpkin Spice.

This shade is part of the new Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Collection but the display I found mine in didn't have an obvious name or theme so I guess it's just a collection of new, limited edition shades.

Keep reading for the swatches and review!

Swatch Comparison - Deborah Lippmann Ruby Red Slippers vs. Wet 'n' Wild Behind Closed Doors

Hey guys!

There has been a lot of buzz going around about the new Wet 'n' Wild Halloween Collection called On the Prowl, mostly because of the glitters included in the collection. So far I've only managed to get my hands on one of these glitters, but luckily the one I got is the supposed dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers (which I already showed you here).

Both of these polishes are sheer black jelly bases with small and hexagonal red glitter. They look like total dupes in the bottle but does that translate on the nail?

Keep reading to find out!

Swatch Spam - Deborah Lippmann: Part 2

Hey guys!

So after roughly two months since the Part 1 post, here are swatches of the rest of my Deborah Lippmann polishes.

I still only have 10 Lippmann shades but I'm seriously lemming the new Get This Party Started Set which would add 2 new polishes to my Lippmann collection (since I already own Happy Birthday). The set is for sale now at Made You Blush and I've almost bought it a bunch of times already but I can't bring myself to spend $50 + shipping on 3 polishes right now. Hopefully they'll be sold individually soon so I can just get the 2 that I don't already own.

Anyways, I won't keep you waiting any longer, let's move on to the swatch spam!

Keep reading for the swatches!

Never Forget - 9/11 Nail Art

Hey guys.

Recently I have been watching many television specials about the tragedies of September 11, 2001 and I thought that it would be nice to pay tribute by doing a nail art design. I remembered seeing this great design by Melissa from the Daily Nail a while ago (she did hers for the 9th anniversary of 9/11) and I liked it so much that I decided to recreate her design for today, the 10th anniversary.

To everyone who was in any way affected by the events of 9/11, this is my little way of showing you that you're in my thoughts today.

Products:
OPI Chip Skip
CND Stickey Base Coat
OPI - Alpine Snow (base on all nails except thumb)
China Glaze - First Mate (base on thumb)
Illamasqua - Throb (stripes)
China Glaze - Liquid Leather (towers)
Star sequins from eBay (stars on thumb)
Seche Vite Top Coat

Saturday, September 10, 2011

My Own Domain! kaylashevonne.com is up!

Hey guys!

I've been thinking about switching to a .com domain for a while now and I finally decided to do it this morning after much support from my polish friends on Facebook. I may have also started a .com trend because Traci switched right away so maybe some of my other blogger friends will too!

My blog address will now be kaylashevonne.com

What does this mean for you?

First of all, the .com link might not work for you right away but don't fret, everything is still "in transition" and will likely take up to 3 days to work for everyone. Until then, continue to use my regular blog address. After everything has transitioned, any links to my old .blogspot.com address will be redirected to my .com address.

Second, if I'm on your blog roll or if you have my blog bookmarked, you'll need to change the address to my new .com one.

This is something I'm very excited about so I hope you'll all bear with me during this change. :) And if you notice any glitches along the way, please let me know so I can work on getting them fixed.

And if you're considering switching to a custom domain and need some guidance, let me know and I'd be happy to help!

Friday, September 09, 2011

Layering - OPI Movin' Out over OPI Diva of Geneva

Hey guys!

A while ago this post by Kellie Gonzo created a lemming for me for OPI's discontinued shade Movin' Out from the 2003 Holiday on Broadway Collection. I was able to snag a bottle from my good polish friend Traci for a really good price and I've only now gotten the chance to use it.

In Kellie's post she layered Movin' Out over OPI Diva of Geneva from the 2010 Swiss Collection and since this was the combination that made me need Movin' Out, I decided to try the same combination on my own nails.

Movin' Out is a sheer pink-mauve multichrome with tiny flecks of red micro-shimmer and Diva of Geneva is a shimmery plum.

However, I'm not as blown away as I thought I would be. I like this combination much better in Kellie's photos than I do now that it's actually on my nails. This could have something to do with the fact that I broke the corner off my middle nail and I might be a little bitter about it which is just making me feel "bleh" about my nails in general (which is why I didn't feel like doing any nail art last night).

What do you guys think of this layering combo?

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Chalkboard Nails - Mattified

Hey guys!

I'm sorry that today's post is going to be short and sweet but it's been really hectic for me the past couple of days with getting back to school. I also have 4 nail appointments this week so that's only adding to my busyness!

When I posted my back to school chalkboard nails, I asked you guys if I should matte-ify it or not and although all of you said to do it, I still wasn't sure. However, I had a client yesterday evening who requested the chalkboard nails and when I mattified hers, I totally loved the look so I went ahead and matted mine as well. I have to say, I'm so glad I did because I think it looks so much more like a chalkboard! I should have listened to you guys right away. Lesson learned.
Oh and fyi, the matte top coat I used is by Joe Fresh which is a Canadian drugstore brand.

And just so this post isn't just of a mani you've basically already seen, there's some bonus pictures of Pepper (my new pet hedgehog for anyone who missed this post when I first introduced him) after the jump.

Back to School Nail Art - Chalkboard Doodles

Hey!

Since I return to school tomorrow (for my very last semester!), I wanted to do a couple of fun back to school designs this week.

I have had the idea in my head for a while to make my nails look like a chalkboard but I hadn't decided where to go from there (what else to put on them, how I would go about it, etc). That's when I saw tutorial by the lovely which basically completed my idea perfectly. However, I was sure that I was going to matte-ify my design but I still can't decide if I should or not! What do you guys think? Should I matte it or leave it as is?

Products:
OPI Chip Skip
CND Stickey Base Coat
OPI - Dont't Mess with OPI (base)
China Glaze - Something Sweet (pink chalk doodles)
Color Club - Take Me to Your Chateau(blue chalk doodles)
Orly - Spark (yellow chalk doodles)
Seche Vite Top Coat

Monday, September 05, 2011

Review - Born Pretty Nail Art Stamping Plate: m57 + My First Stamping Experience!

Hey guys!

Before delving into this review, I want to start out with a little info about the Born Pretty Store:
Most of you will probably know a lot about Born Pretty already since it's a pretty popular e-tailer for nail art supplies. It started out as an eBay store (which I purchased from on numerous occasions) and eventually expanded into a regular online store. They offer a huge variety of products at amazing prices and they ship world wide for free!

A while back I was contacted by Born Pretty Store to see if I would like to review one of their items here. I took this as an opportunity to try stamping for the very first time while also getting to review a new product, so I chose one of their stamping plates to review. I've mentioned it before but up until recently, I just wasn't interested in stamping nail art and I thought that I could do many of the stamping designs freehand. However, I decided to open my mind and expand my horizons to find out what I was missing out on.

The plate I chose is m57 and it is a copy of the m57 plate by Konad. Come on, are you surprised that I chose the animal print plate?

Keep reading for the full review and a look into my first stamping experience!

Haul - Drugstore Polishes

Hey guys!

On Friday I took a trip to a couple of drugstores to see what they had to offer in the nail polish department. It's sad, but I don't buy much drugstore polish anymore, especially now that I get a pro discount so I actually get many salon brand names for the same price (or cheaper) than drugstore brands.
However, every once in a while I still like to check out the drugstore to see if there are any new and interesting polishes/brands or if there are any good bargains.

I got pretty lucky on Friday's trip because I scored pretty big at the drugstore!

Revlon Sweetly Seductive Collection: Orange Fizz, Grape Fizz, Colada Fizz, Grapefruit Fizz

Revlon Sweetly Seductive Collection: Watermelon Fizz, Mint Fizz, Pineapple Fizz, Apple-tini Fizz
I had heard some good things about these scented flakey/glitter polishes from Revlon, but at about $6 a bottle, I passed on them originally. However, right before I left the drugstore yesterday, I noticed an almost hidden display of these polishes with a sale price tag of $1.62. I didn't think that could be right so I had to get a closer look but sure enough, they were on sale! I picked up all 8 colours because at that price, you just can't go wrong.

Layla Magneffect Polish: 04 Turquoise Wave
At the same drugstore as above, I couldn't help but notice the 4 giant displays of Layla Magneffect polishes. I have been interested in magnetic polishes for some time now but I just never got around to getting any so I definitely wanted to try one, but at a price of $15.99 a bottle, I was hesitant. I finally gave in though and purchased just one to see what all the fuss is about. Isn't it crazy that all EIGHT of the Revlon polishes above cost LESS than this ONE Layla polish?!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Polish: Pumpkin Spice
There has been a lot of hype going around about this new Sally Hansen polish and to be honest, I'm not sure I get it. I picked it up because it was cheap and I was curious but from just looking at the bottle, I'm not blown away and I know I've seen polishes like this before (see here, for example). To be fair though, I haven't yet swatched it so I shouldn't dismiss it just yet.

Look out for swatches of these polishes in the future!

Saturday, September 03, 2011

Featured Blog - August: Nail Nerd

Hey guys!

I'm a little late with this post but here is the featured blog for the month of August!

For my newer followers who haven't seen one of my featured blog posts before, here's a little information about them:

Back when I reached 1000 followers, I wanted to do something for my followers but since I had just finished a huge giveaway, I didn't want to do another one right away. So instead, I decided to give back by using my small amount of success to help other bloggers gain more readership. I started featuring what I believe to be up and coming beauty/nail blogs in the hopes of helping some of the lesser known bloggers get their names out there a little more.

This month's featured blog is one that was suggested to me and I'm so glad that it was! I started following immediately and also went back through almost all of her older posts. On her blog you'll find a lot of nail art that is a mix of both freehand and stamping. She updates really frequently as well so there's always something to look at. I also REALLY like the look/layout of her site - it's easy to navigate and it's classy, yet fun looking.

The first design that captured my eye was one that I myself have been wanting to do for a while now - a cheeseburger design! I even mentioned doing a design like this back in this post! Hers turned out really well and I hope that when I give it a try it comes out even half as good.

Review - OPI Matte Top Coat

Manicuring 101 - The Different Nail Shapes and How to Achieve Them

I Don't Think You're Ready for this Jelly Floral Mani

Nails of the Day - Neon Zebra Print

A Very Special Valentine's Day Post - Nails by ... David?