Monday, January 30, 2012

Valentine's Day Nail Art - Valentine's Ruffian

Hey guys!

Today I'm showing you the first design in this year's Valentine's Day series! If you're interested in my Valentine's designs from 2011 you can see those here.

I have to introduce this design by first saying that I am in love with this! This is my first attempt at a "ruffian" manicure and I can say for sure that it won't be my last! I love this style! For anyone not familiar with the style, it's basically an inverted french manicure that was created by CND and which started popping up at the 2010 New York Fashion Week.

For my ruffian, I started with a base of a satin black polish and added a shiny crimson red over most of the base, leaving only a little of the black peeking out at the base of my nail. I used a satin black as the base because I liked the idea of there being both a colour and a finish contrast between the two shades. To make it more of a Valentine's design, I freehanded three cascading hearts down my ring ringer nail.

Hope you like my ruffian as much as I do!


Products:
CND Stickey Base Coat
Illamasqua - Scorn (black base)
Illamasqua - Throb (red base)
China Glaze - White on White (hearts)
Seche Vite Top Coat
Posted by at 1 comments
Labels: Black, China Glaze, Freehand, Illamasqua, Nail art, Red, Ruffian, Valentine's Day Nail Art, White

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Hits - Deméter

Hey guys!

Today I'm back with another of the Hits polishes for you! I'll be showing you another of the holo shades - Deméter, which is an orange prismatic holo.

Yes, you read that right, an orange holo! I think this is the first time I've seen a brand do an orange holographic polish! Although I did make one myself when I layered Spectraflair holographic pigment over an orange creme (see that here).

This is one of the Hits holos that's more of a prismatic holo than a linear one and my camera had trouble capturing that. So in my photos you'll see what looks like shimmer particles but trust me, they're holo particles that really come to life under bright lights.

The formula and application of Deméter were spot on, such as I've come to expect from these Hits polishes.

Let's take a look!






You can purchase Deméter along with the entire line of Hits holographic polishes from the US stockist llarowe. The holo polishes are $10 each and don't worry if you live outside the US/Canada because llarowe ships internationally.

Keep checking back for swatches of the remaining Hits polishes I received!

The product(s) in this post were provided by the above retailer in exchange for an honest review.
Posted by at 0 comments
Labels: Hits, Holo, Orange

Friday, January 27, 2012

Girly Skull Nail Art

Hey guys!

Today I have another NOTD post for you, only this one is for my current mani! I want to keep practicing my stamping skills so after leafing through all of my plates, I landed on the cute skull image from Bundle Monster. To add a little girlyness, I decided to go with a pink base and I added a cute fimo bow to the skull as well.

I'll warn you though, my photo does not accurately depict the base colour (Zoya Jolene). For some reason my camera really hates this colour! I've used it before (for this mani) and even under my old lighting, my camera still hated it. For your own reference, it's simply more of a straight-up pink than what my camera is showing. Regardless, I really enjoy this mani!

Hope you like it too!


Products:
CND Stickey Base Coat
Zoya - Jolene (base)
Wet 'n' Wild - Tangled In My Web (over base on all nails except ring fingers)
Konad - Black (skull)
Bundle Monster - BM211 (skull)
Fimo bow from eBay
Seche Vite Top Coat
Posted by at 2 comments
Labels: 3-D, Black, BM-211, Bundle Monster, Glitter, Konad, Layering, Nail art, Pink, Stamping, Wet 'n' Wild, Zoya

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Two-Tone Swirly Holo Mani

Hey guys!

Today I have a quick mani that I wore about a week ago but forgot to post about! I'm still trying out more of the Hits polishes that I received from llarowe and I wanted to do more nail art with them. Sadly, I wasn't feeling very creative so I just picked two of the shades I hadn't tried and winged it. (Does that even make sense? What's the proper past tense way to say that?)

Anyways, what I came up with is this simple two-tone mani with a black swirl down the middle. The silver side is Hits Artemis and the teal is Hits Hera.

It's a pretty basic mani but I still like the way this looked! Unfortunately, we had basically no sun the few days I wore this mani so I wasn't able to get any photos that show off how truly holographic these shades are. So, you'll just have to trust me on this one - they're both very holographic!

Hope you like this simple but still fun mani!




You can purchase Artmemis and Hera along with the entire line of Hits holographic polishes from the US stockist llarowe. The holo polishes are $10 each and don't worry if you live outside the US/Canada because llarowe ships internationally.

Only a few more Hits polishes left! Keep checking back for swatches of the rest of them!
Posted by at 0 comments
Labels: Black, Freehand, Hits, Nail art

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Review & Swatches - OPI Nicki Minaj Collection

Hey guys!

I haven't reviewed an entire collection in quite some time now! With the move, the holidays and my new job I guess I've been sticking to shorter posts! But today I have the new collection by OPI to show you - the OPI Nicki Minaj Collection.

Before moving on to the review, I have a brief announcement to make! I've decided that my 2012 blogging resolution is to swatch polishes and collections on my own nails rather than on nail wheels, which is what you're used to from me. Although it's less time consuming to do it on the wheels, I know you guys would prefer to see polishes on real nails and since I've been pleased with my own nail swatches lately, I made the decision to swatch on my nails from now on. I hope this is good news and I hope you're excited to see full nail swatches from now on!




Keep reading for the full review and full swatch photos!
Read more »
Posted by at 0 comments
Labels: Black, Chartreuse, Crackle polish, Creme, Glitter, OPI, Pink, Purple, Silver, Teal

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Hits - Tango

Hey guys!

Today I have another of the Hits flake polishes for you! This one is called Tango and it's a black base with flakies that shift from green to orange to gold.

The base of Tango is super pigmented so you truly do not need to use this as a layering polish. My swatch below is just 2 coats of Tango and you can see that it's totally opaque. It also applied really easily.

To be honest, this is my least favourite of the Hits flake polishes that I've tried so far. There's nothing necessarily wrong with the polish itself, I just don't like the colour very much. However, I think this would be great around the Halloween season. And, I think I might like it better if it were matte instead of shiny - at least then the flakies would be able to stand out a little more through the black base.

Let's take a look!




You can purchase Tango along with the entire line of Hits flakes polishes from the US stockist llarowe. The holo polishes are $8 each and don't worry if you live outside the US/Canada because llarowe ships internationally.

Keep checking back for swatches of the remaining Hits polishes I received!

The product(s) in this post were provided by the above retailer in exchange for an honest review.
Posted by at 0 comments
Labels: Black, Flakies, Hits

Monday, January 23, 2012

Updated Nail Polish Setup + A Delayed Christmas Gift

Hey guys!

As many of you already know, I recently moved to a new place with my boyfriend. I've been wanting to show you guys my new nail polish setup for a couple of weeks now but it's taken us this long to get settled away so it had to wait until today. Even though it's just the two of us, we got a two bedroom place so that I could have an entire room to dedicate to polish!

For my polish room, I purchased a new desk to use instead of the corner one I had before (I loved that desk but I wasn't able to do other people's nails using that setup). I'm still using my trusty Melmers to store my polish so that hasn't changed, but there is something else that's new to my polish space!

About a week ago Rebecca and I were finally able to get together to exchange Christmas gifts (yes, it took us that long - we're very busy gals) and she gave me the most awesome gift ever. Seriously. I love it SOSOSO much and it's absolutely perfect for the space.

Before I show you that, I'll show you a picture of my setup without the gift from Rebecca. And then to leave you in complete suspense, I'll post the photo that includes her gift after the jump.


That was my setup before adding Rebecca's gift. As you can see, the desk is much better for doing other people's nails because I can just pull it out so that someone can get on the other side. I have my mini medusa lamp (I also have the large floor-sized one) and of course, my DIY decorated Melmers, which you can see the contents of here (albeit my collection has certainly grown since that post).

Keep reading to see the awesome gift from Rebecca!
Read more »
Posted by at 1 comments
Labels: storage

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Haul - OPI, China Glaze, Zoya, Nicole by OPI, Revlon, Finger Paints

Hey guys!

It's been a while since I've done a haul post! I've been trying to buy less polish since we've moved and I've actually been pretty good! The polishes I'm going to be showing you today have all been purchased over the last month and a half and have just been accumulating in my "to swatch" drawer.

Enjoy!


OPI Nicki Minaj Collection: Pink Friday, Did It On 'Em, Fly


OPI Nicki Minaj Collection: Metallic 4 Life, Save Me, Super Bass Shatter


China Glaze Electropop Collection: Electric Beat, Wicked Style, Gaga for Green, Dance Baby


China Glaze Electropop Collection: Techno, Sweet Hook, Aquadelic, Fuchsia Fanatic


China Glaze Electropop Collection: Make Some Noise, Kinetic Candy, Sunshine Pop, Gothic Lolita


Zoya: Ali, Audrina, Dove, Brie, Nidhi, Aria


Zoya Feel Collection: Kennedy, Carey, Avery, Megan, Kristen, Kendal

There's also a few other things I've acquired that I haven't taken pictures of. They include:

- Revlon Whimsical (supposed dupe for Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air)
- Nicole by OPI Follow Me On Glitter (gift from Rebecca!)
- Finger Paints Special Effects Flakies Collection (I already showed you a mani using a few of these here)
- China Glaze FYI and L8R G8R (I now only need 1 more of the OMG polishes to complete my collection!)

I'll try to get swatches of these polishes up soon!
Posted by at 0 comments
Labels: China Glaze, haul, OPI, Zoya

Friday, January 20, 2012

Flakies Galore!

Hey guys!

I was able to get my hands on 4 out of the 5 Finger Paints Special Effects Flakies polishes that were recently released and I've been aching to do a mani with them! Luckily, the only one that was not in stock was Flashy, which is the one which I already own a dupe for (the original Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure).

I've been meaning to do a review/swatch post of these but I simply haven't had enough spare time! So this mani will have to do! I'm hoping to get back into a swatching routine this weekend so hopefully I'll have more posts for you next week.

Anyways, for today's mani I started with a base of Cult Nails Living Water. I probably won't get around to doing a separate review post for this polish so I'll give you a brief review now. Living Water is a deep teal jelly base with blue and green micro-glitter. It applies really nicely and is opaque in 2 coats. The base dries sort of flat so you will need a top coat if you're wearing this alone.

After applying my base colour, I then added a coat of Finger Paints Twisted, which is a clear base with flakies of all different colours - purple, orange, green, blue, etc. On top of that, I added a coat of Motley, which is a clear base with purple/blue and green flakies. Finally, I added a coat of Asylum, which is a clear base with purple and orange flakies. I then decided to matte-ify the whole look to really make the flakies stand out!

Enjoy!



The Finger Paints Special Effects Collection are available now and are exclusive to Sally Beauty Supply stores. They'll run you about $5-$6 each.

Hope you all can get your hands on these!
Posted by at 1 comments
Labels: Cult Nails, Fingerpaints, Flakies, Matte polish, Teal

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

"But chains and whips excite me..."

Hey guys!

After removing my dark winter tress mani, I was still feeling the dark look so I decided to continue with that theme for today's mani. I was in the mood to try some stamping so I flipped through my stamps and landed on the Bundle Monster chain image, which I thought was perfect for my dark theme. It also always makes me think of the Rihanna song S&M, hence the title of this post.

My plan was to do a black base and stamp the chains with a silver but as it turns out, I don't have any silver polishes that work well for stamping. So, I just went for white instead. But I still wasn't satisfied with the overall look so I decided to matte the design and now I like it much better! And I think my stamping skill is improving! Yay!

Hope you like it!


Products used:
CND Stickey Base Coat
Illamasqua - Scorn (base)
Konad - White (chains)
Bundle Monster - BM12 (chains)
Seche Vite Top Coat
Joe Fresh - Matte Top Coat
Posted by at 1 comments
Labels: Black, BM-12, Bundle Monster, Illamasqua, Joe Fresh, Konad, Matte polish, Nail art, Stamping, White

Monday, January 16, 2012

Hits - Poseidon

Hey guys!

Today I have another one the Hits holo shades to show you! I only have a few more of the holos after this one so I'll soon have to start being creative again and showing you more than just swatches, haha.

The Hits shade I'm showing you today is Poseidon - a pale blue linear holo. Of all the Hits holo shades I've tried so far, this one definitely has the strongest linear holo effect. When this is under direct light or in sunlight, it looks absolutely ah-mazing. However, it's not my favourite when its in the shade - I think it's too light and pale for my skintone and the shade amplifies that.

The formula and application are once again flawless. This one is a little more sheer than some of the others so it did require 3 coats to get the opacity you see below.

Let's take a look!








You can purchase Poseidon along with the entire line of Hits holographic polishes from the US stockist llarowe. The holo polishes are $10 each and don't worry if you live outside the US/Canada because llarowe ships internationally.

Keep checking back to see swatches of the remaining Hits polishes I'll be showing you!

The product(s) in this post were provided by the above retailer in exchange for an honest review.
Posted by at 0 comments
Labels: Blue, Hits, Holo

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Hits - Fox Trot

Hey guys!

That's right, today I have another Hits polish for you! This is another of the flake shades, which as I told you before, are all named after types of dance.

The one I'll be showing you today is Hits Fox Trot, which is a purple jelly base with flakies that shift from orange to gold to green.

The base of Fox Trot is opaque enough that this polish can be worn on its own so you don't have to layer it if you don't want to. However, for my swatch below, I layered Fox Trot over Hits Dionisio which is the blue-toned purple holo that I showed you a couple of days ago. I think this is a great combination and it actually ended up looking a little bit like OPI Merry Midnight/Orly Fowl Play!

Let's take a look!






You can purchase Fox Trot along with the entire line of Hits flakes polishes from the US stockist llarowe. The flake polishes are $8 each and don't worry if you live outside the US/Canada because llarowe ships internationally.

Keep checking back for swatches of the remaining Hits polishes I received!

The product(s) in this post were provided by the above retailer in exchange for an honest review.
Posted by at 0 comments
Labels: Flakies, Hits, Layering, Purple

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Bonus Giveaway - Win a Konad Starter Kit! - CLOSED

Hey guys!

This is completely unexpected and unplanned but I have another giveaway for you! I was contacted yesterday by Nail Polish Canada and asked if I would be interested in running a giveaway to promote the fact that they recently started carrying Konad products. Of course I said yes!

Before I get to the giveaway, let me give you a little information about Nail Polish Canada. The website sells many popular brands of polish such as OPI, China Glaze, Zoya, Essie, Deborah Lippmann, Color Club, Orly, Nubar, and much more. And of course, now they're also offering Konad products! It's quite the one-stop shop for nail polish!

Also, despite the company name, Nail Polish Canada also ships to the US and offers free shipping for orders over $50. Within Canada, shipping is free for orders over $29 and is a flat rate of $5.25 for orders under $29. Oh and all Konad plates ship free to anywhere in Canada - no minimum purchase!

Now, onto the giveaway!

The winner of this giveaway will receive a Konad Starter Kit, which includes 2 Konad stamping plates (M2 and M3), 3 Konad special polishes (white, blue and red), 1 Konad stamper and 1 Konad scraper. This is a great prize for anyone new to stamping or even a stamping expert who's just looking to add to their stash!

Manicuring 101 - The Different Nail Shapes and How to Achieve Them
  • I Don't Think You're Ready for this Jelly Floral Mani
  • Picture Tour - My Updated (Again) Nail Den
  • Manicuring 101 - All About Nail Files
  • Link Love - Volume 8

    • Labels


    Archive