Hey guys!
As I said yesterday, I have a number of holiday collections to show you, so I'm continuing on that path today with the Zoya Ornate Collection.
One of my local professional suppliers recently started carrying Zoya and I'm so very happy about it! Before now it was difficult to get Zoya here without paying a hefty price in shipping. So now there's no shipping costs and I get a professional discount! I'm stoked. My Zoya drawer is going to start overflowing very soon.
Keep reading for the swatches and review!
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Neon Swirls Manicure
Hey guys!
We had our first bit of snow here this week, so I tried to cling to summer one last time by busting out my neon polishes.
I chose all colours from the China Glaze Summer Neons Collection, which I think might be my favourite collection from any brand in the year 2012! You'll surely be seeing at least one colour from this collection in my Favourite Polishes of 2012 posts!
This look was actually quite simple to execute - I just created some colour blocking swirls with the polish brushes and then used my It's So Easy Stripe Rite Paint in Black to boldly separate the colours.
On my non-accent nails, I used Hang-ten Toes, Orange You Hot? and Sun-Kissed. And then on my accent nail, I used Splish Splash, Beach Cruise-r and I'm With the Lifeguard.
I switched it up on my right hand so that the pink, orange and yellow combination was only on my accent nail and the blue, purple and green combination was on the rest of my nails. I would have taken a picture to show you this but I find it next to impossible to pose my right hand while holding my huge camera with the left. It just doesn't work.
Now that I've gotten one last neon mani in for the year, I think I'm ready to embrace winter and the holiday season.
Thanks for looking!
We had our first bit of snow here this week, so I tried to cling to summer one last time by busting out my neon polishes.
I chose all colours from the China Glaze Summer Neons Collection, which I think might be my favourite collection from any brand in the year 2012! You'll surely be seeing at least one colour from this collection in my Favourite Polishes of 2012 posts!
This look was actually quite simple to execute - I just created some colour blocking swirls with the polish brushes and then used my It's So Easy Stripe Rite Paint in Black to boldly separate the colours.
On my non-accent nails, I used Hang-ten Toes, Orange You Hot? and Sun-Kissed. And then on my accent nail, I used Splish Splash, Beach Cruise-r and I'm With the Lifeguard.
I switched it up on my right hand so that the pink, orange and yellow combination was only on my accent nail and the blue, purple and green combination was on the rest of my nails. I would have taken a picture to show you this but I find it next to impossible to pose my right hand while holding my huge camera with the left. It just doesn't work.
Now that I've gotten one last neon mani in for the year, I think I'm ready to embrace winter and the holiday season.
Thanks for looking!
Sunday, November 25, 2012
A (Mostly) Monochromatic Splatter Mani
Hi everyone!
This was supposed to go up earlier today but I forgot to schedule it, so it's going up now! This is the manicure that I've been wearing for the past few days and it's gotten a ton of compliments!
For this splatter mani, I started with a base of China Glaze Recycle. The splatters were done using Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme, Wet 'n' Wild French White and Zoya Lara. I was originally going to keep this as a monochromatic look and just use the black, white and grey, but I thought it could use a splash of colour, which is why I added the pink.
Oh and I used a coffee stirring stick instead of the usual straw because I just find that easier and I like the resulting splatters a lot more that way.
I actually mattified this look after a couple of days and the result was interesting, but I think I prefer it as you see here. I wish I had snapped a photo of the matte look so you could compare.
Hope you all had a great weekend and thanks for looking!
This was supposed to go up earlier today but I forgot to schedule it, so it's going up now! This is the manicure that I've been wearing for the past few days and it's gotten a ton of compliments!
For this splatter mani, I started with a base of China Glaze Recycle. The splatters were done using Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme, Wet 'n' Wild French White and Zoya Lara. I was originally going to keep this as a monochromatic look and just use the black, white and grey, but I thought it could use a splash of colour, which is why I added the pink.
Oh and I used a coffee stirring stick instead of the usual straw because I just find that easier and I like the resulting splatters a lot more that way.
I actually mattified this look after a couple of days and the result was interesting, but I think I prefer it as you see here. I wish I had snapped a photo of the matte look so you could compare.
Hope you all had a great weekend and thanks for looking!
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Nude & Black Deep V Nail Art
Hi everyone!
Nude and black is just about my favourite colour combination ever, so last night I pulled out those colours and just started painting, with no real design plan in mind. What I came up with is a deep v manicure, which although simple in execution, looks totally chic and sophisticated.
The colours I used are OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons and Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme. Don't Pretzel My Buttons has become my all-time favourite nude polish, so I'm definitely going to have to buy a back-up bottle asap. I used a striping brush to create the deep v portions and then just filled them in with the same brush.
If you're not all that comfortable with your freehand striping skills, this type of manicure can also be achieved using tape. Just make sure your base colour is completely dry before placing the tape on your nails.
I'm totally loving this look, so I'll definitely be trying it out with some different colour combinations in the future. I'm thinking of even doing a gradient in the deep v section! How cool would that look?!
So what's on your nails today?
Nude and black is just about my favourite colour combination ever, so last night I pulled out those colours and just started painting, with no real design plan in mind. What I came up with is a deep v manicure, which although simple in execution, looks totally chic and sophisticated.
The colours I used are OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons and Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme. Don't Pretzel My Buttons has become my all-time favourite nude polish, so I'm definitely going to have to buy a back-up bottle asap. I used a striping brush to create the deep v portions and then just filled them in with the same brush.
If you're not all that comfortable with your freehand striping skills, this type of manicure can also be achieved using tape. Just make sure your base colour is completely dry before placing the tape on your nails.
I'm totally loving this look, so I'll definitely be trying it out with some different colour combinations in the future. I'm thinking of even doing a gradient in the deep v section! How cool would that look?!
So what's on your nails today?
Sunday, November 18, 2012
My Nail Polish Collection - A Then vs. Now Comparison
Hey guys!
I have a fun post to share with you today!
I recently stumbled across a very old photo on my computer from when I first started to get into nail polish. At the time, I was using a spice rack to store my "collection" and I obviously must have thought at the time that it was a large enough collection to take a photo of. Boy, if only I'd known what my collection would look like just three years later!
So for a quick laugh, here's my then vs. now nail polish collection!
Be sure to click on the image to enlarge it!
I opened up some of the drawers just to give you a peak inside and to show that the majority of them are entirely full.
Oh and by the way, you can see that I no longer store my tampons and nail polish together hahaha. I'm guessing I just wanted to fill the empty space, which is a problem I certainly never have now! In fact, all of the melmers above are just about full, so I'm going to have to assemble my back-up melmers that I bought during a recent sale at Michael's!
Hope you guys enjoyed this quick post!
Do you have any before and after pictures of your collection? If you do, be sure to share them with me on the ! I'd love to see them!
I have a fun post to share with you today!
I recently stumbled across a very old photo on my computer from when I first started to get into nail polish. At the time, I was using a spice rack to store my "collection" and I obviously must have thought at the time that it was a large enough collection to take a photo of. Boy, if only I'd known what my collection would look like just three years later!
So for a quick laugh, here's my then vs. now nail polish collection!
Be sure to click on the image to enlarge it!
I opened up some of the drawers just to give you a peak inside and to show that the majority of them are entirely full.
Oh and by the way, you can see that I no longer store my tampons and nail polish together hahaha. I'm guessing I just wanted to fill the empty space, which is a problem I certainly never have now! In fact, all of the melmers above are just about full, so I'm going to have to assemble my back-up melmers that I bought during a recent sale at Michael's!
Hope you guys enjoyed this quick post!
Do you have any before and after pictures of your collection? If you do, be sure to share them with me on the ! I'd love to see them!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Sunset Gradient Manicure
Hi guys!
Despite my severe lack of nail art inspiration, I was able to come up with this sunset inspired gradient!
Usually when doing gradients, I start with the lightest colour (in this case, the yellow) as the base colour. However, when I went ahead with the sponging, I realized that the yellow was showing through the purple too much, so I started over and went with a base of white instead. Sometimes this sort of thing is trial and error.
The polishes I used are OPI Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI? (which is also featured as a full colour on my non-accent nails), OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips and Color Club Almost Famous. I followed my go-to method for creating smooth gradients, which can be found in a step-by-step tutorial here.
Despite the uncomplicated nature of this, I received a ton of compliments on this mani! I think that the combination of these colours just work so well together, so it's an eye-catcher all on its own, without any other bells and whistles.
What's on your nails today?
Despite my severe lack of nail art inspiration, I was able to come up with this sunset inspired gradient!
Usually when doing gradients, I start with the lightest colour (in this case, the yellow) as the base colour. However, when I went ahead with the sponging, I realized that the yellow was showing through the purple too much, so I started over and went with a base of white instead. Sometimes this sort of thing is trial and error.
The polishes I used are OPI Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI? (which is also featured as a full colour on my non-accent nails), OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips and Color Club Almost Famous. I followed my go-to method for creating smooth gradients, which can be found in a step-by-step tutorial here.
Despite the uncomplicated nature of this, I received a ton of compliments on this mani! I think that the combination of these colours just work so well together, so it's an eye-catcher all on its own, without any other bells and whistles.
What's on your nails today?
Monday, November 12, 2012
An Uninspiring Stripe Manicure
Hi everyone!
I said it a couple of times last week, but I'll say it once again: I've been feeling completely uninspired lately! Usually I have a few design ideas just waiting to be executed, but in recent weeks I've been drawing a complete blank.
I've been sporting animal print manicures over the last couple of weeks (that's what I fall back on when I'm feeling uninspired), but because I've posted so many animal print designs over the years, I didn't even bother posting these most recent ones. I don't want to bore with you too much animal print!
Today's manicure, although it's not animal print, is another that I wasn't going to bother posting. It's super simple and I'll even go as far as to say that it's boring. In fact, I'm so bored by this mani that I'm only posting the one photo of it as opposed to my typical three photos.
The base colour here is Orly Snowcone and the stripes are done using Orly Lollipop and Orly Gumdrop. Although it's not the most complex or artistic design I've done, I do actually like the colour combination.
So that's it for today! Hopefully my creative juices will start flowing again soon!
I said it a couple of times last week, but I'll say it once again: I've been feeling completely uninspired lately! Usually I have a few design ideas just waiting to be executed, but in recent weeks I've been drawing a complete blank.
I've been sporting animal print manicures over the last couple of weeks (that's what I fall back on when I'm feeling uninspired), but because I've posted so many animal print designs over the years, I didn't even bother posting these most recent ones. I don't want to bore with you too much animal print!
Today's manicure, although it's not animal print, is another that I wasn't going to bother posting. It's super simple and I'll even go as far as to say that it's boring. In fact, I'm so bored by this mani that I'm only posting the one photo of it as opposed to my typical three photos.
The base colour here is Orly Snowcone and the stripes are done using Orly Lollipop and Orly Gumdrop. Although it's not the most complex or artistic design I've done, I do actually like the colour combination.
So that's it for today! Hopefully my creative juices will start flowing again soon!
Thursday, November 08, 2012
OPI - DS Temptation
Hi guys!
This polish has been sitting at the bottom of my to-swatch bin for ages now, so I'm finally showing it to you today. This is Temptation from the OPI Designer Series. Temptation was released in Fall 2011 and although it's not the holographic type of DS that we all love, it's still really awesome.
Temptation is a sheer blue-purple base with a very dense mix of blue, purple and pink glitters. The dominant glitters are blue and purple, but there is definitely some pink in there as well.
This is a versatile polish because it can be worn alone with three coats, which is what I've shown you here, but it also starts out sheer enough that it could be layered over another polish. The formula was easy to work with and it didn't feel thick like a lot of these type of glitter bombs do, even after the three coats plus top coat.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that DS Temptation is now available as part of the core OPI DS line.
This polish has been sitting at the bottom of my to-swatch bin for ages now, so I'm finally showing it to you today. This is Temptation from the OPI Designer Series. Temptation was released in Fall 2011 and although it's not the holographic type of DS that we all love, it's still really awesome.
Temptation is a sheer blue-purple base with a very dense mix of blue, purple and pink glitters. The dominant glitters are blue and purple, but there is definitely some pink in there as well.
This is a versatile polish because it can be worn alone with three coats, which is what I've shown you here, but it also starts out sheer enough that it could be layered over another polish. The formula was easy to work with and it didn't feel thick like a lot of these type of glitter bombs do, even after the three coats plus top coat.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that DS Temptation is now available as part of the core OPI DS line.
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
Orly Naughty or Nice Collection - My Picks
Hey guys!
So now that some of the engagement craziness has died down, I was able to get some swatching done! It felt good to finally tackle the overflowing mess that was my to-swatch bin.
Today I have three shades from Orly's Holiday Collection called Naughty or Nice. The collection features six shades altogether, but I only picked up three three that I was most intrigued by.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Angel Eyes is a mix of blue and holographic hex glitters in a blue tinted base. This one looks stunning in the bottle and it didn't disappoint on the nails. I've shown it here layered over Color Club Gift of Sparkle - a blue foil (swatches of the Winter Affair Collection coming soon). The formula was really easy to work with and although I prefer it as a layering polish, you could most likely wear this on its own with three or four coats.
Halo is a mix of warm and cool gold and silver glitters in a clear base. I find the cooler shades dominate, which is why I like this one so much (I find cool goes better with my skin tone). This can be worn alone or as a layering polish, and I've actually shown you both ways in my swatch. On my index nail, there's three coats of Halo on its own. On the rest of my nails, I've layered it over Color Club Winter Affair - a gold foil. The formula was great.
Miss Conduct is a gorgeous magenta pink with a scattered holographic finish. This is my top pick and if you can only get one shade from this collection, this one should be it. The formula was stellar and it just barely needed two coats for opacity.
The other three shades in the collection are all in the red family. There's a standard red creme, a deep red shimmer and a red and gold glitter mix. I liked Devil May Care (the red and gold glitter shade), but it seemed similar to one from the new China Glaze Collection, which is on its way to me, so that's why I passed on the Orly one.
The Orly Naughty or Nice Collection is a November release, so it should be currently available just about everywhere Orly is sold.
So now that some of the engagement craziness has died down, I was able to get some swatching done! It felt good to finally tackle the overflowing mess that was my to-swatch bin.
Today I have three shades from Orly's Holiday Collection called Naughty or Nice. The collection features six shades altogether, but I only picked up three three that I was most intrigued by.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Angel Eyes is a mix of blue and holographic hex glitters in a blue tinted base. This one looks stunning in the bottle and it didn't disappoint on the nails. I've shown it here layered over Color Club Gift of Sparkle - a blue foil (swatches of the Winter Affair Collection coming soon). The formula was really easy to work with and although I prefer it as a layering polish, you could most likely wear this on its own with three or four coats.
Halo is a mix of warm and cool gold and silver glitters in a clear base. I find the cooler shades dominate, which is why I like this one so much (I find cool goes better with my skin tone). This can be worn alone or as a layering polish, and I've actually shown you both ways in my swatch. On my index nail, there's three coats of Halo on its own. On the rest of my nails, I've layered it over Color Club Winter Affair - a gold foil. The formula was great.
Miss Conduct is a gorgeous magenta pink with a scattered holographic finish. This is my top pick and if you can only get one shade from this collection, this one should be it. The formula was stellar and it just barely needed two coats for opacity.
The other three shades in the collection are all in the red family. There's a standard red creme, a deep red shimmer and a red and gold glitter mix. I liked Devil May Care (the red and gold glitter shade), but it seemed similar to one from the new China Glaze Collection, which is on its way to me, so that's why I passed on the Orly one.
The Orly Naughty or Nice Collection is a November release, so it should be currently available just about everywhere Orly is sold.
Sunday, November 04, 2012
OPI - It's My Year (aka: my engagement polish!)
Hi everyone!
First off, I want to say thank you for all of the lovely comments you left on my engagement announcement post. They've made this special time that much more special. And you should know that David has read each and every one of them as well and he's feeling quite proud of himself! You're all making his head swell, haha!
With that said, today I will be showing you a swatch of my new favourite nail polish - OPI It's My Year. As many of you already know, this is the polish that David used in his proposal to me, so I of course had to immediately put it on my nails as a full mani! (Luckily, I already owned this shade, so I used my own bottle and the special proposal bottle will be placed on display in our living room.)
OPI It's My Year is from the limited edition Miss Universe Collection that was released last summer. It's a lovely purple base with heavy gold foil shimmer. It's quite eye-catching and it's a polish that even without the new special meaning, I would have worn as a full mani on a regular basis.
The formula is on the thin side, but it's easy to work with and definitely not to the point of being runny. I used three coats for my swatch.
I'm pretty much still in shock about the engagement and it feels so surreal to even be talking about it! And I can't stop staring at my rock of a ring! He did good, haha.
I'm definitely going to be on a high for quite some time now. :)
First off, I want to say thank you for all of the lovely comments you left on my engagement announcement post. They've made this special time that much more special. And you should know that David has read each and every one of them as well and he's feeling quite proud of himself! You're all making his head swell, haha!
With that said, today I will be showing you a swatch of my new favourite nail polish - OPI It's My Year. As many of you already know, this is the polish that David used in his proposal to me, so I of course had to immediately put it on my nails as a full mani! (Luckily, I already owned this shade, so I used my own bottle and the special proposal bottle will be placed on display in our living room.)
OPI It's My Year is from the limited edition Miss Universe Collection that was released last summer. It's a lovely purple base with heavy gold foil shimmer. It's quite eye-catching and it's a polish that even without the new special meaning, I would have worn as a full mani on a regular basis.
The formula is on the thin side, but it's easy to work with and definitely not to the point of being runny. I used three coats for my swatch.
I'm pretty much still in shock about the engagement and it feels so surreal to even be talking about it! And I can't stop staring at my rock of a ring! He did good, haha.
I'm definitely going to be on a high for quite some time now. :)
Saturday, November 03, 2012
I'm Engaged! And he proposed using nail polish!
Hey everyone!
I have some amazing news to share with you all! I'm engaged!!!
Last night, my boyfriend of 6 years proposed to me and I of course said yes! I'm really excited to share with you the story of how he proposed since it's very relevant to my site and what it's all about!
Obviously you all know that I receive many packages in the mail containing nail polish. Often, the packages are unexpected.
So, yesterday I was working all day and considering it was our 6 year anniversary, we had plans to go out to supper once I got off work. When David picked me up, he nonchalantly informed me that a package had arrived for me. Of course, this was completely ordinary so I thought nothing of it.
After supper, we went home and since I get so excited about nail polish, the first thing I did was go for the package. Everything on the outside looked normal because he’d had a coworker write out the labels so that I didn’t recognize the handwriting. He’d also created a fake return label that actually contained little coded messages such as the date of our anniversary as the return zip code, etc.
When I opened the package, I was a little confused because the polish inside was one that I already own. So I was thinking “Why would anyone send me this? I already own it and I’ve actually already reviewed it!” David was next to me and asked me what the name of the polish was. I was trying to remember, because I knew that I knew the name, so I didn’t want to look at the label until I remembered.
Finally I gave up trying to remember and turned it over. David had replaced the real name of the polish (which by the way, is OPI “It’s My Year” - how perfect, right?) with his own label that read “Will you marry me?” When I turned around, he was down on his knee. Obviously, I said yes.
It was perfect.
I'm still in shock about all of this and I don't think it's quite sunk in yet, but I'm so very happy!
I promise there'll be some nail polish posts coming soon! My to-swatch bin is overflowing, so I plan to get to that this weekend.
Have a good weekend everyone! Thanks for reading! :)
I have some amazing news to share with you all! I'm engaged!!!
Last night, my boyfriend of 6 years proposed to me and I of course said yes! I'm really excited to share with you the story of how he proposed since it's very relevant to my site and what it's all about!
Obviously you all know that I receive many packages in the mail containing nail polish. Often, the packages are unexpected.
So, yesterday I was working all day and considering it was our 6 year anniversary, we had plans to go out to supper once I got off work. When David picked me up, he nonchalantly informed me that a package had arrived for me. Of course, this was completely ordinary so I thought nothing of it.
After supper, we went home and since I get so excited about nail polish, the first thing I did was go for the package. Everything on the outside looked normal because he’d had a coworker write out the labels so that I didn’t recognize the handwriting. He’d also created a fake return label that actually contained little coded messages such as the date of our anniversary as the return zip code, etc.
When I opened the package, I was a little confused because the polish inside was one that I already own. So I was thinking “Why would anyone send me this? I already own it and I’ve actually already reviewed it!” David was next to me and asked me what the name of the polish was. I was trying to remember, because I knew that I knew the name, so I didn’t want to look at the label until I remembered.
Finally I gave up trying to remember and turned it over. David had replaced the real name of the polish (which by the way, is OPI “It’s My Year” - how perfect, right?) with his own label that read “Will you marry me?” When I turned around, he was down on his knee. Obviously, I said yes.
It was perfect.
I'm still in shock about all of this and I don't think it's quite sunk in yet, but I'm so very happy!
I promise there'll be some nail polish posts coming soon! My to-swatch bin is overflowing, so I plan to get to that this weekend.
Have a good weekend everyone! Thanks for reading! :)
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