Golden Skyline

Another nail look with the gold metal bits, but this time it's gold metal strip. These pictures show the shininess of the metal bits, better than the last one.  I did one coat of Dabo RD440 and then two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme-Wear Black Out to the side. Gold strips placed so that it'll hide any imperfections, but sometimes the strips made dents, but that's OK.

The strips are bit harder to work with because as your pulling it off the sheet it could break at weak points.  Just gotta be extra careful.  Also because this was more solid with less cut outs it was harder to get it to lay flat.  Had to use the flat handle end of a pair of tweezers to get it to lay as flat as possible.

Minty Faux Marbling + More Nail Max

Didn't really like this when I first did it, but it grew on me.  I sponged on Wet N Wild Craze Undercover Graffiti and Sally Hansen Xtreme-wear Mint Sorbet.  The Undercover Graffiti got lost in the sponging, but you can still sort of see it.  Then I did a layer of KleanColor Holo Green.  Once that was dry, which took a while, I stamped on the draggy marbling design from large plate b or Konad m78 with Konad special polish in white and then again with Mint Sorbet.  The Mint Sorbet overlaps the white polish a bit so the white bits aren't super bright and you can see the mint stamp more.

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Three more designs from the December issue of Nail Max.

My favourite is the last one.  I think the characters are just too cute, but my versions are definitely less cute looking than the ones in the magazine.

Super Quick

Quick post before heading out.  Found another decent rub on transfer sheet from the Dollarama.

So here's a mani that I did.

Two coats of Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac, forgot to take a picture of it.  I liked this quite a bit and didn't really use much of the transfer so lots more usage from it.

Water Decals

I recently got some new water decals that sort of have a lacy look and could probably be done by hand.

First up is Sally Hansen Xtreme-wear Lacey Lilac with some black and white decals.  The decals are nice,  but kind of difficult to work with since they don't really move around like some other water decals I've used before.  Wherever you place the decal is where it's going to stay.  Kinda messed up on the ring finger, still looks OK though.

Another water decal, this time a more lacy look.  Used joe Seashell as the base colour.  I thought this look would be easily replicated so I quickly tried it out on a nail wheel.

The lace part would have probably looked better if I used a thinner pen nib, however this still looks alright.

Stamped Purple Gradient + Haul

Sponged on Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lively Lilac and Innisfree PU08, then a layer of Color Club Starry Temptress Top Coat.  Stamped using a Konad Princess Polish in not sure which colour using a full image design from a large plate B.

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Wasn't really intending on buying new polishes while out shopping, but I ended up getting these four on separate shopping outings.

The Tip Toe polish was from Old Navy and I only got it 'cause my friend needed something to put her over 20$ so she could use a coupon to save 10$.  My swatch picture makes it look like it's kinda matte, but it's actually shiny.

On a different shopping trip I stopped by a Loblaws while killing time before heading to dinner and picked up a few joe polishes.  I picked up Seashell 'cause I thought it would be a perfect match to a dress that I was going to wear to a wedding and got Slate and Iris 'cause I liked the colours and it was three polishes for 10$.

Newsprint + Roses

Finally tried out the newspaper nails.  This is similar to something that I saw in a Japanese nail mag months ago, can’t remember which one. 

I used some movie reviews and stamped on roses.  Base colour was two coats VOV Nail Cone It Girl’s 1420A with Sally Hansen Xtreme-wear in Cherry Red, which turned out darker than I thought it would.  Stamped with Konad special polishes in Red and Green using fauxnad plate F01.  Glitter stripe was done using L.A. Colors Art Deco polish in NA903 Silver Glitter.

And here’s another one with newspaper print nails with swirly roses.

This was four or five coats of a really sheer pink - KleanColor Pink Sleepers.  More movie reviews and acrylic paints for the flowers.  I like this one more than the first.

I was just going to leave it as just the newsprint nails, but I had some nicks and smudges so I covered them up with the swirled flowers instead of redoing my nails.

Rhinestone Heart

For this mani I was inspired by a manicure from Nail Up’s 2011 Wedding Special Issue

For the spongy multicolour look I followed a tutorial on a Korean blog luuthienluv .

Colours used, two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme-wear White On, the sponge colours were Sally Hansen Xtreme-wear Sun Kissed, Eyeko Lilac Polish, Hello Kitty PK04 and Innisfree NYE05.

Sliver rhinestones for the heart and used pink magic clay and a 3D acrylic rose mould for the rose, green acrylic paint for the leaves.

Quilted Argyle

Didn't keep the leopard so I changed it up this afternoon.  Quite liked this.  I rarely use my half pearls, but thought they would be better to use than rhinestones.  Colours used for thumb and ring Sally Hansen Insta-dri in Whirlwind White, joe Mint and Powder Blue for the other fingers and the argyle pattern along with Etude House Dear Darling WH002 Bling Bling Silver as the stripes.

Lots o'Hearts

Was inspired to do this design from the spring issue of Nail Venus.

Mine isn’t so blingy and also kind of messy looking.  I don’t think I can handle having that much bling on top of the already busy looking hearts.

Base Colours - One coat each of  Etude House VIP Girl PK012 and Etude House LUCIDarling Fantastic Nails 01 Sequins Pink Topaz

Hearts - joe - Fuchsia and Kiss, Innisfree BL04 and GR06, Sally Hansen Extreme-wear White On, The Face Shop - GR501 and VOV Nail Care It Girl’s 1420A, outlined with black acrylic paint.

I used a dotting tool to draw on the hearts, to outline I used the nail art pen.

Yellow Striped Bow

Have had this on for the past few days.  I just really like the brightness of it and with gloomy grey skies back again after it being so sunny and warm.  Three coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme-wear in Mellow Yellow.  Painted on the bow with acrylic paint done in a modified Supa Nails Bow Wow style.

Butterfly Wings

Recently Deez Nails did a butterfly mani and featured a little picture tutorial. I'd seen this design done before, but never did it because I hadn't graduated from just doing Konad stamping.

The pictures on the left are with natural light while the pictures on the right were taken in my light box. Light box pictures are slightly yellower. The picture in the top right were just some practice ones. I ended up doing the middle one. Polishes used for the sponging gradient were all from Color Club - an unknown blue, Velvet Rope and Feel The Beat. The black was acrylic paint and the white was Sally Hansen Xtreme-wear - White On.

H&M Scarf Inspired

Hellos, here's something that was inspired by a scarf gifted to me for my birthday not too long ago. The stripes are a bit sloppy since I didn't use any nail guides or tape. Quite liked it, but the stripes kinda killed it for me. Should have done them properly or maybe incorporate those colours in a different way.

Base colour = Ardene - Barely There
Stripes = Color Club - Vintage Couture, Etude House - PP903 and American Apparel - Cameo Blue
Stamping colours = Sally Hansen Insta Dri - Lively Lilac and Snappy Sorbet and American Apparel - Cameo Blue
Stamping plate = E05

I did this mani because I found the birds on the E05 plate otherwise I probably wouldn't have done it. Might have drawn super large birds if I was doing it freehand.

Owls

Nails are currently stubs. Had a break whilst shopping so I had to get 'em all down to stubs since the difference in length was too great.


This is VOV Nail Cone It Girl's polish in 1408A Fantastic Moon. It's like a dark purple-y blue. Had it just plain for a day and then I added some owls and glitter to my nails.



For some strange reason the blue from underneath sort of seeped through to the surface. I dunno what was happening. Picture from the night before on the left, you can clearly see the yellow of the moon and the whites of the owls aren't bluish in tint. Weirdness. Polishes used for owls:
American Apparel - Factory Grey (ring finger)
Dabo - GR910 (thumb)
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - White On
Etude House LUCIDarling - Something 02
Innisfree - YE07
L.A. Girls - Pineapple (also used for the moon)
Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro - Black Satin
Dabo WH903.

Quick Post - Ribbons

Dinner soon so just a quick post before eating. Pale minty green franken as base with a pinky coral as the ribbon with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri white as the outline for the ribbons.

Fishy New Year

I think this is a new and improved version of my old fish mani. Goldfishes and lotuses for good luck in the new year. A little googling let me know that a child holding a goldfish and a lotus flower is a symbol of an "abundance of gold and harmony"(1). Technically not holding the fish or the flower and also I'm technically not a child, but I still get red packets and having the two on my nails seems just as good.

Sponged on Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Marine Blue, a minty franken and Sally Hansen Xtreme-wear White On. Stamped the lotus from Konad plate m66 with pastel pink special polish. Was thinking about colouring in the lotus flower, but decided I liked it better with just a hint of pink, but I could paint it in later on. Lily pads were from the same plate and used Konad Princess Polish in green. The goldfishes were done with a 3D acrylic mold. Super messy on my left hand, but neater on my right. Was a bit out of practice when doing my left hand and then got the hang of it again when doing my right. Love the black, orange/red and white fishes, but best fish is the one on my right thumb. Least favourite fish is the gold one. In the picture, it looks more golden, but in real life it's like a dull mustard colour. Might take it off and replace it with a different one.

That's it for now.

Nails from this past week.

Misplaced the usb cable for the camera so I couldn't upload any pictures, but it has been found now so here are nail pics from this past week.

Pink leopard to go with my pink leopard fleece blanket. Frankened pink as base and Konad pastel pink as stamping polish, Konad plate m57 used for the leopard print.


American Apparel - Palm Springs with Etude House LUCIDarling Gold polish on the ring finger. Not really loving Palm Springs. Looks more peachy on my nails than it does in the bottle. I don't think it goes go well with my skin tone.


Sally Hansen Xtreme-wear in Turquoise as the base colour, stamped over with Konad special polish in white. Plate used was Konad m79. I really like this. Have been sporting this for a few days.

Bows Dots Stripes

The original design (top right corner) is from the Nail Up!: National Nail Order Book 2011 that I downloaded from tokyo_jam. Changed the colours a bit and used fimo bows. This took a while to do and I really thought about giving up on it 'cause I really wasn't liking how it was turning out. But I kept at it and put some glitter on. Quite like it now, looks like a bunch of ribbons going across my nails. Two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme-wear White On. For the stripes I used Etude House LUCIDarling polishes in colours I'm not too sure of 05 and 06, the names are probably something like shimmery mint and shimmery hot pink. LA Colors Art Deco polish in silver glitter for the glittery stripes.

Copied! Faux Lace

Last post for today. Saw this faux lace design on Emerald Sparkled's website - NOTD: Pseudo Lace Nails and decided to copy it. I only did it on two of my nails 'cause I thought it would be a bit too busy for me on all my nails. Used joe - Nude as the base colour and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White as the stamping colour. Plates used were M79, M71 and M57. To get the faux laceness the netting pattern from M57 was stamped first and then the floral wall paper like pattern from M71 was stamped on top. Really like the look of it and will probably do it again in the future.

Nails During Christmas

Long time no blog. Hard to get back into the blogging mood when you've taken a break for a while. Anyway, this is what I had on my nails for most of the Christmas holidays. Two images from two different cameras. Wasn't really happy with any of the photos, but I also wasn't too pleased with the mani, but I lived with it. Sally Hansen Xtreme wear - Flirt as the base and a frankened gold for the stamping colour. The stamping plate that I used was from my Beauties Factory haul, HB35.



Sorries for the dirty looking plate. This plate has a bunch of ornaments and stuff that was good for Christmas manis. The large image is good for long nails, but it's not really that wide. Well, not wide enough for my thumb anyway. For my thumb I should have just randomly placed the individual images to fill up the space, but I was probably too lazy to do so.

I've got a few other things to post up so, expect a bunch of posts coming up.

Igloo and a Snowman

Current mani. There's no snow on the ground here, maybe a little bit on rooftops, but not much. I did a snowy scene on my nails. There's an igloo on the thumb, or just a lump of white and blue. Snowman featured on ring finger. Polishes used were joe - Powder Blue, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - White On, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Cherry Red and Milani - Black Magic. Using polishes from my gift. Topped everything with glittery goodness from Wet N Wild - Hallucinate.