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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Arrrrrrrr!!

If the title didn't clue you in, today's manicure is a pirate treasure map.


I started with a base of White On from Sally Hansen. Then I sponged on Bare Necessity from Avon with a makeup sponge, and at the tips and around the edges I sponged with a bit of brown acrylic. The map design is done in brown and black acrylic. Also, to get the lines seen on a few of the nails (thumb, ring finger, pinkie), I dipped some thread into a bit of brown paint, then pressed it onto the nails.

Hope you guys like it!

Saturday, February 23, 2013

A Little "Peace" of Me

This manicure was kind of random, but it sort of showcases a bit of me.


The pinkie is a watercolour effect using Watermelon from Essie, Sunkissed from Sally Hansen, Lime Up! From Essence and You Belong to Me from Essence on base of White On from Sally Hansen. Then I added a black french tip with acrylic. My ring finger has a base of Black Satin from Rimmel, and the writing is in acrylic. The middle finger is a peace sign, with a watercolour effect again. The peace sign is black acrylic. My pointer finger is chevrons with a base of White On and black acrylic. Finally, my thumb (not pictured), was a simple half moon mani in black with the watercolour effect for the base.

So, this manicure sort of represents me for a few reasons. First of all, I think I'm pretty colourful and creative. Next, I absolutely ADORE rock and roll. It's my favourite type of music. And I'm all for peace, which goes along with the whole idea of rock and roll. :)

Hope you guys enjoy!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Polish Awards

If you haven't noticed, it's the awards shows time of year again, with the Oscars, Grammys, Brit Awards and many more. So, in honour of all these award shows, I figured I would give out some polish awards to my favourite polishes around.

Polish Awards: Favourite Collection - Hunger Games, Stone Cold


 Polish Awards: Favourite New Colour - Skyfall


Polish Awards: Best Glitter - Ruby Pumps



Polish Awards: Best Formula - Stormy


Polish Awards: Favourite Colour - Yoga-Ta Get This Blue


Polish Awards: Best Brush - Grey-t To Be Here



Polish Awards: Best Application - Any Essence Colour & Go


Polish Awards: Most Anticipated - OPI Sand Polishes, Get Your Number


These polishes weren't necessarily all from 2012, but they're just polishes I happen to love! What do you guys think? Do you agree with my selections? What are your favourites in these categories? Let me know!



Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Change is Good

After four years of having my nails squared off, I decided I needed a change.




That's right. I rounded off my nails. It's becoming a huge trend again to have rounded, or almond shaped nails. The more I see them, the more I like the look. Not to mention, it's an absolutely classic Hollywood look (check out Audrey Hepburn's nails if you don't believe me). Once they grow a little longer, I think I might go for a bit more of an almond shape. What do you guys think? Square or rounded? 

P.S.  The gradient manicure is done using Skyfall (one of the polishes I won) from OPI and Black Satin from Rimmel. 

Friday, February 15, 2013

Cinderella's Castle... Again

So, I posted the below design forever ago (two summers ago to be exact), and I've been noticing it on the internet again lately. I hadn't put a water mark on it, so it's basically gotten everywhere without people knowing it's my design.


What I'm asking of you guys as my awesome readers is, could you let me know if you see this photo somewhere without my watermark? Or could you let whoever posted it know the link for my blog? The same goes for any other artist. This way we can make sure those who deserve the credit, get the credit. :) Thanks guys!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Comic Book Love

I've got another Valentine's design for you guys. This time, it's inspired by vintage comic books and pop art.


1. Start with your base colours. Go for pastels or pinks/reds since it's Valentine's. I used (from left to right) Pink Lingerie from Revlon, Mellow Yellow from Sally Hansen, Mint Sorbet from Sally Hansen and Blue-Away from Sally Hansen.

2. Tape out the "explosion" using triangles of scotch tape. You can do this for all the nails, but I only did an accent finger. Paint this in with white. I used White On from Sally Hansen.

3. While the white dries, use a toothpick to make tiny polka dots on the other nails. 

4. And now you have your white explosion. If you haven't already, remove the tape. Clean up any mistakes. 

5. Outline the explosion in black. I used acrylic for this.

6. Using the toothpick again, make white polka dots on the nail with the explosion.

7. Finally, write something in the explosion using black. I chose "XOXO", since it's love themed.

You guys can use this tutorial for any time of year. 

I also have a question for you guys. What do you want to see more of? Nail art? Tutorials? Reviews? Tips and tricks? Let me know in the comments below!

Friday, February 8, 2013

Vintage Valentine's Day Inspired Nails

I don't know if you guys remember, but several months ago, I painted a vintage inspired nail design. I really liked the design, and I got great feedback on it. So, for a Valentine's manicure, I decided to do a design very similar.


The lightest pink is Sweet as Candy from Essence. On the middle finger is Pink Lingerie from Revlon Top Speed. Finally, the darkest pink is Presto Pink from Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. The hearts, stripes and roses are all acrylic.


The hearts were super easy to make. You just start with two dots (make these with a toothpick). Then, drag down the dots to a point and you have a heart! 


For the roses, you pretty much just keep make sort of squiggly comma shapes.

I hope you guys enjoy this! 

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Cold Body, Warm Heart: Warm Bodies

Yesterday, I went to see the new movie, Warm Bodies. I first heard about the movie a few months ago when Michelle Phan did a makeup tutorial on it. It's about a zombie named R falling in love with a girl named Julie, and it has romance, thrills, and a ton of comedy. I'm not really into the whole zombie movement, nor was I into the vampire movement, but this movie was AMAZING! You just wanted to keep watching. And, I'm not kidding when I say I would pay to see this movie again. But, let's get to the fun part; the nail art!



The base colour is two coats of The Spy Who Loved Me and one coat of You Only Live Twice. Both are from the OPI James Bond Collection. The details are all done with white acrylic. For the letters, I first wrote the words in white, then sponged over with some of You Only Live Twice. To get the affect of the heart and all the other nails, I watered down the acrylic, and dragged it out to get the dripping effect. Originally, I was going to paint R's face on my ring finger, but then I realized I didn't have near enough time to before I needed to leave for the movie. Anyways, like I said, amazing movie and I recommend it for sure! Have any of you seen it? Did you like it? Do you want to see it?


Saturday, February 2, 2013

Love is...

Hey guys! I've got a couple quick Valentine's Day designs to show you.



So, as you can see, they're a couple of famous love quotes. First, Love is Sweet, Love is Kind, and then, quoted from the famous Beatles' song, Love is All You Need. I started with a base of White On from Sally Hansen. Then I sponged on Watermelon from Essie to create a gradient. Finally, using black India ink and a calligraphy pen, I wrote on the words. 

I hope you guys enjoy! And I've got another post for you tomorrow, that's sort of inspired by the... um... un-dead.