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Thursday 30 January 2014

Blasts From the Past Pt 2

I couldn't fit all my previous nail art into one post so here's part 2! I'm only choosing my favourites so I hope you enjoy this installment.





The lace is possibly my favourite and definitely something I want to recreate but possibly in other colours. The Spiderman ones are pretty fantastic too though.

I apparently didn't know the joy that was a top coat back then, lol.

Happy painting friends!

Tuesday 28 January 2014

Blasts From the Past

I thought I would do a post dedicated to nail art I did before I started this blog. I don't remember all the polishes I used so I won't be listing them but if you have a particular question, let me know.

Please bear in mind that these photos were taken with my iPhone so they aren't the best quality and also I wasn't as in to clean up back then.

Enjoy!




The first look on this page was my BFF's hands. I got her the ring for her birthday and tried to match the art to the ring.

I love all these looks and will probably try to recreate them (hopefully better!)

Stay tuned for part 2!

Happy painting friends!

Sunday 26 January 2014

Purple Bling

Carrying on with more of the polishes I got in my recent nail mail, today I'm featuring two purples from a england. The first one is the lighter purple called Jane Eyre and it is simply stunning. The second is Avalon and it appears almost black but there is a beautiful purpley shimmer when it catches the light.


I accented this just with some simple purple rhinestones in a wavy design.

with flash
I like the simplicity of this design and wish I had gotten better pics. I just built myself a light box to even out my lighting so hopefully my pictures will be better in the future (though I'm still trying to get used to it).

So far I've loved all my a england polishes and I would love to get the new ballerina collection. Maybe I'll have to wait for my birthday ;)

Happy painting friends!

Friday 24 January 2014

Zoya Hearts

You know how much I love Zoya! I haven't used them in awhile so I wanted to bust them out and do something light and happy. Featured in this nail art is Piaf (yellow), Gie Gie (pink), Blu (blue), Julie (purple), and Neely (green).



I started with a base of Piaf and then drew on the hearts with the different colours and a dotting tool.



I think this is so bright and springtimey (that's probably not a word!). I've been rocking the dark colours for so long that I wanted to go light for this look and I'm glad I did. It's already brightened my mood.

Did I mention I love Zoya? :)

Happy painting friends!

Wednesday 22 January 2014

St. George Vs. Dragon

I love a england polishes! I got four new ones in my nail mail the other day and I wish I had ordered more. I knew I wanted to get a bunch after seeing them so many times on other blogs but I didn't realize quite how amazing they'd be in person. I don't think photos do these polishes justice! I got St. George (dark green) and Dragon (light green) for the purpose of doing a gradient. I saw this on another blog and I wish I could remember which one!


I can't even express to you how gorgeous this polish is. Dragon went on beautifully in one coat and I know St. George does the same.


Dragon
I wish I could capture the full extent of their beauty. Love, love, love! I'm sure these will be in high rotation.

Happy painting friends!

Monday 20 January 2014

Ariel

Contained in my nail mail the other day were five piCture pOlishes. This is a brand from Australia I've been dying to try as there are so many good reviews on other blogs. I was not disappointed! I decided to use serenity (a really pretty blue/green with a ton of shimmer) and jasmine (a beautiful lavender colour with lots of little bits of colour).


I did a manicure very similar to my New Years one from this (last?) year.



I called it Ariel as someone at work mentioned that it looked like the colours the Little Mermaid wears. Being the massive Disney fan that I am, I latched right onto that connection!


I used two coats of the jasmine and one coat of serenity. I LOVE piCture pOlish!! The formula is amazing, it goes on like a dream and it's so heavily pigmented you don't need many coats. And just look at that gorgeous colour! I'm obsessed! I want all the colours now, lol.

You can purchase these colours and more through Nail Polish Canada. (I think I'll be buying more soon!)

Happy painting friends!

Saturday 18 January 2014

Purple Fracture

My husband went go-karting for his birthday and I went along for the festivities after but did not partake in the karting. What's a girl to do but her nails! My BFF had just grabbed me a new Zoya called Mason and I knew I had to use it so it formed the base of the design.



The silver was just a nail pen that I used to draw on the solid silver area and then the fractured look over the purple.

with flash


I was going for a fractured type look but one of my friends said it reminded him of a giraffe, lol. This was pretty simple to do but I think the effect is quite cool.

Happy painting friends!

Thursday 16 January 2014

Sea Dragon

One of the blogs I follow religiously, Wondrously Polished (click name for link), had an amazing design the other day and I knew right away that I wanted to do a version of it. The polishes I used for this look are Sally Hansen Triple Shine Sparkling Water (turquoise), Beautifully Disney Ocean Mist (green) and Essie Sexy Divide (purple).


I started with a black nail pen and drew in the rough shapes.



I then went in with the colours and a small paintbrush and painted in the various colours. When I finished that, I went back over the black lines with the nail pen.


Don't they look like scales?! I was going to go with mermaid but then someone at work said "sea dragon" and I was sold!

I love these colours together and was so sad to take it off. I had planned to wear it for a couple days but I got nail mail through that day and couldn't resist trying out my new colours.

Happy painting friends!

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Triple Shine yo!

Sally Hansen has come out with a new line called Triple Shine. I picked one up over the Christmas break and I've been dying to try it out and see if it was worth the fuss. I grabbed Sparkling Water, a really pretty dark blue/turquoise shade. It goes on beautifully but does take a few coats to build up. I don't know if this is indicative of the brand but I really didn't mind. The formula is quite beautiful and dried quickly so it wasn't a pain. Here is is pre-cleanup:



This is with no top coat so it really does live up to it's shine claims!

I couldn't leave it at that though so I added a bit more of the bling.


Again, this is with no top coat. If I were going to wear this for reals I would have to top coat it to keep the jewels on but for the purposes of this post I wanted to show you it in it's natural form.



I like this polish and I'm tempted to buy more. I'll probably wait until I'm in the States again as it's probably a heck of a lot cheaper there! (I got it for $5 at Walmart in Canada.)

Hope you enjoyed!

Happy painting friends!

Sunday 12 January 2014

Ba-da-boom, Ba-da-bling

For today's look I wanted to do a simple polish with a really interesting accent nail. Sally Hansen Complete Manicure has a beautiful polish called Choco-latte. It's a gorgeous nude colour and I got lots of compliments on it. For the accent nail I decided just to bling the heck out of it.


It's simple in its execution but I think the effect is amazing. I actually wore this on my nails for two days!



And my every elusive right hand:



 My right hand is never as clean as my left hand but it's all good. The photos show a lot more mistakes than you can see in real life, lol.

What do you think? Bling-tastic or what?!

After I did this, I wanted to do even more looks with some bling, so watch this space!

Happy painting friends!

Friday 10 January 2014

Pink Sand

Onward and upward with my new polishes! Today's look started with a base of Sinful Colors Cinderella. It's a beautiful light blue colour but it is very sheer so it took me four coats to get it opaque. I then added layers using an unnamed pink from Walmart's brand Twinkling Star.



I called this post Pink Sand because I think the pink polish looks like just that, sand that is pink. It reminds me of those decorations people have on their desk that's sand in a picture frame type thing and you tip it upside down and it forms shapes. Here's a link if you don't know what I'm talking about (I don't know that I'm being all that clear, lol.)

I decided it needed a bit of the old bling, so I added on a silver glitter (again from Walmart).



I think it's pretty. I'd like to try it in other colours.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Happy painting friends!

Tuesday 7 January 2014

Zoya Galaxy

It's no secret that I have a deep love for Zoya nail polish. I received 15 new ones for Christmas and I am constantly experimenting with them. Today I have a really beautiful design for you featuring a gorgeous polish from the new Zoya Zenith Collection. It's called Payton and I think it's one of the prettiest polishes I've ever used.


Here is the polish pre-clean up. It's such a beautiful beautiful shade of purpley burgundy with a deep shimmer to it. I feel like I was looking into a pool it had such depth.

I thought it would be great to do a galaxy with it and I wanted to use only Zoya polishes to achieve it.

I used Piaf (a gold shimmery polish), Jacqueline (a beautiful beige cream), and Seraphina (a light silver).



I layered the polishes on with a sponge from dark to light. Then I added in some "stars" with a bronze nail pen.


What do you think? It's not your traditional colours for a galaxy mani but I love this colour combo. The only thing I wish is that I had left a little more of the base colour showing.

On to more adventures with my Zoya!!

Happy painting friends!

Sunday 5 January 2014

Ahoy Matey

I got a new sweater on the Boxing Day sales that is a light beige with orange anchors all over it and I thought it might be cute to recreate on my nails.

I started with a base of Zoya Jacqueline, a really beautiful nude colour from Zoya's Lovely Collection. I then went in with the end of a skewer (because I didn't have my dotting tools to hand) and added on the polka dots in OPI Jinx a very vibrant orange texture from the Bond Girls collection.



I attempted to do a small anchor on my index finger.


I really like the colours but I wish my work was a bit cleaner. I know you shouldn't blame your tools but I wish I'd had my proper ones so my work would have been more exact.


Look how gorgeous this orange texture is though! I'm in love with it and I'm sure I'll use it a lot in the future.

What inspires you?

Happy painting friends!

Saturday 4 January 2014

Winter Roses

Now that we are past Christmas I thought I would move on to some winter nail art. I got so many new polishes for Christmas and I've enjoyed experimenting with them. I achieved this look by starting with a base of a England King Arthur (two coats). I'm so glad I got an a England! I've been dying to try them and I have more on the way. King Arthur is a really beautiful dark grey and I thought it'd be a great base for this look.

Inside lighting

Natural lighting
I then used OPI Die Another Day to make the roses. I just used the corner of the brush and dabbed on some roundish blobs.



I then went in with a pale/nude nail pen and gave the roses their accents and used a green nail pen to do the leaves. I finished the design with silver dots put on with a silver nail pen.


I really like the a England I got and I can't wait to try out more of them! This design is good because it's fairly simple to do and you can do it on both hands without too much trouble.

I did a rosette tutorial as one of my first posts but I may have to redo it and add some better pics.

Happy painting friends!