Dusty Archives

Here is an old picture I pulled out from the archives displaying a simple tip design. I took this even before I started a blog, so please excuse the quality. I used Anna Sui 600 as my base coat. The opacity isn't bad and the formulation is smooth. I just love the smell of their nail polish as they are all lightly scented with a rose fragrance. I finished this design off by painting a white diagonal strip across the top of my nail and lining it with a purple nail art pen. I added a blue jewel on my thumb for extra embellishment.

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Wet Summer Gradient Tutorial

For today's gradient Friday, here is a tutorial on how to do last week's gradient.

Prep: Choose 2 or 3 similar shade colors, one sparkle top, clear nail polish/top coat

1. Paint your nails using your lightest shade polish. I used 2 coats of SkinFood OR004. Let dry.

2. Using your darker shade polish, paint a thick line near the top of your finger.

3. IMMEDIATELY, take your top coat and brush downwards lightly towards the lighter shade. Brush all the way down to where you want it.

4. Repeat step 3, if you want to add another color. Paint a much thinner line this time, very close to your fingertips.Do not worry if it looks a bit lumpy. The finish product will not be.

5. Add your sparkly top coat for a more blended look. Apply a top coat and you are now done! Your nails should now be smooth.

Hope this helped!

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Nail Mail

Today is a quick post of some nail mail I received from Milani. They sent me a polish from each of their lines and small nail pens as well. They are so generous. I can't wait to try them. Thank you!!!

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Inspired Art

As some of my readers have guessed, I will be travelling to Hawaii for the next week. Not to panic though, as I have queued up some blog post to keep you all occupied.

First up is a nail design I tried, inspired by a nail pamphlet I received from Sephora. I used SkinFood OR004, a creamy yellow with a hint of orange, as my base coat. The formula is a bit on the thick side but 2 coats fixed most of the streaking. Next, I used BM 215 to stamp on a giraffe design using Dr.'s Remedy, Desire Dark Brown. Formulation on this is excellent and so is the opacity when used to stamp. Finally, I taped off the bottom and the top of my nails, and used China Glaze Westside Warrior, a dark khaki green, to paint the middle of my nails. I love this color and the formulation is great as well.

Hope you enjoyed!

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Wet Summer Gradient

Today's gradient Friday features a wet gradient technique that I have not tried before. This technique requires the use of a clear nail polish to blend polishes together when they are still wet. How quick and how light you use the clear polish to blend the colors will result in how your gradient effect will look. For this gradient, I used Color Club Almost Famous ('Ive been using this color lots lately!), OPI Orange you glad its summer?, and Orly Ole. I blended each color in using Wet N' Wild clear nail protector for this summery gradient look. Finally, my ring finger was topped off with a flower nail sticker for a fun accent. I will be taking a vacation next week and this gradient gives you a hint to where I will be going. Any polish addicts want to venture a guess to where my destination will be?

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Carmen Blasted

I am lacking reds in my collection, so when I saw Zoya Carmen, I knew I had to have it. I got it during the promo where if you bought anything, you would get Zoya Charla and Ivanka free, so how can a girl resist? My lovely aunt from the states brought it up for me and I finally got to try it out for the first time. Zoya Carmen is a gorgeous glossy cream red that applied smoothly and was opaque in two coats. I really like this red and I am glad I got it. After a day, I decided to put on Sephora by OPI Electric Blue Blasted, their version of shatter, on top, and I liked the color blocking combination.

From all the shatter/crackle I have tried so far, if you are a big crackle lover like me, this is what I would say – China Glaze, Sephora by OPI, OPI. I have yet to try Color Club and Nicole by OPI, so we will see how those compare once I get my hands on them.

Hope you are all enjoying some sunny days!

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Gold and Red Gradient

Today's gradient Friday reminds me of Wonder Woman a bit, although it wasn't intended to. I used a dollar store gold glitter on the top 2 thirds of my nails and used China Glaze Ruby Pumps on the top third of my nails. I blended it together with Wet N' Wild Clear nail protector and then sprinkled some gold hexagonal glitter on top. I finished this look off with a coat of Seche Vite (sorry for the cuticle mess, I took these pictures pre-cleanup).

As always, Im open to any gradient color suggestions! So drop me a comment!

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OPI Shatter Day

In honor of OPIs first nail shatter day, I decided to try something new with my shatter. I had seen a similar design when I was browsing, and decided to attempt it myself. I used 2 coats of Essie Mesmerize as my base coat. It is a very pretty dark cream blue that applied quite smoothly. I decided to accent my fingers with shatter so I taped it off and used Sally Hansen White On to make a white triangle. Afterwards, I taped it again and added OPI Turquoise Shatter on top. I sealed it all off with Seche Vite. Happy Shatter Day!

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A Golden Find

Revlon Gold Coin is aptly named because the color is exactly that. It is a stunning gold metallic polish with a base of silver. The formulation was smooth and the polish was opaque in 2 coats. I really liked the color, but I thought I could make it pop more by adding a design to it. I used Wet N' Wild Black with an image from BM 224. Removal of the polish was a little bit of a hassle as it tends to live a bit of silvery glitter behind, but still the color is totally worth a little extra removal effort.

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Stamping Gradient

Today for gradient Friday, I decided to do something different and make a gradient using my Bundle Monster plate design. I used 2 coats of Color Club Almost Famous as my base coat. Next on the design I chose I painted stripes of each color onto the plate. I started off with the lightest color, SkinFood PK004, a creamy light pink. Next in the middle of the design, I striped another line using Konad Special Pink Polish. Finally, to close off my stamping gradient, I used Wet N' Wild Red Red. After all the polish was on, I scraped off the excess starting from the darkest to the lightest polish and stamped it on. Voila! There you have it. Hope you enjoyed. I used BM-215 plate.

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New treasures

Here is a post about some nail polish I acquired lately from my friend. She was adamant that she was not going to use them; therefore I was only too happy to give them a new home. She runs a fashion blog named HER WAISE CHOICE and if you have time, check it out! She can re-use clothing articles in so many creative ways that I only wish I could. Perhaps if we both have time, we can coordinate an outfit and nails post!

Also, meet my two new babies! I finally bought two OTTLITE natural daylight lamps for my lightbox. It really does make a difference as you can tell from the haul picture and the ones from my previous post. Although I would love more sun shots, at least I can rely on these when Mr. Sun does not want to cooperate. That is all for now! Thanks for reading. It means a lot!

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Glam Slam

This OPI set is so awesome that I do not even know how to put it into words. Grape...set...match, is a gorgeous medium sparkle purple that was opaque in 2 coats. It is such a fun purple and the shade is so pretty for summer. It has a reddish hue to it with blue micro-glitter. Layer it with OPI Servin Up Sparkle and BOOM. Instant gorgeousity and sparkle fest. Enjoy and go grab yourself a set.

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Canada Day

In lieu of Gradient Friday, due to long weekend, here is a Canada Day simple design. Have a happy Canada Day everyone!

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