Monday, December 31, 2012

Ringin' in the New Year

Wishing all my readers a wonderful new years eve. May the next year bring you much joy, love, and happiness. Be safe on the roads and have a great night. God Bless.
OPI DS Classic [beige holo] / China Glaze Ray-diant [multicolored fine and round glitter]
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Friday, December 21, 2012

Sneaking up to Christmas...

Christmas is nearing and decorating the tree is one of my favorite Christmas activities. This mani was inspired by all the silver glitter and decorations on the tree, and since it is Christmas, I thought it would be fitting to use holographic polishes for that extra sparkle. For my base color I used OPI DS Coronation, a sparkly holographic silver polish, which is opaque in 3 thin coats. Next I used Butter Trustafarian, a sparkly sage green polish. I painted it directly on the tips and used a sponge just lightly on the intersecting area because holographic polishes are so easy to blend.  For an added festive look, I stamped on a cute holiday image using BM plate 213. More festive looks to come!
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Saturday, December 15, 2012

Anti-Bleak Sprung

The tree is decorated and cookies are baking...time to post up some fun festive Christmas nail designs. Today is a simple half moon manicure using some festive colors from OPI Mariah Carey collection. I used 2 coats of OPI Sprung, a foil-like copper red polish, as my base color. This color is really pretty and its definitely one I would pick up from this collection. I stuck paper hole reinforcers (similar) near my cuticles and pressed them down tightly. Next, I used OPI Anti-Bleak, a cream plum colored polish, and painted it over the top. I did this one finger at a time, removing the reinforcers immediately after painting. I finished off with a coat of Seche Vite. Hope you are all enjoying the holidays.

PS- Please excuse the tip wear for the swatch; I took it a couple days after.
Polishes were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own. 
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Monday, December 10, 2012

Liquid Sand : Stay the Night

As promised, here is the second OPI liquid sand color Stay the Night. It is a deep dark burgundy red polish which was opaque in 2 coats. As this is a darker color, it was harder to capture the grittiness of the sand effect. I prefer this color over the other, especially for this holiday season! 2 more colors from the Mariah Carey line to come, then it will be lots of fun holiday nail design ideas for you to try. I think this is the best season! What is your favorite thing about Christmas?
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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

OPI Get Your Number : Liquid Sand

Today I have a gorgeous polish to show you from the upcoming Mariah Carey OPI collection. This features new texture polishes called liquid sand. The intention of these polishes are for your nails to feel and look like sand. These polishes are supposed to be opaque in 2 coats and worn with no top coat as it dries matte. The first one swatch of this type of polish is called Get Your Number, which is a pretty glittery blue with the liquid sand texture. I used 3 thin coats for this swatch and it is truly very cool. It looked a lot like a normal glitter polish when it first arrived, so I did not know what to expect. Fortunately, after letting it dry for a little bit, it became gritty and matte which I was very content with. I tried my best to capture the texture to the best of my ability, stay tuned for more colors!

Polish was sent to me for review. All opinions are my own. 
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Monday, December 3, 2012

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I am so very excited to start off the Christmas season! I just need to live through the end of this week and then I can bake, decorate, and shop to my heart's content. I did a simple red and white design to kick off December. I dotted white on with a dotting tool and lined the edges with gold using a striper brush. What are you MOST looking forward to in December?

PS – This is the time of year where I cut my nails down to nubbins for the sake of dodgeball finals. This is a perfect short nail design because it gives the illusion of longer length nails with the tips and half moon design
 Orly Ma Cherie / Sally Hansen White Out / China Glaze Champagne Bubbles / nail jewels 
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Friday, November 30, 2012

Gradient Friday : Breaking Dawn

If you are a follower on my instagram and twitter, you know that I was extremely excited to find the essence Twilight: Break Dawn part 2 line at my local Shoppers. I picked up all 4 colors so it's only fitting that I used one for this week's gradient Friday. I decided to use Jacobs protection, a deep blue jelly polish with blue, silver and purple fine glitter, as my base. The formulation on this polish was a bit goopy and was a bit hard to apply. I added a few drops of my nail thinner (Seche Restore) and then it applied better. This polish takes a while to dry, so you need to be patient and not move around too much. I used China Glaze Angel Wings on my accent finger and also for my sponge gradient. Happy Friday! 
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Flower Stickers

I recently went to a wedding show with my friend Jen, and was inspired by the dresses seen at the show for this mani. I have lots of nail stickers lying around, so I decided to use these lacy flowers for this mani, since lots of the dresses at the show had really intricate lacy designs. For my base color I used essence sending you kisses, a bright pink cream polish, which applied smoothly but takes a bit of time to dry.
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Friday, November 16, 2012

Gradient Friday : Fading Gradient

I started this fading gradient by using essie chinchilly, a cream granite grey with a hint of purple, at the tips of my nails. I let it dry a bit and then used a clear polish to drag out the bottom color towards my cuticles. Next, I used nails inc. special effects sugar house lane, a beige cupcake sprinkle effect, and applied it in the middle of my nails. After letting it dry for a bit, I used the clear polish to drag it down towards my cuticles for a gradient fading look. For my accent finger, I used China Glaze Glistening Snow which is a beautiful silver sparkle polish with holographic bits scattered throughout. 
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Thursday, November 15, 2012

2 shades of Pink

Hello Readers! I hope you have been well. The nights have been getting longer and the weather has been getting colder...The sun peeked out last weekend when I attended a wedding show so I decided to have some fun and play with some pink polishes! For my base, I used 2 coats of essence sending you kisses - a bright cream pink which takes slightly longer to dry. Next, I stamped on a cute pattern using BM plates with essie nothing else metals – a light pink chrome polish. I finished this look off with nails inc. westminister bridge, a matte topcoat, to tone down the manicure just a tad. Bundle up everyone!
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Friday, November 9, 2012

Gradient Friday : 2 way gradient

I decided to do a 2 way subtle gradient this week to share with y'all. First, I started off with a light to dark gradient from pinky to my thumb. Then I shifted the polish colors down and sponged them lightly on the tips. I wanted a more raw looking gradient, so I did not use a top coat to blend.
Base color from pinky to thumb: GOSH Bright Idea / Essie Chinchilly / Sally Hansen Greige Gardens / Essie Merino Cool / Essie Mink Muffs
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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween

This design was something quick and simple to do but still looked polished. I started out with 2 coats of Sally Hansen Grass Slipper and stamped on  a cool design using Konad black with BM 223. Quick but effective right? Have a safe night everyone!
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Friday, October 26, 2012

Gradient Friday : Halloween Edition

Here is a ghoulish gradient mani for Halloween. For the base, I used China Glaze Midnight Kiss. Next, I sponged on China Glaze Urban-Night and finished off the tips with Fantasy Makers (Wet N' Wild) Black Magic. I stamped on some spooky designs using my BM plates and Konad polishes. For a spookier look, I used nails inc. matte topcoat westminister bridge. 
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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Purple Pair

I recently went for a manicure and the place only had BUTTER polishes. I chose Butter Marrow layered with Butter No more Waity Katie. She used 2 coats of the base and 1 coat for layering. Sorry for the quality of the picture...I took it with my phone just in case I chipped it at dodgeball, which I did.
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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Blue Rhapsody

Today's swatch is Essie blue rhapsody. It is part of their metallic chrome collection and this was one of the 2 colors I got. This polish is a nice icy blue color and the formula and really impressed me. I used 2 coats for this swatch and you can tell the color is the exact amount of chrome that you would want in a polish. I had fears that it would be streaky, and after the 1st coat, it appeared to be the case; however, after you applied the 2nd coat, it even out very nicely. I decided to accent my finger by adding a fun feather with a pop of color (You can see my full feather mani here). Polish Addicts, which chrome polishes are your favorites?
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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A Gold Winter's Night

As promised, here's the last polish I have from the Nicole by OPI Christmas collection with the Kardashians. This is a swatch of Nicole by OPI A Gold Winter's Night over Keeping up with Santa. A Gold Winter's Night is a polish packed with gold long glitter with occasional strands of long green glitter and made with a base of clear polish with small red round glitter. It truly does remind me of Christmas and I can't wait to use this more when the holiday comes near! Will you be picking any of these polishes up?
Polishes were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own. 

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Friday, October 12, 2012

Gradient Friday : Glitter on Dark Navy


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Thursday, October 11, 2012

Early Holiday Cheer

Nicole by OPI is collaborating with the Kardashians to bring you 6 new holiday nail colors full of glitz and glamour. First up is a swatch of a stunning metallic rich red called Keeping up with Santa. It can be a one coater, especially if you plan to layer this, but I used 2 for my swatch. It applied very smoothly and left no streaks. I can see myself using this color more often as Christmas draws near

Next, I layered Kardashing Through the Snow. Its a dense packed multicolored round glitter polish which reminds me a lot of another polish...I know Ive seen somewhere. This swatch combination was super Christmas-sy and made me look forward to Christmas now that the Canadian Thanksgiving is over. This polish will be great for spicing up parties and adding a touch of fun and elegance. Stayed Tuned to see one more polish from this collection - A Gold Winters Night swatch will be up soon.


Polishes were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own. 
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Saturday, October 6, 2012

Morning, Money Penny

Here is the last and final color from the OPI James Bond magnetic line. Morning, Money Penny is a beautiful rich burgundy magnetic polish with the same holographic round glitter as Is that Silva?. This polish also applied very well, but the magnet for this one was a surprise. The magnet showed a picture of horizontal lines but the pattern it displayed on the nail did not reflect this. The magnet pattern is a bit more of a horizontal zig zag and this magnet was not as strong as the other ones. I love the color of this polish, but this magnet left something to be desired... Overall, a fantastic collection and it was very well executed. Would you like to try this collection? Which one was your favorite?
Polishes were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own.
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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Is That Silva?

Here is the second magnetic polish from the OPI James Bond SkyFall line. Is That Silva? is a gorgeously formulated gunmetal grey with holographic round glitter mixed it to give it a bit more magic. Similar to Bond...James Bond, this polish applied very well and the magnet designs shows up very well on the nail. One more color to go!

Polishes were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own. 
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Monday, October 1, 2012

Bond...James Bond

OPI does it again. Not only do they bring in an awesome James Bond themed polish line, but they have nailed it. Magnetic nail polishes are nothing new, but up until now, OPI has not made one. In this 3 piece magnetic collection inspired by the new James Bond movie Skyfall, I am absolutely impressed with the first polish I tried. BondJames Bond is a gold shimmer magnetic polish that leans towards a darker gold. The application was flawless and the magnet design is ingenious. It is in a curved shaped made to fit well to any finger, easy to hold and twist side to side so the design gets on the whole nail, and has a little notch at the top so it fits right on top of your cuticle. I love how they did not skimp out on the magnet as it is quite strong and very nicely sized. Gorgeous and perfect for the cooler Fall weather. Stay tune for the other 2 from this collection.

Polishes were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own. 
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Friday, September 28, 2012

Gradient Friday : Changing leaves



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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Fuzzy fingers : Ciate Velvet Manicure

Life has been pretty crazy, but with summer coming to an end (sad!), I will hopefully be able to post a little bit more. The trend of adhering objects to our nails is still going on, and ciate has taken things to a new level with their new velvet manicures sets. I was very curious about how this would work, so I picked up a set when I had the time. The set I chose is the burgundy-purple set with the Cabaret polish. The set comes with a plastic rectangular container to hold the crushed velvet when youre sprinkling, a little black brush, crushed velvet in a shaker bottle, and the polish itself. Cabaret is a beautiful deep purple-burgundy polish that was opaque in 2 coats. The best way to get the velvet to stick is to sprinkle it right when you apply the 2nd coat, so you should do each finger one at a time. Also, give it a bit of time to set before you brush off the excess with the black brush, otherwise it streaks and pulls some of the velvet powder off.
Pros: Very unique / texture DOES feel like velvet / easy to apply and remove
Cons: Velvet gets worn down easily / price
Overall, I liked this polish set and there is nothing else in my collection like this, so I was pleased. Hope this helps you make a decision in whether you want to purchase it or not. 
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Friday, September 21, 2012

Gradient Friday : Shades of Blue

Essie Lapis of Luxury / Essie Mesmerize / Gosh Attitude / Essence Edward
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Friday, September 14, 2012

Gradient Friday : Studded Purple

OPI Parlez-Vous OPI? / China Glaze Jungle Queen / China Glaze Purr-fect Plum / CND Raspberry Sparkle / Martha Stewart metallic glass microbeads
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Friday, September 7, 2012

Gradient Friday : Chrome

I am totally loving these chrome polishes. They are so pretty and not that streaky at all compared to past chrome polishes. I used 3 coats China Glaze No Plain Jane, a chrome deep purple, for my base coat. Next, I used China Glaze Want My Bawdy, a chrome royal blue, to sponge on my tips. I finished this manicure off with some white dots and a coat of Seche Vite.
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Thursday, August 30, 2012

Dodgy Barnett

I am finally back from vacation! Here is one of the new polishes I managed to pick up. Butter Dodgy Barnett is a gorgeous holographic silver that was opaque in 3 thin coats. 
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