Gradient Friday : All wrapped up

Using saran wrap to make this gradient was a lot of fun. I read about this on pinterest and could not wait to try it myself. I used Layla CE 84 as my basecoat. It is a creamy bright yellow that was opaque in 2 but slightly streaky if you do not use enough polish on your brush. It applied pretty smoothly and the color stays on well. Next I used a ball of saran wrap and dapped on Joe Watermelon. I sealed this fun summery gradient nail look off with my favorite top coat and voila!

 Layla CE 84 was given to me for review. All opinions are my own.

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Gradient Friday : Happy Easter

Good Friday is a day to remember the sacrifice Jesus made for all of us on the cross...a time of reflection and thanks.

For this Easter-y gradient, I painted my nails with a coat of Sally Hansen White On. Next, I painted 3 lines using the three polishes I chose on a sponge and sponged only 1 layer on because I wanted a lighter whimsical effect. I used Joe Blueberry, Joe Lavender, and Joe Buttercup.

Wishing you a wonderful Easter weekend.

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Gradient Friday : Irish Luck

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day here in Canada, I did a green gradient in commemoration. I used 3 coats of NCLA AM:Beauty Sleep PM: Shopping Spree as my base coat. This is my first time using this 5 free brand (Formaldehyde, DBP, Toulene, Camphor and Animal Testing) and I found this polish to be quite hard to work with and needed a thick coat in order for it to be smooth. I sponged on Joe Mojito Mix, a deeper minty green, near the tips. I blended the gradient using nails inc The Wyndham, a flaky green special top coat effect. Finally, I used Milani Gold as my accent nail and drew a shamrock using Milani nail art in green. 

I am going on a short vacation, so I will blog when I am back!

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Gradient Friday : Jammed Packed

It has been crazy hectic with trying to juggle everything in my life right now, so I thought it would be fitting to do a gradient that kind of reflects all the different parts of my life coming together. I started out with 2 coats of Essence nude glam café olé, a light beige cream, as my base. Next, I sponged on joe Periwinkle, a cream blue, on the top half of my nails. Following that, I stamped on the cracked lines from a BM plate using purple Konad polish. I finished this mani off with a coat of Seche Vite.  

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Gradient Friday : Anti-Bullying Edition

Anti-bullying day is coming up this week so I decided to do a pink gradient in honor of it. I used Joe Cherry Blossom, a pale creamy pink, as my base color. Next, I used a sponge and painted two stripes of color to create my sponge gradient. I used Joe Watermelon, a bright fuchsia pink, and Lacoste Hermine Pink Lemonade, a bright lemonade pink, for this mani. Spread the message that bullying in all forms is unacceptable and stand up against it. Have a nice weekend. 

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Gradient Friday - A hint of Green

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Spring Gradient

Today the sun is peeking out from the clouds and it makes me feel like warm weather is here to stay soon. Here is my spring gradient for this Friday! I used 2 coats of JOE Dupioni as my base coat, a shimmery white color. Next I sponged on OPI Banana Bandanna, a creamy yellow, on 2/3 up my nails. Finally, I sponged on Goldie 13, a bright shimmer pink, on my tips. I used a coat of nubar Pixie Dust to give it a little more sparkle. First two pics are taken in light box, last pic is taken with light streaming in from the windows.

For my floral designs, I put on gold and pink hexagonal sequin on to form flowers on the rights side of each nail. Lastly, I topped it all off with Seche Vite. That is all for today! Is spring in the air for you Polish Addicts?

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Duo Color Gradient Friday

Polish Addicts, it is another gradient Friday! By request, today's gradient colors are red and grey. Those are not usually colors I pair together, but I am glad someone requested it. I like the finished result. I used a additional sparkly red coat on top of my fourth and fifth finger just so you could see how it looks with sparkles.

I used JOE Wine as my base color. It is a really nice brighter wine color red and applied quite smoothly. Their brushes still take some time getting used to but it is not that bad. Drying time on this polish was good. I am wearing one coat and it gives pretty good coverage. However, if I were to wear this color alone, I would definitely use 2 coats.

I used OPI Lucerne-tainly look Marvellous for the gradient. I guess I would categorize this more of a dark silver rather than a dark grey, but I liked the color combination.

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Snowflake Water Marbling

It is snowing here again! This is one of the reasons I love winter. Snow is so gorgeous. Light, fine, fluffy, untouched snow is the best kind of snow there is. In celebration of snow day, I wanted to water marble some snowflake designs on my nails. However, to my disappointment, my nails are still too stubby at the moment, so the design did not actually show on my nail. I still liked how it turned out though, and the color scheme and sparkles still remind me of snowflakes. Maybe next time I will make a smaller snowflake in my water and attempt it again.

I used JOE Dupioni, a shimmery white, as my base coat. For my water marble design, I used Sally Hansen Xtreme in White On and Blue me Away!. Afterwards, I used Nubar Pixie Dust as a top coat to add a shimmery winter look to my snowflakes. I debated using jewels for the intersections, but decided against it. Instead I took silver circular flakes and added one onto each finger.

Which season/holiday is your favourite dear readers?

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Imperial

Hi all – I am back from my vacation and it is great to be home. I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas holiday and have spent some quality time with your loved ones. Here is a swatch and design I did once I got back because I was so eager to try out the new Konad plate I bought!
Joe Imperial is a gorgeous deep purple shimmer that comes from their Christmas trio set. It takes 2 coats to be opaque but I put on three because I saw some streaks. The brush still takes some time getting used to as it is a bit stubby but the color is undeniably gorgeous. I used Konad Special Nail Polish in white to stamp a design on after from plate m64. I really like this pattern and it is one of the main reasons I chose this plate.
Happy New Year’s everyone! What nail colour will you be wearing to ring in the New Year?

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Marbling Tutorial

Here is my first tutorial on how to do water marbling on your nails, enjoy!

Prep: a cup or container filled with warm distilled water

Before you start, paint your fingers with a base color of your choice. Next, choose 2 (or more if you want) other nail colors that compliment your base color and each other. Lastly, have a bunch of toothpicks/orange sticks on hand and also cuticle oil/scotch tape. Finally, you are ready to start!

1) Test out if the nail colors you have chosen “float” on top of the water, it should spread out like the picture (most OPI nail polishes do). Then paint around the nail you are going to dip with cuticle oil or cover it with scotch tape for easy clean up.

2) Now you are ready to form your rings- make sure the caps on your polishes are loose as you have to do the following steps quickly. Start with one color and let a droplet fall close to the top of the water

3) Next, using you other color, let the droplet fall in the centre of the first circle (the bullseye of the circle)

4) Continue building your rings until you have at least 8, alternating colors every time

5) Using your orange stick/toothpick, follow the numbered lines and drag the polish from top to bottom or left to right

6) Find a design that you want on your nail, and gently, with the nail facing downwards, dip your nail in at a slight angle, pull it out and now the design is on your nail! Congratulations, now you are done 1 nail. Repeat steps 1-6 for the rest of your nails.

Tips:

After each nail, twirl your toothpick/orange stick around the edge of your cup to pick up the rest of the nail polish and wipe it off on a paper towel.

If floaty-bits are beginning to surface, let a droplet of nail polish fall, pull it out to the sides of the cup with your toothpick, and wait for a minute. Then twirl your toothpick to pick up the layer of nail polish, and voilà, your surface is clean again.

For my manicure, I used Essie mini how high as my base, and OPI She's Golden and JOE Fresh Berry for my marbling.

You can see the finish manicure here. Hope this helps, feel free to ask me any questions! Thanks for reading :)

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Water Marbling

From left to right: Sephora by OPI Leaf Him at the Altar, OPI Russian Navy

Lots of school stuff going on right now, so I'm going to post a nail design I attempted some time ago. I had watched a youtube clip on water marbling, and I was intrigued to try, so I decided to go for it. I used JOE Fresh Mint as my base coat. The nail polish line from Joe Fresh is relatively new and I am pleased with the range of color they have. Aside from this color, I picked up 2 other ones as well. These are formulated without the use of formaldehyde, toluene, DBP or camphor. The application of the polish was quite smooth and it is well pigmented. However, the brushes are short and stubby making application a little more difficult, but at $4 a bottle, you really can't go wrong.

Water marbling my nails was quite the experiment. It takes a few tries to get the hang of it, but after you do, it is relatively simple. However, be warned: it's time consuming. I'll post a tutorial soon on how to water marble, but for now I will give you a few tips to make your life easier:

1)Test which nail polishes will work (float and disperse) - most OPIs do

2) Use warm distilled water

3) "Cleanse" your water if you see floating pieces of nail polish after a while (To cleanse: Drop a drop of nail polish and drag it to the sides of the cup, after a few seconds, it should harden and you can use a toothpick and take the whole piece of nail polish out. Voila! Your water is clean again.)

4) Alternate the colors you want until you have around 8-10 rings for best results

5) ) For easy cleanup: tape around your cuticles with scotch tape before you dip your finger in OR cover it with cuticle oil and then wipe off after

*for this mani I taped my around my cuticles, will try with cuticle oil next time*

Water marbling is so unique as you can make each nail look different (or the same if you're really skilled!) while keeping with the same color scheme. I will definitely try this again for a more refined look next time. Until then, thanks for reading!

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