Monday, April 22, 2013

Earth Day Flower Manicure

Hi everyone! Happy Earth Day!

Today I have some flowery nail art to show you in honor of Earth Day!


I began with a base of Finger Paints Tiffany Imposter and used Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear Emerald City for the grass at the tips. The purple flowers were painted with Sally Hansen Hard as Nails No Hard Feelings, the pink flowers with CQ Pink Lady, and the peach flowers with JulieG Sushi for Two. All white was painted using Wet 'N' Wild French White Creme, and all yellow centers of the flowers is Rimmel 60 Seconds Sunny Days.


I'm pretty pleased with how this came out, and I hadn't planned it specifically for Earth Day. It just turned out that way!


You can probably tell I've been neglecting my nail and cuticle health lately. Shame, shame, I know. But I've been busy starting a new job and the weather's finally nice enough to ride my horse more. My hands and nails have been excessively dry and peely so I had to cut them down even father than they are in these photos. So that explains my upcoming absence. Hang in there with me though!

Thanks for looking! See you soon! :)

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Cow Nail Art!

Hi everyone!

I bring to you some cow spot nail art this morning! :)

I'm participating in a western team cattle sorting event later on in the afternoon, so I wanted to have something "cowy" on my nails for the occasion!


I began with three coats of Del Sol Candy Cane, a yellow-y tinted off-white creme that transforms into a pastel pink in the sun. I thought this would be appropriate because cows are white (only indoors in this case!), and the event will be outdoors, so I'll get to show off my color-changing nail polish! You can see swatches of this polish, as well as my three other Del Sol shades here.


The spots, as you can see, were dotted using Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Black Heart. I used large, medium, and small dotting tools to create the spots.


Also, if you notice that sparkle over Candy Cane, it's a pretty, pink, fine glitter by Sally Hansen called Misty Rose, which was also seen here.


In the sunshiny pink version of this mani, the glitter is more noticeable. I like the effect it has on this design. Cute girly pink cows!


The gradient of color seen in the photographs is due to my use of a UV lamp to change the color. I didn't leave my fingers under the light for very long, so they changed quickly while I was photographing!

That's all for now! Thanks for looking! Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Spring Polka Dots!

Hello!

Here's a little bit of nail art... and I use the term "nail art" very loosely here. Polka dots are always cute to wear and very easy and quick to do, so I have a little of that to show you today. :)


My base color is Finger Paints Tiffany Imposter and for the dots I used JulieG Sushi for Two.


I chose these colors because they're both bright and springy, and they're also contrasting colors, which tend to be more appealing when paired. (A little bit of my graphic design knowledge coming back to me haha)


I also have a shirt with these two colors on it, which of course, I'm wearing with this mani! :)

That's all for now! Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, April 19, 2013

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Black and Blue

Hiiiii!

Whoop! It's Friday! I hope to bring you all some nail art over the weekend! :)

Today I have another simple swatch of a color I love love love! This is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Black and Blue.


It's really easy to see the blue-green to purple fade of this metallic-looking color in the photo above. In different lights, the color changes more drastically. I really like this color because of it's constantly changing colors!


The formula of this was great. The color reached full opacity in just two coats, and it's completely streak-free! Streaks are something I've come across with other metallicy shades.


And here's the polish photographed with flash. You can see all the pretty sparkle this polish contains, as well as the pretty mermaid green it can become.

I love this color, although it's not exactly what I'd call a "spring" shade, it's still very pretty! What do you think?

That's all for now. Thanks for looking! :)

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Sally Hansen Insta-Gels Gel Strips Review

Hello there!

Today I have Sally Hansen Insta-Gels gel strips to show you. The particular strips I'm wearing are Take the Stage.


Basically, the Insta-Gel strips are the original salon strips with a gel topcoat. There's a little more prep to these,they take a little longer, they're more expensive, and they require a LED UV lamp.


I've done this before with the regular strips, and had basically the same outcome. I'm not really a fan of strips to begin with because I can't always get them smooth on the nail edge, and they tend to lift easily, but these were 70% off, so I went for it!


Although these strips have some flaws, this is the easiest way to wear glitter, in my opinion. They won't be sticking to your nails and will most likely come off in one strip.

I like these mainly because of the color, and because I wanted to try them! :)

Thanks for looking!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Another Giveaway! From Nailed It NZ!

Hi again!

There's another giveaway goin' on! Nailed It NZ is giving away a $20 voucher to Born Pretty Store! Be sure to head on over there to enter!

Good luck! :)

Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Squiggly Nail Art!

Hello again!

Today I have a little bit of squiggle nail art to show you! I'm not too impressed with myself on this one, but I thought it was cute!


The burnt red color is Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Radiant Rose, and the grey color is Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Fearless Fog.


The first two pictures above we taken before topcoat, and the next two were taken with topcoat.


Radiant Rose is worn as two coats. The formula is really great and easy to work with. This was almost a one-coater.


I haven't swatched Fearless Fog yet, but I think it'll be as wonderful as Radiant Red is. To create the squiggles, I used a short length striper brush. For the dots, I used the very small-tipped dotting tool that came with my 15pc MASH brush set.

There's my little nail art for the day! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Globe & Nail 1-Year Blogiversary Giveaway

Hi again!

Just wanted to mention the giveaway Globe & Nail is having! Be sure to head over to globeandnail.blogspot.ca and enter!

Click the button below to be taken right to the giveaway page!


Good luck!

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure I Lilac You

Heeeey!

Just another little swatch today! I've got Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure I Lilac You! I think it's the perfect spring time purple! :)


The above photo was taken in the shade.
I really like this purple! The brush was a little more difficult to paint with, while usually the brushes in SH Complete Salon Manicure bottles are nicely rounded.


This photo shown above was taken in indirect sunlight.
The formula of this polish is really good, despite it feeling a tad thin. My swatch is two thick coats with absolutely no streaks! Perfection!


The above photograph was taken in direct sunlight. And the picture below was taken using flash. Please excuse the disgusting color of my skin... the color of the polish is accurate.


That's all for now! I hope you've enjoyed! What's your perfect spring time purple?

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, April 15, 2013

OPI Liquid Sand Can't Let Go

Hi everyone!

I'm back today with the last OPI Liquid Sand from the Mariah Carey collection! This is OPI Liquid Sand Can't Let Go!

These photos were taken outside with overcast skies.


Can't Let Go is a really pretty purple with larger light purple glitters that dry to a textured perfection.


The formula was pretty fair on this one, and my swatch shows two coats on the thicker side.


This is my second favorite polish in the Liquid Sand Mariah Carey collection, and of course, The Impossible is my absolute favorite! What's yours? :)

That's all for now! Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

OPI Liquid Sand Get Your Number

Hi again!

Another liquid sand today! I'm wearing OPI Liquid Sand Get Your Number from the Mariah Carey collection!


I actually like this polish a lot more in the photographs than I do in person. I'm not a huge blue fan. I usually lean toward bright, fun colors, or turquoise shades. But what I do love about this polish is the abundance of mutil-colored glitters. Although it'll probably be a pain to remove later, it's pretty sparkle is worth it now.


The formula was a little weird for me with this liquid sand. It was thinner than What Wizardry is This? but thicker than The Impossible, yet it's slightly on the goopy side. It wasn't totally unmanageable, but the fact that I had a tiny mini brush to use made it a little harder to apply.


Because of it's thinner nature, my swatch is three coats.

That's all for now! I'll be back with the last OPI Liquid Sand shade from the Mariah Carey collection in the near future!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Saturday, April 13, 2013

OPI Liquid Sand The Impossible

Hello!

I'm back with another OPI Liquid Sand today-- OPI Liquid Sand The Impossible from the Mariah Carey collection!


I love love love this color! The coral is so bright and happy and perfect for spring and summer!


The formula on this, like with Stay the Night, was a little thin, so this is three thin coats. As far as texture goes, I feel like this is a bit more textured than the other liquid sand polishes I've tried so far. But, it's not overly coarse, so it's not snagging and catching on things.


There are supposed to be star glitters in addition to the larger glitters, but my brush didn't come up with any stars, painting regularly. Next time I use this, I'll have to dig a little bit and try to find those stars!

Even though I didn't end up with any star glitters on my nails, I still love this liquid sand shade. It may be too soon to tell, but I think it may be my favorite!

Thanks for stopping by! Stick around for more liquid sand in the near future! :)

Friday, April 12, 2013

Rimmel 60 Seconds Precious Metal

Hi!

Today I'm taking a break from the liquid sand polishes and showing you a pretty silver metallic shade from Rimmel!

This is Rimmel 60 Seconds Precious Metal.


I'm always excited about a nice, glittery, metallic shade like this. You can see the little bits of glitter in there mixed in with the metallic pigments. I've been searching for a polish like this for a while! A dense silver polish can always spice up any manicure.


The formula of this polish was thick, but not hard to work with. In fact, my cuticles required very little clean-up after painting my nails with this polish. The brush is really easy to work with, as it is with the other shades made by Rimmel. This beauty is shown at two coats.


I actually kind of see myself using this as a nail art color, rather than wearing it as a full mani like this. Sometimes I feel too gaudy sporting a fully metallic manicure, but that's just me! Regardless, I really enjoy this polish!

That's all for now! Hopefully I'll have some actual nail art for you soon, in addition to the three other OPI Liquid Sand shades from the Mariah Carey collection!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

OPI Liquid Sand Stay the Night

Hi again!

As promised, today I've got another OPI Liquid Sand! This is OPI Liquid Sand Stay the Night from the Mariah Carey collection!


This polish was a little thinner, so my swatch is two thicker coats.


I'm not usually a fan of black or extremely dark polishes, but I love the maroon colored glitters scattered throughout.


As with What Wizardry is This?, the texture isn't overdone. Although I don't see myself wearing this shade as often as the others in the Mariah Carey collection, it's still a gorgeous polish!

I'm loving the liquid sands so far, and I hope to bring you a few more from the Mariah Carey collection soon!

Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

OPI Liquid Sand What Wizardry is This?

Hi! I'm still here!

I was away over this past weekend, and I haven't had much time to blog. Today I have a liquid sand polish from OPI to show you. I ordered the first polish I'm going to show you, What Wizardry is This? and the minis from the Mariah Carey collection, and just recently got them in the mail! Yay! I've been dying to try these... although I'm sure you're sick of swatches like these now! :P



First up today is OPI What Wizardry is This?


I really like this polish! It's sparkly, yet matte, and the texture isn't overly coarse. It's not too rough to the point where it's annoying. It's just the right amount of texture. I couldn't stop feeling my nails when wearing these!


The Liquid Sand polishes are also longer lasting. They didn't chip on me as quickly as regular nail polish does. My swatch is two coats, and of course, no top coat.


I'm a really big fan of textured nail polish, and I can't wait to try out the others!

Stop back tomorrow for OPI Stay the Night! :)

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Sally Hansen Misty Rose Swatch & Born Pretty Store Giveaway!

Hey everyone!

I have a little swatch for you today, but I also want to mention the giveaway Born Pretty Store is having. Today, April 3rd, is the first day to enter and you'll have until April 7th. So head on over to their blog and follow the directions to enter!

Now, for my swatch. I have Sally Hansen Misty Rose on this morning.


Misty Rose consists of many fine, sparkly glitters in a pale milky pink base. I'm not sure if this would be classified as a jelly or not, because it didn't feel like a creme, and it was really shiny without a topcoat.


As you can see, this is extremely sheer, but the glitters are really abundant. This shade would look good over any other pink polish, in my opinion. My swatch is only two thin coats.


I love this because sometimes, I just want to wear a thin covering of nail polish and still have my nails look natural. This adds a nice shine and sparkle to naked nails!

That's my contribution to the blog world today! Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to stop by the Born Pretty Store blog for your chance to win one of three awesome prizes!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Studded Glitter and Stripe Nails

Hi everyone!

My nails have grown a little bit, so I've got a stripe mani based off a manicure I saw on Nails by Kayla Shevonne a while back. Although my nails are not as beautifully long as Kayla's, I hope you like them!


These are my nails before I added the studs. I began with three coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Golden Rule. I then painted one single stripe down the middle of my nail using Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Red My Lips. I like how you can still see a hint of the gold glitter under the red stripe.


Then I applied one coat of Out the Door to each nail one at a time and stuck the gold stud on. I got these studs at bornprettystore.com. They were pretty inexpensive and came in a wheel with a bunch of other shapes and sizes of studs.


These are really cute and easy to do, and they don't look too bad without the studs, if you don't have any.


That's all for now! Thanks for stopping by! :)