Nautical Nina

This is a post dedicated to my friend Jenny (Nenny). Last week she asked me to do a kiwi inspired mani and (in my opinion) it failed miserably. I still wanted to do something reminiscent of her, so I decided to finally follow through with the nautical theme I'd been thinking of trying. Nautical fashion always makes me think of her, and she always calls me Nina so it made it easy to bring things full circle.

Anyway, here is my take on a nautical themed manicure, for Jenny.
 

I used Finger Paints Paper Mache  (thank you Nail Board for the rec), American Apparel Passport, China Glaze Hey Sailor and Orly Luxe.

Phone pic

This was supposed to last me until the end of the week, but one of my nails broke all the way down to the nail bed, so I cut them all down and repainted them. Oh well!

This is for you Nenny!

China Glaze Deviantly Daring

I bought this polish recently on a whim. I was at Sally's getting myself a new white and a nail buffer when I saw a promotion where I could receive a ridge filling base coat if I purchase two China Glaze polishes. I'm almost always lemming a handful of polishes that I don't NEED but have been eyeing, so I took this as an opportunity to grab a couple. I picked it up along with Swing Baby (my current pedi, ugh I'm in love) despite having plenty of variations of it, or ways of recreating it through layering.

Anyway, after that little ramble, I quite like it! It's a foily turquoise duochrome that lends greener in some light and bluer in others. I found that in natural light it seemed more blue, and in fluorescent lights at work you could see more of the green.

 The application was just lovely, the pictures below are two coats.

Fluorescent lighting

Natural light, indirect sunlight

Fluorescent lighting

Natural light, indirect sunlight

Natural light, indirect sunlight

It's quite lovely and I'm happy to have picked it up. Now the problem will be choosing which of my many shimmery blue/turquoise polishes to use.

Easter Nails - Pastel Stripes

Happy Easter! For today I did a fun pastel rainbow using some colours I rarely even look at any other time of the year. I didn't bother using tape to make these lines perfect, handmade Easter eggs rarely are! Well, mine aren't anyway.

Pink: Revlon Peach Petal
Yellow: China Glaze Lemon Fizz
Green: OPI Gargantuan Green Grape
Blue: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue-Away
Purple: OPI Planks A Lot

Because these shades are so light I needed three coats of each (except the Blue, but I did it anyway), which was simple enough but fairly time consuming. When looked at in the shade they really POP, it's fabulous! There's definitely a part of me that has a soft spot for rainbows. Don't tell anyone.

xox

Clover Fields: A St-Patrick's Day Manicure

'Ello 'ello folks! While I'm still waiting on the decision to be made on a new camera, I thought I'd bring you some phone pics of  my current polish. It's a fun little St-Patrick's day manicure inspired by fields of clovers. I wanted to have the textured look to give it a bit more depth instead of settling for a solid colour, since when you look out into a field you don't see a flat shade green.

This is after about four of days of growth and a bit of tip wear. I achieved this effect by dragging the colours through each other while they were still wet, similar to what I did here. I started with OPI Green-wich Village and blended in some Don't Mess With OPI.

Happy St-Patrick's Day everyone!

Christmas Holly

Although I haven't been posting this holiday season, I assure you my nails have been festive. I'm growing increasingly aggravated with my camera and I find photographing my manicures quite frustrating... so I haven't been wanting to attempt it. This one coming up is actually from my phone. Sorry for the negativity but I'm trying! :)

I used Orly Luxe, American Apparel and China Glaze With Love!

Merry Christmas!!!

Essie Penny Talk

Again with the soft tones, I seem to be really loving the more delicate side of nail polish these days.
This is the polish I went looking for when I picked up No Place Like Chrome from the Mirror Metallics collection, and I thought I'd missed it but the store had restocked when I passed by this weekend.

I must say though, I'm not liking it at much as it's silver counterpart. The formula is really difficult to work with. Every bump, quiver, and hesitation is noticed by this polish. I have small dents on my nails right now and this finish really accentuates them. Maybe next time I'll use a ridge filling base coat. The colour itself is beautiful though, I can't deny that... but a crummy formula can really make or break loving a lacquer.

To be fair, I was hungover while doing this manicure so maybe that has something to do with it.

This is in direct sunlight.

Here we are with other metallic looking things. See the dents? Going back over the same spot with this polish was next to impossible. It left streaky, uneven splotches all over the place! Rose gold is quite a trendy colour right now so if you must get this I totally understand, just be wary of the questionable formula.

American Apparel Mount Royal

I must admit this nail polish is one of my staples. It's the first AA polish I ever bought and the colour hasn't gotten old. It's essentially a one-coater, other than for some touch ups, and it dries incredibly fast. The richness and diversity of the shade makes it a must-have in my opinion. American Apparel is pretty good in terms of nail polish quality.

After this photo I'm 100% certain I need a new camera. I was taking this in direct natural light this morning, and even though the sun wasn't out it was still quite bright out. This is the least noisy of the batch and I still find it unbelievably grainy.

Anyway, AA Mount Royal gets two big thumbs up from me!

OPI Stranger Tides & China Glaze For Audrey

Here we have another phone camera shot. This was taken sometime early summer (maybe late spring) and was honestly one of my favourite manis of the summer. It was just so beachy, it reminded me of sand and the sky. I was really feeling softer colours and pastels for a few months there, which I normally find incredibly boring so I assume that's part of why I didn't bother blogging any of it.

I like that they're alternating but that the difference between the two colours isn't overly dramatic. Creme finishes are by far my favourite so overall this mani was a 100% clear winner in my books.

Essie Camera

Once again the busy-ness of life is starting to grab hold of me and I haven't had a chance to photograph my nails these days. However, I have something from the spring to share. Essie Camera is a really bright reddish pink that reminds me somewhat of China Glaze Rose Among Thorns. Except I like it more (shhh).

This photo came from my phone and the clarity is actually quite impressive! Could it be my phone cam is better than my standalone one? Gosh.

It was so bright and striking, though I must admit I picked it up anticipating it to lean more pink than red. This being said, I tend to buy pinks and then hate them, whereas I LOVED this one so maybe (probably) it was for the best.

Since the daylight these days is LIMITED at best, I'll be putting some more phone pics as I go along, how does that sound?

China Glaze Champagne Kisses over Orly Powder Puff

With all the Halloween excitement I really needed a soft, gentle, palate cleansing nail polish. It's almost like I needed a bit of a breather from all the  high-octane manicure I've been doing lately. I wanted something simple and unassuming, so I reached for Orly Powder Puff. Normally this isn't a colour I would wear, but this summer I was really enjoying soft, muted tones.

I stopped in at Sally Beauty and Trade Secrets and grabbed some holiday polish. The first on my list was from the China Glaze Holiday Joy collection: Champagne Kisses. It's a clear polish with mall rose-gold glitter. I figured even though it was sparkly it wasn't too flashy and would look pretty over Powder Puff!

In direct sunlight

This is three coats of Powder Puff and one coat of Champagne Kisses.

I love this one. The shimmer is so delicate.

In the shade

This is definitely a switch from what I'd been posting lately and I really needed it! Enjoy your Saturday everyone :)

Halloween Frankensteins

In case you weren't aware, I love the holidays - especially Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas. From the 1st of January I spend my time patiently waiting until September when I can start being excited about all the things I love about this time of year. Without fail, come mid-July I start dreaming of Fall and have to suppress it because eventually there will be snow on all the things and I will regret having spent my summer wishing it was Autumn.

That being said, I didn't really contribute much in terms of Halloween manicures to my blog last year so to make amends I am bringing you yet another set before the haunting season passes.

These are my Frankies. It was my first time trying them and I don't think they turned out too horribly. I was doing them at dear boyfriend's house and I don't exactly have the ideal set-up like I would at my house. The lighting is poor, I have to sit on his bed, the table is far away, etc. That being said, I'd much rather spend time with him than achieve the perfect manicure, so this is the result. 

I do wish I had been a little more patient before putting the top coat on, it dragged the eyes around a bit but the wind from hurricane Sandy was making me nervous and I wanted to get home before any rain started.

They're pretty cute though, I must admit. They're distracting while I'm at work, with their sneaky little faces bouncing off the keys as I type. It feels like I'm wearing 10 little fingers puppets (and yes, I did give it a shot on my right hand but they're looking especially ghoulish and not very presentable). 

I used OPI Greenwich Village as the base, So Easy Stripe Rite in black for the hair, stitches and mouth, Rimmel French Tip White for the eyes and Konad Black for the pupils.  

My pinky nail is definitely the favourite of the bunch, what do you think? I like his beady little eyes. 

Hocus Pocus Series Part 2: Sarah Sanderson

This is part 2 of my Hocus Pocus Halloween manicure series. Part 1 was based on Mary Sanderson, you can see it here.

Sarah is my favourite character from Hocus Pocus. Played by Sarah Jessica Parker, this sister is fun, a bit ditzy, boy crazy and wears the sexiest dress.

Once more I took the inspiration for the manicure from the outfit she wears.

To start off I layered China Glaze I Love Hue with China Glaze Below Deck (mauve and red, like her dress) and I noticed she seemed to have a shimmery overlay on the bust of the dress, so I threw on a coat of OPI It's My Year.

After that I used striping tape and made a lace-up/criss cross/ corset design, painted over it with a miscellaneous burgundy-red that I have in my stash and presto - Sarah Sanderson manicure.

I like this manicure because it can be very versatile, especially if you're being almost any sexy female version of something - witch, fairy, pirate, vampiress, etc. It was just a huge pain in the butt to cut all the little pieces of tape so I'm  glad I got this one done on a weekend, it took longer than my normal manis.

I borrowed my Mom's camera for these photos but I don't think I'm a fan, I'll try to get some different pictures with my own later on during the week when the sun comes back out.

Part 3 will obviously by Winifred Sanderson - but that won't be coming until Wednesday or Thursday. See you then!

Hocus Pocus Series Part 1: Mary Sanderson

Any child growing up in North America in the 90's knows that Hocus Pocus is the greatest Halloween movie ever made. Just in case you were living under a rock, it's about 3 witch sisters who attempt to live forever by sucking the souls out of children and can only do so once they're brought back to life on Halloween. The witches were played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy.

My darling friend Ali inspired me to to a 3-part series, one manicure based on each of the witches! I'm starting with my least favourite of the 3 and working my way up.

This one represents Mary Sanderson. Bumbling Mary always seemed to get the short end of the stick and that's not really going to change here.

Mary Sanderson, Winifred (Winnie) Sanderson, Sarah Sanderson

As you can see from the photo above Mary wears a red dress with various shades so I wanted to base my manicures on that.

I used 4 different reds here: OPI I'm Suzi & I'm A Chocoholic, Borghese Sonata Berry, OPI Double Decker Red, China Glaze Hey Sailor.

I wanted to create a fabric-y look with different shades of red, so while layering them I didn't wait until they were dry. I dragged the brushes of each colour through the wet polish to achieve this streaky look.

I wasn't too worried about the polish mixing, I definitely got some on the brush but since they're all similar shades I didn't mind that they would mix a little.

So what do you think? I wanted this to reflect how velvet looks depending on the angle you're looking.

I can't wait to do the other two!

Halloween Stripe Madness

I just got my order of striping tape in the mail today and luckily enough I was already wearing glitter polish. I wanted my first slim striped manicure to be a sparkly one so it was super easy to just throw some black on top of my current nails.

I didn't want to do anything symmetrical or the same pattern, I wanted to go wild with it.

Glitter: Sally Hansen Pumpkin Spice, Love & Beauty Rust.

Black is by Rimmel London, Black Satin.

Okay so there's a few things I didn't like about this. First of all, the striping tape is VERY thin and flimsy. That would be great if I was keeping it on the nail but it was difficult to work with. Secondly, the base of Pumpkin Spice  is a very dark brown so it makes the lines contrast less with the black coat on top. Thirdly, my black nail polish is not very opaque. I'm going to have to pick up a new bottle of WnW Black Creme, I need a one coater.

Oh, another thing, it was MESSY. I didn't cut the strips long enough so when I was removing them I got my fingers covered in polish -_-.

Sigh, what a mess.

Another thing I found tricky with this, it was super hard to photograph! I'm assuming it's because the lines weren't crisp because of the glittery base. Any feed back on that, photog people?

So all in all was the mess and effort worth it??

Wooo, striping tape! $6 for ten rolls on ebay.

Stay tuned over the next 2 weeks for a 3-part Halloween series I'm working on!

Autumn Acid Wash

Hello ladies (and the occasional gent), I'm bringing you another fall/autumn manicure inspired by (obviously) the changing leaves at this glorious time of year. I used a technique that I saw on Pinterest that was called "acid washing." It's a very fun, grungy approach to fall manicures.

Basically you layer multiple colours, using whatever your heart desires - but the more contrast the better, and it's recommended to use a dark colour either on the bottom, on the top or both. You then dip a paint brush in acetone and drag it down your nail, exposing some of the colours beneath the surface. 

This is the tutorial I used. I had a hard time the first few attempts, I ended up taking off way too much polish and exposing the bare nail underneath. It definitely took some time to get a handle on this one.

Polish used: Joe Fresh Pumpkin, China Glaze Hey Sailor, Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, American Apparel MacArthur Park  and American Apparel Raccoon.

Hm! Almost the same colours as my Autumn Water Marble!

I'm kind of on a posting roll here, excellent! A shout out to Dominique, my co-worker's sister - thanks for sharing my blog on your facebook page. She's an excellent photographer, you should check out her website - www.3stems.com.

China Glaze Below Deck Gradient Tutorial

Hello again my fine feathered friends! This week I've had a string of job interviews and I happen to have an "interview polish" that brings me luck, class and an air of professionalism whenever I wear it. No joke. I had mentioned in my first interview on Monday that I occasionally blog about my nails, so for the second interview (which I had this afternoon) I wanted to spice things up a little bit.

Initially I was wearing China Glaze Below Deck, a muted sort of brownish greyish purple, and I wanted to turn it into a gradient mani. This is sometimes also called fading.

To achieve this look you need:

• Any colour of your choice for the base, obviously in my case it was Below Deck
• White polish
• A shallow dish of some sort
• A toothpick/bobby pin
• A make up sponge
• Top coat
• A brush and acetone for clean up

Step 1.
Paint your nails with the base colour and allow to dry completely. I like doing this on a mani that's already a couple of days old.

Step 2.
Drop some of the coloured polish into the dish along with about 2-3 drops of white. You don't want the shade to be too far off just yet. Mix it up thoroughly. 

Step 3.
Use your make up sponge to dab some of the mixture onto your nail, starting at the tip (just in case the sponge is too saturated) and work your way to about 3/4 down. Do this to the nails on both hands so you don't have to re-mix your polish and risk not getting the same colour results.

Step 4.
Add 2-3 more drops of white to your dish and stir it up until it's well blended. Once again you're going to use your sponge  to go over every nail but you'll only be going 2/3 of the way down your nail this time around since you want to leave some of the new layer exposed.
Repeat this step two or three more times, adding more white to the mixture at the end of each round and covering less of your nail as you go along.

Step 5:
Apply your clear top coat. This is important because this sponge makes the polish look rough and bumpy, not a good look! 

Step 6:
Use your brush and acetone to clean up the edges and voila! Beautiful gradient mani.

If these instructions are in any way unclear or if you want photos of the step-by-step (or even want to see it in a different colour) please let me know. 

Later in the week I'll be trying a new formula to achieve the gradient look, I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

American Apparel Sunset Blvd

You know when you're listening to music, but the genre is just all wrong for how you're feeling at that moment? It's awkward, uncomfortable and downright dissatisfying. That's how I've been feeling about most of the polish I've been wearing lately... Until now.

I picked it up along with the Mac Arthur Park from the previous post and *sigh* is it ever perfect. Before this one, since about Christmas, the polish I've been wearing has been nice but not suitable for my mood. I've been hankering for Spring (since the temperature has been abnormally warm for this time of year) so this beautiful bright coral is giving me a bit of a leg up.

In the shade to show the brightness compared to my skintone

I know it might sound crazy but this colour was like a breath of fresh air to me! I'm sure Ali knows what I'm talking about when I say it just feels good to have found the right colour.

Application was three coats, dried quite quickly. Still love American Apparel polish!

American Apparel Mac Arthur Park

It had been a while since I'd purchased an AA polish (or even bothered looking, really) so I peeked into the shop while walking through the Rideau Centre the other day and couldn't help but pick up a few. I've always had my eye on this one so I finally bit the bullet.

I'm of the opinion that everyone needs a classic "ugly" colour, in this case - Olive green. I'm not talking Olive like a nice dusty medium green, I'm talking that "grandma's couch" kind of yellowy green. Like pea soup. And olives :P

Sounds flattering, right?

Well it IS. I loved this colour on me.

Fluorescent lighting, colour appears slightly lighter here. 

Something about it just worked, despite the fact that I've really been craving brights lately. The application was a little complicated though. It was really opaque, I could have gotten away with one coat had there not been a couple of patches here and there, yet at the same time I found it runny and hard to control. It made clean up a nightmare; really pigmented + really floody = frustrated Lisa.

After hearing time and again about the wonders of using an angled brush (specifically MAC's) for clean up I threw in the towel and decided it was time to give it a shot. Since I already owned one that I barely ever used it wasn't worth much thought. I was previously using a square-tipped brush, fairly thin, and thought it was doing a good enough job but - move over square tip, there's a new sheriff in town. I'm never, ever going back. It was precise, effective, easy to use... <3 angled brush!

I guess next time I won't be so stubborn and trust the popular opinion.

As luck would have it, olives were part of the dinner menu tonight and I was able to snap this with my phone:

BAM. Dead match.

Valentine's Day Water Marble

The original intention was to take better photos of this mani before posting it, I don't like the fact that I'm just holding my phone, but it ended up getting pretty chipped with all the baking and crafting I've been doing for Valentine's Day so alas, if you want to see the mani this will have to do. I took these photos while waiting for the cupcakes to cool and haven't had a moment since to do anything a little more suitable.

Ultimately, I'm not normally a fan of Valentine's Day but I can't help but get into the excitement over just about any holiday. For this water marble I used Sally Hansen White On as the base and marbled with the same, along with OPI Charged Up Cherry and OPI Flower-to-Flower.

Oooh look, a little while later with the cupcake!

*gobbles*

Happy Valentine's Day to all you lovers out there! ^-^