Born Pretty Store Review | Sparkling Flower Gems

Hello my dears! I haven't posted in nearly two weeks! I am so sorry... I have been working a lot lately, and I broke one of my nails D: it's all patched up and I have some pretty, sunny-looking nails for you today featuring these beautiful flower gemstones from Born Pretty Store!

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Click the jump to see more!

Zoya Mae with Gold Stripes

Hi hi :)

Today's mani is another simple yet beautiful look!

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Sparkly Neon Zebra Leopard Gradient Awesomeness

Hiya!

I love these nails SO MUCH. The title of this post comes from the ridiculously long file name I gave these when saving to my computer :D

I did a variation of this on a nail wheel a long time ago, but wanted to stick with a more similar colour scheme. I am sorry to report that these photos don't do this justice at all--the neon is so bright in real life. But click the jump to see more!

Ingress Skittle Mani | Enlightened Nails

Hey hey hey! Any of you out there play Ingress? If so, you'll get today's nails... and either love or hate them ;)

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Christmas Day 2015 | Born Pretty Store Decals :)

Merry Christmas, everyone :)

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I've had this idea all month! The tips are done with a white base (OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls), red acrylic paint for the stripes, and a gold glitter striper for the frame around it. This part took ages, and the stripes aren't perfect, but considering how curved my nails are I think it came out pretty nicely. They look much better at a real-life size and normal distance :)

The stickers are from--you guessed it--Born Pretty Store! They aren't actually made of metal, as the description on the site suggests. They are, however, nice-quality stickers with pretty metallic gold accents and details. And they're the perfect size for this, even on my tiny nails! Someone with normal sized hands would have some breathing room around the cuticle ;)

This is all sealed in with Seche Vite for shine and protection.

I hope you have/had a lovely Christmas day if you celebrate it, and if not, that you've enjoyed some time off work and a lovely holiday season with family and friends.
(And of course, if you want to pick up these or any other great nail or beauty supplies at Born Pretty Store, don't forget to use my discount code CITYG10 to get 10% off your order, which ships free anywhere in the world!)

See you next time for some pretty New Years nails! :D xoxo

Born Pretty Store Review | Shell Sheet Sticker

Hiya! I have another Christmas manicure for you today :D This one features a previously-untried polish from Picture Polish, as well as some pretty holographic "shell paper" from Born Pretty Store!

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Happy Easter! Eggs in the Grass

Hi everyone! Happy Easter to all. Even if you don't celebrate this one, you can't really go wrong with a day of pretty pastel colours, sweets, and cute spring animals :)

I've done some egg-themed nails for the occasion, using several nail polishes and some green acrylic paint.

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The background is three coats of Essie Bikini So Teeny, the grass is green acrylic paint, and the rest is done with lots of assorted polishes. If anyone is interested I can give more details in the comments--just ask :) I painted the eggs onto a plastic bag to make decals, and then applied them to my grassy background with topcoat.

I had originally intended to put some grass over the eggs as well, to make them look hidden and more realistic, but I liked the way this looks and decided to leave them unobscured. So I topped it with Seche Vite and called it a day!

Time to go eat that chocolate bunny I was posing with ;) have a lovely day and I'll see you next time! xoxo

MUD Swatch & Review, Part 2

Good day! Today is the day of the wedding! By the time you read this, I'll have had: a very busy day of doing nails and getting ready, the privilege of attending my friend's ceremony, and several offerings from the open bar at the reception ;)

I have three more MUD polishes to show you today. Let's get to it!

MUD Swatch & Review, Part 1

Hiya! If you're seeing this, it means I am in sunny, hot Perth and Blogger's post scheduler is working properly ;)

I was at Coles (a local grocery store) recently, and saw a brand in the cosmetics section I haven't seen before. It's probably common here--I just have avoided buying much makeup because it's so much more expensive here than I'm used to! But this was reasonably priced, so I grabbed some eyeshadows and then all six nail polish colours I could find. The brand is called MUD (Make Up Daily), and it's all surprisingly good quality! I will show you three shades today and three next time :) So click the jump below to check 'em out!

Chinese New Year 2015 - The Year of the Goat

Hullo :) I hope you've had a nice weekend! I am thankful to say that although Cyclone Marcia caused some problems farther north, my area escaped with naught but some localised flooding. Everything I've read seems to indicate that no serious injuries or deaths were reported, so that's awesome!

I know it's a few days after the official start of the Chinese/Lunar New Year, but I did these cute nails for the occasion and decided I had to show you. Besides, I promised Allison (my super-sweet contact at Born Pretty Store) that I would, so... this one is for you! I know it isn't a sheep, but I just started painting and this cute little guy came out :)

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Valentine's Day 2015 - Gradient Glittery Tips & Bows

Hello! Today, of course, I have my Valentine nails :)

This design is heavily inspired by one of my favourite YouTube artists--her channel is now called ArcadiaNailArt, but her old channel is IndigoNova1, and this video is beautiful. I used the same idea, but in seasonal colours, plus some handpainted bows!

Love Roses | Valentine Nails

Hello darlings!

Yesterday's Valentine design was all sweet and cute, so I wanted something more classic and romantic today. What's better than deep red with roses?

I started with one coat--yes, one!--of the polish you see in the above photo. It's China Glaze Adventure Red-y, and it's fantastic. Buttery and creamy and a nice shade of deep red. I added a coat of topcoat and let that sit for an hour or so before carrying on.

The roses and the word "love" on the thumb are all done with acrylic paint and a tiny brush. I used black, white, and red to create a few shades of red with which to paint the roses. It's hard to explain the method--I jused used the dark shade first to create some petal shapes spiralling outwards, and then went lighter and lighter to create more definition, shadows and highlights, using the base colour as one of the shades in the rose. It's not the best nail photo, but here's a pic of what kind of inspired this--a Cadbury Roses box:

Anyway, after the roses, I used pure black to create some small leaves, and white to paint the word on the thumbnail. One more coat of Seche Vite, et voilà!

They're definitely more abstract roses. The "idea of" roses, as I think Robin Moses would say :) What do you think?

I'll have one more Valentine look up before Saturday--come back soon to see it, and have a great rest of your week! xoxo

Valentine Cupcake Nails

Hiya!

Let the Valentine manis commence! Today I have some girly, sweet nails for you. That last bit being on the literal side :D

Super Stylish Icicles

Hello there! Welcome to all my new readers--I see I have lots of new followers this week, yay! :)

The heat is approaching brutal levels here in Queensland! I'm sitting directly in front of the air-conditioning vent as I type this. But I know it's winter for a lot of you, and I wanted to think cool thoughts myself. Plus, it's been too long since I did a holo-polish mani! So I've created a kind of icicle-half-moon look for you today.

New Year's Eve Nails - 2014

Happy New Year everyone! It's been 2015 here for a while now, but I know some of you are still waiting for the calendar to flip :) I hope 2014 was a good year for you, and that 2015 will be even better! :D

Here are the nails I wore last night! (And my super-fierce Black Milk tiger leggings!)

My 2014 Christmas Day Nails -- Sprigs of Holly

Hello everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas (or a terrific Thursday, if you don't celebrate it). I experienced my first Aussie Christmas, got some awesome Black Milk leggings, and discovered the magic that is Cadbury Roses. On a related note, I will need to spend some extra time in the gym soon...

I meant to get these posted before, but between Blogger having some issues and me being a bit ill (I know, great timing) I'm only just now getting them up!

Freya's Cats' (Toys)

Good day, lovely! Let the Christmas manis continue :D

I've done some baubles/garland over another one of my newest piCture pOlishes--Freya's Cats!

(And, if you've ever had cats, you know that pretty hanging Christmas decorations are there to be played with and destroyed, hence the title of this post!)

Onwards!

The Classic Christmas Lights Mani

Happy weekend, everyone! I hope yours is going wonderfully so far :D It's been rainy here the past couple of days, but I don't mind--I rather like the rain, plus it's a welcome reprieve from the hot summer weather.

For today's nails, the title says it all. Painting Christmas lights on your nails is not a unique idea, but it's one I really wanted to do. I did add my own unique touch, though--I used a matte base and lots of clear coat to make the bulbs really stand out and look like glass! Check it out:

Peacock Tail Feather Nails

Hullo! It's December! And for the first time in my life, I'm experiencing a hot holiday season. It feels so weird to me! But December means I start doing Christmas manis, and if you think I'm going to let some 40C weather stop me from painting snowflakes all over my nails, you should think again! ;)

I'm working on my first Christmas mani as we speak, but first I have to show you one I wore last week using another of my new piCture pOlish shades: Tail Feather!

The Lacquer Legion: #LLAfterDark

Hello, boys and ghouls (oh, that never gets old)! Time for a spooky Halloween-themed mani! The Lacquer Legion prompt this month was "after dark"... and I don't know about where you live, but after dark here is when the bats come around to nom all the mosquitos. I love bats! Some people are afraid of them, but I think they're cute--and I appreciate anything that eats up all the bugs :) So I decided to do a mani representing that brief moment at night when the moon is out, the last bit of sun is disappearing, and the bats start emerging :D

Click the jump to see more!