BPS Review | Colourful Feather Water Decals (plus, dry marble!)

Hello, my beautiful readers! Today I have a pretty design featuring some nice water decals from Born Pretty Store :)

These colourful feathers were sent to me to review for you today. Verdict? They're gorgeous! Click the jump to see more!

Birthday Neon Cupcake Nails!! I'M OLD AF NOW U GAIS

Hello! This past weekend was my birthday! I'm freaking 30 NOW WTF

So I did pretty, bright, fun nails to celebrate!

(click to enlarge DO IT NAO)

Click the jump!

Purple & Yellow Drag Marble

Hello! I didn't do a specific Easter manicure this year, but this purple and yellow drag marble reminds me of a Cadbury Creme Egg wrapper!

(click to enlarge)

This was a quite simple one to do... I painted on one coat of Orly Charged Up, the purple creme, as my base, and let it dry. Then I applied a second, thick coat of it, and added some blobs of Zoya Darcy, the yellow creme (although it has a veeerryy slight shimmer, I say it's a creme). I used a thin striping brush to gently drag the polish around, swirling it for this marbled look. You have to be careful using opposite colours like this--too much swirling and it just gets muddy brown. I actually had to re-do one nail because I got too drag-happy, but I like the end result a lot.

Seche Vite on top for shine and longevity, as usual :)

I love when I can get a complicated-looking, eye-catching design in 10 minutes! What do you think of this one?

Thanks for reading today--see you next time! xoxo

Holo At Ya Girl

hollaaaaaaaa

heya! Today I have some hot holo-on-holo action... can you handle it?! :D

click to enlarge... drool-rag at the ready!

Orange Shimmer & Stars

Good day, good day :)

Spring is here! It's getting warm and lovely outside, and while I really don't ever stop wearing neons (being confined to seasonal trends is sooo not my style), it seems extra fitting to wear them now! So I've created this bright yet simple mani with neon orange, glitter, and stamped stars!

Windows 10 Is Here!

Hello! Special post today in honour of Windows 10 launching today! My job involves dealing with the upgrade today in some local electronics shops, so I did a special manicure for the occasion.

Pink Ombre with Gold Glittery Tips

Hello! I've had a busy week of meetings and interviews and lots of rushing around. But tomorrow is my birthday, so I will have a great mani up to celebrate! In the meantime, you have one more day to enter my giveaway on Instagram! In celebration of one year there, as well as my birthday, I am giving away two of my favourite polishes--Essie Set in Stones and Max Factor Fantasy Fire! Entry and rules can all be found here, so go check it out!

Anyway, today I wanted something simple, chic, but with a touch of glitz. I filed a bit of my length down and then did a pink ombre with gold glittery tips!

Red on Red Stamping... or, Nail Fail :P

Hiya! This post is actually coming at you from the archive, because 1) I couldn't bear to take off my little goat for quite a few days after my last post, and 2) I've been preparing for a trip to Perth in a few days! A great friend of mine is getting married! :D I'm doing nails for the bride and her wedding party, so I have a whole wheel of bridal-themed nails I'll show you, as well as pics of theirs, when I get back!

I did this manicure soon after I received my last Born Pretty Store haul, and I consider it a fail. It was a lot prettier in my head, but the red I chose for the base colour was just too similar to the red BPS stamping polish, and it barely showed up. I didn't post it at the time... But I figured I should show you anyway--it was pretty at some angles, and definitely falls into the "subtle stamping" category.

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!

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

Neon Gradient with BPS Star Decals

Hullo! I'm so excited about today's mani! It's rainbowy and sparkly and starry and awesome!

This design Lisa Frank would be proud of is done with some bright Orly polishes, a little glitter, and some water decals from Born Pretty Store. Let's get on with it! :D

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:

Fuchsia Glitterbomb

Heya! Sometimes, when inspiration is a bit lacking, you just need something sparkly! If there's one thing I learned from Rebecca, it's that there's nothing quite like a glitterbomb for those times :D

Neon Lavish Bash

Hi everyone!

I feel like a broken record, but again, so sorry for long delays between posts! I went away to see a friend for a few days, and then came back and Halloween parties were in full swing :) I dressed as a vampire for one of them, and got a little carried away with the fake blood. My fingertips and cuticles are stained red! I have scrubbed with soap & water, acetone, oil... it's just going to take time to get them pretty again, and I can't take nice photos with them this way. (I did receive some more Born Pretty Store goodies, which I can't wait to share with you. It'll happen as soon as my hands don't look gross!)

In the meantime, I do have a simple mani for you--a neon + glitter-gradient combo that's been hanging out in the vault for just such an occasion :)

This is Indie Polish Neon Pink (my swatch is featured on her shop--yay!) with a gradient tip of Orly Lavish Bash. This gorgeous gold glitter lends itself perfectly to a gradient--building up gently with just the brush, not getting thick or lumpy at all. I love the holo hexes and bars!

I topped it with two thin coats of Seche Vite, for shine and smoothness.

Indoors with flash

Outdoors in overcast conditions

Outdoors after the sun peeked out ;)

I said it before, but the photos do not do this pink justice. It's SO bright and beautiful, and unlike a lot of neon polishes, it does not need a white base, and it dries shiny instead of matte and streaky like many neons! Such a unique formula.

Check out what Indie Polish is cooking up lately, and check back here soon! xoxo

Glowsticks & Glitter

Hello! It's getting warmer here, and with spring comes hay fever. I've been feeling under the weather, so sorry for the long time between posts. But in celebration of the sunshine, and to cheer myself up, I've been wearing neon nails, plus my new Born Pretty Store bows!

Outdoors in sunlight

So simple, yet so fun! Click the jump for the details!

#31DC2014 - Day 29 - Inspired by the SUPERNATURAL

Hello my beauties! Time for probably the weirdest prompt of the 31-day challenge... "inspired by the supernatural".

I had to think about this one for a while, and at first I thought I'd do something based on the video for Katy Perry's ET/Supernatural song. I did watch it, and it did inspire the basic colour scheme, but I ended up doing Alienware nails!

If I were a PC gamer (I'm a console peasant, come at me bro), I'd lust after Alienware computers more than I already do. For those of you who don't know, they're the name in gaming rigs. And the little alien face I recreated on my index finger is their logo :)

I applied three thin coats of Cult Nails Deal With It on the small finger and the thumb, then taped off a stripe near the tip and covered it with Wet 'N Wild Black Creme. This is meant to mimic the look of their gaming laptops, which are black but have a metallic neon strip of colour around the outside. I should have used matte topcoat over the black, as their machines are generally matte. Oh well.

Black Creme was the base for the other three nails, and I used white acrylic paint to create the alien face. For the galaxy nails, I sponged on the white paint as well as Deal With It and Soulstice Spa Kona, a light icy/aqua blue. I added a bit of the glitters from Orly Mermaid Tale (green holo hexes) and OPI Pirouette My Whistle (white hexes and silver microglitters). Finally, more of the white acrylic paint to add a few stars, and Seche Vite topcoat finished them all off. I'm quite happy with the finished look!

Boo, this one came out a bit blurry. But you can see the warm glowy quality of Deal With It. I love this polish.

I hope you like these! I'm not even a huge Katy Perry fan, but I've had that song stuck in my head for hours after watching the video earlier. I did this all for you, my dear reader, so you'd better appreciate it ;) hehe. See you tomorrow for more! xoxo

#31DC2014 - Day 27 - Inspired by ARTWORK

Yo, what's up? Day 27, and for my "artwork" prompt I took inspiration from street art!

Outdoors in cloudy overcasty light. I know it's spring, but I'm still not impressed, Sunshine State.

My perspective on graffiti has quite changed over the years. I used to consider it all vandalism and, while acknowledging that some of it takes talent, I just couldn't appreciate it. As an artist, I look back now and just think this perspective is silly. Some cities actually encourage it in some areas (hello, Hosier Lane!) to improve the look of plain walls or just as an attraction. Obviously, just 'tagging' does not take much thought or creativity, but well-crafted street art can be such a pleasure to see!

I don't feel like I'm very good at the style, but I had to give it a try. The base for this manicure is China Glaze Stone Cold, a dark matte-shimmer polish that looks very much like tarmac when dry. The white and black accents in this design are acrylic paint, and the colours are China Glaze Shocking Pink (Neon),  China Glaze Pool Party (the more orangey one), Sinful Colors Neon Melon (green), and Orly Glowstick (yellow). I did my initials on the middle two nails, and then some random designs on the others--and a shooting star on the thumb, because yay stars.

I first topcoated with Seche Vite, and all shiny it looked like this:

But to return Stone Cold to its original appearance, and more realistically portray this type of art, I added Hard Candy Matte-ly In Love to finish it off.

As usual, my camera had no idea how to handle these neons. In real life, these colours are eye-searingly bright and awesome :D

What do you think about street art? xoxo

#31DC2014 - Day 26 - Inspired by a PATTERN

Hullo! It's late here and I'm tired, so let's get right to it! Day 26--inspired by a pattern. I chose to paint my family's tartan :)

Indoors with flash (and my scarf of the same pattern) :)

I used three Revlon polishes for the tartan pattern: Revlon Red, Royal (blue), and Posh (green). I used the flat brush and the striper from this set from Born Pretty Store for this. It looks really wonky up close--this is actually the first time I've used that long striper!--but from a normal distance it looks really cool I think :D

The Scottish flag is the same blue, Royal, and then Orly Pointe Blanche for the cross. I should have used acrylic paint. Would have had neater lines. But oh well. All sealed in with KBShimmer Clearly On Top.

Outdoors in indirect sun

Same as above. I didn't have much sun for these photos. Which is fitting, since there isn't much sun in Scotland either ;)

This is another one I really wish I could wear longer--I love the look and would be proud to rock it for a few days! But, the challenge marches on. See you tomorrow for more! xoxo

#31DC2014 - Day 25 - Inspired by FASHION

Bonjour! Day 25 of the challenge is "inspired by fashion". Here's my nail look!

I think I am fairly stylish in my own way, but I am not trendy or fashionable, and I do not care about designers and brands and such. So I did a simple Google image search for "fashion", and found inspiration on the very first page of results!

(image found on trendingtrendsnow.com)

This image is from Tumblr. I do not know how to Tumblr. I looked everywhere trying to find a source, but there is no artist name here and I couldn't even see who uploaded it. A Google image search was also fruitless. I am more than happy to give credit to the artist if I can figure out who it is! Any help from you lovely people on this topic would be very much appreciated! (Update: didn't find an artist, but traced most instances of it to the URL above, so I'm sticking with that!)

Anyway, I very much fell in love with the look on the far right, so I did half moons with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow, and painted the rest of the nail white with Orly Pointe Blanche. Then I added vertical stripes with my black Stripe Rite polish. Finally, some pretty half-pearls along the line, and Seche Vite to top it all off.

Indoors with flash

Outdoors in sun (it's finally sunny again!)

I wore these out for cocktails with a friend (hi Suzy!) and, by total coincidence, my nails matched the decor in the place! I'd never been there before, but look at the pattern on the seats...

Grainy phone pic, but I couldn't NOT take one

So you know, maybe it was the strawberry-basil martini talking, but I felt pretty sophisticated. ;)

I hope you like these--I sure do! See you next time xoxo

#31DC2014 - Day 24 - Inspired by a BOOK

Hello! Today I am on day 24 of the 31-day challenge, and the prompt is "inspired by a book". I am somewhat ashamed to say I am not reading as much these days--I had to leave my collection behind in the move, and I don't have it here yet!--but I did know which book I wanted to use for this.

The Catcher in the Rye is a book a lot of us had to read in school, and many people at that age don't like it. I didn't hate it, but most of the meaning didn't sink in at that age. Going back over it, I see Holden Caulfield's world through the eyes of a troubled teen--dealing with the usual rebellion and cynicism of a boy his age, coupled with what some sources suggest are symptoms of PTSD. Coupled with the fact that he is a reflection of the author himself, and the book provides a lot of insight into the mind of J.D. Salinger. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you read this as a teenager and didn't like it, go back and read it again.

ANYWAY. Nails. That's why we're here!

Outdoors, no sun

As you can see, my mani was inspired by the book cover. The white polish I laid down first is Orly Pointe Blanche, and the red and black are both acrylic paint. I tried to capture the stylised horse from the cover on my middle nail, but it only sort of worked. The rest of the nails are just doodles that match. On the thumb, I looked up Salinger's signature and tried to copy it as best I could. It's actually a lot more widely-spread than this, but I didn't have room on the nail to do it proper justice. I did try to represent the shapes of the letters accurately.

I sealed it in with Orly Sec 'N Dry topcoat, and then added OPI Matte Top Coat to make it look even more like the book cover.

Indoors with flash

It hasn't been very sunny here lately. This is as bright as I could get!

I hope you like these! I enjoyed painting them and really wish I could have worn them longer. I think they're extraordinarily cool.

See you tomorrow for a fashion-inspired look! xoxo