(Almost) Monochrome Dotticure

Well, it's been far too long since I posted! Have had zero motivation to edit pics and write posts lately D: but I've still been painting my nails and getting photos! I'll get caught up... one day...

Today I have a dotticure for you, inspired by Simply Nailogical on YouTube. Specifically, a comment left on this video by Nat the Otaku (hehe, love the username) suggesting an alternate colour combination. I don't think Cristine will ever do this one since she doesn't like plain creme polishes much--so I did it instead!

I started with plain nails, wearing only a base coat, and just used a dotting tool to cover these with five polishes: Zoya Purity (white), Soulstice Spa Manchester (light grey), Essence Movie Star (dark grey), China Glaze Liquid Leather (black), and Revlon #480 Revlon Red (red... obvs).

A little time-consuming, but easy-peasy! Once the nails were pretty much totally covered, I let them dry and then topped with Seche Vite for their protection. I intentionally left little bits of naked nail peeking out here and there--I like how it looks when the light shines through them from behind.

I know these aren't the greatest photos--by the time I looked at them full-size and realised this, the design had already chipped too much to re-take, so... oh well. They look great IRL :D

Thanks for the inspiration, random YouTube commenter! This would look really cool in rainbow colours, too... or glitter placement... or contrasting finishes...

See you next time! xoxo

Born Pretty Store Review | Floral Stencils

Good day! Just in time for the holidays, I have received a new set of products to review from Born Pretty Store! I have lots of festive, seasonal items which I will post about after this, but the one I was most excited to try is these floral nail stencils!

(click to enlarge)

Plus, Christmas means summer here in Australia, so these aren't out of place at all ;) Read on to see more!

I Love London! | Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate Review

Good day! I have one more BPS stamping plate to show you today. It's all British-themed, so I used some appropriate colours and as many images from it as I could to create this cute mani!

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!

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

Holiday Water Marble

Hi hi! Wow, Christmas is coming up fast! I suppose it's the hot weather here, but it still doesn't feel like Christmas to me. Maybe that's why I find myself running out of time! I'll have to post every day for the next few days to get all my holiday manicures up in time :)

Today I have a festive water marble topped with a very special seasonal polish from piCture pOlish called Holiday!

#31DC2014 - Day 31 - Honour Nails You Love!

Heya! We made it! The 31st and last day of the challenge--"honour nails you love"! I'm glad this is the last daily mani--I want to wear this one for a little while. It's a look by Robin Moses on YouTube, and I've watched the video so many times, I finally decided to recreate it!

I used OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre? and Revlon #911 Pink Chiffon to create a subtle gradient. Funny, I worked so meticulously to get it nice and smooth, and you can't even see it in the finished product.

I used the same technique Robin did (watch the video--she's brilliant!) with foil glue to paint on thin stripes, apply pink loose glitter (it's just in a big tube labelled "Glitter", and called Pink Ultra Fine. It's by a company called Glitterex), and then repeat the process applying the glue full strength at the tips.

I used Maya's Smoothing Coat for Glitters to seal in the sparkle, and while that was wet, added my gems. I tried to cluster them to create the "bursting" effect she talks about, but I don't think I did too well creating that look. Also, Robin concentrated the gems more towards the tips, whereas I took them all the way down to the base. I really like them, though! They're very flashy and sparkle with every move of my hands, and create disco balls on the walls when the sunlight hits them :D

Outdoors in sun before topcoat--I wasn't sure how they would look after topcoating, and wanted to get a photo in case I messed it up. Please excuse the messy cuticles. Look at that big sparkle!

Outdoors in shade, after topcoat.

I have three coats of Seche Vite sealing all this in. It's still bumpy, of course, but it feels solid and I think it will stay a while. My nails are so thick with all these layers they feel like fakes/acrylics, and it's weird. But so pretty!

Even in the dark, these gems manage to catch any stray light around and reflect it like mad :D

I also have glitter EVERYWHERE after doing these. I'm pretty sure I inhaled some, and will expel unicorn sneezes soon.

So that's it for the challenge! I hope you all enjoyed this little journey with me and the rest of the nail artists who participated. I'm going to take a short break now and enjoy wearing this mani for a few days. But don't worry, I won't be gone too long. See you soon! 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 22 - Inspired by a SONG

Yo man, let's get outta here. Word to yo motha.

Oh, hi! Today is day 22 of the 31-Day Challenge--nails inspired by a song! I actually got my days mixed up, and had my movie nails ready to go tonight when I realised my mistake. Fortunately, I already knew what I wanted to do for my music nails, and was able to complete the mani fairly quickly! The downside to this is that it's late and I didn't get any sunlight pics. I might add one tomorrow (update--I did!), but for now, all I have is flash photos. You may have already guessed the song I chose...

Indoors with flash. If I had time to redo the blue nails and add another coat, I would. I didn't know I'd have such awful nail line showing--without flash it's not visible at all--and why does it look so dark? o_o

A polish named after a song I happen to always keep on my iPod? Of course I had to use it :D  And this is a song that never gets old, I swear. I always have to sing along when I hear it, and I jammed out to it while painting these. I even have this t-shirt. It is absolutely my guilty pleasure and I make no apologies xD

For all nails except the middle finger, I used two coats of China Glaze Blue Years Eve, and atop that, the signature polish for this look--a glitter topper by Confetti called Ice Ice Baby! It's got the most lovely electric blue glitters ever. These photos don't do it justice at all. You can get a better idea of it in different lighting here and here.

For the feature nail... okay, kids, gather 'round. Once upon a time, in order to buy music, one had to purchase little plastic cartridges called cassette tapes. A little later, this changed to plastic discs called CDs. Cassettes and CD's came in little protective clear plastic cases, which featured album artwork. And the album artwork for Vanilla Ice's single Ice Ice Baby looked like this:

So I used Revlon Colorstay #120 Red Carpet (just one coat!) as a base, and then with black and yellow-mixed-with-green acrylic paints, I freehanded the design. Lastly, a nice layer of Seche Vite to seal them all in and make 'em super shiny!

Best photo, except for it being upside down.

Still no sunlight here, but you can see the way the glitter looks in natural light, aka most of the time. Icy!

So there's my "inspired by a song" mani! I hate that I had to rush it, but I hope you liked it anyway. Come back later for an update to this post (edit: done! see above!), and a little later for the next prompt! xoxo

#31DC2014 - Day 21 - Inspired by a COLOUR

Heeyyyyy! We're on the last portion of the 31-day challenge, and the toughest part in my opinion! Today's prompt is "inspired by a colour", and as most people do, I chose to take inspiration from a particular nail polish shade. Here we go!

Outdoors in sun

Anybody remember the Revlon Moon Candy line? A double-ended bottle with a creme on one side and a matching flakie topper on the other. I used #260 Meteor for this one! It's actually a very dark army-green, but it looks pretty much black in these photos. I applied two coats to all nails and then painted a meteor flying through space with acrylic paints :D

I added some of the flakies to the meteor trail to complete the look, and then topped with Seche Vite.

I'm pretty pleased with them! I keep all my polishes on a couple of bookshelves, and this one has been propped up in a corner. I always forget it's there, but I need to pull it out more often. Those flakies are colour-shifting and gorgeous.

See you soon for more! xoxo

#31DC2014 - Day 11 - DOTS

Hullo darlings!

Today's design came out differently than I expected... a bit more subtle... but I like it! I'm calling it Blueberry Fizz.

Outdoors in sun

The base is Revlon Cobalt, from their Chroma Chameleon line of colour-shifters. I then created dots with piCture pOlish Aurora, a shimmery multichrome that also has shifting glitters. I made larger dots near the cuticle and got smaller as I moved towards the tip. I thought it would show up a bit more prominently than it did, but I still think it looks like blueberry soda :D

Outdoors in shade

Outdoors in sun

I didn't topcoat, because I wanted to preserve the bubbly, textured look. It isn't the usual "polka-dotted" look, but I'm digging it!

See you tomorrow! xoxo

#31DC2014 - Day 5 - BLUE nails

Hello hello :) Day 5 of the challenge--blue nails!

I went for a blue ombre, plus glitter and flowers :) From index to small finger, I did a sponged vertical gradient with Revlon Royal, Soulstice Spa Monterey, Orly Blue Collar, Revlon #170 Coastal Surf, and Orly Snowcone. On top of that, the glitter you see in the photos--Sinful Colors Hottie. And finally, some blue flower stickers from a craft store. They actually glow in the dark, but I forgot to get a picture of that!

Topcoated with Seche Vite.

Indoors with flash

Outdoors in sun

On the thumb, I added OPI DS Magic -- the most beautiful blue polish evar. It fit in nicely with the gradient look to boot.

The worst part about this challenge is taking these off so quickly! This is the kind of mani I'd wear a few days, if I could. Oh well... tomorrow I'll be rocking some purple nails, so stay tuned for that! xoxo

Snap, Crackle, & Studs

Hello and welcome :)

I went to a party the other day, and wanted a cool nail look to wear. I took inspiration from a great YouTube video by Chic Pretty Nails. Crackle polish, glitter, and studs make for a badass yet chic mani!

Spider-Man Nails -- The Lacquer Legion Does Fandom!

G'day, boys and girls! It's time for another Lacquer Legion themed collaboration! This month, we celebrate the things in life we geek out for! TV shows, movies, sports teams, celebrities, comic books, you name it! Whatever you pay to go see, whatever you get excited about, whatever you have posters and T-shirts and collectible tributes to--put it on your nails!

I actually had to think a bit for this. I don't really watch TV, and I've already done manis celebrating my favourite sports teams, movie, book... what to do? Oh, comic books! My two favourites are Iron Man and the Amazing Spider-Man. As you cleverly ascertained from the title of this post, I went with the latter :D

Pink with Tinsley'd Tips

Hello, my beauties!

You know what's awesome about moving to a new country? Catching all their new and different germs. :P I've had about ten colds since January, it seems!! But it won't stop me painting my nails...

Rainbow Clouds

Bom dia, belezas! :)

Today I have some fun, fanciful, stamped rainbow clouds for you!

Outdoors in sunlight

Radiant Mermaid Nails

Hello! Lately I have been inspired by some of the beautiful glitter + stamping manis that Laurie does over at Dressed Up Digits. When I saw her latest one, I said THAT'S IT, I MUST DO ONE.

Read on to see how!

Kaboom! Pink Holo with Exploding Half-Moons

Hiya! Today I have an explodey-half-moon look for you:

Fantasy Fire Layering & Stars

Hullo, my beauties :) Today I have a pretty layering combo to show you. I went out with some friends I haven't seen in months, and did these nails to match my primarily blue and silver outfit :D