Sunday 29 June 2014

Canada Day Nail Stamping

My first Canada Day manicure for you.

My base colours are Cult Nails Nevermore and Tempest and OPI Coca-Cola Red. Index finger is stamped with Sally Hansen Silver Sweep using MoYou Mother Nature 07. Middle and ring fingers are plate BM-H11 using Rica Whiteout and Mundo de Unas Black. Pinky is plate BM-004 with Silver Sweep again.

maple leaf stamping

maple leaf stamping

maple leaf stamping

Thanks for the visit. I hope to be back soon with more patriotic nail art for you!  

Friday 27 June 2014

Sally Hansen Color Foils Leaden Lilac

Hi everyone.
I was very excited to finally find the new Sally Hansen Color Foils in store. I picked up three to try. So, today I will be sharing Leaden Lilac with you. I really wanted to try these because I heard that they stamped well. Generally I'm not a fan of foil finishes. I did combine stamping with the swatches.

Leaden Lilac is by itself on the ring and index fingers. I started with a ridge filler base coat and used two coats of Leaden Lilac. It isn't horribly streaky, but still streaky. This is really a fault with most foils, in my opinion. A lot of polish stays on the brush. I recommend trying to get most of it off first. It covers well, so you don't need much. I almost got away with one coat, but was trying to see if I could hide some of the flaws.

Sally Hansen Leaden Lilac

color foil

color foils

The stamping is done using plate MoYou pro 08. Stamped over Cult Nails Nevermore and Tempest. Stamps very well over black, which is a huge plus in my books. Excuse the bad stamping over the white. It is my super curvy nail, but for some reason I couldn't get my squishy stamper to pick up the polish. I had to use my Konad stamper and it doesn't like the curve. So yes, this polish does stamp. And it stamps very well!

Sally Hansen Leaden Lilac

Sally Hansen Leaden Lilac

For me, I prefer this for stamping and not a straight up polish. It was too streaky for my liking. This is just not a finish for me. How do you feel about these polishes? I purchased this at Shoppers Drug Mart for $8.99 cdn.

*all products purchased by me and all opinions are my own*


Tuesday 24 June 2014

Powder Perfect Magnus Bane and Downworlder

I was really excited that Harlow & Co. brought in some of the Powder Perfect line. I love being able to try new brands. And I seem to have a weakness for Aussie indie brands. Powder Perfect polishes are 5 free and come in 13 ml bottles. Both of these shades are based on the Mortal Instruments book series. Yes please!

Magnus Bane is a black jelly based polish full of glitter. In fact, there is so much purple micro shimmer in it that it does look more purple then black. All the glitter didn't interfere with application. It went on easily and I had full coverage with two medium coats. Smoothed out perfectly with one coat of KBShimmer Clearly On Top.

powder perfect magnus bane

powder perfect magnus bane

powder perfect magnus bane

powder perfect magnus bane

powder perfect magnus bane



Downworlder is a deep blue jelly with holographic glitter in silver, blue, and teal. Not as densely packed as Magnus Bane. I used three thin coats. And again, one coat of KBShimmer Clearly On Top smoothed everything out. No issues to report with application. Has a great squishy look to it.

Powder Perfect Downworlder

Powder Perfect Downworlder

Powder Perfect Downworlder

Powder Perfect Downworlder

Powder Perfect Downworlder


I was really happy with both of these polishes. I can't wait to try more from this brand!

Powder Perfect links STORE | FACEBOOK | ETSY or available from Harlow & Co. if you live outside of Australia. I believe these are also available internationally from Edgy Polish. Thank you for visiting today and I hope you enjoyed.
Also, please excuse the different watermarks. I've been trying to figure out photoshop for the last month. I've managed to add text and crop so far. It will be the death of me, I swear!

Monday 23 June 2014

Summer Gradient with China Glaze

Happy Summer everyone !!
Today I have a colourful gradient for you. Of course, my gradients are still a technique in progress, so I ended up stamping over it. Which also wasn't perfect, but it was still nice and bright.
The gradient was done over a white base using China Glaze Petal To The Metal, Metro Pollen-tin, and Be More Pacific. Stamping was done with Mundo de Unas Mexican Pink and Konad white using plate MJ XXV. I know the clean up isn't perfect, but my poor cuticles couldn't handle anymore acetone.

Mundo de Unas Konad

China Glaze

nail stamping

nail stamping


I need to mention that the plate I used is a test plate that I received from a giveaway. The plate I have is a bit different from the one on the site, but this design is on it. The rest of the products were purchased by me. 
I hope you enjoyed! Cheers.

Friday 20 June 2014

Cirque Luminous Owl

I am very happy to be showing off my first Cirque polish today. I know, I don't know why I didn't buy any sooner.
Luminous Owl is a light coral holographic polish. Kind of leans a bit on the peachy side. I had full coverage in two coats. It self leveled perfectly too!

cirque-luminous-owl

cirque-luminous-owl

cirque-luminous-owl

cirque-luminous-owl

cirque-luminous-owl

I really loved this. It suited my skin tone perfectly. For more information on Cirque and a list of international stockists, please click HERE. I can't wait to get some more!!

*polish purchased by me and all opinions are my own*

Thursday 19 June 2014

Sally Hansen and DandyNails Jelly Sandwich

Howdy all. I recently picked up a couple of the Sally Hansen sheer jelly polishes and thought I would put together a jelly sandwich.
I went with Sally Hansen Sea Through which is a very sheer teal green shade. Be warned that you won't be able to get this opaque. Or if you did, I'm sure it would never dry because of all the coats you would need. To achieve this manicure I used two coats of Sea Through, two coats of Dandy Nails Colorblind, and followed with another two coats of Sea Through. I think this turned out to be a great combo. I ended up with quite a few bubbles. Unfortunately, I'm not sure which polish they came from.
**please note that I wore this for a few days and upon removal, I did have some slight staining on my nails. And yes, I did use a base coat. Maybe double up on your base coat to hopefully prevent any staining**

sally hansen sea through dandynails colorblind

sally hansen sea through dandynails colorblind

sally hansen sea through dandynails colorblind

sally hansen sea through dandynails colorblind

On a side note, DandyNails appears to be on a temporary break right now. Unfortunately, I don't have any information on when the shop will be reopening. Sorry about that. You can follow on FACEBOOK and maybe some information will pop up soon.
Sally Hansen can be found at most drugstores.

Thanks for the visit and I hope you enjoyed today's manicure !!
*polishes purchased by me and all opinions are my own*

Monday 16 June 2014

Smitten Polish You're Turning Violet, Violet Swatches

Today I have an older Smitten Polish shade for you. This is You're Turning Violet, Violet. It is full of blue and purple holographic glitter and has a violet crelly base. No undies are needed. I used two coats and then did some dabbing in a few areas. I found this to be the best way to apply. The blue glitter really jumps out at you, which is nice. I thought it may get lost on the nail. The purple adds a bit of depth to it, even though they aren't as noticeable. Really nice touch. This does dry a bit gritty, so I recommend a good thick top coat. I used KBShimmer Clearly On Top.

smitten polish

you're turning violet, violet

you're turning violet, violet

I wasn't able to find any current information on the availability of this polish. You'll have to do your own investigating. I'll include the links for you. Thanks for the visit today!


*polish purchased by me and all opinions are my own*

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Glam Polish Songbird

Songbird from Glam Polish
This is a magenta jelly polish with iridescent flakies and glitter. The photos really don't do it justice. Great application and I only needed two coats. Self leveled and isn't gritty. A regular top coat is all that's needed. I really liked this, great sunny day shade! Photos taken in direct and indirect sunlight.

songbird

glam polish songbird

glam polish songbird

glam polish songbird

For more information and purchasing information please check out the following links. Glam Polish is an Australian brand, but you will find that there are a lot of international stockists to choose from!
STORE | FACEBOOK | BLOG 

Thanks for the visit. I hope you enjoyed.

*polish purchased by me and all opinions are my own*

Wednesday 4 June 2014

China Glaze Lotus Begin and Born Pretty water decals

China Glaze Lotus Begin from the City Flourish collection.

I'm really not to sure where to start with this one. The photos are deceiving in my opinion. The formula for this polish is truly terrible. It's chalky and streaky and uneven and terrible. Did I say terrible. I meant TERRIBLE. I used three coats and it was still uneven. I then added two coats of top coat trying to get it to level off, but that only helped a bit. I realize it isn't that noticeable in the pics, you'll have to take my word for it. I like the colour of this polish though. To me it is like a neon and a pastel had a baby this is what you would end up with. Does that even make sense?

china glaze lotus begin

china glaze lotus begin

china glaze lotus begin

So, I wasn't really diggin' it and decided to add some feather water decals that I got ages ago from the Born Pretty Store. I applied the middle finger first and it was sliding all over the place, so it was easy to get it where I wanted it. Applied the ring finger and it wouldn't budge? Have no idea why. The application process was exactly the same. Now I had an oddly place feather. Oh well : )

born pretty water decal feather

born pretty water decal feather

Thoughts on this polish? I know I have read some mixed reviews on this collection. So far, I'm not impressed. Maybe some of the other shades with turn out to be better. The decals I liked. I find decals to be a simple and fun alternative to do it yourself nail art. Anyone can manage water decals and there are a ton of design options available.

Thank you for the visit and I hope you enjoyed!

*products purchased by me and all opinions are my own*

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Butterfly and Dragonfly stamping with Dollarama plates

Good day to everyone!

Today I have some stamping for you. I was testing out a few plates and polishes, so you're getting an odd looking manicure! My base is  Essie Resort Fling which you can see a review of here.  These plates came from a set I found at my local dollar store. The set was $3.00 ( I think ) and came with 5 plates, a stamper, and scraper. The stamper is garbage, but for the price it doesn't really matter! The few designs that I used all worked great.

butterfly dragonfly

essie resort fling

mundo de unas

The plates used are labelled SE18 SE19 and SE21. I couldn't seem to find an actual brand name anywhere.
 Stamping polishes are Konad Deep Jungle, Mundo de Unas # 14 Violet, and Mentality Sly.
I guess we have all learned not to ignore our dollar stores, you never know what treasures you may find. I'll add the links for where you can find the polishes. Have a great day everyone.


*polish and supplies purchased by me and all opinions are my own*

Monday 2 June 2014

Sephora by OPI Three Way Mirror

Happy Monday? Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Today I have Three Way Mirror from Sephora by OPI for you. As I am sure you are all aware, you can no longer get these at Sephora, but I do find them occasionally at my local Winner's store. I'm still sad that this line was discontinued.
Three Way Mirror is a creamy brown leaning rose shade. Had I been more careful in applying it would have been a one coater for me, but I used two. Self leveled to perfection. No issues at all.

three way mirror

sephora by opi three way mirror

sephora by opi three way mirror

I really liked the way this shade looked. It went very nicely with my skin tone. I would also classify this as work appropriate, but I guess that may depend on where you work. Although these aren't readily available, I'm sure you can still find them on ebay and in swaps.
Hope you enjoyed the swatches!

*polish purchased by me and all opinions are my own*