Rose-y bridesmaid nails.

 

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So my sister came over the other day for me to do her nails for a wedding she is in this weekend. She was telling me how all the other bridesmaids had gotten their nails professionally done, and she was bummed because she just couldn’t afford to do that. I didn’t want her to feel left out, so I told her she should come over because I wanted to make them pretty for her! =) So while the boyfriend distracted my nephew, I got her to sit down, and came up with some gorgeous nails for her to rock. She told me the wedding colors were rose pink, white, and black so I brain stormed for a while and figured that roses would be the most perfect bridesmaid nails. =)

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The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Icing Beach Barbie — thumb and middle finger.
  • Bourjois Cendres de Roses — pointer and pinky fingers base color (and roses).
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Grey Area — pointer and pinky fingers polka dots.
  • OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls — ring finger base color.
  • Bourjois Le Rouge fidele — roses.
  • Bourjois Mais Oui! — roses.
  • Mariposa shimmery pink — roses.
  • ACO by Ardene Green Peace — leaves.
  • ACO by Ardene Techno Green — leaves
  • LA Colors Palm Tree — leaves.
  • Seche Vite Quick Dry top coat.

 

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I thought the end result turned out really pretty. It just so happened I had a dusty rose pink (Bourjois Cendres de Roses) that perfectly matched the pink in the wedding colors! I went with dark grey polka dots, instead of black, just because I thought it would be a little more subtle–and would compliment the rose color. My sister was really excited for her nails, which made me so happy. =) I also lent her my Icing Beach Barbie so she could paint her toes sparkly to match, since they have opened toe shoes. So she’ll look pretty from head to toe. =)

 

So what do you think of this rose and polka dot manicure? Do you ever do other people’s nails? I’m still not 100% used to doing them, but it is fun playing around on someone else–even if she has the tiniest little nails compared to my own.

Glitter Gradient with Gwen’s Crush.

Still in my nail art rut, so simple manicures it is. Today’s manicure was a spur of the moment decision. I painted my nails with Gwen’s Crush by Revlon, but I wanted to make them a little more fancy so I decided a glitter gradient was the perfect solution. I pulled out a blue jelly Mariposa polish that my roommate gave me for Christmas, mostly because it complimented the blue shimmer in Gwen’s Crush.

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The polishes I used for the manicure were:

  • Revlon Gwen’s Crush (from the Spiderman collection.)
  • Mariposa unnamed blue gelly glitter.
  • Color Institute silver glitter.
  • Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.

 

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I quite like how these turned out. Plus, the blue jelly in the Mariposa glitter darkens the tips of Gwen’s Crush. Plus the Glitter has great holographic glitters which looks great. Also this Revlon polish is going to be very well used this fall, I’m guessing. I love the dark purple-pink color, with the subtle hint of blue.

And a blurry shot of my nails below, that captures the holographic glitters  in both glitter polishes. So pretty!

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Swatch Post: Layla Thermo Effect Polish N. 4

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Today’s post is a polish I am so excited about. As I’ve mentioned before, I absolutely LOVE thermal effect polishes, ever since my days working at Claire’s when they released their Mood Changing Polishes. So when I saw a post about the new Layla Thermo Effect Nail polishes by Sparkled Beauty (who is a local Halifax beauty blogger) I knew I had to track down these polishes at Lawtons. Two stores later, I found the display of these beauties. Sadly, there were only a couple colors left. =( I went with No. 4 which is described as a Dark to Light pink.

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When cold, the polish is a dark pink (almost light plum) color. It’s not a creme polish,  but rather scattered with an almost frosty shimmer. I was nervous at first when I saw this, as I know sometimes frosty polishes can leave brush strokes like crazy, but this one was pretty good at leveling out. I’m really digging the color of this polish while cool.

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The polish mid-change (pointer and middle finger) and cold (ring and pinky finger). A lot of the time my nails would resemble my pointer and middle fingers here. Lighter pink down towards the cuticle, to darker purple towards the end of the nail. It’s like having a gradient on your nails, without any of the work!

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And finally, the polish while hot (pointer and middle fingers). The change between the warm and cold is awesome! You can really see a difference between the two, which I like. The day I wore this polish it was raining, so every time I went outside and my nails were warm, I would have these cool drops of purple on my nails from where the cold rain had hit them. I like how easily this polish can change from temperature. (I wish I had gotten pictures!)

The application of this polish wasn’t too bad. The polish is sheer, but thick at the same time–it was actually kind of strange. It took three coats to reach full opacity, and took a bit of time to dry (even with Seche Vite as my top coat.) When dry though, it lasted well. I wore these through a full, busy, day of work and ended up with very minimal tip wear.

I’m quite impressed with Layla’s Thermal Effect Polish, and I’m thinking I will have to go back to Lawton’s and pick up some more colors (depending on what is left).

Pastel Stripes, and a few “diamonds” for good measure.

Finally!  Something that isn’t just polka dots. 😉

I bought some new stripers last week at–of all places–the Dollarama! They’re by the brand Mariposa, whose polish I’ve featured in manicures before. I really love stripers as I’m not as good at using striping tape for manicures. Since I hadn’t had a chance to test out my new stripers yet, I decided to pull them out yesterday to see what they could do. And the end result? I’m very happy with it. The brush is thin, which is important so you don’t end up with gloopy, ugly freehand lines. Also the polish is fairly opaque which means they could be used over darker colors as well.

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The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Birthday Suit.
  • Mariposa Striping Polish in Mint.
  • Mariposa Striping Polish in Pink.
  • OPI I Snow You Love Me.
  • Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.

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So what do you think of this stripey manicure? Also, I’m seriously digging I snow you love me and all the glitter placement possibilities. From a distance, it looks like you have rhinestones on your nails, as they catch the light really well. It’s only when you look up close you see that they’re flat and glitters. Love, love, love.

Nautical themed Bridal Shower Nails.

So I totally misjudged being on vacation. I am a lot busier than I thought I would be, but I guess that goes a long with being a bridesmaid. But I’m still managing to get some nail art time in! I decided to do something fun and nautical themed for my besties Bridal Shower (using her wedding colors, obviously), and this is what I ended up coming with.

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The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Maybelline Sapphire Siren.
  • ACO by Ardene Kiss by a Rose.
  • China Glaze Metro Pollen-tin.
  • ACO by Ardene Golden Luxery.
  • Mariposa Nail Design Striper in White.
  • Essie Good to Go Top Coat.

I’ve been browsing a lot of nautical themed nails on Pinterest, so I wanted to give it a quick try. I created my lines freehand, (and on the go) which is why some of them aren’t as straight as I hoped they would be. But they’re not so bad, and they went great with the dress I wore to the bridal shower!

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I can’t believe my best friend is getting married in 2 days! We used to make Spice Girl videos in my backyard way, way back in the day, and now she’s going to walk down the isle. If I don’t cry, I will be absolutely shocked.

Now, time to go play with some polish. I’m feeling some swatching today. I bought a bunch of new polishes in July I haven’t yet had time to share with you, so I figured now is a good time. With the exception of a little bridal lingerie shopping tonight with the bride to be, I’ve got the whole day to myself. And my stash is calling my name!

Have a great day lovelies!