Category: Shimmer

Posted on

Out of this world Galaxy Nails–with a bonus tutorial!

IMG_1891

After being inspired by two of my fellow nail art girlies on Instagram (mymintnails and banulovesnailpolish) the other day, I was in the mood for Galaxy nails. The last time I did them was in April during the early weeks of this blog, and I hadn’t tried them since so it felt like a good time.

IMG_1893

 

IMG_1892

 

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • OPI Who Are You Calling Bossy?!?
  • Unnamed Blue Joe Fresh Metallic Polish I got as part of their holiday collection this season.
  • LA Splash Heiress.
  • LA Splash Glitz & Berry.
  • LA Splash Maroon.
  • Quo by ORLY Trashy Glam.
  • ACO by Ardene Showtime.
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust.
  • Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat.

I’m seriously so happy with how my galaxies turned out. I’ve done galaxy nails a couple of times now, and always get frustrated by the fact I don’t find they look very Space-y. However thanks to using ACO by Ardene’s Showtime for glitter placement (the stars) and China Glaze’s Fairy Dust I managed to create my very own galaxies on my nails.

And I thought since I’m trying to create more tutorials I would share my steps for creating this manicure. I know everyone has their own way of creating galaxy nails, these are just the steps I took for the above manicure.

 

IMG_1895

  1. Paint all nails black (OPI Who Are You Calling Bossy?!?) and apply quick dry top coat.
  2. While that is drying, applying OPI Glitter Off Base Coat around cuticle area. I do this to keep the sponging I do when creating gradients and other like manicures off my fingers and minimize clean up.
  3. Sponge on first colour (the unnamed Blue Joe Fresh polish with shimmer.) Depending on how sheer the polish is, you may have to sponge a couple times to be able to see the polish.
  4. Continue sponging using a variety of other colours. I try to keep my sponging in a line so you get that galaxy look. I also will apply some polishes thicker than others, or just sponge small spots so that it’s not too heavy handed.
  5. Using a dotting tool, place stars in random places on nail. (ACO by Ardene Showtime.) I also used some of the bigger glitters in Showtime for along the sponging.
  6. Apply a coat (or two) of Fairy Dust over everything. Then, after a couple minutes apply your top coat to seal everything in. Once that’s dry, you’ll be able to peel off your protective layer around your cuticles, and clean up what you might have missed around your cuticles.

And tada! You now possess galaxies on your finger tips. Galaxies are one of the easiest nail art designs you can probably do because they can be done with pretty much any polish, at any level, in whatever style you want! And the plus side is–it’s almost impossible to screw them up.

IMG_1896

 

In case you’re interested, my ring is courtesy of Kristalized_Designs on Instagram (who also happens to be my sister!) She designed two gorgeous midi-rings for me, and is going to be designing a little something special for an upcoming giveaway I’m going to be holding. She’s in the process of getting her Etsy page up and going, but you should definitely check out her page for a sneak peak at her designs. Everything is hand made and one of a kind (there is even a picture of her making the above ring.)

 

So what do you think of these galaxy nails?

Posted on

Fall Leaves nail art.

Fall is one of my favorite seasons–I love everything about it. Not too warm, not too cold. Plus the leaves changing color and falling brings me back to being a kid, and raking the leaves just to jump in them. A few weeks back, I did these fall leaves inspired nails in honor of my favorite season.

IMG_0408

 

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Zoya Piaf — Yellow base color.
  • Nicole by OPI Emerald Empowered — sponging.
  • Claire’s Poison Apple –sponging.
  • Revlon Spidey Sense — sponging.
  • ACO by Ardene Golden Luxury — sponging.
  • Essence Color and Go Mister Rusty — sponging.
  • LA Colors Art Deco Nail Art Striper — leaves outline and dots.
  • Essie Good to Go Top Coat.

I absolutely love the outcome of these nails. I think they perfectly speak Fall to me. I started these without a clear idea of what I was going to do, and they ended up looking beautiful. Don’t you just love when that happens?! =)

IMG_0405

IMG_0401

IMG_0413

So what do you think of this fall leaves manicure?

Check out my next post–I’m going to have a fun Fall/Halloween manicure to share with you. =)

Posted on

Gold Chevron Moons with OPI DS Extravagance.

This past weekend, the boyfriend took me away for a special birthday weekend away to Lunenberg. I decided a special romantic weekend away deserved special nails. For my birthday last week, the only thing I truly asked for was OPI DS Extravagance which is a purply pink polish with a scattered holo. I’ve been coveting this polish for quite a long time, so when my Mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday it was the only thing I asked for.

IMG_08271

 

I started off by painting my nails with OPI DS Extravagance. There are a million awesome things I could say about this polish but I think pictures speak for themselves. After my base color had dried, I freehanded chevron moons with Quo by Orly Trashy Glam (which is quickly becoming one of my favorite gold polishes).  Finally, I outlined my chevron moons with my black LA Colors Art Deco Striper in Black to crisp up the lines then applied Essie Good to Go Top Coat to finish. And tada!

 

They were the perfect nails for my special birthday weekend away. =) I loved them so much–so much so I kept them on a full 3 days which is not something I often do with manicures.

IMG_08341

IMG_08571

IMG_08721

So what do you think of these Chevron Moons? I’m so obsessed with them lately! I’m also really proud of how much cleaner my lines are starting to get. This time last year, I never could have freehanded lines that clean so I’m really proud of that fact. Practice really does make perfect.

 

What do you think of my Chevron Moons? What’s your current manicure obsession? I really need to get started on some Halloween inspired nails since Halloween is quickly approaching. =)

Have a great day lovelies!

Posted on

China Glaze “Choo-Choo Choose You” and a comparison.

 

 

Today I have one of the polishes from China Glaze’s All Aboard collection, which they’ve released for fall. When I first saw swatches of all the polishes, I fell absolutely in love with all the gorgeous colors, so I knew that I needed to check these out. In stores, when looking at the bottles, my eyes were immediately drawn to the polish below.

 

IMG-20140916-02469_1410893401830_n

 

China Glaze Choo-Choo Choose You in almost indescribable. But according to the press release China Glaze released for the collection, it is described as purple grey smokey shimmer. When I was checking out the polishes at my local Chatters, I wasn’t sure which one to get but my eyes kept coming back to this one. The polish was just so striking and gorgeous! And I had to have it.

 

IMG-20140916-02470_1410893428322_n

IMG-20140916-02473_1410893457398_n

Choo-Choo Choose You is definitely a one of a kind polish when it comes to my collection. The different flashes of color remind me of almost an oil slick on my nails (in a good way). I couldn’t really think of any other polish in my stash as beautiful as this polish, or similar. So naturally I had to go looking. =)

The only other polish I have in my stash similar to Choo-Choo Choose You is Essie For the Twill of It. Naturally, I had to swatch the two side by side to see how similar they were, and you can see below they’re not as similar as I originally thought. On my pointer and ring finger I have For the Twill of It, and on my middle and pinky I have Choo-Choo Choose You. For the Twill of It pulls much more blue/grey while you can really see the purple of Choo-Choo Chose You while the two are side by side. As well, you can seriously see the brush strokes in For the Twill of It which is in part to my own application, but still… Choo-Choo Choose You does not have the same issue. Actually, the application was absolute perfection.

IMG-20140916-02487_1410893361017_n

IMG-20140916-02481_1410893327883_n

IMG-20140916-02479_1410893299656_n

IMG-20140916-02478_1410893269185_n

Of the two, I definitely think I prefer Choo-Choo Choose You, but that could be because I’m a sucker for purple. And the polish itself is just so different from anything else in my stash. It makes me understand why it’s been a popular choice recently. It is an amazing color for fall and I am so, so glad I choo-choo chose it. (haha sorry).

 

Posted on

A Perfect Combo — Icing Love Boat and Layla Bubbly Effect Black Forrest.

IMG-20140914-02442_1410699871581_n

 

 

Today I’m showing of a NOTD featuring Icing Love Boat and Layla Bubbly Effect Nail Polish in Black Forrest. Love Boat is a red quick sand polish from my latest Icing haul. They had all their clearance on for an extra 50% off which means I picked up six gorgeous polishes–including Love Boat here–for just $1 a piece! How can you go wrong with that?!

 

IMG-20140914-02441_1410700022991_n

IMG-20140914-02440_1410699975031_n

These nails are feeling very Halloween-y to me, even though we’re about a month and a half early on that. I was already rocking Love Boat, and wanted to jazz up my manicure a little bit somehow. I haven’t worn Black Forrest since last year when I first picked it up on clearance at Lawton’s for an awesome $2 (can you tell I like a deal?) and I thought it would look awesome over the rich and sparkly red of Love Boat. It certainly does! And it’s definitely a combination I’m going to have to tie into my Halloween manicures next month. =)