Sunday, November 30, 2014

Last of the Fall Leaves

I'm stuck at home today; helping my husband troubleshoot our hot tub.  We went in it for the first time in months last weekend only to discover that one of the pumps that control the jets wasn't turning on.  So took the motor in for repair on Monday only to find out it was unrepairable and had to order a new one.  It arrived and the hubs installed it; now the motor won't turn off.  After doing some internet research, we think a relay now has to be installed; in the meanwhile, I'm stuck at home listening to him vent about it.  So I thought I'd work on getting a post up of nails I did back in the fall but didn't get to sharing.


This is a mani I did back in September when it seemed every day I was wearing leaves of some sort on my nails.  So I did some stamping over glitter to change it up a little.  I really liked the base and glitter, but not so much the stamping....anyway, started with a base of two coats of Sally Hansen Earl Gray, topped with KBShimmer Clearly on Top.


Added a layer of Shimmer Polish Alessandra**.  I love this glitter! Such an interesting colour combination of glitters that goes perfectly with so many base colours as well if you wanted to use it as a topper like I did here.  I really liked how the glitters gave an interesting pop of colour on top of the very neutral base!


In hindsight, I wish I had have left the nails like this, but decided to stamp.  Used images from MoYou Mother Nature Collection-07 and HB-21 Stamping polished used were Mundo de Unas in colours 9, 11, 32 and 48.


Topped with KBShimmer Clearly on Top to finish.  


MoYou Mother Nature Collection-07



AT01; I didn't use this plate, I used HB21 but this plate has the same images except larger.



Comparison between HB-21 and AT-01.

Another size comparison.

I'm not sure what it is about this finished mani that I wasn't feeling; something to do with the stamping as I love the look of Shimmer Alessandra on top of the neutral base.  I definitely will be using Shimmer Alessandra again.

Shimmer Polishes are available here.  I seen on Shimmer Polish's FB site that they are having a Black Friday sale which ends today; the deal is buy 2 get 1 free; use code blackfriday.   

Hope you had a good weekend (better than me having to listen to the hubs grip all weekend); thanks for looking!

**polish provided for review; please see disclosure policy for information

Friday, November 28, 2014

It's All About the Base!

One of my favourite bases lately has been a few colours sponged then topped with gold flaky polish for interest.  The look is loosely based on a mani I had seen originally posted by Silvia Nails (IG @esmalterapia4me).  To be honest, when I did these nails and used the gold flaky, I did so from memory thinking that it was gold flakies that had been used, only to look at the pix after the fact and realize it was gold/yellow sponging!  Regardless, I'm still happy that I broke open my gold flaky polish as I've had it a while and had never used it; I like the random interest it adds!  I've done a couple mani's along these lines now; here's one I came up with not too long ago!


Started with a base of Sally Hansen Dark Huemoor**, this is two coats, no top coat.  My apologizes for the blue cuticles; it seemed the harder I tried to clean up a couple of fingers that needed it, the worse it got and I wasn't able to do a great cleanup.  But you can see the three fingers I did minimal cleanup are good; I'll have to try to apply it better next time!  Coverage was good in two coats and there is lots of shine even though no top coat has been applied.  Be careful with application and removal to avoid smurf nails though!  Dark Huemoor is part of the Sally Hansen Luxe Jewels Collection; and is in retail and drugstores now.


After the polish had dried for a few minutes, sponged on Ciate Headliner and OPI Front Lawn.


Added OPI The Man With the Golden Gun.   I have quite a few different gold flaky top coats; OPI The Man With the Golden Gun, Rococo Gold Leaf, and versions by Zoya and Sephora by OPI, but hadn't used any of them until recently.  When I did swatching to see which one I was wanting to use, I found they are all a little different and I happen to like the OPI version the best so its been my go to gold flaky for a few mani's now.  


As I didn't apply quick dry, waited about 20 minutes for the base polishes to dry before stamping. (You can see the thumb wasn't quite dry and squished a little when stamped but it wasn't terribly noticeable!   Then stamped using white Konad special polish using images from Messy Mansion MM14 on all fingers except thumb, which is Wistonia Hunters Life.  Top coated to finish.


Messy Mansion MM14


Wistonia Hunters Life


I did my right hand slightly different, no sponging, just topped with gold flakies and stamping.  I really like the colour combination of the navy, gold and white; will have to keep it in mind for a future mani!



Have a great weekend and thanks for looking!

**polish provided for review; please refer to disclosure policy for more information.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Thanksgiving Nails!

Happy Thanksgiving if you are celebrating today!!  This is the Thanksgiving mani I was wearing when we were celebrating here in Canada back in October; unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to share (except on IG) so thought would share now for the US Thanksgiving!



Started out with a stamper decal on the thumb using Infinity 65.


The rest of the base polishes used are Sally Hansen Butterscotch (index and pinky, OPI Don't Talk Bach to Me (middle) and Barielle Peanut Butter (ring).



Stamped using Messy Mansion MM23 on all fingers except pinky, which is BundleMonster BM-H11.



MM23



Did the right hand slightly different; used BM H-11 on pinky and index, MM23 on ring and the leaf on the thumb and Bunny Nails HD-E on thumb.  I didn't make note of the stamping polishes but I'm guessing they were an assortment of Sally Hansen Insta-dri's as I wasn't home when I did this.



Top coated to finish.



Have a great holiday if you are off; otherwise, thanks for looking!



Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Guest Post for The Dalai Lama's Nails

I did a guest post for Hannah at the Dalai Lama's Nails for her Blogiversary Celebration!  Please go here to check it out!



Happy Blogiversary, Hannah!

Thanks for looking!

Thursday, November 20, 2014

CANVAS lacquer Nuit Blanche All Nighter

I have another mani featuring a polish sent for review from CANVAS lacquer; this time it's the gorgeous CANVAS lacquer Nuit Blanche All Nighter**!


Started with a base of two coats of CANVAS lacquer Nuit Blanche All Nighter with an accent of two coats of Orly Cashmere Cardigan; topped with KBShimmer Clearly on Top. 


CANVAS lacquer Nuit Blanche All Nighter is a "purple jelly packed with small white hex, silver, holographic microglitter and turquoise hexes: as described on their shop....unfortunately, some of the larger turquoise hex glitters did curl; I contacted the ladies at CANVAS lacquer to let them know; they have decided to remove this version from their store, so it will no longer be available. Anyone who has purchased a bottle already are asked to contact them directly as they will be be offering a discount on the next purchase.  You can read their blog post about it here.  


Personally, I had no issue with this minor issue; it wasn't noticeable.  Like a lot of glitters, this was a top coat eater; before stamping, I only did one topcoat as I knew I'd be adding another layer after stamping.  If you were going to wear this alone, I would suggest a coat of Gelous followed by another coat of top coat for a smooth as glass finish; or your normal way for addressing top coat eaters.  That's what I do but I do know others use other methods.  But my finished nails two days later are smooth, no issue, even with the curl. 


Like I said, I knew I'd be adding some stamping; after searching through my plate stash for what seemed like hours and hours (this was the night I tweeted I was up til 1:30 am because I spent so long searching for the perfect image to use!), I decided upon an image from DRK A which would allow the base to shine through, then stamped using Mundo de Unas 16 that I picked purposely to match the accent polish and I think it's pretty close!   


Added a gold gem to the accent nail (I really need to watch a tutorial on adding these for some tips!) and top coated again to finish.


CANVAS lacquer polishes are available via their Etsy shop here; there is a 10% discount until December 31st using the code HOLICAN10.  Anyone who is local to the GTA can purchase CANVAS lacquer products by stopping by a local pop up event on December 6th from 11 am to 6 pm at 224 Wallace Avenue, Unit 104 in Toronto.  Please check out You Can Keep It! Holiday Pop Up for more information!  

Thanks for looking!

**polish provided for review; please refer to disclosure policy

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Can't Decide What To Do!

With the recent presale of ILNP ultra chrome flakies that the nail community is all in a tizzy for right now, as well as other makers who soon will be releasing versions too, flakies seem to be the hot topic right now!  I'm still on the fence if I'm going to order by the end of ILNP's presale which ends today, but it did make me check my stash to look at the flakies I do have on hand (recognizing that the ultra chromes are nothing like have been released so far!).  One of the flakies I came across Dance Legend Candy Flakes 612 Tinsel. While I initially wanted to do some gold stamping on top of the flakies, I decided to make an accent of leadlight stamping to tie it into the Sunday AiS challenge; here's what I came up with.


Started with a base of OPI Don't Mess With OPI, with an accent of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.  Both two coats, topped with KBShimmer Clearly on Top.  


Added two layers of Dance Legend Candy Flakes Tinsel on top.


While there was good coverage, I decided on a third layer of flakies, then top coated.


Added an image from Infinity 07 using black Konad special polish, then top coated in preparation of leadlighting. 


Filled in the image on accent using assortment of jellies including adding dabs of the flaky polish on the leaves to tie in.  Top coated the leadlighting to finish.


The next morning in overcast skies, I noticed that the flakies popped so much better; which is the very first pix.  

Anyone out there preordered any of the ILNP ultra flakies?  I'm really on the fence right now; I have quite a few flaky polishes but don't reach for them that often which is one reason why I haven't ordered yet.  The other is that I think a lot more brands will be releasing them soon so no big rush as I know more are yet to come.  The final reason is I can't decide which ones to pick!  A lot of them seem the same...yet so different; I don't know what to do!  I may hold off until I see more swatches in the upcoming weeks....plus see what other makers are releasing as I know quite a few out there have plans to release them too.  Decisions, decisions!

Thanks for looking!


Friday, November 14, 2014

Digit-al Dozen Does Thankfulness; Day 5

It's the last day of Digit-al Dozen Thankfulness Week! I had planned on doing a mani last night with something insightful to what I'm thankful for; I really do have so much to be thankful for and had so many ideas, I could do thankfulness month!  But I could barely keep my eyes open after dinner and just had no energy to do my nails.  So I'm thankful I have a full archive of draft posts to be able to use one of them for a Day 5 mani!  Here's my Day 5 mani; I'm thankful for playing euchre with my weekend friends during the summer months!  I love playing cards and euchre is probably my favourite card game; I don't miss too many Saturday nights when we play as it is one of my favourite things to do!  I actually had these on my nails on one of our Saturday night games this past summer! Here's what I came up with!


Started with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls; two coats and top coat (no pix as have shown before.  Stamped using black and red Konad special polish using images from MoYou Comics Collection-02 (thumb and middle), Fab III (pinky), HB25 and OB29 (ring and index).  Top coated to finish.


This mani is all kinds of fail; top coat smear and poor cleanup but was a good idea, just poorly executed!  I really like the card images from MoYou Comics-02; will definitely reach for it again to do a card related mani.  

MoYou Comics Collection-02


It has been so nice to look at every one's mani's and hear (I mean read!) the stories behind the art; there's been some really touching and heartfelt posts this week and I think anyone who has read these posts got to know the ladies in the group just a little bit better! 

Let's see what the other ladies are thankful for on Day 5!



Thanks for looking!


Thursday, November 13, 2014

Digit-al Dozen Does Thankfulness; Day 4

For Day 4 of Digit-al Dozen Does Thankfulness, I'm thankful for nail polish!  Not necessarily the bottles of polish (well, maybe a little because they do bring me relaxation and joy) but a broad spectrum of items relating to the nail polish community generally!  I'm thankful that I seen a Konad display several years ago that got me into doing nail art.  I'm thankful for the mini art creations on my nails, as well as the time spent doing my nails destressing from the events of the day. I'm thankful for turning to the internet to find more image plates which in turn put me onto Makeup Alley where my eyes were opened to the vast amount of polishes available worldwide.   MUA too was the place that I began to swap polishes and as I've said many times on my blog, swapping is awesome to obtain polishes you wouldn't otherwise be able to get from another area of the world.  MUA turned me onto many ladies that I messaged back and forth with, eventually meeting up with several in person; I have met up with other nail fanatics in Las Vegas as well as a meet up earlier this spring at the Girly Bits shop where we made our own polishes.  MUA was also the place that I learned about indie nail polish makers; I'm so thankful for the indie polish makers out there who are creating such unique and gorgeous polishes for us nail polish lovers! A few ladies branched off from MUA to create private groups so we could connect and talk not only about nail polish but life in general.  I've been involved in a lot of Secret Santa's and other seasonal exchanges, and the generosity of the ladies I've exchanged with is truly heartwarming. From these connections, I was turned to Facebook and joined many online FB groups, which in turn connected me with a whole wide range of groups; Adventures in Stamping was the very first FB group I joined, which is a large group talking all about stamping, which lead to numerous other groups used to stay connected to polish; some groups are about polish in general, some are swap groups, a lot of indie makers have their own FB page so you can learn about updates on their brand, to fan groups of so many indie makers out there that you can connect to and even blogging community groups.  I learn about sales and exclusives from a lot of these pages which my wallet is thankful for!  In a lot of these groups, I connect privately with members and correspond via text and messaging or emailing and have met in person; and have developed friendships all out of our mutual love for a bottle of polish. Polish too has connected me with a fantastic group of ladies who form the Digit-al Dozen.  Not only are these ladies uber talented in so many facets of nail art, but they are a genuinely caring group of ladies looking out for and supporting each other in other areas of life not necessary relating to nail polish.   So this is my tribute mani to the nail polish community in general and everything I am thankful for associated with it!  



To tie into the theme of polish thankfulness, I thought of the meet up I was part of this spring.  I met with Frazzle and Aniploish, nailxchange, Honeybee_Nails and Tracy Loves Lacquer and went to Girly Bits shop in Kingsville, Ontario.  We seen where all the magic happens at Girly Bits at the shop, learned the basics of how to make polish and were left to play with base, glitter from Pam's huge assortment of supplies.  This is one of the polishes I made that day which is the first time I've worn it, which I had coined Perfect Periwinkle.

 





Stamped using white Konad special polish using images from FUN 12 and NS-02. (Note to image plate makers:  we need more indie polish brand names on plates!)



Added a few dots for filler and interest using CND Silver Chrome and Butter London Bramble.



Top coated to finish.


In relation to polish as well, I'm thankful for all those people that check out my blog, IG, Pinterest, and various other social medias...aka, anyone who might be reading this now or seeing the pix of this mani somewhere out there!  While my blog has always been a means of me to keep track of the nails that I do, it has connected me with a lot of people; I've been contacted by numerous polish makers and others to do reviews for their products, I read a lot of blogs which has helped me take care of my nails, cuticles, etc better; just so much to be thankful regarding nail polish community generally.  I am thankful!

Here's the other ladies Day 4 Thankfulness mani's!



Thanks for looking!