roses and glitter

Check out my Sugar Daddy Gelish with pink roses and Martha Stewart glitter.

What's New

Oh my Goodness I feel so bad that I almost let this blog die. I still cannot pretend I will be updating faithfully but I will try to be better. Also, if anyone has been waiting to see what I come up with for Aztec nail art (the idea that won my contest) I will do that eventually but have not yet. I have some sort of block about it but I'll get around to it one of these days. The young lady who won that contest should have her polish some time ago. I do hope she's enjoying it.

Much has been going on with me. I am 3/4 of the way done my nail course and have found a salon to set up in upon graduation. I am so excited about this! It is really an ideal arrangement. I just hope I can build up a clientele relatively quickly.

For now I just want to share a few things I did recently:

Dots and Flowers Mani:

Floral nail art inspired by Robin Moses:

Blue Leopard Print mani:

Sheer Gelish Mani with Glitter Tips:

Rock Star toes using Gelish and Martha Stewart glitter:

Lets chat sooner than later... maybe *blush*

Gelish... finally!

I have been excited about Gelish for some time, despite not having used it until a couple of days ago. Lots of lovely colours and a mani that lasts three weeks without chipping, which you can do nail art on besides? How can you go wrong? I finally got my own basic Gelish supplies, and I'm just as thrilled with the whole thing as I thought I'd be. Unfortunately the only retailer I could find for Gelish locally (Sally) has a very small selection... only Mini's and not many colours so I'm on the hunt for another distributer or reputable mail order source that delivers to Canada. Shearup.com looks promising but I'm wary because I've heard there are knock off Gelish products going around and of course I want to be sure to get the real thing. I'm going to give Nail Harmony a call tomorrow and see if they can point me in the right direction.

I've never been very good for reading instructions, (I'm impatient), so I plunged right in and did it up and it turned out not quite perfect because of it. I had skipped the ph bond and the cleanser at the end and put the layers on too thickly so it turned out a little sticky-tacky. I wasn't up to doing it all over right then so I put a top coat of regular polish (Seche Vite) to deal with the tackiness and plan to redo them next week. That seems to be a good temprairy fix. At least I'm quite sure I know what I did wrong. I'm going to practice on my Mom tonight. I plan to take mine off to do the nail art for the Rotterdam Contest Giveaway and then I'll do another Gelish colour after that.

As an aside the contest seems to be going well. Thanks to all who have entered and visited for the first time from the entry links. Please keep the entries coming. The more successful this contest is the more likely I'll be to do more in the future. My traffic is up which I'm pleased with and I like the interaction with readers and the whole idea of giveaways. It's fun to share favourite products.

So back to Gelish, I am wearing Bella's Vampire, which I wasn't too excited about to begin with. Like I said Sally was short on colour selection. However, I like it much more than I thought I would. It reminds me a bit of Chanel's Vamp from way back in the late 90's, that kind of dark, dark dried blood colour that everyone was wild about and there were wait lists for all over. I am probably one of the only women in existence who just can't stand Twilight (sorry to you fans) so I pretend the name is a reference to Bela Legosi from Dracula, rather than Twilight's Bella, despite the spelling making it rather obvious this is not so. From the pictures it looks black but really it has a purple-red tinge.

The uv light I got is the Gelish Mini Pro 45. It was around $80.00 Canadian dollars and considering you can pay over $500.00 for a large uv light I think it was a great deal. I've read very good reviews on this little light. I got a 2 year warranty on it for an extra $8 and I think curing the thumbs separately and waiting about 15 more seconds per cure than with the larger models is a small price to pay to save over $400! Plus I like that it is tiny, light and portable. It's sleek and cute and if I do end up working mobily, (I'm thinking renting a chair at a salon may make my life easier though I haven't decided for sure), it will be nice to have small, easily portable equipment. Here's my gear. For colours I have Bela's Vampire, Good Gossip and Exhale so far, but can't wait to stock up on others.

On another note my nail tech course is going well. It's been all theory so far which I'm doing well in but I'm anxious to get to the practical part and start doing things. I'll take pics of what I learn and post it here. Should be good times. I plan to give my blog url to my clasmates so here's a shout out to any of my Concepts ladies who've made their way here. He-ey! :)

I've Got The Blues

I've been wearing lots of blues lately which should come as no surprise to anyone who knows my taste at all. Here I'll review three, all of which I love for different reasons.

I Don't Give A Rotterdam from OPI's new Holland collection is a soft blue-grey with silver and gold shimmer. The formula is great. I used three coats because I'm anal like that but two would have done. It's one of my new favorite blues, more subtle than most my favorites but making the list all the same. I layered Yule Love This Silver over one finger on each hand just to spice things up. I'll review Yule Love This Silver on it's own another time but for now I'll just say it's incredible, like tiny Christmas lights.

Finger Paint's Laugh My Art Off is a bright medium blue packed with micro glitter. I think I used four coats to achieve this look, which may go aways to explaining why it took me ages and tons of polish remover to get it off. The effort it took to take it off is my only complaint though. It lasted quite well and I love the colour and the effect of the shimmer. This is my first go with Finger Paints and I'm a loyal cusotomer now.

OPI's Designer Series Magic is heads and tails above most of my polishes. It's a deep bright blue tinged with purple and packed with micro glitter. It has great coverage and lasts for ages. I've been wearing it all week. The only problem I had with it was some minor bubbling. The depth of colour and the effects of the shimmer is amazing. I uber <3 it. :)



I Don't Give A Rotterdam Giveaway

I have not been updating often and for that I do apologise. It's been difficult because my computer is still broken but I expect it will be back soon and I plan to make a little more effort. To lure some of my former readers back who may have strayed away in my absence and hopefully gain some new ones too I'm having a little giveaway. I have been buying OPI's Holland Collection in fits and starts. I bought "I Don't Give A Rotterdam" last week and I <3 it... review in my next post. Today I meant to buy "I Have A Herring Problem", which is similar but slightly darker, but accidentally bought a second bottle of Rotterdam. Since I hate returning things and want to do a give away anyway I'll be sending this brand new bottle of OPI's I Don't Give A Rotterdam to the winner of this little contest.

I Don't Give A Rotterdam Giveaway Guidelines
1. You must live in North America to enter. Sorry it would just cost me too much to send it elsewhere.
2. You must follow my blog to enter. It's okay if you've just joined though.
3. To enter comment on this post. Say that you want to enter and write an idea for nail art. I will do the nail art the winner suggests and send them the bottle of polish.
4. Entry deadline is Monday, March 5. I'll send the polish the night of the 7th if you promptly send me me your address.

Layla Magnefects Metallic Sky Floral Mani

So I tried Layla Magnefects Metallic Sky and I think I didn't do it quite right because although it has great coverage and a nice colour the magnetic effect was just not working for me. I watched a youtube tutorial after and I think I held the magnet wrong so I'll give it another go some other time. Anyway although the colour was pretty I couldn't possibly go around with  just plain turquoise blue on my nail so I painted these flowers. I used OPI Need Sunglasses, OPI What's With The Cattitude, China Glaze Pink Voltage Neon, Sally Hanson White On and an Orly Green (I'll get the exact name later). I used a teeny brush and a couple of stick on flowers I got at Sally's and I must say I'm pleased with the result.

Layla Magnesfects Metallic Sky (quite possibly applied wrong)

With pretty flowers

On another note was anoyone aware that you have to learn all sorts of bacteriology and chemistry theory to be a nail tech? Yeah, me neither... that's my tomorrow. :) Later

Pastel Polkas, Sort-of-Valentines, School and Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop and Dupes

Sooo, my computer is still on the fritz but I decided to borrow my Dad's to make this update. Shhh, don't tell him. After getting some very kind and encouraging feedback from readers I didn't want to let this blog slumber too long.

Oh, so, I've so much to catch up on, I'm not sure where to begin. I started Nail Tech classes. It's a four month two day a week course after which I'll be a certified Nail Tech and be able to go into business. I love polish and hope to mostly do Gelish and nail art on natural nails but after this I'll know how to do acrylic and gel extensions too.

I had on my polka dotted mani which I'll show below for the first day and several students and even the teacher thought that it was those peel-ons and were quite impressed when I said I'd done them myself which of course I thought was just fab. ;)

So since I last posted I did two almost identical polka dotted manis. I loved the first so much I did it again with a slight change. Okay so, I choose aqua, blue, pink and purple. I choose a very light shade and then a similar but darker shade of each. I painted one finger on each hand in the lighter shade of each colour. I also painted the remaining finger white. Then using toothpicks I dotted on polka dots in white and the darker version of each respective corresponding colour. On the white nail I made multi coloured polka dots. The first time I did this I did those polka dots in the darker version of the colour. The second time I used the lighter version and made the thumb the white/multi coloured polka dotted finger, and I think that looked much nicer. That is Matilda (aka. Tilly) in the background btw. Is she not lovely?

Polishes I used: Sally Hansen Green Tea, Sephora OPI Mermaid To Order, Sally Hansen First Kiss, OPI Japenese Rose Garden, Sally Hansen Himalayan Blue, Borghese Marino, Essie Bangle Jangle, Essie Marino Cool, Sally Hansen White On, OPI Top Coat

Before that I did this multi patterned mani that would be good for Valentine's if you observed that kind of thing which I do not. I used OPI Red, OPI Black Shatter, OPI Happy Anniversary, OPI Sephora Mr.Right Now, OPI Black Onyx, OPI Gettin' Miss.Piggy With It and OPI Alpine Snow. I think I would forgo the rhinestones on the black bows if I do something like this again as they are a bit big and obscure the nice effect the bow made. The whole effect was a bit disjointed. I prefer more uniformity usually, but it was fun for a change.

Oh my, so I have more to say but my typing fingers are getting tired I'll show you one more thing and then save something for tomorrow. Right now I'm wearing Deborah Lippman's Candy Shop which I totes <3 .

It has been on my fingers for five days... with only minor repairs required. Usually I'm beyond sick of whatever's on my fingers by day two so this is really saying something. It is pricey though at $22 Canadian dollars a pop for a small bottle so I set about trying to dupe it. I didn't have quite the right pink to dupe it but I came up with some interesting approximations. Basically OPI Rainbow Connection over pink brings you close.

Swatched below left to right: China Glaze Pink Voltage Neon with OPI Rainbow Connection, China Glaze Fifth Avenue with OPI Rainbow Connection, Sally Hansen First Kiss with OPI Rainbow Connection, and lastly the original Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop.

Ah, I have some acquisitions to share and some swatches and nail art to show but this is more than enough for one day. See you soon and thanks so much for the nice comments. You encouraged me to come back sooner than later. :))

Crash :((

Oh readers, I have so much to tell you and show you. I have new nail art patterns, new polishes and I started nail tech classes but... my computer crashed and there's only so much updating I can do by iPhone. Please check back... I'll return as soon as I get my laptop working. Xoxo

Ruffian Style American Apparel Dance with Deborah Lippmann I Know What Boys Like

I did this ruffian style mani using American Apparel's Dance as a base with Deborah Lippmann's I Know What Boys Like over top. Dance took 4 coats to achieve opacity... 4! That's just too much I think although not unusual for a light shade like this. I Know What Boys Like went on opaque and lovely. I used two coats. I adore this shade. It's a near dupe of American Apparel's Mount Royal and fairly similar to OPI's Dating A Royal, both of which I own, but I'm okay with that because I love the colour. It's slightly lighter than both but not by much. I really like the way it turned out. Dance is very close to the colour of my skin tone so in a way I thought it made my fingers look longer. I had to fight the urge to put a dot of white and black on the end to turn these into blue eyes. Maybe another time :)

Sparkly, Multicoloured, Polka-Dotted Kid & Deborah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers

Well these entries will be short because I’m super tired… I think my little nieces gave me a cold. One good thing about having them around though is there are more nails to paint.

Here are multi coloured polka dots and sparkles on my little niece Meredith. I snapped these pictures as soon as we were done painting them because knowing her she’ll have them all scratched off before you know it! I used lots of lacquers for these: American Apparel’s Neon Yellow & Neon Violet, China Glaze’s Blue Year’s Eve and OPI’s Gone Gonzo, Rainbow Connection and an OPI Top coat. I used toothpicks for dotting.

Here is three layers of Deborah Lippmann’s Ruby Red Slippers over two coats of OPI’s Black Onyx. I did the black undercoat in hopes of reducing tip wear (I found the sheer base contributed to quick tip wear on Lippmann’s Across The Universe, which otherwise wore very well). I think the black made it a little darker then I’d like so next time I wear it I will try it with a red base or none at all just to see how that compares. It is similar to OPI’s Mr. Right Now and Getting Miss. Piggy With It below, but much more sophisticated looking overall.

OPI's BLack Onyx & Deborah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers:

vs. Sephora by OPI Mr.Right Now & Gettin' Miss Piggy With It:

Deborah Lippmann Lady Marmalade Review & American Apparel's Mount Royal with Constellation

So I finally got the top off of my Deborah Lippmann Lady Marmalade, or rather I got my Dad to take it off with some kind of rench or vice grip or something. I honestly don’t know that it was worth the trouble. I wasn’t thrilled with the effect, so much so that I forgot to take a picture. I never forget to take a picture so I think this indicates my level of dissatisfaction. I’ll have to review it again I suppose, because really what good is a post sans pic? Perhaps I’ll put it on someone else. There’s no denying it’s just not my colour. It is a shimmery bright coral. My Mother called it garish, but in the bottle I found it appealing somehow anyway. Not so much on. It’s just not my thing. I did four coats because I need polish to be opaque and this just isn’t. Even then I just couldn't love or even really like it.

That was yesterday. I changed it up tonight and am I ever pleased! It was my first time actually using American Apparel polish and if this is the norm than I’m a loyal customer from here on in. I did a blue (Mount Royal) and then layered some silver tinsel style flakes (Constellation). I love, love, love Mount Royal. I am just nuts for blue polish and as I mentioned am a stickler for opacity. The formula was a bit thick but went on easily and smoothly and super opaque. Honestly I could have done with one coat, but I did two for good measure. This is unheard of for me. I’m never happy with so few coats but it is just such great even colour and coverage.  Considering that it is the least expensive brand I own, (I’m a bit of a polish elitist, I admit, as you can tell from my collection list), I’m just thrilled. Here’s hoping the other colours measure up to Mount Royal!

I then did two coats of Constellation. The silver flakes are kind of awkward, but I guess given their size I couldn’t reasonably expect them to be otherwise. I do like the effect but they were sticking up a bit so I did a super thick top coat (OPI Top Coat). At 3 bottles for $18 as compared to around $10 each for OPI and $20+ for Deborah Lippmann I must say if these are any indication American Apparel is the best bang for your buck, which is a little funny because I find their clothing overpriced.

Well my nails look like the night sky and I'm off to sleep!

Deborah Lippmann's Across The Universe and New Additions

I had a good weekend in the city and slept in Sunday morning on my little brother’s surprisingly comfortable futon. We then had a delicious brunch and I headed off polish shopping. It was quite the haul too. There were half off sales on some OPI and China Glaze at Lawtons and Deborah Lippmann at Mills. I picked up a couple other Deborah Lippmann’s I’ve been lusting after and then nipped around the corner for a splurge at American Apparel… what fun!

I drove home to look through my new goodies, watch my new favorite scary tv show, American Horror Story, and to try out Lippmann’s Across The Universe. I was planning to do up Lady Marmalade, but after putting on hand creme I couldn’t for the life of me get the top off! So I did three coats of Across The Universe, which went on smoothly, dried quickly and is as pretty as can be. In the future I may start with a blue or green solid colour so I needn’t use so much pricey polish. It took three coats to achieve opacity and I was conscious the whole time that this is the priciest polish I own. It’s one of the prettiest also though. It's a sheer blue base, with small blue sparkles and larger blue and green sparkles.

New additions:

Deborah Lippmann:

Icing On The Cake

Pump Up The Jam

Marquee Moon

I Know What Boys Like

Brown Eyed Girl

Dream A Little Dream

Across The Universe

Ruby Red Slippers

Lady Marmalade

OPI:

Divine Swine

Gone Gonzo

Silver Shatter

American Apparel:

Dance

Meteor Shower

Mount Royal

Neon Yellow

Raccoon

Constellation

Smoke Dazzle

Neon Green

Neon Violet

China Glaze:

Icicle

Blue Year’s Eve

Glittering Garland

OPI Black Onyx and Nicole OPI Too Rich For You Ruffian Mani

I did this mani to match a top I'm wearing out tonight which is a shimmery jade green with black detailing and it does co-ordinate perfectly!

I started with two coats of Black Onyx and then added three coats of Nicole OPI Too Rich For You "Ruffian" style, and one coat of OPI Top Coat... and I'm ready for a night out... all I have to do now is drive to the city in the snow and wriggle into that gorgeous outfit!


I'm almost tempted to skip the trip because I hate going out in the cold, but Mills Brothers is holding Deborah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers and I Know What Boys Like for me and I just must go get them. They tell me they have some DL half off so I guess I better get going... I could stand missing a party but not a polish sale!

xo

Mr.Right Now + Gettin' Miss Piggy With It

Back from the blackout with some glittery red nails. I’m very happy with this look, the pictures don’t do it justice. But here they are nonetheless. Please excuse the scratches on the windowsill and my hand... I live with cats.

I started with two coats of Sephora Opi’s Mr.Right Now and followed up with three coats of Gettin’ Miss. Piggy With it. The results are gorgeous. It’s a deep red with multiple layers of sparkles. 

It makes me think of Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers. Speaking of, I’m planning to try to track down Deborah Lippmann’s Ruby Red Slippers this weekend on a trip to the city and from what I see from online swatches the effect is similar. If I do find it I’ll let you all know how they compare.

xo

No SOPA No PIPA

Say no to sopa and pipa

KISS – Keeping It Simple and Sparkly

I began this mani with two coats of China Glaze’s Holly-Day. I really like this forest green colour and it has great coverage. I’d take OPI's heavy thick brush over China Glaze’s thin one any day. It’s small and it feels odd doing 4 or 5 strokes per nail as compared to the three I was told is proper and which always suffices with OPI’s brush. That said I do like China Glaze. 

Two coats of China Glaze's Holly-Day. Sorry the pictures are not great as it was evening and there was no natural light.

I then added two coats of OPIs Fresh Frog of Bel-Air. One coat looked nice and two was just gorgeous. See below.

 

 

Not that many will care but I won't be here tomorrow. I’m staying offline in general in support of the anti-SOPA blackout, but I'll be back after the blackout with a Sephora OPI Mr. Right-Now and OPI Getting Miss. Piggy With-It combo… sounds hot ;)

Say No to SOPA