Nail Art: Easy Bright Summer Nails

Hello! I'm back! Summer is almost over and it's already the end of July! I guess time flies when you're having fun... Today I'll be sharing with you a bright summer design that's really easy and simple. It's really eye-catching and fun, I like it a lot! The bright base provides a really nice contrast to the black dots, and the pink prevents the black from being too harsh against the coral base. I actually came up with this design by accident... I wanted to have just one black dot at the base of my nail, but I found it looked a little weird so I decided to add two more black dots... I then discovered that I made it look even worse, so I tried to save the design by adding the pink dot in the middle. It turned out really nice so I decided to make a post about it. I don't know if I really need to do a tutorial on how to recreate this design... I think it's pretty self-explanatory, but, if anyone wants me to, just leave a comment and I'll try to get one up as soon as possible! Let's get to the design! 

What I used: 

Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy Matte

Polish: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Snappy Sorbet, Nails Inc Black Taxi, L'oreal Penthouse Pink

Top Coat: Pro FX Fast Drying Top Coat

As always, thank you so much for your support and for taking the time to read my posts! 

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Swatch and Review: Spring Flower Manicure with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

Hi guys! It's March! I can't believe it's already been two months into 2014! And... I can't believe that's it's still snowing where I live. I thought winter was over, but obviously, it's not. Just yesterday, the snow was starting to melt, the sun came out, and it actually smelled like spring. Then this morning, when I woke up, surprise! Everything outside was completely white, I couldn't even see the house across from me! So, naturally, I decided to create a spring flower mani with a few cheerful colours. I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Fuchsia Flare for most of my nails, then for the accent nail on my ring finger, I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lickety-Split Lime for the base. Using a nail art brush, I drew five straight lines to create the flower petals, then used a dotting tool dipped in Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Good to Grape for the middle. I've already done a swatch and review of this colour, if you're interested, click here. A complete review of the rest of the colours I used will be after the photos.

In general, I like the Insta-Dri line. The two colours I used for this mani had a great formula. It was creamy and thick, without being clumpy or gooey. They were bright and completely opaque in two coats. I do have to say though, that the formula for the pink polish was slightly runny and it was hard to keep it from running into my cuticles. There are many colours in this line, maybe around 20 or 30 colours, with a good colour range; from sheer nudes, to the darkest black. Definitely a line that I trust and recommend!

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Swatch and Review: Revlon Plum Seduction

Happy New Year! It is officially 2014!!! Anyone excited about the first day of 2014? I sure am. Pantone has announced the colour of the year for 2014.... radiant orchid. You can find their post announcing the colour here. I thought it would be very appropriate to start off the 2014 year with a post of a swatch of polish that is the Pantone colour of the year! Today I'll be showing you a gorgeous polish, Revlon Plum Seduction. It's a beautifully rich fuchsia plum jelly. Whoo, that was a mouthful! I really like this colour. It's so bright and cheery, but also rich and warm at the same time. In the shade, or indoors, you can really see the purple undertones in the colour. I love how it's slightly sheer, though not too sheer that you can see my nail bed. I used two coats for the photos, though I could have applied three for full opacity. 

What I used:

Base coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Protein Enriched Base Coat and Revitalizer

Colour: 2 coats of Revlon Plum Seduction

Top Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Quick Dry High Gloss Top Coat

I hope you all enjoy the first day of the new year! Cheers!

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Perfect Manicure Step #3: Base Coat

Hi guys! Today's post is step three to my perfect manicure series; base coat! This step is often overlooked because it seems like an unnecessary part of a manicure. So what exactly does a base coat do? A base coat is a thin layer of clear polish that is applied as the base layer. It creates a smooth surface on the nail, which gives the polish something to adhere and stick to. It is also a layer of protection, preventing the nails from being stained by the coloured polish. 

I like to use base coats that are strengthening because my nails are weak. If you've read my other posts, you would have noticed that I include a little information section about what I used for the manicure. Most of the time, I use a base coat from the brand Pro FX. I found it at Walmart for about 5 dollars, which is pretty good considering the size it comes in. I'll link my post in which I explain each bottle in more detail here. 

There are a lot of base coats on the market. Ones that claim to make your nails grow fast, grow stronger, grow thicker, make your nail polish last longer.... the list goes on. I recommend choosing a base coat that is moderately priced, around 5 or 6 dollars is reasonable. If it's a strengthening base coat and made by a more expensive brand (OPI, Nailtiques, Essie...), it should not cost more than 12 dollars... Keep in mind that really cheap base coats may not work well. I'm not saying that the really expensive ones will work the best, because that is not true, but I do find from my own experience that cheap polishes in general contain ingredients that are more harsh and will more often damage my nails. 

Here are two of my favourite base coats from Pro FX. 

Thanks for reading! Come back soon for more posts!

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Swatch and Review: OPI Swimsuit...Nailed It!

Happy New Year's Eve everybody!

Today's the last day of 2013!!! 2013 is coming to an end, but I'm really looking forward to starting a new, fresh year. One of my new year's resolutions will be to post at least once a week. I know I've been kind of bad about it this year, I looked back at my posts and was a little embarrassed to see month long gaps between posts. So sorry! Today I'll be showing you a manicure I did. It kind of works as a new year's eve mani too... Without further delay, let's get onto the mani itself!

What I used:
Base Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Protein Enriched Base Coat and Revitalizer and 1 coat of Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat
Colour: 2 coats of OPI Swimsuit...Nailed It! and a glitter gradient with Orly Sashay My Way
Top Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Quick Dry High Gloss Top Coat

I'd like to thank everybody who reads by blog for supporting me throughout my first year! There will be many more posts to come in the new year! Have fun and stay safe!

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Nail Art - Easy Cheetah Nails

It's been a long time since I've posted a nail art post, so I decided to come up with an easy, simple cheetah nail. Animal prints are very popular right now, and since we all love nail polish, I wanted to show you all an easy way to have cheetah print on your nails. I decided to only have an accent nail with cheetah print, for simplicity, but I have also tried it all on all ten nails. 

First, I applied Pro FX Protein Enriched Base Coat and Revitalizer.

Then, I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Gilty Pleasure as my base. Any beige or light brown metallic polish will work for this design.

After that, I used the matte version of OPI You Don't Know Jacques and a small dotting tool (I used a bobby pin!) to make little spots on my nails. I know that the normal version of this OPI polish does not like the matte version. Any medium brown with or without shimmer will work. 

Then, using a toothpick and Rimmel Black Satin, I made "C" shapes around the spots and irregular ovals in any empty spaces. If you don't have this specific polish, any black creme polish will work just fine.

Finally, wait until everything is completely dry, about 10 or 15 minutes. You don't want the top coat to smear you design. I used Pro FX Quick Dry Top Coat. 

And you're finished! I hope you enjoyed this easy design, check back often for more!

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Swatch and Review: Essie After School Boy Blazer

Hi everyone! It's me again! I'm showing another polish from the Essie Fall 2013 Collection, called After School Boy Blazer. It's a really nice, almost black, dark turquoise-navy blue. Whew! That was a long description. I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the tip wear in my photos. I forgot to take pictures after I swatched this colour and only remembered a few days later. 

Products I Used:

Base Coat: Pro FX Protein Enriched Base Coat and Revitalizer

Polish: Essie After School Boy Blazer

Top Coat: Pro FX Quick Dry High Gloss Top Coat

I hope you are having a great day! Thanks for reading!

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Swatch and Review: Essie Vested Interest

Hi guys! As promised, I am catching up on all my missed posts. How's the weather where you are? It's been raining all day today where I am. I guess fall is finally here. Today, I'm showing a new polish from Essie's Fall 2013 Collection, Vested Interest. It is a sage, green-grey polish with no shimmer or glitter. I think it's so creamy and pretty, just dark enough while still looking fresh and clean. I find some fall colours to be too dark and gloomy, almost like it's sad that summer's over. The formula was awesome, fully opaque in two coats. Have any of you noticed that Essie has changed their brush. I remember I used to hate Essie polishes because of their extra skinny brush. Now, it seems like they finally realize that their brushes are too skinny, and have now made them thicker....

Products I Used: 

Base Coat: Pro FX Protein Enriched Base Coat and Revitalizer

Polish: Essie Vested Interest

Top Coat: Pro FX Quick Dry High Gloss Top Coat

I hope all of you are having a great day. Stay safe!

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Swatch and Review: Orly Halley's Comet

Hi guys! How have you all been? I just came back from a three-week long trip. I would first like to apologize for my serious lack of posts during this last month; I travelled out of the country, and though I wore nail polish, blogger was blocked in the country I had travelled to, so I was unable to update all of you. With that aside, I would like to show you Orly Halley's Comet. It's a beautiful green turquoise colour packed with gold shimmer. Very sparkly and amazing. I applied three coats of Halley's Comet for a completely opaque finish. On top of that, I decided to add a glitter gradient with OPI Which is Witch. This polish did stain my nails pretty badly though, my nails were completely blue after I removed the polish. They were stained so badly that no rubbing could get the stains out. I had to use my trusty method of stain removal: using whitening toothpaste. More on this in a later post...

What I used:

Base Coat: Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat
Polish: Three coats of Orly Halley's Comet
Top Coat: *don't remember, maybe Out the Door

Thank you so much for reading! I will try to catch up on posts as soon as I can!

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Swatch and Review - Rimmel Posh Pink

Hello! Today I will be showing Rimmel Posh Pink, a pretty fuchsia pink cream. The formula was great, fully opaque in two coats. It lasted pretty well too, no chips and minimal tip wear after 4 days. The photos below are under florescent light, but the colour is very similar outdoors. I did the Pink Piggies nail art with this polish as well.

As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read this post and my blog. I'll post more soon!

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Swatch and Review - Zoya Meg

Hello again! I'm really trying to get caught up with my posts, so here is another swatch and review for you to enjoy! I'm showing Zoya Meg, a beautiful metallic green. On my ring finger is a Marimekko inspired nail art pattern. I saw this on ellandish's channel on YouTube and LOVED this design so much that I had to copy her, her video can be seen here. The formula of Zoya Meg was great, opaque in two coats, but the wear time was amazing! The photos you see were taken on the fifth day of wearing this, and NO tip wear! Awesome.

What I used:

Base Coat: Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat

Polish: 2 coats of Zoya Meg

Top Coat: INM Out the Door Top Coat

Have a great day!

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Swatch and Review - Rimmel Hot Gossip

Happy Friday! I can't believe it's already Friday! There goes another week! Today I'll be showing you Rimmel Hot Gossip, a blue-toned sparkly red. I'm not sure if this polish is still available since it's pretty old, but I figured I'd do a swatch and review anyways, just in case any of you still have this. The formula is pretty good, almost opaque in 1 coat, but I did two anyways. Rimmel Hot Gossip is hard to describe, it's not exactly shimmery, it's more like a standard red cream with red sparkles. Not glitter, but subtle sparkles. The polish claims to have lycra infused in it, and says up to 10 days wear, but I can't confirm that since I only wore this polish for a day.

What I used:

Base Coat: OPI Matte Nail Envy

Polish: 2 coats of Rimmel Hot Gossip

Top Coat: INM Out the Door Top Coat

Thanks again for reading! 

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Swatch and Review - OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre?

Hello, today I'll be showing you my all time favourite sheer pink, OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre? This polish is the perfect sheer, milky pink. It's never streaky or hard to apply, I've worn from 1 coat to 3 coats of this and never had any difficulties in application in terms of patchiness or streaks. In the photos below, I'm wearing three coats. I've also shown this polish in my swatch and review of OPI Which is Witch. If you are interested in that post, click here.

What I used:

Base Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat

Polish: 3 coats of OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre?

Top Coat: 1 coat of INM Out the Door Dry Fast Top Coat

I hope you enjoyed this post! As always, thank you so much for reading, see you soon!

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Nail Art - Ladybug Nails

Hi! This post will be another nail art tutorial, ladybug nails! I do have to give credit to cutepolish for this idea, her video can be found here. I did tweak her technique a little... you'll see where in my photo tutorial. I just think these ladybug nails are so cute and adorable, and perfect during the spring and summer! Let's start!

Materials needed:

-Classic red cream polish
-Black striper
-Black polish
-White polish
-Dotting tool or the end of a bobby pin

Start with a classic red cream polish as your base colour. I used Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Stiletto Red. You can see my swatch and review of this polish here. 

.

Next, using the black striper, make one line across the tips of your nails, then one line down the middle of the nail, making a "T".

Then, with the black polish, fill in the tips to the line across your nail, similar to an over-exagerrated french manicure tip.

Now, using the black polish and a dotting toolmake 3-4 dots alternating the distance from the line down the middle of the nail. Make sure the dots are equal in size and shape.

Finally, using the white polish and a clean dotting tool, make 2 dots on the black tips to create eyes. Finished!

What I used:

Base Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat

Classic Red Cream Polish: 2 coats of Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Stiletto Red

Black Striper: Kiss Nail Art Paint Black

Black Polish: of 2 coats Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Black Satin

White Polish: OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls

Dotting Tool: The end of a bobby pin!

I hope you enjoyed this manicure!

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Swatch and Review - Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Stiletto Red

Hello! Today I'll be showing all of you Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Stiletto Red. Stiletto Red is a classic cream red polish, nothing to unique. The formula for this one was pretty nice, it was almost opaque in one coat, but two coats deepened the colour and made everything perfectly opaque. Stiletto Red is slightly darker in real life. What I love about this polish is the brush. I don't have a picture to show you, but the Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro polishes have this contoured, flat, wide brushes that are really good quality. The brush is similar to an OPI Pro-Wide brush, with the feeling of an Essie brush. I know, weird. The brush is also curved to apply polish around the cuticle area easily. 

What I used:

Base Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat

Polish: 2 coats of Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Stiletto Red

Top Coat: None, this polish was used as a base colour for the Ladybug Manicure

Thanks again for reading! Have a great day!

Mostin

Swatch and Review - OPI A Butterfly Moment

Hello! I'm so sorry about the lack of posts recently. I really don't have an excuse other than I've been getting really bad nail polish pictures from my camera and the sun is just not cooperating..... Well, here's another OPI polish from the Mariah Carey Spring 2013 Collection, A Butterfly Moment. A Butterfly Moment is a soft, nude beige-pink with golden shimmer. As I have said before, I'm really pale but I have a warm skin tone. This polish worked as a perfect nude polish for me. The golden shimmer really complimented the warmness of my skin. It is slightly frosty because of the shimmer.....

What I used:

Base Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat
Polish: 2 coats of OPI A Butterfly Moment
Top Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

If you are looking for more cat pictures, I will no longer be adding them at the end of my posts, please check the link on my navigation bar....

Thank you so much for reading!

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