Sunday, January 25, 2015

Nimbus Nails

Tonight I finally ticked "Nimbus Nails" off my to-do list! I followed this tutorial from The Nailasaurus and I can't stop staring! I don't know I took so long to try this one, it really is pretty easy. I decided to go for a colour palette that reminded me of a galaxy manicure, so I chose purples and blues. (I actually tried using a silver as well, but it turns out that cremes work best).


Products Used
Barry M Coconut (base)
China Glaze Up All Night
NYC Cosmetics Nolita's Lavender
Sally Hansen Pacific Blue
(Sally Hansen Hi-Ho Silver)
(China Glaze Re-fresh Mint)
(the colours in brackets didn't really show up much)


The effect is so pretty! It does take a handful of cotton swabs but it definitely looks like a water-colour painting. I will do this again for sure, and maybe stamp or do other art on top- but for my first time, I am enjoying it all on it's own! 


Have you tried this technique? 

xo Shawna

Friday, January 23, 2015

earthy ruffian nails

This week's theme for the twinkie nail art challenge was "earth tones". I actually don't really like most earth tones for myself (other people rock them, but not me!) so I decided to go for one of my favourite stormy blues (the sky is an earth tone, right?!) and layer it over a rich chocolate brown in an easy-to-do ruffian manicure. 


Products Used
Nicole by OPI Hard-Kourt Kardashian
Polish My Life Storm Clouds
China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat


The ruffian technique was pretty easy to do, and didn't require any tools. I'll be doing this again in different colour combinations, I think it would look great with a metallic polish!


Are you a fan of earth tones? Either for polish or in your wardrobe?

xo Shawna

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Purple and Gold Floral

I've just been feeling kind of meh about a lot of my manis lately! So, apologies for the lack of posting. If you follow my Instagram, you'll see bonus manicures that I don't always blog about! 

Today I got together with one of my besties, whom is also a polish and new nail art addict! She has a gorgeous flakie topcoat I wanted to try, so this mani kind of has a little bit of everything going on!


Products Used
CND Vinylux Rock Royalty
Ciate Snowglobe
Mundo de Unas Bronze
CND Vinylux Weekly Wear Topcoat
MoYou London Bridal 06 


I accidentally double stamped my ring finger so I just called it an accent and moved on! A lot of people rave about the MDU however I find I don't get the best image transfer with it.


What is your MDU polish experience?

xo Shawna

P.S. Here is a bonus pic: I did a Parisian theme for my co-worker yesterday! She absolutely loves Paris and was going to "A Night in Paris" gala tonight!

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Glittertastic Stamping

Another weekend coming to a close! After complaining about my 5 day work week... I picked up a temp shift at another dental office yesterday. (insert frowny emoji here!) Moral of the story... it can always get worse, lol. 

I did a little nail shopping yesterday and picked up some yellow stopper. Word on the street is that as a base coat, it's peel/pop off. So I figured I would try it out with some blingy glitter polish from Barry M! 


Products Used
Barry M Socialite
Barry M Catwalk Queen
Wet n' Wild Black Creme
China Glze Fast Forward Top Coat
Lou It Yourself Straight Vinyls
Bundle Monster 502


I was worried that stamping over it would detract from the glittery gorgeousness. However it shines through! Totally happy with the result.


Have you tried yellow stopper?

xo Shawna

Saturday, January 10, 2015

zig zag stripes

I was on the fence about even sharing this manicure, as I really wasn't too fond of it. I started with a gorgeous base of Butter London that was in my stocking (thanks mom!) although the brush had a chunk out of it so it was a bit finicky to apply. (I emailed them and they're going to send me a new bottle!) I thought I would try this hand painted design, but my brush was just too thick to get the delicate variations I had seen and was attempting to emulate. 


Products Used
Butter London Stag Do
Finger Paints Striper Hip Hip Hue-Ray
OPI Sheer Tints I Can Teal You Like Me
China Glaze Fast Forward


The white stripes seemed too stark, so I slicked on a coat of OPI's sheer tint. Unfortunately the top coat caused a few smears of the white paint - I had to get to bed! It definitely reduced my dislike of the mani, but not enough to keep it on more than 24 hours! Also - this bottle is really awkward to pose with, haha!


So- yay or nay?

xo Shawna

Friday, January 9, 2015

Black and White Forest

Happy Friday! Goodness am I glad it's the weekend. I only work about one 5 day work week a month, and of course in January it's the first week back after the holidays - boo hoo right? Anyways, I'm wiped! 

Today's manicure is for week 2 of the January twinkie nail art challenge - the theme being "black and white". The timing couldn't have been better - I got a bunch of stamping plates I ordered in yesterday's mail (both MoYou and Bundle Monster, which is a new-to-me brand). I had seen the gorgeous, ethereal tree design in my feed a few times and just had to have it. Black and white was a perfect palette for this stamping mani! I sandwiched the stamping with a few different glitters and this is the first manicure all week that I have kept on for longer than a day!


Products Used
China Glaze Snow
Sally Girl (unnamed) Silver Glitter
Wet n Wild Black Creme
China Glaze Fairy Dust
China Glaze Fast Forward
Bundle Monster 407


I hear that BM plates can be hit or miss with the quality, but this image stamped like a dream. (I also tested out a second plate, and it was slightly more finicky but I still got quite good transfers. It was the sugar skull design - notorious for people having issues with). 


Any plans for the weekend?

xo Shawna

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Holographic Watermarble

ALL THE HOLOS!! I received my halo hues collection nearly a month ago now, but just hadn't had much opportunity with all the Christmas manicures to use them. So, I figured- why not use them all at once?! 


Products Used
Color Club Halo Hues 2013:
Beyond
Cosmic Fate
Miss Bliss
Over the Moon
Eternal Beauty
Kismet
China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat
Cuter Cuticles Cutie Guard


Hopefully photoshop fixed most of the issue, but I ate a snack after doing my nails and proceeded to wreck the tips of all 4 fingers on my swatching hand. I touched it up but it's still visibly messed up- thank goodness for the "healing brush"! I clearly still need practice swirling the marble but it's still a fun effect. 


xo Shawna

Friday, January 2, 2015

Rainbow side frenchy

I decided to get back into the nail art challenges, although I like the weekly challenges as opposed to the ones that are every few days. So I'm back to the twinkie nail challenge! This fridays prompt was "rainbow". When I think rainbow I think skittles nails, but I didn't want it to be in your face. Enter the sideways french manicure! 


Products used 
China Glaze Tip Your Hat
China Glaze Ruby Pumps
L'oreal Orange You Jealous
China Glaze Tree Hugger 
Sally Hansen Pacific Blue
Nicole Pretty in Plum
Nicole Gumdrops Silver (unnamed mini) 
China Glaze Fast Forward


I love how the rainbow effect is subtle and the look changes depending which angle you're looking. I didn't even realize until after the fact (and after i top coated) that the gumdrops is a textured polish. That explains why it was so bumpy even after topcoat, lol! 


Hope you like! 

xo Shawna 

 
Images by Freepik