Ocean Nimbus for TGIF

I was struggling to think of an idea for the final week of May's TGIF challenge, so when in doubt, Nimbus! I've done a few variations on this mani before in various colours. I whipped this one out super fast, so it's not exactly my best nimbus! I love the colour palette however.

Products Used

Daily Hues Nail Lacquer Amelie (base)

Sally Hansen Babe Blue

Sally Hansen Pacific Blue

Funky Fingers Bezerk Turq

essie Good to Go Topcoat

Only a few days left of vacation! I'm writing this post ahead of time, but its extremely likely I'm nursing a post-wedding bash hangover when this goes live. 

What's your go-to nail art?

xo Shawna

Seaside Stamped Gradient

I'm glad I photographed this mani ASAP because I proceeded to dent all the tips when I left the house before the fairy dust properly dried! Oops. This is my mani for week four of the April TGIF nail art challenge- stamped gradient. I wanted a light base colour that would allow my stamping shades to pop, so I dug deep into my drawer and pulled out Panda-Monium Pink, which I'm pretty sure is the first OPI colour I ever fell in love with. I finally used my last untied MoYou London plate, which I ordered back on Christmas! Baby steps, right? I find the longer I do nail art, the less i reach for stamping plates - but they're definitely nice for a quick, pretty mani. 

Products Used

OPI Panda-Monium Pink

Sally Hansen Pacific Blue

Konad Princess Polish Deep Jungle

China Glaze Fairy Dust

INM Out the Door Top Coat

These two stamping colours blended together beautifully. It's too bad this mani got ruined, but I am going to pick up my cutting machine from FedEx tonight (an aside: I hate FedEx!) so I'm not too upset because I'm going to be all about testing the nail vinyls soon! Watch for the shop opening announcement and specials!

xo Shawna

#thedress bestie twin nails

Now I'm on a  roll with bestie twin nails! Kaitlyn and I decided to collaborate this week. She was more than game to go along with an idea I had (although is it already irrelevant this week?) to do a mani inspired by "the dress"! 

Products Used

China Glaze Snow

Sally Hansen Pacific Blue

OPI Golden Wing

Wet n' Wild Black Creme

China Glaze Fast Forward

Brush eBay (trimmed)

And here's the collab. I love how different nail art can turn out running with the same idea! I knew Kaitlyn had a bottle of Pacific Blue so of course we had to use that as the base. Originally I was going to stamp before this became a twin mani, so I decided to hand paint instead! It was kind of fun actually! 

For the record, both Kaitlyn & I see white and gold, screw the evidence!!

Are you team white and gold or black and blue?

xo Shawna

The Polished Bookworms - Big Little Lies Nail Art

I was excited to recently learn that one of the nail bloggers I follow had created a book club for nails art lovers - The Polished Bookworms.  I love reading, I love nail art - the perfect combination! The first month found us reading Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.  I really enjoyed the book, and when I realized it was set in a beachside Australian town, I was so excited - it brought back some memories of the 7 months I spent traveling around the country! So, when the time came for a mani inspired by the book I went full-on, beachy, seaside theme (albeit a day late. Oops!)

Products Used

OPI Barefoot in Barcelona

Nicole by OPI My Lifesaver

Sally Hansen Pacific Blue

Wet n Wild Black Creme

China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat

Cuter Cuticles Cutie Guard

Bundle Monster 503, 508

I created a gradient reminiscent of a beach with sand, ocean and sky. I chose a few images from the Sun Kissed bundle monster collection and stamped overtop. I haven't done a gradient in a while (pre- cutie guard! I ran out of my tester so luckily I just purchased a new one!) and clean-up was SO much easier. I'm glad I stamped overtop, though, because I clearly need more practice - still!

I absolutely love the beachy feel, which is completely the opposite of reality at the moment - there is currently a major snowstorm happening as I type!

Have you done nail art related to a book or movie?

xo Shawna

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

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 

Bridesmaid Blue & White Mani

I've been a little MIA from posting the past few days, because I have been a very busy bee with bridesmaid duties for my good friend Kelly' wedding (which was yesterday). I still had time to whip out a gorgeous blue and white mani, which fit the colour theme of the wedding. I actually did a test run with 5 different nail art ideas and had my IG followers vote, and this is the design that won by a landslide (bride included)! 

Products used:

Ciate Snow Virgin (white undie)

Sally Hansen Moonbeam

Sally Hansen Pacific Blue

Wet n Wild Hallucinate (accent nail)
HK Girl Top Coat

Born Pretty Store Gemstones (SDPX31 saves 10%!)

MoYou Pro Plate 04

I love the way Moonbeam looks over the undie. It was the perfect base for this bridal mani! 

Congrats to Kelly & Marijan :)

xo Shawna

Birds on a Wire Stamped Mani

Tonight's mani has booted out my Paris nails as my new favourite! As soon as I saw the Birds on a Wire on the MoYou Pro Plate #4 I knew it was a must have. The only thing that prevented me from using it earlier was a fear of the fine line work, so I wanted more practice first! 

First, I created a gradient with:

China Glaze - Naked

L'oreal - Orange You Jealous

Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue

I was going to use an Essie shade in lieu of Pacific Blue but the colour was just too sheer to be really noticeable and I wanted more.

Next, I used Wet n' Wild Black Creme for the stamping. I paired the delicate (illegible) text from the same plate with the bird image.

I absolutely love the way this one turned out. The ombre effect on my thumbs are less than perfect - I figure my thumbs are kind of like the first pancake - a write off. 

Do you have issues getting your thumbs sponged as nicely as the rest?

xo Shawna