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

leadlight nails and tutorial

Hi guys! This is an exciting post for a few reasons. One, I finally tried the "leadlighting" technique which I've been wanting to do for a while (and specifically bought sheer polishes for!) and two, I introduce to you... video tutorials! They're just quickies, due to instagram time constraints, but let me know if you like them- I may do some full length tutorials in the future if there's a demand. So let me know in the comments if that's something you're interested in! Scroll all the way down for the videos. 

Products Used

Barry M Coconut (base)

Wet n Wild Black Creme

OPI Sheer Tints I'm Never Amberassed

OPI Sheer Tints Be Magentale With Me

OPI Sheer Tints Don't Violet Me Down

OPI Sheer Tints I Can Teal You Like Me

China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat

Dotting Tools from Amazon

Stamping Plate Born Pretty 22 (coupon code SDPX31 saves you 10%)

I love the way this turned out, although it was a bit time consuming dotting on the polish. On the opposite hand I actually just painted blobs directly on with the brush. It's not as precise on the design, but it was quicker and still has a neat effect. You could probably achieve the same look by blobbing on the sheer polish before stamping if you aren't too picky about colouring inside the lines! 

Without further adieu... the video tutorials! 

So... yay or nay for future tutorials? Comment below!

xo Shawna

dry marble for nail art november

I will start right off by saying my thoughts on this mani can be summed up in the word "meh". The prompt for #nailartnov is "dry marble", which basically means adding lines or spots to your still wet base colour, and swirling them together to create different designs. If you saw the swirl mani I posted on instagram last month (there was no blog post - I did it in Cuba!), it's the same thing. I wasn't a huge fan of the swirl either, so I wanted to play around with a different design. I had seen a few cool looking designs on instagram but of course I couldn't find the tutorials, so i settled on this one inspired by Sveta Sanders.

I painted two stripes onto the base and then dragged a nail brush side to side. I must have a heavy hand because I ended up with a lot of bald spots, which I did my best to fill in.

Products used:

Polish My Life Storm Clouds

China Glaze Up All Night

HK Girl Top Coat

Nail Art Brushes from eBay

Meh. Do you like the design?

xo Shawna

Watermarble Mani for Nail Art Nov

I've come down with a sinus cold and feel and sound awful, so I took Monday as a sick day from work. Since it was a decidedly lazy day, I chose to finally tackle one of my "to-do" manis which also was the day 16 prompt for nail art november (after briefly considering just skipping a few days that I've missed due to the wedding festivities!)

Products used:

Polish My Life Nude Lace

Ciate Snow Virgin

Essie Mint Candy Apple

Rimmel Do Not Disturb

Born Pretty Store Gemstones (SDPX31 saves 10%!)

HK Girl Top Coat

I love the colour palette so despite the designs lacking interest, I'm pretty happy with my first ever attempt at water marbling. Hopefully one day I will be making awesome flower designs with the technique :)

Have you tried this technique?

xo Shawna

Nude Lace for Nail Art November

Today's prompt for #nailartnov was (inspired by a) Polish Name.  At first I thought this would be super complicated, until I remembered one of my (many!) new fave polishes, Nude Lace by Polish my Life (which was swatched here). Have I mentioned how much I love this nude shade? Oh wait - I did!

A variation of this mani was also to my "to-do" list, although I had originally envisioned it on a diagonal. I decided to go simple and straight, and I am happy with the results! Don't look at my cindy hand, a few of the lace lines are less than straight and centered ;) 

Colours used:

Polish My Life Nude Lace

Color Club Warhol

Wet n Wild Black Creme

HK Girl Top Coat

Born Pretty Store Plate QA6 (code SDPX31 for 10% off!)

What are some of your favourite nail polish names?

xo Shawna

To-Do List Mani: Ikat Print

Today I've got another mani ticked off my "to do" list! I decided to tackle Ikat print, after hearing it was one that was actually a lot more simple than it looks. I followed this YouTube tutorial, the only difference being I made the diamond shapes smaller to fit more onto the nail. 

I am in love with this mani! The rumours were true, it's not too difficult because it is imperfect on purpose. My right hand looks just as good as the left... which almost never happens!

Polishes Used:

Polish My Life Nude Lace

Nicole by OPI My Lifesaver

Finger Paints Hip-Hip-Hue-Ray!

Finger Paints Ch-Art-Coal Black

HK Girl Top Coat

What nail art techniques have you found are a lot easier than they look?

xo Shawna

To-Do List: Gold & Green Quatrefoil Mani

I recently started a note on my iPhone to keep track of all the different manis (or variations on ones I've already done!) that I want to try out. One of the accounts I follow on IG mentioned she's doing a blog post series on her "wish list" and I thought that was a great idea. One that has been on there for a while is quatrefoil, which makes use of a dotting tool - and after my "dots" manicure the other day, I was ready to go!

I wish I had a larger dotting tool, but I'm pretty pleased with the way they turned out! I based my colour palette on the dress I wore at my nephew/Godson's baptism today. These are two of my favourite polishes I own!

Colours used: 

OPI Thanks a Windmillion

OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby

HK Girl Top Coat

Born Pretty Store Dotting Tool (use coupon SDPX31 to save 10%!)

Do you have a mani to-do list?

xo Shawna