Thanksgiving Nail Art!

Hello everyone! I know I said the next two posts from me would be Black Sheep Lacquer swatches, but I couldn't wait to post this nail art because it's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and I think they're quite Thanksgiving-y! Rest assured the next two posts from me will be those swatches!

For these abstract turkey feather nails (?) I started off with a base of two coats of OPI My Vampire Is Buff and then went in with my new favourite nail art brush (a PMX Germany WH 5/0, I got it from a model/hobby shop)! I used three pinks/reds/bugundys, three browns and three purples/blurples for this mani! The redish colours I used (from darkest to lightest) were: Essie Plumberry, Orly Mind's Eye, and Orly Grave Mistake. The browns I used (from lightest to darkest) were Revlon Smoky Canvas, Butter London All Hail The Queen, and OPI You Don't Know Jacques. Finally, the purples/blurples I used (again, from lightest to darkest) were Color Club Pucci-licious, China Glaze Fancy Pants, and Essie No More Film!

Onto the photos!

Thank you so much for reading everybody! I hope your Monday is going well! :)

Plum Flakie Mani: Shiny and Matte!

Hey everyone! I'm sorry for not posting for a few more days than usual, I have a night lab on Thursday nights and I got busy Friday, so I couldn't repaint my nails until today! Anyway, today I have some shiny and matte flakie nails to share!

For this mani I started off with two coats of Essie Carry On, a lovely crelly plummy brown polish! It's absolutely perfect for fall and winter if you're into matching your nails to the seasons! I feel like I say this about every polish I've talked about lately, but this beauty could be a one-coater if you're careful!

I then went in with a gorgeous flakie top coat, Color Club Covered In Diamonds. Covered In Diamonds is definitely more my kind of flakie polish than Essie Shine Of The Times, though I do own and love both! I've always been more of a cool colour than warm colour girl, what can I say?

After that, I went in with Julep Matte Top Coat, making sure to go even closer to the cuticle than the polish already there did (so I didn't get that glossy-millimetre-right-at-the-cuticle thing that often happens with matte topcoats).

Onto the pictures!

Two coats of Essie Carry On, no top coat.

One coat of Color Club Covered In Diamonds over my undies, no top coat!

One generous coat of Julep Matte Top Coat over everything else I mentioned!

What do you guys think, shiny or matte? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks so much for reading everyone! Hope you're having a lovely weekend, we're having a turkey dinner tonight just for fun and I can't wait! :)

Blue to Yellow Gradient Topped with Black Sheep Lacquer's Grab Your Toque!

Hello everyone! Today I have a simple gradient topped with glitter combo to share!

For this look I started off with one coat of Essie Mesmerized, as pictured below! This polish could easily be a one-coater if you're careful enough, but since I knew I wanted to do some nail art on top it was okay that I wasn't overly cautious on some nails. Also, my light box is incredibly forgiving when it comes to bald spots, which is very convenient when I'm just swatching the bases for my nail art!

Anyways, onto the swatches and nail art!

This is one coat of Essie Mesmerized and no top coat!

The other colour I used for the gradient was a lovely OPI yellow called Fiercely Fiona! I mixed varying amounts of Mesmerized and Fiercely Fiona for the two in between colours in attempt to create a smoother gradient. I've started using eyeshadow brushes for gradients and just sponging on one colour at a time. It's much less messy that way and requires much less cleanup!

The glitter topper I slapped on top of it all is Black Sheep Lacquer Grab Your Toque, a lovely red and white glitter topper as you can see! I thought it would contrast nicely with the blue and yellow and I really like the effect!

Thank you so much for reading my lovelies! :)

Mosaic Tile Nail Art!

Hello everyone! Today I have some tile/abstract stained glass nail art for you!

I sat down with a bunch of my untried/once-tried polishes last night and I decided I'd do a mosaic-inspired manicure. As always, I used one of my two tiny brushes that I've cut most of the bristles off of (this time the fatter one)! For these nails I started off with one coat of Orly Decades of Dysfunction which is part of the Dark Shadows collection Orly put out a while ago. Decades of Dysfunction is definitely a two-coater, but I thought my blobs of colour would cover the streaky parts well enough! The whole collection went on sale at Sally Beauty a month or so after it came out, so of course I had to pick some up! :P

I've been playing around with my light box and I think I've come to the conclusion that just one lamp shining in from the top produces the best pictures. These pictures are the first ones I've taken that are all using just one lamp, do you think these look better than my other recent pictures? I think my skin looks the right colour here; not too red or too yellow. What do you guys think? I'd love if you let me know in the comments!

Anyways, onto the pictures and other polishes used!

Pink: American Apparel Angeline

Neon purple: Essie DJ Play That Song

Dark brown/purple: Essie Carry On

Dark blue: OPI OPI... Eurso Euro

Brown: OPI Chocolate Moose

My not as well-painted right hand! :p

Thanks so much for reading everyone! As always, leave any requests in the comments and I'll fill them for you if I can! :)

Green and Blue Spiral Nail Art!

Hello everyone! Today I have some spiral/squiggle nail art for you!

For these nails I was inspired by some subtle rose nail art that Candace of MrCandiipants did!

I started off with two coats of my base, and then I just drew on the spirals with a small detailing brush. The base I used here is probably my favourite nail polish I own; green and teal are definitely my favourite colours and this is basically a mix of both! It's a lovely crelly polish that's almost a one-coater, and I swear it's so shiny that putting on my top coat (Essie Good To Go) dulls its finish.

Anyways, onto the photos and colours used!

Teal base: Nyx Girls Mermaid Green

Dark blue/teal spirals: Essie Go Overboard

My right hand! Sorry for the dry cuticles! I'd definitely recommend never stopping caring for your cuticles with oils, butters or cremes because it really takes forever to make them nice again! :P

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone!

Textured Matte Hearts!

Holy crap, it's me!

So I am FINALLY back into nail art and nail painting period! I didn't feel like myself leaving the house with short bare nails, and though they're not long yet, I feel so much better about them!

Today I have some textured matte nail art to share, because I wanted to find a way to incorporate textured polishes into nail art!

For this look I used a small nail art brush to paint the hearts after my base colour and layer of top coat had dried.

Onto the pictures and colours used!

Purple base: Essie No More Film

Yellow textured matte polish: Sally Hansen Sweetie

Thank you so much for stopping by everyone! I'm thinking of doing the 31 Day Challenge at my own pace, is that something any of you would like to see? Let me know in the comments if you have any other suggestions! :)

Rainbow Zig Zag Nail Art!

Hello everyone! Today I have some super fun and cute zig zag nail art to share!

My nails may look a bit bumpy here because I've decided to start a more serious no-buy, despite the fact that I'm almost out of top coat! I'm trying to conserve what little I have left, especially because I often paint other people's nails!

For this look I used a nail art brush I got off of eBay and then cut almost all of the bristles off of. I started off with two coats of OPI Care to Danse? for a sheer base! Then I just dabbed a drop of one colour at a time on a stack of paper and went to work!

Onto the pictures and names of the colours!

From thumb to pinky: Essie DJ Play that Song, Essie Bobbing for Baubles, Essie Tart Deco, Essie Mod Square, and NOPI "Baby" Blue!

From pinky to thumb: American Apparel Mount Royal, Essie Mojito Madness, Color Club Almost Famous, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, and American Apparel Poppy!

Both hands together!

Thanks for reading everybody! I'm back into nail art and feeling more like myself, so expect more fun designs! If you guys ever have any requests for a certain colour comparison post, a swatch of a colour, a review of a nail care product, or a certain kind of nail art and/or tutorial just let me know in the comments or on another of my social media pages! :)

Candy Nail Art over OPI My Vampire is Buff!

Hello everybody! Today I have some super cute candy nail art to share!

I had a few days of not wanting to do my nails for the first time in... forever? Not sure what was wrong with me, but I'm back at it and glad to be! It started raining a few days ago after a whole month of no rain, and it made me even more excited for fall! I'm really excited to back to school because I'm going into my second year of college, so the courses I'm taking are starting to get more specific and more related to what I want to learn a ton about! I'm working on my Bachelor's of Biochemistry in case you're curious, so the only kinds of classes I'll be taking this year are biology and chemistry ones!

Anyways, onto the nail art! Apparently it's National Nail Art Day, so happy that everyone!

The base I used here was two coats of the perfect OPI My Vampire is Buff! The pinkish coral is Essie Cute as a Button, the purple is Essie DJ Play that Song, and the amazing neon-ish teal is Butter London Slapper!

My right hand! Why is it that the dominant hand that's usually better at everything sucks at posing for pictures?

Thanks for reading everyone! Is anyone else excited for fall? :)

Speckled Sunset Gradient Egg Nails featuring China Glaze Fancy Pants!

Hello everyone! Today I have a swatch of China Glaze Fancy Pants and some speckled-egg-looking gradient nail art to share!

I'll be swatching four more Black Sheep Lacquer polishes tomorrow night for all you lovely people and for Erin's shop!

Speaking of shopping, I broke my no buy yesterday :(. I had this feeling yesterday morning that I would find something perfect and have to buy it and I did! It's a lovely black maxi skirt that puffs out a lot when you spin (it has a lot of fabric). It dips down lower in places at the bottom so it isn't just cut straight across which I love! I'll just pop a picture of it down below because I'm so in love with it! It looks a bit gothic to me which I really like because I don't usually dress that way!

Onto the nails!

This is two coats of Fancy Pants plus top coat. A coat of top coat really brings this polish to life and lets you see the gorgeous pink shimmer!

I was going for a gradient leopard print today, but I decided to stop here because I love the look of these! I also skipped top coating this because I liked the fact that the little shapes are slightly raised! The colours I used for this pattern were: Essie Tart Deco (orange), China Glaze Dance Baby (pink, already coming in handy for nail art!) and Essie Play Date (purple).

Thanks so much for taking a look everyone! :)

Hard Candy Black Tie Optional over a Pink to Orange Gradient!

Hey everybody! Check out the light box I made all by myself!

I can take pictures at night and have consistent and even light!!!!!!!!!

I took these pictures last night! I'm so happy and excited if you can't tell! Today I have swatches of China Glaze Dance Baby and a pink to orange gradient topped with black and white glitter for you! The lighting doesn't look amazing in the swatch pictures, but I think that's because Dance Baby is a bad colour on me and it makes my skin look weird and kind of tan. However, I am so happy with the gradient with glitter pictures because I think the lighting looks awesome!

Onto the photos!

This is two coats of China Glaze Dance Baby and no top coat! The formula of this polish was awesome and it was almost a one-coater! This polish was super easy to work with.

The orange used in this gradient was Essie Tart Deco and the black and white glitter is the famous Hard Candy Black Tie Optional!

Thanks for having a look! Please let me know in the comments if you think the new lighting looks good and if you prefer it and the background over what I used to use! :)