Half Moon Nail Art Plus Little Hearts: a Re-creation of an Adorable So Nailicious Design!

Yo yo yo my lovely people! Today I have a recreation of a design that So Nailicious posted recently (link to her post here)!

I'm currently on a week long reading break from school which is really nice already! I just want to make sure I start my homework before Sunday since I have so much time to do it haha! I've been working on my lighting and white balance a lot lately and the next nails you see from me will be better colour-wise! I had to adjust these pictures so my skin didn't look so red and unnatural because I hadn't figured it out by the time I took these :P. I'm thinking my new soft box diffuses the light too much to the point that I might need brighter lamps, but I did end up getting better pictures of the next look I'll be posting here so I'm not really sure!

Anyways, onto the nails!

I started off with two coats of American Apparel Lopez Canyon. It was almost opaque at one coat and it probably could have been if I had have been more careful!

I then went in with two more American Apparel polishes, MacArthur Park and Berry, and a small paintbrush from Michaels (Artist Loft Vienna 18/0 Spotter). I let that dry for a while and then spritzed it with a coat of hairspray so my top coat wouldn't smudge the design. After that dried I applied a coat of top coat (Essie Good to Go) and I was done!

I really love how the little heart changes up a half moon mani so much!

What do you guys think of these nails or their inspiration? I'd love to hear in the comments!

Thanks so much for having a look everyone! On Thursday I'll be back with a swatch of the gorgeous piCture pOlish Fool's Gold! Happy Monday guys! :)

Born Pretty Store Nail Frame Review Featuring Purple Flower Nails!

Hey everyone, happy new year! Today I have a review of some Born Pretty Store hollowed-out square studs to share!

So I'm back to school again with a few new year's resolutions, not only for school but for blogging as well. I struggle with motivation in basically every aspect of my life, but I think if I can stop procrastinating so much I'll be more motivated and less stressed out. I've been really excited by nail art and nails in general on Instagram and Reddit lately, which is sadly something I couldn't say for months and months before now. It's as if school has been so stressful that doing my nails and blogging just felt like more work I had to do so I wasn't excited about it. So hopefully I'll start posting more regularly, I'm aiming for once a week! Anyways, onto the nails!

I started off with two coats of OPI Lost on Lombard over my previously base-coated nails. A minute or less after applying the second coat to my ring fingers, I added the gold frames with a brush dipped in top coat. I allowed that to dry and then applied a coat of top coat (back to my favourite; Essie Good to Go). 

I then went in with a small paint brush or a dotting tool and American Apparel African Violet (dark purple), Butter London Toff (medium, warm-toned purple) and OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around (pinkish nude).

The hollowed-out square studs (or nail frames as I like to call them) were very easy to apply and work with. They were thin enough to curve to fit my nails, really the only problem I had with these is that the corners lifted off and one of the studs ended up falling off. There is a super easy solution of course, just double up on top coat! I really love the look of these, and as a bonus you can apply them upside down for a copper-coloured frame instead (though the gold side isn't completely flat so they may not stay on as well).

Here is how my right hand turned out, pretty good minus the smudging! 

What do you guys think of these nails? I'd love to know in the comments!

Thanks so much for taking a look everyone, be sure to use my code (SKBQ10) if you decide to pick anything up! I'll be back soon with some wintery nails, happy Monday! =)

Rainbow Geometric Nail Art Inspired by MrCandiipants and my Samsung Galaxy S5 Background!

Hello everyone! Today I have some rainbow geometric nail art to share!

I have a bit of a break in my midterms right now so I'm trying to study a bit everyday so I can be more consistent with my blogging! I think part of me needed a break from blogging to get adjusted to university and all of the changes that go along with it. I have a cell biology class starting soon so I'm very happy that I was able to bang this post out and get it up for you lovely people!

For this look I just used a very small paint brush with short bristles and painted on random geometric shapes. Next time I'll try to use an even thinner brush as well as maybe a longer one for sharper corners! These were inspired by this design by MrCandiipants as well as the well-known Samsung Galaxy S5 background (because I just got this phone and I'm loving it)!

I used a whole lot of colours for this look as I'm sure you can tell! The white base is OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and then from red to purple and then pink, in rainbow order: OPI Red Hot Rio, OPI Toucan Do It If You Try, American Apparel Neon Yellow, Color Club Edie, Julep Claire, Essie DJ Play That Song, and American Apparel Angeline.

Once everything had dried I did the hairspray trick (sprayed all of my nails with a thin layer of hairspray and let it dry) so I wouldn't smudge my design with my top coat. Once the hairspray had dried I just applied one coat of Essie Good to Go Topcoat!

Above is my elusive right hand! I find it really hard to pose this hand the way I normally do with my left hand so I usually do this pose because it's comfortable and easy to hold steady.

What do you guys think of these nails? I'd love to hear in the comments!

Thanks so much for taking a look everyone! I'll be back with some Born Pretty Store reviews very soon! Happy Thursday! =)

Red Gradient Topped with Jessica 18K Gold Leaf Top Coat and Gold Studs & Mini Trip Update!

Hello my lovely readers, long time no talk! Today I have an elegant red gradient look topped with a gold leaf top coat and gold studs to share!

I know I said I wouldn't take a month-long hiatus while on this trip but I have taken a bit of one none the less! We have been out for most of the day just about every day since we got here, so we've been quite busy! I had gotten very used to doing hardly anything most days back at home, so it has taken me some time to adjust and get back into blogging.

My sister and I came over here with about ten pounds of room to spare between the two of us and we've (read: I've) bought a decent amount of clothes already :P. The good news is, we can leave things like pads, acetone and shampoo with the friend we're staying with to free up some weight in our luggage. The other good news is that I'm very happy with what I've already bought and I've decided on just getting a few more things and I've been sticking with it! I'll also be getting presents for people and picking up some Swiss chocolate (obviously!) so hopefully we won't have to bring another suitcase home!

Before we get onto the nails I thought I'd insert a picture of Anna (the friend we're staying with) and I, hopefully you guys can get an idea of how beautiful Switzerland is from the background! This post is turning into a trip update as well as a nail art post haha, maybe I'll add that to the title! I'm the shorter one on the left in case you didn't know!

Anyways, for this look I started off with one easy coat of a red jelly-leaning crelly polish, OPI Red Hot Rio. For being a jelly/crelly this polish was inexplicably opaque. It didn't quite reach opacity in one coat, but that was good enough for me because I knew I was going to sponge some Deborah Lippmann Jessa on the tips!

After that had dried a little I applied/dabbed on one thickish coat of Jessica 18K Gold Leaf Top Coat. There are not many flakes per clear base in this polish but I actually like the subtle sprinkling one coat gives!

Lastly, I applied some gold round studs that I got off of eBay or Amazon a while ago followed by a coat of top coat!

I felt very classy and fancy wearing these nails which isn't exactly my style so they were fun to wear!

What do you guys think about these nails or how gorgeous Switzerland is? I'd love to hear in the comments!

Thanks so much for taking a look everyone! I have one more Born Pretty Store review post to get up so keep an eye out for that! Happy Monday! =)

Born Pretty Store Pastel Stud Review & Mr. Candiipants Nail Art!

Hey everybody! Today I have a recreation of some of Mr. Candiipants' nail art and a Born Pretty Store review to share!

I've been picking up some last minute travel things and I'm getting ridiculously excited for my trip! I'm really curious to see how my nail pictures will be without a light box... guess I'll just use natural light! I've decided to bring the camera I always use for my pictures so the quality should be the same! Anyways, onto the nails! :)

To start I applied two coats of Essie Find Me An Oasis (very pale blue) to most of my nails and two coats of Maybelline Ultra Violet (purple) to the rest. Both had really nice formulas and I was very pleasantly surprised that Find Me An Oasis was a non-streaky two-coater!

I then went in with NOPI Strike a Pose (coral that always looks red next to other colours) and OPI My Vampire Is Buff (off-white nude) on all of my nails in different shapes! I then added a mint green colour to the purple nails using American Apparel Office! The only time I used a thin brush on these nails was for the nude stripes on the blue nails, though I really should have for the random shapes on the purple nails to get good sharp corners. Lastly, I applied some purple pastel studs from Born Pretty Store (link here) with a little blob of top coat on the nail and a dotting tool dipped in top coat. I'm happy to report that the colour on the studs didn't bleed whatsoever! The entire colour is removed by non-acetone remover though, so if you keep your studs like me, you'll end up with silver studs!

After giving my nails some time to dry I gave them each a spray of hairspray for a couple seconds and let that dry. Then I applied my favourite top coat (Essie Good To Go) and I was done! I always do this hairspray step now because I discovered how much harder it is for you to smudge your design with your top coat this way! Also, here is a link to Mr. Candiipants' tutorial for this super cute design!

What do you guys think of this nail art or these studs? I'd love to know in the comments!

Be sure to check out Born Pretty Store for any of your nail art needs, they have a really massive selection! And be sure to use my coupon code for 10% off, SKBQ10!

Thanks so much for taking a look everyone! I'll be back soon with a subtle red gradient and gold leaf top coat look that I'm very obsessed with and wearing right now! Happy Sunday! =)

Red and Purple Gradient and Half Moon Heart Nail Art!

Yo yo yo my people! Today I have some gradient and half moon heart (?) nail art to share!

So I do this thing where I clean my room every few months and it's a disaster a few days after said cleanings. This time though, I added a real bed to my bedroom (I used to sleep on a mattress on the floor because it's really comfy, quiet if you toss and turn and easy to move around). Now that I have a bed my room feels more like a proper bedroom, and I think it's helping me keep and want to keep it clean. It's like my room had too chill of a vibe before or something.

I'm mostly only mentioning it because it's helping me feel motivated about a lot of other things. I have always struggled with motivation for school, cleaning and anything else really. Now I'm thinking up cute things to put in my room and feeling motivated to blog, dress like I would if I was actually going out everyday, etc. I haven't even been wearing a bra lately because I usually stay home and just can't be bothered. This was supposed to sound positive because it is haha! Anyways, onto the nails!

I started with a base of two coats of American Apparel Poppy and a coat of top coat (because I wasn't going to jazz it up with nail art until the next day)! Poppy can easily be a one-coater but I wasn't being overly careful. The next day I went in with Essie DJ Play that Song for the half moon hearts and Poppy, American Apparel Angeline (a one-coater dark pink creme, swatch and review here) and DJ Play that Song on a wet makeup sponge for the gradient nails! I finished with a coat of Dollish Polish Putting on the Ritzzz! for the gradient nails and a coat of top coat on all of the nails.

What do you guys think of these nails? I'd love to know in the comments!

Thanks so much for taking a look everyone! Does anyone else struggle with keeping their room tidy or motivation in general? I'll be back with a massive swatch spam post very soon! Happy Wednesday! =)

Deborah Lippmann Marnie & Snake Nail Art with the Deborah Lippmann Girls Collection!

Yo yo yo! Today I have some nail art to share featuring the Deborah Lippmann Girls Collection!

Tonight's post will be a quick one because I still have homework to do and it's just about bed time :P. I'm still feeling very overwhelmed with school so I need to do as much homework as possible to de-stress.

Here is a quick swatch of Deborah Lippmann Marnie, a light pink crelly which is pinker (i.e. a darker pink) than I was able to capture on any camera. It was a bit streaky and a three-coater but I'm so in love with the brush and I've wanted to try a Deborah Lippmann for so long that I have no complaints!

Now for the nail art! I used the other three polishes from the Girls collection for these snake nails; Jessa (the dark red crelly), Hannah (the dusty green creme) and Shoshanna (the light purple creme with shimmer). All dried fast and were super easy to work with!

For the snake-skin-looking nails I used a technique from a tutorial by the lovely Jaunty Juli! Check out her awesome and quick tutorial if you want to know how I did these!

Sorry about how brief this post was, I need to get my butt in gear with my term paper and homework before it's the last week of school! :P What do you guys think of these nails? I'd love to know! Happy Monday!

Rainbow Honey Apple Kid & Watercolour Nail Art!

Hey everyone! Today I have a swatch and review of Rainbow Honey Apple Kid and some watercolour nail art on top to share!

I am super happy today because it's Friday! I do have a bunch of homework and studying to do over the weekend but I'm trying to be less lazy and more motivated so it might not be so bad! I'll be proud of myself for doing the work and putting in the effort! I even decided to dress like I used to today (i.e. less lazily and comfily) to try and get myself back on track. Remember when I was following the Blogilates calendar? I haven't worked out since I stopped and I remember being more motivated for school when I was working out, so I'd like to start up again! Life changes excitement aside, let's get onto the nails!

I decided to wear a pink polish for once the other day, so I reached for one of my many untried Rainbow Honey's, Apple Kid. My camera hates reds and pinks so I think this is showing up a little too pink and not quite red enough here!

This lovely polish was just about a one-coater but I did two just to be sure! I also added a coat of top coat and it dried super shiny (unlike it looks here). Ugh, taking accurate pictures of my nails is an endless struggle, but at least they keep getting better!

Another thing that's a little bit off in these pictures is my skin tone, because dang did this polish make me look pale. I kind of like when a polish does that because it means it's really freaking bright and bold!

The formula and consistency of this polish was awesome, definitely no complaints there! I've just been loving all of my Rainbow Honey's so far!

And now we have the nail art! I thinned out blobs of Essie DJ Play that Song (purple), Sally Hansen Fiery Island (orange) and Nyx Girls Bloody Mary (red) with acetone on a piece of paper and painted random blobs of them on my nail! I then messily covered my entire nail with a thinned out coat of American Apparel Angeline (pink) with my nail art brush to tone down and blend some of the colours in better.

Next I applied one coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust followed by a coat of top coat! It would have been so fun to add some stars and turn these into sunset galaxy nails!

Another thing about these pictures is it's hard to see the different colours that were painted on. If you check out my Instagram there is a picture where you can see the different colours better! I think the dulled shine, improper white balance and the fact that it's hard to distinguish between the colours is because like other cameras, my camera hates reds and has difficulty photographing them!

Thanks so much for reading everyone! How do you feel about this nail art or Rainbow Honey Apple Kid? I'd love to know! Happy Friday! =)