Madame Butterfly Wedding Nails Did

So I have a wedding to go to tomorrow - the first of 8 this year! WHOOO?! My dress is this kind of olive colour that I bought from Dress Barn (most unsexy store name EVER). But it looks really good on me! So I wanted to do something green and reflective and I thought of butterflies! 

So to begin with, using a sponge, I did a gradient of Nubar Wildlife, Gosh Golden Dragon, China Glaze 2030, and China Glaze OMG. Then using a black nail art pen I filled in the black, dotted with a white, gold and light green nail art pens and topped it with Sally Hansen Disco Ball (really sparkly rainbow glitter).

Top: with flash to capture some of the holo. Bottom: trying to capture the sparkle

 

My pictures sadly don't do it justice and IRL it looks crazy holo + sparkly. I think it would also look ten times better if only my nails were longer but every time I try to grow them even a little bit they automatically break :( I think I have to start investing in some sort of strengthening serum.

Gold Wave Nails Did

I challenged myself to do a 15 minute manicure while I was still the only one in the office early this morning. I originally want do some sort of ornate dotting and swirling pattern then I realized it was 8am and I just wasn't going to get that to happen lol.

So I ended up thinking of the people on my 2nd floor at work, the good old people in radio! So in tribute to them who were all probably working as early as I was I did a take on the radio wavelength.

I used China Glaze 2030 as a base and then simply lined in some waves with a nail art pen in black! Simple, quick, modern, and I like it.

Remembering Bali Nails Did

 It will be 5 years in May since Ben and I had our honeymoon in Bali and I miss it so much! I'd love to go back one day soon. When we were there seeing a performance of Balanese dancers at the end we had the opportunity to buy a plate with our image on it that they made in all of 2 minutes for about $2 so we couldn't pass it up. Its actually quite a nice keepsake.

So I thought that I would use it as some inspiration for my next manicure!

For the base I used Orly Royal Navy which by the way I always have a longing for to wear as is its just that nice! Then painted on some white flowers with a nail art pen, topping that off with some nail art pen in gold sparkle. Then I used OPI Thrill in Brazil with a small art brush for the red and a touch of China Glaze Light as Air from the Up and Away collection.

Wild About Weddings Nails Did

Tomorrow one of my best friend's Stephanie is getting married...again...but this time to a keeper! So of course to match my fabulous dress that my sweet hubby bought me I thought I'd do my nails (since I haven't done them in so long because Kai sprouted teeth and likes to chew/rip off my polish :S).

This is what my dress looks like! It's a green and black halter made from silk and chiffon. It's really rather nice and holds my GIGANTIC boobs quite well. I wasn't quite sold on it at first but the more I see it the more I really like it.

So I decided to go with something a bit more exotic since the dress for some reason reminds me of the jungle.

I've been wanting to do a zebra print forever but for some reason despite its simplicity just never got around to it. So here it is with a twist:

I used Nubar Green Tea for the base and striped on China Glaze 2030 for the gold accents and then used a black nail striper on top for the stripes. And of COURSE they bled. I have to get a new Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat since this one is thickening and making my polish bleed :( But its not that noticeable in person.

Excuse the horrible cuticles. They're recovering from lack of calcium and being butchered at the nail salon - AGAIN. What is with these people and killing my cuticles??? Poor poor fingers. Also no matter what I do I can't keep my skin hydrated. Any one have any favorite hand creams to recommend?

Holiday Party Nails Did

Ah the Holidays are here again! I love Christmas despite the fact that the last few years in Toronto has been pretty snow-less. But I usually do get all excited about Christmas parties and putting up the tree. This past weekend Ben and I actually had 4 (!) parties to attend!! So I needed something versatile to get me through them all! So I've done gradient's before but I thought it would be neat to do one from left to right on my hand instead of top to bottom of each nail. For the base I used OPI Thrill in Brazil and sponged China Glaze 2030 on my pointer and middle finger, then switched using 2030 as the base and sponging Thrill in Brazil for my ring and pinky. Then I topped them off for some extra glam with red glitter from Midie Glitter 3 and a nail art pen in gold glitz.

And here are some pictures from the parties! Look at me looking all tired and pregnant LOL. And one of the parties was actually a dinner murder mystery. There is Ben being called out of the crowd by one of the actresses and looking mighty uncomfortable! LOL

Harry Potter Nails Did

Put ya nails up if you love Harry Potter!!

So good. See, I may hate Twilight but I LOVE me some Harry Potter movie franchise. This past weekend I saw the latest movie which is 1/2 of book 7 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was seriously fantastic and was what I consider to be the closest adaptation to the books since the first and second movies. It was also a little sexy! But I won't ruin that part for a few of you who haven't seen it. GO SEE IT ALREADY!!

So I thought I'd do a little Harry Potter theme. For a base I simply used China Glaze Liquid Leather. On my thumb I did the HP logo in China Glaze 2030 and dusted on some glitter from a nail art pen in gold.

For the golden snitches I used 2030 for the ball part and then a silver nail art pen for the wings. You can't see it too well but I also swiped on some iridescence onto the wings with OPI Happy Anniversary.

I think they're super cute and I can't wait to see the part 2!! You can bring a baby to the movies right? *sigh*

In The Navy Nails Did

So I'm in total love with this shirt that I obtained from a clothing swap held by my friend. Mostly because it covers my baby bump, its super cute, and it was FREE!! You can never beat free...unless someone paid you to wear it...I guess that would beat it.

Anyway, my friend Mel also went to Lake Placid and brought me back Orly Royal Navy! I was excited to try it so I paired that as a base with some red and white nail art pens and used my dotting tool with China Glaze 2030 for the "buttons". I think it looks super cute with my shirt!!

By the way - if you haven't already you have ONE more day to enter my Eyeko Polish Giveaway! DO IT.

Nail Challenge Tag - Memoirs of a Geisha Spring Nails Did

Lacquermanic came up with this great idea to do a challenge tag and I'm honored to be the first participant!

Here are the rules:

1) Make a swatch, tightly connected to a favourite film, book, music or painting. No rules what so ever. You describe what film/book etc. is, and why it means so much to you.

2) At the end of the post, you challenge another nail blogger. Let her know that she’s challenged, and leave the opportunity to turn down the challenge or accept it.

Pretty simple right!?

Okay, so I chose one of my favorite books AND movies - Memoirs of a Geisha.

I cant tell you how much I love the cinematic value of this movie. The scenes and costumes are breathtaking as are the backdrop of Japan that it's set against. I remember being in Gion in Kyoto and all I could think of was this movie and how it must have been in its prime back before WWII. I even used the main theme of the movie as my walking down the aisle music! Even though the story line is a bit creepy - HOW old is the Chairman??? Sayuri is like..9. Its one of those movies that I can watch over and over and always find something new in it.

So I did Sayuri's spring kimono (or...close to it LOL). It turned out looking a bit like Easter but I like it!

I used China Glaze White on White for the base and then layered For Audrey on top, leaving a "V" shape. Then I took Orly Snowcone (my new fav sky blue) and with a small brush drew the fabric lines.

The Obi is made of Joe Fresh Coral, OPI's Curry Up Don't be Late, and China Glaze 2030. I also used dots of a pink nail art pen and Orly Fantasea.

So to continue the tag I challenge:

Scandalous 

from Scandalously Polished

Do you accept? :D

Gold at the End of the Rainbow Nails Did

Happy St.Patty's Day everyone! Well tomorrow...but same difference :D

I have a mixed heritage, so somewhere on my Canadian side there is some sort of Irish/Scottish/British...of course I just use that as an excuse to drink some green beer and not feel like a poser :P LOL

But my boss is a fiery red headed Irishwoman and she approves of these nails :)

I was contemplating what to do - everything from Guinness beer to shamrocks. One person suggested I do Leprechauns but I have an unhealthy fear of small people so I thought something a little less scary would do and went with Mel's suggestion of a pot 'o gold.

And it reminds me of this time that there was this giant rainbow in my school yard that my Grandma told me to chase because at the end there was a pot of gold. Grandma lied. I remember running end to end never actually being able to catch the rainbow and never finding any gold.

Moral of the story: never trust my Grandma. The first thing she said when I got home was: So you ran back and forth for the whole hour hunh? Looks like you're sleeping well tonight and I'm getting a break!

Jerk.




I used Nubar Forest for the background green then a rainbow of nail art pens. The pot is China Glaze Liquid Leather and the coins are ChG 2030.

Hope you all celebrate with something green!

Dragoonz Nails Did

This mani totally reminds me of Dragons. Like this one that Harry Potter fought. I <3 HP!

Anyway, I was inspired by Emerald Sparkled's latest mani which is straight outta fashion week but I wanted to put a bit of a twist on it.

I started out with China Glaze's 2030. WOW. I haven't had this straight on my nails yet, and holy streaks batman, but the end result is pretty awesome.

Then what I did is I freehanded half moons on each corner of my nails with OPI's Jade is the New Black. And can I just say how much I love this new colour from the Hong Kong Collection??? ITS SO AWESOME!!

Then I cleaned up the swoops with a flat brush just to make them look a bit cleaner.

Then with my trusty dotting tool I dotted some more 2030 on top. See, doesn't it kinda look like dragon scales?

This will literally be my NOTD - which isn't THAT common for me but I think I need something a bit cheerier and brighter for the Mayan Riviera! I'm thinking Solar Power.

Any suggestions??

Office Nails Did

I like having my office ladies look good and what better way than to treat them to a little nail art?



Elif doesn't often get her nails did - in fact she says shes a chronic biter (bad Elif!), she's also not that girly so she says *cough* twilight reader *cough* so we thought we'd go with something a little dark and not super feminine. Opi's Linkin Park After Dark for the base topped with Konad stamping silver with M60 for the design.

Jenn likes to take advantage of my nail art so you'll probably see more and more of her in my blog as the days go by. She's also a chronic chipper. I dont know how you wear down nails after 2 days...USE A BASE COAT JENN! So she already had a champagne pink type colour on her nails that had tip wear so I sponged on Opi's Curry Up Don't Be Late to cover them and then stamped with Konad stamping black with M51 for the design. Came off as a pretty cool effect and actually brought out a lot of the silver tones in her original polish.