Silver - Day 31 of the January Nail Art Challenge

Hi!!!

*horns and trumpets blaring* cue pretty lady with my trophy and bouquet 'cuz I MADE IT!!!!!!!

It's day 31, the end of the month and then end of this Challenge and I completed it. Quite proud of myself too because it was my first but definitely won't be my last.

Today's theme was silver...definitely not a favourite of mine so what I did was blue with the essence of silver if you will.

Products Used:

Orly Bonder Basecoat

CND Stickey

OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue

L.A. Girl 3D Effects 3D Silver

L.A. Girl Sterling Silver

HK Girl Top Coat

Silver Foil

Silver Decals

Half Moon nail vinyls

Ok so here's what I did.

I started with my usual base of Bonder but went over with my CND as I remembered Yoga-ta Get This Blue stains like crazy. However, the staining is worth in it my opinion because the colour is soooo gorgeous. After that I applied 2 coats of  YGTB on all my fingers except my ring fingers. Well...that's a lie. Because my brain tends to be sieve-like in nature I forgot I wanted an accent nail and painted all blue then had to take it off. Anywhosie one that mess was corrected I did one coat of Sterling Silver on my ring finger.

I did the gradient on my ring finger using YGTB and Sterling Silver and placed the 3D Silver on the tips once that was dry. I then applied my silver decal and sealed with two coats of HK Girl just to make sure it was secure. 

Back to my other fingers. I taped off the top of my finger in a semi circle using the half moon vinyls and applied the silver foil with the Bonder basecoat. In hindsight I should have used Sterling Silver instead of the foil.

It didn't turn out as I pictured it in my head but I'm pretty pleased with it.

Do you like how it came out? Would you like to see more challenges? Let me know in the comments!

Match OOTD - Day 28 of the January Nail Art Challenge

Hi Guys

I'm a day late with this post and for that I apologize. I was just wayyy too tired and miserable last night to do anything. Came home starving and with a headache and was in bed before 8.

Its day 28 of the January Challenge and this is the second last before the end. I'm quite pleased I stuck with this even though posting to this schedule became a bit more difficult when I started back my dance classes.

Today's theme was "Match OOTD". This was actually very simple as the majority of my wardrobe is black or white. I decided weeks ago when I realised this day fell on a week day that I was wearing my black and white polka dot dress. (If the 28th was a Sunday this would be a completely different post lol).

Anywho...on to the mani.

Products Used:
Orly Bonder
Wet n' Wild - Ebony Hates Chris
OPI - Alpine Snow

HK Girl Top Coat
Dotting tool

I started with two coats of Ebony Hates Chris followed by my HK Girl. Once that was dry I added dots using Alpine Snow and a dotting tool. And that's it.

Hope you liked it! Until next time...

Studs - Day 25 of the January Nail Art Challenge

Hiiiiii! Happy Sunday!

Hope everybody's good.

It's January 25th and today's theme was 'Studs'. The year just started and we're almost done with January. Nonetheless I'm enjoying it so far and I hope you are too.

For today's mani I used one of my most favouritest colours from one of my most favouritest brands. OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE COSMETICS!!! I purchased my first OCC babies last September on my trip to NYC and getting these babies was an adventure. I got lost sooo many times trying to find the store but it was well worth it because these polishes are amazingggg. They're 100% vegan and cruelty free which is a plus in my books. I bought 3 and I'd like to get my hands on some more ASAP.

Products Used

Orly Bonder Basecoat

OCC Black Dahlia

Avon Nail Experts UV Gloss Guard Top Coat

HK Girl Topcoat

2mm gold studs

OCC Black Dahlia

For this look I used two coats of OCC Black Dahlia. OCC describes it as an opaque blackest blackened red. Isn't she the perfect oxblood colour!  Just look at her! Perfection in a bottle! Smooth like butta! I'm in love I tell you. The formula on this is Ooooo soooooo good, it just went on so smoothly with all its cream burgundy goodness. I swear I'm not crazy but these polishes got me good. Not sure if you noticed but I didn't include my clean up brush on the list of products used because this applied so well I had nothing to clean up.

I applied the gold studs using the Avon topcoat and then sealed everything with a final coat of HK Girl.

Have you ever tried anything from OCC? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time...

Favourite Design - Day 22 of the January Nail Art Challenge

Hi Again,

Back for Day 22 and today's theme was favourite design.

I love chevron patterns so this one was pretty easy and of course involved my nail vinyls again.

Products Used:
Orly Bonder Basecoat
Nails Inc Royal Botanical Gardens
Essie Beyond Cozy
Hk Girl Topcoat
Rhinestones
Clean up Brush

I started with 2 coats of  Royal Botanical Gardens on my pinkie, index and thumb and used Beyond Cozy for the other fingers. On my ring fingers I only did one coat of Beyond Cozy though and then 'topcoated' (this word needs to be added to the dictionary) to speed up the drying time before I applied my vinyls. 

I then went over my nail vinyls with a fairly heavy coat of  Royal Botanical Gardens and then a final coat of HK Girl. 

On my middle finger I placed two rhinestones while my topcoat was still wet and then went over with another coat of HK Girl. And that's it!! Sounds exhaustive but it really isnt.

I''m really pleased with how this mani came out. Isn't Royal Botanical Gardens a pretty colour!! This baby's new to my collection. I got it last week from Lucinda when we swapped for a bottle of the beloved HK Girl. I've always wanted to try Nails Inc but never got the chance so THANK YOU LUCINDA!!!

Hope you liked it.

Until next time...

Favourite Colour - Day 20 of the January Nail Art Challenge

Hi Guys,

I'm back for Day 20 of the January Nail Art Challenge. I know this post is a day late and I apologize but after I left my dance class last night I was too tired to do anything else.

Today's theme was "Favourite Colour" and this was by far the hardest theme yet. Let me explain. I by no means have the largest nail collection but with over 100 colours they're several favourites and it gets hard to choose.

Products Used;

Orly Bonder Basecoat

Jordana Tangy

HK Girl Topcoat

My favourite colour is generally black but when it comes to my nails not so much. I like my corals and my blues and purples and the cremes and shimmers. Ugghhhh it's too much to choose from!!!
I ended up with a few options but chose Jordana Tangy because I was feeling coral last night and I hadn't used this one in a while.

The runners up were:
OCC Technopagan
Revlon Color Stay Eternal Oceans
Glam Polish Unforgettable Dream
Essie Butler Please

I actually considered doing a skittle mani with all the colours because I love them all. As I type this and stare at my fingers I wish I had gone with Technopagan but oh well, Tangy's still a pretty colour.

with flash

without flash

Slight review lol...cuz I like people to be well informed before they possibly make a purchase.

Jordana polishes are inexpensive but the quality is excellent (the cream polishes in particular). This was a one-coater but I did two out of habit. My other Jordana polishes are also one-coaters. The range of colours available in Barbados isn't extensive but it's a good variety of colours and finishes, particularly for persons who may like nail polish or to paint their nails but don't want to break the bank. Jordana is sold in Imart and other beauty stores around the island but I can guarantee Imart always has as well as other products from their makeup line.They're also available to purchase online from Jordana's website. 

Until next time...

Gradient - Day 17 of the January Nail Art Challenge

Hi Again!!

I'm back for Day 17 and today's theme is Gradient.

I didn't want to do a typical sponged gradient ('cuz mine need work) so I opted to use my ever handy nail vinyls. These things were made for people like me - people who failed art miserably, can't freehand a thing and have shaky hands.

Products Used:

Orly Bonder Basecoat

BOPai Nail Lacquer in White

Julie G Gelato In Venice

Sinful Colors Innocent (Cave Shepherd and Imart now carry this brand)

Essie Mojito Madness

Essie Naughty Nautical

Seche Vite Top Coat

Small Chevron Nail Vinyls

#0 Nail Art Brush

E.L.F Clean-up Brush (really their concealer brush)

Tweezers

This mani made me think of designer throw pillows lol! Anyway let's hop to it.

I started with one thickish coat of the BOPai White. This was gifted to me and I had never heard of this brand before or managed to find it online or in stores anywhere including outside of Bim.

I went over the white with a thin coat of Seche (well as thin as possible as I've emptied all my goopy half bottles into one bottle and it's a mess) just to speed up the drying time.

After that was completely dried I placed my small chevron vinyls from Teisom on my nail, separating each nail into four parts. I painted each part in a different shade of green, starting with the lightest - Gelato in Venice and ending with Naughty Nautical.

Once I was done I sealed everything with a coat of Seche Vite. I'm just using this for now as I swapped my bottle of HK Girl to my new friend Lucinda over at Moden Makeup (a Bajan blog she runs with her friend Heidi). I met her for the first time this week and I swear I've known her for years, - talk about good energy!!!

No worries though, I've got a refill bottle so as I type this I'm waiting for one of my empty polish bottles to dry so I can fill it up with my trust HK Girl.

What did you think about today's mani? Hope you like it! Let me know in the comments

New Technique - Day 14 of the January Nail Art Challenge

Hi Guys,

I'm back with day 14 of the January Nail Art Challenge and today's theme was 'New Technique'. For this I decided to give the saran wrap mani a try. It's not a new technique by any means but it's new to me.

Products Used:

Orly Bonder Basecoat

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow

Anise Soak Up the Sun

OPI Pink Flamenco

HK Girl Top Coat

Saran/Cling Wrap

Clean-up Brushes

To prep I tore off about six pieces of cling and balled them up. I then started with two coats of Mellow Yellow (old formula) on my nails and let those dry. After that I dotted each colour sporadically on my nail. To do this I simply used the polish brush straight out the bottle and put dots of each colour everywhere. 

WARNING!!! THIS WILL GET MESSY!!

After that I took the balled up cling and dabbed it on the colours on my nails to blend them. You've gotta work fast before the dots start to dry and keep dabbing until the colours are well blended. I sealed everything with my HK Girl. 

my Cinderella hand

For a first attempt I think I did pretty ok but I definitely need to work on this and surprisingly my Cinderella hand came out better.

I've linked two Youtube videos below showing two different methods. The first one is from one of my favourite bloggers - Nailasaurus. I used a combination of both techniques because I'm a rebel hahaha. On a real, none of them worked well for me as they were so I did some tweaking.

Nailasaurus' video
Anya's video

Tell me what you think in the comments. I'd love your feedback.

Until next time...

Re-creation - Day 11 of the January Nail Art Challenge

Hellerrrr!!

Hope everybody's having a good Sunday.

I'm back with Day 11 of the Challenge and feeling proud I've kept up so well so far.

So for this theme I chose to recreate a mani I did almost a year ago and posted on my Instagram here. It's really simple and a go to when I want something other than a basic mani but I have no idea what to do.

Products Used:

Orly Bonder

Barry M Matte Nail Paint Light Brown Caramel

Barry M Gelly Nail Paints Cardamom

Teisom Straight Nail Vinyls

#0 Liner brush 

Gold sequins

HK Girl Topcoat

I started with two coats of Light Brown Caramel. This colour is the perfect nude for girls my skin tone. It's a matte formula but nothing a coat of HK Girl Topcoat can't fix. However it shows up EVERY ridge in your nails which left me a little disappointed. 

I then taped off my nails with my Teisom straight nail vinyls to get the triangular shape and filled in with Cardamom.

After than I 'outlined' the triangle with my gold sequins I got from the Bornpretty store. They came in a set of various coloured glitter and the price was reasonable. The Bornpretty store also ships to Barbados which is a plus. My stuff usually takes a month to arrive.

sorry about the cuticles, my eczema is acting up so my hands have been really dry :(

I love the contrast of the shiny finish of the Cardamom against the matte finish of Light Brown Caramel.

This was my first time using Barry M polishes as they are not sold in Barbados and I'm really impressed. The quality of the polishes is superb. Pigmentation, consistency is on point so I will definitely try to get some more.

Hope you like it. Until next time...

Animal - Day 8 of the January Nail Art Challenge

I'm back for day 8 of this month's nail art challenge and today's theme is 'Animal'.

Let's hop right into it.

Products Used:
Orly Bonder Base Coat
Glam Polish Unforgettable Dream
Shimmer Polish - Alice
Wet N Wild - Ebony Hates Chris
HK Girl Top Coat

I started with a base of Glam Polish Unforgettable Dream  because it was already on my nails and I'm loving it too much to want to take it off so soon. I then did my leopard prints using Shimmer Polish Alice and Wet & Wild Ebony Hates Chris. I chose to do leopard prints as its the only animal design I really fancy.

I'm really disappointed with this mani. I'm not a pro at this by any means but this was a major flop given I've done a good few leopard prints already. I have no idea what went wrong here. Don't you just hate when you envision an amazing mani and then the finished thing looks nothing like it. UGHHH!

I also wanted to use my 2 way black nail pen I got from the Bornpretty Store instead of my small dotting tool and black polish but I can't get the pen to work. I wanted to link it here but it seems it's no longer available. Has anyone else tried these pens and got theirs to work?

The review for Unforgettable Dream will be up this coming week.

What do you think of my attempt at photo editing? Still haven't gotten the hang of it yet as you can see.  Let me know in the comments!

Until next time...

Sparkles - Day 4 of the January Nail Art Challenge

Hi Guys,

I'm back again. I'm making an effort to post every Sunday...maybe more often but right now I can commit to every Sunday.

It's day 4 of January which means it's time for the 2nd mani of the January Nail Art Challenge. Today's theme was sparkles and I automatically knew which polish I wanted to use. I just did a simple mani really, contemplated adding a decal but decided to just let the polish be pretty on its own.

For this I used Essie's Lots of Lux. It's a textured polish which was released as part of the Encrusted Treasures Holiday Collection in 2013. Essie describes it as "shimmering lapis lazuli with a super matte finish" and the description is on point!! The fine shimmers definitely sparkle when they catch the light and it's gorgeous. I purchased mine from Collins for BDS$13.40 and I believe they may still have a few in stock. They also have others from this collection for anyone who is interested. Outside of Barbados it can be purchased online from Essie or other retailers 

For this mani I top-coated with my trusty HK Girl Top Coat. I used two coats for a smooth finish because textured polishes tend to be a bit top coat hungry.

without flash

without flash

with flash

with flash

These were taken under the artificial lighting in my room so tomorrow I'll take a few in natural light and post to my Instagram. I'm working on learning to take better pictures and will be making a light box sometime soon so hopefully that helps. I'm a complete ninny when it comes to editing images so I'm also on a hunt for an easy to use photo editor. Any suggestions?...even a Photo Editing for Dummies would help if its exists.

Have you tried any other polishes from this collection? Let me know below.

PS. the #nailartjan challenge is open to anyone to try so have fun with it.

Until next time...

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Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!!!

It's the start of 2015 and I'm not big on resolutions but mainly I'm trying to b a better me this year. It's also going to be a bit of a selfish year because I'm working on saying no more often...not to be mean or harsh but no to things that are no good for me (excluding nail polish) whether be it bad people, negative energy etc. Basically, if it rubs me the wrong way its gotta go!!

Anywhooo I've started the January Nail Art Challenge after seeing a pic posted on Instagram by @sinney . I've always wanted to try one of these challenges but never had the time so this time around I'm making the time. The designs are also spaced over two or three days unlike the 31 one day challenges which are difficult for me and my schedule.

The theme for day two was "Fresh" which I thought was fitting for the new year as it's a 'fresh' start and all. So before I ramble some more my fresh mani is below.

Products Used:
CND Stickey Base Coat
Essie Mint Candy Apple
Glisten & Glow HK Girl Top Coat
Elf Concealer Brush for Clean Up
Clear Rhinestones
Nail Glue

Hope you like. Until next time!