Thursday 17 May 2012

31 Days of Nail Art - Day 17: Glitter Nails

Hi Everyone!

So I'm not really sure where I was going with these nails but I'm sure I didn't get there.  They are a glitter bomb but NOT in  good way.  Oh well! =)




Haha, what was I thinking, right?
So the tealish sparse glitter is Icing-Tell Me I'm Awesome.  The purple glitter in purple base is China Glaze - Mummy May I and then I fished  few stars out of my Icing-Radio Super Star.  Yikes! Hopefully tomorrow will be an improvement!

Please check out what the other ladies have done. We'll be posting simultaneously throughout the month. Then, come back here tomorrow at the same Bat-time, same Bat-channel for HALF MOON nails!  I should hopefully also be catching up on METALLIC nails much later today.
Other participants:
Kelsie @ Kelsie's Nail Files, Steph @ A Little Polish , Erin @ Beauty Bumbles + Jess @ Nearly Natural Nails

31 Days of Nail Art - Day 7: Black + White Nails

Hello Everyone!

Here's my first catch up post.  I'll be continuing with Day 17 at 12pm PST but for now, a post to replace one of the ones I missed.

Today calls for Black & White nails.  I do a lot of Black & White so I was a little stumped as to what to do without repeating myself.  I decided to go geometric and simple.





Hope you like it!


Please check out what the other ladies have done. They completed this design several days ago.  We'll be posting simultaneously throughout the month so come back here tomorrow at 12pm PST for GLITTER Nails! and much later in the day I should be catching up on METALLIC nails!
Other participants:
Kelsie @ Kelsie's Nail Files, Steph @ A Little Polish , Erin @ Beauty Bumbles + Jess @ Nearly Natural Nails

Wednesday 16 May 2012

31 Days of Nail Art - Day 16: Tribal Nails

Hi Everyone!

I'm so sorry for my absence!  Unfortunately lots of not so good life stuff is happening and it really required my attention.  I'm going to be continuing now the daily challenge posts and I'll be doubling and tripling up some days to catch up.

So, today is tribal nails.  Now I'm taking this in the broader sense of Native Art.  I live in BC, Canada so Native Art is tremendously culturally significant here.  I chose to attempt to recreate some of the local style of Haida Art.




Here's my inspiration photo...




This is not my best attempt but I felt out of practise already! I think I'll revisit this design another time when I'm not feeling so stressed. 

This is just China Glaze - White on White with acrylic paint for the whale.

Hope you like it!

Please check out what the other ladies have done. We'll be posting simultaneously throughout the month. Then, come back here tomorrow at the same Bat-time, same Bat-channel for GLITTER Nails! (Hopefully, Ha!)
Other participants:
Kelsie @ Kelsie's Nail Files, Steph @ A Little Polish , Erin @ Beauty Bumbles + Jess @ Nearly Natural Nails




Sunday 6 May 2012

31 Days of Nail Art - Day 6: Violet Nails


Hello Everyone!

Sorry I'm running late again today.  Unfortunately somtimes things just come up that can't be avoided.

Anyway, I changed my mind about what I was going to do today as I decided I wanted to do a mini tribute to Joss Whedon.  What a weekend he is having!  I've been a fan of his for as long as I can remember and while no one would call his career unsuccessful up to now, I'm just very hapy for him to have such a massive hit that is so widely regarded on his hands.

So, of course, for this mani it meant I HAD to use WnW- Buffy the Violet Slayer.  I just added some little violets on top but I was having a bit of the same problem as I did with yesterday's mani.  The outer edge of the violets faded into the purple on camera.  In person they look really cute!  Oh well.




I should have time this evening to schedule all the upcoming week's worth of posts.  I'm hoping that means this weekend will be an anomaly and I'll be back to posting silmultaneously like last week.
Please check out what the other ladies have done. We'll be posting simultaneously throughout the month. Then, come back here tomorrow at the same Bat-time, same Bat-channel for BLACK AND WHITE Nails!
Other participants:

Saturday 5 May 2012

Giveaway Winner + New Giveaway Soon!

Hello Everyone!

I've had a crazy week so please forgive me for not announcing this sooner!

The winner of my Quo by Orly polish giveaway is Ruth G.  She has been contacted by email and has already responded.  Congratulations Ruth!!

I'm going to be doing another giveaway very soon as I've just recently passed the 250 followers mark.  Thank you all so much and I hope you stay to enjoy the nail art and the upcoming giveaway!

Amanda

31 Days of Nail Art - Day 5: Blue Nails

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I'm running late today!!  I'll make this quick.

Today is 'Blue' nails.  I chose a gorgeous shimmery blue, China Glaze - Frost Bite and I was going to do V-gaps on it but my first line was a little off centre so I adapted to something else.  Hope you like it. 





That last photo is the only one that shows the real shimmer of Frost Bite.  I was having a problem if the camera caught the shimmer then the purple just faded away.


Hope you're all having a great weekend.  Tomorrow I'll be back to my regularly scheduled programming! =)

Please check out what the other ladies have done. We'll be posting simultaneously throughout the month. Then, come back here tomorrow at the same Bat-time, same Bat-channel for VIOLET Nails!
Other participants:



Friday 4 May 2012

31 Days of Nail Art - Day 4: Green Nails

Hello Everyone!

I hope you're all having a good day and looking forward to a great weekend!

Did you like all the yellow nails yesterday?  Today is Day 4 so that means green nails are called for.




So this is a bit of simpler nail art from me.  I had done about four manis that day on my nails by this time.  Lack of inspiration = bring out the dotting tools! =)  I had meant to combine a blue-green and a yellow-green as I like that somewhat unconventional pairing (see: my parrot nails) but when it came time to actually pick colours, I ended up using 2 blue-greens.  China Glaze - Four Leaf Clover for the base and China Glaze - Watermelon Rind for the shimmery accents.
Please check out what the other ladies have done. We'll be posting simultaneously throughout the month. Then, come back here tomorrow at the same Bat-time, same Bat-channel for GREEN Nails!
Other participants:


Thursday 3 May 2012

31 Days of Nail Art - Day 3: Yellow Nails

Hello Everyone!

I hope you're all enjoying the designs from this challenge so far!  I think we're all doing great and we're only just getting started.

Today for you, we've got Yellow Nails!

The spring here has been basically non-existent.  We're still having terrible weather.  So, I keep trying to put spring or something that reminds me of better weather on my nails.  Today, I've put some tropical flowers on my nails!



This is 2 coats of China Glaze - Lemon Fizz with acrylic paint for the flowers.  I sort of made this flower up from 2 different photos I saw.  Neither was quite right but combining the two worked for me.


Please check out what the other ladies have done. We'll be posting simultaneously throughout the month. Then, come back here tomorrow at the same Bat-time, same Bat-channel for GREEN Nails!
Other participants:


Wednesday 2 May 2012

31 Days of Nail Art - Day 2: Orange Nails

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to day 2 of 31 days of nail art.  I hope you all liked what Kelsie, Erin, Stephanie & I did for you yesterday and I hope you're all ready for orange nails today.  Jess @ Nearly Natural Nails has decided to join us.  Links to all participants at the bottom!

Anyone feeling crabby? =)



I saw a crab on a beach towel and decided he might be perfect for orange nails.  I've changed him quite a bit (and left half of him off!) but I'm happy with this.  I think he's pretty cute!

This is 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Sun Kissed and 1 coat of Color Club - Sparkle & Soar.  I painted the acrylics but let some of the base orange show through.

Here's what 2 coats Sun Kissed and 1 coat Sparkle & Soar looked like by themselves:



What do you think?  Anyone else suddenly craving crab cakes? =)

Please check out what the other ladies have done. We'll be posting simultaneously throughout the month. Then, come back here tomorrow at the same Bat-time, same Bat-channel for YELLOW Nails!
Other participants:

P.S. Giveaway winner, barring any unforseen problems, should be announced tomorrow!


Tuesday 1 May 2012

31 Days of Nail Art - Day 1: Red Nails

Hello Everyone!  Welcome to May!
This month I'll be doing the 31 days of nail art challenge with three other lovely ladies!
Kelsie @ Kelsie's Nail Files, Steph @ A Little Polish + Erin @ Beauty Bumbles

I'm really excited to be doing this and to keep up, I've tried to do as many of these as possible ahead of time.  It's going to be a fun month and I've done some things I'm thrilled to finally be getting to show you.

Starting with today's...

DAY 1: RED nails



While I was brainstorming for red nails.  I kept getting that song by Nena, 99 Red Balloons stuck in my head.  Finally I googled 99 Red Balloons under images and this came up.


I found it on tumblr here.  Unfortunately, when I try to click through to who he reblogged it from, it says URL no longer exists.

Anyway, I though it was a great shot and knew I wanted to try to recreate it.  I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Pacific Blue.


Then I sponged on some China Glaze - Kinetic Candy and China Glaze - White on White.



And then I added lots of little red 'balloons' with China Glaze - Salsa, Velvet Bow, Hey Sailor + Wicked Style.


 
What do you think?  I really liked this one!

Please check out what the other ladies have done.  We'll be posting simultaneously throughout the month.  Then, come back here tomorrow at the same Bat-time, same Bat-channel for Orange Nails!
Other participants:

Last Chance: From the minute this post goes live, there will be only 9 hours left to enter my giveaway!! 



Sunday 29 April 2012

Swatch: FEVERlacquer - You and I'll Be Safe and Sound (Pic Heavy)

Hello Everyone!

Hope you're all having a great day! 

About a month ago, I was extremely fortunate to win a couple giveaways.  One of the prizes I won was the amazing polish I'm going to show you today.  I've had it for about 2 weeks now but I was hoping for good weather to try and get some outside shots but I've given up.  This spring is so terrible weather wise and any hints of good weather have come when I'm at work.

Anyhow, on to the polish...




A blurry shot to show all the holo
one last shot under different lighting

This polish is absolutely stunning!!  It's got all the bells and whistles.  It is packed with holo micro glitter and medium hex holos.  The base is an amazing shifting shimmer.  It mostly shifts from a rose to a gold-bronze but I kept getting flashes of a khaki green and a more brassy bronze.  Honestly as awesome as this looks here, it is easily 20x more awesome in person.

This was how the polish came...


It's a Diaper!! LOL. Perfect for padding and absorption.



And now for some bottle shots!!








Isn't it gorgeous?  I'm in awe of it.  Casandra of FEVERlacquer made this amazing polish specifically for the giveaway so there isn't another like it.  However, she did make a sister polish to this one which you can see on the FEVERlacquer facebook page.  You can also follow Casandra's polish blog The Mani-Logues or the FEVERlacquer blog or the FEVERlacquer store .

Thank you so much to Casandra for creating this amazing polish and for giving it away.  I feel very fortunate to have this polish in my collection.  Oh, also, Casandra included a little pot of an amazing loose powder eye shadow.  It is gorgeous and she says FEVERlacquer will be selling eyeshadow in future so be on the lookout.  If this one is an indication, they are going to be stunning.

What do you think? Awesome, no?

Til next time,
Amanda

Friday 27 April 2012

My Birthday Nails!

Hi Everyone!

I'm having a lovely Birthday today! Thanks for all the well wishes.  =)

I wanted to quickly show you my Birthday nails.  I made them to match a new blouse I got as a present.





The base colour is a gorgeous creme blackened teal.  It's Revlon Fashionista and the dotted accent nail is done with Gosh Rusty & China Glaze Aquadelic & Fashionista again.  I really liked this base colour a lot and the nails looked great with the top.

What do you guys think?

Til next time,
Amanda

Thursday 26 April 2012

An Orange Glow

Hi Everyone!

It's been a couple days.  Sorry!  I was enjoying wearing my parrots and I don't have a backlog of swatches.

Today I've got some neon nails with simple nail art.





Photos just don't do the brightness justice.  Indoors it is bright.  Outdoors, it is BRIGHT.  Even on a pretty blah day.  I picked this polish up at claire's.  I couldn't resist.  It's that bright plus it GLOWS in the dark! Yay.  And here's the gimmick that got me...there's a light in the cap you turn on to 'charge' the polish.  This polish doesn't seem to have a name but it came in this neon orange and a bright borderline neon purple (which I also bought.)

The nail art on top is just 3 descending size dots arcing clockwise at both top and bottom.

Light Off
Light On!


Also, tomorrow is my Birthday and I've already gotten one awesome polish related gift (Thanks Marian!)  So, I'll have some great stuff to show you over the weekend.

What do you guys think of neon nails?  I'm always a little shocked by the intensity of the colour but I kinda love it! =)

Til next time,
Amanda