Halloween Nail Art! Bats Emerging!

Hello everyone!

I hope you're all enjoying the long weekend - I sure have been!
It has been a while since we had a full weekend of sunshine and with the extra day, we've definitely taken advantage of it. 

Now, I know I'm a little early on this one. I was going to post this design next week but, due to my bad organization skills, you get it this week! Lucky you! Ha ha.
I 'accidentally' purchased several Halloween stamping plates a few months ago, so I have a lot of potential design ideas floating around in my head. But, let's start with something nice and easy; a simple gradient with some stamping. 

Halloween Bats Emerging Nail Art

I used these polishes for this mani:
Matte Purple by BYS Cosmetics
Mellow Yellow by Sally Hansen
Ready To Take Off by UNT Cosmetics
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen
Big Matte Top Coat by Sally Hansen
Black Stamping Polish by Emily de Molly

I also used these tools:
Liquid Latex by LuLaa
Stamping Plate BPL-031
Stamping Plate Celebration BPX-L007
Clear stamper
Scraper
Mani Saver
Cotton wool with acetone
Cosmetic Sponge

Halloween Bats Emerging Nail Art with Mellow Yellow

I started with Ready To Take Off for the base (this is just quicker than cotton pads and acetone, as I will be repainting my nails for an event next week). Once that was dry, I applied two coats of Mellow Yellow. For some reason, the second coat was taking quite long to dry, so I ended up applying Kwik Dry Top Coat over it to help the process along. While that was drying, I painted liquid latex around each nail.
After allowing that to dry, I applied Mellow Yellow and Matte Purple horizontally onto a cosmetic sponge and began dabbing it over each nail. I moved the sponge up and down to get even coverage whilst creating a slight gradient, reapplying polish to the sponge as necessary. Once I was satisfied, I removed the liquid latex and then applied another coat of Kwik Dry Top Coat before reapplying the liquid latex to protect my skin from the stamping polish.
Next, I gathered my stamping tools. I applied Black Stamping Polish over the design I wanted on plate BPX-L007, scraped over it, picked up the image and pressed it onto the nail. Cleaning the plate between uses with my mani saver and a cotton ball, I also removed the liquid latex after each stamp. I used this stamp on my index and pinkie nails. These steps were repeated for my middle and ring nails, with a different image on plate BPL-031. After allowing time to dry, I applied Kwik Dry Top Coat to seal it all in and finished off with Big Matte Top Coat. 

Halloween Bats Emerging Nail Art with Matte Purple

I'm pretty happy with this design. I didn't want to do another orange Halloween design like last year, so I decided to do purple and yellow because I feel that's still pretty Halloween-y. Plus, they're opposing colours of the colour wheel so you know they'll go well together!
I was aiming for a sort of creepy sunset look, with the bats coming out for the night. 

What do you think?
Do you do Halloween nails?
Leave me a comment below!

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Thanks for stopping by!

Blossoming Nail Art

Hi there!

I hope you're all doing well, because I sure am!

Remember last week when I told you guys I had plenty of Spring designs up my sleeve? Well, you're getting another one this week! And probably next week as well.
I hope you're excited, because it's about to all floral and beautiful up in here!
I'm hoping to do some more involved nail art soon. I have been very bad with time management lately which usually means that I opt for something simple, hence why I've been doing a lot of stamping lately.
Please just bear with me while I get my stuff sorted (ha ha).

This week's design is pretty simple. I decided to do something basic but pretty, and stamping is always fun (not to mention super easy).
Below you'll find a list of polishes and tools I used to create this fun, Spring design.

Blossoming Nail Art

I used these nail polishes:
Bootylicious Babe by Chi Chi Cosmetics
South Beach Bling Bikini by Chi Chi Cosmetics
White Stamping Polish by Born Pretty
Black Stamping Polish by Emily de Molly
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen
Top and Base Coat by Rimmel

As well as these tools:
Stamping plate Chic Peek BM-XL472
Stamper
Scraper
Tweezers
Liquid Latex by LuLaa
Small dotting tool
Mani saver

Blossoming Nail Art with South Beach Bling Bikini

Rightey-o, so I started with Top & Base Coat.
After drying, I applied two coats of Bootylicious Babe then, while that was drying, I applied liquid latex around each nail. I then gathered my stamping tools.
Taking Black stamping polish I applied it over the design on stamping plate BM-XL472, scraped off the excess, picked up the image and pressed it onto the nail. I did this for all nails, placing it in different positions each time. Cleaning the plate with my Mani Saver between colours, I continued with White Stamping Polish. Using the same image, I applied them to the nail in a different position to the previous one. Once I was finished stamping, I removed the latex with tweezers.
Taking a sandwich bag, I applied a small amount of South Beach Bling Bikini to it, then used a small dotting tool to place dots over the "buds" of the design.
Once dry, I finished with Kwik Dry Top Coat.

Blossoming Nail Art with Black Stamping Polish

I found that with this image, the "buds" which were supposed to be full dots did not want to pick up properly. I tried a few different things but it just wasn't working for me, so I decided to add to the design. I'm glad I did because it turned out so cute!
It almost looks like an Arizona Iced Tea can, which I am totally cool with! 

I really love this green and orange mix. I've done similar colours before, but I think this one turned out better. Even though it's only a little bit of colour, it totally enhances the whole thing. I'm sure I could use a variety of colours and it would still look good. Maybe I'll have to try some different options in the future.

What are your thoughts?

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Thanks for stopping by!

Dry Garden Nail Art.

Hello lovely people!

I hope you're all doing well.

It has been a nice, quiet weekend for me; I spent a good portion of yesterday in my pj's. It was fun, it has been a while since I've done that and today has just been nail art. Pretty much my ideal weekend - the only thing missing is reading, but I'll be doing that as soon as this post goes live. 

I decided to create a winter-ish design this week. Since it's still quite cold here and winter is showing no sign of leaving anytime soon, it gave me a chance to use some of the colours I don't very often get to. I also got to use another "new" plate!
I'm calling this one Dry Garden, due to the use of the dry brush technique, as well as the dark colours. 

These are the nail polishes I used:

Snuggle Me by Face Of Australia

Instant Adventure by Essence

Mixetaupe by Essie

Black Stamping Polish by Emily de Molly

Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

Top and Base Coat by Rimmel

I also used these tools:

Stamping Plate BP-79 by Born Pretty

Large Clear Stamper

Scraper

Liquid Latex by Lulaa

I started with Top and Base Coat. After drying, I applied two coats of Mixetaupe. Taking Snuggle Me, I wiped off the excess polish from the brush using the neck of the bottle. Once I felt I had the right amount of polish on the brush, I gently swiped it across the nail in varying directions. I continued this for all five nails, reapplying when necessary.
The same was done with Instant Adventure, making sure to leave enough of the base colour showing through.
Next, I applied liquid latex around each nail, then allowed to dry before continuing. I then gathered my stamping tools (see list above). Taking stamping plate BP-79, I applied Black stamping polish over the image, scraped off the excess, picked up the design with the stamper and pressed it onto the nail - rolling the stamper back and forth to make sure the whole image transferred correctly. Again, doing this for all five nails, making sure to clean the stamping plate and stamper between each use.
Once the stamps were dry, I applied a coat of Kwik Dry Top Coat to seal it all in.

I really liked this one.
I think it has a bit of an elegant feel to it, which I'm not so good at because, to be honest, I am not exactly very elegant myself! Hahaha!
I do like to dabble though. Besides, I like to do anything and everything on my nails.

I'm also trying to create more winter-themed nails, using those deep cozy colours. Every time I go searching online for ideas on winter nails, all I get is a bunch of snow related stuff, which is frustrating because it only snows in certain areas here, so it seems a little silly for me to do designs like that. 

I also get a lot of Christmas ones, which I don't even like to do during the holiday seasons. I'm not going to start doing them now. 

What do you think?

What do your winter nails look like?

Leave me a comment below with links to your nail art so I can check it out.

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Thanks for stopping by!

Hamsa Polka-dot Nail Art

Hola everybody!

I hope you're all doing well.

This week has been very draining on me. I think I might be coming down with something, but it's taking its time getting here. It's causing some serious headaches, so I'm sorry if this blog isn't my strongest. I'll try my best, and hopefully my lovely boyfriend/editor will be able to help.

I took some inspiration from a few images on one of my Pinterest boards. See if you can figure it out which one I used, here. I try not to take directly from other people's nail art, rather just draw inspiration and ideas from them. I had a vague idea of what I was doing, I just needed to pick some polishes and a stamp.
I recently picked up some discounted Sinful Colors from the pastel neon matte collection that has been sitting in the "to be used" section of my polish shelf for a little while now. Obviously, I had to use them. I'll leave the details for now, but you can find a list of polishes and tools just below. 

Hamsa Polka-dot Nail Art 

These are the polishes I used:
Under The Inbluence by Sinful Colors
Quick Study by Sinful Colors
Black Stamping Polish by Emily de Molly
Top and Base Coat by Rimmel
Big Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen
Big Matte Top Coat by Sally Hansen

I also used these tools:
Stamping Plate BP-05 by Born Pretty
Medium dotting tool
Large clear stamper
Scraper
Mani Saver
Sandwich bag

Hamsa Polka-dot Nail Art with Quick Study

I started by applying Top and Base Coat. After drying, I applied two generous coats of Quick Study. I say generous because these polishes have a habit of drying too quickly and then I end up pulling the polish off my nails, which is not a good look. Unfortunately, this dose means a longer drying time, but it wasn't too bad.
Once that was finally dry, I grabbed a sandwich bag and placed a drop of Under The Inbluence on it. Taking my medium dotting tool, I dipped it into the polish and began creating a polka-dot design on each nail. I did this by creating a zig-zag pattern with the dots.
Next, I grabbed Stamping plate BP-05 and my other stamping tools. Choosing the design I wanted, I painted over it with Black Stamping Polish, scraped off the excess, picked up the image with my stamper and pressed it onto my middle nail. I placed the image on the lower half of the nail, with it angling to the right. Cleaning the plate with my mani saver and a cotton ball, I repeated this step with my ring finger, but angling the image to the left. As you can see, I didn't place this image quick enough and some of it didn't transfer, but that happens.
I then applied Kwik Dry Top Coat and, once that was dry, finished off with Big Matte Top Coat. 

Hamsa Polka-dot Nail Art with Under The Inbluence & Quick Study

I'm pretty happy with the results of this one. I have always enjoyed a good polka-dot design. These colours are perfect as well; there's nothing better than pastel polka-dots!

I have been trying to use all of my stamping plates; I still have so many with the blue film on them and I haven't bought any in months! The image I used came from one of these plates, which worked out pretty well for me. 

The Hamsa goes well with all the yoga-related designs I've been doing lately. I do realize the last yoga design I did was very similar in the way of stamping placement and that it was also matte. Obviously I liked it though, so why not do it again?
I'll try and be a bit more creative with the next one.

What do you think?

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Thanks for stopping by!

Sunrise and Silhouettes Nail Art

Hello everyone!

I hope you're enjoying your weekend. Today has been a beautiful sunny day, which is very welcome after a few days of clouds and rain. So, of course I decided to stay inside and do nail art instead of getting out and enjoying it... It did make it a lot easier to see what I was doing, though!

This week's nail art was inspired by a photo I took, or rather a photo I WANTED to take. A few weeks ago I work up early, hoping to get some nice photographs of the sunrise. Unfortunately for me, it was the worst morning for it -so overcast that we didn't get any sun until midday! I did end up with a really cool shot of a skeleton tree with the gloomy clouds behind it, though. So instead, I decided I'd create the sunrise on my nails, since nature didn't want to play... AND I had the perfect holos to create the sunrise look I wanted to achieve. I've called this one "Sunrise and Silhouettes Nail Art".

Sunrise and Silhouettes Nail Art

I used these polishes:
Big Hair Don't Care by Celestial Cosmetics
Mind That Mullet by Celestial Cosmetics
Care Bear Cuddles by Celestial Cosmetics
Black Stamping polish by Emily de Molly
Nail Base & Top Coat by Rimmel
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

As well as these nail art tools:
Stamping plate BP - L015 by Born Pretty 
Larger Clear Stamper
Scraper
Liquid Latex by Lulaa
Cosmetic sponge

Sunrise and Silhouettes with Mind That Mullet

To create this design, I began by applying a Base Coat. After allowing to dry, I applied one coat of Big Hair Don't Care. While that was drying, I applied a coat of Liquid Latex around each nail, making sure to cover the tips of my fingers (my nails being so short causes the polish to flow over the tips and really makes a mess!).
Once that had dried, I painted one stripe of each colour; Big Hair Don't Care, Mind The Mullet and Care Bear Cuddles, across the cosmetic sponge and in that order to create the sunrise effect. I then dabbed the sponge over each nail, re-applying the polish as necessary. Being holo, it took these polishes quite a few coats to get the desired effect.
I then removed the latex and allowed to dry.
Before continuing, I re-applied latex to my middle two fingers, then grabbed my stamping tools, including stamping plate BP-L015. Selecting the design I wanted, I painted over it with Black stamping polish, scraped off the excess, picked up the image with my stamper and pressed it firmly onto the nail, gently rolling it a little to make sure it transferred correctly. I did this for both my middle finger and ring finger nails, making sure to clean the plate between uses. I finished it off with Kwik Dry Top Coat. 

Sunrise and Silhouettes with Black stamping polish

I love this design!
I know, I know, I say that every week. But it's true!
I have a big thing for trees, especially skeleton trees, and the sunrise look is amazing. Using holos added a nice touch of magic to the whole design, and if you've ever seen the sunrise, you'll know how magical it can be. 

These holos are so amazing, I love using them. I should really try to use them more often. I'm still sad that Celestial is no more. They are the perfect blend of colour and holo, I couldn't get enough. Maybe one day they'll return. 

What do you think?
Let me know by leaving a comment!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hot Pink Aztec Inspired Nail Art

Hi everyone, 

I hope you've all had a good week. Mine seemed to drag and this heat is only making it worse. I almost didn't want to do my nails today! The mugginess is making me pretty lethargic, as I'm sure it does for most people. I'm not a huge fan of winter, but I am more than excited for it this year! I seriously miss the foggy hills and semi consistent rainfall, not to mention the massive amounts of lush greenery surrounding us. Also, the ability to go outside and actually enjoy it is a plus! 

Anyway, enough dreaming of the future, on with the nail art! Lately I've been trying to do more intricate looking designs. Layering and things like that. I think this is a pretty good example of what I'm aiming for. I have this thing for Aztec styled things at the moment, so I bought this awesome stamping plate that is full of Aztec inspired design which I have paired with some dry brushing and bright colours! Keep reading for the polishes, products and how I created this fun nail art.

Hot Pink Aztec Inspired Nail Art

For this design I used these polishes:

Material Girl by Chi Chi Cosmetics

Gold Rush Fever by ulta3

Black Satin by BYS Cosmetics

Black Stamping Polish by Emily de Molly

Big Primer Base Coat by Sally Hansen

Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

The products I used are:

BP-L048 Stamping Plate by Born Pretty

Large clear stamper

Scraper

Mani saver 

Cotton balls 

Liquid Latex by Lulaa 

Acetone

Hot Pink Aztec Inspired Nail Art with Gold Rush Fever

To create this design, I started with Big Primer Base Coat. Once dry, I applied two coats of Material Girls to all nails except my ring finger. I applied two coats of Black Stain to this nail, as I intended this to be an accent nail. I allowed this to dry while applying liquid latex around each nail. Taking Gold Rush Fever, I wiped the excess polish off the brush using the neck of the bottle and lightly stroked it across each nail, making sure to change directions for a distressed look. Once I was satisfied with the dry brushing, I removed the latex and re-applied. This is to ensure any polish on the latex doesn't dry too quickly and form a 'crust', which, in my experience makes clean up harder, therefore defeating the purpose of liquid latex. I then grabbed my stamping tools and Black Stamping Polish. I chose the design I wanted and applied enough polish to cover it, then taking my scraper, I scraped over the design to remove excess polish. I picked up the image using a large stamper and quickly pressed it onto the nail, then removed the latex. Taking my mani saver and a cotton ball dipped in acetone, I cleaned the stamping plate before proceeding. I repeated the previous steps for my ring finger, except using Material Girl to stamp with.
Lastly, I finished off with a coat of Kwik Dry Top Coat.

Hot Pink Aztec Inspired Nail Art with Material Girl

So a few things on this one.
Firstly, let me talk about this pink polish for a moment. It has to be one of my favorite pink polishes, in my opinion it is the perfect shade of hot pink. It also happens to be a pretty perfect colour for summer. I just adore it!
Now on to the gold. This is the best gold in my collection. I don't have all that many because it's not a preferred colour, but it's a good staple. This one is fabulous. I've said this before, but I am so grateful that I found ulta3 again, I'm really impressed by the polishes I have picked up so far!
These two colours together are an amazing combination, in my opinion.

I had originally intended to do stamping on all nails, but when I saw the pink and gold together I just knew they had to be shown off. Overall, I love this mani and enjoyed wearing it. I'd definitely do this combo again one day.

What do you think?
Are you as in love with these colours as I am? 

Leave me a comment and tell me what you think.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Typical Halloween Nail Art

Howdy y'all!

With Halloween just days away, I thought I should probably join in with the spirit (ha ha, no pun intended) of things and do a typical Halloween nail art design. I am a big fan of all things creepy and dark, but dark colours tend to stain and I was just not ready for that kind of clean up. So, I chose something else I am hoping will be just as fitting. Keep reading to see what polishes and tools I used for my typical Halloween nail art. 

Typical Halloween Nail Art With Black Stamping Polish

I used these nail polishes:
Orange by OXX Cosmetic (K-mart brand)
Black Stamping Polish by Emily de Molly
Kwik Dry Top Coat by Sally Hansen

I also used these products:
Camo Coat by Celestial Cosmetics
Stamping plate Qgirl-002 by La Qin An
Stamping plate BP-122 by Born Pretty
Large clear stamper
Scraper
Mani Saver
Cotton Balls
Paper towel

Just a quick side story - I spent 15 minutes trying to find the actual name of this orange polish, only to learn that the name is not on the bottle but rather on the packaging which I obviously threw out. So, unfortunately I am unable to give you the name from the brand, however, after looking at others colours by OXX, they seem to keep polish names simple, so I think orange is a pretty accurate name to go by for the purpose of this post. 

Typical Halloween Nail Art with Orange

I started off with two coats of Orange for my base. I then applied Camo Coat around each nail for easier clean up and allowed to dry completely. Prior to stamping, I always place two pieces of paper towel slightly underneath the stamping plate. I do this for a number of reasons;
1. So that I don't get polish all over my desk.
2. I can use it to wipe off the scraper to avoid build up.
3. If I'm having trouble picking up a design, I roll my stamper on it to remove the failed images.
Using stamping plate Qgirl-002, I cover my chosen design with Black Stamping Polish. I then scraped off the excess and picked up the image with my stamper, quickly pressing it on to the nail, then lightly pressed my finger over the design to ensure the image transferred correctly. With the help of my mani saver, I dipped a cotton ball into some acetone and used it to clean off the stamping plate. This just makes sure any left over polish doesn't dry on the plate and cause issues if I want to reuse this design, which I did for two nails.
I continued each of these steps until I had a design on each nail. I also used images from stamping plate BP-122 on my ring finger and thumb (not pictured). I decided to use different images because there are quite a few to choose from and I thought it would be more fun to have something different as opposed to all nails being the same, which I feel I do a little too often. Lastly, I removed the Camo Coat and finished with a quick dry top coat. 

Typical Halloween Nail Art

I'm not normally a fan of orange, in fact I would say it is a colour that I hate, but I liked it for this particular design. It definitely reminds me of a giant pumpkin with a face carved into it, and of course pumpkins are a huge part of Halloween. Although I really have no idea why.. I'm assuming it's an American thing. If you know, please tell me!

So there you have it, my typical Halloween nail art. It's nothing too adventurous, but it's still cool and it gave me a chance to use this orange polish that I picked up simply because it was $1 and I wanted to try out this brand. Not at all complaining!

What do you think?
What are you dressing your nails up as for Halloween this year?
Leave me a comment below! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Skulls and Roses Stamping Nail Art

Hello everyone!

It's a beautiful sunny Sunday right now. We are slowly starting to get that awesome spring weather, which is just lovely!

I have a very simple design this week, using one of my favorites... Stamping! 

Skull and Roses with Black Stamping Polish - Emily de Molly

For this design I used these:

Rebel Red - BYS

Black Stamping Polish - Emily de Molly 

Plate 28 - 春の歌 

Large stamper

Camo Coat - Celestial

Skull and Roses with Rebel Red - BYS

To create this design I started with two coats of Rebel Red, then applied a Camo Coat around each nail. After allowing them to dry, I took stamping plate 28, painted Black Stamping polish over the design and stamped it onto each nail. Once I had finished stamping I removed the Camo Coat and applied a quick dry top coat.

Skulls and Roses Nail Art Design

I didn't notice until I moved onto the second nail that the first design was upside-down. I decided to do another the same and do the remaining two the right way up. Since I use regular polish, trying to fix this would have just been a pain. Sometimes, you just gotta go with it. I don't mind though, I think it's a little more interesting this way. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Melting Metal Nail Art Design

Hey everyone!

I purchased a stamping polish from an Aussie indie polish company, Emily de Molly, and received another one with it. It's not a colour I would normally go for, but since I have it, I thought I may as well use it. So I did.

Melting Metal with Lady In Black - OPI

This one was fairly simple. I used:
Lady in Black - OPI
Metallic Olive Stamping polish - Emily de Molly
BP 29 Stamping plate - Born Pretty
Camo Coat - Celestial
Kwik Dry Top Coat - Sally Hansen
A large stamper. 

Melting Metal with Olive - Emily de Molly 

To create this look I used two coats of Lady In Black as a base. Once dry,  I applied Camo Coat around each nail. Taking Olive stamping polish, I painted over the design and stamped it onto the nails. I then removed the Camo Coat and applied a quick dry top coat. And that's it! 

Melting Metal 

This is why I love stamping, it's so quick and easy! And there are so many different options and designs.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for stopping by!