Brace Yourselves, This is a Bright One!

Hot damn am I glad that Valentine's Day is over and I can finally stop staring at the collection of pink and red polishes on my desk that I never used.  Sure, it's nice to have all the holidays be inspiration for manis but it gets a bit old after a while.  Now it's all over and done with for, what, a month til Easter, I just had to have a go at a fantastic neon mani I originally found on Pinterest: Sparrow Nails' combination of China Glaze Purple Panic and Turned Up Turquoise Neon.  It's too blindingly bright for me not to!

To start, I painted all but my ring finger in Purple Panic, leaving it to be Turned Up Turquoise.  Two coats is enough with these frosty neons, which is nice.  I added a coat of Seche Vite to each finger because I'm impatient and it makes the taping easier.  I then used my striping tape, painter's masking tape, pinking shears and dotting tools to make the various patterns.  Once they were all done, I finished off with another coat of Seche Vite and a coat of Essie Matte About You.  I've been looking for it for months and months, always missing it but TBBS in Toronto FINALLY had it in stock.  So everything will be matte now because it's the best matte top coat I've ever used.  I've tried Joe Fresh, Nails Inc, American Apparel, all of them can't even a bit compare to how good Matte About You is.  It's just such a matte finish!  Totes worth it.

The Verdict:  I love how abusively bright this is.  It was a pain in the bum to photograph, as you can imagine, but it was worth the effort.  I'm also going to go on again about how good Matte About You is.  Cos it's really good.  Yay neons!

Black and White Optical Illusion Nails!

I'm kinda late to the party cos I've only recently discovered tumblr.  When I did though, oh the hours that were wasted.  Especially when I see a post like this and think that would totally be a good idea to start doing at midnight.  Oh, not so subtle promo: I am on tumblr and post most of my manicures, if you're into that. 

To start, I applied two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls - still my all time favourite white - and topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite.  After I waited for that to dry, and waited another five minutes. I  taped off the tips of my nails with painter's masking tape and did the initial stripes using striping tape and Essence Back in Black.  Any black will do, this one was just at hand.  Once all my tape was on, I pressed everything down, to make sure I had no leaks.  This is why you gotta wait for everything to be super dry - you don't want to squish it.  Once I'd done all my fingers and the next coat of Seche Vite was dry, I tried lining the tape back up and applying the reverse stripes.  I did my thumb before giving up because it wasn't really working that well - it's super hard to see through opaque blue tape.  I resorted to free-handing the remaining stripes but I'm not happy with that either - not crisp enough.  And they look like umpire nails.  But at least they're different!

The Verdict:  Meh.  They took forever and aren't even a bit sparkly, so eh.  I think I'll try this again with brighter colours and clear tape, see if I can't get the second lot of stripes perfect.

Rainbow 90's Computer Logo Nails!

You know you have a problem when a perfectly matched rainbow pot of glitter just isn't that exciting because it isn't holo.  I realised the other night that this is stupid and I should try it out.  Not everything can be holo, Laura! The hardest part was choosing a background colour because I've done a rainbow over black literally a million times.  Let's take a look at rainbow glitter Hooplah from Impulse Cosmetics over Revlon Royal.    

I'm still so mad at my middle finger for being an asshole and breaking that even my favourite blue jelly, Revlon Royal, can't even fully distract me from how uneven it is.  Blerg.  Anyway, I chose Royal mostly because it was already there, on my desk, and it's the best blue ever.  It does need a few coats but it's worth it for how shiny it comes out.  Once dry, I used my usual technique to create my chevrons.  Starting at the top of my nail in the middle, I placed one piece of glitter in each colour, spaced evenly.  It's then just a matter of building out each side.  Keep an eye on your spacing as you go and you should get a nice even chevron.  Voila, mid-90's computer logo rainbow nails!

The Verdict:  Have to say thanks to my trainer Ben, because these totally look like a 90's computer logo.  Which is good.  I'll always love Royal, it's my perfect blue that I think only benefits from being a finicky jelly.

The Other Hand:  I'm continuing my streak of being honest about what's on my left hand and this time I used the same base colour and just sprinkled the glitter over my thumb and ring fingers.  I find sprinkling better than dunking because then you don't get patches with too much glitter that won't lay flat.

I've Got Neon, Holo, Zig-zags, Half Moons and Studs in the One Mani, Yay!

I was contacted a little while ago from Iona from StickyNails Nail Stencils about trying a new product she was working on.  I like to try new things so I gave her custom nail decals/stencils a shot and look!  Her package included a few different patterns of nail stickers but I'm always partial to a good chevron or zig zag so after pulling out the brightest colour combination I could find - Claire's Neon Orange and Pretty & Polished Boombox - I went to work. 

Iona's stencil stickers come on a white sheet of pseudo-plastic, with the designs pre-cut out, ready to lift off.  After applying three coats of Claire's Neon Orange polish with a coat of Seche Vite and waiting for it to dry completely, I peeled off one of the larger chevron stencils and laid it on my thumb.  She warns that these are strong stickers and she's not wrong because the first time you use one, you probably haven't waited long enough, and the base colour is going to come with you when you take it off.  I found that if you press the sticker against your palm first, it's much less ferocious.  The good thing about it being sticky is that you can press it down fully, and get right to the edges.  And your zig zags come out perfectly spaced!  I even used the in-between pieces on another manicure so win there.  Anyway, on my other three fingers I did a small freehand triangle half-moon and surround it with teeny studs from the Essence Nail Art kits I found at Shoppers.  Neon zig-zag stud win!

The Verdict:  I really like the stencils Iona has come up with.  I was able to re-use the same sticker 3-4 times, no issue, and you still get nice, even spacing and clean lines.  Also super digging Boombox as a holo blue, it's absolutely gorgeous and applies really well.

You can find StickyNails Nail Stencils on Etsy, $8-10 a set.  Worth it!

These products were sent to me for my honest review.

Review: Nails Inc Ladbroke Grove and Noho

If I see an interesting nail polish, I'm prooobbabbbly going to buy it.  Using it is a completely different thing but I'm definitely going to buy it.  I picked up the pink Nails Inc Leather Effect polish Ladbroke Lane ages ago and I haven't really known what to do with it.  It wasn't until I caved and bought the black one, Noho, that I finally figured out what to do with them.  Leather chevrons!

I knew I wanted "stripes" of leather - because that's what I'd do with real leather - so I started off with two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and topped it with a coat of Seche Vite to get it really dry.  I then laid out my strips of striping tape and used a smaller brush to paint my chevrons on, because I didn't want to risk getting it everywhere.  I was so surprised by how good the leather polish is!  It's opaque in one (thick) coat, dries fast and actually looks like leather.  The texture doesn't skeeve me out either, like the Liquid Sand polishes can sometimes.  I just really love how this came out.  I want to put the black on everything now...

The Verdict:  I really kinda love how this came out.  I just said that up there but I do!  If I was to be practical I'd say you don't really need more than one of these - even if the stripes look cool.  You super need the black though.  LOOK AT IT.  Can you imagine how awesome this would look contrasted against glitter?  Or just a matte polish?  Or anything?  I think this might be my new favourite :O

Egyptian Glitter Chevron Nails!

Time again last night for the Reddit monthly meetup so of course I'm going to do super sparkly nails to maximise the amount of attention I can get from the occasion.  I had some gold and black glitter sprinkled on a piece of plastic for some reason, so that was the winner candidate.  And blue too because it was there too.  Let's go look at this, shall we?

In case you can't tell, I'm a bit obsessed with Urban Outfitters Blue Velvet.  I've used it so many times because it's such a great blue.  I started with the usual three coats - it only really needs two but I like a thicker base for the glitter.  Starting with my thumb, I painted a stripe of top coat down the middle of my nail and laid down the first column of glitter, alternating between the three colours.  I then built out either side, using the same technique.  Two coats of Seche Vite and done.  

The Verdict:  This mani was a success last night and that's all I ever really want.  It's sparkly and didn't take that long to do.  I was able to do my right hand from go to whoa and paint my left hand, sprinkling the same glitter over the wet polish, in under an hour and a half.  Totally worth it, in my book.  And sparkly.  

A-England Bridal Veil with Circle Glitter Dots!

Can I ask you guys a question?  What do you like to see here on my blog?  Do you like swatches, glitter placements, taping, acrylic free-hand painting, dots, watermarbling or a general mixture?  Cos I do a lot of glitter placements, obviously, because that's what I like.  Do you like them too or should I make an effort to do other things?  I'll <3 you forever if you leave a comment below.  

With that being said, let's take a look at another glitter placement! At least it's with a holo base colour, and half moon chevrons!

I felt like using an A-England polish so I used three coats of Bridal Veil.  It really only needs one and a bit but you guys know I like a deep base for my glitter.  I then went to town with an orange stick, gold, silver holo and blue circle glitter from LoveNailz and went to town with my top coat that is currently half Love & Beauty top coat and half one that came with a set of nail stickers I got a while back.  Bad at being a top coat but good for being a glitter adhesive.  I started with the usual column down the middle then filled out each side as appropriate.  Then Seche Vite.  DONE.

The Verdict:  This is nice but nothing earth shattering.  I've accidently had it on for two days as I fell asleep on the couch last night and didn't do my nails as usual.  I don't like having the same nails two days in a row.  It is sparkly, and holding up well, at least.  

Review: Sephora Formula X Jolt with Black Matte, White Pearl and Silver Dazzle Glitter!

Ooooo I'm excited today because I have the fruits of late-night eBay binge to show you!  I got so carried away the envelope the glitter came in was HEAVY.  My boyfriend handed it to me like it was bomb, going to explode glittery all over him.  Inside, FIVE new circle glitters, three of which have that amazing finish the OPI I Snow You Love Me has.  I FOUND THAT GLITTER GUYS.  So of course I had to bung a bunch on my nails.  Over an amazing hot pink, no less. 

I think I might have to do a whole post on the base colour I used here, the amazing Sephora Formula X Jolt.  There's just so many flakie particles in the hot pink base, it's just stunning up close.  The blue shimmer in the bottle doesn't translate on the nail the strongest but the matte finish is great.  Anyway, after applying three coats of Jolt, I went nuts with my black matte, white pearl and silver dazzler circle glitter.  When working with such big pieces, you have to apply a really thick base of your slow drying top coat.  You then need to press each piece deep into the top coat - without it spilling over the glitter - so that it sits flush.  As usual I started with a column down the middle and worked outwards.  Because I pressed the glitter deep, the finish here is amazingly smooth after two coats of Seche Vite.  I haven't lost any pieces yet!

The Verdict:  I'm kinda loving the colour combo and how the different finishes interact with each other.  From a distance it looks like I have studs and rhinestones on my nails and that's always awesome.  The fact I FINALLY got circle glitter this big to sit flat is awesome too.  So winning all around!

All glitter is from The Glitter Store UK on eBay.  I bought all the glitter here myself :)

Crazy Matte Circle Mani! Chaos and Control Make a Nice Juxtaposition

I love glitter so much it's just not even funny at this point.  My challenge now is filling out the gaps in my collection - getting glitter that's the same size in as many different colours as possible so I can do, well, stuff like this mani!  I ordered a TON of new glitter from Borough Babe Supply on Etsy and the clear standout was a crazy mix of small circle matte glitter called Lichtenstein.  It my not be sparkly but it certainly is colourful!  Let's take a closer look, shall we?

I really like mixing up my patterns on my thumb and ring finger for accent nails.  I thought having order and chaos juxtaposed might be nice so that is what I did!  You can't really tell, but I started off here with a gorgeous purple creme base, China Glaze Queen B.  Two coats were enough.  I then went to town with my usual technique, a stroke of clear polish down the centre of my nail, placing a straight column of glitter with my orange stick, then building out each side.  If a full piece didn't fit near my cuticle, I used the sharp scissors on my Swiss Army knife to cut a piece in half, then stuck it on as usual. The edge pieces I trimmed after they'd been applied.  A coat or two of Seche Vite and I'm done!

The Verdict:  I think this just might be my favourite non-sparkly mani. Like, ever.  It's just so colourful! This glitter is such high quality too.  The colours are really strong and bright, and the pieces are holding up really well.  Hooray for variety!