Sharpie Nail Art

I'm sure many have thought of it before - why not draw on your nails with a Sharpie marker? I have tried and here is what I found out:

• It bleeds and smudges when you put a topcoat over it pretty badly.
• It rubs off almost easily - don't even think about washing your hands without a topcoat!
• Wears off the edges pretty much instantly (I had to do a few touch ups for the photo, even)
• A basecoat is a must, because I'm sure they will stain your nails if touching them directly.

If you can get past this - and I have, Sharpies are pretty fun and easy way to sometimes do precise black lines and drawings on your nails. I really want to try this again, but maybe without making the tips black because the need too much maintenance. The base polish for this mani is Illamasqua Load.

Have you ever tried using Sharpies/other unorthodox materials on your nails?

Illamasqua Serenity

With topcoat

And a few weeks later!

Man, I love Illamasqua polishes more than I probably should so it's no surprise that I was happy as hell when I finally found Noble on the Sephora shelves. It's one of their rubber finish polishes, which are semi-matte when dry. I like to use topcoat to give them shine though.

Creamy formula, basically a 1 coater, dries fast, it evens very nicely, which is a surprise for matte polishes. There's no need to go over with a topcoat, then a matte topcoat since there is no lumps when this polish dries - best matte I have tried in a while.

PS: this is actually as long as my nails got EVER! I had to cut them down after this mani - they started getting stuck in the mouse scroll wheel :( Goodbye, claws

Dear RUS LAD538

In this photo, it's warm on the index finger, normal on others. compare how the tips look very different!

I have not worn this polish for a few months since I got it, but I finally decided to give it a ago and to try some nail art with it! My nails are far too long for a Konad stamp to cover them all, so I tried to leave some space at the base of the nail. This polish is the same in finish and formula as the other Dear RUS polishes: LAD560, LAD556 and LAD554.

This one is a grey shimmer which turns to a much darker grey when cold. I like that it's also very cool-toned, almost greenish in its color. The darker tips look fantastic and I ended up really loving this under the stamp!

Nubar polka dot jelly sandwich

Finally got my hands on the Nubar Black and White polka dots! They are clear polishes with scattered fine black/white glitter and bigger hex glitters in their respective colors, as well. I decided to sandwich this in OPI My Pointe Exactly, a grey jelly. It definitely turned out interesting, I need to try polka dots over bright colors as well. It sort of reminds me of  cookies and cream, would be even better if I used a peachy/cream jelly instead!

Stripey french tips manicure

What's this? A french manicure? Stop looking at me like I'm crazy!

Nice and nude base, stripey tips - something I've been wanting to try for a while and my nails are the right length for it! Base it L'Oreal Sweet Nothings and white and black nail art polishes were used as well. They turned out surprisingly nice, I'll have to try this again. Wearing a french manicure for the first time made me feel so dainty, even though it wasn't a traditional version by any means. I think with my nails so long, it may have looked tacky if it wasn't for the stripes. When I cut them short, that might be another story.

What do you think of french manicures? 

These were my Halloween nails

I'm posting these a little late, but these were my Halloween nails! I really love the look of the drippy blood nail art and I've done it before, so I neeeeded to do it again. Base: Elf - Nude, blood drips in - Essie Jelly Apple and accent it WnW Black creme.

I wasn't really feeling too festive for Halloween this year for some reason, but I did like seeing all the related nail art. Of course, I got my fair share of candy and the chocolate eating done and because of that, it makes a great holiday in my book.

I'm going to say this: buying Halloween candy in an organic grocery this year has been a great idea - it was seriously amazing! I know I'm going back next year.

OPI Fly and dotty nail art

I love OPI Fly... the colour itself is magnetic enough, but the formula really gets me! It's also notoriously hard to photograph. I've blogged about it three times, but I think these photos are the most colour-accurate so far.

I wanted to spice it up, so dots it was! I really like how a single line of white dots made my nails look so much longer. Simple, but nice!

Nail art - Metallic Zebra

I always love the Zebra stamp on the Konad plate m57 - it's always crisp and perfect. The base is Essie Blue Rhapsody, a perfectly blue metallic color. There's never a season without Zebra nails!

What's your favourite Konad/stamping plate?

Adventure Time nails!

It's nail art time! I attempted some nail art, inspired by the cartoon Adventure Time.
All of this was freehanded, but I think its about time I invest in some acrylic and nail art brushes - this turned our messier than I thought. However, the rainbow was my favourite part. I might have to do all-rainbow nails sometime. What do you think?

Peachy Graffitti

Today, there's more simple graffiti-style nail art, with the base being China Glaze - Peachy Keen. My hands look red for some reason, but at least the polish looks right. I used those nail art polishes with really skinny brushes in White first, then Black on top and pieces filled in with red. This is one of the easier nail art types to try, so give it a go if you're not sure or haven't tried it yet! 

Gradient dots

It's time for gradient dots again! I used my Dear RUS color changing polishes for the dots and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away! For the base color. You can see the subtle change in color between the tip and the base of the nail. I have done this before, but it's crazy to see how different my nails are! Better, stronger... the comparison shocks me. 

Neon strawberries

Strawberries - the failproof cute manicure for me. Base color is China Glaze - A Rose Among Thorns (neon) and the green was ORLY Green Apple. This time, I tried to do the seeds differently - instead of white dots, I did black lines with white on top, to look a little more like real strawberries. When I was done, it didn't look too different from white dots, but it helped make my nails look longer, due to the vertical lines. 

If anyone's interested, here's the process:

Paint base color, wait for it to dry (very important).

Start by applying black lines/dots, then white on top. However, you may skip the black and just start with white.

Cut out jagged edges on the tape strip and place it on the nail, so the nail tip is exposed. 

Paint the tips green, then remove tape immediately.

Wait for it to dry or use your favorite fast-dry topcoat!

Etude House - Juicy cocktail in Love Violet

Boy do I have a treat for you today! A part of my Korean haul, A set of Etude House polishes that are meant to create a Jelly Syrup look; something that is ever-so-popular in Asia. The polishes are: super sheer base jelly colour (applies all over) middle gradient color (middle of nail and to the tips) and the finishing glitter, which applies to the tips. They're all super sheer so layering them looks like a flawless gradient and the glitters are opaque enough to show up within a single coat. My favourite would have to be the middle polish - translucent glitter with tiny pieces of mylar flakies, suspended in a purple jelly. I could not capture it properly in the photos, but there's also invisible glitter, flashing blue and pink. Seriously, it's amazing! I want to try layering with these polishes at some point, since they're so versatile. There's other versions of this set, including silvery white, pink, gold, and I think blue (?). The glitters that come with these are different, but I'm glad I got this one! These are some of the most unique glitters in my collection.

Watermelon sandwich

Is it jelly sandwich time? Yes it is! This is another layering experiment with OPI Too Pink to Hold 'em and Sephora by OPI To The Glitter End.

The index finger is the same jelly base with flakies in the middle, but it's a little hard to see. I'm super happy with the way this sandwich came out, the pewter glitter is just dark enough to look like watermelon seeds in the juicy dark pink base!

Note: about the varying nail lengths, I have a backlog of photos and was finally able to edit them, but posting them out of order. My nails are currently pretty long, but some of the photos are from 3 weeks ago at the latest and the nails are much shorter. So! If you see a claw discrepancy, this is why :)

Sorbet Swirl

This one sounded like a good idea, but I messed up on the stamping a little. It looks okay from a distance though! The polishes I used were Sally Hansen Instadri Snappy Sorbet and Lightning stamped over it. Very opaque cremes, I keep acquiring these strictly for the stamping most of the time because let's face it - Konad special polishes cost a lot and some are not opaque at all (I'm looking at YOU, special gold). I did like the color of Snappy Sorbet though, it's an incredible mango-peach and the name really fits because it's really neither. It's just orange enough to be bright and a little pink to separate it from oranges in my book. The pinkiness keeps it looking surprisingly nice on my skin tone and this is a big plus that China Glaze - Peachy Keen does not have. I think layering some shimmer effects polishes over this polish might be a good idea. 

What are your thoughts on peachy polish? Did you find one that works with your skin tone?

Glassy Pink and laces

I've been eyeing Sinfuls for a while but was always a little apprehensive about purchasing them.

 I chose Glassy Pink for its glass fleck finish, it's very sheer and shimmery and the formula is easy to work with. Since it's a sheer polish, it took about 4 coats to get this opacity.  The nail line is still visible, but it isn't apparent. It didn't smell horrible, the texture was pleasing and this made my nails look really long, since it's a nude/light color. I'm really happy with this polish! It's not chunky, was pretty cheap, looks very airy and fresh. Only downside is it's less pink than I wanted, but the beautiful gold shimmer really makes this one stand out for me. Beautiful polish, I bet this would look smashing in sunlight!

Have you ever tried a glass fleck polish? Do you have a favourite one?

Essie Borrowed and Blue + glitter tips

As an impulse purchase, I've picked up Essie Borrowed and Blue, a very light pastel blue with a creme finish.

The formula was streaky and the color looked chalky, which was a disappointment. However, it did dry fast, which is always a plus. The color itself is less awesome on my hands than it is in the bottle, so I've decided to do a little bit of a glitter gradient and a nail sticker! This seemed to have made it a little more "interesting" am reminds me of fresh linen drying outside in the summer... 

Overall, don't like the color with my skin, don't like the formula, wish it was a little bit less chalky, but maybe I can use it for stamping!

Minnie Mouse nail art

I have seen the OPI Minnie Mouse collection and I am sad to say, but I was disappointed! The colors are typical red/pinkish and there's a sort of interesting effect topcoat, but it's just finely milled mylar flakies with hearts glitters, like in NOPI polishes. Needless to say, I am not impressed... but rather than be mad, I did my own Minnie-style nails!

I used the Konad plates to stamp the polka dots and the base colors were WnW Black Creme, SH Instadri Whirlwind White and my favourite neon this season - China Glaze - A Rose Among Thorns.

These came out a lot prettier than I expected! I might have to do more Disney inspired stuff later on, I'm planning maybe a Steamboat style Mickey...

That will have to wait though because I am finally moving! I'm going to have access to the rest of my stash again. This means I can put this and my "temporary" 6 month stash together and organize everything. That's going to feel soo good. This also means I will have a solid place to set up a lamp to photograph and a computer desk with a desktop computer and a good viewing angle. This should solve the issues I have with photographs looking too washed out/too saturated, etc.

Ooh, so excited!

Nail art - Konad and neons!

It's been a dreary spring and an even colder, rainier summer. This sort of situation calls for a neon... but which one? Why not all of them? I used SH Xtreme wear Blue Me Away, Illamasqua Collide, Jo'Mina and Rare from index to pinky. I love the Illa neons, they are so creamy and opaque and don't need underwear! After that, Konad plates and topcoat. Funny enogh, I can never get the designs to go full length of the nail... I have issues stamping because my c curve is very pronounced, so they either end up covering a half of the nail or smudging. However, it does get better with practice, so that's always encouraging. 

Come on, summer! Show me the sun! I want to wear holographics~

What are some of your favorite rainy day polishes?

Cute and Simple - hearts and jelly nail art

A palate cleanser is something needed every once in a while for me, but I was not satisfied with just the jelly, so I decided to sandwich some glitter! I applied 1 coat of OPI Heart Throb and then stuck the glitters on the tacky polish. Waited for it to dry and applied 2 more coats and a fast dry topcoat (Seche Vite in this case) This allows the squishy jelly underneath to dry in a reasonable time. I think this turned out pretty good! I wish I had pink hearts, but blue seems to work well enough. It reminds me of spring and sunny skies!

What do you thin of glitter in the jelly like that? Would you have liked it better on top of the jelly, rather than inside?