This and That

Today's manicure is based on a design I saw somewhere on the internet (with my own twist), but I'm not really sure where... But, credit to whoever came up with this originally! Anyways, the design.

My pinkies and thumbs are a base of Flirt from Revlon. The daisies are white and yellow acrylic, and the smiley face is black and yellow acrylic. My left ring finger and right middle finger are a base of Mint Sorbet from Sally Hansen with gold hearts made of The Man With The Golden Gun 18k gold top coat from OPI. My middle finger (left hand) is a base of White Matter from Formula X. The yin-yang is completed with Black Satin from Rimmel. My left pointer finger and right ring finger are In True Stefani Fashion from OPI. And my right pointer finger is a peacock feather made with Frostbite from China Glaze, Deviantly Daring from China Glaze, Unplugged from China Glaze, and Show Me The Greens from Misa.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Sugar Skulls

As you hopefully all know by now, I love sugar skulls. And since I was lacking inspiration, I decided to paint a quick sugar skull manicure.

The base is White Matter from Formula X, then I used various acrylics, and the tip of a pen to make the skulls.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Dun dun, dun dun, dun dun... shark!

Don't be scared by the post title ;), this post isn't scary at all.

My pinkies and thumbs are a base of St. James Park from Nails Inc., with yellow acrylic polka dots. On my ring fingers, I used a base of Sheer Nude by Orly, then painted the shark using Dreamer by Revlon and white and black acrylic. My middle fingers are a base of White Matter by Formula X, with St. James Park polka dots. Finally, my pointer fingers are a base of Dreamer with pineapples painted from yellow and black acrylic and Sassy by Revlon. This manicure was partly inspired by this article here, partly by summer practically being here, and partly by the fact that I just watched Sharknado... don't judge me... :p

Hope you guys enjoy!!

Aurora Borealis Tutorial

I got a request to make a tutorial on this a while ago (sorry it took so long Nicky!) I honestly forgot this post existed!

The final picture in the collage should be your final product. For some reason, my camera decided to not capture the Aurora Borealis very well for the tutorial. The photo above gives you a better idea of the shade of blue to use.

1. Start with a dark blue base, preferably with some sparkle to it. I used one coat of Black Satin from Rimmel, followed by one coat of Yoga-Ta Get this Blue from OPI.

2. Next, sponge on various colours. In my case, I'm making a blue and purple galaxy. I sponged on (near the centre of my nail) Frostbite by China Glaze, Grey-t to Be Here by Essence, Curaçao by Sephora, Stars In Her Eyes by Ceramic Glaze, Plum Seduction by Revlon, Hello Marshmallow by Essence and Miss Universe by Essence. You don't have to use this many colours. I only did to get the glittery night sky effect I was going for. Basically, you want to lighten the centre of the nail, and add sparkle. 

3. Using a white nail polish thinned with polish remover/thinner or watered down white acrylic, start painting the Aurora Borealis. To do this, make an "s" shape from near your cuticle up to the tip of your nail. Go over this shape in certain places to make parts of the Northern Lights pop. In other spots, fade out the white to make more of a glowing look. Just as with galaxy nails, reference photos to make your design more realistic. 

4. Finally, using black polish or acrylic, paint a silhouette of trees. 

And there you go. An Aurora Borealis manicure!

Back To The Beach

I know. The two themes that I always come back to for manicures are Mickey Mouse and tropical. So here's another tropical, island themed design.

I started with a base of White Matter from Formula X. Then I randomly dry brushed Pool Party by China Glaze, Sunkissed by Sally Hansen, L.O.L. by Essence, Turned Up Turquoise by China Glaze and Let's Get Lost by Essence on my nails. On my ring fingers and thumbs, I added white acrylic on the "water" to create reflection, and then added a black acrylic palm tree. On my pointer fingers, I added a heart using black and white acrylic.

I'm actually really happy with this manicure, and I've gotten a ton of compliments. The bright colours make it super summery, and brighten my day (which is great considering it's been rainy and overcast for several weeks now). And it's a semi-abstract but still realistic design too.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Splattered

Just a quick post today to show you guys the splatter nails I did the other day.

The blue base is Let's Get Lost from Essence and the pink base is Pool Party from China Glaze. I then splattered White Matter by Formula X, Pool Party, Let's Get Lost, and Turned Up Turquoise by China Glaze using a toothbrush. It was just a quick mani that lasted about a day before I wanted a change. It was fun while it lasted!

Hope you guys enjoy!

Art Crawl

Last Friday, I spent the day hanging out with my sister at something called Art Crawl. It's sort of a mini art festival that happens once a month. In honour of the occasion, I felt like I needed some artsy-hipster nails. This is what I came up with.

My pinkie finger is a mix of Curaçao from Sephora and White On from Sally Hansen. Then I painted the drips with black acrylic. My ring finger (and thumb) is a base of White On that I added a small gold stud to. My middle finger is a base of Black Satin from Rimmel, with an eye painted with white and blue acrylic. Finally, my pointer finger is yin-yang with a base of White On and black acrylic.

I had lots of fun with this manicure, and even more fun that day.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Come A Little Closer

On Tuesday night I went to a Cage The Elephant concert. They're one of my favourite bands, and the concert was phenomenal. I know, I say this about every concert I see, but I've yet to go to a bad concert... :) Of course, I had to paint my nails for it.

 

My pinkie is based on the background for their self titled album, Cage The Elephant. The base is White Matter from Formula X (officially the BEST white polish ever), then I applied Curaçao from Sephora using the watercolour technique. I also dry brushed Lightening from Sally Hansen and Plum Seduction from Revlon on, and splattered Sassy fom Revlon, L.O.L. from Essence, and black acrylic. My ring finger is also a base of White Matter, then I painted on an eye from the album Melophobia with the band's logo. My middle finger is blue and magenta acrylic flowers which are based on artwork within the album Cage The Elephant. The base is also White Matter. On my pointer finger, I marbled various colours of acrylic paint together. Finally, my thumb is a base of White Matter with black stripes using a striper. All the designs are based off of the band's album artwork.

I also met the guitarist, Brad, as you can see below. 

And then this happened:

Now that's what I call crowd surfing... although I'd be scared they would drop me... Hope you guys enjoy!

A Little Bit Of Everything

I don't really know what to call this manicure. It's kind of got some vintage vibes going, with a lot of different designs going on.

My pinkie fingers are stripes, with a base of White On from Sally Hansen, and the stripes are made with black acrylic and tape. My ring fingers are sort of dandelion blossoms make with a black striper on a base of White On. My middle fingers are just two coats of Mint Sorbet from Sally Hansen. On my pointer finger, I painted a heart with black acrylic on a base of Blazed from Wet 'N' Wild. Finally, my thumb is a base Dreamer from Revlon, with black acrylic polka dots and a gold stud accent. 

Hope you guys enjoy!

Instagram

Hey guys! Just wanted to make a quick post to let you guys know I'm on Instagram now (I actually have been for a while... I just never use it :p). My Instagram is The_NailGuru. One of you guys encouraged me to start using it, so thanks Abby! :)