Holy (Guaca)Moly

I, like pretty much everyone in the world in the past year or so, LOVE avocados. Seriously, they're delicious, and wonderful, and I could really go for some right now... Maybe some avocado toast... Okay, I'm getting off topic, but basically I love avocados so much, I had to paint some on my nails. These were inspired by Girl Next Door on Instagram.

The glittery base for these babies was Goldeneye from OPI. I then painted the lil' avocado halves and slices using a mix of L.O.L. from Essence, and Sassy from Revlon. I added in the details using brown, white, black, and pink acrylic.

Le close up.

So what about you guys? Are you part of the avocado lovers? Or do you hate them? Let me know in the comments below!

Footsteps on the Beach

Looks like the perfect day for a walk along the beach... And maybe even for a swim...

For this design, I started with a base of Cocktails & Coconuts from Essie, then sponged on That's What I Mint from Essence to create a gradient. Using the water spotting method, I used Sure Thing from Revlon to create the water effect. On my ring finger, I added little footprints using brown acrylic. Finally, I topped the whole design with Matte About You topcoat from Essie. 

Hope you guys enjoy!

"Eye" See All

Or at least my nails see all. I mean there are four eyes there. That's got to be pretty good vision. This mani was inspired, once again by the genius Spifster. 

The base for all nails was Surfing Paradise from Island Girl Hawaii. On my left pinkie and right middle finger, I painted the stars using a black striper from It's So Easy. My ring fingers and index fingers were a mix of Mellow Yellow from Sally Hansen, Blue Away from Sally Hansen, Let's Get Lost from Essence and Under The Boardwalk from China Glaze. I then painted on the drips using my black striper. Finally, on my left middle finger and right pinkie, I painted the eyes with white acrylic, then painted the irises with blue acrylic and the pupils with black acrylic. I finished it off by lining the eyes with a black striper. 

Hope you guys enjoy! 

Flamingos & Palm Trees

Well, it's finally starting to get warm here in Southern Ontario, so it's about time to start breaking out all the summery designs. These ones happen to be inspired by Nina Park, AKA, Nina Nailed It.

For the palm tree nails, I created a gradient using Electrified and Hey Girl! from Quo by Orly. Then, using black acrylic, I painted the palm trees. For the flamingo nails, I mixed together Blue Away from Sally Hansen and That's What I Mint from Essence for the base coat. I then painted the flamingos using pink, gold and black acrylic. I topped everything off with a matte top coat and voila! Simple and cute summery nails.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Don't Be a Beach, Go to One!

Hey guys! Here's a quick little design I did to try out a new technique.

The base for all my nails was Cocktails & Coconuts from Essie. I used white acrylic to paint the lettering on my ring finger. For my other nails, I sponged on a gradient of Cocktails & Coconuts, Blue Away from Sally Hansen, That's What I Mint from Essence and Shower Together from China Glaze. I then used a water marbling technique with Sure Thing from Revlon to create the waves/water reflections.

I absolutely love how this turned out and I will definitely be trying it again!

Hope you guys enjoy!

Hoppy Easter!

Hey guys! Here are some super quick Easter nails!

They're some little robin's egg nails. I started with a base of That's What I Mint from Essence, and then splattered on Suzi Loves Cowboys from OPI using a toothbrush. Finally, I put on Matte About You from Essence as a top coat.

And here's a bonus picture of my little Easter bunny. 

Happy Easter! Hope you guys enjoy!

Breathe... and Take Me Somewhere Warm

For those of you lucky enough to live somewhere warm, well... you're reaaaaaally lucky. The temperatures here have been around -20 Celsius, and lower, for a couple months now. Everything is frozen. I can't actually escape the cold right now, so I did the next best thing; I painted the tropics on my nails.

Bear with me guys; there were a lot of colours used for this design.

Pinkie: I started with a base of Sure Thing from Revlon, then sponged on Blue Away from Sally Hansen, Let's Get Lost from Essence and Yoga-Ta Get This Blue from OPI. I finished of the sponging with a little bit more of Sure Thing to create some clouds and highlights in the water. Finally, using green, black, white and yellow acrylic, I painted on the palm leaf. 

Ring Finger: I started this nail with a base of Sure Thing as well. Next, I sponged on Let's Get Lost, Plum Seduction from Revlon, Yoga-Ta Get This Blue and Blue Away for the sky. I also sponged on Electrified from Quo by Orly, Sun Kissed from Sally Hansen and Hot Tamale from Sally Hansen to create part of the sky and the setting sun. I added in some clouds using black acrylic, and Hot Tamale. Next, for the water, I painted on black acrylic, then sponged Let's Get Lost and Sure Thing on top. I also sponged a tiny bit of Hot Tamale on to be the reflection of the sun. Finally, I painted in the palm tree using black acrylic.

Middle Finger: Like the other nails, this was a base of Sure Thing. I started by painting the tree trunks using Surfing Paradise from Island Girl Hawaii, then added detail to them using black acrylic. I then added in some of Surfing Paradise for the ground. Next, I added the plants into the design using black, white, yellow, and green acrylic, as well as High Line Green from NYC. Using white acrylic, I painted the surf board, then added the details using black and blue acrylic. I touched up the leaves and this nail was done.

Index Finger: Sure Thing was the base for this nail as well. I then sponged on Yoga-Ta Get This Blue, Let's Get Lost, Plum Seduction, Blue Away and Electrified for the sky. I then used black acrylic to paint the silhouettes of the buildings and palm trees.

Now I can have a mini vacation on my nails.

I hope you guys enjoy!

Ghost Town

Alright kiddos (I have no idea why I said kiddos), it's about that time again to show off some band inspired nail art. This past Saturday, I went to yet another Ghost Town concert, and did some more Ghost Town nail art (you can see the previous manicures here, here, and here). As before, the designs are all inspired by the wonderful Alister Dippner, who is the mastermind behind the Ghost Town artwork. 

Alright, let's start with the left hand. Both my pinkie and thumb were galaxies, with a base of Frostbite from China Glaze, then Plum Seduction from Revlon and white acrylic sponged on. I finished it off with some white acrylic stars. My ring finger is a base of Black Taxi from Nails Inc., and then the Ghost Town logo was painted with white acrylic. My middle finger is inspired by the cover for the song "Acid", with a base of Sure Thing from Revlon. All the details are acrylic, except for the galaxy on the hair, which included Plum Seduction. On my pointer finger, I painted part of the cover for "I'm A Disaster", starting with a base of Black Taxi, and a sponging of Miss Universe from Essence. Then the details were painted with acrylic. 

On my right hand, I my thumb was a "Pizza Kitty" in acrylic, with a base of Black Taxi and sponging of Miss Universe. My pointer finger was an Alister Dippner styled Pikachu, also with acrylic, on a base of Sure Thing. On my middle finger, I painted "Bessie the Cow" using acrylic, with as base of Black Taxi. My ring finger was an Alister inspired Mickey Mouse, with a base of Sure Thing and painted in acrylic. Finally, my pinkie was another a galaxy.

Here's a close up of "Acid".

Hope you guys enjoy!

Take It Or Leave It

Yes guys, I went to another concert. I feel like that's all I do now a days. :p Anyways, I won tickets to see Cage The Elephant and The Black Keys. I of course did nails as a tribute to Cage The Elephant. Here they are.

My thumb and pinkie were a base of Sure Thing from Revlon with stripes painted on using a black striper. My ring finger was a water marbled base of Black Taxi from Nails Inc., Blue Away from Sally Hansen, Pink Lingerie from Revlon, Revlon Red from Revlon and High Line Green from NYC. Then, using white acrylic, I painted the Cage The Elephant cover from their album Thank You, Happy Birthday. My middle finger is also a base of Sure Thing. Then, I splattered, dotted and smudged on Sassy from Revlon, Lightening from Sally Hansen, Revlon Red, Let's Get Lost from Essence, and black, red and pink acrylic. Finally, my pointer finger was a base of Sure Thing, with an eye from the Melophobia cover painted using black, red, purple and blue acrylic. My right hand was very similar to my left hand.

This was the first concert in a long time I haven't hung out with the band after, but it was tons of fun and I love how my nails turned out!

Hope you guys enjoy!

"Eye" See You

This nail design was just something quick I had done in between the Tangled and Warped Tour manicures.

The base on my pinkie and middle finger is Black Taxi from Nails Inc. On my ring finger I used Sure Thing from Revlon as a base, then painted on Hey Girl! from Quo, Lightening from Sally Hansen, Let's Get Lost from Essence and Black Taxi on randomly. On my middle finger, I painted an eye using black, white and blue acrylic. Finally, using a base of Sure Thing and a black striper, I created a checker board pattern. 

Hope you guys enjoy!

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!

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!

Floral Fancy

When I first painted this design, I really wasn't a fan of it. But, the longer it's on my nails, the more I like it. So here it is: some stripes and abstract flowers inspired by a design I saw in Nail It! magazine.

The base colour is White On from Sally Hansen, and the stripes were made with a black striper. Then I started making the flowers. The blue is a mix of White On and Dreamer from Revlon. The pink is St. James Park from Nails Inc., and the darker purple is a mix of Charming, Plum Seduction and Dreamer, all from Revlon. The lighter purple is a mix of Hello Marshmallow from Essence and Plum Seduction. Finally, the leaves are High Line Green from NYC and Sassy from Revlon.

This design is really easy. The stripes don't need to be perfect, and the flowers are pretty much just layering blobs of different coloured nail polish.

So what do you guys think? Abstract flowers: good or bad?

I Love It

So I completely forgot I did this manicure! It's from a couple weeks ago, and I've seen so many heart french manicures that I really wanted to do one myself. And it paid off! I love how it looks, plus I got a ton of compliments on it!

I used French Rose from Rimmel as the base for all my nails. On my pinkie, I made the heart with St. James Park from Nails Inc. and then striped on L.O.L from Essence. My ring finger is a heart of Black Satin from Rimmel, and my middle finger is L.O.L. with polka dots of Let's Get Lost by Essence. My pointer finger is Let's Get Lost, and the criss-crossing is St. James Park. My thumb (seen below) is The Living Daylights by OPI, with a few dots of St. James Park. Finally, I outlined all the hearts with black acrylic. 

I hope you guys enjoy this manicure as much as I did. Super simple, but it's pretty awesome looking!

Out of This World

I LOVE galaxy nails. Ever since I first tried them, I have. I don't really paint galaxy nails that often though, so I thought it was about time for some more. As well as an updated galaxy tutorial.

1. Start with a black base. I used Black Satin from Rimmel.

2. Choose two colours at this point that work well together. For example, green and blue or blue and purple. In my case, I chose blue and purple, which are generally seen it actually galaxies. Starting with the first colour (blue, Frostbite by China Glaze), sponge onto the nail. Make the colour more concentrated in certain areas. 

3. Using your second colour (purple, Back in My Gloria Days by Nicole (OPI) and Tomorrow Never Dies by OPI, sponge onto the nail. Overlap with the other colour in certain spots. 

4. [Optional] Taking a lighter shade of your first colour (Let's Get Lost by Essence), sponge onto spots of the galaxy that you want to be lighter. At this point, take a white polish or white acrylic, and lighten certain spots of the galaxy. 

5. Now that you have the white on the nail, take this time to add any more of the colours you chose, overlapping some of the white. 

6. Add stars using white. And add lots of them. Focus on clustering the stars. Wherever the galaxy is the lightest, that's where you should put more stars. Finally, top coat.

And here are some of my old tips, and some new ones. 

Tips:

i) Rip the makeup sponge; don't cut it, for a more natural, organic and realistic look when sponging. 

ii) Reference photos of galaxies to produce a more realistic design. I can't stress this enough. Looking at photos will really help you to get a more realistic look. 

iii) Don't be perfect. Galaxies are irregular in shape since they naturally occur. 

iv) Each nail doesn't need to be the same, since once again, galaxies are natural and don't all look the same. Make each galaxy unique!! Remember, there are spiral, elliptical and irregular shaped galaxies (plus more).

v) Wherever you make the galaxy the brightest should be where you put the most stars. 

vi) Make stars of various sizes for a more realistic look. 

vii) By using mainly metallic or glittery polishes, you'll achieve more of a space feel with your design.

Alright guys, I hope you enjoy and good luck!

But wait! There's more! A ton of underwater photos to capture the colours of the galaxy!

Alright, spamming of underwater photos done. I'll be posting again soon. Probably tomorrow... :D