Portions for Foxes

Hi guys! I hope you've had a great long weekend if you're in a country that celebrates Victoria Day. My boyfriend Daniel came home from his job up in the oil sands which was very nice! Some of you may notice that I'm debuting a new look on my nails today, I broke one of them and decided to file them into rounded tips instead of filing them all down. I'm still getting used to them, let me know what you think in the comments! Today I have a super cute fox design that I adapted from this super cute manicure.

The colours I used were both from the OPI The Amazing Spider-man collection from last year - Call Me Gwen-ever and My Boyfriend Scales Walls. The black polish I used is Quo by ORLY Little Black Dress.

I love these! They're so cute and they were way easier to do than I anticipated. I sure am enjoying having all this time to work on my nail art...but that might change soon - I start work tomorrow! It's pretty tough to find a job that's willing to take me for just 3 months before I head back to university, so I'm going back to my job at American Eagle that I've held on and off since May 2011. Wish me luck tomorrow getting back into the swing of things!

Zoya Summer PixieDust Gradient

Hello all! I hope you're having a great day. I've been playing around a bit more with my Zoya Summer PixieDusts and I came up with this little gradient look. It didn't exactly work out as I had hoped on the middle and pinky nails, but the other two remind me of sunsets!

So on the index and ring fingers I used Zoya Solange, Beatrix, and Destiny, and on the other fingers Miranda, Stevie, and Liberty. 

I feel very meh about this. I think I was expecting something great and groundbreaking and all I got was a mediocre gradient manicure. 

What do you think of this look, is it something you'd try out?

Zoya Summer PixieDust Stripes

Hi guys! Today I just have a little look I did using the Zoya Summer PixieDusts to make some stripes!

My lines aren't exactly perfect, and I think there are nicer colour combinations, but it was worth a shot.

Here's a photo to show off the sugary texture of the PixieDusts!

I hope you enjoyed this colourful PixieDust manicure.

Zoya Summer PixieDust - Swatches & Review

Hi everyone! I'm finally home from school and back in the posting game! I'm hoping to get back in the same groove I had last summer where I posted nearly every day. To kick off the posting season I've got a much anticipated collection to show you - the second round of Zoya PixieDusts! These were released in April and they are absolutely gorgeous. I'm so sorry about the delay in posting these swatches but the first set of these that was sent to me arrived shattered.

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The first colour that I have to show you is Zoya Stevie, a lovely lilac colour. I had no problems with the formula on Stevie and after two coats she was opaque, though some people may prefer to use three. The shimmer in Stevie is very silver.

Stevie doesn't look that great in the bottle, but once applied she looks sugary sweet!

I'm so happy to be home and be able to swatch in the sun and in the shade again, woohoo!

This is Zoya Miranda and she's a gorgeous magenta coloured textured polish. I actually did have problems with the formula on Miranda, this polish was goopy and she took much longer to dry than any other colour from the collection.

Formula problems aside, I love the pigmentation of Miranda. I really would have liked to see a hot pink PixieDust.

Zoya Beatrix is an amazing bright orange PixieDust with gold shimmer instead of the silver that we've seen so far. I think Beatrix is perfect for the summer, and that's coming from someone who is not a fan of orange polish. 

Maybe I'm crazy, but I think the PixieDusts with gold shimmer are much more sparkly than those with silver.

Just look at that texture! Beatrix is perfect, definitely one of the must-haves from the collection.

Please say hello to Zoya Destiny, a coral polish with gold shimmer that did not want to cooperate for the camera. Destiny is my favourite polish of this collection. I think. Actually, I can't decide, but believe me when I say that this is a very unique colour.

Zoya Destiny was opaque after only two coats and the formula on her was quite nice. I am in love with the gold shimmer that gives this colour so much depth.

Zoya Solange...wow, wow, wow. I thought a gold PixieDust would be weird, kind of ugly, nothing special, and boy was I ever wrong. Maybe Solange is my favourite of the collection. Maybe all the colours are so nice that I can't decide. Who knows. This is by far the most sparkly PixieDust polish I have ever applied.

Yellow golds aren't always that flattering on me, but if I manage a nice tan this summer you can bet that Solange will be the perfect complement to my bronzed skin!

Last in the collection is Zoya Liberty, a very bright blue PixieDust polish. I think that Liberty is going to be a fan favourite, but I can't say I'm that crazy about it. I had no problems with the formula on Liberty, but I just am not in love with the colour.

Does Zoya Liberty do it for you? I wish it was a bit lighter and maybe a big more teal coloured, I think that would have gone nicely with the collection.

Which was your favourite from this collection? Have you picked any of these up already, or are you planning on it? My recommendations would be Beatrix, Solange, and Destiny!

Sheer Water Marble

Hello everyone! I'm not really sure what to call this post, it's a technique that I've shown you before on the blog where you watermarble with an opaque colour and a sheer one to make sort of a peek-a-boo over a pattern. I've been envisioning this manicure for ages but unfortunately the black polish that I used didn't spread in the water as much as I would have liked.

Gorgeous, right? 

So to get this look I first did gradients on each of my nails. If I remember correctly, the colours I used were OPI The Thrill of Brazil, Zoya Arizona, China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, OPI Green-wich Place, OPI Fly, and OPI Do You Lilac It? For the water marble I used Quo by ORLY Little Black Dress and OPI Don't Touch My Tutu!

I think I need to find a black polish that would spread better in water, if there was just a little less black here I think I would be much happier.

Have you ever tried this technique? What colour combinations would you like to see?

Leopard Print Gradient

Hi everyone! Today I have a leopard print gradient on the blog for you to enjoy. I wish I had practiced my freehand leopard spots a little more before embarking on this manicure! A couple of them turned out looking like hearts, which I guess is pretty cute.

I did a gradient with China Glaze Happy Go Lucky and Zoya Arizona, then finished off the look with Quo by ORLY Little Black Dress.

I can't get enough of gradients lately, I'm just having trouble thinking of what to put over top of them.

One day, with any luck, I will master freehand leopard prints.

Saran Wrap Manicure ft. OPI Euro Centrale

Hi everyone! Today I have kind of a fun manicure to show you using a technique that's gaining a lot of ground in the nail polish community called a saran wrap manicure. It's really easy and looks super cute, and as you can probably guess you just use regular cellophane to do it. If you're interested in trying this look out for yourself here is a great tutorial by Nailed It.

For this look I started with two layers of OPI Vant To Bite My Neck? I wasn't sure what colour I should use with this gorgeous eggplant shade, but something told me that OPI A Woman's Prague-ative would be a great addition.

This manicure was so shiny that it was difficult for my camera to capture. I really like this combination of colours.

Looks like I should have let the polish on my pink dry a little more because while doing the saran wrap portion of the manicure it took a little of the purple off. Make sure if you try this look that you allow the polish underneath to dry completely!

Have you done any saran wrap manicures? Do you like the marbled texture?

Don't forget to check out my ongoing giveaway that ends next week! I'm giving away a Liquid Sand polish from the Mariah Carey collection and a polish from the Euro Centrale collection!

OPI Euro Centrale Full Collection - Swatches & Review

Hi everyone! I am so excited to be able to share with you swatches of the entire OPI Euro Centrale collection today. This collection is OPI's Spring/Summer 2013 line and features both bright and bold lacquers inspired by Romania, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. "Celebrating a region where history meets modern design, the collection’s twelve new nail lacquers offer a mixture of glamorous metallic hues; playful bright shades in periwinkle, aqua and pink; and creamy blues in indigo, midnight and aubergine."  I have hidden the rest of the post below the jump so that it doesn't take up the entire front page, so please click to read more!

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Matte Splatter Mani

Morning everyone! As I mentioned before, I'm getting ready to pack up everything and move across the country to start the new semester. I have mixed feelings about it, but there's not much I can do now! I'm trying to get ahead with my nails so that I'm able to better adjust to being away when I've been home for six months. Today I have a splatter mani to show you all, which I then took to the next level and mattified!

I'm getting kind of bored of winter, so I decided to use some spring or summer colours and maybe summon some sunshine and warm weather! For a base, I used Quo by ORLY Little Black dress, then did the splattering with Zoya Arizona, Zoya Zuza, and China Glaze Happy Go Lucky. 

I'm not sure how I feel about those bubbles and all those smears. I guess a splatter mani isn't supposed to be perfect, right?

In case you're all intimidated by the clean up of a splatter mani, this is how I do it! Lots of scotch tape to cover the places that I don't really want to bathe in acetone.

What do you think about this colour combination?

Day 31 - Recreate your Favourite Challenge

Hello ladies! Sorry for finishing up the challenge a little late, I forgot how busy the end of August always is! For the recreate my favourite challenge option, I decided to recreate gradient nails from Day 10 - that was so long ago now! I love the look of gradients, and I think with practice I can only keep getting better!

For this gradient I used Zoya Arizona, Zoya Reagan, and Zoya Wednesday. I love the way this turned out! I love gradients, what can I say.

I love the way the blue and the magenta blend together into a very pretty purple.

The thing that my hand is posing with in this photos is my boyfriend Daniel's hand, in case you were wondering!

On one hand, I'm so relieved that the challenge is over, it's been so demanding. On the other hand, I am going to miss having inspiration every day and posting alongside a brilliant group of ladies. I had so much fun participating in this challenge during the month of August and I absolutely want to do another challenge someday. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read my daily submissions!

OPI Designer Series Fall 2012

Good morning everyone! Today I have an exciting start to the new month - swatches and review of the two new OPI DS shades for Fall 2012 - DS Luxurious and DS Indulgence. I know that most people associate OPI DS polishes with gorgeous linear holographic polishes. While these are in no way holo, they are some of the most amazing glass fleck polishes I've ever put on my nails.
Let's start with DS Luxurious, OPI describes this shade as "a captivating coral-red with a golden glisten" but if it were up to me I would call it orange, not red. Nevertheless, this colour is to-die-for. I initially put this one on first because I usually save the best for last, and DS Luxurious just hadn't caught my eye. Upon application, which by the way was smooth and easy in two coats, I knew that I had found one of my new favourite polishes. I don't know what OPI puts in these to make them so shimmery (actually, I do, real diamond dust!) but I could not stop looking at my nails. I'll stop gushing and let you see for yourselves.

I went a little crazy with the photos, so I put the majority of this post under the jump. Please keep reading to see swatches!

Day 12 - Stripes

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry I'm late getting around to posting this, I mentioned in my last post how I was taking a mini-vacation with the boyfriend and family and that's the reason for my absence. Let me start by saying I'm not very happy with these, I used striping brushes when I should have just used tape, but here goes:

The colours I used were Zoya Wednesday, Zoya Arizona, OPI Fly, OPI Funky Dunkey, and OPI If You Moust You Moust.

I like the colours, the execution is just lacking.

I hope you guys have already seen what everyone else came up with since I'm so late posting this!

Day 02 - Orange

Welcome to the second day of the challenge! Sorry I'm a little late getting this post up, I was working all day! Orange isn't really a colour I wear often, I only had a few shades to choose from. I ended up using Zoya Arizona as a base colour and dots using OPI A Roll in the Hague.

Unfortunately we've had no sun today so the best I could do was take photos in the shade.

Here's a reminder of the challenge.

Did you guys check out the beautiful manicures done by the ladies who are doing this challenge with me? You can check them out right here!

Framed Nail Fail

So yesterday I showed you guys China Glaze's Flip Flop Fantasy, a super bright neon pink. I wanted to spice up the mani a bit and decided to try doing a framed mani. Although it's not a look I'm particularly fond of I thought it'd be a good experience. 

I used Zoya Arizona because it's a super bright and creamy orange, but it just looked murkey on top of the neon China Glaze, which was kind of upsetting. 

Not really too fond of this manicure.

Eh, I'm not thrilled. Have you tried framed nails? Do you like this look?

Chevron Nail Art

Good morning everyone! I have a mani that I did last week, I don't think I left it on for more than a couple hours because I didn't like the way the colours worked together on the nail, the way I imagined it after seeing the bottles together was much better.

In the shade!

It's too bad that Zoya Ashley isn't opaque enough and I got those funny lines.

The colours I used are Quo by ORLY Filthy Rich, Zoya Ashley, China Glaze Papaya Punch, China Glaze Four Leaf Clover, and China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le.