OPI Bubble Bath + Gold Shimmer + Glitter Gradient Nails

I Bought This

Just wanted to share my recent mani with you all. I bought OPI Bubble Bath from a girl who was selling a bunch of polish and wanted to try it out, so I put on 2 coats and LOVED the result. The shiny, sheer beautiful nude shade is to die for! But of course I couldn't leave it like that, so I did a coat of Sinful Colors 24 Karat which is a lux gold shimmer, and then applied loose iridescent glitter in a sort of gradient.

I'm so in love with the result and I can definitely see this being a beautiful look for any time of the year. Nude and glitter are so perfect for each other and a combo that I find myself using time and time again.

What's your go to mani that suits all the seasons?

ORLY Mash Up Collection Summer 2013 Swatches and Nail Art

I Bought This

Soft lavender creme, shimmery pink, holographic glitter, neon orange, shimmery robin's egg blue and a vampy glowing purple. What's not to love about the ORLY Mash Up Collection?? I did some quick swatches.

Thumb: Beautiful Disaster, Index: Pretty-Ugly, Middle: Mayhem Mentality, Ring: Harmonious Mess, Pinky: Choreographed Chaos.

Beautiful Disaster is a red toned purple shimmer, which seems to glow from within. I used 2 coats and it went on nicely.

Pretty-Ugly is a Tiffany blue with blue shimmer which was also had a smooth formula. It was on the sheerer side and I did have to be careful not to put it on too thick though, because I noticed a couple of bubbles. I did 3 coats for full opacity.

Mayhem Mentality is a super intense neon orange, blindingly bright! A bit streaky at first, but it evened out after 3 coats.

Harmonious Mess is a slightly grey toned lavender creme that seems more like a Spring colour, but it refreshes the palate. It got a bit gloopy when applied too thickly, so I did 3 thinner coats.

Choreographed Chaos is a candy pink with a very slight blue shimmer. It's definitely more noticable in the bottle than on the nail. Slightly sheerer as well, I did 3 coats.

Last, but not least, Sparkling Garbage: a holographic glitter with a transluscent greenish jelly base. I didn't like it on its own, but it looks beautiful layered.

One coat of Sparkling Garbage over the other Mash Up shades.

I really love all these colours and I'm looking forward to doing nail art with them. I decided to try out the cloud mani, which is something I've been wanting to attempt for a while. These colours are bright and pretty opaque, so they are perfect for this type of nail art :)

I used everything except Sparkling Garbage and Beautiful Disaster.

My technique isn't perfect, but it was such a fun and colourful manicure, I'm definitely going to try it again! I'm really happy I picked up this collection, I think there are some great Summery shades that I'll be using often. I do wish the formula was better on some of the shades, but they weren't so bad that I wouldn't use them. Maybe some polish thinner would help.

Are you a fan of bright shades for Summer, or do you prefer more neutral shades?

Galaxy Nails for Polish Days: To Boldly Go.

I'm running a bit behind today, so this post is a bit late! I know a lot of people probably used this Polish Days theme to do Galaxy Nails (or maybe you all are a lot more creative than me =_=), but I wanted something quick and easy since I forgot about the post until this morning! I do read a lot of Sci-Fi books, including Anne McCaffrey, Michael Moorcock and Isaac Asimov, but I just didn't have time to think of something cool :( So here you are, my V2.0 Galaxy Nails! You can see my original Galaxy Nails Post here.

I really love how these turned out, the pink and yellow gave it an 'inside the nebula' kind of feel. I used a bunch of different polishes:

First I did one coat of Gap Peacock Blue as a base, then sponged on Spoiled by WnW Are Mermaids Real?, Revlon Royal, Color Club Port-Folio, Color Club Model Behavior, Wet n Wild Tropicalia and Spoiled by WnW Designated Driver. Then I did spots of white using Milani White Canvas Nail Art polish and topped it off with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust for some sparkle.

I used a crystal my mother sent me as a prop, I think it complements the mani perfectly!

Screaming Summer Nails: Coral Pink, Gold Glitter and Cheetah Print

I Bought This

If these don't scream Summer, then I don't know what does. Actually a whole lot of things scream summer more than these nails, but I think they're pretty summery.

Wet n Wild Tropicalia is a fun, juicy coral which makes me think of fruit and stuff. Summery things. China Glaze Angel Wings is a perfect beachy gold, like shimmery grains of sand. I did 2 coats of each polish and n my accent nail, did a freehand cheetah print with a pink Kiss nail art polish.

The weather has been beautiful here lately, sunny and windy and perfect. I'm kind of apprehensive about how hot it'll be in the full bloom of Summer though. That'll be when I live at the beach. We're planning to go to Vegas at the end of July and I am excited! I've never been there, so for an Aussie girl like myself it's just the stuff of movies to me. Anyone have any recommendations as to what we should do and see while we're there? My husband has been before, but I don't know if I should trust the sightseeing to him lol.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Zoya Frida Glitter Sandwich

I Bought This

Short post, just wanted to show you this pretty mani...

I bought Zoya Frida a while ago when Zoya had the 3 free promo and this is the first time I've used it! I have been meaning to do some glitter sandwiches with it and for my first, I layered it with NYC Starry Silver Glitter.

This is 2 coats of Zoya Frida, 1 coat of NYC Starry Silver Glitter and 1 more coat of Frida.

I think Frida is a fun colour for Summer and can't wait to do more with it! I want to try a syrup mani :)

Did you pick up any of the Zoya jellies yet?

Holographic Hearts Tape Manicure

It's February! The shortest month of the year and also the month of my favourite holiday. Ah, Valentine's Day. I love hearts, pink, chocolate and giving/receiving gifts, and V-Day is all that rolled into one! My husband isn't as much of a Valentine's Day enthusiast, I think he needs to take a crash course in date planning or something. Last year he actually got me a gift (after I complained about me being the only one to buy gifts the year before ), but I planned everything, dinner, babysitter etc etc. I would love for him to just surprise me with a completely planned date one of these days, but I think he's afraid that he'll do it and then I'll complain because I don't like what he's planned lolol. Anyway, in order to once again psych myself up for my favourite holiday, I'm going to be doing a series of V-Day themed nail art! Today I have for you this ridiculously blingy, in your face with glitter tape manicure.

My camera freaked out completely trying to capture the dazzling gloriousness of holographic glitter, so it's hard to see but the red polish (Zoya Kimmy) has a gold shimmer and is actually quite sparkly. 

For this manicure I used painter's tape instead of scotch tape and I feel like it gave a cleaner line.

• First I did 3 coats of China Glaze Glistening Snow.
• Then 1 coat of quick dry top coat so they would be fully dry when I stuck the tape on
• Then cut out the heart shapes in the painter's tape.
• For the index finger, I made a heart shaped cut out in a piece of tape, stuck the tape over my nail and then did one coat of Zoya Kimmy.
• For the ring finger, I cut out a piece of tape shaped like a heart and then stuck it on my nail and painted over with one coat of Zoya Kimmy.
• I then did another coat of top coat.

CG Glistening Snow is a lot thicker and gloopier than Zoya Kimmy, so it was easier to use Kimmy on top of GS instead of the other way around.

Look out for more Valentine's Day manicures from me, as well as a couple of makeup looks :) I'm going to be trying to do a couple of videos as well!

Neon Pink and Gold Glitter-tastic nails

I went to Sally Beauty Supply for a new top coat and of course, I walked out with more than just a top coat... I picked up China Glaze Angel Wings and Glistening Snow from the recent Holiday Joy 2012 collection. They were in the clearance section for $3.29 each! These were the only ones I really wanted from the collection (as well as Champagne Kisses)... can you tell I love these kind of glitters??

I wanted to wear one of them straight away and I'd been meaning to do a neon pink and gold glitter look for a while, so I decided to try these two together:

Wet n Wild Tropicalia and China Glaze Angel Wings.

I feel like my nail shape is always changing =_= I tried to do the oval shape, but one nail ended up breaking and this square shape is easier to maintain. That's 2 coats of Tropicalia and 3 coats of Angel Wings. I absolutely LOVE these two together and I love them each individually as well. My camera could not capture the absolute glory of holographicness this glitter is, it sparkles with every colour of the rainbow, even in low lighting. Tropicalia is pulling a little more orange than it is in real life, it's a tiny bit more pink than it looks here. It is such a loud pink! I anticipate doing a lot of nail art with this one.

I can't wait to use Glistening Snow next. I think I'm going to have to hunt down Champagne Kisses as well, I am just obsessed with the fine holo glitters. Did you pick up any of the polishes from the China Glaze Holiday Joy collection?

New Year's Eve nails. Super fierce, glitter gradient.

Blam! I give you, a glitter bomb.

Essie Stroke of Brilliance exploded all over my nails, and I think this look would be killer for NYE.

I actually did this mani a while ago, when I still had my fierce-ass claw-tip stilettos. If I could, I would go back to that nail shape, but claw-tips and new baby don't mix well. For this glitter gradient, I used 2 coats of Sinful Colors Social Ladder as a base and dabbed Stroke of Brilliance onto the tips, waited for it to dry and then worked my way up the nail, dabbing and stroking the glitter into place. I did about 3 coats of glitter, then 2 coats of topcoat to smooth everything out and voilà!

I was actually testing out the Elmer's glue peel off base coat for the first time, so my edges are a little rough. Otherwise  I love love LOVE this mani. Stroke of Brilliance is such a perfect party glitter without being super over the top, like a can of confetti threw up on my nails. You feel me? I may just have to recreate this for my New Year's nails, albeit without the claws.

The only Christmas Tree we have this year is on my nails.

This year we had planned to get a live tree, since we're in our own house which has nice high ceilings. Unfortunately, with the craziness surrounding the birth of my newest baby boy, time totally got away from us and we didn't end up getting any Christmas tree! So to console myself, I decided to put one on my nails for tomorrow :)

These are my Christmas Nails!

3 coats of Zoya Tori on my thumb, 1 coat of Zoya Jules and 2 coats of Milani Gems on my index, 3 coats of Zoya Jules on my middle and pinky fingers, and 3 coats of Zoya Tori on my ring finger. The Christmas Tree was done with dots of Jules and Essie Good As Gold and a dab of Gems for the star on top.

Pretty easy, but pretty gorgeous and festive! I love the colour combos :) It feels like Christmas. We aren't Christian, so to us Christmas is really about family time, good food and presents for the kids. I hope you have a great day tomorrow, whether you celebrate Christmas or it's just an extra holiday you get to spend with your family :)

Melty Ice Cream nail art: China Glaze It's a Trap-eze & Something Sweet

So, my ridiculously lovely and generous friend Malisa saw my wishlist post and for my birthday got me China Glaze It's A Trap-eze from the Cirque du Soleil collection! Thank you, thank you, thank you Malisa!

I desperately wanted this polish because it's a gorgeous milky, colourful glitter and also because of the name. I'm a meme lover.

Well, it's even more awesome than I expected it to be and I had to put it on straight away. I had been dying to try out a nail art look I saw on Chalkboard Nails, so I used It's A Trap-eze and China Glaze Something Sweet and had at it. Hers is absolutely gorgeous, mine is but a humble homage to her greatness :)

Lookit all that yummy glitter *drool* °_°

I did three coats of Something Sweet on my index and pinky, then two coats of It's A Trap-eze on my middle and ring fingers. It was opaque in just two coats, PERFECTTTT. Then I got a dotting tool and did dots of Something Sweet over It's A Trap-eze as the ends of the drips, then used a thin nail art brush to connect the drips to the line at the top. It's really pretty easy, since you don't have to be super precise. Then I did two coats of top coat to even out the texture and give it a nice glossy shine.

This look reminded me of melting ice cream cake, which then resulted in me getting this ridiculous song stuck in my head....

Ice cream, ice cream, i-i-ice cream paint job...

Close up of an accent nail.

I'm so in love with this look and with It's A Trap-eze in general! A gorgeous milky glitter that's opaque in 2 coats, what more could a girl want? Maybe an ice cream cake? I really want more of these milky glitters, they look so pretty.

Does anyone know of other polishes that have the same effect? I think the Japanese brand pa makes some. Have you picked up any of the China Glaze Cirque du Soleil polishes?

Glittering Galaxy Nails!

I can't tell you how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this mani! It looks beautiful and it was so easy to do.

First I did two coats of Wet n Wild Black Creme, topped with one coat of butter LONDON Knackered. Then I sponged on Color Club Editorial and First Looks, dotted on Wet n Wild French White Creme with a dotting tool and topped it with a layer of Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope.

I couldn't stop looking at my nails the whole time I was wearing this and kept showing my husband how pretty it was, especially in the light (not like he cares lol). It literally was like a sparkling galaxy of stars on my nails. I will definitely be trying this again maybe for Christmas :)

These are the polishes that I used:

L - R: butter LONDON Knackered, Color Club First Looks, Color Club Editorial, Wet n Wild Black Creme, Wet n Wild French White Creme, Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope.

Have you tried Galaxy Nails yet? I'd love to see your manis, if you try it please link me in the comments!