Sea Dragon

One of the blogs I follow religiously, Wondrously Polished (click name for link), had an amazing design the other day and I knew right away that I wanted to do a version of it. The polishes I used for this look are Sally Hansen Triple Shine Sparkling Water (turquoise), Beautifully Disney Ocean Mist (green) and Essie Sexy Divide (purple).

I started with a black nail pen and drew in the rough shapes.

I then went in with the colours and a small paintbrush and painted in the various colours. When I finished that, I went back over the black lines with the nail pen.

Don't they look like scales?! I was going to go with mermaid but then someone at work said "sea dragon" and I was sold!

I love these colours together and was so sad to take it off. I had planned to wear it for a couple days but I got nail mail through that day and couldn't resist trying out my new colours.

Happy painting friends!

Light Me Up

Living in an apartment is not very conducive to having outside lights. My husband has always had a fantasy of having a National Lampoon's type Christmas light display, lol. Since we can't have them where we live, I thought I would put them on my nails.

I started with a base of Essie Bikini So Teeny (one of my favourite light blues). I then went in with a whole load of nail pens and drew in the Christmas lights.

I then took Sally Hansen White On and sponged it at the base to look like snow (not sure how successful this was).

Here are some pics in natural light:

I got the inspiration from the look the Nailasaurus did here but I wanted to make it look more like the snow was on top of the lights. Unfortunately I was a bit too heavy handed and I think I covered up the lights a bit too much. Oops :)

Happy painting friends!

In a Galaxy Far Far Away...Called Vernon!

I'm going to take a break from the Christmas designs I've been doing to show you the last nail art I did for my friend Carrie when I was visiting her in Vernon. I love the galaxy design and since she is a scientist (biology not astronomy though) I thought I would do it for her.

She guessed what is was right away which made me very happy :)

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Black Out and then sponged on a load of colours mostly from Orly and Essie.

I then went in with one of my nail pens and drew in little stars. The best thing is that as I am typing this I have Songza on and the Imperial March from Star Wars has come on. So perfect!

The galaxy mani is really quite easy to do. You just need to layer colours with a sponge. I usually start with dark and go lighter to build up the colour.

Thanks Carrie for the use of your nails :)

Happy painting friends!

It's Still Snowing but on Someone Else's Fingers

I visited one of my best friends from university and got to spend time with her and her fabulous kids. They are three and five and some of the best behaved children I've ever met! The next couple of days I'm going to have posts that feature her and her daughter.

Today's nail art is on my friend Carrie's nails. I had to shake my finger a bit at her and give her a bit of a lecture on keeping her cuticles healthy! She is a biologist and a lot of her time is spent digging around in dirt so I gotta give her a bit of leeway I guess ;) but girlfriend could benefit from some cuticle oil!

My favourite thing this season seems to be snow so I had to do a similar design to what I did on Kaycie's nails, just in a different colour.

I started with a gradient using Natural Collections Lunar Haze and Essie The Lace is On. I then added a layer of glitter over the top of the gradient and a Color Club glitter on the accent finger.

I then used a white nail pen and drew on the snowflakes.

I really love this design and think it's so festive and beautiful! I haven't done it on my own nails yet though but I'm sure I'll be rocking it out soon :)

Happy painting friends!

These are a Few of My Favourite Things

I thought I would do a post focused on the things I'm really digging at the moment. I've been blogging for a little less than three months now and I feel like I've learned a ton about nail art and polish. Some of my friends were asking me about what polishes I like and wanted me to do a post on it. Ask and ye shall receive!

Here are my favourite nail polishes/brands:

1. Sally Hansen

I think that Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear is the best polish at a lower price point (you can get it for less than $2 a bottle at Target in Canada). It usually only takes 2 coats to get even coverage and comes in a variety of really beautiful shades. If you want to get some polish, but don't want to invest a lot of money, this is your best bet.

2. China Glaze

China Glaze is also a great polish for a reasonable price. I usually buy mine at Winners and you can get it for around $5-$6 a bottle. Again, they have great colours and I find the formula really great to work with.

3. Zoya

If you've been reading my blog for the last little bit, you know how absolutely over the moon I am about Zoya. Unfortunately at the time of writing this I only have six polishes! I can't wait to get more but the ones I have are absolutely wonderful. The colours are stunning and they all apply like an absolute dream.. I can't say enough about these polishes!
You can only buy these online or in select salons. I don't know of any salons in my local area so I have to get them online (Nail Polish Canada) but you can search for local distributors on zoya.com.

4. Orly

Orly is another polish that I seek out at Winners. I like to get the mini bottles and you can usually get 5 for $10 there. Most of the polishes I have from this are wonderful. Some of them can be a bit on the thinner side so you'd have to layer them a bit more (3-4 coats) but generally I find them great.

5. Essie

Essie is one of the first brands that I really got hooked on. I have quite a few of them and have bought the majority of them at Winners. They retail in regular drugstores (around my parts) for close to $10 but I have found them in the States in Walmart for $7. The colours are generally very pigmented and go on nicely.. I love working with these polishes!

So these are my favourites at the mo'. I have many different brands of polish but these are the ones I find myself reaching for again and again.

I hope this helped. If you ever have any questions about a polish or a brand I use, please feel free to drop me a line!

Happy painting friends!

Fall Nimbus

I really love the nimbus design that the Nailasaurus originated. It's so easy to do and makes such a beautiful effect. For this one I used a base of Orly White Out and then three colours from the Essie Fall Collection (For the Twill of It, Vested Interest, The Lace is On) and Essie Under Where? (a light pink).

I love how this turns out and experimenting with different colour palettes. This one is quite beautiful if I do say so myself!

I know I'm going to be using this quite a bit when I get back to work as it's really just as easy to do with your non-dominant hand as it is to do with your dominant hand.

Love!

Happy painting friends!

Foxy Fingers!

I saw something similar to this on Nail It Magazine's website. They have a lot of good ideas so check it out if you're ever stuck for a painting idea.

I started with a basic black from Rimmel and then painted on the purple using Essie The Lace is On making sure to follow the line of my cuticle.

I think this is so simple but super sexy! I might try this again but add some bling to it.

This was actually harder to do than a lot of my designs simply because you need to make sure your curve it exact. 

Love it!

Happy painting friends!