Sweet and simple stripes and flowers

Hi lovelies!

I've been going through a little bit of a rough patch in my life. I'm at crossroads with a lot of things and I feel like life will be changing a lot over the next few months. I'm sorry if I haven't been posting as often on my IG and on my blog but I haven't had motivation recently. I'm hoping that getting back into nail art will help relieve my stress and forget about my troubles, at least momentarily.

Here are some pictures of a recent manicure I did using polishes by The Face Shop. The colours were GR501 (mint green), OR205 (peachy coral), and PK102 (pink), with a base of Nina Ultra Pro French White.

I used striping tape to tape off lines and dotting tools to fill in the spaces and to do the flowers. 

These cute little knuckle rings were from my sweet friend Thary (IG@thary_xoxo)

How To Glam Up Your Helmer

Happy Sunday Funday!

So I woke up this morning with an urge to paint. I painted my nails but that still wasn't enough to satisfy my urge so I decided to paint my helmer. :D A "helmer" is a type of drawer cabinet set from ikea that has shallow drawers that are the perfect height to fit nail polish bottles. They retail for $50 and can hold between 400-600 bottles of nail polish. They come in different colours depending on your local ikea. 

My helmer started out an army green colour but it didn't match the decor of my house so I decided to change it. This is a before and after shot:

I used spray paint to paint the unit. I used 2 cans to paint the main unit and half of a 3rd can to paint the front and sides of the drawers. I didn't paint the inside since it isn't noticeable and if any polish spills, it will be less visible on a dark surface compared to a light surface.

The paint I used was Krylon brand spray paint, purchased at Walmart for $4.98. It is suitable for wood, metal, wicker and other surfaces. This one I used has a matte finish. There are many colours and finishes available so you can design your unit however you like.

My unit needed 2 coats of spray paint to get it completely opaque and covered. The spray paint takes about 10 minutes to dry. I would highly recommend painting your unit outside because of the fumes, with newspaper surrounding the area. I removed the drawers from the unit and painted it all separately.

Once the unit is dry, you can add decorations to it with acrylic paint. I used Folk Art Shiny Acrylic paint, also from Walmart.

I based my design on an image I found on google. I like lotus flowers so I used that as my main focal point. 

(Picture source: www.ffibizz.com)

I free handed this design with the acrylic paint but if you are hesitant about painting, you can sketch it lightly in pencil first, then go over it with the paint. You can also use stencils for scrap booking. Stencils can be found at arts and craft stores like Michaels.

When I painted the design, I laid the cabinet on its back because I find it easier to paint like this than upright. 

I saw acrylic paint sealer at Walmart but because I am keeping the unit indoors and not planning to wash it, I think it should be okay for a while. The acrylic paint took about 10 minutes to dry completely. 

The good thing about the helmer is it is on wheels so you can move it around more easily.

It is 11 x 27 inches and has 6 drawers, with each drawer holding a little less than 100 bottles. You can use it to store all your nail tools and decals too, which will help you keep your craft supplies organized.

There are various ways to decorate the helmer. When looking for paint or spray paint, look for ones that are suitable for metal. I hope you found this post useful and you're inspired to decorating your nail polish storage unit. Happy painting!

My Indie Polish Wishlist

Hello lovies!

I saw on Instagram recently, a tag about your most wanted indie polishes. There are so many polishes on my wish list. Here are some that have come to mind. 

1. Liquid Sky Lacquer Blue Daiquiri (picture source: www.liquidskylacquer.bigcartel.com)

2. Any polishes from Wicked Polish Pestilence collection, especially Pox or Hematoma (picture source: www.polishandpandas.blogspot.com)

3. PolishMeToGo Pastel Mini Glow in the dark polishes (picture source: www.polishmetogo.bigcartel.com)

4. Emily de Molly Girl's Best Friend 

5. Emily de Molly Bo Peep

6. Emily de Molly Sakura

7. Emily de Molly Hole In the Sky (picture source: www.etsy.com/shop/emilydemolly)

8. Polished By KPT Smardy Collection Blue Cruiser and Glow in the dark Smardy

9. Polished By KPT Blue Is Beautiful (picture source: www.polishedbykpt.bigcartel.com)

There's also an upcoming collection by Lacquer Lust featuring holographic polishes inspired by the birthstones of each month. They are absolutely gorgeous and if I get some extra money over the next few months, I'm gonna put some aside so I can order these.

(Picture source: Instagram@lacquerlust)

Since I started using Instagram, I have been introduced to so many independent polish makers and I have been impressed with the quality and customer service I have received. I have been able to purchase some polishes by Polished By KPT, Emily de Molly, Tryst Lacquers, and Gloss N Sparkle and have been completely surprised at how high quality the polishes are. I look forward to introducing you guys to some new up and coming polish makers in the future and hope you will take the opportunity to purchasing some for yourselves. Their combinations are unlike anything you will find in the store and several polish makers also take custom orders where you can design your own polish.

Help support these indie polish entrepreneurs and embrace their creativity!

Ombré chevron tutorial!

Bonjour mes amies!

I recently had the pleasure of collaborating with the talented Trendy Polish (Instagram@trendypolish) and we did a matching twin manicure. We decided on a chevron mani made with an ombré of different shades of coral. I absolutely love coral for the summer. It's such a fun, bright colour. 

We added accent nails of gold polish. I love how Nimrah added gold glitter polish to hers. It's so sparkly and girly. Very, very pretty! 

You will need the following items:

In the picture, I used the gold holo as the base but this tutorial was done with a white base. The base will dictate what colour the striping of the chevrons will be. You can either do the chevrons on a couple of fingers or on all of them.

Here's the tutorial for the chevrons. 

You will need to cut your striping tape into half an inch pieces. You will need 6 pieces per nail. Put the tape to one side. Then you will apply your base colour. Apply a fast drying top coat and wait for the polish to dry completely. This is very important because you will be applying striping tape over it and do not want to pull off any polish. Once your nails have dried, you will apply on strip of tape on half the nail on an angle. Then apply a strip on the other side of the nail with it pointing in the opposite direction, forming a V shape. Continue this until you form 3 V tape shapes.

1. Put some of the lightest colour on a piece of wax paper or tin foil and dab some onto a dotting tool. Dotting tools can be purchased at beauty supply stores or online www.winstoniastore.com, www.amazon.com or www.ebay.com

2. Using the dotting tool, fill in the first segment closest to the cuticle. Don't worry if you get polish on your finger. This can be easily cleaned up after you are done.

3. Apply the next colour, one shade darker than your first colour.

4. Fill in the next segment using the dotting tool. Do this again with the next shade.

5. For the last segment closest to the tip, you can use the dotting tool like above or you can fill it in with the brush.

6. Now that all segments are filled in, remove the tape carefully. You can use tweezers to remove it for better control and to avoid messing up the nails on your other hand.

Once the tape has been removed, wait for a few minutes then apply a top coat to protect the design. If there's any polish on your fingers or cuticles, use a cotton swab or make up brush dipped in polish remover to remove it. 

This technique can be used in many different ways. You could try with other colours like shades of aqua to teal or rainbow or your favourite colours at that moment. I hope you give this a try! Please comment below on any other techniques you'd like to see tutorials for and please follow my blog for more reviews, tutorials, and nail art.

Update: today on my Instagram I collaborated with the awesome Trendy Polish to do another ombré chevron mani. This time we used shades of green with gold accents. 

Love how pretty this design is, but love even more how simple it is to do. I hope you give it a try! xoxo

Liquid Sky Lacquer Pure Luxury Review

Happy Friday lovelies!

All that glitters is gold. And this polish, Pure Luxury by Liquid Sky Lacquer is exactly that, glittery and gold. This lovely gold holographic polish is a light gold, almost a nude gold, with a strong linear holo. It is so sparkly in the sun. 

Pictured is 3 coats on my index, middle, and pinky. There are 2 coats on my ring finger. The application is good. The brush is fairly wide so it covers the nail well. You will need about 3 layers to be opaque. 

For more information about restocks and new releases, visit @whimsicalcolor on Instagram and www.liquidskylacquer.bigcartel.com

Minty blue gradient!

Hey hey hey!

Hello sweeties! I just wanted to share my current mani with you along with a tutorial on how to do it. 

I hadn't done a gradient in a while so I thought I'd give it a go.

The colours I used were: The Face Shop BL601, Hits Specialita Mint, and LACCBEAUTY 1977. I also added a glitter gradient on the tips with Shimmer Polish Jenny, a light cyan blue glitter polish and Jasmine, a teal green and gold glitter polish. My accent nail is Color Club Harp On It, with Shimmer Polish Alice, a silver holographic glitter polish.

To do this mani, you will need a make up sponge with small pores and 3 colours of the same shade. I used a light blue, mint green, and darker cyan (bluish green). Gradients can sometimes be messy because the sponge will often deposit polish on your finger. You can clean this up with a cotton bud or make up brush dipped in nail polish remover. You can also tape around your nail or apply white craft glue around your nail and remove them when you are done sponging.

Steps:

1. Paint nail completely with lightest colour. In my mani, that was the light blue The Face Shop polish. Top with fast drying top coat. 

2. Paint one line with lightest colour on sponge. Then a line of the next lightest colour. Followed by a line of the darkest colour. Don't over do it with the application. The trick is to apply multiple light layers of polish on the nail

3. Dab the sponge on the nail. You can either do it with the dark part on the top or the light part on top.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3. Again, the trick to getting the colours to look like they are blending into each other is to apply a few light layers of polish on the nail rather than a single thick layer.

5. Once you are satisfied with the appearance of the gradient, wait 30 seconds and apply a top coat while it is a little sticky. If you had applied light layers of polish, it will dry pretty quickly. The top coat will help smooth it all out.

Optional: if you want some additional bling to this mani, you can add some glitter polish to the tips of your nail. And if you want even more specialness, you can apply a silver polish on one nail and sponge on a heart using tape with a heart shape cut out of it as a guide.

If you would like a pictorial on this, let me know!

Happy painting, love bugs! xoxo

Super Bros Nails!

Hi sweethearts!

Hope you are enjoying the last few weeks of summer!

I just wanted to share a recent manicure I did featuring Mario and Luigi.

When I was younger, my favourite thing to do was to play Super Mario Bros on my Nintendo. Now, I'm probably older than a few of you so you may not know that Nintendo used to be a gray, black, red, and white box like this:

(Source: Nintendo.wikia.com)

The system and Mario have evolved a lot since then.

(Source: humandictionary.deviantart.com)

For the design, I went a little simpler by just showcasing the characters upper portion. I used Color Club Blue Heaven as the base since the holographic polish is fun and futuristic, like a video game. I used acrylic paint by Craft Smart which you can purchase at arts and craft stores like Michaels. 

I often get asked if I paint both hands and how do it do it. I'm not ambidextrous but I can paint simple designs with my left hand. It takes a little longer than painting my left. I'm trying to practice more with my left hand so that the designs will be more consistent.

I had a lot of fun with this design and am hoping that you like it too!

Girly nails with Serum No 5 Barely There

Hi lovies!

Today I did a simple, yet pretty mani with Serum No 5 Barely There as the dominant colour. More information on Serum No 5 polishes can be found here!

Barely There is a nude jelly with holographic micro and small hexagonal shaped glitter. It is absolutely stunning! I feel like this is my favourite polish right now because of the beautiful glitter combination.

I layered it over a base of Lancôme Beige Bachelorette which is a warm creamy nude with light shimmer. I think Barely There would look very pretty on its own too. Light and flirty.

I used Color Club Harp On It, a silver holographic polish with a layer of Shimmer Polish Alice over top for the accent nail and hand painted white roses and a heart with some white acrylic paint.

Here's a bonus shot of my ring finger on my right hand. I like how the roses turned out.

To order Serum No 5 Barely There, visit: /www.serumno5.com

Liquid Sky Lacquer Review "Teal It Like It Is" and "Fuchsia Illusion"

Hello Lovelies!

I couldn't wait for my previous mani to chip off before I used the new Liquid Sky Lacquers I received yesterday. I had to try the thermals right away because I've seen so many people showing off thermals on Instagram and I've been so curious to see if they really change colour.

I did a simple mani with chevron and glitter accent nails. The glitter nail was done with Finger Paints Sparkle and Snowflake with OPI Polka.com

First picture is when my nails were cold.

Teal It Like It Is is a beautiful holographic blue-green polish when cold and changes to light bluish-silver with warmth. It is such a unique colour and unlike any other holo I own.

Fuchsia Illusion is perfect purple holo when cold that shifts to pink when warm. The colour change in this polish is amazing and is sensitive enough to change with regular temperature changes in your hands. If you have longer nails, the tips will be purple while the nail bed is pink from your body heat to create an awesome gradient.

It was so, so fun playing with these polishes and can't wait to see the changes when I go outside. 

This picture shows the transition from cold to warm.

This photo is when the polishes are warm. This changed from my natural body heat.

I'm so excited to have these beauties in my life. Big big thanks to Instagram@whimsicalcolor for sending me these spectacular polishes. Visit her page for details on how to purchase these babies: www.liquidskylacquer.bigcartel.com

Amazing nailmail from Liquid Sky Lacquer!

Happy Tuesday Sweeties!

I received the most amazing package today from Carolyn at Liquid Sky Lacquer (Instagram:@whimsicalcolor). It was the grand prize for winning her summer nail art contest. She is absolutely the sweetest, adding in extra goodies, including a beautiful gold holo which I had previously mentioned how much I loved! 

Included in the package were:

A pedicure set by Spoiled by Wet n Wild with 3 polishes inside (Correction Tape, I Got A Confection To Make, and Plastic Flamingo)

5 Liquid Sky Lacquers, which are packaged in cute little baggies

Orly - Butterflies

Spoiled by Wet n Wild - Uh, As If!

L'Oreal - Jet Set to Paris

Essie - Shake Your $$$ Maker

See's lollipops (Vanilla, Cafe Latte, Chocolate, and Butterscotch. I love these lollipops!!)

Super yummy caramels (melt in your mouth deliciousness!)

The Liquid Sky Lacquers are what I'm most excited about. They are absolutely stunning! Two of them are also my very first thermal polishes. They change colour with temperature changes! Here's a close up of the beauties. I will give you a full review once I have time to swatch them! Eeeek so excited!!

Oh here's a picture of my winning entry! Loved these Tahiti/Bora Bora nails. My dream vacation is to stay in one of these oceanfront cabanas. :)

Spun Sugar Tutorial!

Hello lovelies!

Hope you are having a fantastic day so far. It's a long weekend for us in Canada so I have some time to post a tutorial for you all!

This technique has been termed "spun sugar" or "yarn" mani. 

To me, it looks a little like a Bill Cosby, coogi sweater a la Notorious B.I.G 

Nonetheless, it's very eye catching and unique and can be done with a variety of different colours. :D

You will need 4 colours of nail polish and a dental floss holder for it. You can get those at your local drug store or Walmart. They also make flossing your teeth a lot easier.

1. Paint your nail completely with one of the colours you want to use. Let it dry fully or use a fast drying top coat.

2. Apply a generous glob of nail polish to a piece of wax paper or tin foil. 

3. Dab your flosser in the nail polish, trying to get a good amount on the string.

4. Rock the flosser over your nail to create lines. You can also dab it on to make shorter lines or fill in smaller spots.

5. Wipe off any excess polish from the flosser with tissue. Repeat step 2, 3, and 4 with another colour.

6. Repeat with a third colour.

7. If you happen to put some lines you don't like, go over them with your base colour polish with the flosser.

8. Using a cotton bud or clean up brush (an old make up brush you aren't using anymore), dip into some nail polish remover to clean up your cuticles and finger from any remnants of polish. 

Do not apply a top coat to this unless it is completely dry. Otherwise, the top coat will blend the lines together and you won't have this textured look.

I hope you guys try out this look! You can use so many different combinations of colours. Maybe try an ombre with different shades of pink, or a rainbow, or even your favourite sports team's colours! Happy painting!