Nailtiques formula 4

Hello lovelies!

In my very first post, I talked about my nail care and my love for Nailtiques. I've been using Formula 2 for 7 months and I have seen a huge difference. Formula 2 is made especially for weak, brittle nails that flake and chip easily. It has helped my nails become stronger and less prone to flaking. 

While in California, I picked up another bottle of Formula 2 along with a bottle of Formula 1. Formula 1 is designed for healthy nails to maintain their strength and allow for flexibility. I decided to give Formula 1 a try because I've found my nails have improved a lot and now I'd like to be able to have my nails be flexible and not crack because they are too hard. One key thing to keep in mind when trying to keep your nails long and strong is keep your hands and nails hydrated. I moisturize throughout the day with Glysomed hand lotion and Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter.

Here's a picture of my first week using Formula 1:

I will post updates as time goes by with Formula 1. Hopefully it will help me maintain stronger nails. 

Nailtiques can be found online through eBay or in CVS drugstores in the US or Ulta.

Stay tuned for updates to this post!

Update: today is October 26, almost a week since I first started using Formula 1. I have still seen the benefits of no flaking even though the weather is much colder, which normally dries out your nails and hands.

I've changed my nail shape a bit and am working on making them almond shaped. Hopefully they'll keep growing!

Update: today is Nov 1 and here's how the nails are doing. I've also started to shape them. They are slightly pointed into a stiletto shape.

Here's the last pic of my nails with the almond shape. I decided to switch them back to square because square seems to be a more neutral shape.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the effects of Nailtiques. It was able to help make my nails strong and repair any flaking. Definitely a must have!

Mariah Carey OPI holiday collection 2013

Hello lovelies!

Just wanted to share some of the polishes from OPI Mariah Carey holiday 2013 collection. 

There's a mix of textured liquid sand polishes and darker red shades. I got the minis for my birthday from the bf (he's pretty awesome for supporting my crazy hobby). 

The liquid sand mini pack has 3 polishes: Silent Stars Go By, Baby Please Come Home, and Make Him Mine.

First one up is Baby Please Come Home. It is a lavender liquid sand polish with tiny micro glitter which give it its "sand" texture.

The application is smooth and dries quickly. No top coat is required for these polishes. I wore this for 4 days without any signs of tip wear. 

The next one up is Make Him Mine. It is a coral pink textured polish. I love this colour so much.

Here is a macro shot of this lovely coral liquid sand. So pretty with its gold undertones.

The 3rd liquid sand, Silent Stars Go By is a nude pink polish. 

It has light coppery undertones and is very sparkly. 

The other mini pack released features 2 cream polishes and 2 glitter polishes.

The four polishes are Visions of Love, burgundy red polish, Warm Me Up, a redish brown polish, Wondrous Star, a silver glitter polish with black glitter, and All Sparkly And Gold, a gold glitter polish.

This mani features Wondrous Star on the ring finger. This is 3 coats alone. It provided full coverage and could be worn alone or as a glitter topper. It's so light that it can be layered without it becoming thick or clumpy.

Tillie Polish Fall Collection Review

Hi lovelies!

My apologies for being away for a while. Went on vacation to California and it was fantastic. I ate so many yummy foods! I was excited to go to Cali to also pick up a package from Tillie Polish Tillie Polish is an independent polish brand created by 3 sisters, Andrea, Amber, and Alexa. Their polishes are 5-free, vegan, and cruelty free. They apply very well and are long lasting. I have 3 colours from their fall collection to review for you. All were done with 2 coats of polish.

The first one is Espresso Yourself, a creamy milk chocolate brown colour. It is a warm from with slightly yellow undertones. It is unique colour and I think would like great on darker skin tones. 

I am planning to do some nail art with this colour soon so stay tuned!

Update: I had time to work on that nail art I was planning to  presso Yourself. Here's some cute Louis Vuitton inspired stamped designs with Espresso Yourself as the base.

The next colour is Fall Fête, a light orange with gold shimmer undertones. It is bright and vibrant like the colours of fall leaves. 

The last colour I have for you is my personal favourite of the group, Leaf It To Me. It's a dark army green with gold shimmer which is more visible in bright light, making it a bit of a duo chrome, where depending on the angle and the light exposure, the colour may very from dark green to goldish green.

These colours in this collection are quite synonymous with fall. From the hot chocolate you drink on those cool autumn nights, to the pumpkins you carve up for Halloween, to the leaves on the trees losing their green colour and transitioning to golden yellow, the polishes offered by Tillie Polish help you get into that fall mood. 

For more information on purchasing these and other great shades by Tillie Polish, visit:

http://tillie.myshopify.com

And Instagram@tilliepolish

Tillie Polish

Coral nude mani

Hey beauties!

With the changing seasons, from summer to fall, change to the colour palette has also happened. For me, nude is a perfect colour for fall. In the fall, the weather becomes cooler, students go back to school, and summer getaways end. So to get back in that work grind, you may need to get back into more subdued colours. The fall, though, also has many orange tones from the changing of the leaves. I decided to pair coral with nude and this mani had become one of my absolute favourites of all time. 

I used Liquid Sky Lacquer Pure Luxury over a layer of Maybelline Gold Mine on the index, LVX Deco on the middle and LVX Rive on ring and pinky. For the pinky, I topped it with the Holo Top Coat by Liquid Sky Lacquer. The coral roses were painted to resemble hearts. 

The holo top coats I used here are the icing on the cake. I am such a fan of Liquid Sky Lacquer polishes. 

Above is a hand painted cabochon ring I made. 

Another nude polishes I recommend is Zoya Shay. Lol it's pretty obvious why I have a soft spot for this polish ;)

Zoya polishes are so creamy and this was opaque after just one coat.

If you are interested in purchasing a hand painted, unique cabochon ring or necklace, email me at shaystylista@gmail.com for more details!

Lynnderella The Stars In Her Eyes Review

Hi hi hunny bunnies!!

For a few months, the polish I coveted the most was Lynnderella The Stars In Her Eyes. I fell in love with the tiny star glitter that is inside. I was lucky to get one for my birthday from my brother. I was going to save it until my birthday but I couldn't wait lol!

The polish is definitely a glitter bomb. There is so much glitter on it that you actually want to remove some of the polish before you put it on. 

It has slight gray tinge so it is better over dark colours. In addition to the mini holographic star glitter, there is also larger star glitter, small holographic hex and micro holographic glitter.

It's so much more sparklier in real life. Magical!

I added some nail art to this mani, with a hand painted crystal heart design. This was done with black acrylic paint and a thin art brush. 

Pink camouflage tutorial!

Hello love bugs!

Today I want to share with you a quick and easy technique to make a camouflage design on your nails.

I did mine with shades of pink for a fun, girly camouflage but you can also use traditional camouflage colours: dark green, brown and light green.

1. You will need 3 shades of pink: light, medium and dark pink. I used Essie Pink Pout, The Face Shop PK101, and PK102. You will also need a dotting tool. You can purchase dotting tools on eBay, amazon, or winstonia online stores. You can also use an end of a bobby pin, pen, toothpick or pin head.

2. Start by painting your entire nail with the lightest pink colour.

3. Apply a blob of the darkest pink on a piece of wax paper or tin foil. Dab the dotting tool in the polish.

4. Use the dotting tool to make some abstract blob, circle or oval shapes over several sections of the nail.

5. Wipe off the excess of polish from the dotting tool. Apply the next pink polish on the wax paper and dab some onto the dotting tool.

6. Go over the initial blobs with spaces in between.

7. Use a smaller dotting tool to apply small dots in the empty light pink spaces with the pink used in steps 5-6.

8. Wait for the nail to dry and apply a top coat to seal in the design.

If you want to do this with the traditional camo colours, apply the light green as the base and use the dark green and brown as the blobs.

This is a quick and easy design that is eye catching and versatile.

Tag your recreations on Instagram to #shaycheckmynails so I can see them!

Happy painting!

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)