NOTD - Easter Dotticure Mani

Happy Easter everyone! Hope you are all having an awesome weekend with family and friends, perhaps around a turkey even. I did not realise Easter is not an extra long weekend in the USA, in Canada we get both the Friday and Monday as holidays. Easter seems like a common holiday; but different country, different holidays, I guess. Onto more important issues like this Easter mani.

 L-R: Color Club Factory Girl, OPI Rumple's Wiggin', China Glaze Lemon Fizz, Zoya Neely 

 L-R: OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, OPI Oh So Glam!, Kiss white polish

Two coats of each base colour was used before adding dots. The exception being Factory Girl, which required 3 thick coats due to its awful formula. The thumbs consisted of two coats MBSW, one coat OSG and dots (using the base colours). White dots were done with a white polish from a Kiss French Manicure set. One coat of top coat was applied to all nails.

One thing I have to shine the spotlight on is my thumbs. Love love LOVE the layering of OSG on top MBSW. The layering softened the white and added this beautiful, subtle golden glow. 

This was a fast, simple manicure that anyone can do at home without special tools. Just paint each nail a different colour; and add dots using pen, pencil, bobby pin, etc. The most time consuming nail would be the thumb, because you have to dot each colour one at a time.

I have no idea when this mani will be removed. I don't think I have the heart to take this off because I love it too much. It's so soft and cute, definitely reminds me of easter eggs!

Hope this has inspired some Easter mani's out there. Thanks for checking in!

Swatch - China Glaze Surreal Appeal

Another one from the China Glaze Cirque du Soleil collection to show today. I picked this baby up through a "buy one get one free" deal exclusively for this collection at Sally's. Admittedly this polish was not originally on my wishlist, I just took it as the "free" polish from that deal and bought Whirled Away. This polish fought against my low expectations and wowed me on the nail. So let's get a look at this hidden gem.

China Glaze Surreal Appeal is a bright coral pink cream. On the nail, the colour is darker yet brighter (in almost a neon way) than the bottle. I put on 2 medium coats with top coat in the pictures below.  The colour is a tad more pink/coral in real-life rather than orange as seen in pictures. I used this polish as a base for my leopard nails, which shows the real-life colour accurately.

Specifications:
Formula - easy application, pigmented
Finish - shiny
Dry time - average
Removal - easy
Wear - great, no chipping or tip wear after 5 days of wear

Collection swatches: Creative Fantasy, Running In Circles, Surreal Appeal

I became obssessed with this colour once I had it on, and didn't want to take it off (wore it for 5 days!). This colour turned out to be a lot brighter than I expected (maybe I have been wearing vampy shades for too long...go away winter!). Appearing to be another regular coral shade when in actuality this shade offers a pink tone and brightness that cannot be observed just looking at the bottle. Hope you enjoyed this review~

NOTD - Neon-ish Leopard Nails

This is currently what I am wearing on my nails, and thoroughly enjoying. I do love my leopard nails. The colour combinations are endless, creating a different vibe even though the pattern never changes. The inspiration to use fun, bright colours came from Swatch and Learn's leopard nails. 

Polishes used:
Base - China Glaze Surreal Appeal (2 coats)
Spots - OPI Fly and China Glaze Sun-Kissed
Outline - OPI Give Me Moor!

Hope this look has inspired you guys to do some fun leopard nails as a big welcome to Spring. Thanks for stopping by~

Review - Gals Fairy Stamping Set

Awhile back I won this Gals Fairy stamping plates set from a skittlette contest held by ChitChatNails. I couldn't believe I actually won a prize and was super excited to receive these. You can see my contest entry mani here. To review these plates I decided to stamp the most intricate design I could find to test pattern carving quality.

The ring finger is stamped with the most intricate design. The pattern seems to be carved well, since I am able to make out fine details. I should have chosen a different type of polish for stamping to better show the quality and details. A foil polish (lots of particles) was used instead of a cream, which stamps better. However, I wanted to use a gold and only own a foil. Nonetheless, the quality of these plates still shined through my poor polish choice and beginner's stamping skills. The other fingers are just stamped with small designs that matched the complicated pattern on my ring finger. Everything stamped very well.

I am totally in love with this polish combo. Base polish was China Glaze Velvet Bow and stamped with OPI I Get A Kick Out Of Gold.

Below are close-ups of each nail and its corresponding plate pattern.

Here is an image showing all the designs offered from this set.

You can find these Gals plates on the Cheeky Beauty website, which sells many nail related products and great quality stamping plates. I am very pleased with the quality of these plates and love the stamping designs. A big thank you to Marta at ChitChatNails for these awesome plates!

Share - OPI Bond Girls Collection Giveaway!

The Manicurator is giving away the entire OPI Bond Girls Collection that comes out in May this year. She's not just giving away the mini set, but all 6 full sized bottles! Check out her blog and enter in the giveaway. Good luck~

Swatch - China Glaze Velvet Bow

Today, I have a polish from the China Glaze Let It Snow collection released in 2011 to show you guys. Velvet Bow is a dark (vampy) berry red. The funny thing about this polish is that in the bottle there are no brown tones whatsoever, but on the nail (depending on lighting) brown tones make an appearance sometimes. I'm not sure if this is because the polish is so dark that the colour becomes hard to distinguish. Photos below show 2 medium coats with top coat.

Specifications:

Formula - easy application, 2 coats for full coverage

Shine - dries shiny

Dry rate - faster than usual vampy shades

Staining - stains skin and nails big time! (see ring finger cuticle)

Removal - easy

*Note: colour is darker on nail than in bottle.

I love vampy colours and this one is no exception. Application was a dream and it looks so delicious with intense shine. Thanks for dropping by!

NOTD - St. Patrick's Day Clover Mani

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I have never celebrated this day in full swing; meaning being decked out in green, drinking green beer and having difficulty remembering any of it the next day. The most I have ever done was last year me and a friend went to an Irish pub and each drank a "cup" of Guinness. And that is the only time I have ever gone out on this day. I think my avoidance of going out on this day (and any other major partying days of the year) is because I am afraid of the craziness. All the bars and clubs are jam packed with extremely drunk people (much more so than usual). So I avoid the madness and have a quiet night at home doing my nails~

This mani idea came from a St. Patrick's Day tutorial that China Glaze posted on their facebook page. I had to practice a few times on a piece of paper before actually drawing the clovers on my nails. They didn't turn out perfect, but I am pretty happy with it considering this is my first time. I should mention that China Glaze Running In Circles turned out to be the PERFECT St. Patty's green and it's sparkly (doesn't get any better than that)!

Polishes used: 

Base:
China Glaze Glittering Garland (index & pinky)
ChG Running In Circles (middle & ring)

Clovers:
ChG Gussied Up Green (middle & ring)
Zoya Neely (index & pinky)






How To:
Two coats of each base colour was painted. Different sized dotting tools were used to create different sizes of clovers. I put a drop of polish on paper, dip the dotting tool in and drew hearts with it. Use the heart just draw as a positioning guideline for the next heart to create either a 4 or 3 leaf clover.

Tada! Below was the final product (forgot to put top coat on middle and ring fingers > <)

Before I added the clovers, I actually just wore the base colours for a couple of days. Absolutely love the pairing of these two greens together.

The sun finally decided to make a short appearance. Naturally, I had to snatch up this opportunity to show how these two polishes shimmer and sparkle. The picture is blurred to show the sparkling better.

This last picture is where I was originally going to stop adding nail art. But then I decided to add more clovers. Which mani do you prefer?

Thanks for stopping by~ What was on your nails this St. Patrick's Day? Did you also do some nail art?

Swatch - Essie Bikini So Teeny

I've got a fun colour to show you guys today. This polish is from a collection released last summer with the same name: Bikini So Teeny Collection. I only picked up this one polish from the collection, because everyone was raving about it. Now I finally know why people are so in love with this colour!

Essie Bikini So Teeny is a cornflower blue cream with fine white shimmer. The shimmer is only noticeable in the bottle and not on the nail, sadly. You can slightly see the shimmer on my middle finger in the first picture. Man this polish gave me lobster hands big time. I never liked the way blue polish looked against my skintone, but this colour was so pretty that I was willing to over look everything. In the pictures below, I'm wearing 2 medium coats with top coat. The second picture is more colour accurate to real life.

Specifications:
Formula - Tad thick and gloopy, overall application was easy
Pigmentation - good, 2 medium coats
Dry time - on the slow side
Finish - shiny

I actually really love this colour just wished it looked better against my skin tone. Even though this colour is light, it is actually quite bright. Looks like I should consider expanding the blues in my stash.

What do you think of this colour? What colours do you own from the Bikini So Teeny collection?

Swatch - OPI Did It On 'Em (Nicki Minaj Collection)

Finally I have a spring colour for you guys today. After wearing winter shades for the last few days, I decided I wanted something quirky and fun.

OPI Did It On 'Em is a green with heavy yellow influence. This is definitely a love or hate colour (ugly-pretty colours), it's not for everyone. I have to admit, I wasn't too sure about it when I bought it but now I like it. It's a nice break from all the normal polish colours.

Pictures below show 2 coats without top coat. Sorry about the bubbling on some nails. I am trying to use up my base coat that is really thick and takes ages to dry.

Specifications:
Formula - excellent, easy application
Pigmentation - good, 2 medium coats
Finish - shiny
Removal - easy

Nicki Minaj collection: Did It On 'Em, Fly, Metallic For Life, Pink Friday, Save Me, Super Bass Shatter.

Do you like this quirky, ugly-pretty shade? Which shades do you own from the Nicki Minaj collection?

Swatch - China Glaze Stone Cold (Hunger Games Collection)

Sunday funday! Speaking of sundaes, I think I will go to Dairy Queen and take advantage of their promotion on blizzards right now (buy one get one 99 cents!). I find I can always get a few servings out of a small size blizzard since they are so intensely sweet. Usually I eat some, then put it in the freezer for the next day. Yes, it is definitely not as appetizing the next day but still tastes the same to me. Today, I have another colour from the Hunger Games collection by China Glaze.

Stone Cold is a matte black (near black dark grey) with dense tiny silver flecks giving an overall dark grey colour. This one is so cool because it actually looks like stone! Well done China Glaze, the name is a perfect description of the polish.

You could add top coat if you prefer a shiny finish. Adding top coat does darken this polish by a few shades as you see below. The polish becomes true black with silver specks. Personally, I prefer the original matte finish because it looks like I have stone nails.

Specifications:
Formula - excellent, easy application
Pigmentation - almost 1 coater, need second coat to cover bald spots
Dry time - fast
Finish - matte
Removal - easy, tad harder than creams due to silver specks

Capitol Colours (Hunger Games) Collection: Agro, Dress Me Up, Electrify, Fast Track, Foie Gras, Harvest Moon, Hook and Line, Luxe and Lush, Mahogany Magic, Riveting, Smoke and Ashes, Stone Cold

What do you guys think of this stone-like polish? Do you prefer it matte or shiny?

Swatch - China Glaze Fast Track (Hunger Games Collection)

Today is a sunny Saturday where I live, which means everyone is in high spirits. I feel like I have this extra hop to my step because it is so refreshing to see the sun, finally. Now I realize I should really be posting about a cheerful colour...maybe I'll dig something else up and do another posting later in the day.

Fast Track is beige with a generous serving of gold glass flecks. The gold flecks add a lot of dimension to this polish. This polish is from the Capitol Colours (Hunger Games) collection, and apparently reflects District 6 (transportation). In the pictures below, I wore 2 coats without top coat, since this guy is shiny enough on its own.

Specifications:
Formula - excellent, easy application, opaque in 2 coats
Finish - shiny
Not prone to brush strokes or bald spots
Removal - easy, gold flecks require extra rubbing but almost as easy as creams

Capitol Colours (Hunger Games) Collection: Agro, Dress Me Up, Electrify, Fast Track, Foie Gras, Harvest Moon, Hook and Line, Luxe and Lush, Mahogany Magic, Riveting, Smoke and Ashes, Stone Cold

What do you think about this new twist on a work appropriate polish? Which colours of the Capitol do you own?

Haul - Cheeky Nail Art Tools

Hello~ I thought I would show you what I got from Cheeky during their 15% off promotion. There were some plates that I wanted along with nail art tools. There are lots of nail art out there that I still want to try, so I decided to get a brush set and dotting tools. Let the creative juices flow!

The package came in a bubble wrap envelope, then everything inside was wrapped in bubble wrap as well (no pictures posted). I do have an issue with the bubble wrap envelope, because it is not stiff enough to stop the items inside from bending/folding. As a result, my nail brush bag was bent and one of my plates was slightly bent at a corner. The bending is minor that it doesn't actually affect the outcome of the product, but still I like my products to arrive in mint condition. My thinking is they should have put a piece of cardboard in the envelope along with the items. Payment, order processing and mailing took 3 weeks total (shorter probably for those who pay by credit card).

On to the goodies! I got a set of 3 large plates that I have been wanting for a long time, been wanting to stamp my nails in a paisley pattern! Set of 5 dotting tools giving 10 dotting sizes. Lastly, a set of 25 brushes for nail art that came in a roll up bag.

I am so so excited to use these! Already started using my new dotting tools to create a flower dotticure. One thing I did not realise until I got the package was that larger stamping plates means larger stamping images. So the images on these new plates I got are way too big for my slim nails. This means I won't be able to get the whole pattern on my nails...sadness :( But this is great news for people who have large nails, since many seem to have a hard time finding images large enough. Nonetheless I'm still over the moon about my new toys to play with!

Did you order anything from Cheeky during their promotion? How do you like Cheeky products? Thanks for stopping by~

NOTD - Green Dot Flowers

Happy Saturday! I am feeling super upbeat today despite the gloomy weather outside. Perhaps it's my nails making me feel so cheery. Today I am sporting some super easy nail art. I just got my first set of dotting tools in the mail couple of days ago and I had to try them out!

For this mani I used 2 coats of OPI Did It On 'Em as a base. Next I dotted 5 dots in a circle to create the petals in China Glaze Exotic Encounters. Lastly, using the same dotting tool (clean of course) I added the white center in each flower using a white french manicure polish by Kiss. 

The mani felt like it needed a little more "umph!" to it, so I decided to add white dots between flowers using a small dotting tool. As if this wasn't enough, I added a coat of OPI I Juggle...Men to finish the mani off. Presto! This is what I had at the end:

Below is what I actually envisioned in my head as the final look. I wanted the white dots to be small and spread out. Only my thumb turned out the way I wanted exactly. Got to keep practicing with these dotting tools!

Hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial-ish post. What are some nail arts you have done lately?