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?