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~Melissa xoxo
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
February Nail Art Challenge
So I've completed another nail art challenge so I thought I'd share the looks with you all in one blog post. If you follow me on Instagram you will have probably seen all of these looks before. I found this challenge on Instagram from the lovely @californails and it's supposed to be "The totally doable, I have a life, challenge" and if you have an Instagram account you can see everyone who participated in this challenge by searching the hash tag #nailartfeb. I thought it would be neat to see all of them recapped in a blog post so here they are!
Day 1 "Hearts". I really wanted to do a ombré nail for this one, then I thought I'd do two different kinds of ombré, the sponge gradient ombré, and then the ombré hearts. I love how it turned out and I thought the silver really made the hearts pop!
Day 3 "Flowers". I wanted to do something more fancy for this day. There have been some amazing floral designs floating around lately. I wanted them to look like and actual painting and I think I defiantly accomplished that. I also wanted to paint a different flower than people were expecting so I decided to paint one of my favourite flowers, the Fuchsia flower.
Day 6 "XOXO". So for this day I had no clue what to do. I was completely stumped. I decided to mix it up a bit and try something different so I went for a ruffian nail on my pointer and pinkie fingers. Then I outlined the my middle finger with X's and O's. I was going to so the same on my ring finger, but decided last minute to do a bling finger instead. I think the finished look is really fun!
Day 8 "Smooch!". I had these ones in mind for valentines nails for quite a while. I thought it would be such a cute design, and I think I was right. I had more people recreate these nails more than any other design I've done. It was simple and adorable!
Day 11 "Candy". I really wasn't looking forward to this day because I was so sick of seeing the conversation heart nails. It's pretty much the only valentines candy anyone was painting on their nails. Then when I sat down and thought about what I was going to paint on my nails, the only valentines candy I could think of was those damn conversation hearts!! So I gave in and painted some conversation hearts on my nails but I HATED them!! So I immediately took nail polish remover to them and started again. I finally decided to go into my cupboard and get myself some real candy sprinkles and use them on my nails. So I painted some top coat on my nails and sprinkled the real candy sprinkles on my nails!
Day 14 "match OOTD". Just to clear up the confusion "OOTD" stands for "outfit of the day". You were supposed to match your nails to what you wore for Valentines Day. I of course wore my pyjamas all day so I decided to match my nails to what I would have worn had I gone out. So I chose my favourite pair of rose gold pumps and matched my nails to them with a rose gold and black ruffian mani.
Day 17 "Bows". If you read my blog you've already seen theses nails. I did a tutorial on how to create them. Go check it out if you're interested!
Day 20 "Nude". So for my nude polish, I wasn't about to just wear a nude polish! So I wore a holographic nude polish, then I painted blue rosettes on top. I really love the finished look and I feel like it wasn't what you'd expect to see when the challenge is "nude". I wanted to have fun with this one and I was glad that I did.
Day 23 "Ombré". This manicure is probably my favourite of them all! I'm so glad I did a coral ombré, it really pops with the bright blue leopard spots. I typically paint a more intricate leopard print, this one is much larger than I'm used to, but I really like it. I think you'll be seeing more looks like this from me in the future.
Day 26 "French Mani". Again, for this one I really didn't want to do a plain old French manicure, I wanted to do something that everyone e wouldn't be expecting. So I decided on doing a multicoloured striped tip, then I added a black base. I didn't like the way this mani looked so I added some sparkle on top and I think that really pulled it all together. I really liked the finished look.
Day 28 "Vintage". I created a vintage lace design for this look. It wasn't what I was originally planning to do, but I wasn't feeling great on this day so I opted for something easier than planned.
That's it! I completed every day, some of them were late, but they all got done in the end. I am planning on doing the March challenge as well so keep your eye out for that!
-Melissa xoxo
Day 1 "Hearts". I really wanted to do a ombré nail for this one, then I thought I'd do two different kinds of ombré, the sponge gradient ombré, and then the ombré hearts. I love how it turned out and I thought the silver really made the hearts pop!
Day 3 "Flowers". I wanted to do something more fancy for this day. There have been some amazing floral designs floating around lately. I wanted them to look like and actual painting and I think I defiantly accomplished that. I also wanted to paint a different flower than people were expecting so I decided to paint one of my favourite flowers, the Fuchsia flower.
Day 6 "XOXO". So for this day I had no clue what to do. I was completely stumped. I decided to mix it up a bit and try something different so I went for a ruffian nail on my pointer and pinkie fingers. Then I outlined the my middle finger with X's and O's. I was going to so the same on my ring finger, but decided last minute to do a bling finger instead. I think the finished look is really fun!
Day 8 "Smooch!". I had these ones in mind for valentines nails for quite a while. I thought it would be such a cute design, and I think I was right. I had more people recreate these nails more than any other design I've done. It was simple and adorable!
Day 11 "Candy". I really wasn't looking forward to this day because I was so sick of seeing the conversation heart nails. It's pretty much the only valentines candy anyone was painting on their nails. Then when I sat down and thought about what I was going to paint on my nails, the only valentines candy I could think of was those damn conversation hearts!! So I gave in and painted some conversation hearts on my nails but I HATED them!! So I immediately took nail polish remover to them and started again. I finally decided to go into my cupboard and get myself some real candy sprinkles and use them on my nails. So I painted some top coat on my nails and sprinkled the real candy sprinkles on my nails!
Day 17 "Bows". If you read my blog you've already seen theses nails. I did a tutorial on how to create them. Go check it out if you're interested!
Day 28 "Vintage". I created a vintage lace design for this look. It wasn't what I was originally planning to do, but I wasn't feeling great on this day so I opted for something easier than planned.
That's it! I completed every day, some of them were late, but they all got done in the end. I am planning on doing the March challenge as well so keep your eye out for that!
-Melissa xoxo
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
KISS Nail Art
Today I have some nail art for you guys! My hubby has been pestering me to do some KISS nail art for one of his co-workers for the past couple weeks. Apparently he is a huge KISS fan. They are a bit before my time, but I have seen a few episodes of "Gene Simons Family Jewels" and I enjoyed it.
So I started off by painting my nails a with a black polish, then I added some fast drying top coat.
Then using a red, orange and yellow acrylic paint I mixed my colours to create a fiery background on my black nails.
I mixed red with orange and orange with yellow so I could create a ombré effect with the flames.
I started with the red paint and created the shape of the flames. Then I used too the red-orange shade and painted it over the red. Then I took the orange and painted in on top of that, and so on, until I got to the lightest shade, creating and ombré look with the flames.
Then using my black acrylic paint I painted KISS across my four fingers, then I outlined it with a thin black line all the way around the letters.
I also wanted to see how it would look with a matte top coat.
So after doing the KISS logo I also wanted to try some cute kiss faces. Here's how they turned out. Aren't they adorable!!
Which do you prefer? The KISS logo or the faces? Let me know in the comments below!!
-Melissa xoxo
So I started off by painting my nails a with a black polish, then I added some fast drying top coat.
Then using a red, orange and yellow acrylic paint I mixed my colours to create a fiery background on my black nails.
I mixed red with orange and orange with yellow so I could create a ombré effect with the flames.
I started with the red paint and created the shape of the flames. Then I used too the red-orange shade and painted it over the red. Then I took the orange and painted in on top of that, and so on, until I got to the lightest shade, creating and ombré look with the flames.
Then using my black acrylic paint I painted KISS across my four fingers, then I outlined it with a thin black line all the way around the letters.
I also wanted to see how it would look with a matte top coat.
So after doing the KISS logo I also wanted to try some cute kiss faces. Here's how they turned out. Aren't they adorable!!
Which do you prefer? The KISS logo or the faces? Let me know in the comments below!!
-Melissa xoxo
Monday, February 25, 2013
Bow Tutorial
So today I'm trying to catch up on the nail art challenge I committed to at the beginning of February. I've been having what I call a "nail art brain fart", I just haven't been inspired lately. Plus I broke a couple of nails and had to file them down, which is never fun. So, the first day I need to catch up on is day 17 "Bows". I was asked a while back on my Facebook page to do a bow tutorial, so I figured there's no better time then now!!
For these nails I used a nude polish, a fast drying top coat, three different colours of acrylic paint and a small detail paint brush. I got the paint and paint brush at Michael's Craft Store.
So to start I painted my nails a nude shade, for this look I chose my new OPI polish in "My Vampire Is Buff", then I added a layer of Seche Vite fast drying top coat to smooth out the surface I was painting on and to dry the polish. Then once the top coat was dry I used acrylic paint and painted on two heart shapes that mirrored each other using the outline colour which in this case was black.
Next while I was waiting for the black acrylic paint to dry I took my bow colour, in this case it was pink, and I mixed it with white to create three different shades of pink.
Then I took the darkest shade of pink and filled in my bow. You want to bring the paint as close to the black as possible without covering it completely. This creates a nice thin outline. I also left a little line of black in the middle of the heart shape to create what looked like a crease in the bow.
Then I took the black paint again and painted a circle in the middle of the two heart shapes to create the center of the bow. I overlapped the black over the heart shapes just slightly.
Then I took the darkest pink and filled in the circle. Then taking the black I added two think lines coming down from the bow.
Then I took the darkest pink and filled it in. Then I went in with my medium shade of pink and layered it over the dark pink to create a shaded effect. Then I went in with the lightest pink and added it just where I wanted it to look highlighted. So on the top of the bow and right in the center of the bow. The I took the pink paint (with no white mixed in, straight from the bottle) and added it where I wanted it to look the darkest or where I wanted it to look like there was a shadow.
Lastly I waited for the acrylic paint to dry completely and then I added a good thick coat of Seche Vite fast drying top coat.
That's it you're done! Did you like this tutorial? Let me know in the comments below!
-Melissa xoxo
For these nails I used a nude polish, a fast drying top coat, three different colours of acrylic paint and a small detail paint brush. I got the paint and paint brush at Michael's Craft Store.
So to start I painted my nails a nude shade, for this look I chose my new OPI polish in "My Vampire Is Buff", then I added a layer of Seche Vite fast drying top coat to smooth out the surface I was painting on and to dry the polish. Then once the top coat was dry I used acrylic paint and painted on two heart shapes that mirrored each other using the outline colour which in this case was black.
Next while I was waiting for the black acrylic paint to dry I took my bow colour, in this case it was pink, and I mixed it with white to create three different shades of pink.
Then I took the darkest shade of pink and filled in my bow. You want to bring the paint as close to the black as possible without covering it completely. This creates a nice thin outline. I also left a little line of black in the middle of the heart shape to create what looked like a crease in the bow.
Then I took the black paint again and painted a circle in the middle of the two heart shapes to create the center of the bow. I overlapped the black over the heart shapes just slightly.
Then I took the darkest pink and filled in the circle. Then taking the black I added two think lines coming down from the bow.
Then I took the darkest pink and filled it in. Then I went in with my medium shade of pink and layered it over the dark pink to create a shaded effect. Then I went in with the lightest pink and added it just where I wanted it to look highlighted. So on the top of the bow and right in the center of the bow. The I took the pink paint (with no white mixed in, straight from the bottle) and added it where I wanted it to look the darkest or where I wanted it to look like there was a shadow.
Lastly I waited for the acrylic paint to dry completely and then I added a good thick coat of Seche Vite fast drying top coat.
That's it you're done! Did you like this tutorial? Let me know in the comments below!
-Melissa xoxo
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
China Glaze Avant Garden Collection Part 2 "Blooming Brights"
Today I have the second part of the new China Glaze Avant Garden collecting. This portion of the collection is the darker shades and is playfully named "Blooming Brights". Also like the first part of this collection, the polishes have very clever names. There are three shimmers and three cremes but unlike the pastel portion of this collection the shimmer shades are easier to apply and aren't streaky.
First up is a pinkie peach polish with a subtle golden shimmer called "Mimosa's Before Manis". This colour is absolutely perfect for summer! It reminds me of a polish I would pair with a nice tan! The formula was awesome! After using the shimmer polishes in "Pastel Petals" portion of this collection, I was expecting these shimmers to be hard to work with too. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was wrong, the application was easy and it was opaque in just two coats!
Next up I have "Snap My Dragon", which looks as feisty as the name suggests! This is an eye catching shade of red that leans just slightly pink and has a subtle pinkie red shimmer to it. This polish is perfect for a date on a hot summer night! The formula again was great, I used two coats for the pictures below, but I wish I had put some topcoat on top of this polish when i swatched it because it would have looked better.
This is the last of the shimmer shades of this collection, and it's probably my personal favourite of the bunch. "Fancy Pants" is a medium purple shade with a gorgeous pink-purple shimmer. It was almost impossible to capture the shimmer in a photo! It took two coats to full opacity and looked better with a layer of top coat.
Next I have "Passion For Petals". It's a salmon pink creme, this polish didn't really stand out to me, but because I have some similar shades, it should be great for a gradient manicure. The formula was great and it was opaque in two coats.
This funny shade is called "Budding Romance". It does not inspire "romance" when I look at it that's for sure. That being said, I don't dislike this polish, I'm actually quite fond of it. It's different from the rest of the polishes in this collection not only because of the colour, but because of the consistency too. It's the only jelly polish of the bunch and therefore it was a fun surprise. Because it's a jelly polish it took three coats to complete opacity, but the coats went on nice and smooth with no streaking.
Lastly, I have "Sunday Funday", what a fun name! I wasn't as excited about the polish as I was about the name though. The polish is fine, but it's just nothing special. It's a sky blue creme that I'm sure will come in handy for gradients because I have quite a few similar polishes to this one. Other than that the formula is great, and it was again, opaque in two coats. Also, I don't know why but whenever I'm taking a photo of a bright blue polish my camera makes my skin look red-orange! This is so frustrating!! If you know how to correct this problem please let me know in the comment section!
What do you think of this second part of the new China Glaze spring/summer 2013 collection? Do you prefer the "Pastel Petals" colours or the "Blooming Brights" colours? Let me know in the comments below!!
-Melissa xoxo
First up is a pinkie peach polish with a subtle golden shimmer called "Mimosa's Before Manis". This colour is absolutely perfect for summer! It reminds me of a polish I would pair with a nice tan! The formula was awesome! After using the shimmer polishes in "Pastel Petals" portion of this collection, I was expecting these shimmers to be hard to work with too. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was wrong, the application was easy and it was opaque in just two coats!
Mimosa's Before Manis
Next up I have "Snap My Dragon", which looks as feisty as the name suggests! This is an eye catching shade of red that leans just slightly pink and has a subtle pinkie red shimmer to it. This polish is perfect for a date on a hot summer night! The formula again was great, I used two coats for the pictures below, but I wish I had put some topcoat on top of this polish when i swatched it because it would have looked better.
Snap My Dragon
This is the last of the shimmer shades of this collection, and it's probably my personal favourite of the bunch. "Fancy Pants" is a medium purple shade with a gorgeous pink-purple shimmer. It was almost impossible to capture the shimmer in a photo! It took two coats to full opacity and looked better with a layer of top coat.
Fancy Pants
Next I have "Passion For Petals". It's a salmon pink creme, this polish didn't really stand out to me, but because I have some similar shades, it should be great for a gradient manicure. The formula was great and it was opaque in two coats.
Passion For Petals
This funny shade is called "Budding Romance". It does not inspire "romance" when I look at it that's for sure. That being said, I don't dislike this polish, I'm actually quite fond of it. It's different from the rest of the polishes in this collection not only because of the colour, but because of the consistency too. It's the only jelly polish of the bunch and therefore it was a fun surprise. Because it's a jelly polish it took three coats to complete opacity, but the coats went on nice and smooth with no streaking.
Budding Romance
Lastly, I have "Sunday Funday", what a fun name! I wasn't as excited about the polish as I was about the name though. The polish is fine, but it's just nothing special. It's a sky blue creme that I'm sure will come in handy for gradients because I have quite a few similar polishes to this one. Other than that the formula is great, and it was again, opaque in two coats. Also, I don't know why but whenever I'm taking a photo of a bright blue polish my camera makes my skin look red-orange! This is so frustrating!! If you know how to correct this problem please let me know in the comment section!
Sunday Funday
What do you think of this second part of the new China Glaze spring/summer 2013 collection? Do you prefer the "Pastel Petals" colours or the "Blooming Brights" colours? Let me know in the comments below!!
-Melissa xoxo
Sunday, February 17, 2013
China Glaze Avant Garden Collection Part 1 "Pastel Petals"
Today I have half of the new China Glaze spring 2013 Avant Garden collection. This collection is split into two six piece collections, "Pastel Petals" and "Budding Brights". The collection featured in todays post is "Pastel Petals" which are the lighter of the twelve shades. There are three shimmery shades and three creme shades.
First up is "Dandy Lyin' Around". This is a shimmery white shade, the formula wasn't the best, it was on the thicker side which made it harder to apply. It was streaky and hard to get even coverage. This polish took three coats to get it opaque and it needed a good layer of topcoat to even it all out. This polish wasn't one of my favourites, but the finished result is very pretty.
Next is this stunning mint green shimmer called "Keep Calm, Paint On", have I mentioned that the names in this collection are super cute! This polish, like the first was streaky and took three coats to be completely opaque. Again I topped it off with a good layer of top coat to even it all out. I really love this colour, and the shimmer gives it that extra touch of something special.
The last shimmer in this portion of the collection is "Pink-ie Promise". Just like the previous shimmers in this collection it took three coats to full opacity and a generous amount of top coat. The shimmer in this polish is more much more subtle then the other two and was hard to capture in a photo. I love this light dusty rose shade.
This pretty light blue-purple creme shade is called "Fade Into Hue". It instantly reminded me of a China Glaze polish I already have in my collection called "Secret Peri-Wink-Le". They are very similar but this one is just slightly lighter than "Secret Peri-Wink-Le" in my opinion you don't need both (unless you're a crazy polish hoarder like me). The formula is nice, it's opaque in two coats, and like most creme polishes, looks it's best with a good layer of topcoat.
Next is a lavender creme called "Tart-y For The Party", another adorable name! I'm a sucker for purple polishes so I really loved this one. The formula was easy to work with and it was opaque in two coats.
Last but certainly not least is "Life Is Rosy". I was most excited for this shade because I've been looking for a good dark dusty rose colour to add to my collection. It did not disappoint! It's my personal favourite of the six and again it was easy to apply and opaque in two coats.
What do you think of these six pastel polishes? Let me know in the comments below!
-Melissa xoxo
First up is "Dandy Lyin' Around". This is a shimmery white shade, the formula wasn't the best, it was on the thicker side which made it harder to apply. It was streaky and hard to get even coverage. This polish took three coats to get it opaque and it needed a good layer of topcoat to even it all out. This polish wasn't one of my favourites, but the finished result is very pretty.
Dandy Lyin' Around
Keep Calm, Paint On
The last shimmer in this portion of the collection is "Pink-ie Promise". Just like the previous shimmers in this collection it took three coats to full opacity and a generous amount of top coat. The shimmer in this polish is more much more subtle then the other two and was hard to capture in a photo. I love this light dusty rose shade.
Pink-ie Promise
This pretty light blue-purple creme shade is called "Fade Into Hue". It instantly reminded me of a China Glaze polish I already have in my collection called "Secret Peri-Wink-Le". They are very similar but this one is just slightly lighter than "Secret Peri-Wink-Le" in my opinion you don't need both (unless you're a crazy polish hoarder like me). The formula is nice, it's opaque in two coats, and like most creme polishes, looks it's best with a good layer of topcoat.
Fade Into Hue
"Fade Into Hue" next to "Secret Peri-Wink-Le" in natural light.
Next is a lavender creme called "Tart-y For The Party", another adorable name! I'm a sucker for purple polishes so I really loved this one. The formula was easy to work with and it was opaque in two coats.
Tart-y For The Party
Last but certainly not least is "Life Is Rosy". I was most excited for this shade because I've been looking for a good dark dusty rose colour to add to my collection. It did not disappoint! It's my personal favourite of the six and again it was easy to apply and opaque in two coats.
Life Is Rosy
What do you think of these six pastel polishes? Let me know in the comments below!
-Melissa xoxo
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