OPI 'Envy the Adventure'

St. Patrick's day has recently passed, but I was still in a green mood! Today I have a quick mani to share using OPI's 'Envy the Adventure', and Rimmel's 'Dazzle':

For this mani, I started with a base of 'Envy the Adventure', and then added a few simple star embellishments that I made by using a star-shaped hole punch on a dried sheet of gold nail polish, 'Dazzle'. It was super quick and easy, and made for a fun mani!

Materials Used:

Green Plaid Manicure

I decided to do a green plaid manicure as a warm-up to St Patrick's Day. Here's what I came up with:

For the plaid nails, I used Zoya 'Ireland' as the base, and I double-stamped plaid images from my UberChic Beauty stamping plate, 'Pretty in Plaid 2'. For the stamping, I used Zoya 'Hunter', and then Sally Hansen Color Foil 'Liquid Gold'. I did a sparkly hunter green accent nail on my ring finger, using Morgan Taylor 'Mistress of Mayhem', from their Fall 2020 'Disney Villains' collection. I also did a gold accent nail on my middle finger, using Rimmel 'Dazzle'.

To finish off the mani, I put on a layer of glossy topcoat - but then I decided it would look better matte! I then carefully applied a mattifying topcoat, trying to avoid putting it over the gold stamping,  so that the gold would still be super shiny.

All in all, I'm really happy with how this mani turned out. I purchased the 'Pretty in Plaid 2' plate relatively recently, and ever since, I've been wanting to do more plaid manicures. I'm glad that I was able to incorporate some plaid into this one!

Blue, Gold and Orange Skittles Mani featuring Sally Hansen Pacific Blue

As discussed in my last post, I managed to do another skittles manicure! This mani features the iconic original version of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 'Pacific Blue'. This polish caused quite a stir in the nail polish world when it was reformulated back in 2014. The original version was super popular, and much beloved in nail polish circles, and has now become somewhat of a collector's item. I've had the bottle in the photo above for several years now - I'm estimating that I may have purchased it anywhere between 7 to 10 years ago!

In the manicure, I used Pacific blue on both my thumb and ring finger. I chose complementary shades of light blue, gold and orange to complete the look.

Polishes Used

Morgan Taylor ‘No Filter Needed’

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear ‘Pacific Blue’

Rimmel 60 Seconds ‘Dazzle’

Orly ‘Melt Your Popsicle’

I really like how this manicure turned out. The colour combination is fun and energetic, and works really well for the summer! I'm happy I was able to throw a neon polish into the look, with Orly's neon orange 'Melt Your Popsicle', as well as a bit of bling with Rimmel's gold shimmer polish 'Dazzle'. 

Swatch: Rimmel 'Celebrity Bash'

Today I have a swatch of Rimmel's 'Celebrity Bash' to share. In the bottle, and in sunlight, it is  a vampy deep red shade. However, I notice that when applied to the nails, under most indoor lighting conditions it looks more burgundy, taking on a more brownish undertone. 

I really like the look of the polish in sunlight, but since I spend most of my time indoors, I don't really enjoy using this polish as a manicure. Going forward, I've decided to use this polish as my pedicure shade, until the bottle is used up. I recently finished my previous pedicure shade, Rimmel's 'Pulsating'.

Grey Mani with Pink Splatter Glitter

Today I have a quick and easy glitter manicure to share:

This manicure uses Rimmel's 'Grey Matter' as a base, under a coat of Claire's Cosmetics's Splatter glitter polish in the colorway 'Paparazzi'. 'Paparazzi' was featured on the blog before as part of a manicure I did for my 'Project Polish', you can click here for that entry.

The whole impetus behind this manicure was actually to give 'Paparazzi' one more chance before deciding whether or not to declutter it. The polish is quite old, and it has gone a little gloopy. On top of that, the colorway is pretty limiting, in that it's hard to think of base colors that it would look good with. And finally, the polish isn't really my cup of tea anymore. Because of this, I've decided part with this polish. 

Rimmel 'Grey Matter'

Today I have a swatch to share of Rimmel 60 Seconds nail polish line in color number 805, 'Grey Matter'.

This is a medium grey creme polish that does in fact dry rather rapidly. Since it is pretty quick-drying, I found it necessary to be very deliberate with application to get a smooth coat. I found it worked best when I worked quickly, and was careful not to overwork the polish. When I did this, it self-leveled quite nicely and dried to a decent finish. 

Rimmel 'Pulsating'

Today's post is on an 'oldie but goodie' polish that I've had for years. It's Rimmel 'Pulsating'.  This color is so bright and eye-catching, that I accidentally purchased it twice!  Back when I used to buy most of my polish at drug and department stores, I would frequently browse the nail polish racks to see if anything caught my eye. Apparently this polish did on two separate occasions, because I didn't even know I had two bottles of it until I was organizing my polishes some time later! In my defense, the purchases were long enough apart that the branding had been redesigned, and the colour number had changed - so it's a little bit more understandable that I had forgotten that I already owned the polish when I bought the second bottle!

I'm currently using the older bottle (colour number '811') as my toe color. Now that 'Cherry Brandy', my previous pedi polish is used up, I'm working on using this one consistently as a pedicure colour until it is used up as well. You can faintly see the fill line in the picture below (on the left) - I'm about half way through!

Birth of Venus Mani - Using Moyou London Artist Plate 05

Today's manicure was inspired from Sandro Botticelli's classic painting 'Nascita di Venere' or 'The Birth of Venus'.  This is the 3rd instalment of my design series using my Moyou London Artist Plates. Today's plate was Moyou London's Artist Plate 05, which is also inspired from the painting. I pulled colors and motifs from the original painting, and incorporated 5 images from different parts of the Moyou Plate. Here is the finished manicure:

Birth of Venus Mani

The pinky represents the tree canopy in the upper right quadrant of the painting, while the ring finger represents the robe that the handmaid is waiting to cover Venus with. The clamshell on the middle finger represents Venus' mode of transportation in the painting, and fittingly, it is stamped over wave images. The index finger represents the blowing winds and falling flowers to the left of Venus, and of course we have Venus' face on the thumb.

Here are the plates and polishes I used:
Plates:
Moyou artist collection plate 05, Moyou London Kitty Collection Plate 02 (flower image on index finger), Moyou London Sailor Collection Plate 01 (Clamshell image on middle finger).

Polishes:
Not including base and top coat, I used 12 different polishes to achieve this look. Here they are listed  by the finger on which the polish is one of the base or main colours:
Pinky: Maybelline New York Color Show 'Walk in the Park', and Essie 'Sew Psyched'
Ring Finger: Sally Hansen Color Foil 'Rose Copper', DRK Nails 'Metallic Brown' Stamping Polish
Middle finger: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 'Breezy Blue', Revlon 'Urban', and Rimmel 'Black Satin'
Index Finger: Essie 'Rock the Boat', and NYC 'French Tip White'
Thumb: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure 'Almost Almond', OPI 'Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?', and NFU Oh Jelly Syrup Series NFU JS16.

Birth of Venus Mani

This manicure was very time-consuming. I used a lot of different materials and techniques to achieve the look, and I also had a lot of failed attempts and revisions of my original plan.

One of the techniques that I used was the decal method. This was done on the middle finger, where I made a stamped decal of a clamshell.This is the first time I've incorporated this technique into a manicure. All in all, it worked well, except for on my left hand where I had a slight problem when placing the decal over my freshly top-coated nail (which also had a stamped background image underneath). I ended up having to lift and reposition the decal, which caused the background to get a little smudged on that finger. Next time, I'm going to wait until the polish is completely dry before I place the decal.

I also want to point out that I really like the combination of 'Sew Psyched' with 'Walk in the Park' on my pinky.  I would love to do another manicure featuring these two colours - they look so good together!

From the Vault: 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' Inspired Mani

Here's another manicure that I did a few months back. In fact, I happen to remember that I did this manicure on May 4, 2014. The Google Doodle that day was a tribute to Audrey Hepburn, for what would be her 85th birthday. I was inspired to do this 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' themed mani to mark the occasion:

'Breakfast at Tiffany's' Inspired Mani - Right

Naturally, I used China Glaze's 'For Audrey' as the base of the manicure. On my thumbs I did a colour-blocking effect by painting half the nail with Wet'n'Wild Megalast 'Break the Ice'.  I stamped my ring fingers with Rimmel's 'Black Satin' using an image from Moyou London's Rebel Plate 02. The white stamps on my middle and pinky fingers were done using images from Konad plate M79 and BM-317 (respectively) stamped with NYC's 'French Tip White'.  I used a silver glitter as a topcoat on my index fingers, however, I no longer remember which one I used. I also used some silver nail art tape, and some rhinestones to finish the look.

'Breakfast at Tiffany's' Inspired Mani - Left

Overall, I like the manicure. This was my first time trying the colour-blocking effect separated by nail art tape, so it was fun to try out a new technique.  I remember that it took a long time to do since I had to wait for each colour to completely dry in order to be able to tape it off to do the other colour on the other side. I'm really impatient when it comes to waiting for my nails to dry in the middle of a nail art project (I just want to get it over with - while I'm still in the zone!) so it's no wonder that I haven't yet repeated this technique!

Pueen Encore SE03B Test Mani

Today I have a test mani to share.  I was playing around with my new Pueen Encore set, and decided to test out plate SE03B.

Pueen Encore SE03B Test Mani - Left Hand

Pueen Encore SE03B Test Mani - Right Hand

The base colour is Sally Hansen's Silver Sweep, and the stamping polish is Rimmel's Black Satin.

I really like this plate, and I'm excited to use the rest of the set too. As always, Pueen has delivered an elegantly designed set of plates, full of beautiful images!  I can see myself using these plates as a quick and easy way to spice up a basic manicure - something to use when you want to take a non-stamped mani to the next level, without all the effort of lining things up, doing decals, using multiple colours, etc. 

Of course, there are elements of these plates that can lend themselves to being used for more advanced stamping techniques, however I find the patterns so beautiful in their own right, that you can have an equally impressive manicure by letting the images speak for themselves. 

Colourful Cartoon Mani - Version 2.0

I had to touch up some wear and tear on my 'Colourful Cartoon Mani', so I used the opportunity to revise it a bit to give it a different look. I had a tiny bit of tip wear, and I lost one of the gems I had placed on my middle finger. So I decided to repaint the worn tips on my accent nails with random splotches of colour, and to change the neutral nail polish shade for black polish.

Colourful Cartoon Mani - Version 2.0

The black polish I used was OPI's '4 in the Morning' from their Gwen Stefani collection.  This was my first time using this particular polish.  I was on the fence about buying it for the longest time (truthfully, I had pretty much chosen to pass on it) until I decided on a whim yesterday to buy it to try it out with this manicure. This polish is really all about the formula. The semi-matte finish reminds me of black rubber! In the picture above, my index and middle fingers look slightly shinier than the polish looks in real life, because I had just applied some cuticle oil prior to taking the shot.  The pinky finger gives a more accurate depiction of how the polish actually looks.

  

After the first 2 changes, I decided the manicure needed a little something extra to tie it all together. I went ahead and stamped some other cartoon/doodle themed images, which were from the same image plate that I used for the accent nails (Moyou London Princess collection 11).  I used another polish I bought yesterday, China Glaze's 'Kiss my Glass'.  I was going for a subtle, monochromatic look in order to add a little more visual interest, but to not compete with the super colourful accent fingers. 

Colourful Cartoon Mani - Version 2.0 (Closeup of Additional Stamping)

Because of how subtle the stamping was, it was really hard to get a picture that showed the stamping well enough! The photo above is the best I could do to show the gunmetal on black stamping, and the photo below is a photo of the entire look.

Colourful Cartoon Mani - Version 2.0 (Additional Stamping)





Colourful Cartoon Mani

Today I'm sharing another manicure using the 'leadlight' technique:

Colourful Cartoon Mani

I used several jelly polishes from the Nfu Oh 'Jelly Syrup' series, China Glaze, OPI, and Misa.  I don't remember exactly which ones because I didn't plan out the colours before I used them. I just laid out all of my jelly nail polishes, and grabbed whichever one I felt like using when filling in different parts of the image.  It was so much fun - just like a tiny colouring book!

Here are pictures of the 4 stamped fingers:

Close-Up of Accent Nails

Despite the haphazard manner I used for selecting colours, a few elements in the images stayed constant from finger to finger.  I tried to use the same colours for the Cat, the Snake, and the Giraffe-like creature.

For the cat I used Misa 'Bed of Roses' for the nose, and NFU JS20 for the fur. The snake in front of the cat was coloured using NFU JS18  for the face, and NFU JS17 for the body. The giraffe thingy behind the cat was coloured using NFU JS12 for the body, Misa 'Bed of Roses' for the snout, and China Glaze 'Creative Fantasy' for the neck fur fringe. I also used a white base of NYC 'French White Tip' , and Rimmel 'Black Satin' for the stamping. The image I used was from Moyou London Princess collection plate 11

The neutral nails were painted with China Glaze 'Inner Beauty'. I also used some purple, teal, and fuchsia nail art rhinestones on my middle fingers.

Overall, I really like the way this manicure turned out. This cartoon image was one of the main reasons that I bought this Moyou London plate.  That was way before I even knew about the leadlight technique - I love the way that this method of adding colour really brought this image to life. 

Tulip Themed Half-Moon Manicure

Tulip Themed Half-Moon Manicure

This is my first attempt at a half-moon manicure. For the most part, I like how it turned out. Originally, I wasn't going to 'frame' the half moon with any sort of border, but it just looked unfinished. I added the red art nail tape as an afterthought a full day after I originally did my nails. As a result, it was really difficult to add the tape to the completely dry nail, especially since I had to try to curve it to follow the crescent of the half moon. Luckily, the tape placement issues are way less noticeable in real life than they are in the photo!

I used the following nail polishes to create this look:
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in 'Barracuda'
Essie 'Jelly Apple'
NYC In a New York Minute Quick Dry Nail Polish in 'High Line Green'
Nfu OH JS34
Rimmel 'Black Satin'

The stamping images I used were from Moyou London Pro Collection plates 07 and 08. I also used a few yellow rhinestones, and of course, the aforementioned red nail art tape. 

From the Vault: Black and Gold Mani

Here's another mani from a couple months back. 

Black and Gold Mani

The base colour I used was OPI's Love Angel Music Baby, from the Gwen Stefani collection. I used Rimmel's 'Black Satin' for stamping, and I used Pro-FX Quick Dry High Gloss Top Coat to add some shine, and bring out L.A.M.B's beautiful shimmer. The images I stamped were from Moyou London Pro XL Collection plate 06.

I like how each component of this manicure looks, however I remember quickly becoming bored with the overall look (after only a day or 2). I can't quite put my (polished) finger on it, but for some reason I didn't find this manicure as visually interesting as some of my other ones. I think I would like to try a version of this with the same base color, but with the image stamped in a lighter or brighter colour, or maybe a version using a less 'busy' image for the index, middle, and pinky fingers - or maybe no image at all?!  Hmmmn... I normally don't like to revisit manicures that I've done, but I may just have to make an exception for this one!

From the Vault: Black and Grey Lace Mani

Here's another oldie but goodie.  This was done maybe 4 or 5 months ago.

Black and Grey Lace Mani

This was done using OPI's 'Skull and Glossbones' as the base color stamped with Rimmel's 'Black Satin'.  I used 2 Moyou London Plates for the images.  The Lace was from the Time Traveller: Back to the 80's - 06 plate, and the awesome art deco designs on my thumb and ring finger are from the Time Traveller: Back to the 20's - 03 plate.  

I love the way this turned out - it's definitely one of the more sophisticated mani's I've done (I tend to like bright colours and fun designs!). I remember this mani resulting in a few of compliments too!

OPI Sheer Tints Leadlight Mani

OPI Sheer Tints Leadlight Mani

This is my first ever manicure using the leadlight stamping technique.  I did it a week ago, but I'm really behind with my posting, and so now I'm just throwing things up out of order!

I really loved this mani, and I couldn't stop looking at my nails throughout the week.  I even received a couple of compliments!

I used all 4 of the OPI Sheer Tints polishes:  Be Magentale With Me, I'm Never Amberrassed, I Can Teal You Like Me, and Don't Violet Me Down. However, the photo makes it hard to distinguish between the Magenta and Violet shades.  The base color is NYC French Tip White, and the outline is stamped with Rimmel Black Satin using Moyou London's Pro Collection XL Plate 06.

Pink and Green Mani using Leadlight Technique

Today's nail art was time-consuming, but worth the effort.

Some time ago, I watched a YouTube video by Messy Mansion on how to do the leadlight technique, and have been obsessed ever since! This is only my second ever manicure using the technique, so it's not perfect, but I still love how it turned out. I love being able to incorporate multiple colours into my stamping. 

I used the following polishes to achieve this look:

Base of the mani:
NYC French Tip White stamped with Rimmel Black Satin (using Pueen24)
Leadlighting effect:
Nfu Oh Jelly Syrup series polishes NFU JS17 (pistachio green), NFU JS24 (fuchsia), NFU JS34 (forest green), NFU JS36 (olive green), and OPI Be Magentale With Me
Base coat and top coat:
Pro-FX Protein enriched base coat and revitalizer, and Pro-FX Quick dry high gloss top coat.

I also used some fuchsia nail art rhinestones.

The part that took the longest was filling in all of the little dots with a dotting tool.  I doubt that I'll ever do a repeat of this mani, just because of how long it took.  Maybe I'd use this pattern for an accent nail or two, but at this point, I'm not looking forward to colouring hundreds of little dots on all 10 nails ever again! LOL!