31DC2013: Day 16 Tribal

Press Sample Purchased by Me

Good Morning!

Today's challenge is Tribal, I really enjoy doing tribal nails, and have done a number of different tribal designs in the past, but I have never looked up any specific tribal art and recreated that! It has always been just a random application of colours and patterns. When I was in Alaska last month I learned a lot about the Tlingit Natives, pronounced Klinget, one of the groups of native people that still call Southeast Alaska home. At the stop of Icy Strait Point, Hoonah, Alaska we discovered much of the history of the Tlingit Natives and got to experience much of the art and totem poles that exist there. I took a number of pictures of the carvings that were on the walls and I decided to recreate one of those works today!

Here is the picture I took of the carving I recreated! The lighting isn't the best, but you get the idea. In person these were so beautiful.

For this manicure I started off with a white base using Cult Nails Tempest just to have a good surface for creating the art on. Then I drew the outlines of the fish and the wings with Wet n Wild Black Creme. Then I began to fill in the coloured areas using Born Pretty Store Sweet Color #009, the teal, Cult Nails Evil Queen, the red, and a mix of Cult Nails Feel Me Up and Joe Fresh Caramel for the yellow. All the details were done with my smallest cut down nail art brush and a small dotting tool.

I went back in with OPI A-Piers To Be Tan and filled in all the remaining white areas to mimic the wood of the carvings. I really loved the final outcome of these!

I created this combination image in case any of you want to pin my tribal manicure! I had a lot of fun in Alaska and learned a great deal about the Tlingit People. If you would like to learn more, you can check out some of the facts on this Wikipedia page!

Be sure to check out The Lacquerologist to see Emily's tribal manicure today! She has been killing this challenge so make sure you're checking out her posts!
Check out last years tribal manicure here!

31DC2013: Day 6 Violet

Press Sample Purchased by Me

Morning friends!

We are here on Day 6 of the challenge and today's theme is Violet. I don't know about you, but to me violet means purple. That's how I interpreted it anyway! I was actually struggling thinking of something creative to do for this prompt, but eventually ended up just googling purple patterns and came up with these!

Here is the awesome image that inspired these nails,

I'm actually really pleased with how these turned out! There really isn't much explaining to do, I started out with 3 coats of China Glaze Creative Fantasy and then went at it with my teeny tiny cut down nail art brush and Born Pretty Store Sweet Color #009 and freehanded the floralesque pattern.

I started on my thumb and I had originally tried to get more of the image onto my nail and add a bit more free purple space. However when I started I liked the look of something over my whole nail slash my nails aren't quite big enough! :P

I'm not sure how violet these are, but I really like the teal and purple combination and the floral/bubbly print is pretty fun! What do you think of these?

Make sure you check out Emily's violet nails over at The Lacquerologist! She has been killing it so far and I can't wait to see what else she comes up with! Also be sure to enter our giveaway for 2 $30 Born Pretty Store giftcards!
Check out last years violet nails here!

The Digit-al Dozen Does Tape: Cool Gradient

Press Sample Purchased by Me

Morning!

We're gearing up to the end of the week and I have to say I am almost at my tape limit. I'm liking the manicures I'm creating, but the amount of time that they take is insanity! I admire all you ladies that do these on a regular basis, you have a crazy amount of patience!

For these nails I started off with Cult Nails Tempest, I feel like I'm using this all the time, I may need a new bottle soon! After applying topcoat and waiting for it to dry I went back at it with my striping tape. This time I cut pieces in advance to attempt to make it easier on myself. I went one nail at a time and laid down my striping tape on a diagonal.

Starting at the bottom I used a small nail art brush and butter LONDON Fiver for the first space. Then for the second one I mixed two drops of Sweet Color 009 and one drop of Fiver together. For the third one I added one drop of Bondi New York Tavern On The to the previous mixture. For the fourth stripe I used Tavern On The on its own and for the last section I used Pure Ice French Kiss. That was a lot of mixing and explaining! I hope you all understand :) I removed the tape quickly once all the colours had been painted to keep my lines clean.

I think these cool gradient nails are pretty fun! This is my favourite colour combination so it made using the tape slightly more bearable :)

What do you think of these? Remember to check out the rest of the Digit-al Dozen below!

The Digit-al Dozen Does BLING! Bondi Blinged Out

Press Sample Purchased by Me

Morning Everyone!

This week starts yet another Digit-al Dozen week and this weeks theme is BLING! Glitter and rhinestones oh my this week is going to be fun. Todays look is what I would call a classy bling look.

I love this look and feel like with the right dress it could be perfect red carpet material.

I started out with the luscious Bondi Tavern on The, which is one of my favourite colours this year. My original review is here. Then I grabbed some 3mm clear rhinestones and gold bullion beads and went to work.

I'm totally digging this subtle blinged out look. I actually mattified this look two days later and loved it even more. Unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures of it. I'll have to matte more manis!

What do you think of my subtley blinged out mani? Would you wear this look?

Remember to check out the rest of the Digit-al Dozen!

Bondi New York Tavern On The

Press Sample

Morning Friends!

Today I have a swatch from a brand new brand that I am really excited to share with you! Bondi New York was just launched this year and is a company that supports good causes. They were nice enough to send me one polish to review, and I'm going to say up front that I loved it!

Bondi Tavern On The is described by Bondi as,

Toasting to the ladies who lunch requires a color that compliments the champagne shade of the bubbles in your glass. A cool aqua green is the best way to polish off an afternoon with the gals. We can all drink to that. 

What a fun description! This is a deep teal green that is creamy and essentially applies itself. This is ONE COAT. I know right? If the colour didn't make me fall in love, the formula most certainly did. There is also a coat of Seche Vite in these swatches. 

Here is a quick blurb from Bondi New York's website so you can get a better idea of their values,

Launched in 2013, Bondi New York is a collection of twenty fashion forward colors that are five free (formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor, toluene and DBP). Based out of New York, our brand is American made with all of the net profits going to our non-profit foundation which supports a wide variety of charitable causes throughout the United States.

Another thing to note is that the cap of the polish is similar to Orly's in that it is rubberized making it really easy to hold onto and apply an even coat of polish. Also included in my box was a lovely handwritten note thanking me for reviewing the polish. It is the extra touches like these that really make a brand stand out in my opinion.

Bondi New York Nail Polish can be purchased here for $15 a bottle. This is on the pricer side, but remember that all of the net profits are going towards a non-profit foundation that supports a wide variety of charitable causes in the United States.

I am a big fan of this brand and recommend it to all of you. The colour and formula are amazing and the personal touches and values of Bondi New York make this one of the top brands in my books. I'm looking forward to what they come out with in the future!

You can keep up with them on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest Bondi New York news!

What do you think of Tavern on The and the Bondi New York brand?

China Glaze Tranzitions Colour Changing Collection

Evening folks!

Tonight I have a review of some of the new China Glaze Tranzitions Colour Changing Collection. The idea behind this collection is that the colour of the polish will change once you add top coat so you can create a number of very cool manicures with just polish and top coat! All the polishes I received to review were essentially one coaters and I'll get into the colour change with each polish. For all polishes the first picture is the polish alone and the second is the ring nail with top coat and some nail art on the rest. Let's jump on in!

China Glaze Altered Reality is a teal metallic polish that is supposed to shift to turquoise once you add topcoat. This is one coat of the polish alone. The colour is really pretty and since it's a one coater this will be awesome for stamping. I don't love the colour shift on this one. There really isn't much of one. I had to photograph my nails at an odd angle to even get the polka dots to show up!

Next up is China Glaze Modify Me which is described as a periwinkle blue that shifts to indigo blue. This is really opaque and is only one coat. It looks a little streaky here, but in real life it's opaque, probably great for stamping. I do not like the colour shift here. On the full nail it is streaky and the top coat lifts the polish even when it is completely dry.

Last up we have China Glaze Shape Shifter. Now this one I like. It is a smokey violet colour, which is perfect in just one coat. The colour shift here is subtle, on my striped nails, but on the full nail with top coat I love the purple shift. I'm going to use this for stamping soon I'm sure. Love it.

Overall I am ok on this collection. I think this is a really cool concept and I love seeing China Glaze continuing to push the boundaries. However the colour shifts aren't great on the metallic shades and the pastel ones are streaky. I think these will work great for stamping however and look forward to trying them out!

What do you think of this collection? Have you picked up any?

Products in this post provided for my honest review

I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous Hidden Potential

Morning! Today I'm got a polish to show you that I am SUPER excited about! I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous Hidden Potential. This was another absolute gem that I won in Crystal's Crazy Combo's giveaway. I had originally planned to do some cool nail art over this, but once I put it on I was so mesmerized by its beauty that I could only bear to do accent nails!

Hidden Potential is a white jelly filled with teal and copper micro glitter and medium iridescent white hex glitter. The white hexes really make this polish special because there is an extra hidden iridescentness that makes it really interesting! The name Hidden Potential suits it well!

For my accent nails I used Color Club Metamorphosis and silver holo striping tape and just made a random pattern of sorts, it reminded me a little of a corset.

I'm sooooo excited that I can have this polish in my stash! It's such a beauty and I think it really is an underrated polish from Amy. Until I received it I hadn't heard much about it, but I am incredibly stoked that I get to call it mine :)

Unfortunately Amy no longer sells her polish so if you are lemming this, I would check out evilBay or Makeup Alley to see if anyone is willing to swap you for it!

Do you see the Hidden Potential here? (teehee see what I did ;)) Hope you're all having a great day! :D

The Mix it Up Manicure Featuring Jamberry Nail Sheilds

Today I've got an awesome product to share with you guys! You all know me and my love for accent nails and well just crazy nails overall. I am for sure not scared to mix things up a little when it comes to my nails. 


Nail wraps are something that are gaining huge popularity right now. There is no dry time and often you can achieve brilliant looking nails without taking hours or any special materials. There are nail wraps made with real polish, ones that are close to stickers and vinyl. Today I'm going to be sharing with you Jamberry Nail Shields and they are made of vinyl! Something that has often deterred me from purchasing nail wraps is the cost. I tend to like to change my nails every other day to every other day, so the cost for a few days wear seems a little pricey for a college student. However! by using your Jamberry Nail Shields as accent nails you can extend the life of your package!! 

May I present what I am calling the Mix it Up Manicure! To create this look I used Jamberry Nail Shields in Puff Flower which can be seen on my ring finger and thumb as accent nails. Before I explain the rest of the mani I want to explain how the Jamberry Nail Shields are applied. To apply these  you peel off the sticker from the backing and heat with a hair dryer for about 15-20 seconds until they are nice and flexible. Then you stick the freshly heated sticker to your nail and and smooth it down. Once the shield is heated it is incredibly sticky. I had no issues with the nail wrap sticking to my nail. Once it was smoothed down I just cut off the excess and filed off the rest! If you want some more intensive instructions you can visit Jamberry's page. 

I loved wearing these! They were super easy to apply and once they were on there they stuck right down perfectly. I had no issues with buckling or them looking bumpy or anything. Also as you can see these are really long and rounded at both ends. Since my nails are shorties I was able to get two nails out of each sticker, which meant for this manicure I only had to use two shields to complete both hands. 

To complete the rest of my mix it up manicure I did the watercolour technique using Color Club Wing Fling, Metemorphosis, and Daisy Does It on my pinky and middle nails. The base I used for these nails was Sally Hansen White On which is just your typical white creme. I loved watercolouring these glass flecks! They turned out gorgeous in my opinion! 

I had originally done all my other nails using the watercolour technique, but then this idea popped into my head. I used Sally Hansen White On as my base and then freehanded the teal petals using a medium length striper brush and Barielle Do Unto Others, then I added the pink petals with China Glaze Don't Touch My Tiara, and then finally the yellow ones using Essence Wanna Be Your Sunshine. I added 3 little clear rhinestones to the base of my flower to finish it off! 

I really enjoyed wearing this mix it up manicure. I got a ton of compliments and a few WOAH! how did you do that!? On the nail wraps. Once I explained what they were my friends were asking where do I get these? 


Well if you want some Jamberry Nail Shields for yourself you can purchase some on their website. They retail for $15.00 USD for a set of shields that are pictured above. Currently they only ship within the US however the consultant that I have been working with is more than happy to ship to Canada as long as you are OK with paying via PayPal! All you need to do is send an email to jnmwilder1@gmail.com with what you would like to order. Also she will only charge you for the actual shields and the shipping to Canada! Not the shipping to her. This is the only way to get these bad boys in Canada right now so I would jump on it ladies!


Do you like these Jamberry Nail Shields? Is it something you can see yourself wearing? How about the mix it up manicure? Would you wear something as wild as this? Let me know! 


Hope you're all having a fabulous Friday!! 


The Jamberry Nail Shields in this post were provided to me by their manufacturer or PR for my honest review.