31 Day Challenge Day 30: Inspired by a Tutorial

Holy Moley! It's pretty much the last day of the challenge! I can't believe that I managed to get through the whole month of September doing nail art every day! It's been a lot of work, but a ton of fun!

Today's theme is Inspired by a Tutorial. There were a ton of different tutorials that I considered doing, but then I decided to go check out Cute Polish because her tutorials are what really got me hooked on nail art! When I went to her page I saw that she had created a tutorial on Magic Kingdom nails just a week ago that I immediately knew I needed to recreate!

This is such a cute look and super easy to achieve! She suggests using a blue creme polish, but to me, this look was dying for a base of Sinful Colors Cinderella. Then I used It's So Easy Stripe Rite Blue to create the castle on my ring finger. It's just a few lines! So easy to do! Then on the rest of my nails I used China Glaze Lorelei's Tiara to make a silvery blue gradient!

I have quite the thing for Cinderella and the castle at Magic Kingdom. When I was little all I wanted to do was meet Cinderella when we were at Disney. We waited in line to see all the princesses and when we got to the front, Cinderella wasn't there anymore! I burst into tears and the Disney staff came rushing over to find out what was wrong. They radioed to find out where she was and then took me and my family over to the castle on golf carts and I got a private meeting with Cinderella! It was kind of completely amazing :D

I totally love these nails! Just sayin. Sometimes keeping it simpler is better and Cute Polish is totally amazing at creating tutorials!

Ahh I can't believe there is only one more day in the challenge! All that's left to do now is the tough task of going through Emily's designs and trying to pick one to recreate! It's going to take me awhile I'm sure.

Don't forget to head over to The Lacquerologist to see what tutorial had inspired Emily today!

See you tomorrow for the last day! And make sure to enter my Cult Nails Toxic Seaweed Giveaway!

Cult Nails Toxic Seaweed Giveaway! (closed)

In order to celebrate almost being done the challenge I thought it was time to hold a small giveaway for you lovely folks! (I have another awesome one coming soon if Canada Post ever hurries themselves up!)

I am giving away one bottle of Cult Nails Toxic Seaweed! This was my backup bottle and I was looking at it thinking I really don't need the backup so one of you fabulous folks should get it instead!

This giveaway is open Internationally for one week. I will email the winner in one week when the giveaway ends and they will have 48 hours to reply or a new winner will be selected.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

31 Day Challenge Day 29: Inspired by the Supernatural

Day 29, I can't believe we are almost done the challenge! This month has absolutely flown by!

Today's theme is inspired by the supernatural. I started thinking about haunted houses and those pictures that have those eyes that move back and forth. That's what my nails are based on today!!



For this shifty look I started off with 2 coats of OPI Skull and Glossbones and then added a coat of Zoya Gemma and used a tissue to take most of it off to get a zombified look. Then I used Milani White On the Spot to create the eyes and then added a dot with Wet n Wild Black Creme. Once I'd taken pictures, I took off the black dot and added a dot on the other side!

This prompt was an interesting one, but I like my shifty eye zombified nails I came up with! More for fun than wearing, but still, pretty cool! :)

Only 2 more days left! It's crazy! Make sure you head over to The Lacquerologist. Her supernatural nails are out of this world today!!

Popular Nail Apps in New Designs!

OPI Releases NEW! Pure Lacquer Nail App with Designs Inspired by Skyfall

            OPI adds four new, limited-edition designs to the Pure Lacquer Nail App collection, which offers instant, easy-to-apply nail designs. The precut nail strips are made of 100% real nail lacquer and provide a high-shine finish, long-lasting wear, and zero drying time. The new designs inspired by Skyfall include Nice Tux (silver and black glitter zig zag stripe), Positively Shocking (glittery gold), Floating Dragon (bright red crème with black dragon print) and Shaken Not Stirred (silver with martini glass print).

 “We are pleased to expand our Pure Lacquer Nail App offerings with designs inspired by OPI’s thrilling partnership with EON Productions and Skyfall,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “The popularity of nail design is booming with both the everyday woman and nail professionals. Pure Lacquer Nail Apps provide women with quick, easy and unique nail looks, offering long-lasting designs that could not be created by hand.”

To apply, peel off plastic cover and place Nail Apps on nails, while smoothing down all edges. Each pack contains 16 strips to ensure perfect sizing for all finger and toe nails. File the nail edge to remove any strip excess. Pure Lacquer Nail Apps already contain a base coat and top coat; do not use regular base or top coat with the strips. Simply remove with an acetone polish remover. For longer wear (about two weeks), have a manicurist cure the nail strips with OPI’s GelColor Top Coat.

OPI/Skyfall Pure Lacquer Nail Apps

As with all OPI nail lacquers, Pure Lacquer Nail Apps inspired by Skyfall contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. This limited edition promotion will be available beginning October 2012 at Professional Salons and spas for the suggested retail price of $14.95  suggested retail for each set.

For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

ABOUT OPI

As the world leader in the professional nail care industry, OPI is committed to providing high-quality products and services to both salons and their customers, along with a focus on industry safety and innovation. Known for its exceptional formula, fashionable colors and iconic names, OPI’s heavily-pigmented lacquers are super rich, long-lasting and chip-resistant – offering an affordable luxury to consumers. OPI nail lacquer is available in over 200 shades and contains no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. Each lacquer features OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Currently, OPI is available in over 100 countries and retails a full line of professional items, including nail treatments, finishing products, lotions, manicure/pedicure products, files, tools, gels and acrylics.

ABOUT EON PRODUCTIONS

EON Productions Limited and Danjaq LLC are wholly owned and controlled by the Broccoli/Wilson family.   Danjaq is the US based company that co-owns, with MGM, the copyright in the existing James Bond films and controls the right to produce future James Bond films as well as all worldwide merchandising.   EON Productions, an affiliate of Danjaq, is the UK based production company which makes the James Bond films.   The 007 franchise is the longest running in film history with twenty-two films produced since 1962.  Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli took over the franchise from Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli in 1995 and have produced some of the most successful Bond films ever including CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE. They are currently producing the 23^rd film, SKYFALL.

Lacquer with Magnetic Appeal!

OPI Launches Magnetic Holiday Lacquers Inspired by Skyfall and the James Bond Legacy

            OPI celebrates the 50^th anniversary of James Bond with the release of three, new magnetic lacquers inspired by the upcoming film Skyfall – the first magnetized colors from OPI. The three hues, gunmetal gray, gold shimmer and rich burgundy, each come with its own unique, specially-designed magnetizer to create striped, diamond or wavy patterns, respectively. 

 “For the first time OPI is launching magnetized lacquers in honor of our exciting partnership with EON Productions,” said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “Nail design is here to stay, and these limited-edition shades offer a fun, easy way to experiment with lacquer. There are no limits when it comes to having unique, eye-catching nails.”

The three Skyfall Magnetic Lacquer Packs include:

Is That Silva?

Don’t mistake this gunmetal gray for anything else.

A diagonally striped pattern appears with this lacquer.

Bond…James Bond

Be spied in this elegant gold shimmer.

A diamond pattern forms over this shade.

Morning, Moneypenny

You secretly desire this heart-throbbing burgundy.

This lacquer has a dreamy, wave-like pattern.

OPI/Skyfall Magnetic Lacquer Packs

To use, prep nails like normal, followed by Base Coat and one layer of the magnetic lacquer. Then, apply a second coat of lacquer to the first nail; while still wet, position the finger onto the base of magnetizer placing it down. Press the top down so the magnet rests on the finger above the nail without touching the lacquer. Magnetize for about five seconds for the design to fully develop. Continue this process until all nails are painted and magnetized. Apply Top Coat once nails are dry.

As with all OPI nail lacquers, these magnetic shades inspired by Skyfall contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application.

This limited edition promotion will be available beginning October 2012 at Professional Salons and spas, for  $21.95 suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer pack, including the magnet.

For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

ABOUT OPI

As the world leader in the professional nail care industry, OPI is committed to providing high-quality products and services to both salons and their customers, along with a focus on industry safety and innovation. Known for its exceptional formula, fashionable colors and iconic names, OPI’s heavily-pigmented lacquers are super rich, long-lasting and chip-resistant – offering an affordable luxury to consumers. OPI nail lacquer is available in over 200 shades and contains no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. Each lacquer features OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Currently, OPI is available in over 100 countries and retails a full line of professional items, including nail treatments, finishing products, lotions, manicure/pedicure products, files, tools, gels and acrylics.

ABOUT EON PRODUCTIONS

EON Productions Limited and Danjaq LLC are wholly owned and controlled by the Broccoli/Wilson family.   Danjaq is the US based company that co-owns, with MGM, the copyright in the existing James Bond films and controls the right to produce future James Bond films as well as all worldwide merchandising.   EON Productions, an affiliate of Danjaq, is the UK based production company which makes the James Bond films.   The 007 franchise is the longest running in film history with twenty-two films produced since 1962.  Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli took over the franchise from Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli in 1995 and have produced some of the most successful Bond films ever including CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE. They are currently producing the 23^rd film, SKYFALL.

Deck the Halls with Gorgeous Colors!

OPI Releases Two New Limited Edition Mini Lacquer Sets for Holiday 2012

          OPI celebrates this holiday season with two new mini lacquer sets, the perfect stocking stuffers. Bond-ettes features four shimmery shades from the new limited edition Skyfall lacquers, inspired by the latest installment in the James Bond series. The Top Ten mini kit showcases ten miniature bottles of OPI’s most popular reds, sheers, neutrals and more.

 “This holiday season, it’s all about variety! OPI offers a wide array of colors in glamorous, elegant hues to wear for every festive occasion,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “Bond-ettes offers four of the hottest colors from the new Skyfall collection, while The Top Ten mini kit features many of OPI’s greatest hits from over the years. These sets offer new and classic favorites in a variety of shades, making perfect stocking stuffers for all the special women in your lives: mothers, daughters, sisters, friends—and don’t forget about yourself.”

The Bond-ettes mini set features a spectrum of light to dark shimmers: GoldenEye, The Spy Who Loved Me, Live and Let Die, and The World is Not Enough. The Top Ten Mini Kit includes some of OPI’s most well-known colors: Alpine Snow, Bubble Bath, Tickle Me France-y, Kiss Me On My Tulips, Red Lights Ahead…Where?, Big Apple Red, I’m Not Really a Waitress, You Don’t Know Jacques!, Vampsterdam, and Lincoln Park After Dark.

OPI Holiday 2012 Mini Lacquer Sets

As with all OPI nail lacquers, both The Top Ten and Bond-ettes mini lacquer sets contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde.

These limited edition sets will be available beginning October 2012 at professional salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA. Bond-ettes will be sold for $12.50 ($14.95 CAN) suggested retail, and The Top Ten mini kit will be sold for $24.95 ($29.95 CAN) suggested retail.

For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

###

ABOUT OPI

As the world leader in the professional nail care industry, OPI is committed to providing high-quality products and services to both salons and their customers, along with a focus on industry safety and innovation. Known for its exceptional formula, fashionable colors and iconic names, OPI’s heavily-pigmented lacquers are super rich, long-lasting and chip-resistant – offering an affordable luxury to consumers. OPI nail lacquer is available in over 200 shades and contains no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. Each lacquer features OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Currently, OPI is available in over 100 countries and retails a full line of professional items, including nail treatments, finishing products, lotions, manicure/pedicure products, files, tools, gels and acrylics.

ABOUT EON PRODUCTIONS

EON Productions Limited and Danjaq LLC are wholly owned and controlled by the Broccoli/Wilson family.   Danjaq is the US based company that co-owns, with MGM, the copyright in the existing James Bond films and controls the right to produce future James Bond films as well as all worldwide merchandising.   EON Productions, an affiliate of Danjaq, is the UK based production company which makes the James Bond films.   The 007 franchise is the longest running in film history with twenty-two films produced since 1962.  Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli took over the franchise from Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli in 1995 and have produced some of the most successful Bond films ever including CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE. They are currently producing the 23^rd film, SKYFALL.

31 Day Challenge Day 28: Inspired by a Flag

Inspired by a flag! This prompt left a lot to be desired for me. A flag seemed kind of unoriginal to me, but then I remembered that in one of my favourite shows, The Big Bang Theory the apartment has a flag!

Basically Sheldon, one of the main characters, is insanely smart but has no social skills. He makes his room mate sign a 'roommate agreement' and in the agreement states that apartment flag, which is a golden lion on a field of azure!

I used Girly Bits Denim Diva and piCture pOlish Goldfinger for the bases and the details. I wasn't thrilled with the lion, but I did this last night at 10:30pm so this was going to have to do! lol!
Here is the flag Sheldon created that I was inspired by!

I do absolutely love Goldfinger! It's the first time I got to use it on a full nail, and the colour is fabulous in my opinion. :)

I am soooooo excited for my idea for tomorrow's Inspired by the Supernatural nails! I really hope my idea pans out!

Make sure you head over to The Lacquerologist to see what Emily has done!

We're soooooo close to being done this challenge! I'm really excited for it to be over so I can wear whatever I want for awhile! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by! :D

31 Day Challenge Day 27: Inspired by Artwork

Morning dolls! Today's prompt is Inspired by Artwork. I'm going to be upfront that this is not my best effort. I was feeling a little uninspired as I pretty much know nothing about art. I even googled 'artwork' to see what I could come up with and still nothing inspired me.

I decided to take the prompt as the process of creating artwork instead of the artwork itself!

Ya, this was totally better in my head than on my nails, but I ran out of time to try another one! I started with 2 coats of OPI Samoan Sand one of my absolute favourite polishes as my 'canvas'. Then I created a paint brush on my index nail using It's So Easy Stripe Rite White and Pure Ice Silver Mercedes. Then I tried the dry brush method with, Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lightning, Sally Hansesn Insta-Dri Rapid Red and Revlon Posh. I was hoping it would look a little bumpy, like the brush had been using acrylics, but I guess I should have actually tried that with acrylic paint! LOL

This is the one downside to the challenge being everyday and life being as busy as it is. There is almost no room for error! If it wasn't for the challenge I would have probably started these nails over again and scraped these with some acetone and cotton balls!

What do you think of these 'artwork inspired' nails?

Make sure you head over to The Lacquerologist! I'm sure hers are much better than mine today! :)

31 Day Challenge Day 26: Inspired by a Pattern

I want to start off this post by thanking all of you for your kind words and support as I have been going through a difficult time these past few days. It really has meant a lot to me to read all those comments and know that I have so many amazing friends out there! So THANK YOU!

I am super excited about the nails I'm sharing with you today for inspired by a pattern. I had a whole bunch of cool pattern ideas, but I decided to try and think out the box a little bit! So what's something that has a pattern?! DNA!

A DNA double helix that is actually stunningly simple when you get right down to it. The sides of the ladder are a linked chain of alternating sugar and phosphate molecules. The rungs connect to the sugar molecules and are known as bases. There are four bases - adenine (A, yellow), thymine (T, green), guanine (G, red) and cytosine (C, blue). Each rung is made up of two bases that link together. Because of their chemical nature, A will only link with T and G will only link with C.

I used my absolute favourite white, Milani White On The Spot as a base and then created my double helix with It's So Easy Stripe Rite Black. I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lightning for the adenine, It's So Easy Stripe Rite Green for the thymine, It's So Easy Stripe Rite Red for the guanine and It's So Easy Stripe Rite Blue for the cytosine. If you can't tell I loooovve my It's So Easy Stripers!

On my thumb I created the bases in their respective colours. Other than the double helix I created some random symbols to show how the bases connect with each other!

I had so much fun with these nails, and it totally amped up my nerd factor! Loving the pattern going on here with, A's, T's, C's and G's ;) I'm sooo coool... lol!

What do you think of my DNA patterned nails?

Make sure you head over to The Lacquerologist to see what pattern has inspired Emily!!

Glitter Gal 24 Carat

Today I have quite possibly one of my favourite new polishes to share with you. At the Ontario blogger meetup, Katie of Harlow & Co. had brought a few samples of the new Glitter Gal polishes and I was lucky enough to snag the stunning gold holographic, 24 Carat. Let’s just jump right into this gorgeousness.

24 Carat is a gold linear holographic, that is simply stunning. It is a little on the sheer side, so I did have to use 3 coats, with no base coat or top coat, but for this baby I didn’t mind. My photos were taken under a direct sunlight bulb, as unfortunately the hours I’ve been working don’t allow me time to take pictures in the sun.

I would describe the gold as almost a soft white gold. It has white undertones rather than yellow or green.

What I reaaalllly loved about this polish was the transition from holo to not. While inside this polish still looks beautiful. It becomes a really soft muted gold that is perfect for the office or when you don’t want something that is overpowering all the time. I actually think this would be a perfect polish for a wedding if you were wearing gold accents, or really anytime if you have gold rings.

Another awesome thing to note about this polish is that the wear time was really good. I wore it with no base coat or top coat and 3 days later it only had minor chips. I imagine with an aqua base coat this would be able to last a long time.

What do you ladies think of this one?! Would you wear this? Would you buy it? Katie has not yet brought this shade to Harlow & Co. so if you would like her to, please let me know!

Thanks for stopping by :D

31 Day Challenge Day 25: Inspired By Fashion

Inspired by fashion. I'll admit I am not the biggest fashionista. Most of that comes from being a university student. When I'm in a school term I'm generally more worried about my grades than looking good going to class. And then when I'm on a work-term I wear office clothes during the day and my lululemons or comfy jeans once I get home. I do love some of the new trends that have been coming out, helllooo floral and coloured jeans! But more often than not I choose to spend my money on rad polish instead of more clothes. I'm ok with that!

Since New York Fashion Week just happened I decided to be inspired by some of the wicked nail art trends that we saw on the catwalk during fashion week. I decided to do my own variation that CND's Kristina Estabrook did at the Blonds show!

The theme of the show done by The Blonds was "psycho beach party" and they had a number of really cool nail looks including a layered one that was just awesome! However I loved the different take on the caviar manicure that this had. Although the nail look was done with CND Blackjack and a coral caviar bead, I did not have either, so I decided to invert the look!

I used 3 coats of OPI Big Hair...Big Nails and added a top coat. Once that was dry I took a striping brush and Milani White On The Spot and added a a wavy white line one nail at a time. I then sprinkled microbeads from Michaels in Ebony over my nail and lightly pressed them into the white polish.

I actually quite like these. They are definitely a little edgy and I can totally see the psycho beach party theme!

What do you think of this fashion inspired nail art? Would you ever wear something like this?

Head on over to The Lacquerologist to see what fashion has inspired her! I've been loving all of her posts lately! She's knocking this challenge out of the park! :D

31 Day Challenge Day 24: Inspired by a Book

Afternoon dears! Today's challenge theme is inspired by a book. I am an avid reader and had sketched out lots of different design ideas for this day, but I eventually settled on an old classic from my childhood. Shel Silverstein books growing up were always fabulous to me. He is all sorts of awesome so I knew that I needed to do nails inspired by him. I was originally thinking of doing Where The Sidewalk Ends, but when I went to look for all my old books I only found Falling Up, so I took that book and copied some of my favourite drawings found in the book!

All I did for these, was use Milani White on The Spot as my base and then drew the characters using It's So Easy Stripe Rite Black. Added a coat of NYC In a Minute Top Coat and I was good to go!

I really loved all the Shel Silverstein poems growing up and my favourite one of his is actually,

Draw a crazy picture,  Write a nutty poem,  Sing a mumble-gumble song,  Whistle through your comb.  Do a loony-goony dance,  'Cross the kitchen floor,  Put something silly in the world  That ain't been there before."

These nails were really fun to do because I actually went through the book and picked my favourites as well as I went back and read all of the poems that had meant so much to me as a child.

I even took pictures of my nails with the book to show you that I actually copied these straight from the book! And made it in a nice pinnable format for you lovely folks.

I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane as much as I enjoyed doing them!

Make sure you stop by The Lacquerologist to see what book has inspired her today!