Gradients and Accents Plus Where I've Been

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Hello Polished Friends!

Wow it has been a long time since I sat down and wrote a post on here. I can't believe I haven't talked to you guys in over a month! There have been a number of things going on in my life that have prevented me from blogging recently. I' not going to go into too much detail, but I have been dealing with some personal and familial health issues as well as juggling grad school, and working 4+ days a week in order to pay for everything. It has been a struggle and blogging has been pushed to the back burner. I'm not going to promise that I'm coming back to full strength, but I did want to check in and let you all know I am alive and relatively OK :)

I did these accents and gradient nails a while back now, and I wasn't 100% sure I liked them at the time, and honestly I'm still not convinced lol. It seems like there is something missing... hmmmm. I do love me a gradient though and that is where the inspiration for this manicure began.

For the gradient I started out with Pure Ice Bikini which is such a soft pretty blue. Then proceeded with the gradient using Bikini and Pure Ice Flirt Alert. I did this on every other nail and then added two accents to mix things up a little. On my index nail I started with Color Club Harp On It and then added a coat of Happy Hands Motherboy. On my ring nail I started with my still favourite Cult Nails Tempest and then stamped with PUEEN 20 and black creme.

What do you think about these gradients and accented nails?! I hope I can start posting relatively more regularly soon :) Miss and love you all!

The Digit-al Dozen Does Skittles: Skull Nets

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Afternoon friends!

Today we have yet another post in the Digit-al Dozen's Skittle Week! I was trolling around the internet last night looking for some inspiration when I saw this picture that Rie of Nails and Noms posted of some awesome Black Milk Clothing Skull Net Tights! The design was really interesting and I decided to take that as my inspiration and went from there!

I again stuck with my almost all butter LONDON theme when selecting what polishes to use! I started out with Cult Nails Tempest on my index, ring and pinky nail and used butter LONDON Come To Bed Red from the upcoming Illusionist Holiday Collection (swatches will be up soon), on my thumb and middle nail. From there I started out by recreating the pattern on the Black Milk Clothing Leggings on my ring nail with my smallest cut down nail art brush and butter LONDON Union Black Jack.

On my thumb I added a coat of butter LONDON Stardust, which is also from the upcoming Illusionist Holiday Collection, over Come To Bed Red. On my index nail I added large dots with a dotting tool in Union Jack Black and then painted a gradient with Come to Bed Red and sprinkled some loose red glitter on top. On my middle nail I used an assortment of black and clear rhinestones to create the pattern. On my pinky nail I did a line of black rhinestones up the middle of my nail and then painted a line using Come To Bed Red on either side and again sprinkled glitter over that! That was a lot of explaining!

I love black, white and red together and the subtle skulls make me feel slightly rocker, while still keeping it girly. What do you think about these nails?

Make sure you check out the rest of The Digit-al Dozen to see what skittles they are rocking today!

The Digit-al Dozen Does Skittles: Purple, Green and Glitter

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Afternoon loves!

I only just posted this morning, but this is my effort to catch back up in the Digit-al Dozen's Skittle week! This week was my pick so I am really excited to be posting this week! I just received an amazing package with a plethora of butter LONDON products so decided that one of my skittles needed to use some of these just stunning lacquers!

I picked out two of my favourites from the Rock Your Colour Line which are, butter LONDON Indigo Punk (the purple glitter) and butter LONDON Jaded Jack (the chartreuse green). I felt like these colours were really graphic so I decided to pair them with black and white, using butter LONDON Union Black Jack and Cult Nails Tempest. I was close to using entirely butter LONDON products, but unfortunately I don't own Cotton Buds!

For all the nail art I used the aformentioned polishes and my favourite small cut down nail art brush. I just drew random patterns until I was happy with the result. Also I left my middle nail just as butter LONDON Indigo Punk as that glitter is too pretty to not have a nail on it's own!

I love skittles so much because it allows me to play with combining patterns, which is something that I really wish I could do in fashion! Since I play it safer fashionwise I let it all go nuts on my nails!

What are your thoughts on these nails? Be sure to check out the rest of the Digit-al Dozen below!

The Digit-al Dozen Does Skittles: Neon, Nude and Studded

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Good Morning friends!

This week is yet another Digit-al Dozen Week here on Sincerely Stephanie and we are welcoming some new members this week! This week is also very exciting because I chose the theme this week, and it is my absolute favourite kind of nail art, SKITTLES!! If you are looking for more information as to just what skittles are you can check out my post on The Digit-al Dozen blog here.

My post is a day late starting as yesterday was a holiday here in Canada and I was finishing up spending time with my family and boyfriend whom I won't see again for over a month, so please excuse the late start!

For this manicure I started off with OPI My Vampire is Buff on all my nails except my index nail. I then grabbed my favourite small cut down nail art brush and some gold studs from Born Pretty Store and started skittling. Yup I just made that a verb.

The gold glitter on my index nail is OPI Liquid Sand Honey Ryder and all the neon line work was done with China Glaze Sun of a Peach. The neon looks really washed out here, but it was soooo bright in person and the contrast was fantastic. I think my favourite nail is the gold cross, what do you think?

I can't wait to see what everyone else is coming up with! Hope you are all having a lovely start to your week :)

31DC2013: Day 17 Glitter

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Morning!

Today's prompt in the 31 Day Challenge is Glitter! There is something about this prompt that really does not spark much creativity. I probably could have tried a little harder, but I did this late last night and this was all the creativity I had in me :P

I started this manicure off, knowing that I wanted to do something in a black, blue and silver combination. I pulled out my standard Wet n Wild Black Creme, my new blue crush Essie Butler, Please and my favourite silver glitter China Glaze Glistening Snow. I used Black Creme on my thumb and middle nail, Butler, Please on my index and ring nail and Glistening Snow on my pinky.

Then I grabbed my silver holographic glequins and got to work! I just did random designs on my three middle nails and then dipped my thumb and pinky in the pot to get some disco ball nails going on.

I'm not sure, there just seems like something is off about these nails. They aren't my favourite, but maybe you like them?! Let me know your thoughts below!!

Make sure to check out The Lacquerologist to see Emily's glitter nails today! Also be sure to enter our giveaway :)
Check out last years glitter nails here!

What's Your Damage Skittlette

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Morning friends!

Todays nails are a skittlette that I did that I'm still not entirely sold on. I was going out for the night with friends and needed something quick to do to my nails so they weren't bare, because the first thing all my friends always ask is 'Can I see your nails?!' Does this happen to anyone else out there?

The whole inspiration for this manicure was that I really wanted to wear KBShimmer What's Your Damage? because it really is the most awesome polish ever. I started off with 2 coats of that on my index and middle nails. Then since the glitter colours are hot pink, neon green and black, those were the accent colours that I went with.

I had originally planned to do gradients in pink and green, but kind of forgot once I got to that stage and ended up with plain accents. My thumb is rockin one of my all time favourite shades China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard and my pinky is wearing China Glaze Hang-Ten Toes. Both of which are from last summers neons collection. My stamped accent is a base of Cult Nails Tempest and PUEEN 09 with black creme.

What do you think of this funky skittlette?! Would you rock these bright colours together? I hope you are all having a great Tuesday loves!

One In a Million Accents

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Goooooood Morning!

I am very excited today because I found out that I did exceptionally well on my thesis! All that hard work has paid off in a huge way! =D Now I officially have passed I have my undergraduate degree! One degree down and I'll be starting on the next in the fall lol. Since all that stress is finally behind me I have more time to focus on my little corner of the internet. I know its been a little neglected lately, but I hope to get back into a more regular posting rhythm soon.

Todays nails are some accent nails that I wore for about a week while I was working on finishing my first draft of my thesis. I wouldn't change my nails because I needed to get the work done, and I just really loved this together. The glitter is LAVlacquer One In a Million. I showed the original swatch of this polish back here, and knew then that I would be wearing it again. It's such a pretty polish with so many brilliant flashes of colour!

For my accent nails I started off with my favourite white, Cult Nails Tempest and waited for that to dry completely. Then I used Black Creme and China Glaze Sunday Funday to freehand on the abstract floral pattern. I filled in the white with Sunday Funday just take away some of the white space. Finally I added one small purple rhinestone in the center of each flower to tie it all together.

Accent nails are always my favourite kind of look and I am head over heels for this one! I think the glitter really makes these nails pop and I'm so glad that it is part of my collection. What are your thoughts on this manicure?!

Hope you are all having a great Wednesday!

Lac Attack Summer 2013 Beach Daze Collection Swatches

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Morning friends!

I have Lac Attack's Summer 2013 Beach Daze Collection to share with you today! I'm headed off to the beach today with friends so I thought it was the perfect time to post! This collection was just released this past Friday and there is a little bit of something for everyone. From fun glitter toppers, to a gorgeous holo and even GLOW IN THE DARK polish! The Beach Daze Collection is available now here!

I have lots of pictures of these beauties so click through for more polish and my review!

The Digit-al Dozen Does Tape: Black and Yellow

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Goood Morning loves and lacquerheads!

Today I have the first manicure in tape week which I am actually quite pleased with! I went back to my favourite black and white and threw in some yellow for good measure.

I had an urge to pull out NCLA Tennis Anyone? and used that on my thumb, middle and pinky nails. On my index and ring nails I started with a base of Cult Nails Tempest. I applied top coat to my index, middle and ring nails and then waited until that was completely dry.

Starting with my index nail, I cut pieces of striping tape and using my set of pointy tweezers I made my design and then did one coat of Wet n Wild Black Creme and removed the tape quickly. I did the same thing in a different pattern on my ring nail. My my middle nail I taped off the sides and did a coat of black creme down the middle, then added a silver square stud from Born Pretty Store. On my thumb and pinky I did a coat of Animeniac Cosmetics Crash Landing to tie it all together.

I'm actually a little obsessed with these and don't want to take them off to do something for tomorrow! It's visually striking and right up my alley! I'm actually liking striping tape, in this small capacity.

What are your thoughts on these nails? Make sure to check out the rest of the Digit-al Dozen!

The Digit-al Dozen Does Tape: Christmas in July

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Morning Friends! So after yesterdays debacle with striping tape I decided I needed to retry and go for some more complex looks. I grabbed my tweezers and striping tape and remembering to go one nail at a time I went to work.

I randomly grabbed China Glaze Merry Berry and China Glaze I Herd That. After two coats of Merry Berry and some top coat and 20 minutes of trolling the internets I started on my first nail. After getting frustrated a few times I finally had a design on my index nail I could go with and added one coat of I Herd That. Quickly removing the tape I had a design!!

I actually love my middle nail, and think I might have to try that design again! It took the longest to do, but it had the biggest payoff that's for sure.

Once I finished these they totally reminded me of a Christmasy type colours! Hence the Christmas in July title because I'm cool like that ;)

I'm more pleased with todays outcome, but I'm hoping I can get even more creative as the week goes on! What do you think of these nails? Remember to check out the rest of the Digit-al Dozen below!