#31DC2014 - Day 15: Delicate Print aka HA! Thea and Delicate! Funny!

Hi lovelies! Freakity frak frak! We are on day 15 of the challenge you guys! And I am still here! WHAT?? I feel I deserve a scouts badge for that! PERSEVERANCE! HELL YEAH!

Day 15: Delicate Print

Hmmm...me and this prompt. It scared me a tiny bit! Do I look like someone who can do or does delicate?? Never! I’M SO HARDCO...oooh look! Bunnies! Okay, so maybe I’m not insanely hardcore but I’m not a big “delicate” fan. So I did what every sensible non delicate flower would do and reached for my stamping kit.

I started by laying down 2 coats of Essence Dare It Nude. When this was dry I layed down some striping tape in a chevron pattern over all my nails and filled it in with Essence Prom-Berry, making sure I pulled the tape off immediately. Finally, I just blocked off the small chevron section of my nail with sticky tape and stamped a flower pattern with Essence Prom-Berry and Bundle Monster Plate BM-211.

This mani is insanely simple but I am liking it quite a bit! Sometimes a bit of simplicity is all that is really needed. In hindsight though, I should’ve made the chevron’s a little bit thinner but it still looks kinda cool.

Lots of mad love...

 

#31DC2014 - Day 12: Stripes aka OH MY GLOB! I actually made it!

Hi guys! I know I am a little later than usual (only by about 8hours) but I was so ready for this post and then me happened! Yip, you heard right! ME! Been struggling all day with my internet and have been swearing my service provider up and down it’s whole family tree only to realize when I got home today that the only reason why it didn’t want to connect is because my laptop had a “few” (*cough*14*cough*) updates to install...WHICH I KNEW ABOUT FOR ALMOST A WEEK NOW!!! But am sorry that “Me” happened. And to my service provider? I am sorry for wishing that your armpits would be infested by the fleas of a thousand camels! Now! Today’s post for the 31 Day Challenge!

Day 12: Stripes 

Today I probably have the most meh mani in all of meh history! But I was really tired when I did it and had no ideas whatsoever. So I decided to keep it simple and just did a good old plain striping tape mani.

I started by laying down 2 coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White. When my nails were completely dry, I layed down striping tape horizontally over my nails. I then went in with WOW Nail Polish #393, Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, Tip Top Nail Chic Sun Kissed and Nubar Competition Red and filled in the open spaces, pulling the tape off immediately.

I think these nails came out okay. It is definitely not my neatest work but it is still show-able! Hopefully inspiration will hit me full on for the Animal Print prompt for tomorrow...please inspiration!

Twinsie...Thursday? Kind of!

Good morning lovelies! It is almost spring and I am psyyyyyyyyyched! It is getting warmer (all though the weather fore cast says we are in for 1 more cold spell! Grrrrrrrr!), new, fresh smells are popping out all over the place and I am just generally happy! Also, yesterday was EXACTLY 7 months till my wedding day you guys! Too much excitement! We have a crap load to do but it’s going to be worth it! EXCITED!!!! ...can you guys tell I’m in a really good mood??

Now on to the nails! NAILS! *cues mad guitar riff* NAAAAAILS! Twinsie nails to be precise. I am lucky enough today to have a kind of twinsie post with the crazy talented Ordinary Misfit. Last week she showed me a mani she wanted to do and I told her I did the exact same one a little while ago so we decided, let’s be Twinsies! Whoooo! Our mani’s are inspired by THIS post by The Nail Polish Project so a HUGE SHOUT OUT to her!

I started out by laying down 2 coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White on all my nails. When this was completely dry, I placed striping tape on all my nails to make triangular type of shapes and filled in the spaces using China Glaze Grape Pop, China Glaze Recycle and China Glaze Flyin’ High, pulling off the striping tape immediately after all the areas were filled. When this was completely dry, I stamped on two of the filled-in spaces per nail using Bundle Monster plates BM-201, BM-319 and BM-422. I did this by taping off the sections I didn’t want to fill and stamped like I normally would.

I really liked how this came out! It made me a little sad that my camera decided to stuff up China Glaze Flyin’ High and made it look more blue than it actually is, and it isn’t nearly as killer as the original mani by The Nail Polish Project was but I like it none the less! Now...get your butts over to Ordinary Misfit to see her awesome attempt and give her some love while you’re at it. She deserves every bit!

Lots of mad love...

Stripy blues...

Hi lovelies! Heck, this past week and a half has been AWESOME and scaaaaary at the same time! Firstly, me and Dean got Foo Fighters tickets! WHAT?? YES! I am so damn EXCITED! They are one of my all time favorite bands and I am in the clouds! But even better than that, after being engaged to Dean for over 3 years, we have finally decided on a wedding date and a venue! And we booked it! BOOKED IT PEOPLE! It is finally happening! Happy spazzes!...and stress. Lots and lots of stress.  The date is only next year March but I am so nervous! Especially since we are going to try and make most things ourselves.  I am my own worst critic guys! AAAAAAAGH! Yeah, fun times...but I am marrying my best friend and that is awesome! Worth every single tear, drop of sweat and swear word.

I miss having a kitty...Source

Today I have a SUPER simple tape mani for you guys. It really doesn’t need any explanation so just enjoy the pictures. What I used in this mani was Avon Forget Me Not Blue, WOW Nail Polish #393 and striping tape.

Isn’t Avon Forget Me Not Blue absolutely squeal worthy?? It is probably one of my favourite blue polishes at the moment! For some reason it reminds me of Star Wars and R2D2...Hmmm...ideas!

Lots of mad love...

 

Striping Tape Mani Love!

Hi there lovelies! Am I the only one who is noticing the change in the season? That little bite in the air in the mornings, catching yourself snuggling deeper into your bed covers at night, the sun setting a little bit faster...no, I’m not ready people! Don’t get me wrong, I love winter! The boots, scarfs and playing “look babe, I’m smoking” with Dean in the cold morning air. But dry skin? Chapped lips?? And my cuticles! AAAAAAAAAAAGH! *sobs* I’ve got that summer time, summer time saaaadness!

Yes Dawson, you feel my pain! Source

Anyhoo, let me not get you down with my sombreness. Let’s rather look at pretty nails...

As usual, I kept this mani really simple. This mani originated from a similar mani I done for work with a light purple base but wasn’t going to do a post about it. But after I got tons of compliments on it, I decided to redo it for the blog, just with a different base.

I simply layed down 2 coats of China Glaze Secret Peri-Wink-Le as my base (which my camera hates by the way). When this was dry, I randomly placed some striping tape all over the nail and layed down a coat of OPI Grape...Set...Match over it, pulling the tape off immediately and LE VIOLA! Mani done!

In hindsight, I also should’ve done the original mani with the lighter purple for the blog because it just felt...more right! But this didn’t come out too bad! I also think next time I want to do an effect technique with it, like a gradient base or maybe the top layer should be saran wrapped over! The possibilities are definitely endless! I SHALL EXPLORE ON!

If you would like me to swatch any of the colors you saw in today’s post, please let me know via email or drop me a comment below. More than willing to oblige! 

Lots of mad love...  

First Post for 2014...featuring Christmas 2013.

Hi lovelies! How are you guys?? I have genuinely missed everybody but for the past few weeks it has been absolute holiday chaos here at home so the blog just never got time! It sucks though because I had so many ideas and things that I wanted to post but now they're all going to have to wait for the end of this year. It's okay though. I am psyched for 2014! I have some things I want to start doing more regularly on the blog this year. There is also definitely going to be more swatching taking place because I am busy with a swatching project at the moment but we'll get more into that once I start posting my swatches.

For today's post I decided to post my mani's I did over the Christmas season. Yes, they are all festive and I am sure most of you guys are actually enjoying the break from all the Christmas mani's that we get flooded with over Decembers but just think of them as that “Marked Down” table in the entrance of Supermarkets. Sure, all the mince pie boxes look old and unwanted and the Lindt Chocolate Santa's head has been squished in from all the handling he has been through but damn it, I am going to enjoy my 50% marked down Woolworths shortbread! Even if the outside looks wonky, the inside means well and they still taste damn good!

So, now that I have finished guilting you guys into enjoying some more Christmas goodies, let's get on with it shall we!

My mom made these adorable little cards for our gifts and I thought it might make a nice idea for a mani!

For this mani I used Nubar Greener, Nubar Reclaim, Zoya Chyna, China Glaze Starboard, China Glaze Spontaneous, OPI A Oui Bit Of Red, Tip Top Nail Chic Solar Flare and Tip Top Nail Chic Grape To Meet You.

My next mani was inspired by THIS awesome post I saw in 2012 on Manicurator. After realising I SUCK at making Christmas trees on my nails though, I decided to change it up a little bit. For this mani I used Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Nubar Competition Red, Nubar Greener and Nicole by OPI Rainbow In The S-Kylie.

Last but not least, I saw this awesome idea to stamp over watermarbling on Facebook somewhere. For the life of me though, I can not find the original creator of the idea anywhere so if anybody can help me, that would be great! For this mani I used Bundle Monster plate BM-323, Essence White Stampy Polish, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, China Glaze Grape Pop, Nubar Competition Red and Opi Jade Is The New Black.

In general, I loved all these mani's. I was the proudest of the watermarble mani though. Even though the stamping isn't perfect, I think it is a great idea and and I am definitely going to try it again!

If you would like me to swatch any of the colors you saw in today’s post, please let me know via email or drop me a comment below. More than willing to oblige! 

Lots of mad love...

Movember...Like a Dad Sir!

Hi there lovelies! Can you believe it? It's Wednesday! Wednesdays are always good right? It's when you realize you are halfway through the work week and that sounds pretty freaking awesome to me! Not “Friday” awesome, but awesome none the less.

Today I'm continuing with my Movember mani's saga. I know that at the moment the mani's I am posting are not making a lot of sense but I will explain on Friday why I decided on all these different mani's. For now just see it as I am having tons of fun painting moustaches on my nails and go with it! Also, remember to support your man in his Mo-journey! If you would like to find out more info regarding the cause of Movember, you can check out this LINK.

My mani that I am posting today is kind of something I wanted to do on Fathers Day but never got around to, so I decided it will go perfect with this months theme. Movember...Like a Dad sir...

I started out by laying down 2 coats of Essence Cafe Ole on all my nails. When this was dry I placed some striping tape over my pinky and index finger and layed down a thick coat of Essence Edward, making sure I peeled off the striping tape immediately after I put the polish on each finger.

On my middle finger, I made a little moustache using Tip Top Nail Addict Coffee Bean and a thin nail art brush. To finish off the mani, I layed down a coat of Essence Bella over my ring finger and thumb.

I really liked how this came out but was also curious to see what it would look like matte so I layed down a coat of China Glaze Matte Magic and I was actually not disappointed!

I love how the matte topcoat makes the nails with the glitter on look like egg shells! Glitter and matte – definitely a combo I am trying again very soon!

If you would like me to swatch any of the colors you saw in today’s post, please let me know via email or drop me a comment below. More than willing to oblige! 

Lots of mad love...

Vintage Roses Out Of The Vault!

Hi there lovelies! I hope everybody is doing great! It's Friday, which for some weird reason puts most people in a strangely good mood! Wonder what it might be...oh yeah, IT'S THE WEEKEND BABY! Like always I am going to probably do my nails, eat a crap load of junk food, rot in front of my Xbox and probably catch a swim. Living on the edge people! Hardcore to the max!
So I know I am behind in the MTV Challenge but I really felt like posting today and since I'm still busy with my galaxy rainbow post, I decided to go dig in my photos to see what other pretties I can spam you guys with. I actually can't believe I haven't posted these yet because I did them for the Tip Top South Africa Nail Concept around the end of September. Weird...but anyhoo, I give you Vintage Flowers!

Nail Polishes used:

• Tip Top Nail Chic Black Forest
• Tip Top Nail Chic We Have An Agreen Mint
• Tip Top Nail Chic Ripped Me Red
• Tip Top Nail Chic Red Rendezvous
• Tip Top French Manicure White

Tools Used:

• Small thin nail art brush
• Striping Tape
• Dotting Tool

I started by laying down 2 thick coats of Tip Top French Manicure White. When this was dry, I placed some striping tape down very carefully using a tweezer and then painted a thick coat of Tip Top Nail Chic Black Forest over the tape, pulling the tape off immediately after I painted the coat on.

For the roses I added random blotches using the dotting tool and Tip Top Nail Chic Ripped Me Red. I then went in with Tip Top Nail Chic Red Rendezvous and my trusty nail art brush (which is actually just a fancy way to describe a really cheap liquid eyeliner brush) and made the random “C” shapes to give the flowers some detail. To finish the look off, I added a few leaves using Tip Top Nail Chic We Have An Agreen Mint and the once again, my thin nail art brush. 

Is it vain to love something you did yourself because I adore how this came out and am quite proud of myself. I love the flowers over the black and white background. Can I do the same art twice because I really want to wear these again!...Now who has something fancy going on so I can wear these and flash my fingers around all nonchalantly! Classy!

If you would like me to swatch any of the colours you saw in today’s post, please let me know via email or drop me a comment below. More than willing to oblige!

Lots of mad love...

 

 

#MTV Challenge: 6. Violet & Tribal

Lovelies! Hi! I honestly don't have a lot to say today.  I'm in one of those really...meh moods. Hate it! I swear, you could be throwing peanuts at my head at the moment and I would not give a damn! Nope! But it has been a beautiful day here in Pretoria so I guess I can't complain right? Chin up big girl! You have access to the internet and unlimited pictures of Ryan Gosling!

Source

6. Violet and Tribal

Today I am posting my take on this theme. I am still hella behind but hopefully by the end of this week I will be finished. I am so excited to see the other ladies takes on the last two topics though!

Nail Polishes used:

• WOW Nail Polish #393
• Tip Top Nail Chic Grape To Meet You
• China Glaze Flyin' High

Tools/Other Used:

• Striping tape
• Thin nail art brush
• Dotting Tool

I started out by laying down 2 coats of China Glaze Flyin' High. When this was dry I layed down striping tape horizontally to make random sections on my nails and filled in a few of the spaces with Tip Top Nail Chic Grape To Meet You. I then went in with my thin nail art brush, dotting tool and WOW Nail Polish #393 and made random stripes and dots for the tribal patterns.

I'll be honest, even though I got quite a few compliments on these nails I didn't like them that much. I think my free handing striping skills threw me off. Practise time it is then! Pshh, like I ever complained about a reason for me to do more nail art!

Remember to go take a looksie over at my fellow challenge lovelies blogs:

Ordinary Misfit

For The Love Of Nail Art

Polished Tickles and Beauty

Passion For Polish

Mama Zombie Mumbles

If you would like me to swatch any of the colours you saw in today’s post, please let me know via email or drop me a comment below. More than willing to oblige!

Lots of mad love...