20 Dec

Christmas Tree Accent Nail with Bobbie Star Gazer

Nothing says Christmas quite like a pretty tree filled with lights and sparkly baubles and topped with a glittering star. Right?

I wanted to do some Christmas tree nail art this year, but I didn’t really want to have a tree on every nail so I decided to go with an accent nail instead. I started with two coats of NYC Fashion Safari on all my nails and then applied  Klean Colors Military Green with a small brush and small strokes to make the tree for the accent. I decked it out with a dotting tool and a glitter star for the topper. For the rest of the nails, I added one coat of Bobbie Star Gazer over the base. Star Gazer was so pretty in the bottle, but I have to admit I was disappointed when I tried it. By itself, it was so faintly pigmented that I’m positive I would have had VNL even after 3 or more coats. The glitter may have been dense enough to cover everything up, but choosing NYC Fashion Safari as my base gave me the color I was looking for and everything ended up alright. Being a VNL-aphobe means I don’t play with jellies very much, but I will have to experiment more to make use of the pretty jellies I do have.

Anyway, this isn’t my best work and I don’t LOVE it like I did my snowflake nails. I’m not a huge fan of nudes on my nails so, honestly, it doesn’t really stand a chance. That being said, it IS cute and I still learned something important: Elmer’s School Glue Gel (the blue stuff) works as a fantastic peel-off base for glitter polish. I squeezed some into an clean polish bottle, applied one thick coat, and let it dry well before applying my polish. I only sported this look for a day before taking it off, so I’m not sure about the wear time.

That’s it for me today. It’s been a long week for me. I hope you are having a great one. Do you use anything as a peel off base for glitter polish? What polish/es have you used recently that looked the bomb in the bottle but bombed when swatched?

10 Dec

Holy Holo Glitter Placement Nails

Hi beauties! Allow me to present to you my first glitter placement mani and I promise you that this WON’T be the last!

Holo Glitter Placement Nails
Holo Glitter nails and jar

Let’s get straight into it, shall we? I used one medium coat of Color Club Harp On It as my base and then I just started adding silver holo glitter pieces that I purchased from Blooming Nail Cebu. I used an orange wood stick to apply the glitter and used clear coat when the polish got too dry for the glitter pieces to stick. I topped it off with 2 coats of topcoat. Don’t look too closely at my placement or you will notice my mistakes. I didn’t even notice them until I saw the pictures. I guess I was just blinded by holo rainbows from Harp On It. Anyway, just enjoy all the sparklies!

Holo Glitter over Color Club Harp On It

It took a bit of time to finish all 10 nails but it was a very easy look to achieve. Just add glitter! It is soooo sparkly and fun to wear. I think it is perfect for a party or perhaps to welcome the New Year. I thought I would only want to wear it a while because it is so flashy but it is growing on me. I wore these to the Best Cebu Blog Awards night on Saturday. I didn’t win in my category but all the winners are very deserving. I still feel like a winner and am honored to have been nominated and to have made it as a finalist. The organizers of the event did a great job and I had a great time. It was fun to meet more bloggers from Cebu. Thank you to everyone who voted for me and who have made this a great first year so far. Y’all rock!

Have a great week!

07 Nov

Pink and Purple Sparkly Tips

Hello!

I hope this post finds everyone doing fine. I had EVERY plan of doing my nails several times this week, and it looked like it was going to happen until news showed that a tropical storm was developing to the east of us, and we found ourselves bracing for Super Typhoon Haiyan which will make landfall in the Philippines in a few hours. It is going to be devastating for those directly in its path. While the eye will probably pass over Cebu Island, we are not directly in the path so we aren’t expecting the full hurricane-force winds. But we are still expecting some very strong winds and lots of rain and we are doing our best to prepare. Please say a prayer that the storm will lose strength quickly and pray for the safety of those in its path.

On a happier note, my joint giveaway with Blooming Nail Cebu ended this week and I was able to contact the winners and get each package/packet sent on their way. Giveaways are such fun! I’m thinking the next one I do will give you the option of extra entries if you create and submit nail art according to a theme. What do you think? Would you join?

I’m showing you a sparkly mani today to cheer me up after a day full of gloomy, cloud-filled skies.

Outdoor shade

Isn’t it pretty? It’s very eye catching too! I started with 2 coats of Jocarste #28 which is a light pink foil polish that is easy to apply and easy to remove. Then I sponged on Jocarste #8100 which is a gorgeous glitter bomb with purple, gold (multi sized) and silver holo bits in it. My amateur skills were unable to capture the holo sparlies in my lightbox and it was not a sunny day when I sported these nails so you will just have to appreciate the pretty glitters and imagine how extra special it was with a holo twist. #8100 is very different from #28 in that it is a PAIN to take off. I guess all glitters are like that though. Maybe it has just been a long time since I did glitter tips but I was muttering under my breath about how I would throw way this bottle if it wasn’t so darn pretty. Yeah, I know… much bigger problems in the world. Tiniest violin and all that. Ha! Glitter tip manis are some of my favorites and apparently you all like them too because I get a ton of hits on this look I did early this year.

Lightbox… soooo shiny!

Well, I’m off to get some more things ready. I wanted to post something so things wouldn’t be too quiet around here this weekend. See you soon ladies and have a great weekend!

Hugs!

13 Sep

Purple and Black Woven Stripes

I’ve had a bit of a dry spell in the inspiration department lately. But I’ve noticed that several of the blogs I follow have been participating in the 31 day challenge (2013) that Chalkboard nails created and Mr. Nailinator suggested that I go with one of the prompts for that. Day 12 is stripes and I came up with this.

I started with two coats of Color Club Eternal Beauty and then used L.A. Girl 3D in Black Illusion and a striper brush to add the stripes. I’ve included a picture in warm light so you can see a bit of the holo shimmer. The sun didn’t come out all day today so there are no sunshine shots. Oh well! I think they look pretty darn cool. Don’t you?

I hope everyone is having a great day.

07 Sep

I’m Not Lion! I’m in love!

Hi gals!
I hope you have enjoyed the guest posts this week on my blog. If you missed them then go check out the lovely looks created by Chit Chat Nails and by Craftynail. Thanks again to Marta and Jacqui for helping me out.
We have been having a wonderful visit with my husband’s mother. It’s always so nice when people fly halfway across the globe to come visit us. It was even nicer that she brought me my Color Club Halo Hues and China Glaze I’m Not Lion that I have been lemming for!
I’ve got a simple yet elegant look for you today. I couldn’t wait to try out I’m Not Lion for an accent nail. I was not expecting it to dry to such a coarse texture. Even with one thick coat of Oh My Golly colorless it was just as coarse as it was without it. Perhaps Seche would smooth it out? It’s a pretty color and I’m so glad I have it. I paired it with Caronia On The Go which is one of my favorites. I have 2 backup bottles… That’s how much I love it. To be honest, the formula of On The Go is the pits! It’s hard to apply evenly, does not self level at all and is really too thick even in a brand new bottle. But it looks way better after topcoat and the color is so great I am willing to endure the hardships that come along with the formula.
As you can see, I added a little sparkle at the base of my nails as well. I used I’m Not Lion and a striper brush and just applied it kind of randomly until I was happy with how it looked. I love it! Don’t you?
I hope everyone is having a great weekend!
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