Today is my birthday! Woohoo! It’s been a great day too. My hubby surprised me with a music album of 40 songs by the very talented (and entertaining) Betty Hutton and later on, we are headed to my mother’s house for cupcakes and Oreo cheesecake! Yay!

I’ve been busy with several projects lately and my nails and blog have been on the back burner. I made sure to do my nails for a special occasion like my birthday and I’ve used a new polish sent to me by Girlstuff. They have recently launched their new Rave Neon collection and I chose Girlstuff Chill which is a fun blue shade. It is opaque in two easy coats and dries quickly.

I brushed a little glitter here and there and then stamped over it with my MJ XXVI stamping plate from MyOnline Shop. It’s simple but pretty. I’ve been wearing polish pretty consistently but haven’t taken the time to do any nail art. So I’m very happy to have a pretty design on my nails. Today.

I hope your day is as lovely as mine has been. Do something to make someone smile today!

Until next time,

Rach

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Hello lovely friends!

I noticed that I have had a harder time keeping up with the blogging these past few months. I’ve got a good reason though. For the past three months we’ve had some visitors, I’ve been helping hubby with a huge renovation project, keeping up with school with the kids and had a few health issues to deal with. The good news is that the renovation is almost complete and I’m looking forward to things getting back to normal. I’ve still been doing my nails so I’ve got some fun looks lined up to share with you.  I am so excited to get to some Christmas nail art very soon!

Today I’ve got a pretty gradient and stamped mani to share with you. I started off with one coat of Miss Bliss. Then I taped off my cuticle area to minimize the clean up and sponged Eternal Beauty on the tips of my nails. Then I used my fabulous MJ XXVI stamping plate from My Online Shop. This plate is my FAVORITE floral plate. I can’t get enough of it.

Edited to add: I just noticed that My Online Shop is having a 10% off sale from November 24-30. Enter the code BLKFRIDAY2016 at checkout.

Aren’t they magical? So girly and sparkly! I loved wearing these and I received lots of compliments on them. That’s always fun! Now for a mandatory macro shot….

Soooo pretty! This is one of my favorite designs I’ve worn so far this year. Gradient nails are so easy to do and the possibilities are endless. If you haven’t tried a gradient look, then grab a sponge and your favorite polishes and go ahead and give it a try! Maybe I should make a photo or video tutorial for you?

I’ve been testing out a new product that I’m so excited to share with you. Keep an eye out for my next post! Have a fantastic day!

Hugs,
Rach

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I wanted to pop in and show you not one but TWO skittle manis I’ve done using the Chic Pastel Collection by Chic Centre. My husband purchased these for me for part of his Valentine’s Day nail polish bouquet.

Each of these shades is a lovely creamy pastel that doesn’t go on streaky at all. I would even describe them as crellies because they were a bit jelly-like but still pretty opaque. The only one that I found needed 3 coats was Daisy Wazy (yellow). The collection consists of these 5 shades:
Sweet Pea – Purple
Hula Hoop – Green
Daisy Wazy – Yellow
Baby Doll – Pink
Marionette – Blue (on thumb not pictured)

I loved these and the fact that the colors fit together perfectly for a look that just screams romance and spring time! I added one coat of L.A. Girl 3D Silver because…well because WHY NOT? Amiright?

I sported these with my gorgeous, pastel, vintage dress that I bought from Best Finds Thrift Shop.  (They get a shout out because I am such a happy customer.)

I also want to show you the skittles that I did for the Shutterbug. We added some gorgeous stamping using my awesome MJ XXVIII stamping plate from My Online Shop.

The stamping is in white, so it is subtle (especially over the yellow), but it is oh so pretty!

What do you think about this collection? I usually shy away from yellows and greens, but I can pull off a pastel yellow and pastel green. I love these colors! Oh and here’s a shot of the bouquet my husband made for me on Valentine’s Day.

Have a great week! I hope that you get some coffee and some chocolate to help you cope with the fact that it is Monday. Ugh! Keep smiling anyway!

Hugs,
Rach

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Hey gals,

Sorry for being so quiet around here lately. I blame it on a wedding in the family and some related festivities, my son’s birthday party, lovely hormones, having my nose stuck in a book, homeschooling my kids, and just being busy with real life in general. You all know how it goes.

While I have been too busy to blog, I haven’t been too busy for doing my nails. Recently I’ve enjoyed wearing some of my favorites and simply polishing nails for several friends.

Today, I’m sharing a stamped design using MJ XXVIII which is available from My Online Shop. Meann was kind enough to send me a couple of the new MJ stamping plates to test out along with some gold and silver stamping polish. Yay! Every single plate I have from MyOnline Shop stamps beautifully and this one is no exception. I’ve included a couple of macro shots near the end of this post because it’s my blog and I can do stuff like that if I want to. Ha!

My base is two coats of Girlstuff Chestnut. My sweet hubby surprised me with this pretty over the holidays, and I am happy to show it off now. I think it fits in with Marsala—the “color of the year”—don’t you?

I used two coats for this and had no issues with application or removal. The formula was great and it was quick drying like all Girlstuff Polishes.

Look at the detail in this stamping! I used the bottom right of the larger sections of etching on the MJ XXVIII as it reminded me of henna designs, and I liked the idea of gold over Chestnut. It’s quite pretty if I do say so myself.

Well, that is all I have to share for today. I hope you are all having a lovely week so far. Keep smiling!

Hugs,
Rach

The post Girlstuff Chestnut and MJ XXVIII Stamping appeared first on The Nailinator.

Hello loves!

I’ve got another quick post for you this evening to share these super cute nails I have been sporting for almost a week now.

Don’t  you think they look like Christmas wrapping paper? They turned out so cute and were very easy to do. I applied my gold polish then added stamping using a no name brand opaque green polish I have in my stash. I used a small dotting tool to make the red holly berries. The holly image is part of the OB19 stamping plate which I purchased last year from Myonline Shop. This image is just perfect for Christmas nail art. It is loaded with great images. I used the two snow flake images for some nail art last December. I also used the Christmas tree image for some simple nail art on The Bookworm last night. You can see those if you check out my Instagram account.

As you can tell, I chose to stamp the holly image multiple times to cover each nail. I did start off with this as a simple accent nail (see below). It was a couple of days and several compliments later that I decided I needed holly on all my nails.

I finally got my hands on a clip-on macro lens for my phone. So I took a shot of these just for fun!

Well, I hope you like these as much as I do and that they give you some inspiration for some fun holly-day nails.
Have a great day!
Hugs,
Rach

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Hi, Dolls!

I may be slacking a bit in the blogging department, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing my nails. I am also working on some product reviews which will be featured here very soon.  In the past couple of weeks, I have been doing several overdue craft projects here at home. Did you know that, in addition to nail art, I love to sew, cross stitch, paint, and make all sorts of crafty things? I am also fond of cultivating my OCD tendencies and germophobia by indulging in my long-time hobby of organizing and cleaning the house. With two little ones running around, I’m never at a loss for something to clean.

I was up super late doing some awesome “The Nightmare Before Christmas” nail art for The Shutterbug (I’ll share those soon), so I went for some thing quick and easy for myself. I started with two coats of  I Love Nail Polish Indie Go. It happens to be my favorite indie polish and a very cool shade to wear for the season. I used my MJ XIII plate from MyOnline Shop with some special stamping polish and stamped these neat cobwebs on my nails. I used this same stamp last year, but with a new nail shape and a change of colors, I think it looks completely different. Wouldn’t you agree?

Check out my swatch of Indie Go. It’s what I would call a “blurple”—meaning it’s blue, but it’s also purple. I had trouble catching the holo magic using my lightbox, and it rained every day while I was wearing this, so I never could get a snapshot of it in the sun. #bloggerproblems

This last photo is in direct indoor lighting.

I hope you have a wonderful day and that you get the chance to make someone smile.

Hugs!
Rachael

The post I Love Nail Polish Indie Go with Spiderwebs appeared first on The Nailinator.

Surprisingly, I LOVE it! This is three thin (and super quick drying) coats of L.A. Girl Electric Coral with some quick stamping with my JR-17 stamping plate (click to see image and pricing) that Meann of My Online Shop sent me a while back. Stamping is a very easy way to add some flair to any manicure. This plate has some really cool and fun tribal prints, and this orange is a perfect base for them IMHO. The black on orange was really eye catching.

I have mentioned before how great the L.A. Girl 3D Effect polishes are. I love the colors, the speedy dry time, the awesome holo sparkle, and the easy cleanup. Now that I know, I also have to add that they have great customer service. I ordered several polishes from them while I was in Texas and received one with a bent brush. I noticed the messed-up brush just a week before we left to come back home to the Philippines. So I contacted them and sent them a photo of the brush, and they sent me a replacement within just a couple of days. I appreciate them making and extra effort for speed considering I was on a time crunch. It’s the little things, people!

Things are going well for us. Our school year is off to a great start, and my house is slowly getting back to being organized. I hope all is well with you too. Thanks for reading. Have a fantastic day and don’t forget to make someone smile!

Hugs!
Rach

The post L.A. Girl 3D Effects Electric Coral with JR17 Stamping appeared first on The Nailinator.

All opinions are my own.

Hello!
It’s late in the evening and I have been up working on a crazy jigsaw puzzle my sister gave me as a gift. TWO THOUSAND pieces! Seriously? The person who thought of making a puzzle over 1000 pieces has a very sick mind. Rant over!

 

I thought I’d make a quick post for you to share these fun nails I did last weekend. I received two of the new JR Stamping plates from My Online Shop for review. Thanks again, Meann! I picked JR17 and JR2 because I don’t have anything quite like them. I decided to start with an accent nail mani.

I used 4 colors for my base and dry brushing. All of these were sent to me by the very lovely and talented Jacqui of Craftynail. (Thanks again, Jax!) I started with 3 coats of OPI My Vampire is Buff and then used the dry brush technique by Chalkboard Nails and The Lacquerologist to add strokes of OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui, My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours and Sinful Colors Pull Over. I used 2 coats of Suzi Says Feng Shui for the accent nail and stamped an image my son picked out for me from JR17. The little mess up you see with the stamp was total user error. I was trying to hard to center the stamp on the nail and ended up accidentally touching it on a part and then moving it a bit. Oops! But the plate worked perfectly. I played around with several of the stamps on this plate and they all looked great. I’m still working the kinks out of my stamping to my nails skills. Any tips on perfect centering would be very welcome.

You can get your own JR Stamping plates along with awesome stampers and accessories at My Online Shop. They are on Instagram too.

I hope you are having a great week.
Hugs,
Rach

The post Dry Brush Nail Art and Stamping with JR17 appeared first on The Nailinator.

This is two very easy coats of San San Tea Rose. I think this may be the only exception to my severe case of VNLphobia. But I will definitely be more open minded from now on and give a polish a chance to win my heart like Tea Rose did. The accent nail is a full nail water decal I purchased from My Online Shop on Facebook. I added a coat of Tea Rose to make it match the other nails.
The combination of my nail shape, the floral pattern and the dusty pink just screams vintage romance. Don’t you think?

I also added a pearl accent to the accent nail. These are from Blooming Nail Cebu.

San San polishes are available at HBC branches and retail for 37 Philippine Pesos per 12 ml bottle.

How do you feel about VNL? Are you getting in the mood for some romantic nail art for Valentine’s Day? I’m looking forward to some extra girly looks in the coming days.

Have a fabulous day!
Rach

The post San San Tea Rose Reinvention appeared first on The Nailinator.

It sure felt like Christmas opening up my package from Jacqui and I’ve got a Christmas themed mani to share with you today. Snowflakes! I’m so thrilled with how these turned out. What do you think of my artsy photo? I adore this snowflake ornament my wonderful mother-in-love sent me.

I started with one coat of Caronia Tea Rose which, by the way, I highly recommend if you are in search of  a great red for the holidays. (Note: Don’t confuse Caronia Tea Rose with Chic Tea Rose) I added two thin coats of L.A. Colors Aztec Orange which I received back in July when Pure Beauty came to Cebu for a promotional event. As soon as I laid eyes on it I knew I had to use it for a Christmas mani. Here it is by itself. Isn’t it gorgeous? 

 

I used the OB19 stamping plate which is full of Christmas themed images. I purchased mine from My Online Shop and I used the Fab Ur Nails white stamping polish which I won in a giveaway to add the snowflakes. I’m still getting the hang of stamping so it can be hit and miss with some attempts. I used a dotting tool and the same stamping polish to add the dots. With all that has happened in the past couple of months I have quite spaced out about taking pictures of the prizes I won the last few months. I will try to get them up soon. So much to do. 

I’ve also included a shot of the freehanded snowflakes I sported last year. I only have one shot of it as I wasn’t blogging yet at that time. I’m sharing in honor of throwback Thursday. Ha! So please bear with the poor quality photo. It’s nice to see how far I have come in the past year in the photo department. (By the way, I also post old manis and some non nail related stuff on my Instagram account. If you want to come check it out, the link is in my sidebar to the right.)
 

Well, that is it for me for today. I do hope you have a blessed day or evening depending on where you are in this big wide world. Make someone smile today if you can!

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