Rainy Saturday Nails

I've wanted to try a cloud manicure for a while, and I figured that today would be a good day to do it.

Here is a tutorial - it's super easy!

I started with two coats of OPI Black Onyx. I need more of this. It's the best black I've ever had.

One coat of Mark. Trend Industrial - this is from a set of two mini polishes, the other is a faded purple. I'm not a big fan of these polishes, I've tried using them once before and they took forever to dry. I love the colour though.

One coat of Avon Matte Concrete. I used this one before for the Spun Sugar manicure. It's a bit thick, but otherwise, I really like it.

On top of the Concrete, I did a coat of Wet n Wild Hallucinate, an iridescent glitter.

I really like the way it came out.

Revlon Selects

Last week, I entered a contest put on by Revlon Canada on Facebook - it gave 500 people the chance to win products for review.
I didn't think I'd get selected, because I've never really won anything before, but it doesn't hurt to try.

I came home from work today ready to relax after a hectic week; opened up my email and ...

Once I get the package, I will do separate reviews for each product. You're going to get to see something other than my nails for once - hah!

I'm super excited.

Oh yeah ... I created a facebook page and finally started using my twitter account - check the links on the right.

Reddit Challenge - Rainbow

I've wanted to do a rainbow water marble for a while, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity.

Except, I didn't want to do it on every finger. I thought, why not do water marble tips?

A few tries and lots of nail polish remover later ...

2 coats OPI Black Onyx on each finger, except my ring finger. Then I taped off the tip and painted on a coat of Zoya White.

2 coats Zoya White on my ring finger.

Water marble: 

1 drop Zoya White, 

1 drop Wet'n'Wild Red, 

1 drop Sally Hansen Sun Kissed

1 drop Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow

1 drop Claire's Scented Lime

1 drop Ardene's Electrified

1 drop Essence Break Through

Swirl and dip!

For my ring fingers, I taped off around the edge of my nail to help cleanup and dipped the whole thing.

While my other fingers were still taped from the white, I dipped them 2 fingers at a time (to save time and polish). I did my index and middle finger, then my thumb and pinkie. 

I did not wrap the tape all the way around, so there was a LOT of clean up on those ones.

The photo shows some spots that I missed on cleanup - darn it - there was nail polish all over my hands.

I think it looks really neat! I don't think I'd do it again with that many colours, but if I was to do a water marble with 3 or 4 colours, just doing the tips would work really well.

52 Week Challenge - Movember Marble

The I'm Simply Complex challenge this week is "Movember". It was originally supposed to be a Thanksgiving Manicure, but being Canadian, I chose to do that one earlier (and a little non-traditional!).

The Reddit challenge this week is Plastic Wrap.

I'm combining them again this week.

I wanted the colours to be a bit more subdued this week. Brights are fun and all, but I like greys and earth tones.

I started with two coats of Revlon Chocolate Truffle on each nail, except my ring finger. Such a pretty brown - it definitely looks like I coated my nails in chocolate.
My Ring Finger got two coats of Revlon Stormy Night - a lovely grey with purple/brown tones.

Once that was all dry, I did the plastic wrap challenge ...
I prepped by tearing off a small strip of plastic wrap and chopping it up into 8 smaller pieces, which I then scrunched up and set aside.
Working one finger at a time, I added a coat of Stormy Night over top of the Chocolate Truffle, grabbed a plastic wrap ball and dabbed it on my nail to pull off the wet polish.
It ends up looking really messy and textured, but a good topcoat smooths it right out and you're left with zero-effort marbled look!

For the Movember challenge, I used nail decals that I got ages ago. They're pink and black mustaches in various styles and sizes. I chose some black ones and stuck them on the tips of my nails. Added topcoat to seal it down and done.

I have no idea where I got that cut on my index finger - the only thing I can think of is that I've been teaching myself how to knit, and I may have given myself a friction burn or something from holding / wrapping the yarn. Also holy dry cuticles Batman! My skin always gets super dry in the winter and I've been having bad hangnails lately. My regular moisturizing routine just isn't cutting it.

Next week's challenges are Rainbow and Feather ... I have to go find some feathers!!

Reddit Challenge - Black and White

I was wrong, Movember manicure is next week. :)
I was supposed to do a Remembrance day manicure, but to be honest, I didn't do anything on the 11th, let alone paint my nails. And now the moment has passed, so I'm not doing that one this time. Maybe next year?

So, black and white.
I wanted to do stamping, so I found an image that I thought would go well with the theme - houndstooth.



2 coats of Zoya White
Houndstooth from Cheeky stamping plate CH08 - stamped on with OPI Black.
1 coat of Sally Hansen Polar Bare over top.

The pattern smudged a bit, but I think it still looks pretty.

So ... next week is Movember (I promise) and the Reddit challenge is Saran Wrap.

Reddit Challenge - Earthbound

The theme this week was "Inspired by a Game"
I've been playing Earthbound lately, so I figured it might be fun to feature the four main characters.

Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo ... (I guess that's sort of backwards, Ness is on my index finger)
I didn't think I could do their whole bodies, so I went with just their faces. I think Ness came out the best (too bad there's a shine on his mouth)

Image of the gang for reference:

I did a water marble on  my thumb, because in the game all of the battle backgrounds are weird psychedelic swirly things:

(imagine that animated)

Colours used:
Claire's Scented Lime (for the background - say 'fuzzy pickles'!)
Zoya White (to block out the face shapes and for Jeff's glasses)
Essence Modern Romance (nude with shimmer - for the skin)
Claire's Scented Banana (for Paula and Jeff's hair and the water marble)
QUO by ORLY Instant Artist Black (for the outlines and black details)
Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Red (Ness's cap and the water marble)
Claire's Jazz (blue, for the bill of Ness's cap)
Wet n Wild Lavender (for Paula's bow and the water marble)
Sally Hansen Sun Kissed (for the water marble)

phew!
I only actually did my right hand ... I didn't have the patience to do a lumpy mess on my left hand, so it's just solid green.

The other challenge this week is Tribal ... but I think I can only do one fancy pants manicure in a week, so click here to see my last tribal one.

Next week is black and white for Reddit and Movember for the other challenge. hmm.

52 Week / Reddit Challenge - Candy Corn

I combined the challenges again this week - Reddit was "orange" and I'm Simply Complex was "Halloween"

My index and ring fingers are two coats of Zoya White, then I added a coat of Sally Hansen Sun Kissed and finally Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow on the tips. My favourite Halloween treat - Candy Corn!

My thumb, middle finger and pinkie are a coat each of OPI Black Onyx, Joe Twilight (black with flakies - it's a little sheer, which is why I did the OPI first, but it was an awesome find at Superstore!), and finally Essie Shine of the Times (clear base with flakies). I love the green-orange colour shift.

Once that was all done, I added my GOSH Matte topcoat.

This is another one where I was in a rush, so I wasn't able to clean it up - I did it last minute before I had to start prepping for trick-or-treaters!

52 Week Challenges - Slime and Spiderwebs

The Reddit challenge this week is Gradient or Ombre.
The I'm Simply Complex challenge is Spiderwebs.

It's the week before Halloween, so I figured why not combine the two challenges?
I didn't do any cleanup on this one, because by the time I was finally finished, I was so frustrated with it, I just wanted to take the pictures and be done with it all.
I had to do it several times - due to bumps, colours not working properly together ... you name it - ugh.
I do love the manicure though!

For the Gradient portion, I decided to do a green syrup manicure.
I started with a coat of Wet n Wild Jade covering 3/4 of my nails.
I added a second coat about half-way down.
For the tip, I didn't think another coat of Jade would do it, so I used Sinful Colors Show Me The Way.
To blend it all together, I went over it with OPI Firefly
Then, to give it that extra Halloween "oomph" I used Wet n Wild's Glow in the Dark topcoat.

Once that was thoroughly dry, I stamped on a spiderweb using Bundle Monster plate BM13 and OPI Black Onyx.
I added a spider from the same plate on my thumb.

Reddit Challenge - Inspired by Reddit

I've actually only been on the nail polish board on Reddit, so this was a bit tough. I was going to go with the main colours of Reddit (blue orange white) and do something with that, maybe draw the alien.

Then, I volunteered to help someone out by taking a series of photographs of how I do my nails, step-by-step, including any sketches or inspriation.
Well, I figured this was good enough - it was a manicure I've been meaning to do, and had a sketch of (I never do that), but just never got around to it.
Reddit inspired me to go for it.

On my thumb and ring finger, 1 coat of OPI Black Onyx

Other fingers 2 coats of ORLY Rock The World - I really like this one, it's a wine colour with gold shimmer.

Then comes the detail ... using my Claire's white detail polish, I painted blocks and stripes on my thumb and ring finger, and large french tips on my other fingers.

I painted over most of the white with Clare's Scented Banana and ORLY Rock The world. Then I used QUO by ORLY Instant Artist Black and Claire's White detail polishes to clean up the design.

The design is actually inspired by something - a dress I think? I haven't been able to find it since I did the original sketch.

It was a lot of work, but it turned out well!
There are several layers in some spots, so I'm not sure how long it will be until this chips.

52 Week Challenge - Pink Sugar

This week's theme is pink / breast cancer awareness.

I wanted to try out sugar spun nails (youtube tutorial), so I picked a base colour and two shades of pink and went at it.

I started off with one coat of Avon Matte Concrete.

For the texture I went with Wet n Wild Lavender (I have no idea why this one is named lavender ... this is lavender, the nail polish is more of a deep pink) and Sally Hansen Pink Blink.

If you don't want to watch the tutorial, all you really have to do to achieve this look is put a few drops of nail polish onto a palette, then stir and pull at it with a toothpick until it is thick enough so that when you dip the toothpick in and pull it out it creates a string - just pull that string over your nail and keep going until you're happy with it.

It does require quite a bit of cleanup - taping around the edges of your nail would probably help.

My nails are very rounded, so it was difficult to place the strings near the edges, but I think it looks funky mostly in the middle of my nail.

I did use a topcoat on this one, but I had to paint it on my nail sideways - it was too thick to cover behind the ridges. I actually liked it way better without the topcoat. Oh well, next time.

Later this week, I'll be doing the Reddit challenge - "Inspired by Reddit"