Sweet Candy - Orly Orange Punch, LA Girl Glissand

I've got some edible looking manis today...

[Sweet Candy]

The base of this nail polish is Orly's Orange Punch, a jelly-ish vermillion nail polish. The tips of my nails and the polish on my ring finger is LA Girl Glissand which is a pink textured matte polish. Glissand isn't terribly textured to be honest, and it dries slower than most matte polish.

After I sealed it all with Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat, the combination of high glossyness on jelly polish against the frosted matte reminds me of hard candy and chewy soft ones.

[Base polish: Orly Orange Pinch
Tips and ring finger: LA Girl Glissand]

Using free hand to do my tips resulted in doing them a liiiiittle bit too deep. Oops!

Lights Out! - Born Pretty BP-BAW02 Dark Chocolate, LA Girl Flamboyant, Missha The Style Lucid #2, ZA #05

Okay.. so it's no secret that I love glitter. SO MUCH! What I don't love is the removal of glitter polish. SO MUCH!

[Super luxe]

Now, I know peel-off glitter base has been around for a while, but the ones I've tried have a really thick formula and take forever to dry so I've never really used them much. I decided to give it a go again recently and chose this item for review from Born Pretty. This is BP-BAW02 Dark Chocolate from the Born Pretty White Black Series Peel Off Nail Polish.

[Bottle to nail: Born Pretty Peel Off Nail Polish BP-BAW02 Dark Chocolate (1 coat)]

Don't be fooled by the name! Based on the product page, I was aware that I was purchasing a black polish, and not any sort of chocolate-related colour.

[1 coat: Born Pretty BP-BAW02 Dark Chocolate]

Onto the polish itself.. I LOVE IT. It is super super pigmented, this is just one-coat, no topcoat. Thin-to-medium formula and quick dry time. Even if it doesn't work as a nail polish, I would love it just as a black one-coater base for sheer or glitter polishes!

[Left to right: LA Girl Flamboyant, Missha The Style Lucid #2, ZA #05]

So to give it a go, I then did a french glitter gradient and an gradient accent nail with the polishes above. Interesting note, that ZA polish is one of the first nail polishes I coveted and purchased when I was a teenager. It thickened up over time, but late last year, I saved it with some polish thinner and I'm pleased as punch with myself!

[Base: Born Pretty BP-BAW02 Dark Chocolate (1 coat)
Glitter: LA Girl Flamboyant, Missha The Style Lucid #2, ZA #05]

So after doing the glitter gradients, I topped off with two generous coats of topcoat to smooth it all out. I then wore this mani for about a week to try it out, as one of my gripes about peel off basecoat previously is that sometimes it just peels itself off after a shower.

[One Piece!]

Glad to say I had no issues here and it only came off when I started picking at it intentionally. As you can see above, it came off nicely in one piece on the accent nails! I managed to peel it off the other nails, but not in a nice whole piece which I'm pretty sure is I didn't coat the entire nail in glitter so it was only a single thin layer of the black polish so it was harder to get off in one piece.

Overall, I'm really happy with this product and can see myself making use of it heaps in future! You can check it out here - it also comes in white! As usual, code above will give you 10% off full priced products at Born Pretty. =)

String Art Manicure (complete with video!) - Essie, Elianto, LA Girl, Australis, Born Pretty nail art mat

Today, we have something a little different. I did an abstract art manicure using a silicone nail art mat and string art. Yes, string art. I'm bringing kindergarten level art into this.

[String nail art]

Today is an unusual post because I have a video tutorial! A first for myself, and a lot of learning to be had while making it, haha. You can watch the video here:

But if you still want to read a tutorial, here's a simple one:

1. First, paint ten patches of nail polish as the base for your decals. I just paint them wherever nowadays.

2. Get thin semi-glossy magazine papers and sandwich the silicone nail art mat between them. Paint the end of a sewing thread with nail polish and put it on the patches of nail polish. Close the paper over the thread and mat, press down with one hand gently, then pull out the thread from between the paper and the mat.

3. You got your first pattern, now! It'll look something like the pattern below. Now keep going with your choice of nail polish, and repeat step 2 several times over.

Here are some progress shots as I layered on string art patterns:

Unfortunately, one nail patch did come off and stuck to the underside of the paper. I peeled it off the paper, stuck it back on to the mat with application of nail polish beneath the patch and kept going. It worked fine up to the last round, then it came off again because I hadn't given the fix enough drying time. It was still salvageable to be used on my pinkie finger since that one's so much smaller.

Peel off all the nail patches from the mat, apply base polish to your nails and then press on these nail patches. Remove any excess bits of nail polish and then seal it with a clear top coat. Then you get the following!

[String nail art]

You can use any nail polish (although preferably, nothing quick dry for the string art parts). The nail polishes I used were:
- Essie Private Weekend
- Blue and green Elianto nail polishes
- LA Girl Hustle
- Australis Fairmont Fling
- Australis Pinot-Dah

Maybe I'm biased, but I love this string art manicure (stringnicure???). :D  It's just so bright and colourful and it looks so artistic. That's an achievement considering how un-artistic I am.

Anyway, hope you enjoy and let me know if you try this out!

Start with a splash - MdU Black, Born Pretty BP-L053, Revlon, LA Girl, Milani

Hello, 2017! How's five days of the new year treating everyone?

[Start the year with a splash...of colours!]

I decided to greet the new year with stamping (to keep with my 2016 trend) on top of gradient mani (callback to older manis I love).

You might recall my gradient mani from last week, which I go into detail here. Click that link if you want to see all the nail polish I used to create the mani, there's just too many to go into again. I rather loved the look of the diagonal gradient mani, and I wanted to prolong its lifespan, so I decided to stamp over it. You can see where it's chipped a little at the edges, and how that's mostly obscured by the stamped pattern. :P

[Born Pretty BP-L053]

I used MdU Black stamping nail polish, with a pattern from Born Pretty's stamping plate BP-L053, to stamp over the gradient nail polish. MdU Black is a really good stamping nail polish. It's a rather thick creme polish and it's easy to handle. I've put a magenta box around the pattern I used on BP-L053 above. As you can see from the pattern on the plate and the pattern on my nails, my nails are too narrow to display the full pattern, which is a shame because I like the spiky edges of it.

[Base gradient mani: Revlon Watermelon Fizz, Revlon Orange Fizz, Revlon Pineapple Fizz,
L.A. Girl Watermelon Splash, Milani Cyberspace, Revlon Blueberry Burst, Revlon Mystical, Revlon Mint Fizz
Stamping: MdU Black, Born Pretty BP-L053

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It's a nice stamping pattern and I just love how the colourful background looks through the stamped black lines.

All in all, it's taken me many months but I think I've come a long way with stamping, something I started trying in 2016. I still have some ways to go in terms of improvement, I think, but at least I'm much happier with the results these days. :)

Any nail polish new year's resolution, folks?

Rainbow on a Cloudy Day - Revlon, LA Girl, Milani

With the year we're currently having, I need some cheering up before we ring in the new year and I'm cheering myself up with the use of colours!

[Somewhere over the rainbow]

I was trying for a diagonal gradient mani, although I didn't angle the colour change enough for the middle finger so it's not very diagonal, is it? I also wanted the colours to shift to a purple-ish hue at bottom corner of the nail, but it didn't turn out very clearly except for the index finger. I gave up entirely for the last finger, and I think I like that gradient best actually.

[Left to right: Revlon Watermelon Fizz, Revlon Orange Fizz, Revlon Pineapple Fizz,
L.A. Girl Watermelon Splash, Milani Cyberspace, Revlon Blueberry Burst, Revlon Mystical, Revlon Mint Fizz]

I was too lazy to use the sponging method so I pulled out a few jelly nail polishes to see how many colours I could cram into a single mani. Not too bad, I think.

I used a white creme nail polish for the base, to ensure the jelly nail polishes on top would really pop in colour, since most of them are jelly nail polishes. Then as I went from one colour to the next, I overlapped the colours so that they would blend better. The only tips I really have are that you should try to work fast and use few strokes. If you're too slow, it turns into a gloopy mess. Too many strokes and you end up with overly thick layers.

Now, rather than an essay, here's a list to cover the nail polishes from left to right:

• Revlon Watermelon Fizz - A scented red jelly nail polish with small gold flakies
• Revlon Orange Fizz - A scented orange jelly nail polish with small gold flakies
• Revlon Pineapple Fizz - A scented yellow jelly nail polish with small gold flakies
• L.A. Girl Watermelon Splash - A scented green jelly nail polish with small gold flakies
• Milani Cyberspace - Not a jelly nail polish, but a light blue holo nail polish with a thin consistency that if applied sparingly, is almost jelly-ish
• Revlon Blueberry Burst - An extremely jelly mid-blue nail polish, the sort that will never build to full opacity
• Revlon Mystical - From the Just Tinted collection, a plummy-pink jelly nail polish
• Revlon Mint Fizz - A scented blue jelly nail polish with silvery flakies. This one is not that jelly-ish and can reach full opacity in 3 coats

Let me explain Mystical's inclusion in this line-up. It does rather break the visual gradient when lined up like that, doesn't it? As I was looking to add a touch of purple into the mani, and I didn't actually have a purple jelly polish that wasn't too dark in shade for this, I opted to add a little bit of pink to the blue to give it the purple hue. I had to include Mint Fizz to touch up the transition in places as well.

[Revlon Watermelon Fizz, Revlon Orange Fizz, Revlon Pineapple Fizz, 
L.A. Girl Watermelon Splash, Milani Cyberspace, Revlon Blueberry Burst, Revlon Mystical, Revlon Mint Fizz]

I'm pretty pleased with the rainbow effect, and it's reminded me how much I miss gradient manis and the like! This is a simple form of nail art, and I love the results.

Afternoon Tea - LA Girl Indulge, China Glaze Ahoy!, Born Pretty BP-L023

Stamping over a gradient is always a winner in my book! Here's what I did over last week's gradient..

[Yum yum]

Mmm, coffee, ice cream, caaaaake! This one's specially dedicated to my friend C, who not only gave me the polishes used here, but also loves her caffeine and desserts! =)

[Base: La Girl Color Addict Indulge (2 coats); Tips: China Glaze Ahoy!]

Quick reminder of last week - A base of LA Girl Color Addict Indulge with a sponged on gradient of China Glaze Ahoy!

[Born Pretty BP-L023]

We were generously provided with some plates for review from Born Pretty and this is one of them. Plate BP-L023 - check it out here! Isn't it just scrumptious! Like all Born Pretty plates, this one arrived with a gorgeous cardboard sleeve for storage and was covered in a protective blue film.

[Born Pretty BP-L023]

Here it is with the film removed. There's all sorts of adorable patterns on here that I'm really looking forward to testing out - the pineapple and citrus slice ones in particular are great summer designs! For my manicure today, I tested out the coffee-dessert one in the second row from top, fifth from the left.

[Base: La Girl Color Addict Indulge (2 coats); Tips: China Glaze Ahoy!;
Stamping: Hit The Bottle As Black As Night, Born Pretty BP-L023]

..and here it is! I was really impressed by how clearly the designs were picked up - even the steam rising off the coffee mug came through really nicely. I used a plain black creme stamping polish from Hit The Bottle: As Black As Night for this stamping.

[Base: La Girl Color Addict Indulge (2 coats); Tips: China Glaze Ahoy!;
Stamping: Hit The Bottle As Black As Night, Born Pretty BP-L023]

All up, I was really pleased with the way this turned out and the quality of the plate - can't wait to try out the other designs!

I got so excited, I actually did a quick test of some of the other full nail designs. I'm so impressed by the quality of transfer, just look at that! Some are lacking polish at the top of the design not due to the plate, but because I just did one quick swipe of polish along the bottom before scraping so it wasn't enough to fill the plate - especially those with so much space to fill. But seriously, check out those teacups!

Once again, this plate is available from Born Pretty here, along with heaps of other cool nail art stuff at very reasonable prices with free shipping. As if that's not good enough, just use our code above for an extra 10% off, wooooo!

Orange Raspberry - LA Girl Color Addict Indulge, China Glaze Ahoy!

One of my friends very recently gifted me a few polishes to add to my pile, so I decided to use some of them in a mani together!

[Juiced up]

It turned out pretty juicy! A bit on the summery side, but probably a nice reminder of warmer days now that we're heading straight for colder weather.

[Bottle to nail: LA Girl Color Addict Indulge (2 coats)]

I started with a base of LA Girl Color Addict in Indulge, a super juicy orange with lots of gold shimmer. If you were really careful, you could possibly get this opaque in one coat. However, I think two thin ones work best.

[ 2 coats: LA Girl Color Addict Indulge]

Absolutely a dream to work with, nice even formula with lots of pigment. Quick dry time as well.

[Bottle to nail: China Glaze Ahoy!; Base: LA Girl Color Addict Indulge (2 coats)]

Over the tips, I then sponged on China Glaze Ahoy! from the Anchors Away collection, which is a blue-leaning pink with large flecks of gold shimmer all the way through. 

[Base: LA Girl Color Addict Indulge (2 coats); Tips: China Glaze Ahoy!]

It's not a perfectly smooth gradient in photos, but it looks much more gradual from afar. I think the trick here is using the two polishes which both contain a gold shimmer.

It ended up being quite a subtle gradient but one I'm quite happy with!

The Gold and the Beau-Teal-Ful - LA Girl Teal Dimension, Lacquistry Amazeballz: Original

I'm still working through my old photos from several months back. Here's a shiny mani!

[Base: LA Girl Teal Dimension
Tips: Lacquistry Amazeballz: Original]

I love the teal and gold combo, so I did a French mani of those colours. The base polish is LA Girl Teal Dimension which is absolutely gorgeous. My camera doesn't capture the holo flecks so well here, but my first swatch did a pretty good job of it if you're interested to see  how holo it gets. I really do love this nail polish. Then, I did the tips with Lacquistry Amazeballz: Original. You can also see a super shiny swatch of it here.

In my opinion, you can't go wrong with these two polishes!

Gold Veins - LA Girl Delirious, African Jade nail transfer foil

Work has been so busy recently! My colleagues have mentioned how surprised they are that I haven't had polish on my nails for a while, oh dear...

Well, when times are busy, a good transfer foil is a quick way to get a fancy manicure on...

[What it says...]

This is one of the first transfer foils I ever purchased - African Jade, a matte teal base with gold foil patterning over it. Sorta already looks like an abstract gold foiled over a polish base!

[Bottle to nail: LA Girl Delirious]

I started with a matching base as usual to hide any spots where the transfer was missed. This is LA Girl Color Addict in Delirious, a teal with gold shimmer. I previously swatched it, so for more on that polish, check out this post.

[Transfer foil: African Jade]

I then put on a layer of foil glue over the whole nail and waited 10-15 minutes (I got distracted..) before applying the transfer. For more comprehensive steps for using nail transfer foils, you can look through our tag. =)

[Transfer foil: African Jade]

The final product! I used a quickdry topcoat because I didn't mind the gold part wrinkling up. As the teal bits don't wrinkle, it adds a bit of textural contrast between the two shades! I'm all hyped up to used more of my massive(ly unused) collection of nail art foils, so perhaps there'll be more posts like this in the near future...