China Glaze and Dance Legend Top Prismatic

Ah, I've finally got a summer color on the blog before the season ends! Shell-o by China Glaze is from the Summer 2013 Sunsational collection. It's a bright neon pink that took about four layers to build up but was well worth the dry time! The formula was quite thin and a tad on the streaky side which required extra careful application to hide the bald spots. I topped Shell-o with two coats of Dance Legend's holographic top coat, Top Prismatic.

(Direct sunlight)

(Direct sunlight)

I did this mani while on vacation in Cuba so they are taken under the Cuban sun! I relaxed the whole time so please look past the very plain nails and poor cuticle care. Have you gone anywhere this summer or have plans to go anywhere?

China Glaze polishes can be purchased at Nail Polish Canada and Dance Legend polishes can be found on Llarowe.

Thanks for reading!

*All products mentioned in this post were purchased myself.

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Nail Polish Canada's Great Polish Giveaway 2014

(Photo courtesy of NPC)

This awesome giveaway is hosted by Nail Polish Canada in partnership with Picture Polish, Cirque and NCLA who all generously donated polishes! For this giveaway, NPC did things a little differently. Instead of picking the prizes themselves they have allowed every blogger who shares this giveaway the opportunity to pick a polish of their choice to add to the prize pool. The current polish count is at 64 and can reach up to a maximum of 200 bottles! 

As I'm a sucker for blues, the polish I chose is Lilypad Lacquer's Sea Queen!




How can you win all these great polishes you ask? You can win by entering my Rafflecopter widget below as well as entering on other blogs that chose polishes for this giveaway!

Good luck! This giveaway is open to all Canadian and United States residents. If this giveaway reaches it's maximum, you could be adding 200 new polishes to your collection!





a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Colors by Llarowe Independence Day

Last weekend an extremely damaged package arrived at my front door and I was bummed! I knew it was  my huge Colors by Llarowe Summer 2014 pre-order containing over 30 bottles. I hoped and prayed it wasn't damaged and thankfully they all arrived safely thanks to Llarowe's shipping team! After unwrapping them all, Independence Day was calling my name .. Melanie, Melanie, Melaniiieee.

Independence Day is part of the micro-glitters for CbL's Summer collection. It is described as a "deep royal blue jelly base with holographic micro glitter" The polish did dry with a matte finish but looked amazing both with and without a top coat.

I'd like to note that this polish is incredibly difficult to photograph. My camera and eyes were freaking out from all the awesome-ness radiating from this polish. The sparkle in these pictures are just what my camera could capture!

This polish could be a one coater, but I chose to do two for safe measure. It applied great and dried really quickly because it's packed with glitter. Removal was easy and there was no staining!

 Here is two coats of Independence Day:

(Artificial lighting, no top coat)

(With flash, no top coat)

(Artificial lighting, top coat)

And another close up to see all the holo micro-glitter goodness!

(Artificial lighting, top coat)

I added some simple stamping nail art with Lily Anna plate 01 using Barry M's Silver Foil. I like the result because of the crispness in the design, but felt like this design hid the beautiful base colour! What do you think?

Overall, I'd just like to say I LOVE this polish! I cannot wait to try the other micro glitters from the collection. If they are anywhere close to Independence Day the money was well worth it.

Colors by Llarowe and Barry M can both be purchased from Llarowe.

Lily Anna stamping plates can be found at Messy Mansion.

Thanks for reading!

*All products mentioned in this post were purchased myself.

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Enchanted Polish Afternoon Delight

My grandpa recently past away and like many polish-holics, I occupied myself with polish. I needed something I could wear to the funeral and this was the mani I ended up with. From my previous posts it's evident I rarely ever wear nude/ beige colors so these are what I consider my conservative nails!

 Enchanted Polish Afternoon Delight is a beautiful nude holo! The polish has a slight blue shimmer to it in the shade but in the sunlight this baby was a full on holo! Although I don't wear nudes that often, I loved this colour on me! It applied flawlessly and had an average dry time.

Here is Afternoon Delight with two coats:

(With flash)

(In the shade)

On the accent nail I did a bit of stamping with Konad's Special White polish and MoYou London Pro Collection 06 (XL) for the swirly design.

(Direct sunlight)

 

 

What do you think of this color? I'm really digging this color and think this will be my go-to nude polish!

Enchanted Polish can be found on their website during restocks but it's best to sign up for newsletters and occasionally check the site as Chelsea's polishes go fast!

MoYou London plates can be found on their website as well as on Amazon.

Thanks for reading!

*All products mentioned in this post were purchased myself.

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Zoya Veruschka

Holy Batman, it's been a while!

Zoya Veruschka is a gorgeous deep shimmery green with a velvet-matte finish. In it's original state the polish is really nice. But when you add a top coat, wow! I definitely preferred the top coated version but both versions look beautiful! The Zoya I'm using is from the original release of the Matte Velvet collection but it was recently re-released in 2013 and available on their website.

Here is 2 coats of Veruschka with and without topcoat to show the different look between the two:

(Flash)

(Flash)

(Flash)

 And here's another bonus angle I thought you would all appreciate:

(Artificial light)

Which version do you prefer? I personally loved the top coat version!

I decided to stamp some birds, leaves and flowers over this colour since the green reminds me of the forest. For this design I used parts of MoYou London's Mother Nature/ Landscape 02 plate and Barry M's Gold Foil:

(Direct sunlight)

Zoya can be purchased on their website, MoYou London can be purchased on their website or Amazon, and Barry M on their website and through stockists.

Thanks for reading!

*All products mentioned in this post were purchased myself. 

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Nabi Cinnahon Chevron

First of all, I'm sorry for not posting for so long! I finished my last class ever and just took a bit of a break because I'm finally free from school (can I hear a woohoo?!). I am officially a college graduate!

Today I have a chevron mani for you which was surprisingly super easy to do! I was previously making my own chevron stickers using scotch tape but they  kept ripping when I pulled them off. So, I decided to try to paint the tape, cut it with zigzag scissors and seal with a top coat but that was very time consuming and not as precise as I'd like.

Thankfully, while I was browsing Instagram I discovered Nail Vinyls! I purchased a value pack while they had a sale and decided to give them a try. I tried them, love them and can't wait to do more manis with their other designs I purchased!

I started with a holo polish for my base. This is three thin coats of Nabi Cinnahon (3-D Rainbow Effect), no top coat:

(Flash and artificial lighting)

(Artificial lighting)

The benefits for this polish outweighed the disadvantages. Firstly, the polish is around $3, it dried very quickly, and there is a huge range of colors! The only thing I did not like was that because the polish is so thin it drags and creates bald spots. But the thin formula also allowed the three layers that I applied to dry relatively quickly. I can live with this though because the colors are quite pretty and again, the price is awesome!

Then I applied the Nail Vinyl Chevron Minis and painted on one thick layer of American Apparel Office, a mint green creme, over it. I quickly removed the Nail Vinyls as the instructions state that they send along with them. I chose an American Apparel polish on purpose because they are usually one coaters which is the type of polish you want to use.

This is the final result:

(Indirect sunlight)

What do you think of the color combination? I think it's a perfect Easter mani! Have you tried Nail Vinyls (or any other nail sticker brands) before?

American Apparel can be purchased in stores or on their website. Nail Vinyls can be purchased through their Storenvy. Lastly, more information about Nabi can be found on their website.

Thanks for reading!


*All products mentioned in this post were purchased myself. 

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Jade Holographic Gradient

Taking a step back from stamping for a bit, I give you gradients! I love doing gradients because they are so easy to do and people either ask if they are nail stickers or what salon you went to. Score!

So here are Jade polishes Falling Star and Mirage and on the accent finger is A-England Camelot and Ninja Polish Caribbean Reef:

(Artificial lighting and flash)

(Direct sunlight - Sunset)

(Indirect sunlight)

The technique I used for this mani was I painted my nails first with Jade Mirage and let it dry. Then I used a makeup sponge, painted both Mirage and Falling Star and then sponged them on my nail with a slight up and down movement from base to tip. Sometimes, if I know the polishes are opaque in one coat I usually skip the first step of painting my nails and dive right into the second and sponge both colors on.

The accent finger was the same except with the Ninja Polish Caribbean Reef glitter and only dabbed more on the tip of the nail.

Products mentioned in this post can be purchased through the Llarowe, Ninja Polish, Color 4 Nails and other select resellers of A-England and Jade.

Thanks for reading!

*All products mentioned in this post were purchased myself. 

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Girly Bits Roger That

Made in memory of Brady Rogers, $5 from every bottle of this polish sold goes to the Brady Rogers Memorial Bursary.
 Roger That by Girly Bits Cosmetics is a gorgeous, vibrant blue holo inspired by Brady's eyes.

As blue is my all time favourite color I loved this polish! It is so bright and reminds me of the ocean. When applied it was
 opaque in two coats, dried within 15-20 minutes and went on great! Here is two coats of Girly Bits Roger, no top coat:

(Artificial lighting and flash)

I decided to stamp Roger That with Essence Gold Digger from the Metal Glam collection using the Fab Ur Nails Fun 7 plate:

(Indirect sunlight)

I love this color combo! I'm pleasantly surprised with this design because let's be honest, sometimes ideas look good in your head but don't translate well on the nail. Have you experienced this before? It can't just be me!

Girly Bits Cosmetics is a Canadian polish maker and can be purchased on their website and other distributors. Be sure to follow them on Facebook too!

FUN plates can be purchased by contacting Fab Ur Nails and through her distributors.

Thanks for reading!

*All products mentioned in this post were purchased myself. 

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A-england Camelot with Holo Stamping

A-england's Camelot is one of my favourite blacks ever! I think a good black is essential for any nail polish owner whether it's to wear alone, as a base to a glitter polish or for some free handed nail art, you can't go wrong with black! I've found myself reaching for this polish quite often.

I actually applied 2 coats because I like the polish on my nail to be a bit thicker in case I don't stamp as perfectly as I had hoped! Thankfully the quality of Dashica plates are really good and I didn't have to redo any of them. This design is from Dashica plate Big SdP A2 and stamped with Color Club Harp On:

(Direct sunlight)

(Flash and sunlight)

(Indirect sunlight)

(Artificial lighting and flash)

I cannot express how much I love Camelot! This creme black is a one coater! It applied effortlessly and dried with no streaks. Drying time for Camelot was also really good when compared to other polishes that take 2-3 layers with dry time in between! I definitely recommend this polish for anyone searching for the perfect black!

This Dashica plate is one of their newer releases. The images on this plate are huge!  It stamped flawlessly with the Color Club polish which shows really well on top of the black.

I'm really loving this mani, what do you think?

A-england polishes can be purchased on their website or through several international distributors. They can be found on Facebook as well!

Dashica products can be purchased on their website or through email. They can also be found on Facebook!

*All products mentioned in this post were purchased myself.

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Too Fancy Lacquer Snitches Get Stiches

Today I have a group custom by Too Fancy Lacquer called Snitches Get Stitches. Unfortunately, because it is a custom polish it isn't available for purchase to the public. Thankfully, Charlene does have a number of other gorgeous polishes you can purchase. She is located in Hong Kong and has very reasonable international shipping rates!

Snitches Get Stitches is a very deep, dark purple packed with lots of holo goodness! The holo is the strongest under direct sunlight but unfortunately, it's been very gloomy here and I didn't get to photograph under direct sunlight. Here it is with 2 layers and no top coat:

(Artificial lighting, no flash)

(Flash)

(Flash and artificial lighting)

This polish applied flawlessly. As previously mentioned, these pictures were taken without a topcoat and as you can see, there is no streaking and it has a glossy finish! The dry time was relatively quick as well. I was able to apply my stamp design about 15 minutes after my second layer of polish was applied.

Here is TFL's Snitches Get Stitches stamped using Essence Steel-ing The Scene and Dashica Big SdP U stamping plate:

(Flash and artificial lighting)

 (Indirect sunlight)

I think the design turned out really good! Sorry for the poor photos, cuticles, lighting and everything in these pictures! I'm learning, I'm learning, bear with me!

Too Fancy Lacquer can be purchased on their website and several stockists, follow TFL on Facebook for more information!

Dashica products can be purchased on their website (they're working on a website in several languages!) or through email. They can also be found on Facebook!

Thanks for reading!

*All products mentioned in this post were purchased myself.

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My Very First Post!

Oh, hey there!

So you've found my new blog and you're reading my first post ever! (Yay!) Thanks for taking the time to read this, I'll be sure to keep it short. I'd love to know how you stumbled on my little journal of polish adventures, leave me a comment below! And if you have a blog yourself and would like me to follow, let me know and your wish is my command!

I use polish as my stress reliever from work, life and school! After many years of painting my nails religiously I've decided to start a blog to share everything I've learned and love about polish. From formulas, to new trends, stamping, techniques and everything in between! I am in no way a professional. I do my nails for fun and often times learn from other bloggers and polish friends I have met in different communities.

I'm also looking to improve my skills because if you've seen my nails before .. Well, they are just embarrassing! I'd like to think my nails have improved greatly since then, but you can be the judge of that!

You can find a bit more about me here! :)

That's it for now! Thanks for reading, I hope you'll be back! If not, I'll be the only one reading these and I'm talking to myself right now ..

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