Oh Canada!

Today is Canada Day! Which means it's time for a Canadian manicure! I say that like I do something every year, when in reality this is a first. And I wont lie, it's mainly because I find the maple leaf complicated to draw. It's easy, but even easier to mess up. So I was thrilled that I had a maple leaf stamp to use from The Born Pretty Store.

Honestly though, the manicure is just ok. I used Barry M Blood Orange for the solid red, and I used Essie Fishnet stockings for the stamping, as Blood Orange was horrible to stamp with. Then I just added OPI's My Boyfriend Scales Walls to the red nails. I also used that as a base for the stamping. The red was streaking all over the place 1)Because that red has a tendency to bleed and streak and 2)I had JUST thinned out my top coat, and it's more watery consistency did not help the cause :/

What do you think? Have I failed the country I love so much?

PS. I feel so bad I'm running a couple days late with a review post, but I have no light box which is making photos harder to take. Hopefully in the next couple of days I will have one. It will make taking photos soooooooo much easier!

PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBYN!

OPI Absolutely Alice - You're All I Ever Wanted

If you didn't catch it that was an N'Sync reference in the title. I didn't want to do it but it was the only thing that popped into my head.

I'm going to let you guys in on a little something. Despite the fact that I don't post as much as I used to I still do my nails just as often, and still collect photos. So I'm constantly sitting on a pile of posts that are weeks behind. Oddly enough, this polish, is one of them.

I don't know why I didn't post this sooner, because I was over the moos(That's a typo that I like) excited when I put this on. Absolutely Alice is from OPI's Alice in Wonderland Spring 2010 collection. Now this was before I really got into polish, so I missed out on it. It was the first polish that I saw online that I needed to have.  So long story short I bought this 2 years ago for $27 USD(It's technically the most I have paid for a polish. I don't count more expensive things like Chanel because I bought all mine at retail value) and this is the fist time I'm wearing it.

Application was a breeze. All I needed was 3 easy coats. Although I could have used 2, but with new polishes I prefer trying them out with thinner coats. The blue and the gold micro glitter work perfectly together. Sadly this is one of those colours that will never be as good in photos. Even though I spent quite a bit on this I do not regret it at all!

 Added some art after a couple days

One more thing. If you participated in the Nail Polish Canada Easter Nail Art Challenge you should head on over here and do the peer vote. Vote for me and my bloody bunny nail art :P

I don't love you?

So generally I don't post my fails, or things I just don't like.   Now just to clarify fails to me are things I look at and say "That's really not pleasant to look at".  Things i don't like are more along the lines of "You look ok, but I'm not feeling you".  This manicure originally from January, fell in to the I don't like it category.   I thought it looked just ok on the nail, and I just hated it when I photographed it.  But this morning I was going through photos I had that I never posted when I came across this the photos again.  And I can honestly say I didn't not like it nearly as much as I did before.  I can't say I love it but I'm pretty sure I like it now :P

Oh and I used OPI's Dating a Royal and Glow Up Already!

Do you share things you just feel meh about?

Yay! More nail wraps!!! + Well that's inappropriate.

So I've been super busy the past 2 weeks doing shows.  I finally managed to get all our wishlist giveaway winners prizes(and a little something extra), but I have not had any time to mail them because of rehearsals intertwined with shows.  Anyways yesterday I watched a bit of a sketch comedy troupe perform.  I came in midway through their final sketch I have no idea what it was about but, they made a black face joke and I remember thinking "Please don't actually come out in blackface".  Apparently that would have been asking for too much.  They finished the sketch with a guy coming out with blackface on and covered in photos of gorilla...bits...  Now I realize that art is subjective but...no.

Now this is a manicure I wore last week it's OPI Pure Lacquer Nail Apps in Geometric Sparkles. It looks exactly like it sounds :P I'm a big fan of nail wraps as a whole, and this is the first OPI one I have tried.  As you can see from the name these are made from real polish.  They are simple to put on.  Just select the appliqué that fits your nail, and if there's none just find the closest fit ans trim it so it fits properly.  Then peel off the clear covering and gently peel the appliqué of the white back.  Position it on a clean nail, press it down and be careful not to wrinkle it.  File or melt off the tip with acetone, then finish with topcoat!

Now the package says that it comes with base and topcoat, but I stall added both.  It just made everything look a bit neater.  One thing I noticed with these were compared to the other nail polish apps I have tried(Incoco) these are much more delicate, once they touch your nail they had better be in the right place.

Overall I really liked these, but I did get them on sale.  I'm not sure it would be something I shelled out full price for.  But they were still relatively easy to apply, and I can never say no to easy nail art.

A Very Cuccio Christmas

Sorry, I wish I could have kept that title non-denominational…but I love some good alliteration.

Today I have some wonderful polishes and simple holiday looks to show you from a brand that just isn't getting enough love on the blog circuit - Cuccio Naturale. I own two Cuccio polishes, both of which I received through Topbox. The colours are gorgeous and the wear time is great.

First up: Moscow Red Square, a cool red shimmer perfect for the holidays. Red is my favourite colour (that is a lie, my favourite colour is all of them) and this is the red I have longed for. The formula is a little bit runny, but very manageable with 3 thin coats. You could easily get away with 2, but I bumped my nails and scuffed them :P oops! No topcoat here.

I topped it with OPI Pirouette My Whistle for a pretty snowy effect. Instant holiday cheer!

Tel-Aviv About It! is my perfect neutral. When I first saw this polish, I wasn't too excited. After putting it on, however, it was true love. It's a perfect medium tan. In some lights, I swear I see a lilac undertone. 2 coats plus Seche Vite.

For a simple holiday mani, I stamped with Maybelline Bold Gold and Winstonia plate W120, and matted the finished look. I prefer nail art that is isn't too BAM-in-your-face-CHRISTMAS, so this is a nice, subdued look for me. Without direct light for photographing, the stamping is very subtle. I love it!

Are you as enamoured with these colours as I am? If you would like to purchase some Cuccio polishes for yourself, you can get them through Cuccio Naturale's website or Transdesign.

Have a warm and happy holiday!

China Glaze Bells Will Be Blinging: Snow is great in theory.

I love looking at the snow fall while having a cup of something hot(BUT NOT TOO HOT), especially when its a heavy snowfall.  But the minute I have to go outside it becomes horrible, glorified, hard water, that will inevitably turn into dirty slush as it melts.  Also as most of us know due to science, it needs to be cold for there to be snow.  I hate that too, the cold.  The only thing good about winter is it looks pretty and Christmas.  I would say "Damn you Australia," but I also hate really hot weather.  As you can see I am a ray of sunshine.

Today I have another polish sent to me by Nail Polish Canada.  China Glaze Bells Will Be Blinging.  It is also part of their Christmas Collection this year as well as the Dash of Dazzle trio.  Now in theory I shouldn't love this polish.  It's a glitter storm that includes small piece of blue glitter, slightly larger pieces of silver glitter and the pièce de resistance, holographic bar glitter.  Now I'm not usually crazy about glitters, but I liked this.  It reminded me of a snowstorm, when all the snow is falling, and the wind is also blowing it about.  I was ok with the bar glitter because even though it was small they weren't skinny like in those "fuzzy" polishes.  So they never reminded me of hair, or creepy bugs.  Application was easy and even, I only needed one coat over OPI's Dating a Royal.  To me this is a great Christmas/Winter glitter!

Natural outdoor lighting

 Natural indoor lighting

 You can see the holo here

If you would like to polish the Dash of Dazzle Trio you can get it over at Nail Polish Canada for $15.00CND.  Or you can buy the polish on it's own for $6.95CND.  And for a limited time all orders(no matter what the price) will be shipped for free within Canada!

Who else hates snow but likes things that remind them of snow?

*Product Sent for honest review

OPI - Blue My Mind...*giggle*: YOU MADE ME INTO WHAT I AM TODAY!!!

So over the years I have always had nail polish, but never more than maybe 7 or so bottles.  Then Just over 3 years ago I say an OPI buy 1 get 1 half off sale, and decided to get two bottles.  I bought OPI's Blue My Mind *giggle* and Royal Rajah Ruby(one of my all time favs).  Little did I know those two polishes would start my slow, sickening ascent into nail madness.  That being said 3 years later my collection is tame compared to other collectors.  I only have a mere 250ish.  What can I say.  I'm a picky polisher.

OPI's Blue My Mind *giggles* is a great name first of all.  It's ok to have the humor or a 15 year old boy sometimes.  This is one of those times.  Blue My Mind *giggle*  is an dark electric blue, with a metallic finish.  I used 3 coats, but you can get away with 2 of you used thicker coats.  In the photos you can see streaks, but these are not noticeable at all in real life.

I adore this polish because it is on the dark side, and yet it is still bold and vibrant.  If you are a fan of blues or darker colours this is a polish for you.  It's also one of the few bottles of polish I have pretty much finished.  OPI's retail for around 8$ USD and Blue My Mind is part of their core line (CORE LIKE LOVE!).

What was the polish that turned you?  Or what turned you on to any of your (somewhat healthy) addictions?

hey look a post from Robyn

HEY FRIENDS

Since Fingers posted this super cute dotticure, I've had this colour combo rolling around in my head. Dots are definitely not my forte, but I love me some stripes!

My base colour is OPI French Quarter for Your Thoughts, a light, creamy grey. I love this colour so much, I think it's the only polish I've worn 3 times within a month!

 

With striping tape and OPI Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window*, I made some diagonal stripes along half of each nail. The tip is Essie Go Overboard, with a gold stud for shazam. I think it looks very military.

How much do you love striping tape!?

*The worst polish name ever. Everyone gets their own gross mental image with this one. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, SUZI.

LynBDesigns - Ghostlike Charms

Here is my fourth polish from LynBDesigns The Nightmare Begins collection!

Ghostlike Charms is a sheer, cloudy polish, full of purple micro shimmer.  It also has silver and holographic glitter, in small squares, hex's and bars.

I don't know what it is but recently I have been really digging these more girly, soft colours.  I mean it's not something I would wear most of the time, but considering there was a time I wouldn't even consider wearing stuff like this.

I first decided to layer it over something dark, so I used Barry M's Dusky Mauve.  It also has similar fine shimmer but it's fine enough that the cloudyness covered it.  I used 2 coats of Ghostlike Charms and I liked it.  But I must say I loved when I put 2 coats over OPI's My Pointe Exactly.  I thought this sheer gray would go perfectly with this.  And you know what?  It did.  In person I could not stop looking at it.  Although if I wear that combo again I either need to buff my nails or do another coat of the OPI(which I don't want to do because that takes at least 4 coats for full opacity).  My nails kinda made the manicure a little less stunning because the undies were so sheer and you could sort of see the yellow stains on my nails... :S

If you would like a bottle of this you can head over to LynBDesigns Etsy shop.  Polishes retail from between $8-$10USD.

*Product sent for honest review

The worst, most disappointing review you will ever read. We tried.

Hello friends! Today I want to show you a beautiful flakie polish from Born Pretty Store. I want to, but I really can't.

Dazzling Starry Magical Multicolored Shell Glitter Nail Art Polish Varnish in colour #4 is a "classic" flakie with a standard orange-green shift and hits of fuschia, giving it a bit more interest than most regular flakies. This polish has a slightly purple-tinted base, so it looks best over darker or well-saturated colours.

Now, let me tell you, I absolutely suck at taking photos. I blow hard at colour accuracy. My lighting is never quite right. My hands can never stay still enough to get the right angles. THIS POLISH WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO PHOTOGRAPH. Kas came over and we worked on this for 2 hours. We were ready to give up on life. So I need you to trust me when I say that in real life, it's absolutely gorgeous.

My base colour here is OPI Lincoln Park After Dark.

 We tried to take comparison shots for you, with Essie Shine of the Times. We failed. Base colour is NOPI Fell From The Tree. You can kinda see how the Sweet polish has that hint of pink.

HEY LOOK AT THE BOTTLE IT'S REALLY PRETTY

This is really all I can show you. All of our other photos represent failure on a mass scale and I'm deeply ashamed.

So if you believe me when I say this polish actually is really great, head over to Born Pretty Store and grab a bottle for only $8.99! Don't forget our coupon code for 10% off.

*Product sent for honest review

**We know we suck. We'll try harder next time. We're really sorry.

Nail Night!: Are you giving me hamburger nails?

So Robyn and I decided to have a nail night the other night.  The plan was simple.  Have a few drinks and do each others nails, but the other person had no clue what they were going to get.  But long story short, Robyn gave me pretty orange, black and gold nails and I gave her burger nails.

With real sesame seeds.

What did you expect from me?  Normal?

Robyn's manicure she did for me was an orange skittle design.  I personally don't do many skittle because for some reason coming up with ideas for more than two nails that are different is difficult for me. I loved the orange she used.  I can't think of the name right now but it's from a recent OPI collection.  The black studs did bleed a bit I should add.  But to my surprise the black striping tape did not!  I Don't know where she bought it but it held up well!

Note from Robyn: The orange is OPI A Roll In The Hague, stamped/striped with Maybelline Color Show Bold Gold, and the glitter is Milani 531 Gold. Striping tape from Born Pretty Store.The studs are from this fun little package that I got for my birthday!

These are burger nails.  I did them for Robyn.  They are majestic.  I used OPI's Over the Taupe, acrylic paint and sesame seeds.  I had to buy a bagel bun and scrape them off.  I treated the seeds like I would nail studs.  Then I finished with top coat so they didn't fall off/get wet.

Note from Robyn: I just finished watching Metalocalypse and all I could think was HAMBURGER TIME.

Do you guys ever have nail nights?

Textured Chevrons

Initially, I wasn't too sure about this season's texture trend. While reading up on it, I came across a swatch of OPI Get Your Number with topcoat...well, that holo glitter got me! I later found it in a discount bin and decided to go for it. After playing with it a bit, I kinda started to like the texture. Of course, I couldn't have just a boring, lumpy mani...

Starting with a base of Hot Topic Finn on every nail, I stacked shaped manicure guides from Born Pretty Store onto my index and middle fingers to create the pattern. One coat of Get Your Number, remove guides, bam! Pretty neat way to work the texture trend.

I actually like these a lot!

These would also be really easy to do with scotch tape. I'd like to try this look again with a contrasting base, or a more wild design with striping tape.

Have any of you wonderful readers tried any textured polishes?

Morse Code Nails!

These nails were a NIGHTMARE to do.  And if you think you know why they were a nightmare you are wrong.  It had nothing to do with the glitter by N.Nail which I got from KKCenterHk.

1) I did this manicure twice. I really wanted to used this glitter and do some Morse code.  Specifically Morse code tips.  But that didn't work out because the code was too long on my ring finger so I just replaced it with the actual letter.  I hand drew the dashes but they just turned out blah.  And to top it all off the black essence polish I used bubbled and then my top coat bubbled  So I just took it off.

2) Attempt number 2 I LOVE!  I think it looks fantastic!  I used OPI's Dating a Royal and it went on perfectly sans bubbles.  Also this time I did the codes vertically on my nails and they fit perfectly.  And to make sure my dashes were also perfect I taped it off and used Sally Hansen's Gilty Pleasure(I also used it in mani #1).  My problem was photographing it so I could show you it's beauty.  Glare city.  I must have taken maybe a few hundred photos.  That's also why my photos look more different than usual :P

That being said I love this glitter.  I got it in Jasmine Gold, because you can do a lot with gold, and I just really like this shade of gold.  It's not too yellow or orange.  The glitter is a tad on the bigger side of small at 2.5mm, but it applied easily.  And the pot it came in was quite large.  This will probably last me for a very long time.

One more thing:
_. = N
._ = A
.. = I
._.. = L
.. = S

 Attempt #1...*twitch twitch*

If you would like to grab a pot, head over here.  They retail for $8USD.  But you can use our coupon code 'varnishedvalkyrie' and get a 10% discount!

*product sent for honest review

Classy nails that took 3 days to do.

That was my first thought when I looked at these nails.  Classy.

I sort of love these 2mm Gold nail art chains from KKCenterHk.  I have been seeing them pop up every now and then over the past few months and I think they look amazing.  Especially this size.  While I'm not sure I would use it as a full manicure again(I wont lie they aren't hard to cut with normal scissors but they aren't exactly easy).  They are thin enough that they don't seem bulky.  Placement was also tricky to get all the chains lying flat.  Because at times when you were holding them they would bunch up.  I used nail glue on some fingers and topcoat on others.  I don't think the ones with the glue will come off any time soon.  And one of the topcoat ones already fell off :(  The problem with putting them on with TC is you have to move fast, and the faster I moved the more likely the chains were to bunch up.  I'm sure had I done the manicure in one go it would have stuck on easier(due to somewhat squishy polish).

Minor problems and all I can't wait to wear them again!

Oh and this took 3 days to do because I painted them white on day 1, added stripes on day 2 and finally added the chains on day 3.  That's just how I roll.

These retail for $4.25USD and each pack comes with 150cm of chain.  But get an additional 10% off with our discount code 'varnishedvalkyrie'!

Oh and who's ready for a giveaway...A REAL giveaway!

*Product was sent for honest review.

Literary Lacquers - Bionic Mmmm-Detector & My Secret Garden: Time to dust off those teal and erotic fiction tags.

So Amy the lovely lady, and brains behind Literary Lacquers was kind enough to send some bottles for me to review.  Before I get started let's just talk about what Literary Lacquers is(just in case the name itself didn't clue you in :P).  All of her polishes are based on books!  Which I think is an brilliant idea.  She will never run out of collections.  Also let's be honest it's a great way to make your fingers look pretty and at the same time maybe you find a book to read that you otherwise might not have found!

Today I'm starting out with 2 colours from Literary Lacquers collection inspired by erotic fiction.

First off is Bionic Mmmm-Detector.  Inspired by Nicholson Bakers novella Vox.  Which is written completely as one one phone sex conversation between strangers.  The polish is a black jelly base filled with tiny blue, aqua and teal glitter.  And it's also laced with fine silver shimmer which gives it an extra pop.  Now as someone who does not wear teal(at all), I feel found myself liking it a lot! I used 3 coats on every finger MINUS my ring finger.  I used one coat of Bionic over a single coat of of L'oreal After hours(a dark blue almost black crelly.)  There wasn't a huge difference but it tended to bring out a BIT more of the blue and it did take away slightly from the overall effect.  But nothing to cry over.

 Two coats of topcoat used.  Although one coat would be fine.

The next one My Secret Garden is inspired by Nancy Fridays book of the same name.  Which is "Hundreds of real women responded to Nancy Friday's call for details of their own most private fantasies. My Secret Garden is the daring compilation of those fantasies."  The polish is a glitter top coat filled with pink, blue, green, and light purple matte glitter and filled with smaller iridescent glitter.  I layered it over Essence Oh My Glitter! and OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.  I used one thick coat on each.  I loved how they looked on both the lighter and darker colours.  My suggestion would be if you want the iridescent glitter to be more visible layer it over something darker.  More subtle(but just as pretty) layer it over something lighter.  This polish is like spring in a bottle :)  I suggest everyone buy it and then wear it to church for Easter.

And yes this is actually different from the 3 previous photos.  The white is China Glaze White Ice and the pink is CG Free fall.  In person they both looked horrific.  They are old polishes that would not dry and made application hard.  And since I actually wanted to wear this after a couple photos I removed it.

 Now I don't read any enough erotic fiction although I'm pretty sure I know a thing or two about the types of thing that go on in some of the stories ;).  So I personally can't say if I like any of these book or the other books in her collection.  But I do know after this I probably will go out a grab a couple from this list.

You can find these polishes and more over at Literary Lacquers Etsy shop here.   The polishes(15ml bottles) retail for $10USD.  And follow Literary Lacquers on facebook.  Oh also once the page hits 1000 followers(Currently at around 950) there will be a big giveaway! Anyways, stay tuned for more Literary Lacquers!

*Products were sent for honest review.