Flakie Love!

So, while Kas isn't a flakie fan, I most DEFINITELY am.  I love the interesting looks one can create by layering them with different things.  I snap up almost every nice flakie I come across, and I eas lucky enough to get my hands on a bottle of Cult Nails Clairvoyant, which I'm extremely careful with.  But far and away, my favourite flakie is Finger Paints Twisted.  It's such a crazy rainbow of colours that looks good with just about any base.  I'm in heaven!  I have a backup because I'm already about 1/4 of the way through my first bottle.  I don't know what I'll do if I run out!

So today I have for you the manicure I put on once we returned from out trip, which is two THIN coats of Finger Paints Twisted layered over one coat of OPI Pompeii Purple and one coat of OPI Too Hot Pink To Hold Em. The two underneath made a really squishy, gorgeous pink base, and the flakies really popped on top.  Even my mom, who usually rolls her eyes at my nails, noticed and said how pretty it looked.


(And yes, I cut my nails again!  I managed to break them on my luggage twice so I'm giving them the chance to grow again.  Also I apologise for the state of my hands.  YUCK, right?  Don't worry, I did a little blurring to cancel out my gnarly cutlicles)


Check it out!

Blurred so you can see the COLOURS! 

The Frog Prince Pt. 2

One fine eve a young princess put on her heels and glittery dress, and went out to take a walk by herself in NYC; and when she came across a bench, she sat down to rest a while. Now she had a golden Metropass in her hand, which was her favourite plaything. She was always tossing it up into the air, and catching it again. Because why not?

After a time she threw it up so high it fell; and it blew away, until it fell down into the sewer. The princess looked in after her pass, but it was very deep. She began to weep, and said, 'Nooooo how the fuck am I going to get home?'

Whilst she was weeping, a frog put its head out of the sewer, and said, 'What's wrong?'.

'Alas!' said she, 'what can you do for me, you nasty frog? My Metropass is gone.'

The frog said, 'Honey, no. I am not in the mood.  So get your face together and listen. If you promise me you'll get me a fresh mixed salad, take me to the Roseland Ballroom, and stop weeping because it makes you look like you're pooping.  I'll get your pass.'

She thought for a moment.

'Sure why not.  This is only the 2th weirdest thing that happened to me this week' She said

The frog jumped back into the sewer.  Moments later her came back with the Princesses pass, and tossed it to her.

'Put me in your purse.' The frog said. 'Wait! I see this is a Chanel knock off. Carry me.'

With that they went to the nearest establishment and bought a salad for the frog.  Which the princess hand fed on the way to the theatre.

'Take me to the stage door please' said the frog.  He hopped out of her hands at the stage door and said 'Wait here' and entered the theatre. 2 minutes later a chiseled, glittering, demigod appeared out of the stage door wearing nothing more than a glittery g-string. 'And now in return for you helping me to the theatre, here are some tickets for Broadway Bares XXII.  I'm in it!'

'But wait!  Were you- how were yo- you were just a frog!' said the princess.

'Oh that was a costume.  Do you know how good Spider Man the musical's costume designers are?  They are that good. I honestly don't know how they do it. Anyways tell me you'll come to the show.'

'Of course I will.  Could I bring my friends?' Asked the princess.

'Of course! The more the merrier! Just promise me one more thing...bring all your ones.  At the end of the show you can stuff it down my G-string!' He exclaimed.

They both threw their hands up in jubilation. Because that's the best way to end a story.

The End.

Anyways these are the nails I actually did for Broadway Bares when we were in NYC.  A frog prince on my left hand and the prince in human and nearly naked form on my other hand.

 I used China Glaze's Glittering Garland, and acrylic paint. For the crown I just used micro beads and a single rhinestone.

 

 Close up on frog and crown.  I really love how the crown turned out.  Lasted 4 days!

 I would tell people when you gave the frog a kiss he would turn into this.  A n almost naked man :D That's my kind of fairy tale!

I used Chanel Graphite and on the accent nails I used a Nailene french manicyre polish, OPI's Over The Taupe and OPI's Absolutely Alice!

George and myself will probably each make a NYC trip post at some point this week and show you guys our hauls!

Also one more thing. I have a new camera and these were some of the first photos I took of my nails with them.  I'm still getting used to it.  But from now on all my pics will be somewhat passable.

Ps. Broadway Bares was AMAZING.  Fairy tales will never be the same again.  And I'm happy about that!

Thank You!

We're back! And we Just want to send a HUGE THANK YOU to all the guest bloggers over the past few days. Everyone should go and check out their blogs!  You will not be disappointed :D

The Lacquer Tracker
Kelsie's Nail Files
Nailpocalypse
abbienail
The Gorgeois Pig 

And since this all went so smoothly we'll probably have guest bloggers every once in a while! Yay!

Thanks again everyone!

Kas & George

Guest Blogger No.5 - The One With The Dog Wearing Shoes

Hello everyone! I'm happy as hell to be guest posting for you all today. The ladies asked me to do a little nail art, and when I asked for suggestions they said "Anything but Stalin or One Direction." So I thought it would be fun to do One Direction with Stalin moustaches, but I was warned about rabid OD fans rioting my blog and I was too scared. Kas suggested a puppy in shoes, and that was just too funny to pass up. So here is my manicure rendition of a dachshund wearing converse high tops.

The base is OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, topped with OPI I Juggle... Men, which you can't really see. The puppy and shoes are acrylic paint, and if you're curious, the laces were done with the tip of a very tiny striper brush. 

Thanks for inviting me to post, ladies! 

Veronica, the Gorgeois Pig

Guest Blogger No.4 - The One With The Strings

Hi I’m Abbie a blogging newbie (abbienail has only been around for 4 months!) yet Kas and Georgia have let me loose on their lovely blog. So today I figured I show you what my blog is all about; nail art! Swatches as well but I love me some nail art ;). The mani I have for you is something I have only seen on one other blog (makeup withdrawal) I’m going to name it the string mani, you heard it here first.

I wanted to use only British brands and for some reason I found it so hard to find any in my stash….anyway I found L’oreal Perle de Jade, I realise now that L’oreal is not a british brand but we have these cute little skinny bottles over here so that counts as British right ;)? Perle de Jade is a two coater creamy jade *duh*.

To make the string effect you simply decant a small amount of polish onto something, I use a piece of paper, then wait for it to get tacky once it is use a dotting tool, toothpick, hair grip anything really and dip it in and then simply go over your finger with the string of polish.

 

You are going to get strings of polish all over your finger but it’s easy to clean it up as it’s only thin. Repeat as many times as you like and in any direction. I chose to alternate colours between a white and Barry M blueberry Ice cream. I like both of them over the jade, they almost change the base colour, the white makes it look lighter whilst the blue makes it look darker.

I really like this look, it looks like it was complicated to create but it really wasn’t, I think that literally everyone could do this and with endless colour combos. I didn’t put a topcoat on as I liked the look of it without, I don’t like the feel though paha. It kind of reminds me of spiderwebs *bleurgh* but in a pretty way not a creepy massive spider in the middle of kind of way.

I hope everyone enjoyed this mani and I’d love to see people’s recreations J. Thanks again K&G for this opportunity!!

Guest Blogger No.3 - The One With The Wicked Awesome Flower

Hello Valkyries! I'm Kelly (also known as KawaiiKagura) from Nailpocalypse and I'm really excited to be guest posting today. Thanks so much to Kas and George for even reading my blog and for thinking of me to do this post. This is my very first guest post anywhere so I also put together another first to share with you all, my first tutorial! Are you excited? I'm excited. I have said the word excited a few too many times in this intro so let's move on and pretend my awkwardness didn't happen.

A while ago I did a latte inspired mani (http://nailpocalypse.blogspot.com/2012/05/latte-inspired-mani.html ) using the needle marble or dry marbling technique. Since the flowers got quite a bit of attention, they now get their own tutorial. Before I turn you loose to play with gobs of polish (I know you want to), I will share a few tips and tricks not included in the tutorial itself.

• Be generous with your polish but try not to flood the sides of your nail bed. If the polish starts to slide to the sides, it will pull your hard work with it.
• When dragging with the pin/whatever you use, try not to be heavy handed. If you push too hard down to the nail, it may be harder for your base coat to self-level as you go. I tend to just let the pin rest on the polish and pull to the side, if that makes sense.
• Okay so I lied, this one IS in the tutorial but it's a big one. Working quickly is essential to making this work! To help that happen, have all your colors open already before you start. If you take too long to start needling the polish will start to set and you can get ridge lines in your base coat as you drag. No bueno.

Flowers are just one of the many many shapes and designs you can do with this technique. It really is so versatile and that is why it is one of my favorite things to do with nail polish. Play around with where you place your dots, the size of your dots, how many colors you use, heck make stripes and drag those around! I like to add dots and stripes to my finished marbles to add even more to the effect. There's really no wrong way to do this. So go forth, my new friends, and make messes! I hope this has been able to help a few of you along the way!

Polishes used in the above tutorial:
    •    Sally Hansen Salon Manicure base coat / Seche Vite top coat
    •    Essie Master Plan
    •    Sinful Colors Cinderella
    •    Sally Hansen Black Heart
    •    China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le
    •    Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow

Guest Blogger No.2! - The One With The Butterfly...And The Girl Who Answers Emails ;)

Hello fellow nail art enthusiasts, I am Kelsie from kelsiesnailfiles and I am so excited to be doing this guest post here at Varnished Valkyrie! I am fairly new to the nail art and blogging world so I love making new friends (especially Canadian ones!) and getting the opportunity to showcase some of my work on other blogs :)

First of all I want to say that I have been a follower of Varnished Valkyrie for a little while now and I adore it! I think that having two contributors to a blog is a fantastic idea! Kas and George each have a unique style so it keeps things fresh and interesting.. it also sets them apart from other blogs (in a very good way). Thank you ladies for having me here, it really is a pleasure. 

Now, on to the nail art.. This mani was loosely inspired by a stamping manicure that I stumbled upon a while back, which you can see here (http://nailartandthings.blogspot.ca/2012/04/spring-morning.html). Before I decided to purchase my own stamping set, and long before i started blogging, I used to attempt to freehand a lot of stamping manicures that I found online. Today is no exception... I couldn't get my hands on that plate with the two butterfly halves, so I decided to wing it! 

I used Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Midnight in NY as my base (I only just noticed how perfect that is because Kas and George are probably lounging in NY right about now lol)

I freehanded the butterflies and added the dots using KleanColor neons in blue, pink, and amethyst.

Once again I'd like to say a big thank you to Kas and George for having me here! :)

Guest Blogger No.1! - The One With The Domo

Hello Valkyries of the Varnished persuasion! I was seriously stoked when Kas and George invited me to guest blog while they are away. This is my first time as a guest blogger, so I'm a little nervous and excited. I hope you'll all enjoy my little contribution to this fantastic blog.

I have an ombre manicure to share with you all today- my first ever ombre manicure, as it happens, which is very fitting for my first ever guest post on another blog. I decided to do a greyscale ombre manicure, which is inspired by a greyscale-themed Domo I have. If you are familiar with my blog, you'll know I often feature those little guys in my posts- I find them irresistible, and have amassed a small army of them (they happily coexist with my nail lacquer collection, if you're wondering).

Here's the line-up!

From left to right we have Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Wet Cement, Nubar Palisade, Nubar Stronghold, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out. Up front we have an adorable Greyscale Domo, the inspiration behind today's manicure!

This is, of course, Greyscale Domo taking a picture of himself, which I assume he'll later post on Facebook ("Guys! Check it out! I was totally partying with these sexy polishes on Varnished Valkyrie!").

Ahem. Onward to the nail pictures!

What did you think of my first ever ombre manicure? Which shade of grey is your favourite? Myself, I love a light grey, so Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Wet Cement is my clear favourite here.

Before I finish up my post here, I want to give a quick heads-up to anyone who might be interested in entering my Lynnderella Connect the Dots Giveaway, which is currently going on at my blog, The Lacquer Tracker. You have until June 21st to enter, if it's something you'd like to do. Click here to check out the details.

This has been a blast, and thank you so much to Kas and George for inviting me to write a post for Varnished Valkyrie! It's pretty awesome to be able to be a part of a blog that I admire and enjoy reading so much. Thanks!

Guest Bloggers!

So we are going to be gone for just over 10 days or so.  And we didn't want to leave you guys without any post.  Because we knew you would all be really, really, really sad.  Logically we knew we couldn't post because we are on vacation.  And vacationing is a time to be lazy.  So we decided to get 5 other bloggers to blog in our place.

These are all bloggers we really like.  And we think you should all go check them out and give them some love.  They have super swatches, nail art, layouts, write ups that are interesting, and they are all nice people...well they all seem like nice people.  They could be horrific (but I'm sure they're not).

So check in tomorrow to see who the first guest blogger is!!!

It's Bon Jovi.

It's actually not... but wouldn't that be cool.

See you guys in a couple weeks!

Kas & George

Kiko 255 AND AN NYC MEETUP?

READERS IN AND AROUND NYC: THIS IS FOR YOU!  SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM!

So today I have for you another polish from my dear friend Irune in Spain!  Kiko 255.  I'm given to understand that Kiko is a European shop, and after seeing this in my gift bag from Irune I was EXCITED.  It's beautiful, and no matter how many photos I took I couldn't capture the sparkle, but yeah, it's there and it's pretty!

It's a gorgeous deep purple with a good amount of holographic sparkle.  This is three thin coats, but two thick ones would probably do it.

First two photos are in indoor light, last photo is natural light, outdoors. 

AND NOW, FOR OUR NYC AREA READERS/FELLOW BLOGGERS:
Kas and I will be in NYC for 10 days from the 16th of June until the 25th.  We would love to have a meetup in this time if any of you are into it :)  If anyone is interested in having a little hangout with us(lunch/dinner?) please email varnishedvalkyrie@hotmail.com and let us know when you're free!

Jubilee Nails

I have been meaning to post these for a few days now but alas I've either been too busy or exhausted. I used a whole slew of polishes for this. OPI's Dating a Royal, Essie's Fishnet Stockings, Claire's Snowball, some random Avon Metallic and Random gold Avon nail art brush, and China Glaze Medallion. *Notice anything btw?

People were asking me if they were stickers.  HAHAHA...no.

 

2nd set of nails (Left hand)

Thought it turned out fantablous! Especially because it has horizontal lines.  Horizontal lines on nails are the devil I tell ya!

 

2nd set of nails (Right Hand)

This is a fine example of "I can't use my non dominant hand without it looking like a monkey, on meth, painted my nails.  So I'll just make accent nails with simple dots".  And look how shiny it is.  I love dating a royal...and I love the polish too!  Ba-dum-chssh! I'll be here all week!

 

1st set of nails.

I didn't like the photos I had of this one as much.  So I didn't put it at the top because I didn't want it to be the picture that popped up on everyone's feed.

 

Look what I found!!!  They're a tad pricey but I DON'T CARE!!! OM NOM NOM!!!

*Those nails aren't mine.  They are nail covers.  I'm just trying them out.  Not something I'm going to do all the time.  I painted them the same way I normally paint my nails.  They sound funny when I rub my nails together.

Ps.  Sorry again for being a bad blogger :(  This week probably wont be much better.  I MAY try and post something. But I have rehearsals, shows, auditions, homework, and packing to worry about this week so I cant promise anything.

OPI Swimsuit... Nailed it! and Last Friday Night

So I love blue.  I think it's a beautiful colour and it really reminds me of summer.  I wear so much blue in the summer, and this is one of my favourites!

When the Miss Universe collection came out, I was kind of lukewarm.  I was excited about the glitter, because it's me and I'm always excited about glitter, but the other colours just bored me from the promo shots.

And then I saw Swimsuit...Nailed it.  And we became best friends.  It's PERFECT.  A beautiful blue foil that simply glows from within.  I have loved previously wearing it with a coat of a holographic glitter, like Servin' Up Sparkle, but I decided to try it with Last Friday Night from the Katy Perry collection(one of my top layering polishes!) and I am loving it.  The opalescent glitter shows so many colours and really catches the light beautifully.  It looks like the ocean.  Really gorgeous.

This is two coats of Swimsuit... Nailed It, and then a Last Friday Night gradient on top.

I freaking love instagram.  So easy to share my nails and baking joy <3

@likeyoursilence 

Indoor lighting. 

The rest of the photos are outdoor, natural light.

Do you guys like this as much as I do?  What would YOU layer over Swimsuit... Nailed It?

101... Like Those Dogs

My first dentist trip in 4 years and now this. 100 posts.  It's been a good week.  Really though my teeth are splendid. But never waiting that long again.  Thank you for sticking around for this long.  It means a lot.  *sniff* Now I'm getting emotional in my face.  I would like to thank my family, and friends, John, Steve, Brian,  Anderson Cooper, George Clooney, Take That and everyone who had a hand in this.  Especially the fans.  Without you we could have never made Bonnie and Clyde 2: Rise of the Spider People.
 
0_o

I wont lie.  It's 9am.  I have not slept.  This was going to be a real post but my brain could not do it. I'll do it tomorrow. My nails are pretty bad ass right now.  I wish I could post more often but the real world is making me do things.  Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be posting more often.

Kas

ETA:  This post clearly needs a photo of sorts.

 Bum.

Our 100th post! Have some cake and body painting!

HAPPY 100 POSTS!

So I knew this post was coming when I had it done about 10 days ago, but when I noticed we were close to 100 posts yesterday, I thought that maybe I'd do it then to make it kind of special.  So yeah, happy 100 post-iversary, Valkyries!  We're so glad to have you all with us and we thank you for following!

So this started when my good friend from school, Matti, asked me to be a part of an art project he's doing, where he blends music and painting to create human canvasses of people he meets/knows/loves.  I thought it sounded cool and I was really excited to be a part of it.  I was an art model in college(and occasionally still am) and it was always a TON of fun and a great challenge for both mind and body.  Until you can say you've fainted, naked, in front of a roomful of strangers, you haven't really had a rough day at work :P

So for Matti's project he has you pick out 10 songs or pieces of music and 5 colours that you feel represent you and then he hits play and starts painting.  I chose bright pink, leaf green, sunshine yellow, bright turquoise, and a royal blue.  He posts a blog about each experience afterward, so here's mine!. (If you look closely in the "before" picture, you can see my spectraflair holo nails!)

As he painted, the colours started to blend together and we had purple, orange, and all sorts of other bright, happy things.  Matti thought I looked like a tropical fish, and I have to say I kind of agree.  And no, he didn't watch the Gotye(is that how you spell it?) video first,

So enough talk, let's get to the pictures!

The inspiration:

The polishes I used:

L-R:  Essie Good To Go top coat, China Glaze Surfin' For Boys, Finger Paints Outta Sight Orange, Kleancolor Neon Yellow, OPI Did It On Em, China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard, OPI Green-Wich Village, OPI Fly, Orly Royal Navy, Urban Outfitters Bandeau, and OPI Pompeii Purple.

Instagram pic - Left Hand.  Any of you on instagram?  

Feel free to leave your name or follow me @likeyoursilence.

Left Hand: Indoor lighting.

Left hand: Outdoor, natural light. 

Right Hand: Both pictures show outdoor lighting.  

For some reason my middle finger photographed horribly.  I promise it looks good IRL!

Happy 100 posts :)  To celebrate(or, you know, because I've had tickets for months...) I'm going to a Parlotones concert!  Can't wait :D