MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope everyone is having a fun Christmas! This is going to be a very short post because IT'S CHRISTMAS!

This manicure is just something simple I did with mostly acrylic paint. The only thing that is not paint are the studs(duh), and the red polish(Drool worthy, OPI Smitten With Mittens), and the white polish(a franken of a bunch of white polishes).

Hope you enjoy the manicure! Also, tell me what Santa brought you!

Christmas *cough* Pudding *cough* Nails......... *cough*

Uggggghhhhhh, so I felt myself coming down with a cold last week, and I did everything in my power to fight it off. Medicine, sleep, fluids, the works! And guess what? It worked! Sort of. I ended up with a very mild cold, followed by a monster cough that has left me feeling winded, and as if Freddy Krueger has been playing my throat like a mandolin. I need some tea and honey.

But you know one thing I don't need. Christmas Pudding. I find it gross, but it is something that pops into my head when I think of Christmas. So here it is on my nails. I used Milani's Chocolate sprinkles for the brown and paint for the rest.

CHRISTMAS!!!

Today I have my first post in December(I know, I know, its been a while). Today I have some Christmas nail wraps from Lady Queen.

First of all these were not made out of polish, which is fine with me. Application was easy and the same as most nail wraps. Remove clear plastic from over the design, then peel the design off from the backing, stick it on your nail, file the edges and then top coat it (These nails don't all fit me so I do have to trim them[I do it before I even take the clear plastic off], but that's ok because I have yet to meet a brand where I don't have to trim at least half the wraps).

Overall I liked the wraps, they were easy to apply, they lasted 4 days before I took them off and didn't show much signs of any wear, and they were probably the easiest wraps I have ever removed. They come off in seconds and don't leave any sticky residue.

That being said there are a few things I don't like about it. First, on the website you can't really enlarge the photo enough to see what the designs on all the fingers look like so you are taking quite the risk. And the second thing was the design. I personally didn't love it, it just felt a little to clip art-y for me.

Even with those negatives I would recommend these to people. Especially those who are new to nail wraps. You can find them here for $2.11 USD. They are inexpensive enough that if you mess them up you wont feel like you have really wasted all that much. And on top of that you can also add Varnished Valkyrie's 15% discount code 'LAKS15' to add some saving.

Ps. I hope everyone has been having a great holiday season so far!
Pps. Sorry about the cuticles :(

Merry Christmas!

I don't know why, but I keep wanting to say 'Merry Christmas'. It's still months away, and yet I find myself thinking randomly 'Merry Christmas'. Weird. Maybe my heart is set on Christmas(and some pretty holiday palettes) or maybe I'm just loosing it.

Anyway, these nails have nothing to do with Christmas, despite what my head is telling me. I decided to do some crayon nails! I used a combination of polish and paint.

Christmas.

A Belated Doctor Who Christmas!

So I'm currently a bit tipsy, but I figured "It's best to write stuff down when all your mental walls have been breached".

I hope you all had great Christmas's and I hope Santa was nice to you. Today in honour of the Doctor Who Christmas special I have some Doctor Who Christmas nails. Actually I did them a few weeks ago and now felt like a good time to post them. I have yet to see the Christmas special, and I'm only semi excited. The past few years of Who have been kind of blah in my opinion, but the past year has been ok in my opinion. Still not as good as it was before Eleven, but ok.

*It is at this point in the post I fell asleep.

Cut to six days later.

I actually forgot I wrote this post and was going to start a new post. Oh Christmas. Anyways these nails were done before Christmas. They are Doctor Who Christmas ornaments nails! They were originally inspired by someone I saw on Instagram who did this, but with Star Wars. I would put their link down, but their instagram seems to no longer exist. This whole manicure is very villains of Who(Cyberman, Dalek, Snowman), and on my ring finger it says 'Run' in Gallifreyan.

This manicure uses a combination of acrylic paint and polish.

I hope everyone has a great New Years!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! *Eye Twitches*

So for the first time ever a bunch of stores had their boxing day sales start online BEFORE boxing day. This was semi great for me because when my mother asked me what I wanted for Christmas I immediately started looking through flyers. I ended up choosing a DSLR Canon Camera bundle that was an amazing deal(The Camera, 2 lesnes, an extra battery pack and a bag). The bad part is my parents aren't all that internet savvy so I had to order. And here's he thing with boxing day online. It's exactly the same as buying in person, but you can't see the person who stole the last SD card. And once stuff is in your cart you have to queue and you aren't guaranteed anything in your cart till you get to checkout. I was super on edge when placing the order, but long story short the camera made it with me all the way to checkout (And they sold out in about 20 minutes)! WHO'S READY FOR BETTER PHOTOS and maybe vlogs 0_o.

Now let's get to the manicure!

I felt like all of my manicures have been kind of unoriginal and typical for Christmas. Not that there is anything wrong with being the same, or doing something similar to someone else. Jesse Eisenberg and Michael Cera have been doing it for years! And look how much money they have! But I wanted to have something a bit different from the typical at least for Christmas Eve.

I decided to try my hand at making some "Classy" nail art with mostly gold and black. I fist started with two coats Essence Sweet as Candy, to cover up some stains on my nails. Next I mixed my own sheer black jelly polish and used one coat.  I used a regular clear polish that I use specifically for when I'm adding small nail art pieces to my nails, that was almost done. Then I added some old black polish that was almost done. If you would like to do this you will probably have to play around a bit to get it just the way you want it, but it's super easy. Then I did the tree and the Rodolph's silhouette using China Glaze Mingle With Cringle. Finally Rudolph's nose is Barry M Blood Orange mixed with a random red glitter jelly. I should also add for the reindeer I used this tutorial from Jaunty Juil. I topped it with seche and then Essie's Matte About You.

I loved how this turned out! I hope you like it as well! I also hope everyone is having a great Christmas!!!!

 With topcoat.

"I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest"

That's a quote from the film Elf by the way. I love that movie, and last year when I watched it I may have cried(but I may not have...I did). It's just such a cheery movie and is one of the few movies I think Will Farrell is super funny in. I take my comedy seriously.

Today I'm actually doing a manicure I have done before. Candy Cane nails with a twist! I ADDED GREEN! I know exactly what you are thinking right now "Woah you are crazy! Changing the nail game like you are some sort of nail demon!" But that is the burden I must carry as a nail blogger.

So this manicure was simple. I started with a base of OPI Alpine Snow, then I used striping tape and used Barry M's Blood Orange, and Wet n Wild 416A(It's so old it has no name!). my only grievance was the fact that it smudged when I put top coat on :(

I want coffee(decaf).

(Insert clever title that includes Legos and Christmas)

I haven't been posting many Christmas manicures this year so I feel I have to remedy that ASAP!

These are some nails I did a few weeks ago when I was at a bit of a loss when coming up with ideas. I fell back on something I had done a long time ago! Lego Nails!!! But with a Christmas spin! I especially like Rudolph and his Lego nose!

If you would like to know how I did the Lego nails check out my tutorial here!

So how is everyone's Holidays going. What did you ask Santa for this year? Do you think Santa will deliver? Or do you think you think you were naughty this year and that's why Santa wont be stopping by? Do you believe in Santa?

 

If you would like you know what polishes I used please ask :)

Vintage Valkyrie: Christmas Edition

This is sort of a cop out for my lack of Holiday manis.  It's not that I'm not feeling the Holiday spirit, it's just I'm not feeling the Holiday mani spirit.  Apart from wearing some holiday collection colours(which I will show soon) I haven't had in your face, Holiday nails.

These nails are actually the first nail post I ever did on this blog.  In other words a post that maybe 3 people saw.  It's from two years ago, and it's one of the first times I attempted nail art.

Ps.  Guess who got her first MoYou plate, thanks to Robyn.  This girl.  *points to self*.

Nail Polish Canada Holiday Challenge Week 3 - Holiday Memories: Children *facepalm*

So this is going to be VERY quick.  It's my week 3 entry for NPC's Holiday Challenge.  The theme was Holiday memories.  I did these in maybe 20 minutes.  I incorporated 2 memories.

1) All that holiday candy.  When I was really young I took a holiday candy and swallowed it whole.  It ended up getting stuck in my throat and I was too scared to tell anyone, because I thought I would get in trouble.  I remember every time I swallowed I could feel it sitting there.  I eventually told my mother and we waited to see if it would move.  Luckily it did and there was no hospital trip.

2) My index finger is the night sky.  Growing up my mother was a nurse, and she had a choice to work Christmas Eve night or New Years.  She would always work Christmas, so we would wait and open our gifts at night!

And if you like this mani, please head over here and vote for Varnished Valkyrie.

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

Nightmare Before Christmas Nails: You can't tell me you didn't see this coming!

So with all the polishes inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas I decided to do a Nightmare Before Christmas manicure.  Again I haven't seen this movie in forever but I remember the gist of it.

First I did 2 coats of Claws Polish Voodoo, a red jelly full of red shimmer *drools*.  Then when that was good a dry I taped off triangles and painted the rest black.  With a striper I added some white stripes with acrylic paint.  Finally I finished with a rhinestone at the tip of the triangle.

See what I did there?

It's the pattern on Jack Skellingtons suit AND a Santa hat!

Note:  Remember how I said my internet was all wacky and not working.  Well my internet has been semi fixed.  It's now sort of working.  Do you know how long these photos took me to upload?  Almost 10 minutes.  What is this 1997?  I can't deal with this.  And email is even worse.  I don't wanna get into this.  *weeps*.

LynBDesigns - Pumpkin King: This post is brought to you by a bad internet connection and computer rabies.

So this post was originally supposed to go up at noon today BUT my internet has been kind of poopy lately.  So I attempted to post it in a coffee shop today but it was telling me the only internet connection available could give my computers rabies.  Ok it didn't say that, but it said it wasn't safe, so I didn't risk it.  That and I felt miserable in the coffee place.  I sat next to a door and then I bought a frozen lemonade. I know, lemonade in a coffee shop!  I was freezing my tushy off!

Frozen bum aside let's talk polish! Pumpkin King is the final polish I have from LynBDesigns The Nightmare Begins collection. It's based on Jack Skellington who is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town(Think of him as their Santa). It’s exactly what you would think when you think of Pumpkin King. I would also say it is the only polish in the whole collection that really does lean towards Halloween. It’s small orange glitter as well as medium size hex glitter as well as silver hex glitter, then it also has black bar, diamond and star glitter. I ended up layering 2 coats over OPI’s My Boyfriend Scales Walls. It was very easy to apply(although you may have to fiddle with glitter placement now and then) and I wore this for 2 days. On the second day I added black tips. They were a bit chunky but it wasn't all that noticeable in real life. I sadly had to take it off a few hours after I put the tips on. I don't know what I did exactly but I ended up chipping and breaking some nails on the hand I don't photograph.

If you would like a bottle of this you can head over to LynBDesigns Etsy shop.  Polishes retail from between $8-$10USD.  Not only is this brand filled with exciting and unique shades it's a little extra exciting for those of us who are part of fandoms.  She sells everything from Doctor Who, to Sherlock, to Princess Bride themed polishes.

 *Product sent for honest review.

LynBDesigns - Frogs Breath: I've made a huge mistake. But frogs make everything better!

Today I have another LynBDesigns!  This is also from The nightmare begins collection.

I sort of wanted to put this and Deadly Nightshade together, but I didn't want to overload the post.  The reason I wanted to put them together is because along with Deadly Nightshade, Sally also put Frogs Breath into Doctor Finkelstein soup.

Frogs Breath is a bright green, jelly polish.  It kind of reminds me of murky water.  The polish is filled with matte black hexogonal and bar glitter.  As well as black matte shards.  Application was really easy and was 3 coats.  This is not a polish you'll ever get light impenetrable opaque and in my opinion, that's just fine.

Here is where I made my mistake.  I layered it over Orly's Lucky Duck.  I honestly don't think it worked.  Don't get me wrong they didn't look bad together they just kind of fell flat.  SO I ADDED A FROG WITH 3D EYES!  And everything was better...minus the blah nails that weren't the frog.  I would have loved the accent with the polish on it's own.  If you are going to layer this you need to find the right colour.  Or you kind of just destroy the magic of the polish.

 If you would like a bottle of this you can head over to LynBDesigns Etsy shop.  Polishes retail from between $8-$10USD.  And if you order now through Sunday, and use the code CHICAGO you can get 50% of your purchase of $16 or more. 

Do you think it looks better with the undies I chose or without?

 *Product sent for honest review

LynBDesigns - Deadly Nightshade: VHS??????

This polish is from LynBDesigns The Nightmare Begins collection (It's inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas for those of you who have yet to catch on).   If you don't know about her brand most of the polishes are fandom related.  I'm 97% sure she has the largest collection of Doctor Who polishes :)

Now back to this polish.  I'm going to be honest with you guys.  I do love this film, but I haven't seen it in YEARS.  I'm going to blame it on the fact that I own a copy of this film on VHS*.  I have a VHS player but it's annoying.  Woe is me.  But I really want to watch it again in the next few days.

Hail Yeezus and bless the interwebs.

So Deadly Nightshade is what Sally put into Doctor Finkelstein soup in order for him to fall asleep and her to escape(He made her, she a rag doll).  The polish is a purple pink, with super fine green shimmer.  In the bottle it reads more purple than pink but when you put it on your nails you for sure get purple pink.  It was also more sheer than what I expected looking at it in the bottle, but at the same time it surprised me by only needed 3 coats for opacity.  I also layered one coat over a dark purple(China Glaze Urban Nights).  When you layer it over a darker colour the green for sure takes center stage.

If you would like a bottle of this you can head over to LynBDesigns Etsy shop.  Polishes retail from between $8-$10USD.  And if you order now through Sunday, and use the code CHICAGO you can get 50% of your purchase of $16 or more.

Onto the photos!  I actually found the green to be the hardest to capture.  You can see it in the photos but it's a bit more green in real life.  And the last photo is over the purple.  Not only that but I used flash to show you exactly what the shade of green looks like.  Know that the flash makes all those streaks pop out. It does not look streaky in real life.

 

*VHS™

abbreviation for

(Electronics) video home system: a video cassette recording system using ½″ magnetic tape

 *Product sent for honest review

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Now let's all take a moment to remember...

Just how adorable my Christmas nails were last year!

Ps.  I hope Santa brought what you wished for!  If not it's probably because you're a bad person.  I'm just kidding!  It's because he's not real. :D

Pps.  While were on the topic did you guys get anything interesting for Christmas?

China Glaze - Angel WIngs

George actually got this for me for Christmas(one of many polishes :P)!  At first I was a little on the fence about it because it was gold.  For some reason when it comes to gold polish it's like a really amazing guy.  You look at them and think it's too good to be true.  Then you think "Who am I kidding?  We would be GREAT together!".  I'm always weary about gold polishes, but I always end up loving them.

Angel Wings was no different.  It's from China Glaze's 2012 holiday collection(What's this?  I'm posting a very current polish? *gasp*).  It's made out of fine, dense gold glitter, with some fine holo glitter thrown in there.  One coat offers almost complete coverage. Two makes it completely opaque. I use two coats of top coat for this (Sally Hansen Insta-dri and Seche Vite).  Without top coat it's like sand paper.  And it will generally om nom your first coat of it.

But all in all I fell in love with this beauty!