7 Deadly Sins Challenge: Day 1

Hello again!
So I’ve been itching to do a nail challenge that lots of different bloggers are doing and I stumbled upon the 7 Deadly Sins Challenge that was created by One Nail to Rule Them All and Nail Wish.

Here’s the poster for the challenge:



So I figured I’d give it a shot and join in.
For day one the prompt is to “be a bad girl & make something you have wanted to do soo badly”. I’ve really been wanting to do more freehand so I found this tutorial by Robin Moses Nail Art and I decided to go for it.
Here’s my interpretation:







I used quite a variety of polishes for this one so I won’t list them all but if there’s any colour you see & would like to know what it is just comment below.

  



So what do you think?
Personally I really like them.They remind me of a giant vase my mom has and when I asked her opinion she was really impressed with what I did and even mentioned the exact same vase. That’s when I knew I’d done an amiable job. I still have work to do with my freehand but I’m just satisfied that people can actually tell the design is made up of flowers and not just random splotches and green slashes.

Make sure you check out the other bloggers to see how they interpreted the theme.
See you in a couple days!

D

Sonic Gold

I think some things are just not supposed to work out.
It’s like the universe just doesn’t want you to go that way.
“No!” it screams, “Don’t follow the yellow brick road!”.
Or maybe that’s just what I hear. I think my universe representative is a bit strange and that she really relishes in embarrassing me sometimes. I mean she told me once that wearing all pink head to toe was a good idea. It really wasn’t.
 
In the past few weeks I’ve faced a lot of turbulence and uncertainty in my life.
I won’t go into specific details but let’s just say it’s sort of felt like the walls were caving in.
Still sort of feels that way. Like reality is just not cooperating.
But I’m thankful I have the ability to grieve a lose and to allow myself to be sad,
but to also be able to then pick up the pieces and move on.
Sometimes my confidence wavers.
But in those moments I have a pretty great support system.  So, if you’ve been there for me, even if you didn’t know all the shit that’s been going on, I’m thankful. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you for your support. Thank you for making me laugh when all I wanted to do was cry. Thank you for not letting me close myself off. And I have to thank you as well reader. Most people who read this blog don’t comment and that’s fine, you can enjoy something without screaming it from the roof tops while you’re wearing peptobismol pink from head to toe, but I want to thank you too because just by reading this blog you’ve helped support me.

So this mani is for all of you – friends, family, acquaintances, and silent followers. Thank you. 

I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri – Sonic Bloom
& Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure – Golden Rule. 
(& of course my trusty stripping tape.)

Have a great weekend friends.

D

Pink Mardi Party

Hello again!

Welcome to yet another blog post.
This past week I got together with Jeeb from In Jeeb We Trust
and we found ourselves what appears to be a new hobby – making jewellery!
Yes it sounds crazy and we did go a little crazy by making as many as we could
but it was so much fun and I definitely think we’ll be doing it again.
Actually, now that we’ve opened that Pandora’s box, we’ll probably never stop.
Unless we get so old that we can’t use our hands and
I’ll have to force my future children into helping us out. 
I’ll make them work for free (because duh they love me right?)
& they’ll have to say “yes mam” a lot and bow when we enter.
There may also be a whip involved or at least a pair of elderly women
smacking their canes on the ground when they are unsatisfied.
Actually since we can’t use our hands we’ll probably just yell or bite or perhaps we’ll cry...
Soooo good luck future children! Mama loves you!

Now onto more pressing business: my nails. 
All that crafting sparked quite a bit of creativity and in homage to all the beautiful jewellery we made (and will make!) I sought inspiration for today’s manicure from one of the pieces.
And yes I will make you scroll all the way to the bottom to see it (muahaha).



You might not be able to tell but there’s actually a very subtle gradient.

I used Zoya – Gie Gie for the base and
then I combined both Gie Gie & Essie – Lion Around for the gradient.
I added Pretty & Polished – Mardi Party to make it more fun.



I’ve used both Gie Gie and Lion Around before and
they are both really wonderful pinks to use.
(Sorry, totally just got a Grease reference stuck in my head,
“Pinks you punk. Pink slips, ownership papers!”)
Gie Gie is way more frosty and Lion Around is more creme-y,
but thankfully the colours did what I wanted and the gradient is very subtle.



& just look at that Mardi Party! This one is super fun.
Multi coloured random sized bits in a clear base is how I would describe it. I can’t decide though if it reminds me more of Mardi Gras (hence the name I’m assuming..) or a preschool craft day. Regardless, I love the look of this polish. Only downside: the base is a little goopy so if you do buy it make sure you’re aware of that. I found the best way to ensure getting the bits out was to shake the bottle before hand, put on a thin layer of it at first, and then put a small blob on and spread it out to wherever you need more glitter. It really wasn’t that hard to work with though, really it’s like any glitter, all you need is patience and persistence my friends! 



So what do you think?
Yay or nay?
Leave a comment below!

Oh! Here’s the inspiration:



Have a good one!
& just in case you’re needing it today:
yes you do look beautiful  – like a beautiful blonde pineapple.

D

Strawberry Mimosas

Hello friends!
How are you guys doing?
I’ve been taking things easy since Saturday just
running around doing errands and finally reading!
Oh how I’ve missed being able to sit down with a book
and not having to feel bad about not reading my (boring) text books
like a responsible person (which I totally am).
The sun came out again the last couple days so I’ve been feeling rather peppy
and not surprisingly it transferred onto my nails.

For this mani I used China Glaze – Mimosa's Before Mani’s
& OPI – Sprung.






Mimosa's Before Mani’s is a fabulous tangerine-y pink.
Bright, fun, and a great colour for spring and summer.
Sprung is also a great polish. I love the coppery colour and the gold and red flecks.
And I swear there’s some pink flecks in there too.



What do you think?
I was going to do more with Mimosa's Before Mani’s (i.e go stamp crazy or do a tape mani)
but once I got both polishes on and added the fun strawberry decals it just made
me sad to cover up such a beautiful colour.
So I didn’t because this is my blog and I have all the power.
Just joking. But not really.

Now all I want is a slushy strawberry margarita.

Until next time friends!
D

Gradiated Freedom

Freedom, friends!

She is a sweet gift.
I’ve made it through my last term as an undergrad!
So what do I do to celebrate? Well after 2 exams at 8:30 in the morning on two consecutive days (why??!!) I came home, ate some biscuits, drank my second cup of coffee, and painted my nails while watching hockey (By the way – I thank the hockey gods for letting me actually watch the afternoon game. I suppose there are benefits to having an exam early in the morning…hmm..).

I reached out to the Facebook world for some help with this one.
My brain was numb so I was hoping someone would trigger an idea.
Thankfully I got a little push to go in a “textured” direction & then I just rolled with it.

For this mani I used Zoya – Godiva (the colour that’s peaking through) as my base.
Then I slapped on some stripping tape, grabbed OPI – Get Your Number  

& Can’t Let Go (both liquid sands) and did a gradient.

I love how both of the liquid sands I used still seem like part
of the same collection yet they both have a little something special.
Can't let Go (the purple) has some really great large glitter pieces
that you don't have to fish for in the bottle,
& Get Your Number (the aqua) has great holographic glitter.

I had one strange issue with Godiva – it seemed to suck up some of the colour from the stripping tape (which in this case is purple). It’s likely I just didn’t wait long enough for it to dry before I got impatient but it’s still something to consider when using it.

I think it would work better if it was over the tape not under it.
I took a picture with harsh flash (below) so you could see.

Now, I also sort of broke a little rule I was sticking to:

I was refusing to top coat my Pixie Dusts & Liquid Sands because I really like

the textured polishes and I figured a top coat just defeated the purpose.
But…once I pulled off the stripping tape I hated how muddled the lines looked

& that my beautiful Godiva wasn’t popping even a little bit!

So I caved and used my Seche Vite.
& you know what? I’m glad I did. It’s much crisper and I still get all the sparkle I wanted.

Maybe next time I won’t be so harsh on my top coat.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!
D

Orchid Manicure

Hey all!

So I'm glad to say I finished that monster of a paper.
Normally I can crank it out pretty quick but for some reason this one took me a while.
Of course now that that's done I have to study for two huge finals. Hurrah! -.-
C'est la vie.

Anyway, here's today's post.
I was inspired by my mom's beautiful orchid that's sitting on our piano.

For this mani I used
Maybelline Color Show – Porcelain Party
Essie – Angora Cardi
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear – Mellow Yellow
Nfu-Oh – NFU 51 

Originally I just had the white and purple but I felt like it lacked some depth
so I added NFU 51 and a bit of yellow.
In the photos the yellow came out really bright but it’s much more subtle in person.

So what do you think?
Did I do a good job interpreting my inspiration?

Have a great day friends!
D

Cast a Linear Spell

Hey friends!

Happy Friday.
For my look today I wanted to go a little darker because
the weather has been kind of grey and mysterious the last few days.

I used China Glaze - Cast A Spell
& some Purple Stripping Tape that I received as a gift from In Jeeb We Trust.

Cast a Spell is simply gorgeous. I love the combination of the gold and green flecks. There's a lot of dimension in the polish. It also had awesome application - smooth and basically a one coater!

The stripping tape was also really easy to use. 

Just takes a little patience.

I'm really pleased with these.
What do you think?

Hope you have a great weekend!
I will once again be sitting in front of my computer
writing a 12 page paper and listening to the rain fall.

D