31DC 2014 Gallery

Hey all! So this will be my last post until next week - October 10th.

I'm taking a week off from posting to refill my creative juices and to destress.

When I come back I'll be doing a series of Halloween inspired looks and I'll try to

do some tutorials as well. Oh! And it's my 2 year blogiversary on the 11th so stay tuned for something special. 

I also have a guest post in the works and there's a Thanksgiving mani to do

so October will be a busy month for me! Lots to look forward to.

I wanted to do a comprehensive post on all the looks I did for the 31 day challenge so here it is.

Geometric City

Hey everyone!
I've been feeling really creative as of late so I wanted to make a look with some impact.
Coincidentally there is a MoYou challenge going on through Instagram and I most definitely
had to enter. So here's my entry for Day 10: Geometric.

& The After... 

Model City - Wanna Be Your Boyfriend // Zoya - Blu // MoYou - Suki Plate 06

I was really happy I didn't use just a plain old white to stamp.

I think Blu just adds a bit of something else.

So what do you think? Let me know in the comments!

xo, D.

Holiday Mani-Madness Day 4 & Day 5

Glitzy Reindeer

Hey everyone!

Today I have day 4 and day 5 of Holiday Mani-Madness to share with you.
As mentioned in my last post I had a bit of a mishap with my original Christmas Eve/Day mani
so day 4 was really a last minute idea. So excuse the messy clean up job. I was rushed.

This manicure was sparked by a gorgeous glittery reindeer that sits on one of our shelves.

I decided on a gradient pretty quick but to add that extra oomph I knew I had to stamp.

How can you go wrong with snowflakes on Christmas?

A England - Briarwood // A England - Saint George

Sally Hansen - Silver Sweep // BM plate 323 

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Candles & Crystals

Now onto day 5! I was inspired for this look by a French Vanilla candle I bought at Winners for the holidays.

I loved the pattern on the label and the translucency of the crystal.

China Glaze - Ingrid // Color Club - Cloud Nine

BM plate 312

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So that's it for Holiday Mani-Madness!

I hope you enjoyed all 5 looks because I had a lot of fun challenging myself

and keeping my digits super festive for the holidays.

Next up I will be posting my New Year's look

and I have a fun post of mani's you didn't get to see in 2013.

Happy Friday friends!

Much love, D.

Holiday Mani-Madness Day 3

Merry Christmas everyone!

Today I have day 3 of Holiday Mani Madness to share.

This look was inspired by these purple tree candles that I have sitting on my nail polish box.

I use the top tray as a display case/center piece on my desk and when I found these trees at the dollar store I just knew they'd be perfect. I should also add that the box was a gift from my boyfriend. It's nice to have a man who can build things. 

Essie - Meet Me at the Altar // Northern Lights Silver Holographic Topcoat

Snow: Maybelline - Porcelain Party

Dark Purple Trees: China Glaze - Are You Jelly? // Esmaltes de Kelly - Wolfsbane

Light Purple Trees: Sally Hansen - Raspberry Race // Zoya - Stevie

Let me know what you think of this look in the comments!

Also! I was intending to post Day 4 tomorrow but unfortunately I used

Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter a peel basecoat and my manicure

peeled before I had the time to photograph it properly :(

I will still be posting a different look but I have to postpone till Friday.

So I'll see you Friday!

Have a very Merry Christmas friends! <3

D.

Holiday Mani-Madness Day 2

Pink & Cream Ornaments




Hello again! Welcome to Mani Madness Day 2.
Once again I sought inspiration from my beautiful Christmas tree.
This time I went for pink and cream ornaments.

OPI - My Vampire is Buff // Color Club - Miss Bliss // Sally Hansen Pink Blink

Here is a rare shot of my left hand...

 I was really happy with these. It took forever to do but it was so worth it. 

Sometimes all you need is stripping tape.

So that is it for Day 2. Let me know what you think below!
& I will see you tomorrow.

Much love, D.

Holiday Mani-Madness Day 1

Hello everyone!

Welcome to the first day of Holiday Mani-Madness.

Last year I ended up doing 10 different holiday themed manicures

throughout the month of December and I had a lot of fun doing it.

But this year I wanted to do something a little different. Instead of all month long I 

will be posting a different holiday manicure every day for the next five days (the 23rd to the 27th).

Each day is inspired by a different piece of holiday decor

and you will not know what they are until I post.

So! here we go with Day One:

Gold & Green Ornaments 

This look was inspired by some of my favourite ornaments from my Christmas Tree.

I decided to do a skittle manicure and then I added Zoya's Solange to do the upside down french.

Solange is just beautiful with topcoat. 

(From Index to Thumb)

Enchanted Polish - Electric Feel // Zoya - Logan // NYC - High Line Green

Revlon - Spanish Moss // Zoya - Hunter

I was really happy with how these turned out. Just enough glam.
Let me know what you think of the look!
& I will see you tomorrow for day 2.

Much love, D.

7 Deadly Sins Challenge: Day 14

Hello friends!
Today I have a very special mani for you: the final manicure of the Seven Deadly Sins Challenge.
I still can’t believe it’s done. It went by so fast!

The prompt for this look was: This is YOUR time! Brag about how good you are at…

& here’s what I came up with:

I had a bit of a hard time deciding what technique I think I’m good at.
I ended up choosing water marbling. Most people like to make their water marble’s
have a consistent pattern, but I like to make every one unique.
Why? Well, when I look at marble slabs I see more of a consistency in the colours found
on each slab rather than the pattern. Each piece is special.
Therefore, when I water marble I like to make each digit similar but unique.



I did a base of Essie – Aruba Blue instead of the typical white base because
I wanted this look to scream blue. Then I did the water marbling with Essie – Blanc,
China Glaze – Sunday Funday, & Essie – Aruba Blue.



I’m sad this challenge is over, but I’m glad I got to be a part of it!
Make sure to check out the other ladies final looks and
to send some support their way. Until next time!

D

7 Deadly Sins Challenge: Day 13

Hey there.
How is everyone? I’m doing alright. Just happy it’s Friday. I’ve been cleaning the house today and I needed a break, so I wanted to share what I did for the 13th day of the Seven Deadly Sins Challenge. (This is the final sin people! I only have one more look after this.) The prompt for this look was: “Recreate your own work to make it even better.”  I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for this one but I ended up choosing this look that I did wayyyy back in December. I really loved what I did and I thought the photos did it justice, but looking back I have to say I’m very angry with myself for not using my actual camera sooner. In any case, here’s the recreated look:





I wanted to stick with the same polishes that I used the first time I did this look, so I once again used China Glaze – Midtown Magic as my base. Then I used my midlength brush and added Color Club – Cloud Nine.



I was going to just use Topshop – Razzmatazz like last time but I recently bought
Essie – Set in Stones and I figured it was the perfect time to use it.
So I used Set in Stones first and then I added Razzmatazz to give it more sparkle.





I’m really glad I chose to recreate this look.
I loved the finished look when I did it the first time and I loved it now too.
I just kept telling the boyfriend: “Look! So sparkly! I love it.”
I think I might end up recreating some of my older looks just because this turned out so nicely. 
Well that’s all for now friends. I’ll see you on the flip side.

D

7 Deadly Sins Challenge: Day 12

Hello everyone!
Today I’ve got day 12 of the Seven Deadly Sins Challenge.
Today’s prompt was: “Let the "Green Monster" guide you to some enviable nails.”
For this look I decided to replicate another challengers manicure again.
I used this look by Spektor’s Nails as my inspiration.

I used Nubar – Sour Apple as my base colour. I’ve never used Nubar products before and I was really pleased. Great colour payoff and an awesom formula. I then used OPI – Sprung to do the saran wrap effect.

Finally I topped it all off with my brand new OPI Matte Top Coat.
I’m so happy I decided to keep it matte like Spektor’s Nails. It really added something special to the design.

I love the final effect. It reminded me of apples dipped in caramel.
Or! An apple pie with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top. 

Saran wrap manicures are so much fun.
My brains already spinning from the possible colour combinations I could do.
But what do you think? Sound off below.
Remember to check out the other ladies!

D

7 Deadly Sins Challenge: Day 11

Hey everyone!Today I have another Deadly Sins post to share. We’ve reached day 11 & this week’s sin is Envy. The prompt was: “Who would you like to be? Let us know recreating another challenger's work.” So I scanned through all of the photos that have been posted and settled on 2 manicures I wanted to re-do. The first, which you’ll see in this post, is this manicure by In Jeeb We Trust. (sad news bear: Rainbo Nails also did galaxy nails but I can’t link her as she has no blog). I’ve done galaxy nails previously but I did them before I had a blog so it’s been a very long time since I attempted this technique. Here’s what I came up with:

I’m really happy with how they turned out. I’m a sucker for lots of colour so this was definitely a fun venture. I used lots of different colours to create this look but I’ll just mention that the base is Beyond by Color Club. I also added Northern Lights Holographic Silver Top Coat as a finishing touch. I’m obsessed with this top coat.  If you’d like to know the name of any of the other polishes just leave a comment and I’ll let you know. 

That’s it for today. I’m off now to enjoy some sibling time.
I’m going to stuff my face with donuts, fried chicken, and tea. It’s going to be marvelous.

D

& check out the other ladies designs that are linked below!