31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2014 Day 19: Galaxies & Galaxy Tutorial

Deborah Lippmann - Amazing Grace

Color Club - Eternal Beauty/ Miss Bliss / Cosmic Fate

Zoya - Godiva // Northern Lights Holographic Topcoat

31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2014 Day 16: Geometric

Nail Pattern Boldness - Hello, Sweetie // Maybelline - Bold Gold

31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2014 Day 8: Metallic

Sally Hansen - Scarab // American Apparel - Bronze Dash

Scofflaw - Chromosaurus Hex

Did you watch the Jurassic Park trilogy as a kid?

I'm pretty sure most people have. 

I was always terrified of the raptors, and every time I watched the scene where that guy
steals the raptor's eggs I would be begging him to leave them. But no, of course he took them.
You need tension and impulsive decisions to create a great plot. I just always wanted to slap him >.< 

Speaking of dinosaurs....

Scofflaw - Chromosaurus Hex // Big Ruby Tattoos

Penguin Galaxy

Firecracker Lacquer - Penguin Parade // Sally Hansen - Scarab
A England - Jane Eyre // Zoya - Solange + Godiva // Essie - Blanc

Green Tea

Hey there!

So last week I had the most desperate desire for high tea.

I knew that there was only one person who would truly understand so

I hit up Gee from In Jeeb We Trust, and we decided to try out a

new spot rather than our usual hideout on Main Street.

And how was it? Well it was quite possibly the girliest place I've ever been to.

Pink everything. Soft music. The most precious tea set with all the right accessories.

And the food was seriously outstanding. Best cucumber sandwich I've ever had in my life!

If you live in Vancity and love a unique tea experience definitely try out Patisserie Fur Elise.

Then take photos and share them and make me insanely jealous.

Now onto the manicure I wore!

Pink Teacup

Hey there!

Today's post is inspired by a teacup I received from my mom way back when for my sixteenth birthday.

Here's the pattern on the rim of the cup and of the saucer. Dainty and delicate, no?

L'oreal - I Pink I'm In Love // Maybelline - Bold Gold

I received this pink as a super early birthday gift from my childhood best friend who
came back home for a week. When I came home I had tea in this tea/saucer set and the idea sparked.

The formula of this polish was a little watery but it was fairly easy to work with.
And I love this shade of pink. Lady-like glamour. 

 Thanks for stopping by friends. Hope your week goes smoothly.

See you Friday!

xo, D.

Gypsy Acid Cats

Hey all!
Hope you've had a good week.
If not, well, hopefully some nail art and a bit of music will cheer you up.

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Barry M. - Lychee // Color Club - Miss Bliss // Sally Hansen - Golden Rule 

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& here's a band I've recently discovered.
This is probably my favourite song from the album. 

I love to zone out to this and go for a walk.

xo, D.

Purple Reign

Hey there! 

Hope you're having better weather than I am wherever you are. 

Honestly, the rain doesn't bother me. I live in Vancouver. It comes with the territory.

I was just fooled by the few pretty days we had into thinking that Spring was Summer.

So to help brighten up this dreary day I wanted to share
another 2 in 1 post featuring two looks using my favourite colour - purple. 

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The Rich Love Diamonds

Zoya - Aurora // Essie - Set in Stones

This manicure was so simple but I loved it so so much.

Aurora is holographic bliss and I love this Essie glitter topper.

Like diamond snowflakes. 

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The Royal Wave

Sephora X - Fierce // Maybelline - Bold Gold

MoYou - Suki Collection 05

I haven't done all that much stamping lately but I just knew this combo was worth it.
Once I tried it on one finger I wanted it on every digit. 

I was really pleased with the overall effect. 

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Let me know what you think! 

Have a great weekend everyone.

xo, 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.

A Neutral Galaxy, The Versatile Blogger Award, & The Blogger Friendship Award

Hey friends! Happy Friday. 

Today I've got a mani that I've had stored away for awhile - a neutral galaxy!

Zoya - Flynn // Zoya - Charlize // Zoya - Solange // Zoya - Stevie
The stars were done with Essie - Blanc

What do you think guys? I was sort of in love.
The Pixie's gave the most amazing sparkle.
I am trying though to find a better way to do the stars.
How do you do your little stars on your galaxies?

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I was also recently nominated for two different awards:

the Versatile Blogger Award and the Blogger Friendship Award. 

I've chosen to combine the 2 together because well... they seem like the exact same thing to me. 

Both ask you to nominate 14 other bloggers and to list 7 random facts about yourself. 

So I've decided to list 14 facts to accommodate both awards, but 15 other bloggers is a hell
of a lot so I'm going to be a telephone an internet rebel and break the chain. 

So here we go, 14 random facts about little old me.

The Facts...

(1) I love to organize. Even if it's just a box and all I did was reorganize it's contents, I always feel more relaxed and like I've accomplished something.

(2) I've been dating my boyfriend for almost 6 years now.

(3) I drink lactose free milk and in general I keep dairy to a minimum.

(4) My mom makes the best cheesecake ever (yes I'm bias but seriously - so good). I always ask her for the recipe but she does it all from memory. I realize this contradicts my last fact but my mom's cake is worth breaking my own rules for.

(5) I have never broken any bones in my body.

(6) My family treats Christmas Eve as a much bigger deal than Christmas day and as a result I get gifts earlier than most people.

(7) I played soccer as a child and continued into high school.

(8) I am bilingual - I speak both English and Polish.

(9) I love the shape of my eyebrows.

(10) I have a scar on my face that I got during my childhood while I was wrestling around with one of my closest friends. It's a battle wound I'm proud of because we were spunky and active and it reminds me of how much fun we always had.

(11) It bothers me when people wear leggings that you can see their underwear through.

(12) I make really good coffee and I very rarely drink more than one cup a day.

(13) I religiously watch The Young and the Restless.

(14) Every time I do a scratch and win I picture what I would do with the money I could win. Usually I picture myself jumping in the air and paying off my student loans. Oh, the dreams of a young adult.

So that's it! 14 random facts about me.

A big Thank you to Glitter Fists and to The Nail Snail for their nominations. You guys are great <3

Much love, D.

1 Year Blogiversary

Hey friends!
So sorry to have been away so long. I needed a bit of a blogging break.
When I blog I always strive to blog consistently and to
produce interesting posts, and I just wasn’t in the right mind frame to do either.
But! I’m back and all too quickly I’ve hit another milestone: my 1 year blogiversary!!!
Technically I hit it on the 11th of October but I got swept up in Thanksgiving
madness and didn’t get to posting until today – 9 days later.
But since this is my blog and I can do what I want we’re just going to ignore that fact.

Now onto the festivities. To celebrate this occasion I wanted to provide
you with multiple mani’s just like I did for my 100th post.
I’ve been gone so long, you deserve more than one look, so this time around you’re getting 4.
Let me know which look is your favourite! 

& here's a band I'm a little obsessed with at the moment to get things started.



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Aphrodisiac Deco Tips






For this look I used Sally Hansen Lustre Shine in Lava as my base
and then I taped off the tips and used piCture pOlish in Aphrodisiac.
I loved the electric pink/glittering gold on plum contrast. 
Total glam.




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Hunter in London





This is a look I wore while going out with some friends for tea and pastries.
I wanted something that embraced fall and all it’s deep rich colours.
I used Zoya – Hunter for my base and then on top of that I used Zoya  - London.
To complete the look I mattified the whole thing with OPI’s matte top coat.



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Jane Eyre Meets King Arthur






Next up, another dark and sultry manicure.
I used A England – Jane Eyre as my base and then I stamped using A England – King Arthur.
The plate I used was Sailor Collection – 06 by MoYou. You can find all their amazing plates here.
Seriously. If you love to stamp you need some of their plates.
Not only are the designs fantastic but the groves are etched deeply and the images transfer really well.



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Fruity Fan-tastic

Last up, another MoYou mani. I wore this manicure for Thanksgiving long weekend
and I was lucky enough to have it last all 3 days of my fatty feast.
Nothing like family and great food to remind me of what I’m thankful for.

For my base I used Barry M – Lychee and then I stamped using A England – Briarwood.
The MoYou plate I used was plate 5 from the Suki Collection.

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So that’s it! Hope you enjoyed my one year blogiversary post.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my little blog.
Now let’s get this next year rollin’!

xo, D.

Graduation

Hello again!
Today I wanted to share a special mani with you guys. A little over a week ago I graduated from university! It was a big day for me so I needed a manicure that made me feel fabulous. I didn’t know whether to keep it simple or not but I decided to just go for it. Such an occasion deserved some hutzpah. Here’s how it turned out:





I decided right away that glitter had to be involved. I used 3 coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure – Golden Rule as my base and then I stamped onto it with Essie – Licorice. Then I added Northern Lights Holographic Top Coat.

So what do you think?  I loved them. They made me feel special.
And! They went perfectly with both my dress and the outfit I wore to a late night concert.

Well that’s it for now. Next up: Deadly Sins Challenge Day 12.

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!