Canadian Cottage Scene

Hello!

More wintry themes from me!

I started with a base of Quo by Orly Prepster for the sky, Canvas lacquer Polar Bear Dip for the frozen skating pond, Elevation Polish Alpine Heights (Carlit) for the trees, Nails Inc Oxford St for the cabin with just a hint of bondi nyc Chasing the Sun for the warm glow through the window, a combo of CoverGirl Silver Lining and Sally Hansen Whiteout for the all the snow and smoke out of the chimney, then topped everything off with Canvas' Winter of '99 for the snow falling. Konad Gold Black for added depth. Phew! All freehand.

Let me do your nails next Saturday! Come by 224 Wallace Ave, Unit 104 on Dec 6 for our Pop Up event!

-L

WINTER HAS ARRIVED

Hello!

Wow. Winter has seriously walloped North America. I did this mani on Saturday, not realizing how fitting this would be today.

If you didn't already know, Polar Bear Dip is inspired by a frozen Lake Ontario, and here it is portrayed as a frozen Lake Ontario! Our Winter of '99 is inspired by the infamous year our mayor called in the national army to help us out of a storm - and here it is falling over the city skyline.

I started with a base of Colors by Llarowe Precious Metal, it has beautiful shimmer that didn't come through in my pix. The skyline and tree is freehanded with my Konad Gold Black. For a bit more silvery icy-ness I added a bit of CoverGirl Silver Lining on the lake and building up under the tree.
I'm so proud of this mani!

To be serious for a second though - our thoughts are with those in Buffalo right now. Please don't go out if you don't have to, keep your loved ones close and cuddle your fur buddies!

Stay safe!

-L

31DC2014 Day 18 - Half Moons

ok, after that last fail I feel like this one has redeemed me...

Simple, yet oh-so-fancy! ooh la la!
I already did a half moon gradient on Day 10 so again I wanted to be a bit more innovative for this challenge. This 'waterfall mani' was coined by the Nailasaurus, but I did a mash up of that with the half moon.
I started with Zoya Dream, possibly one of my fave polishes EVA (and yes, I have every other version that Zoya has made, but I do wish the holographic particles were more visible in pics)! I used reinforcement stickers for the moons and then a detail brush for the lines.

I don't know what it is with me, but I am terrible with striping brushes! I started with that and they just looked like a hot mess, so I turned to a detail brush for better control. The lines are fatter, but straighter, and I like the fact that they taper. I used Konad Silver and OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby.
The stickers prevented me from getting a crisp line so I redefined them after I was done with the detail brush. I love this look and want to experiment with more color combos!

-L

31DC2014, Day 9 - Rainbow

Hello!

Day 9 - Rainbow

If you haven't figured it out - I love colour! I didn't have a lot of time to go crazy and really think outside the box for this one, but I'm still pretty happy with how this turned out.

I thought I was being clever by using piCture pOlish Sparkle because it has a rainbow of micro glitter in it, but you can't tell in these photos! They look more like random specks. gah
So then I used the same Bundle Monster 021 image and stamped using Konad Red, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Snappy Sorbet, Lightening, In the Groove, Brisk Blue and OPI Funky Dunky.

I used 2 shades per stamp, hoping the colors would bleed together more to create a bit more of a gradient effect, but it didn't come out that way. It could have been the nature of the Insta-Dri polishes, they're quite thick and dry quickly - great for stamping, not so great for stamping gradient.

-L

31DC2014, Day 5 - Blue

Hello!

Day 5 - Blue

So far one of my most popular Instagram posts ever! I loved how this turned out and was so sorry to have to take it off!

Whoo! This was NOT a lazy interpretation, but it didn't take hours either. The base is Cirque Tibetan Nights, a fave blue, but damn does it stain! The clouds were freehanded using a combination of bondi blue skies, Misa Blue Over a Boy, bondi nyc NYPD and a bit of Sally Hansen White On for highlights and stars.

The moon I stamped since I didn't trust myself to freehand a circle! I used Konad Silver and VividLacquer 017.

Sometimes I impress myself.

-L

31DC2014, Day 2 - Orange

Hello!

Day 2 - Orange is ... Orange.

Gah! I was kinda like, uh, I suck, not really thinking outside the box with these challenges; roses are red, oranges are orange - but hey! I ended up loving my citrus mani and I got a lot of positive feedback, so WHATEVA.

AHHH, what a shame I didn't create this mani when we were in the height of summer, but Toronto experienced an usual late heatwave so I was really feelin' these!
The base is bondi nyc Central Park Blossom which is a super pale peachy shade, but in this mani almost gives the illusion of white (you'll see why this is important in my next mani: yellow). In the gradient I used bondi nyc Chasing the Sun and Cult Nails Ay Poppy!

I used MoYou Tropical 08, Bundle Monster 308 and Konad m55 in combination with white polish for all the images.
I actually managed to get my right hand to look pretty awesome too, which is so rare so that definitely gave this mani some bonus points.

-L

Vacation Nails with MoYou Stamping

Hello!

Ok, so I didn't go on vacation. But let's say I did, I'd definitely rock something like this for a tropical trip.

I started with a base of OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around. I then used a makeup sponge to add the 3 colours: bondi nyc Teal Magnolia, OPI I Can't Cope-acabana, and OPI Live.Love.Carnival. It was meant to be a pie-shaped gradient, but I like the looser randomness of the final result.

I then added the tropical foliage images using Konad Gold Black and MoYou Tropical 12.

I love bright and tropical themes (can you tell?), but after a day or two I got restless with it. I was too busy at the time to do another mani, so I added a glitter topper!

Yay! Elevation Polish Haba Xueshan is one of my all-time favourite glitter toppers. Not sure why the black and white combo always makes things look a bit more 90's to me. Perfect, since I'm seeing a 90's esque topical trend everywhere this summer.

Do you prefer with or without the glitter?

-L

MoYou Sailor 08

Hello!

*happy dance* I have been coveting MoYou London plates for what seems like forever (but more like a year). When I heard they started offering free shipping to Canada I just HAD to treat myself.

I bought 6 plates, and this is my first mani. I also bought the squishy rectangular stamper and so far so good! I do find the image transferring has worked really well, but since I haven't done a whole nail design yet I haven't decided if this shape helps me align the image better, or if it reduces warping. My only complaint is that MoYou forgot to include a scraper, so I don't know if that would have been any better or not since it's plastic, and my Konad is metal.

Anyway...

Too often I forget to take pictures of bases before I start doing everything on top. Sorry!
The gradient is subtle here but more apparent IRL. In any case, it was a coat of bondi nyc Blue Skies, then I dabbed on with a sponge Nails Inc Baker Street, Motives Tahiti Surf, and Quo by Orly Prepster.

Using MoYou London Sailor 08 and Konad White, Red and Gold Black I stamped on different coral images. I also used OPI Amazon...Amazoff for green seaweed, but it's not a stamping polish and didn't appear as opaque.
I used the leadlight technique to fill in the fish images with Nfu-Oh Jelly Syrup 20 (yellow), 25 (red) and 03 (gray).

It didn't turn out quite like I pictured in my head, but I'm still satisfied with my first MoYou experience (minus the missing scraper).

-L

Surreal Garden with Dragonflies

Hello!

Today's look could have been two separate manis. I wasn't sure what I was doing exactly when I started, and even though I'm happy with both looks, they don't seem that cohesive.

I started off with a base of piCture pOlish Atomic. Some of you must be sick of hearing what I use as a base since it seems it always gets covered up anyway! I'm often intending for some of the qualities of the base polish to shine though, but it rarely turns out that way.

pre clean up and stamp

On my thumb, index and middle finger I used a combination of sponging and dry brush technique for this ethereal look. Polishes are Misa Lash Out, Motives Tahiti Surf, Misa Let's Go Green, and Elevation Polish Wuyi Mountain. On my ring and pinky, with the same techniques, I used Duri What a Keeper, Elevation Polish El Cap, Cirque Vaudeville and Cadillacquer Pinkman.

The grass is from Vivid Lacquer plate 14 and the dragonflies and stars are from plate 19. The flowers are from Konad plate m53. I love the surreal garden, and the whimsical dragonflies, but they don't necessarily work together do they? What do you think?

Bonus macro to show off some shimmer:

Dusky City Skyline, Nails of the Day

Hello!

Today's look is sort of a practice run for a similar idea I've been playing with in my head for awhile, but I'm not going to reveal all the details yet!

I started with 2 coats of bondi nyc Chasing the Sun.

Orange is certainly not my first pick of polish shades, but I quite like this! It reminds me of creamsicles.

I then sponged on Duri What A Keeper (blurple with hidden shimmer) and bondi nyc NYPD (the deep blue). The sparkly 'stars' are Color Club Magic Attraction, which has holo that unfortunately didn't translate in photos.
I stamped the buildings from Vivid Lacquer plate 004 with Konad Gold Black and the moon with Vivid Lacquer plate 017 and Konad Silver. I purposely didn't use my usual NOPI because it's actually more opaque than the Konad special polish and I wanted the moon to look a bit more ethereal.
The tiny building lights are OPI I Can't Cope-acabana, using a cut down brush and just barely dotting it onto the surface.

I took an iPhone photo with flash, and it made the moon look really cool!

The glare of the flash even gave me perfect stars in the sky!
Hope you like this look as much as I do!

-L