Quirky 31 Day Challenge - Day 5 Black and White

Hi everyone,

Today is black and white for day 5 of the Quirky 31DC. I had to do some stamping for this prompt and I knew exactly what I wanted. Black roses on a white background, simple yet beautiful. This has been my favourite day of the challenge so far.

I have used;

Basecoat - Seche Clear

Three coats of China Glaze 'White Out'

Konad special stamping polish in black

Plate m65

Topcoat - Seche Vite

I can see myself using my m65 plate again for this one image. Even my Dad commented on how much he liked the pattern. I must be onto a winner haha! It's always nice when my Dad notices my nails :)

Please check out the other ladies joining me in the Quirky 31 Day Challenge:

Polish Asphyxiation

Irish Nail Addict

Nevermind Suzi

Potions In Motion
Fishing 4 Beauty

Valiantly Varnished

Do you use a plate specifically for one image? 

Happy polishing!

Quirky 31 Day Challenge - Day 4 Glitter

Hi everyone,

Today is day 4 of the Quirky 31DC, and is one of my favourites... glitter! For today, I have the most beautiful blue polish I own.

Technically this is not a glitter polish. This is a holographic polish. But when I think of glitter, I think of sparkles. And when I think of sparkles, I think of Picture Polish's 'Ocean.'

I have used;
Basecoat - Seche Clear
Three coats of Picture Polish 'Ocean'
Top Coat - Seche Vite

This is a jelly formula with holographic sparkles. It is an absolute dream to apply. Picture Polish shades are Australian made, 3 free, not tested on animals, cruelty free and vegan. You can find their shades here.

It's also the only blue polish I have found in my collection so far to be easy to clean up around the cuticles and that doesn't stain. Amazing right? It's so pretty! I couldn't help but to twinkle my fingers during random times of the day.

Please check out the other ladies joining me in the Quirky 31 Day Challenge:

Polish Asphyxiation

Irish Nail Addict

Nevermind Suzi

Potions In Motion
Fishing 4 Beauty

Valiantly Varnished

Stay tuned for tomorrow, I have some black and white stamping coming up :)

Happy polishing!

Quirky 31 Day Challenge - Day 3 Favourite Colour

Hi everyone,

Today is day 3 of the Quirky 31 Day Challenge, with the prompt of your favourite colour. A friend mentioned the other day how I have alot of pink and pinky-red swatch sticks. I also have a hot pink car, pink sheets, pink stationary at work...  so I clearly love this colour.

I was looking at my swatch sticks and finding it extremely difficult to pick a pink. What a dilemma! After half an hour of oohing and ahhing I made a decision. 5 different colours to make pink ombre nails :)

I have used;
Basecoat - Seche Clear
Thumb - Two coats of Revlon 'Cherries In The Snow'
Index - Two coats of China Glaze 'Heli-Yum'
Middle - Two coats of Revlon Top Speed 'Bubble'
Ring - Two coats of China Glaze 'Rich & Famous'
Pinky - Two coats of Revlon Colourstay 'Passionate Pink'
Topcoat - Seche Vite

The colours stated above are shown below from left to right.

I usually do not have the patience to use multiple colours in a manicure, especially if they are from different brands due to different drying times. But those five colours are some of my favourites out of my collection, and I have never done ombre nails before.

Please check out the other ladies joining me in the Quirky 31 Day Challenge:

Polish Asphyxiation

Irish Nail Addict

Nevermind Suzi

Potions In Motion
Fishing 4 Beauty

Valiantly Varnished

Do you have a favourite colour that dominates your polish collection?

Happy polishing!

Quirky 31 Day Challenge - Day 2 Pastel

Hi everyone,

Today I have my Day 2 Pastel entry for the Quirky 31 Day Challenge.

I was so excited to get my 9 bottles of Picture Polish two weeks ago, it was a present to myself for completing a weight goal I set. One of those beautiful little bottles contains 'Honeydew.' I am in love with this colour... it's dreamy and half way between a pastel and a bright. I find that with my skin tone pastels can sometimes make me look grey, so this is the perfect colour for olive skin.

I have used;
Basecoat - Seche Clear
Three coats of Picture Polish 'Honeydew'
Topcoat - Seche Vite

The formula is a little tricky on the first coat. By the second coat you have a nice coverage and the third coat levels out perfectly. No bald spots. Just a dreamy creamy manicure. Picture Polish shades are Australian made, 3 free, not tested on animals, cruelty free and vegan. You can find their shades here. Be sure to check out their Everyday Deals page too... I got 9 bottles for the price of 7!

I was going to do some stamping over my base colour, but it was too pretty! I might start off slow for the beginning of the challenge and work my way up since I will be posting once a day for a whole month.

Please check out the other ladies joining me in the Quirky 31 Day Challenge:

Polish Asphyxiation

Irish Nail Addict

Nevermind Suzi

Potions In Motion
Fishing 4 Beauty

Valiantly Varnished

Do you sometimes just appreciate a colour on it's own too? Are you a fan of pastels?

Happy polishing!

Quirky 31 Day Challenge - Day 1 Green

Hi everyone,

I'm back and with a bang! This month I am participating in something a little bit different... I'm doing the Quirky 31 Day Challenge hosted by the lovely Ameerah at Valiantly Varnished. I will be joining a few other ladies in the challenge of posting one manicure a day for the whole month of September. Oh yes... this will be a challenge for sure!

Day 1 has the prompt of Green. My first thought was to use my beautiful bottle of China Glaze 'Outta Bounds' bought from my dear friend Harublossom88. You can check out her blog here. I got 9 bottles of China Glaze polish for buying her dinner, a fair trade in my opinion!

I have used;

Basecoat - OPI Nail Envy in Original
Two coats of China Glaze 'Outta Bounds'
Top coat - Seche Vite
Stamping - China Glaze 'Passion'
Plate Used - Pueen PUEEN10

After looking at the beautiful jade green colour on my nails, I teamed it with some gold stamping in a snakeskin pattern. These next two photos are using flash to show a more accurate colour representation.

Please check out the other ladies joining me in the Quirky 31 Day Challenge:

Polish Asphyxiation

Irish Nail Addict

Nevermind Suzi

Potions In Motion
Fishing 4 Beauty

Valiantly Varnished

Hope you will enjoy this challenge as much as I do! Do you have a favourite green pastel, creme or glitter polish?

Happy polishing!

Nfu Oh 'NFU 51' Swatch

Hi everyone,

Today I have for you a super shiny gorgeous duochrome flakie manicure... yes, it's Nfu Oh 'NFU 51'!

I have had this on my wishlist for ages after seeing swatches and I just found out that the flakie range is being discontinued. Luckily my online shop had the three polishes I really wanted, so I snapped them up quick smart.

I have used:
Basecoat - OPI Nail Envy in Original
Two coats of China Glaze 'Liquid Leather'
One coat of Nfu Oh 'NFU 51'
Topcoat - Seche Vite

As you can see in the bottle, the base is a jelly blue/purple (or blurple) with duochrome flakie pieces. The flakies transition in the light from red to orange to yellow to green. It is just an amazing polish, I could not stop staring at my nails. Can you see the pretty? *sigh*

Even the bottle is pretty! I cant wait to try this over a purple base and see the effect I can get... Can you tell I am impressed? I hope they come up with a new flakie range, because I will definitely be snapping those up straight away. 

Do you own any flakie polishes? Which one is your favourite?

Happy polishing!

Yummy Treats - China Glaze 'Rich & Famous'

Hi Everyone,

Today I have my stamped manicure for Adventures in Stamping. The challenge this week was stamping over a saran wrap base. You can see how I did my base at this post here from yesterday.

Some of you may know that I am trying to be good and eat less of the deliciously bad processed foodstuffs. Lollipops, candy, cupcakes and muffins, toffees and icecream. All a big no no! So... why not put them on my nails instead?

Materials I have used:
Saran wrap base materials you can find here
Konad special stamping polish in black
Topcoat - Seche Vite
Plates Used - CH10 (lollipop and icecream), CH16 (cupcake), PUEEN03 (toffee) and BM306 (candy)

And here are some close up shots of my two favourite designs. The cupcake is so cute! My original plan was to use the full nail design on all my nails but I couldn't resit an accent nail (as usual) and the different sweet treats.

As you can probably tell, I had a little dragging with my topcoat and it has smudged some of the designs. This is what happens when I do my nails at 2am in the morning because it is stormy outside *eep* Other than the slight dragging I am very impressed with my Cheeky and Pueen plates that are now part of my collection.

What is your favourite sweet treat?

Happy polishing!

Glittery White and Pink Saran Wrap - China Glaze 'White Cap'

Hi everyone,

Today I have a manicure I am in love with! This will be my base for an upcoming stamping challenge, but I love it so much that I needed to leave it alone before stamping over the top. Just for a couple of days :)

These are the materials I used:

Base coat - OPI Original Nail Envy
Two coats of China Glaze 'White Out'
One coat of China Glaze 'White Cap'
One coat of China Glaze 'Rich & Famous'
Top coat - Seche Vite
saran wrap
acetone and brush for clean up

This is a glittery white and pink saran wrap manicure. The method involves taking a piece of saran wrap (glad wrap/cling film for the Aussie's out there) and scrunching it into a ball. You then paint over the nail with a colour and whilst still wet dab away the excess colour. This was a very easy effect to achieve, although the results look like more effort went into it. Deceptive and sneaky!

This is two coats of 'White Out' with one coat of 'White Cap.' I could easily wear this look as is. You could skip on the glittery topper but I wanted some depth to my base... See those beautiful gold flecks?

This is the finished product with one coat of 'Rich & Famous' dabbed off. The below photo is intentionally slightly blurry so you can see the combination of pink and gold.

I love this technique and its effect. I already have a few colour combinations in mind for future manicures. What do you think would look nice together, matching tone on tone colours or complete opposites?

Stay tuned for my stamping on Sunday. Happy polishing!

Silver French - China Glaze 'Secret Peri-Wink-Le'

Hi everyone,

Today I have my take on the French tip manicure for Adventures In Stamping. We could do any variation on the french manicure. I decided I wanted some very subtle stamping, so decided on a soft periwinkle blue and silver theme.

I'm very happy with how this turned out. I used my XL Sticky Stamper as well as striping tape and french tip guides for the very first time. They all work great! I am now in love with the XL Stamper, I wish I had of bought one ages ago. I did have to put some Glad Wrap (saran wrap) around the base so that the surface doesn't fall out each time I use it, but that was an easy fix.

I have used;

Basecoat - Seche Clear
Colour on ring finger - two coats of China Glaze 'Secret Peri-Wink-Le'
Top coat - Seche Vite
Stamping - Revlon 'Silver Dollar'
Plate Used - m79
Pale Blue striping tape

I'm also very happy with my recent purchase of acetone. My clean up is now looking more crisp. I just have to remember to moisturise!

Do you like French tips? Do you prefer the traditional colour scheme of pink and white?  

Happy polishing!

Grease The Movie Inspired Nails - China Glaze 'Sugar Rush'

Hi everyone,

I've been a very bad blogger and challenge participant! On the 17th of June over at Adventures In Stamping I was a day late in uploading my 70's Inspired design and now I'm posting 5 days later than I should be. I've been alot busier than I thought...

Well, better late than never I say! I didn't want to go down the traditional route of neon, tie dye, peace signs ect. because I figured that everyone would do that. Instead, I looked at movies that were released in the 70's, and voila, Grease Is The Word!

I have used;
Basecoat - Seche Clear
Colour on ring finger - two coats of China Glaze 'Liquid Leather'
Colour on remaining fingers - two coats of China Glaze 'Sugar Rush'
Top coat - Seche Vite
Stamping - Konad Special Polish in white and black
Plates Used - m73 (music notes), MM03 (couple silhouette), BM317 (hearts), m71 (girl), m18 (letter T), BM315 (bird), BM305 (lightening)

I am so happy with this design! I recently received my Messy Mansion and Bundle Monster plates, so it was great having a selection of images to choose from. And between you and me... I have another 6 parcels arriving :)

I have had many comments on how cute my thumb looks, it's my favourite finger for this design. Just in case you are wondering what my inspiration actually translates too:

Thumb - We Go Together (song)

Index - Hopelessly Devoted To You (song)

Middle - The Pink Ladies

Ring - The T-Birds

Pinky - Greased Lighnin' (song)

Hopefully my next update is sooner rather than later.

Happy Polishing!

Winter Knitted Sweater - China Glaze 'Lemon Fizz'

Hi everyone,

Today's manicure came about from our challenge of "complimentary colours off a colour wheel" over at Adventures In Stamping. After looking at the colour wheel, nothing appealed to me at all! Red and green, blue and orange, purple and yellow. Purple and yellow? That sounds interesting...

When I looked at my available polishes, I then thought of a traditional winter knitted sweater. This is what I came up with;

I have used:
Basecoat - Seche Clear
Colour on ring finger - two coats of China Glaze 'Spontaneous'
Colour on remaining fingers - three coats of China Glaze 'Lemon Fizz'
Top coat - Seche Vite
Stamping and sponging- China Glaze 'Spontaneous'
Plate - NC03 from Nailz Craze

I'm putting it out in the universe, I do not like this manicure at all. I strongly dislike complimentary colours. If I ever did this design again, I would not try a gradient with colours that do not blend well. What was I thinking?

Yet... I love my purple 'Spontaneous' polish and I'm glad I got to wear it. I love my new Nailz Craze plate and I'm happy that I tried something completely out of my comfort zone.

Have you ever done a manicure that you really haven't liked, yet still found elements that make you keep it on your nails?

Happy polishing!

Pink n Punk - China Glaze 'Designer Satin'

Hi everyone,

Last week I joined the group Adventures In Stamping on Facebook and I am hooked! The lovely ladies not only post a challenge manicure every Sunday but they also provide great advice, support and enthusiasm for members.

The first challenge I entered was "inspired by a spring purchase." Since it is winter here in Australia I was inspired instead by my new boots I had made up in Bali and my new scarf. If you know me personally, a pink sparkly fluffy scarf sums me up completely!

This is what I came up with:

I have used;

Basecoat - Seche Clear
Colour on ring finger - two coats of China Glaze 'Black Diamond'
Colour on index finger - two coats of China Glaze 'Ahoy!'
Colour on remaining fingers - two coats of China Glaze 'Designer Satin'
Top coat - Seche Vite
Stamping - Konad Special Stamping Polish in light silver
Plates - m11 (stars), m28 (skull), m40 (crown) and m59 (hearts)
Rhinestones in silver

The second photo shows the shine in the polish of my ring and index finger, which I really liked as accents. I don't usually wear shimmer polishes, but "Black Diamond' and 'Ahoy!' are definitely now favourites.

I have finally started to watermark my photos, who knew it would be so time consuming? I hope it doesn't detract from the photos too much...

Happy polishing!

Minnie Mouse Inspired - China Glaze 'Hey Sailor'

One of the ladies at my workplace is now interested in what design I will have on my nails for the week. She requested a Minnie Mouse inspired look after seeing some designs online.

This is my interpretation that I wore last week. Since I didn't have a specific plate I have used bows, hearts and of course a red and white theme to recreate Minnie!

I have used:
Basecoat - Seche Clear
Colour on ring and thumb - two coats of China Glaze 'White Out'
Colour on remaining fingers - two coats of China Glaze 'Hey Sailor'
Top coat - Seche Vite
Stamping - Konad Special Stamping Polish in red and white
Plates - m59 and m79
Rhinestones in silver and orange

I like this look but I wish I had Disney themed plates to use, I think I could have made it really cute. They are now on order though (hope they arrive soon)! I think I will have to come back and re-visit this manicure at a later date and do a "Time Warp" post.

Also, I am well aware of how bad the white polish looks on my nails. I am still trying to figure out this "clean-up" business around my cuticles. It was especially frustrating with 'White Out' as I could tell where I hadn't fully covered the nail and the polish didn't smooth out like usual. Something to be aware of for next time.

I think sometimes I may be too fussy, as most people tend to comment on how nice my nails are, rather than the mistakes I can clearly see. Does anyone else experience the same thing?

Happy polishing!

No More Google Reader - Bloglovin To The Rescue!

Hi everyone,

As some of you may know Google will be shutting down the Reader service soon.

I invite you to join me on Bloglovin :)

I find this type of feed so easy to use, as you can quickly see which of your favourite blogs have updated.

I hope that you will click the link to the right (as I don't update daily, this is probably the easiest way to see when I play with my nails haha) ------->

Hope I can inspire some of you to try new designs and have fun with polish!

Feminine & Floral - China Glaze 'IV'

It feels good to have polish back on my nails! I regularly go without polish every so often to let my nails breathe and strengthen them naturally. After cutting them down to "nubbins" they are finally a length that looks nice with polish.

I wanted something floral and feminine, yet still work appropriate. I have my first meeting with some prospective clients (eep!) so nice nails are a must. Rather than just a swipe of colour, I added some Konad as well. Sometimes small things can leave a big impression.

This manicure reminds me of Paris for some reason. I'm very happy with how this turned out although next time I will use the smaller rhinestones to make it a touch more dainty.

I have used:
Basecoat - Seche Clear
Three coats of China Glaze 'IV'
Topcoat - Seche Vite
Stamping - Konad Special Stamping Polish in light silver
Image Plate - Konad m71
Pearl rhinestones
Sealed with Seche Vite

I find that this peach colour is perfect for work. Do you have a favourite work appropriate colour you keep going back to? I'd love to know what other colours I can try out!

Floral Blue Gradient - BYS 'Matte Blue'

I have been without internet for a couple of days and its been killing me! I can now finally update my newest nail look for this week.

After seeing a beautiful manicure on Pinterest I thought I would try and see if I could get the same result. Thank you to Nihrida for this great design and colour combination!

I think it came pretty close to the orginal. My first gradient (that has worked haha) and my first time wearing blue.

I have used:
Basecoat - Seche Clear
Two coats of BYS 'Matte Blue'
Gradient - BYS 'Matte Blue' and 'Matte Purple'
Topcoat - Seche Vite
Stamping - Konad Special Stamping Polish in black
Image Plate - Konad m73
Sealed with Seche Vite

Not my own design, but I loved the colours and had to try it myself. Love this image plate too, I think it will be a favourite!

Happy polishing! Kelly xx

Golden Butterflies - Revlon Top Speed 'Bubble'

I felt like being very girly this week, so I've used a very pink coloured base, jazzed it up with a gold swirl background and used butterflies on my accent nails.

I have used:
Basecoat - Seche Clear
2 coats of Revlon Top Speed in Bubble
Topcoat - Seche Vite
Stamping - Konad Special Polish in gold (background) and black (butterflies)
Image Plates - m65 (background) and m68 (butterflies)

It looks amazing in the sun, the photos don't do the gold swirls justice. Will be doing something similar again, I really like this colour combination! The whole point of this blog was to keep track of my designs, so I'm glad I started it :)

Red Paisley - Revlon Top Speed 'Chili'

I have been wearing this for the past few days on my nails;

I had some spare time on Easter Friday waiting for family to arrive and was inspired by this mixed media piece on Mum's wall.

I used Seche Clear for my basecoat, two coats of Revlon Top Speed in Chili. I used stamping plate m60 with Konad Special Polish in black. Then a top coat of Seche Vite, added rhinestones, sealed with Seche Vite. 

What do you think? 

Tiffany Bows - China Glaze 'For Audrey'

For the past week I have had the following design on my nails. I was inspired by one of the girls from work. She mentioned that the ring she was wearing was from Tiffany's. Even though the jewellery is not my style, I do love the colour of the boxes it comes in. This manicure was my interpretation of the Tiffany box.

I used Seche Clear basecoat, two coats of China Glaze 'For Audrey,' top coat of Seche Vite, Konad Special Polish in black with plate m56, another coat of Seche Vite. I've then added rhinestones to my accent nails and sealed with more Seche Vite. This is the result:

Tiffany Bows

Two coats of For Audrey in artificial light 

Tiffany Bows in natural light

I think it turned out really cute, hope you like it as much as I do!

Kelly xx