Pretty in Pearls

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I got my stripe on with the help of some striping tape & this pack of pearl flatbacks.

I used China Glaze Keep Calm, Paint On and Mimosas Before Manis for my base coat, then OPI Alpine Snow for the stripes.

Don't feel like writing so that's that :)


xxx
NPA

A Pink Christmas

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I wanted to go the non-traditional route this year; so I made sure to do one xmas mani that wasn't all that Christmasy!

I painted my nails with Mod Lacquer Serenity and used some striping tape and OPI Alpine Snow for the candy cane stripes. Then I added some silver rhinestones in the shape of a Christmas Tree to my ring finger for festivity!

I hope you had an awesome Christmas with your friends & family.

xxx

NPA

Nautical Nails

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Press Sample

Ahoy!

I had big outdoor swatching plans today but the sky decided to be grumpy and put away the sun! Stinky winter right?

So tonight I've got some nautical themed nail art to share.

OPI Alpine Snow, China Glaze First Mate & Millennium with decals

I love nautical inspired fashion so this was a really fun mani for me. I couldn't find my striping tape so I just cut strips of regular sellotape and tried (and failed!) to make an even pattern!
I did the regular blue and white stripes on every nail except my accent which I painted silver and blue instead. I thought it'd standout but it's pretty subtle actually. In most of the photos you can't even tell. Next time I'll introduce some red, yeah?

I used water decals from Born Pretty Store to complete the look.

Compass Anchor Pattern

The pack came with four decals each, of two different compass and anchor designs. The decals aren't tiny so I had to angle them to actually fit on my nails. My pinkie finger was too narrow for any of them to fit. No skin off my nose though, because I think these look better as an accent.

These were very easy to work with. You just cut them out, remove the plastic covering and lay face down in water until the backing card is fully soaked. Then to apply, just slide the decal off the wet card and push on to your nail and leave to dry. If you want to re-position the decal all you have to do is wet it again and it'll slide around for you. Once it's perfect seal it with 1 layer of top coat. I used Seche Vite above.

If you want to get some nail art supplies of your own you can use my 10% off voucher at BPS. They offer worldwide free shipping!!!!

So... what do you think?


xxx
NPA

First attempt at roses with China Glaze Mimosas Before Manis

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So I tried another new to me nail art technique last week. Though it was pretty bad looking up close, from a distance (and to the lay/muggle eye) they looked pretty fantastic!!!

Since everyone has been posting swatches of the China Glaze Avant Garden Collection, I wanted to do something a little different by posting some nail art using each polish separately.

China Glaze Mimosas Before Manis with roses, stripes and polka dots

 First off, Mimosas Before Manis is pinkier in person, my camera just hates these types of corals. I love the bright pink/orange coral with subtle shimmer but the formula is not the greatest. I thinned it a little which helped to reduce the uneven streaks, but I used 3 coats to get it looking even. The coverage was also a bit of a problem. I often find these sorts of formulas are opaque and yet you end up with VNL after two coats still. I still think MBM is worth the extra effort though.

I painted the stripes and dots with OPI Alpine Snow using a striper brush and dotting tool, respectively. Then I used my dotting tool to make blobs of purple for the roses and acrylic white and green paint with a detail brush to make the rose swirls and leaves.

I definitely have to work on the control of the brush and steadiness of my hand, but all in all it's an impressive first try in my book!!

And here is three coats of MBM with one layer of Seche Vite:

China Glaze Mimosas Before Manis

Aaaaahhhh, how I love my subtle shimmers!!!!

The posts from today until Wednesday have been scheduled because I'm away at camp; handling cows, horses and chickens, Oh My!!!

Which Avant Garden lacquers did you snag??


xxx
NPA