31DC2014: Day 23

Hey everyone! Happy Autumn... Even though it makes me sad because it means winter is on its way. I'm just not built for the cold. Remind me again why I don't live in Florida?

The theme for today is Inspired by a Movie. A couple weeks ago I got the new Pulp Fiction nail polish from Urban Decay so I knew I'd have to use that and do Pulp Fiction nails!

I was inspired by Mrs. Mia Wallace and the smoke always billowing out of her lush lips!

I added a bandaid on the thumb for Mr. Wallace, which definitely brings the look together.

Here's the polish on its own:

Urban Decay - Mrs. Mia Wallace
This is a beautiful red with tonal shimmer, and the formula is dreamy. It takes 2 thin coats for full coverage, and as always the UD formula is so easy to work with.

I did the smoke with Color Club - French Tip using the watercolor technique. I have a (slightly old) tutorial for that technique here, and I was inspired by these nails by Chalkboard Nails to turn that technique into smoke!

The bandaid was painted with OPI - San-Tan Tonio and OPI - Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?

The lip print stamp is from Bundle Monster plate BM-303 and Konad Black special polish.

Still in love with the Urban Decay bottles. I've got all of these new polishes now... Haha. Oh and good news for Canadians, the Shoppers Drugmart locations that carry UD stocked this collection, including the polish! They never had any of the polishes before so I was really surprised to see it there.

What do you guys think of these nails? Can you see the Mrs. Mia Wallace inspiration in them? I'm really pleased with how they turned out!

Now take a walk down memory lane and check out my previous day 23 designs:

• 2013: Legally Blonde
• 2012: Juno
• 2011: The Little Mermaid

31DC2014: Day 1

Here we go once again down this fun/insane trail called the 31 Day Challenge. This marks the fourth time that I have embarked on this journey, and as much as it may annoy and frustrate me over the course of the month, I can't wait to see where it pushes me this time!
If you're unfamiliar with the challenge, my pal (and fellow 31DC enforcer) Chalkboard Nails has posted a nice little FAQ here that sums it all up.

Usually something happens during the month that makes it very difficult for me to complete the challenge such as the blackout of 2012 that had me going to my dad's office for electricity so I could post, or 2013 when I went to Chicago and had to schedule like a week's worth of challenge posts in advance. This year's crisis is already planned: I have to have dental surgery on the 9th and I am already FREAKING THE HELL OUT so hopefully I can get some posts scheduled in advance. Thank you, tooth, for being too big and growing into my sinus cavity. I really wanted that.

Anywayzzzzzz, the theme for day one is red! I decided to try out a red polish I've been meaning to try since I picked it up in Florida, and I wanted to combine it with a trendy design.

OPI - Over & Over a Gwen
This polish was created by Gwen Stefani as her signature color. It's your standard cherry red with a formula that is on the line between creme and jelly. Not overly exciting but makes sense because I can't really picture Gwen wearing anything else! Red nails and red lips, that's her style.

I'm not usually one to wear straight up red (my hair has enough of that going on) so I combined the red with some pink for a fun gradient! I used OPI - Hotter Than You Pink because I knew the shimmer would really pop and make for a nice transition. Once that was done, I added a chevron stamp because chevron is always a good idea. The stamp is from Bundle Monster BM-423.

One down, thirty to go.
Are you gonna bravely accept the challenge? Can't wait to see everyone's designs!

Now take a walk down memory lane and check out my previous Day 1 designs:

• 2013: Red Nails, Red Lips
• 2012: Apple Print
• 2011: Friar Friar Pants on Fire

31DC2013 - day 24

It is Day 24 of the 31 Day Challenge and the theme is Inspired by a Book.
In both previous years of this challenge I did nails inspired by different books from one of my favorite authors, Ellen Hopkins, and this year shall be no different. (Check out Glass and Perfect.)

This year I modeled my nails on the art for Impulse! This was always my favorite book from Ellen Hopkins but I haven't read it in a while. This has made me want to pick it up again!

I started the nails with a base of OPI - Paint My Moji-toes Red. It's a red with just the right dusty tint to match the book cover.
I used three colors on top with the dab-off method to create the messy, almost splattered look:
OPI - Oh Cabana Boy
piCture pOlish - Warning
China Glaze - Gothic Lolita

I added black lines for a little more interest.

And now I'll go share this to Ellen Hopkins' Facebook page and hope she stops by my page.
Hope you guys like it! Just one more week left in the challenge!

31DC2013 - day 1

Yes, I must literally be crazy.
Welcome to Day 1 of the 31 Day Challenge.

If you've been around here for a while, you'll remember I have done this in September of 2011 and 2012 with some of my amazing nail friends such as Sarah of Chalkboard Nails.
Clearly Sarah and I cannot let each other down so we are doing it again.
A lot of other people around the nail world are doing it, too. Be prepared to be flooded each day with challenge posts. Who can make it to the end?!

Only the cray-cray.

The theme for Day 1 is Red.

You may know that I have a new obsession with lipstick, so when thinking of red, all I could think of was red lips.

Specifically RiRi Woo, my amazing new matte red lipstick from Rihanna's collaboration with MAC.

Thought it would be a good time to bust out my lips-and-lipstick print from Bundle Monster plate BM-303!
I used the same red that I used in last year's red mani... How predictable. It's OPI - Comet Loves Cupid, my most favorite red creme. The formula is wonderful, 2 coats, and no staining!

I decided I wanted to also show off the lipstick in this post, as I have recently had thoughts of adding more than just nails to this blog...

But HOLY CRAP it is hard to photograph your face and be happy with the results! Peach fuzz... Dry skin... Tiny lips... What!! How do you beauty bloggers post your faces every day without being like OMFGZ MY PORES?!?!
Props, man. Props.

I suppose I'll stick to nails... Unless there's like a resounding YES in the comments of this post regarding other beauty things. But hey. It's all good.

Can you guys believe I am doing this challenge again? I can't. I really can't. Haha!


Here's a refresher of the daily themes, photo credited to the lovely Chalkboard Nails of course.

See you tomorrow!

Cheeky Week - Day 5: Black Strawberries? Um...

For my final day of this Cheeky week, here's an adorable stamp that I didn't quite use right... Haha!

This strawberry image is from the Cheeky Summer Set, CH-42. I used Essie's Come Here as my base color and the stamping was done in Konad Black.

I should have stamped red strawberries onto a lighter base... Not sure why I went for black! Hahaha. It's still cute but I am just not loving it.

This is the end of my Cheeky Week, but never fear, I will have lots more Cheeky looks in the future! There are so many more images I wanna use in this set, there will be lots more coming soon.
Plus, perhaps in a few weeks time, I will do a second week of Cheeky looks with my other set! Would you be interested in that? Hope you liked these posts!

Press Sample

Essie Resort Collection 2013

Yoooooooo.

I love Winners. They provide me with multiple nail polishes at a reasonable price.
(...They provide me with way more clothes and shoes and accessories than I'd like to admit also. And an occasional giant cupcake holder...)

I got this Essie Resort Collection 2013 cube for $14.99. I wasn't planning on picking up any of these colors at the usual Essie price, but hey, a cute cheap cube I can go for.

Swatchie!

Essie - First Timer
I think this one is my favorite of the set - a spring green creme.  Nice formula, I'm pretty sure this was just two coats, and it was opaque in person but I can see some streaks in the photos.
A weird thing happened however:

 no topcoat vs. with topcoat

It might be impossible to see in this photo if you aren't me... But it changes color a little when you add topcoat (or Seche Vite, at least.) It made it just a bit more yellow-toned and that annoyed me because I liked it more before it changed. Haha!

Essie - Under Where?
Hehe, I love this name. Nothing special about the polish, just a nice lilac with the usual nice Essie formula.

Essie - In The Cab-ana
I love this bright sky blue. I did my nails in a major rush when I used this color, so my application isn't perfect, but that was my fault and not the formula. If you're being more civilized with your nail painting, you can do two easy coats.

Essie - Come Here!
This is a hot red-coral that really pops. I don't think it really goes with any of the other colors in the collection - another pastel would have been more cohesive. But the color iself is pretty great! Nice and vibrant for summer. Great formula, practically a one-coater.

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I'm pretty pleased with this offering from Essie! Nice springy colors (and one more summery.)

Have any of my other Canadian ladies found Essie cubes at Winners? I'm hoping to find the Naughty Nauticals cube there too because holy crap I want that whooooole collection. And not at regular price! Haha!

a-england Burne-Jones Dream Collection

 Press Sample

Hey guys! Today I have a fantastic new collection to show you. And they're holos!

This is the Burne-Jones Dream Collection from a-england.
It is inspired by a series of paintings from Sir Edward Burne-Jones, that depict the story of the Sleeping Beauty. (Ommorphia Beauty Bar clearly knows her stuff on this subject so check out her post for some more info on the history.)

Adina from a-england always creates magical collections with amazing formulas and great background histories. Ready to see the swatches?

a-england - Rose Bower
This is a beautiful red with a subtle holographic effect. The holo in this one is the weakest of the collection, but it still adds a great glow-from-within and makes this polish unlike any other that I own.
The formula is wonderful - you can totally get away with one thicker coat but I did two thin ones for photos.

a-england - Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty)
This is a dusty, rosy red, with a very strong holographic effect. I love this one! The color seemed a little washed out in the bottle but once on the nail, it came to life.
As with the first polish, you could likely get away with one thick coat, but I did two thin ones.
Totally unique in my collection.

a-england - Fated Prince
This is like a cross between charcoal and olive with a fairly strong holographic effect. It has definite green-tones but in some lights they disappear. I didn't really notice its green hue until it was on my nails. It's gorgeous! Polish-lovers seem to go nuts for greens - this one will be no different.
This polish is a bit thinner than the others and definitely needs two coats, but it is still a totally amazing formula and has no application issues. Perfect! And again, completely unique.

a-england - Sleeping Palace
This one is my favorite of the four - a beautiful purple-toned smoky gray with a strong holographic effect. The formula is perfection. I could have stopped after the first coat but added a second to be completely flawless.
I wore this one as a full manicure and it felt very sophisticated but still fun. And as with the previous polishes, it is unique and I own nothing else like it.

I thought these four colors went really well together, so I did a nice tape mani to display all four!

When I do tape manicures, I make sure my base has been dry for a long time (usually overnight) before adding any tape for subsequent colors. If you don't, you end up pulling off some of your base color.
These polishes are all so opaque that it makes a tape mani really easy! I can see myself using these for more tape manicures in the future.

a-england polishes are always crowd-pleasers, and these ones will be no different.
A fifth addition to this collection will be coming out in the near future!

If you're in the UK, you can buy direct from a-england, but if you're elsewhere in the world, click here to check out a list of international distributors.
I got mine from Nail Polish Canada, where each polish retails for $10.80 each or $32.40 for the four-piece set! Don't forget to check them out on Facebook for all their news and updates.

Hope you enjoyed these swatches and the nail art look! Which one is your fave?

Products provided for honest review.