Hi!

This is my 50th post!! Whoo!! I'm the kind of person that tends to start projects then abandon them after a week or two, so 50 posts is kind of a big accomplishment for me! 

To reward myself for my "dedication", I bought myself a bottle of polish and my first-ever wheel of studs from Claire's, both of which will be showing up here soon. 

Anyways. The weather is getting colder, and I've switched to my winter boots , fuzzy socks, and warm drinks. It's really feeling like fall now (although we've had some weird warm days) and so I had to do some fall nail art. 

This design was inspired by Robin Moses' "Tree of Life" nail art (link), but I changed up the colors to make it look more fall-y. And I kind of made it more clumsy-looking... because nobody can do nails like Robin Moses.

I started with a base of Nails Inc Kensington Place (see my swatches/review here), then added the tree trunks with brown acrylic paint and a thin nail art brush. Next, I added the leaves of the trees with more acrylic paints, using a dotting motion and a small detailing brush. Finally I sealed the design off with Seche Vite. 

I applied the top coat too soon, because I forgot acrylic paint dries more slowly than nail polish (especially in when you accidentally put big globs like I did) so it the colors of the leaves kind of washed down the gray base color. I decided to leave it as it was because I actually kind of liked the effect. Whoo, happy accidents!

And of course, I had to add some Fairy Dust to it, because I'm crazily addicted to it. 

And maybe this is just my addiction speaking, but I think it looks all pretty and mysterious, kind of like snow falling between the trees. 

Have you started with the knitted sweaters/hot chocolate/leather boots yet? 

Thanks for reading 

& be sure to let me know what you think of this design!

Nails Inc Kensington Place Swatches

Hi!

Today I have a polish from this year's Nails Inc Limited Edition Autumn/Winter collection, Kensington Place.

I don't usually do swatches (nope, not going to put a meme here), but this was a base for some fall nail art I'm posting later this week and it looked so beautiful that it seemed unfair to not do a separate swatch/review post!

Blogger Friendship Award

Hi!

Recently (well... actually about a month ago...) I was nominated for a Blogger Friendship Award by Rebenice from Oh No, Not Another Nail Art Blog! (you should definitely check her blog out, she does such amazing and original designs!)

It's pretty similar to the Blog Your Heart Out award -- as far as I can tell, you just state 7 things people probably don't know about you and then nominate seven bloggers. Here we go!

1. I'm in the process of building a pond in my back yard, but I haven't really been working on it since I started this blog... hehe
2.  I can't cook, at all. Whenever I try it's a complete failure -- I can't even make instant mashed potatoes (good thing I'm not living on my own yet!)
3. My favorite punctuation mark is the dash "--"
4. I have been to North America, Asia, and Europe, but no other continents :( But I guess I'm only a teenager so I still have time!
5. I have a elementary-school-aged sister (her nails appear on the blog from time to time)
6. I love writing with Pilot G2 pens and ONLY Pilot G2 pens :)
7. I used to be obsessed with orchids, but now I'm obsessed with nail art!

OK! Now it's time for my nominations!
(yeah... sorry if I also nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award, I can't keep track of all these things!)

1. Dagadelic

2. Hey, Darling Polish!

3. Flails and Nails 

4. Nail Polish Society 

5. Rexxx Did It 

6. Splash Your Nails 

7. Vic and Her Nails 

All of these blogs are wonderful and you should definitely check them out!

Thanks again to Rebenice for nominating me!

Thanks for reading!

Lucy xx

Porchester Square Vintage Floral

Hi!

I didn't really have a specific design in mind when I sat down to do these; I just knew I wanted to use Nails Inc Porchester Square in the design. Described as a "chic muted mushroom shade", it's a lovely shade I've been wanting to use for awhile. 

And when I looked at it, it seemed to scream "VINTAGE!!!". So I decided to listen to it and do a vintage floral design (OK. I'm talking about listening to my nail polish. That's... a little odd, but I'm sure many of you can sympathize). 

(Here's my first version of floral nails)

Pink Candy Skittlette

Hi!

Happy Saturday! 

Today I have a skittlette design based on Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop, a "candy-colored swirl of multi-hued glitter dipped in a juicy bubblegum base".

On my index and pinky, I did Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop over an undie of Deborah Lippmann Shape of My Heart, a light pink polish created to help fight breast cancer (10% of proceeds go toward a memorial hospital in California). 

On my middle finger, I tried making my own decals. First, I transferred an image from MoYou Suki 01 to the stamper with Nails Inc South Kensington. Then I filled in some of the spaces with Sally Hansen Breezy Blue and Nails Inc Queen Victoria Street, to (hopefully) complement the light blue and vivid green glitters in Candy Shop. 

It took me a couple of tries to get the decal right -- I'm still not all that great at stamping, haha.

Lastly, on my middle finger, I started with a base of Shape of My Heart and added a heart with Wet n Wild Black Creme and a toothpick. 

I had major problems trying to get my camera to focus on the glitter...  

I don't do pink nails very much, but I'm happy with the way these came out! I really like Candy Shop and Shape of My Heart together. 

Thanks for reading & I'd love to hear what you think about this design!

Lucy xx

Green Nimbus Waves

Hi!

I can't believe it's only Tuesday! It felt like Friday today for some reason... or maybe that's just me being weird?

But anyways. Recently, the Nailasaurus came out with a new technique: nimbus nail art! (see her tutorial here)

 I decided to try it out, and of course I had to add some extra stamping and glitter. 

The finished product

First, I started with a white base (Revlon Spirit). Then, I did nimbus nail art with Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet, Sephora by OPI Read My Palm, and Nails Inc Queen Victoria Street. 

Next, I added one coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust (which I'm in love with... like just about everyone else). 

And finally, I added the stamping with MoYou Suki 01 and Nails Inc Chelsea Bridge Road. 

Yep, the pinky was a complete failure, but all the other fingers turned out pretty well! The nimbus technique was really simple to do and I liked the finished effect. 

But for some reason, even though the stamping and nimbus effect turned out fine, I think these just look a little strange. I don't know why, but I just don't like them for some reason... do you guys ever feel like that about a design you've done? 

What do you think of this design? Do you think it's kinda weird-looking, like me? And are you as much in love with Fairy Dust as I am?  :D

Thanks for reading!

Lucy xx

Guest Post at My Daily Nail Designs: Gumdrops

Hi!

I was recently contacted by Anita of My Daily Nail Designs to do a guest post! 

It took me forever to decide what to do -- her nail art is so amazing so I felt like I had to kind of, you know, good... but eventually I decided on frosted gumdrop nails.

Here's a sneak peek:

For actual photos and details, check out my guest post.

And be sure to check out My Daily Nail Designs too -- her freehand skills are amazing!

Thanks for reading!
Lucy xx

NCLA Nail Wraps: Bibhu Mohapatra

Hi!

I recently received some wonderful nail mail from my aunt, including some NCLA nail wraps! I received four packs from the collection where NCLA and Glamour partnered with four major designers. Today I tried out the Bibhu Mohapatra wraps -- partly because I didn't have time to do any 'real' nail art :)

(sorry about the terrible pinky thing...)

On my middle and ring fingers are the nail wraps, and the index, pinky, and thumb are RGB Haze, a dusty lavender/grey color (that unfortunately took wayyy too may coats to become opaque for its dark color).

Applying the nail wraps was really simple -- all you have to do is pick the nail wrap of the right size, put it on your nail, and file off the excess (tip: it helps to watch a couple YouTube videos first -- here's a nice one to watch if you want to get really enthusiastic about using nail wraps). I found them really easy to apply, and if I can do it... well... the average chimpanzee could probably do it too.

The only difficult thing was that they stick really firmly once they're on the nail, so you can't take them off and adjust without ruining the adhesive. 

Here are some color-adjusted photos so you can see the actual color of the polish/nail wrap:

The problem is that these wraps are limited edition (from winter 2013) and aren't sold in stores or at NCLA's online store. You might be able to find them by hunting on eBay or Amazon, though... I looked around a little and there didn't seem to be much. But I figured I should show you my first attempt at using nail wraps anyways :)

Have you ever tried nail wraps? Or are you more of a solid-color/freehand nail art person?

Thanks for reading!

Lucy xx

Movember/Gay Pride Nails

Hi!

It's Movember! You've probably heard quite a lot about Movember by now, but it's basically a month to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues (especially prostate cancer and other male-specific cancers). A lot of guys are growing out their moustaches this month, so I decided to grow a moustache too -- on my nails, that is. 

I didn't want to be normal and put them over a plain base, so I decided to do them over a rainbow gradient. Only after I finished did I realize "hey, these could be gay pride AND Movember nails all in one!" 

So I present to you my gay pride & Movember nails!

I used Sally Hansen Blue Me Away, Sinful Colors Timbleberry, Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, and Sephora by OPI It's Totally Karma for the gradient, then added the moustaches with Wet n Wild Black Creme. On my thumb I decided to try Jin Soon Epidote, because it's an awesome duochrome polish that I really need to swatch soon! (it looks a little odd here though)

Movember and gay pride are both great causes, and moustache nails were -- of course -- really fun to do.

Are you planning on doing moustache nails this month? (or gay pride nails... even though I guess those would be more of a June thing?) 

Also, I really did mean to do pink nails last month for breast cancer awareness, and I did but somehow the photos disappeared from my computer and I had already removed them and didn't have time to re-do them... it was a mess. If I find them I'll definitely post them, though!

Thanks for reading! 

Lucy xx

Versatile Blogger Award

Hi!

So recently, I was nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by Lucky Lucky Lacquer and My Daily Nail Designs. Thanks so much, guys! It means a lot to me -- I never thought people would actually read my blog when I started it! (And while I'm in this emotional mood -- thanks to all of you guys who leave awesome comments! I love reading every single one!)

Bamboo Stamping

Hi!

I recently received my MoYou Suki 01 stamping plate! It has a couple beautiful patterns as well as images of birds, flowers, branches, owls, and my personal favorite -- bamboo. 

This stamped with Nails Inc. Chelsea Bridge Road (of their foil collection) on Nails Inc. Queen Victoria Street. 

For my third attempt at stamping, I think it came out all right (definitely better than my first attempt at stamping!) 

Have any of y'all tried MoYou stamping plates/what did you think of them? I'm thinking about getting the Sailor one...

Thanks for reading!

Lucy xx

MoYou Suki Plate Stamping

Hi!

Recently, I received my first ever stamping plate -- the MoYou Suki collection 01 plate. It has a lot of really amazing patterns (the one below, zebra stripes, waves, abstract stuff) and some really beautiful images (which will be coming later this week!). 

Unfortunately, my stamping skills aren't quite up to par -- stamping is a LOT harder than the YouTube tutorials made it look! 

First attempt

This is Nails Inc. South Kensington (of the Nails Inc. foil collection) stamped on Nails Inc. Baker Street. 

Second stamping

And here's my second attempt at stamping! It looks interestingly vintage-y, I guess..

Does anyone have any magical tips/tricks for stamping? Or is the key to just stamp a lot? (which I'll definitely be doing regardless) Have you tried any of the MoYou plates?

Thanks for reading!
Lucy xx

Wet n Wild Rain Check Swatches

Hi!

My birthday was a few days ago, and I got a fair amount of nail polish from my friends/family. There are so many pretty ones I want to swatch! (thanks guys!!) Today I have Wet n Wild Rain Check to show you.

It's a beautiful gray/blue color, shimmery, and kind of soft looking. It looks almost sleepy, if that makes sense. Shown is four coats with Seche.

Application was fair enough, the brush (like all the WnW Shines) was super thin, which I personally don't like. It was a little annoying that it took four coats to get to opacity. Other than that, I have no complaints! 

It looks so magical...

My final verdict: Get it! Although it's a little annoying in terms of opacity, it's a beautiful polish, especially for $0.99!

Thanks for reading!
Lucy xx