Hi!

A relative recently gave me the Deborah Lippmann Spring Reveries collection! (I know, my relatives are the best!) Over the next few weeks I'll try to feature them in some nice pastel spring-y nail art, despite it being in the 20s outside... (that's in Fahrenheit -- I wish it was 20 degrees Celsius!)

This design is featuring Build Me Up Buttercup (soft pastel yellow) and Blue Orchid (vibrant yet pastel blue).

Polishes used:
Bases, index-pinky | Deborah Lippmann Build Me Up Buttercup & Blue Orchid
Flowers | Deborah Lippmann Blue Orchid (bases) & Spring Buds (leaves), Revlon Spirit (detailing)
Stripes | Revlon Spirit (white stripes)

On my index and middle I did a floral print. First I added blobs of Blue Orchid, then I diluted a white polish with some acetone and lightly swirled that inside the blobs. Then I added leaves with another polish from this collection, Spring Buds. Spring Buds wasn't very opaque, so I'm not sure you can tell it's there...

On my ring and pinky I started with a white base, then put down some striping tape and painted Blue Orchid on top. I had a couple issues with my pinky, but the ring finger came out fine! Yay, maybe I'm finally getting the hang of striping tape!

Build Me Up Buttercup is an OK shade for me. The soft yellow color is pleasant and very refreshing. The formula isn't streaky, but it's a little thin so it took me four coats to get opacity. While it's a nice polish, I'm not entirely sure it's worth $18.

I did really like Blue Orchid. Shown is three coats, but it was opaque in two; it self-levels really nicely. The color is pastel and blue, but it's kind of vibrant at the same time. It's hard to describe, but I really liked wearing this polish! There are a lot of pastel blues out there, but I feel that this one is unique.

I'm looking forward to using the rest of the collection in my nail art, and I'm also looking forward to spring! (although we have had a bunch of delayed openings/early dismissals from school because of winter weather!)

Thanks for reading!

Lucy xx

P.S. For more swatches, check out All Lacquered Up's swatches & review!

Chinese New Year's Nails

Hi!

Chinese New Year this year falls on January 31st (it's going to be the year of the Horse) so I had to do some Chinese New Year's nails!

Polishes used:
Base | index-pinky: Zoya Jacqueline; thumb: Nails Inc Tate
Flower nails | red: Nails Inc Tate; gold detailing: Nails Inc Chelsea Bridge Road; branches: brown acrylic paint
Lantern nail | black & red: acrylic paint; gold glitter: Zoya Maria Luisa; gold: Nails Inc Chelsea Bridge Road

I did a Chinese lantern to represent the Lantern Festival, which signifies the end of the new year festivities (also because a dragon would be beyond my abilities, haha). 

Oh, yeah -- I also recently received my first Zoya polishes ever (I ordered them during the COLOR2014 sale). Zoya Jacqueline is everything I dreamed OPI My Vampire is Buff would be. It's a little more pink-toned, so it looks less buttery-yellow on me than MViB -- I love it!! It's probably going to show up in at least 75% of my nail art now :) 

Just curious, which do you guys prefer: MViB or Jacqueline?

My second polish was Maria Luisa, which is a glitter flaky topper - it's gorgeous! 

I also bought Zoya Feifei as a gift for a friend (but she'll probably let me borrow it sometime :3)

I reaaaally like the combination of these three polishes!

A closeup of Maria Luisa

My family is Chinese, so for Chinese New Year we're probably going to eat something Chinese and clean our house.. nothing too exciting :)

Happy year of the Horse, and thanks for reading!

Lucy xx

Tape Triangles feat. JINsoon Mica

Hi!

Last weekend I did a striping tape design! (I felt like I should do something a little more complex after my messy lil' Mr. Candiipants floral)

I was originally just trying to get my untrieds off the shelf, and I was thinking it wasn't going to be a blog-worthy mani. BUT striping tape ended up being my friend, and JINsoon Mica ended up being gorgeous, so here ya go!

Polishes used:
Bases, index to pinky | JINsoon Mica, Revlon Spirit, Julie G Silver Bells, JINson Mica
For the triangles | JINsoon Jasper and Azurite

Let me just say striping tape and I have had a rocky past. Even when my nails are completely dry, it finds a way to nick the polish... or it doesn't adhere to the nail properly and polish gets under it, ruining the design... or I lose the end of the roll of tape and mess up my nails trying to find it again... 

But this time I'm happy with my result! 

(the smudging was the top coat's fault, not the striping tape's -- for once!)

I was originally intending to do two nails with triangles, but then I realized I hadn't shown you guys the Julie G polish I picked up over the holidays! Or maybe I was just lazy and didn't want to fiddle with the striping tape on another nail :3

Okay, now I get to talk about JINsoon Mica!

JINsoon Mica, two coats with NYC top coat

I just wish every polish could be like Mica. It's opaque in one coat (shown is two, because I missed part of my nail with the first one whoops) and it has little shimmery bits that are gorgeous and refined-looking in the shade and gorgeous and holo-esque in the sun! 

I also looove the square bottles :3

Slightly off-topic, but funny story: I got the whole Tibi collection as a gift (my relatives sure know what I like, haha!) and a little while after I got it I saw All Lacqured Up's swatches of the collection and I was like "I NEED THAT" and then a couple of days later I realized I already had it... and then I forgot and let them languish on my untrieds shelf for another month. I'm such a spoiled child. 

I think I need to do nail art featuring the whole Tibi collection, they're just so impossibly gorgeous! And wow, this post has gotten really long, so I guess I'll stop rambling. 

Oh, wait, one more thing. I hit 100 likes on the Nail Snail's Facebook page!

You guys are the best :D

Thanks for reading & be sure to let me know what you think!

Lucy xx

A Mr.Candiipants Floral

Hi!

This week I decided to recreate a design by Mr.Candiipants! 

Polishes used:
Base colors, index to pinky | OPI My Vampire is Buff, NYC Hamptons Peach
Flowers | Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, Sinful Colors Timbleberry, NYC Hamptons Peach, JINsoon Blue Poppy
Dots | Revlon Spirit

I love the light, fresh feel of these! (I feel like I'm anticipating the spring/summer polish collections haha)

Me trying to copy the Chalkboard Nails pose! (am I getting it?)

These were really simple to do, and I'm love how they're supposed to look kinda messy and childish so I can reveal my inner nature. 

Yep. #mynailsandmysweater 

And these nails remind me: the spring collections start coming out in February! I'm really excited for the Deborah Lippmann spring garden pastels, what are you guys looking forward to?

Thanks for reading!
Lucy :)

Stamped Flowers

Hi!

Happy Wednesday! Today I have some stamped stuff for you. 

I recently was gifted a MASH squishy stamper and I really wanted to try it out. I previously had the Konad double-ended one but it was really firm and hard to stamp with (that's my excuse for my terrible stamping early on!). 

Flower image from Mash-35, stamped with Sinful Colors Timbleberry, Sephora by OPI Read My Palm, Deborah Lippmann Harem Silks from Bombay, and Deborah Lippmann Lara's Theme (index to pinky); all on a base of OPI My Vampire is Buff! 

But these images didn't come out so well, although I think that was more me than the stamper! I tried to use polishes that I thought would stamp well, but I didn't do a great job of picking them -- the images didn't come out as crisply as they probably would have if I had used metallics. I'll have to stamp again soon to really test out my new stamper! I guess I can call them vintage flowers ;)

I used MViB as a base, again. In my previous post, I said I didn't like My Vampire is Buff very much on myself, but now I'm kind of waffling. The more I look at it the better it looks for some reason... I think it's all the hype about it getting to me! Uh-oh. I sense another addiction coming on. 

What do you all think of this design?

Hope your weeks are going well! 

Thanks for reading!
Lucy xx

Recreation: Chalkboard Nails' Geometric vs. Organic Floral

Hi!

I hope you all are having a great second week of January! 

Today I did a recreation of one of Chalkboard Nails' designs -- her gorgeous geometric vs. organic floral design.  

Chalkboard Nails is my favorite nail art blog ever. Her designs are always so gorgeous and well-put-together, and her execution is amazing! I love her blog design too! Y'all need to check out her blog, if you haven't already (like these orchid nails? How??)

Anyways. Here's my recreation!

I used a base of OPI My Vampire is Buff, which I just bought. It looks a little less amazing and gorgeous than I thought... I'm Asian so I have somewhat darker yellow-toned skin, and I think this polish looks a little too yellowy and gross on me. Oh well, it's still pretty gorgeous. 

And lastly, here's a comparison collage-thing:

Well, hers are mind blowingly amazing, but I'm pretty happy with my attempt! What do you guys think?

Thanks for reading!

Lucy xx

Wet n Wild On a Trip Swatches & Review

Hi!

I rarely do swatches, but sometimes I do! (wow, that sounded unimpressive)

Back in the old days, when I had longish nails!

This is Wet n Wild On a Trip, a lovely eggplant color. 

Application was good (it could've been a one-coater) and it had an awesome shine without top coat. Dry time was about average. The Wet n Wild Megalasts have extra wide rounded brushes, which I like, but they might not be to everyone's taste.

(sorry, I'm not too great at the whole review thing)

The final verdict: get it! For only $1.99 it's a decent polish!

Thanks for reading,

Lucy xx

Small Snowmen [Guest Nails]

Hi!

I'm going to be very busy this week (some major flute auditions are coming up), so in an attempt to keep to my posting schedule I've pulled some things out of my unpublished folder to show you guys.

My sister wanted some winter nail art as well....

To quote my sister: "That snowman looks like it's winking, what a creepy man"

My sister's nails are tiny so this was quite a challenge. She's also very picky about colors and designs and symmetry. And painting other people's nails is just hard in general!

To do these, I started with a blue base and painted on the snowy ground. Then I used a dotting tool to add some falling snow and make the snowman's body. I added the details on the snowman with a small nail art brush. Lastly, I added a coat of Deborah Lippmann When Lightning Strikes to add a frosty sort of feel. 

Have you guys ever tried painting kid-sized nails? It's really frustratingly difficult, right?

Thanks for reading & be sure to let me know what you think!

Lucy xx

Ikat Nails

Hi!

It's been so cold and dreary around here. I needed some bright nails to cheer me up!

I've been wanting to try an ikat design for a long time, they're so amazing-looking (and not too hard to do)!

Just ignore the index finger failure ok :)

For the non-accent nails, I used a base of Nails Inc Baker Street (one of my favorite polishes) and Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow for the colored centers. For the accent nail, I used a base of Sephora by OPI It's Totally Karma and Deborah Lippmann Scream & Shout for the colored centers.

All the nails use Revlon Spirit for the white centers and Wet n Wild Black Creme for the black outsides and centers.

My camera did not want to focus on these.

I used Kayla Shevonne's tutorial for these. 

Also, I've switched to a black background in my lightbox (a la Chalkboard Nails). It looks so much better -- I actually didn't have to edit these photos at all beyond cropping/adding a watermark!

And I've finally been catching up on my blog reading before school starts up again. It's been so great to see what you guys have been up to! 

Thanks for reading & be sure to let me know what you think!

Lucy xx

Belated New Year's Nails & 2013 Review

Hi!

It's 2014! I have to admit I didn't have the most exciting New Year's ever -- my flight was delayed so I ended up spending NYE on a plane, with *gasp* naked nails.

Well, I guess worse things have happened.

Anyways, I felt like I was missing out on the whole festive New Year's partying thing, so I did some belated New Year's nails! 

Deborah Lippmann Fantastic Voyage and Nails Inc Baker Street 

I wanted to be able to wear these around for the rest of the week without feeling stupid, so I decided against writing a big "2014!!" on my nails.

Instead, I opted for a glitter gradient with Deborah Lippmann Fantastic Voyage (the glitter, of the Starlight collection) and Nails Inc Baker Street (the blue base). 

Uff, my skin looks so strange in this photo. //grr

I guess it would be acceptable for me to do a 2013 roundup sort of thing, but I've only been blogging since August so I'll make it really short.

2013's Accomplishments

1. Bought my first bottles of nail polish ever in March (I had worn nail polish before, but never bought any for myself)

2. Started this blog in August!

3. Learned to clean up my cuticles

4. Built a lightbox which improved my photography so much you won't even.. 

5. Learned to pose my hand

For a bit of comparison, here's a photo from one of my posts in August:

Deformed zombie-like hands. And the cuticles -- gross!

In other news, I redesigned my blog yesterday (I'm honestly ready to kill Blogger now) and I'm really happy with the new design! What do you guys think?

 Anyways.  This is becoming a super long post so I'll stop now!

Well, one last photo.

Isn't Fantastic Voyage beautiful?

Thanks for reading & be sure to let me know what you think!

Lucy xx