I Tried It: Newsprint Nails

For about a year now there has been a manicure I've been dying to try: the Newsprint manicure. I had seen it here and loved the idea, but it kept getting shuffled back on my agenda. However, today I was home sick so I took the opportunity to try out this fun manicure.

I started (as I always do) with a Seche Base base coat, then two coats of Essie's Sand Tropez. As per the instructions, I then cut up a newspaper and soaked it in rubbing alcohol. This is where things became frustrating. On the first nail things came out pretty well, but after that it was all downhill. Long story short, I wound up spending the majority of my afternoon swearing at my nail polish bottles in frustration. For starters the type wasn't coming off at all on my nails, and I kept having to re-paint fingers because the polish would chip, dent, or warp.

After a while (and a lot of cursing) I gave up and re-painted my nails in simple Sand Tropez. I then waited about two or three hours and gave things another try. Finally, things started to work. In my experience, however, it works better to do it like this:

1. Take your pre-cut piece of newsprint and soak it in rubbing alcohol

2. Soak a large cotton ball in rubbing alcohol

3. Place the newsprint over your nail and secure it with the alcohol covered cotton ball on top.

4. After ten or so seconds, remove.

5. Repeat as necessary.

Now it did get some vague ghosted pattern from the newsprint, but nothing like what I was expecting. I'm guessing this is a manicure you have to try a few times over before it comes out right.

Anyway, in the meantime this is how my manicure finally turned out:

Nothing to brag over.

Anyway, before I leave you I thought I'd include another manicure, something of a belated NYE themed manicure. I used OPI Onyx (or something) on the bottom, followed by Sally Hansen Disco Ball, then Revlon's Belle, and I finished off with Icing's Sparkle Me Happy.

Attack of the Holiday Manicures

Hello all!

What will all the holiday parties recently I've been doing a lot of at-home manicures. They're all on the simpler side since I've had a bit of a time shortage, but I figured I'd share anyway.

First up is my first foray into the "accent nail" idea. I wanted a deep red manicure, but also wanted some glitter to catch attention. I used OPI's "Malaga Wine", then did my ring fingers in "Midnight Kiss" by China Glaze with a coat of OPI's "Bring on the Bling". I was really happy with the result!

My most recent manicure is for a Christmas party tomorrow night. I'll be wearing an inky-black velvet dress with a gold zipper down the front and wanted my nails to play up the gold theme. I also picked up a great gold rose ring and wanted to tie it all together. I'd seen this manicure a few weeks ago, but unfortunately I can't find it anywhere to link to. I started with two coats of "Midnight Kiss", then did two or three coats of Sephora by OPI's "Traffic-Stopper Copper" on just the tips. The photos aren't great quality but the combination of gold and copper turned out really well!

Marvelous Manicure: Christmas 2011

Hello all!

Now that Remembrance Day (or as I like to call it, Novembrance Day) is behind us, it is officially acceptable to start listening to Christmas carols and decorating for the holidays. One of my favourite parts of the holidays is getting to do themed manicures! Last year I took my inspiration from Starbucks' holiday to-go cups, but this year I wanted to do more of a Christmas tree ornament type of thing. I started with Midnight Kiss by China Glaze, which is a molten gold. I followed by doing a very light coating of OPI's Bring On the Bling on just the tips of the nail in a gradient style. Bring On the Bling is a great glitter from the Burlesque collection, and has gold, green, and red micro-glitter: perfect for the holidays. Finally, I accented two nails on each hand with holly berries and leaves, which I created used some nail pens.

 

While I'm on the holiday theme, I may as well attach last-year's Christmas manicure, which I'll probably repeat this year - I loved it! For it I used OPI's Malaga Wine, a dusting of loose red glitter, a white nail pen, and a touch of sliver glitter for the snowflake centres. (Sorry for the blurriness!) Enjoy!

Marvelous Manicure: Snake Print

I know everyone, it has been way too long since I uploaded a manicure pic.  However, after all Friday night's partying on Saturday I was very ready to settle down to some docile activity.  I've also been absolutely obsessed with snake print recently, which you should all know is a hot ticket item this season.  I'll confess that I didn't always love it the way I do now.  In fact, I used to think it was trashy and gross, which is why this sudden love for it surprises me.

But now for the details: I started with a coat of Chanel's Particuliere, then used Sally Hansen nail pens in gold and black to add the scales.  Overall I'm pretty pleased with how things turned out, especially given how damn hard snake print is to replicate.  I won't even get into how long it took to do my right hand.

Marvelous Manicure: Lady Sings the Blues

Alright, so this is going to be just a quick post since I have to spend the rest of my afternoon packing.  While in the city yesterday to pick up my passport I made the mistake of checking out Holt Renfrew's Deborah Lippmann counter.  Well, surprise surprise, I found an absolutely stunning colour and had to take it home!  It's called Lady Sings the Blues from Lippmann's All That Jazz collection.  The polish is a deep navy blue with small and large silver sparkles mixed into it.  You may remember it from when Lea Michelle wore it on the red carpet at some awards show or another.

Anyway, as for my review: absolutely love it!  Application was great; after two coats it was good and opaque.  Because of the sparkles two coats of top coat are necessary to avoid lumps.  The polish is totally mesmerizing, I feel as though I have the Milky Way on my fingertips!  I've spent a significant portion of the day staring at my hands, which is generally the sign of a great mani.

Word to the wise: Deborah Lippmann polishes are on the pricey side of the polish spectrum.  While you can probably get them for less online, in stores they retail for about $24.  Most of the time I find that a ridiculous amount to spend on nail polish, but I will say that it is worth investing in Lippmann's sparkle polishes as they are unlike any other sparkle polish I've ever seen.  So if you can afford it, DO IT!

Marvelous Manicure(s): Twice the Fun

Get ready for it - I have TWO manicures for you today!  While I had given myself a pretty cool one at the beginning of this week, I bought a new shade yesterday and couldn't wait to try it on... so I didn't.  Anyway, let's get started!  Manicure number one started with "Iceberg Lotus" by Nicole, with some "Nicole... Spotted!" on the tips (that's the first pic), but I found this was a little on the boring side, so I used my Sally Hansen nail pens to add some silver and black leopard spots (second pic), which I was fairly satisfied with.  I should also add that with that vibrant green it will absolutely stain your nails, so use base coat!  I use Seche Natural, which did an impressive job of blocking stains.

In the third picture is my latest manicure, where I used Lise Watier's "Fun in the Sun".  I haven't used Lise Watier polish before, so this was something of a test run.  The colour dried just a liiiittle bit more red than in the bottle, and the consistency is on the clear side, but after two coats it looks quite nice.  While I have a Revlon polish that is very close in colour to "Fun in the Sun", I can't say I regret getting it... it's just such a great summer colour!

As a last note, you'll notice a book in the background of the last pic - that's Empire of Illusion, which I am trudging through and fully intend to review as I am almost done and it has been a fascinating read.  Unfortunately I have found over the last few months that I've developed something of a literature ADD.  Once upon a time I was the type of person who chose a book and then read it cover to cover, and only ever read one book at a time (otherwise I found it distracting).  However, since completing my degree (yay!) I have a new-found inability to focus on just one book.  Perhaps my brain is nostalgic for the days where I had 30 different books to read a semester, but regardless the effect has been clear: I am part-way through at least five different books right now, which is why my book reviews have been non-existent over the last little while.  I have finished reading several books (I'm not THAT slow a reader), but they're just not review-worthy.  Anyway, I'm rambling.  The point is, reviews are coming!

Zebra Strikes Again

One of my favourite friends has been up to visit for the last few days, and today we (her, my sister and I) got together for a good old-fashioned nail painting session.  Serenaded by such musical heroes as Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, and Shawn Desman (my "Shame" Playlist) we got our paint on.

I have what appears to be an enduring love for zebra print (and many animal prints in general) so today I decided to go for a "Silver" Gosh base with hand-painted black zebra stripes (Sally Hansen nail pen).  For staying power I finished with two coats of Seche Vite.

As promised I said I'd deliver a verdict on the efficacy of Seche Natural, a new base coat I'm trying (instead of my usual Seche Clear).  After having used it for my last few manicures I can say while I haven't noticed any huuuuge changes my nails do seem to be in better condition (less flaking and chipping, less staining).  I would definitely recommend it!

 

 

Manicure: She Sells Seashells by the Sea Shore

So to my great dismay my royal manicure didn't last very long... though neither did the dismay, since it meant I got to give myself a new manicure.

There are few things I love more than a nice neutral palette - I seem to live in them.  A favourite colour combination of mine is a soft pearl gray with a shell pink (hence the title).  Surprisingly this is a pairing I have yet to try on my nails, and admittedly I stumbled upon the idea by accident.  I'm definitely pleased with how things turned out, though I do wish the Icing by Claire's polish's sparkles were rainbow like all the others - I used four different kinds of sparkles: Icing by Claire's in "Sparkle Me Happy", Revlon's "Belle", Sally Hansen's "Disco Ball", and China Glaze's "Fairy Dust".  I layered them over "Silver" by Revlon and "Hopelessly in Love" by OPI.  Hope you like it!

 

Royal Wedding Manicure

Ladies and gentlemen, I have a treat for you today.  You are already aware I majored in History at university, but many of you will not know that I specialized in British history or that the monarchy is one of my favourite parts of history to study (I took an entire course entirely centred on the British monarchy and it was awesome!).  Anyway, as such I have a deep fondness for the institution and a fascination with it, so the upcoming royal nuptials have me very excited!

Besides being an incredible continuation of ceremonies that extend back thousands of years, I also find the upcoming wedding interesting in a more social context.  It's so lovely to see the world (well, maybe just the Commonwealth) get excited about something together.  After so many years of endless headlines on the market crash, its consequent recession, oil spills, wars, and the usual doom and gloom it's so refreshing to finally see people coming together and being happy.  Nothing gets people's spirits up quite like a wedding, and considering royal weddings only happen once every thirty or so years (I wasn't yet alive when Charles and Diana married) it's definitely something remarkable.

So, in keeping with all this my mother, sister and I will all be staying up until one or two in the morning or whenever when things will be starting live in England and we're having a little Royal Wedding Party.  There will be lots of tea and we're all dressing up (my sister and I are going to do our best Kate Middleton impressions).  I have a veil I'm going to bust out while I believe my sister is going to sport a hat with a whole lot of feathers.  Today we picked up replica rings of Kate/Diana's engagement ring, and - the theme of this post - painted our nails Will & Kate Wedding-style.  Anyway, I thought I'd share the photos of the finished result.

My original plan had been to use our nail stamper for the crowns and the bells, but it was being SO UNCOOPERATIVE so I eventually gave up and had to freehand it.  So, it's not quite as tidy as I would have liked but I'm still pretty pleased.

 

"W&K" - the ampersand is a little blurred but ohhhh well.

 

The replica!  Unfortunately it's a size too big, but who's going to be choosey?

At Long Last: Christian Dior Manicure (and extras)

Okay, so I finally got around to doing my Christian Dior-inspired mani today.  And when I say I did it today,  I mean it took pretty much all day to do a satisfactory job.  While I started out using all the colours I bought - both the blues and the mauves - I didn't like how it looked so I wound up taking off the blues and making it all about the mauves, burgundies and blacks.  I used Bahama Mama and Angora Cardi by Essie, and OPI's Black Onyx and Nicole by OPI's Razzle Dazzler Matte.  And, as usual, I used my beloved Seche Vite top coat, though for a base coat I switched up my regular Seche Clear and gave my new Seche Natural a try - I'll keep you posted on how well that does.  For the details on my thumbs and pinkies I had started using one of my Sally Hansen nail pens, but it wasn't showing up clearly enough so I swapped it for one of the nail pens my sister and I picked up at the PNE a couple of years ago.

As for how I feel about the manicure, I do like it but I figure it could be a lot tidier.  While I was able to use tape successfully to do the stripes on my middle finger, it wasn't being cooperative for the matte tips on my index fingers so I had to freehand it which made it less streamlined than I usually like.  Overall it's a pretty awesome mani by my standards, but I feel it's a little too wintry to be wearing with Easter just around the corner, so in all likelihood I'll take it off and do an Easter-themed manicure in the next few days.

As for these next two photos, I was editing some old Facebook photos and found these buried away.  The leopard one speaks for itself (and no, that's not an engagement ring) and the other one was my manicure for Canada Day last summer - FYI maple leaves are HARD to freehand.

Manicure Preview: Inspired by Christian Dior

Ever since going through Christian Dior's Fall 2011 runway show the cogs in my head have been turning over how to incorporate that kind of awesomeness into my own style.  The first thing that occurred to me was a manicure.  Since voicing this plan, however, I've had a lot of questions as to how on earth you turn an entire runway show into a manicure.  My thinking was that Dior focused heavily upon using different textures, patterns and colours in a really phenomenal way.  Similarly, nail polish is available in a variety of textures now (matte, suede, glossy), and patterns are not a problem for me.  So, much like the last manicure I posted, I'm planning on using different base colours for my nails overlaid with different patterns.  But this time I'll be using different textures too!

The reason I haven't already started this mani is because until now I was lacking a few crucial colours.  But yesterday while running errands I had a chance to go to Shoppers and get what I needed!  Below are examples of the patterns, colours and textures I'm planning to work with, as well as the nail polishes I picked up so you can have some idea of what I'm thinking.  Can't wait to see how it turns out!

 

 

Essie Angora Cardi

 

Essie Bahama Mama

 

Nicole by OPI - No Limits Matte

 

Gosh Metallic Blue 566 (I couldn't find a pic of just the polish)

Weekend Update: I'm Too Young For Nostalgia

Well, I promised you all stories and hilarity from my weekend away, and what kind of person would I be if I didn't follow through?

It wound up being a jam-packed 72 hour marathon of socializing, for the most part.  The journey there takes two ferries and a few hours over land, and of course because I was on a tight schedule the ferries decided to run late.  On the bright side, on the first ferry I got a pretty cool picture of the view, which is something that I never get tired of despite the fact that in 22 years it really hasn't changed much.

Moody, right?  Anyway, when I finally arrived I had just over an hour to get myself together before a fancy-smancy dinner reservation, which many of you will know is totally inadequate to work miracles on one's hair and makeup.  Anyway, I was luckily able to get myself together in time and off it was to this Indian-themed restaurant in one of the Fairmont hotels.  Let it be noted that they served a delightful whiskey sour, which is my go-to drink (although I'm thinking of switching to the ever classy gin and tonic).  After dinner my friends and I headed over to the event venue where I had a delightful evening of dancing and socializing and I managed to run into no fewer than five former dates/exes/whatever you want to call them, which was in some cases pleasant and in other cases mind-numbingly awkward.

Now I had planned to keep this blog as anonymous as possible so that it couldn't come and ruin my life at some point in the undetermined future.  However, I also promised you photos so I suppose I'll have to break my own rules just this once.  Below you will find a picture of my masquerade manicure and a few others from dinner and the party (I'm afraid I don't have any that include my wonderful shoes).

 

You can see my mask in the last one pretty well.  Needless to say it was a wonderful evening, followed by an equally wonderful soak in my Inn's amazing jacuzzi after practically breaking my feet in those killer heels.

The rest of my stay was equally fabulous.  I got to see many of my amazing friends, and as it always seems to happen there was too little time to spend with so many amazing people.  I guess I'll just have to go back and visit soon.

Besides being a lovely holiday, this last weekend also wound up being a learning experience.  The lesson, in case you'd like to know, was that apparently I am so oblivious I should be handicapped.  It would be cruel to go into detail, but I honestly wonder at myself for not seeing these things before its reached the point where I've gotten myself into a terribly awkward situation.  I'm not so concerned with myself - what's a little embarrassment? - but rather for the poor people who have to deal with my airheadedness.  To them I send a most heartfelt apology.  To give you a little insight into my total lack of a clue, in the past I've managed to go on three dates I had no idea were dates.  Shouldn't that be a mistake you only make once?  In another instance I spent an entire month dating a guy I later discovered wasn't into women.  Who does that?!  I have a complete lack of gaydar:  I consistently am attracted to men who don't like women and sometimes I even mistake straight men for gay men.  Like I said, I fail at life.  Maybe this is Mother Nature's way of weeding me out of the gene pool?  Perhaps one day I'll have my own Public Service Announcement.

The trip home was uneventful (the three hours' sleep had me a little tired and unobservant), but I will say that I saw a most delightful character on one of the ferries home.  He could have walked right off the set of Ten Things I Hate About You, right at the part where the new kid is being given a tour of the school cliques.  I believe the title used in the film was "white rastas", and boy, did this guy fit the bill.  He was a tall and gangly ginger man with a delightful goatee, who was sporting a red, yellow and green knit beanie which had "AFRICA" emblazoned on its side.  To complete the look he had on a knit sweater that looked like it came from a vendor in the Peruvian wilderness.  In the words of Russell Peters, "Yah man!"

Marvelous Manicure: Cupcake Confection

Okay, so I have something pretty awesome in the works, but it's taking longer than I thought so I figured I'd post a pic of my newest manicure.  I am head-over-heels in LOVE with this one!  This is the colour breakdown: pinky = 589 Sweet Rose by Gosh; ring finger = Sweetheart by OPI; middle = Van D'Go by Essie; index = Lilac Pastelle by Revlon; thumb = Passion by OPI.  I decided to tie all the colours together by using different patterns with a white nail pen I picked up at the PNE a couple of years ago.  As per usual I finished things off with a top coat of Seche Vite.  Hope you like it!

Marvelous Manicure

Yesterday the local Shoppers Drug Mart had a nail polish sale on, so of course my sister and I swung by to see what there was to be had.  I wound up getting three new polishes: 555 Silver by Gosh, Nicole's Nickel by Nicole, and Iceberg Lotus, also by Nicole.  I was going to wait until closer to my event next week to do a manicure, but the temptation was too much, especially after seeing this manicure by Chloe's Nails.  So, voila!  I used two coats of Nicole's Nickel, which though patchy is sparkle-packed, and then did the tips using Black Onyx by OPI.  Then I finished things off with two coats of Seche Vite.

Stealth Zebra

Not too long ago my sister sent me this link to this inexpressibly cool manicure, and when I saw it I knew that there was no way I wasn't going to try it out.  The only thing that delayed me was that until today I did not have a black matte nail polish.  For those of you who don't speak nail polish, "matte" refers to a nail polish without any shine.  Anyway, today I headed out to Shoppers Drug Mart and got myself Razzle Dazzler Matte from Nicole by OPI, which is very close to what the blogger used (Matte is Murder by ManGlaze).  Now in her version she used a Konad stamp plate with zebra pattern and some topcoat.  My sister has the right Konad plate, but unfortunately has lost part of her kit so stamping wasn't an option.  Instead I hunted down an itty bitty paintbrush and quite literally hand painted on my zebra stripes using my all-time favourite Seche Vite topcoat.  I am totally jazzed on my results!  Not only am I now sold on matte nail polish, but this manicure is just tooooo coooooool.  It's very subtle, which is a nice break from some of the more elaborate stuff I wear sometimes.  Plus I'm loving the way the topcoat picks up light at certain angles.  Anyway, if you have a stamp plate or have the patience to paint on your stripes I would say this is definitely a manicure to try!

This is the original from http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/GraziaDailyNails/archive/2010/09/06/opposites-attract.htm

And this is how my manicure turned out.  This isn't the best photo of it, but quite honestly I'm in a bit of a rush and don't have time to take another pic.  You get the idea.  Happy hunting!

Purple Rain

So I did only do my manicure yesterday, but shortly after the lacquer dried I had a new idea.  I became mildly obsessed with a deep plum purple polish with flecks of gold and purple in it.  So I went hunting, but came up empty handed.  Luckily, my sister is as much of a polish addict as I am and happened to have the perfect colour.  It's Rimmel's Night Before, which I did two coats of and then added purple sparkles to the base of the nail.  I'm not sure how old this polish is, but I found it came out rather clumpy.  In its defense it did even out after a moment or two of settling.  Overall I'm pretty pleased with the result.  For all of my manicures I use Seche Clear's basecoat and Seche Vite's topcoat, which has an unparalleled finish.  Honestly, it dries SO FAST and has great wear.

The Elephant in the Room

So along with all my other interests, I have a passionate relationship with nail polish and nail art.  As such, I'm going to try and regularly post my manicures for those of you looking for some inspiration.  This week's manicure was actually inspired by an elephant bracelet my aunt bought me when traveling in Costa Rica.  I used a white nail pen for the details, and the base is Particulière by Chanel, which I sorely need to wear more often to justify spending like thirty dollars on it last spring*cringe*.

 

Update:

I went digging around on my Blackberry and found some old-ish manicures which I think qualify as cool enough to post.  First up we have my Christmas manicure, inspired by Starbucks' holiday cups.  I used OPI's Malaga Wine, sprinkled ruby red sparkles over it, then used my white nail pen to do the snowflakes and gave them silver sparkle centers.

Up next is a version of a manicure I saw on Emerald Sparkled.  She titled hers Whimsical (I'm too lazy to hunt her version down, but if you do a search on her site you'll find it.  Hers was an interpretation of a manicure she saw on someone else's blog, but I like hers best.  I used Sweet Rose by Gosh, Essie's Van D'Go, Essie's Innocent, and Sparkle Me Happy from Icing by Claire's nail polish line.  The stripes and the bow I did using my white nail pen.

This next manicure was a bit of a convenient mistake.  I wanted to go for a sparkly zebra print, but instead it wound up looking like a view of the galaxy.  I used Lunar and Star by Revlon, then used a stamp to add a silver zebra print.