Floral, Stripes, Polka Dots and Bling

I used this Beauty Department tutorial to create this vintage floral look. It was very easy to do! I liked this colour combo because it has a vintage feel to it. The white polish is Julep "Kate" (vegan), red is Zoya "Sooki" (vegan), yellow is Bettina "Birds" (pretty sure Bettina is vegan) and the green is Sinful Colors "Innocent" (parent company is not cruelty free) 

I never tire of polka dots and stripes! The base colour is Julep "Simone" (vegan), one of my favourite shades. I used Julie G "Crushed Candy" (vegan) for the nail art.

In person this was SUPER BLINGY haha It was kind of blinding in the sun! You can't tell here though. I'm sure I've blogged this polish before, I've had it for a while, but oh well. It's Fingerpaints "Sand and Stilettos" (vegan)

St Patrick's Day

Floral nails are an absolutely favourite of mine. They are also pretty easy to do since you don't have to be super precise. I like this tutorial.  LOVE this new Julep shade "Teri". It's a gorgeous pink coral shade. Great for Spring/Summer.  The white is Julep "Kate" and the green is Julep "Shenae".

Next is my St Patrick's Day manicure which I actually wore yesterday. Lots of green and gold! The main colour is by Cosmetic Arts and has no name. Poor nameless polish. On my middle finger I added Color Club "Holiday Splendor" and for the stripes on my pointer finger. I did the dots on my middle finger using the Cosmetic Arts polish. The dots on my pinky are Julep "Kelly". The stripes on  my ring finger are Sinful Colors "Call You Later. I also used Julep "Opal" to add flakies to some nails.

 My St Patty's mani chipped quickly so today I decided to put this on. I figured it's still festive (green and gold) but will work post-holiday too.  I used Julep "Shenae" as the main colour. It's a lovely pale mint shade with very subtle shimmer. I will say the formula sucks. It applies too thick (found that with all of the March It Girl polishes), is patchy, tends to bubble etc. For the accent nail I added Butter London "West End Wonderland" as well as Julep "Vivien". Apparently I'm on a Julep kick!

And since it is the day to wear green, here's a shot of my outfit for today. I'll post the rest tomorrow! If you are drinking today, be safe! My husband and I have boring errands to run but plan on getting dinner at Native Foods Cafe. I might have to try today's special!

For Sale

Two manicures sees to be the norm for me these days! I also realized I'm pretty sure I've only bought one bottle of polish so far this year! That's pretty awesome considering I used to buy multiples bottles a week! Polish addiction has been broken. Not say I don't still love and enjoy the hobby, I have just cured that desire to buy buy buy and I'm happy about that. I have just over 200 bottles of polish and have no desire to raise that number so I keep trying to sell/give away some in order to make room for the new.

First look is featuring this little mini polish from Walgreens that has no name. I got it in a Halloween clearance pack. I was hoping it would be this opaque hot pink but nope, it's quite sheer. Still, I really like the glitter. For a base, I used Zoya "Kimmy".

 Loved this look! The green shade is Sinful Colors "Mint Apple" which has a beautiful shimmer to it. The pink, not surprisingly, is Zoya "Shelby".  The glitter is Sparkles by Julie "Dots n Stripes".  She is actually closing her shop (ending her business) so her polishes are on sale right now! Only $2.50 for minis and $5 for full size!

Also, I will be updating my shop soon! Here are a few items that you will be seeing but if interested, feel free to email me. Prices are negotiable and shipping charges will be applied.

$6 each

(OPI sold)

Victoria's Secret sheer crop top $8

Mossimo wedge sandals size 10 $12

Mossimo lightweight skirt skirt $10

Oscar Night

I wore this manicure pretty much all week. Loved it! It took a while to grow on me though. I used striping tape to achieve the look. I started with just one coat of Julep "Pippa", added the tape and then did one thick coat of Zoya "Cynthia".

I quickly put this on today in honour of the Oscars. Julep "Rachel" and then an accent nail of Julep "Oscar".  

 Are you excited for the Oscars tonight? I am. I always look forward to the Grammy's, Oscars and Golden Globe Award shows.  I think Seth McFarlane will  be a great host tonight!  I haven't seen all of the nominations but Les Miserables blew me away so I really hope it does well. I'd love to see it win Best Pic, Best Supporting Actress (Anne Hathaway) and Best Actor (Hugh Jackman). I'd like to see Jennifer Lawrence win Best Actress (although I don't think she will) because I kind of love her haha And I definitely want Christoph Waltz to win Best Supporting Actor  because he's amaaaazing.

Vacation Manicures

I brought a few bottles of nail polish on our WA trip. I brought Zoya "Jules", Julep "Vivien", Zoya "Logan" and Icing "Glamorous". 

Julep "Vivien" over Zoya "Jules". 

Zoya "Logan" and "Jules" using stickers to tape off the design. 

Icing "Glamorous" worn over Zoya "Jules"

elf Haul Part III

Last part of my elf haul are the Essential products I bought. These are definitely what tend to be the most hit or miss from elf, I find. They're only $1 each.

First up, Lip Stain in "Crimson Crush". This didn't have great reviews but I do love a stain so I ordered it anyway. Most reviews said they found it dry but I wasn't too worried about that. I often just apply a bit of balm over a stain if it's dry. That said, I do have a big issue with this lip stain. It applies SO unevenly! It's very pigmented, I was impressed by that, but it's so hard to not have it look patchy. I honestly will probably throw this one out...it's that bad. :(

Smudged

Yuck!

Next we have a Glitter Eyeshadow in "Party Animal". I'm not sure what drew me to this one, probably a swatch I saw. It's nothing spectacular but it is for sure glittery! You can apply it wet or dry but be sure to use primer if you want it to last. It's definitely worth more than $1!

in the sun

 smudged

L - R: over primer, on its own, applied wet on its own

I just had to pick up another Liquid Eyeliner. I have this in black and "Coffee" already. This shade is "Forest Green". These have great staying power as you can see below! If you can do one solid line, they go on very opaque but if you have to do shorter strokes it may be a bit patchy.  Just wait until it dries and then go over any bald spots. I really like this colour! A metallic green.

 

smudged. Yeah, it did not budge!

worn as eyeliner

Hope you enjoyed my elf review! See part I here and part II here.

Neon Tips & Glitter

I gave Milani "Peach Creme" a try the other day and discovered it makes for a great almost naked nail! It hides imperfections but still lets your white tips show through, giving it a more natural look. Only downside is even at three coats it is still a bit streaky. Still, I like the look and plan to wear it more.  The neon tips are Sinful Colors "Neon Melon".

With flash.

This is without topcoat. Very glossy on its own!

The look below was a bit of a happy accident that I thought I'd share. I'd applied three coats of Milani "Peach Creme" and then used a gentle buffing block to buff my nails. The result was this great matte look! It made it look even more natural. I'll have to try it with a matte polish to sometime to compare. My actual nails are pretty ugly when naked, sadly.

This glitter look is much more sparkly in person but I'm sharing it anyway. Yeah, another cat eye. heheh I might do another glitter look later on just to mix it up.

Face:
Rimmel Stay Matte foundation
Wet n Wild Blush in Mellow Wine
Sheer Cover concealer
MAC Zoom Lash Mascara
elf Studio High Definition Powder

Eyes:
MAC Fluidline in Backtrack
theBalm Meet Matt(e) palette
Sally Girl Sparkle Effects (see below)

Lips:
Jordana lipstick in Matte Nude
Befine Lip Serum (looooove this stuff)

I know it's hard to see the glitter in the pictures above. I think it's more noticeable in person since it's very sparkly. Here is what it looks like!

Glitter Monsters

This week's Monday Mani theme was...Monsters! Very Halloween appropriate. However, I wanted to do something different than than the typical zombies/mummies/Frankensteins etc (not that they aren't awesome!). So, I bring to you... glitter monsters!  Such and easy manicure, just glitter and eyes using a dotting tool.

I used the same colours on each hand just in a different order. So here they are in the first pic, from thumb to pinky...

Sinful Colors "Nail Junkie" 3 coats. This one has a teal base and is less of a micro glitter than the others.

Sinful Colors "Call You Later". 3 coats. My first time wearing this one! It's a fine gold glitter with larger light and dark green glitter. Pretty awesome! 

China Glaze "Skyscraper". 2 coats. This is a very opaque glitter, love it. It's dark blue glitter with some silver  glitter. I rarely have "newer" collection polishes but I got this for free with a coupon at Sally's. I'd been wanting it ever since the Metro collection came out!

Funky Fingers "Golden Coast". 3 coats. I'd forgotten how awesome this polish is! It's a gold glitter but with holo glitter in it as well. I didn't manage to really capture the holo-ness.

Sinful Colors "Frenzy". 3 coats. You can get this glitter from various brands, it is purple and blue glitter. I know Pure Ice has a similar if not dupe for it. I love SC glitters, as you can see, haha. 

I know I haven't been posting outfits much lately, sorry! I haven't even been shopping for clothes much. I did get this sweater sometime this month though. It's from Old Navy. I got it when it was 40% off or something... I think I only paid $11. I love its shorter length and 3/4 sleeves (because I'm always pushing up long sleeves anyway). They had many colors, all with stripes, but I liked the hot pink contrasting with the beige. It's a nice pop of colour, I think. I've been wearing it a fair bit as its so easy to style... but I only have these poor quality pictures from last night when I threw it on over a maxi dress.

Like my Halloween decorations? haha The skeletons are supposed to hang horizontally but keep falling down!