Quick NOTW Golden Mistletoe Nails (Cinderella Hand)

Hello friends and MERRY CHRISTMAS! Have all you Christmas wishes come true this year? I gave my cinderella hand some TLC last week with its own unique design. Sometimes, It feels quite strange to have different designs on my hands, but I also get two different pretty things to stare at! Oh boy, I stare at this design so much, I love how glittery and festive it is. These nails are also multifunctional those who wish for Christmas kisses and cannot find an actual mistletoe in sight (*wink wink*).. Anyway, I wish you all a very merry Christmas, happy holidays and that all your Christmas wishes come true!

 Continue reading to see a list of the polishes I used to create this design!

Mix & Match Christmas Print Nails (with pictorial)

Hello friends! I am finally free from exams, and it feels amazing. I feel so liberated and weirdly energized for some reason, despite being so sleep deprived in the past couple of weeks. With my first few hours of freedom, I did my nails (typical me). I've compiled a couple of Christmas designs on both my hands and will likely be posting them during the next couple of days.

Being my usual indecisive self, with the addition of my jumbled-up brain, still fried from my exams; I just could not settle on one single design to put on my nails. I wanted cuteness, and I wanted color and I wanted my nails to be 500% Christmas-y! ....And that is how I ended up with this design. My nails just scream "CHRISTMAS!", and they fill me with holiday spirit.

The holidays really are the most wonderful time of the year, even if you don't really go out of your way to celebrate it. The streets are filled with cheer and everybody just seems happier around this time. People get together with their families and it just feels so wholesome. I, for one, cannot wait to get back home! I miss my brother dearly and I really want to bring him to Build-a-Bear (for his first time ever). I'm so excited!

Ah, enough of my rambling, continue reading to see my tips and tricks on how to create this manicure (along with a pictorial)!

Poinsettias (with Pictorial)

Hello friends! We are less than two weeks away from Christmas, can you believe it? Although I'm still smack in the middle of  exams, I decided to take a  much needed break from studying and relax with some holiday themed nails (luckily, I have a few days gap before my next exam). I cannot wait for the break to start! I've been so tired as of late and my sleeping schedule is non-existent. I really wish I could just snuggle up in my blankets and watch netflix with a cup of hot chocolate all day.

I guess I'm continuing the nature themed nails from last week as well, with even more red and green plants. Poinsettias are so pretty! I used to be fascinated with them as a child, because the entire plant just looks like one huge flower. I also used to really enjoy playing with the little buds in the idle, I would always take one out and play with it for some odd reason (I was a strange child). Maybe I should bring a poinsettia home for Christmas this year, just to bring a little extra green into the home for these dreary winter months.

For this design, I decided to do something different. I used a black base color! I don't think it's something I've ever done before, so this was a complete first for me. Straying away from my usual white base was an interesting experience! The design definitely looked a lot more dull than I intended for it to be;and not being unable to fix mistakes was a little nerve wracking (due to the base color no being pure black). Overall, I quite enjoyed this experience and look forward to doing similar things in the future, which means that I need to start stocking up on black polishes!

Without further ado, here are more tips and tricks (and a pictorial) on how I created this look....

Christmas Foliage (with Pictorial)

Hello friends! It's really starting to feel like Christmas, isn't it? I love seeing holiday decorations, they make everything so sparking and they stand out so beautifully against the dark winter days. I've really been itching to do Christmas designs recently since this is the only appropriate time to do it! Honestly though, I  wish that we could have these festivities twice a year, just so everything could be cheerful and decorated.

After going through my stash, I've come to realize that I lack green colored polishes and acrylic paints. Due to this, this design looks slightly mismatched in terms of the colors. The the yellow-green color I used to draw the leaves contrasted the color of the polish on my index finger to make it look much more blue than it actually is. This design would be much more well executed if the green colors were consistent... It look like I should definitely go out on a polish haul!

Read on to see how I created this look as well as some tips & tricks on how to create this design...

Winter Birch Forest (with Pictorial)

Hello friends! Winter is here once more! Last week, we were suddenly hit with a couple of inches of snow here in Ottawa. The first snowfall is always so exciting. I love the feeling of waking up, looking out the window and finding everything under a blanket of fresh snow. The here ground is covered with a layer of fluffy white snow, and the sidewalks are icy again. I will definitely have to get used to the cold and walking very carefully so that I won't slip on the ice. 

This week, my nails are inspired by winter. I remember going camping during my days as a girl scout years ago, and hiking through some beautiful winter trails. We also learned to make bird feeders (the ones made from acorns) and got to watch cute birds from our cabin. One of the birds that caught my eye was a brilliant red color that contrasted beautifully against the white snow. I've loved cardinals ever since, they're just such wonderfully majestic looking birds. I now consider it good luck when I see one (or a pair) when I go out. Sadly, cardinals are not that common in the city, all I see are pigeons nowadays.

Continue reading for some tips and a pictorial on how to create this look....

"This is fine." - Meme Inspired Nails (Quick NOTW Post)

Hello Friends! As you all have probably heard, Donald Trump just won the vote and he is to become the next president of the United States of America. The whole world is in sort of a panic right now, so I decided to post my reaction to the event. Although I'm not too familiar with politics, I do feel quite uneasy about Trump coming into power; I mean, Canada and the US are neighbours after all. Upon hearing the news, this was the one picture that came to mind. This comic has actually become one of my favourite reaction images recently. The way the puppy remains calm and attempts to drink his tea despite all the havoc around him is just so relatable for some reason. Perhaps it's because of how optimistic he remains throughout. Little puppy, teach me your ways.

Red Poppies (With Pictorial)

Hello friends! I'm back with another pictorial! It's been so long since I've posted a more detailed blog post. Though I've been meaning to post a pictorial for quite some time, I get so excited and into the process that I forget to take any pictures in between. Now, with most of my midterm and assignments done, I finally had a chance to sit down and just take things slooooooowly. Since it is the beginning of the month, I scoured instagram to search for a nail challenge to participate in. However, I finally settled on a poppy design since remembrance day is next week. 

I just love poppie, they're one of my favourite flowers; they're just so wonderfully delicate and dainty. In fact, I have a pink poppy growing out in my garden at home, I look forward to it blooming every year. Sadly, my poppies only stay in bloom for a week or so before the flowers wilt off. Thus, with remembrance day around the corner, and my love for the flowers, I thought that poppies would be a suitable design to wear. These days, I feel like I see less and less people wearing poppies, which is quite saddening. I guess it's because most of us living today, do not appreciate the significance of remembrance day.  Those who sacrificed and continue to do so deserve to be recognized for what they've done, and wearing a poppy is just a very simple way to show our appreciation.

Read on to see a pictorial on how these nails were created...

Quick NOTW Post: Maroon Fall Leaves

Hello friends! It's starting to get chilly here already and the trees are turning beautiful shades of orange, yellow and red. It's absolutely magnificent. One of my favourite memories as a child were the long road trips that my family and I took to see forests of beautiful leaves. Once, we even took a ferry down a river, and the view was breathtaking.  It's something we haven't done in years because of me being so far away for university. Every year, I do designs with leaves because of how much I love autumn.

Due to my my upcoming assignments and midterm exams, I didn't have time to do a more detailed design. Despite not having any colours, I wanted this design to show some movement as if the leaves were falling. Honestly, I will probably redo this design again in the future with cleaner lines. 

Quick NOTW Update (Two Designs): Cute Candy Corn Nails!

Hello friends! It's October, which means it's time to get into the Halloween spirit already! To get myself into the Halloween spirit, I wanted to do some nails inspired by the holiday. Since it isn't too close to Halloween yet, I didn't want anything too spooky. Anyway, when I was coming up with the design, I thought of one of my favorite Halloween treats! It's weird, I know that a lot of people hate candy corn but I just love them! If I had an actual cob-sized amount of the stuff I could eat it all up in a second. Plus, the little kernels of candy are super adorable. 

This week I decided to something new and post two different designs in one blogpost. On my left hand, I have the cute and punny candy corn design, but n my right hand, I wanted to keep it simple so I did a glitterly ombre design. Glitter and ombres go so well together! I don't know why, but the glitter somehow pulls the ombre together. 

Quick NOTW: Fox Nails

Hello friends! I'm so excited to share these cute fox nails with you! Since the official transition from summer to autumn a couple of days ago, I decided to welcome it with adorable little foxes. To be quite honest though, I have no idea why foxes are associated with the fall season. Perhaps it's due to how their beautiful orange coloring blends in with the fall colors themselves. I think foxes are such lovely animals, plus, their cobs are simple adorable!

Anyways, due to the level of detail in this design, I asked my boyfriend to take pictures of my nails using his DSLR camera. We (mostly he) fumbled and adjusted a bunch of settings but we had very little success with taking usable pictures. I guess I still have to figure out proper lighting and the right settings for future pictures. I do love how some of the pictures turned out though (see first picture in this post), the pictures taken with the actual camera give my nails sort of a glazed porcelain look that makes the design look even more delicate.

Quick NOTD Update: Gudetama Nails

Hello friends! I am back with yet another NOTD update; this time, featuring my favourite Sanrio character, Gudetama! I love Gudetama, he's so adorable and sleepy all the time. He's such an adorable and relatable little egg.  If you don't know who he is yet, I strongly suggest you check out the short cartoons on youtube, I find them super amusing and they alway make me smile.

This design has been in the back of my mind for ages! Since my discovery of this squishy yellow yolk, I've wanted to related nail art. With me being preoccupied with moving back to school, I decided not to participate in any nart art challenges this month (though I may attempt some once I get more used to my schedule). As I sat down to do my nails the other day, this was the first idea that popped into my head. I also think that it's ironic that I would decide to put this highly unmotivated character on my nails to welcome the first week of school.

Anyways, click read on for some tips and tricks on how to create your own Gudetama inspired nails:

Quick NOTW Update: Back to School Science Nails

Hello friends, and welcome to "back-to-school" season once again! This is a super quick mani update, since I procrastinated (again) and I've left my packing 'til the very last minute. What a great way to kick off the school year, eh? Anyways, instead of doing very generic back to school nails, I wanted to mine to reflect what I'd be doing once I went back to school. 

For this manicure, I decided that a mix and match array of designs would better suit the theme since it allows me to display the various subjects I will be studying throughout the next year. The designs explained are as follows (from left to right):

• On my index finger, I've painted the double helix structure of DNA
• My middle finger is a labeled diagram of nerve cells (neurons)m it has little arrows pointing to each part of it 
• On my ring finger (and thumb) I made little drawings of organic chemical structures on a graph/grid paper background
• Finally, on my pinky, I have random chemical elements drawn in boxes (as they would be on a periodic table) with their symbol and atomic number

Hopefully, I'll be settled into my new place on campus ASAP and I'll be able to break out my polishes for another design soon, but until then, farewell friends!

"Bee Happy!" (with Pictorial)

Hello friends! I have this extremely cute and punny design to share with you all today. In grade two, I remember receiving a tiny notebook that said "BEE HAPPY" on it and the saying has stuck with me ever since. I no longer remember what the notebook looked like, but the phrase popped back into my mind the other day and I was inspired by it. 

This design has been bringing me smiles whenever I see it throughout the day. Read on to see step by step instructions (with pictures) on how to create these adorable nails!

Stripes and Simple Florals

Hello friends! I have a fun and bold nail design for this week. Pairing simple vertical stripes with some summery florals makes these nails stand out! This eye-catching design may look intricate, but is actually very easy to do.

This design is also extremely versatile, and I can see it working well with a variety of Different colour combinations.  A pastel pink in lace of the blue would give the nails a much more chic and make it look much softer; whilst a bold red would make this design look very fierce. Another thing I really love about this design is the mix & match look that it has. Mix & match designs have always been a favourite of mine because of how fun and eye-catching they are. Each nail has its own unique look, yet they all fit together very well; plus, every nail is an accent nail.

Continue reading to see my tips and tricks on creating this manicure...

Quick NOTW Update- Starter Pokemon

Hello friends! I am back with another quick NOTW! Between going away and visiting my boyfriend, and getting sick, I finally found some time to give my nails some much needed TLC. I had so much fun doing the Bayleef nails two weeks ago, that I decided to continue with the pokemon theme. Plus, I've also been loving Pokemon Go so far so I thought that adding the available starter pokemon  from the game would make for a fun design.

When the game first came out, I could not wait to get my hands on it. I've had so much fun playing it, but due because of work (among other things), I have not gotten to play much. Anyway, soon after it's release, some players found a way to get a pikachu as your starter pokemon (although I'm not quite sure if this still works)! Thus, when I was coming up with the design for this week's nail art I wanted to include pikachu, despite him not being one of the official starters in the original game. These nails are so fun, colourful and they bring me so much delight whenever I see my hands. I definitely look forwards to doing similar designs, and my co-workers have suggested that I continue the theme and do other sets of starters. Another idea that I've had (also inspired by the game) was to draw eevee and its three eeveelutions. What design do you think I should do next?

Bayleef Nails Inspired by Ane Li (with Pictorial)

Hello friends! As many of you know, a young and inspirational nail artist recently passed away. Ane Li sadly passed away as a result of suffering from depression. Although I did not know her personally, I was a huge fan of her cute designs; and it is with a heavy heart that I write this blog post. Ane had such a creative mind, and that's what stood out to me about her.

Upon, people of the nail art community have decided to pay tribute to Ane Li, and this Bayleef design is the one I chose to recreate. For those of you interested in seeing other tribute recreations to Ane go check out the #sharingtheloveforaneli tag on instagram.

Continue reading to see how I (re)created these nails...

Quick NOTW: Sunglass Nails on my Cinderella Hand

Hello friends! This is just a quick NOTW update as I will be uploading another one very shortly. I actually did two different designs this week, and I am wearing very different designs on my two hands. The contrast in the designs and the quality of the art on my hands makes me feel very strange since I've always had very similar art on both hands.

I can't say I feel great about the finished product on my cinderella hand today, but after a shift at work and completing a more detailed design on my left hand, I got lazy and sort of just winged it. I do still really like this design, but the way and the techniques that were used to execute it could've probably been done a lot better. This makes for a very cute summer nail design and I'll definitely be looking forward to doing this design again!

Quick Post: Beach Inspired Nails (with Pictorial)

Hello friends, I hope you're all enjoying your summer! It's been so hot here in the past few weeks with barely any rain, so it just feels dry all the time. I really wish I could spend a day sitting by a beach. A day off from work would be so nice, but that's not happening anytime soon, so my nails will have to do. These beach nails I'm wearing right now are for the beach prompt for SNCjuly2016. 

For these nails, I finally used the fan brush that has just been sitting around in my storage bin been the past year. I avoided using the fan brush because I just didn't know how, and none of my designs really required the techniques that could be executed with the brush. I really like how it turned out though, the ripples in the water looks more realistic. From this experience with my fan brush, I know that I definitely want to try doing more designs with it!

Continue reading to see how I created my beach nails...

Ancient Egypt Nails for SNCJuly2016 (with Close-Up Photos)

Hello friends! The next prompt for _nailaddiction's Summer Nails Challenge (#sncjuly2016) is "Egypt", and this is my  Ancient Egypt inspired manicure for the week. As a child, I was always fascinated with Ancient Egypt. I was particularly drawn to the mysterious and beautiful symbols that adorned the tombs of the great pharaohs and their intriguing calligraphy. With this week's design, I tried my best to incorporate some of the gorgeous symbols that are commonly associated with Ancient Egypt.

On my left hand, I am wearing a Uraeus (cobra) on my thumb, which was used as symbol of royalty or authority and represented the Goddess Wadjet. This cobra, along with the striped design on my index and pinky fingers, were inspired by the mask of the mummy of Tutankhamun. On my middle finger is a scarab, which were very popular amulets in Egypt. This is followed by the Sun God Ra depicted as a bird. On my cinderella (right) hand, I went with more simple designs. The symbol on my thumb is the "Eye of Horus", which represents royal power, protection and good health. Next is the Ankh which symbolizes life. Finally, I decided put a Mau (cat) symbol on my ring finger because the ancient Egyptians worshiped them.

I feel very strange when I look at my hands because of the difference in the designs. With one being so simple and so bold and the other colourful, my eyes don't know which hand to focus on! Both of these designs makes for very beautiful manicures though, so to see how I created them and for a closer look at these designs, please continue reading....

Tutti Frutti Nails + BornPrettyStore Item Review!

Hello friends, and Happy July! The year's half over already, can you believe that?! This month, I was asked by _nailaddiction on Instagram to join in her summer weekly challenge; the prompts looked so fun that I had participate! The first prompt of this month is "fruity" nails, so I did some mix & match of different kinds of fruits. Last year, at around this time, I did a bunch of fruit inspired nails nails as well; if you wish to see those, click here.

A couple of months ago, I received a mini palette ring from bornprettystore. I've use it quite a few times to create various looks, but I finally got around to actually taking some pictures of the process! The ring is one of the cutest nail art tools I have ever seen! They're super easy to use and makes clean-up so much faster. Prior to getting this palette, I would regularly use yellow sticky notes, tiny pieces of wax paper or tin foil to mix my paints/polishes. Though such materials were easy to find, they were messy as I would always mistakenly place my brushes on them by accident and make a mess of my tools. With this ring on my hands at all times, there is little to no chance of me leaving my nail tools around and having them roll into the palette. This palette is also reusable and reduces the amount of paper and foil waste I produce each time I do my nails.

To use this cute nail palette, simply dab a small amount of polish or paint in one of the tiny wells and use as you would any other palette. The medium used may dry up a quickly due to the shallowness of the well, but water, nail polish thinner or acetone may be mixed in to get it to return to a workable consistency. The palette ring does come with a tiny cup that you can use to hold the thinning liquids but I did not find it very helpful since tilting my fingers around to draw the designs would prompt it to spill out. However, you can choose to use the cup to hold a larger amount of acrylic paint, such as black paint when outlining. Once done with the palette, simple wipe off the polish with some nail polish remover or the acrylic paint with water. It's as easy as that! I'd honestly give this cute ring a 5/5 because it makes my life so much easier and is way more environmentally friendly than using tin foil or paper! Not only is this ring super cute, but it is also practical.

Now, without further ado, here are my tips and tricks and a pictorial on how to create these super fun nails...

Quick NOTW Update: Lazy Pink Flower Nails

Hello friends! I just have a quick update this week with these super lazy nails I am currently sporting. I've been exhausted this past week from all the training for my new job so I wanted to do the easiest design I could think of. Although I can't say much for thow the design looks, I do really enjoy how these two colours compliment one another. The darker pink is "Raspberry/Fuschia" from Crabtree & Evelyn, which is simply gorgeous and extremely pigmented; I don't even think I used a second coat! The light pink colour is PK114 from theFaceShop, which is a nice pale/pastel pink. However, it is a bit streaky and I needed several coats to get the desired opacity.

As for the design, it's a simple one that really just relies on the brush and requires minimum skill and effort. SImply use a small round brush (or even a dotting tool) to create these petals.

Anyway, that's all for this week! Tune in next week where I'll be attempting _nailaddiction's summer weekly challenge for the month of July.

Sunset Walk on the Beach (For WNAC 2016)

Hello friends! It's been such a lovely week down here in the GTA though it is pretty hot today. My nails this week follow the third prompt for WNAC2016, which is "palm trees".  This is super strange, but I can honestly say that I am jealous of my nails. I could really go for a long walk on a beach right now! I just started training for my second job today (which I am super excited about), but I am just so tired. Growing up is hard, I'm barely an adult but I'm already reminiscing the summers where I'd spend my days just chillin' out and drawing all day. Those were the good days, ah. 

This week, I decided to film yet another design tutorial.  I've also been working with various video editing software to test out which one works best for me (and my computer). Normally, I'd use Sony Vegas, but the video playback lags so much that i's difficult to preform even the simplest of tasks like trimming a clip! Now, this may be a sign that I need a computer upgrade, but since I mostly use my computer for school work, I don't really need an upgrade just yet; unless I do decide that I'm serious about making these videos. 

Anyway, I'll be working on the video for the next week and will try to have it up before next week;, depending on my work schedule ( & how tired my jobs will make me). Until next time, goodbye friends and happy polishing!