Salvatore Ferragamo-Inspired Flowers

Hi everyone! Tonight's post is a little bit different. I was contacted by Destiny USA, a shopping mall in Syracuse, NY and was asked if I would be interested in creating a post on the topic of Italian fashion.

For me, when it comes to fashion I prefer styles and pieces that are classic and can withstand seasonal trends. For example, a jacket or a dress that has a timeless cut but can be accessorized with jewelry or a nice scarf. Maybe it's the budget conscious in me, but I find it difficult to buy clothes that will be out of style in a year.

Salvatore Ferragamo-inspired floral nail art

The Digit-al Dozen Does Black & White: Art Nouveau Roses

Hi everyone! This is later than I hoped, but I finally have my fifth and final post for Digit-al Dozen's Black and White week. I feel very proud of myself for finishing five days of nail art, I mean, this is not something I'm used to doing. I had very high hopes for my final design, and yet, I have very mixed feelings about the final results for reasons that I hope will become clear in the rest of the post.

Art Nouveau roses

The Digit-al Dozen Does Black & White: Black and White Abstract With Studs...Take Two!

Hi everyone! I have a draft of one of my dissertation chapters due tomorrow, and I knew that I wouldn't have time to do any nail art the night before, so I was able to complete this design a few weeks ago. Lucky for me, I finished my revisions and tomorrow I'm free and clear to do my last design for this challenge. I can't believe my first challenge week for the Digit-al Dozen is almost over, and yet, I still have a chance to come up with one more (hopefully) awesome design! What do you want to see me do for day 5?

Black and white abstract with studs

Today's design is actually inspired by previous nail art designs that I did. I kinda like that, it's like I'm ripping myself off! Haha! ;)

The Digit-al Dozen Does Black & White: Disrupted Water Marble

Hi everyone! Monday we had the distressed poppies, and now we have disrupted water marble. Notice a trend? ;) You may have seen similar designs like this here, this is my favourite way to do water marbles. It's not a perfect water marble, nor is it a water-spotted water marble (see no spots!), so I've dubbed it the disrupted water marble.

Black and white disrupted water marble

The Digit-al Dozen Does Black & White: Graphic Galaxy Nails

Hi everyone! It's interesting to think about where inspiration and ideas come from - whether it's a painting, nail art, a poem...you get the point. When I heard that my first Digit-al Dozen challenge would be black and white, I remember thinking to myself, "now how am I going to come up with five black and white designs?!" But it's interesting what has happened in the time leading up to this challenge. The ideas slowly came, sometimes unexpectedly.

I told you about the inspiration for last night's Remembrance Day poppies. Well today's design comes from a shopping trip last week.

Graphic Galaxy nails and matching dress

The Digit-al Dozen Does Black & White: Distressed Poppies for Remembrance Day

Hi everyone! Today marks my first official blog post as part of the Digit-al Dozen! The theme for the week is black and white, and since today was Remembrance Day here in Canada, I decided to do something appropriate for this special day. You may be wondering why my design has some red in it, if the theme is black and white. Well let me explain...

Distressed Poppies for Remembrance Day

Introducing Lumina Lacquer Eternal Winter!

Hi everyone! Today's post is very special for me, and one that's been in the works for months. Awhile back I was contacted by Tatiana of Lumina Lacquer to create a collaboration polish with her. I love what Tatiana is doing with her brand, and I've enjoyed reviewing Lumina Lacquer on this blog, so of course I said yes! Then of course was the hard part of coming up with an idea and keeping it a secret (I'm not good at secrets).

Lumina Lacquer Eternal Winter

31 Day Challenge: Day Twenty-Nine, Inspired by the Supernatural: Dark Willow

Hi everyone! I have my second Halloween-related nail art post for you tonight. Ideally I would have posted this before Halloween, but it's just been one of those weeks!

This is actually one of those challenges I've been looking forward to for awhile. I'm not too big on the supernatural, but over the summer I devoured all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - my first time watching the show. Even though the show is over ten years old, and some of the special effects are a bit dated, it's still pretty awesome. It's one of those shows where I felt lost and sad once I had finished all the episodes.

Dark Willow-inspired nail art

31 Day Challenge: Day Twenty-Eight, Inspired by a Flag: The Franco-Ontarian Flag

Hi everyone! Out of all the prompts in the 31 Day Challenge, the "Inspired by a Flag" prompt is by far the most uninspiring of all of them. I realize that flags serve an important purpose as symbols of nations, regions or groups, and I find it interesting to see what flags different countries and regions adopt. But on an aesthetic level, flags are pretty boring and unappealing. Like, someone please, take a brush and paint some pretty flowers on that thing! But it's a challenge, and in my research I ended up finding a flag that was interesting on a more personal level.

Franco-Ontarian flag nail art

Girly Bits Canuck The Dots, Swatches and Review

Hi everyone! I have another somewhat recent release from Girly Bits to show you tonight. Being Canadian this one appeals to me for patriotic reasons, but you don't have to be a Canuck (slang for Canadian) to like this one!

Girly Bits Canuck The Dots

Canuck The Dots is a clear-based glitter topper with matte red and white hexes, squares, rectangles, and bars. It also has a subtle, but noticeable, silver shimmer.

Girly Bits Canuck The Dots over American Apparel L'Esprit

Formula-wise I didn't have too many problems with this one. It does need to be turned upside down for 15 minutes or so before applying, also a good shaking before applying helps. I found it went on smoothly, and I used one coat with some touch ups.

Girly Bits Canuck The Dots over American Apparel L'Esprit

One issue with the polish is that you can't fuss too much in applying the glitter. I did that on a few nails, and ended up transferring some of my base polish on the glitter. Normally it wouldn't be an issue, but with those bit white glitters it's noticeable - you know what they say about white...it gets dirty easy! ;)

Girly Bits Canuck The Dots over A-England Dorian Gray

I couldn't decided on a base polish so I tried it over two - American Apparel L'Esprit (lavender), and A-England Dorian Gray (steel grey). Which one do you like better?

Overall, I love how bold and geometric this looks. I think it's the big squares and rectangles that give it that stark but eye-catching look.

Girly Bits Canuck The Dots over A-England Dorian Gray

What do you think of this polish?

Girly Bits polishes are available from their website, there you'll also find a list of distributors for other places to buy Girly Bits. Follow Girly Bits Cosmetics on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and new releases.

*Products in this post provided for review, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more detail.*

31 Day Challenge: Day Seven, Black and White: Obsessive Abstraction

Hi everyone! Happy International Nail Art Day! I meant to post these earlier, but this design may have *ahem* taken a bit longer than expected. But what better way to celebrate the first INAD than with some extremely detailed nail art!

About this design: I wish I could take credit for this design but unfortunately I can't. The inspiration came from this image I found on Tumblr. I really don't know much about the designer, I guess filling out the "About" page on your blog is too old fashioned; however, you can find more designs by this person on a website called Society6.

When I saw this design, I knew instantly I wanted to try to recreate it for the 31 Day Challenge. And despite the fact that it took forever and a day to complete, sometimes when you have your heart set on something you just have to run with it.

To get this look: I used my go-to black and white for this design: Orly Liquid Vinyl and Sally Hansen White On. The brush is a detailed liner brush - the hairs are longer than a normal detail brush. While I normally go over a line lightly and then go over it a second time, this time I only did the lines once except for some parts where I had to do them twice. I finished with a thick coat of KBShimmer Clearly On Top then Essie Matte About You.

You don't need to see a giant thumb, do you?

The thing I love about the original design is that, while it is precise and detailed, it is not mechanical. It looks like a drawing - lines are not straight and there are variations that give it character. In my nail art design, even though you can see the brushstrokes and mistakes, I don't mind them so much here. Of course if I inspect it very closely, I can see all the imperfections, but if I move back and take it all in, the effect of the design is just amazing. I love the detail and the almost obsessive compulsiveness of the design.

I've rambled on quite a bit about this design, but obviously I'm very proud of it! What do you think of this? Let me know in the comments below. :)
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Fourth of July Nail Art With Shimmer Nichole

Hi everyone! Even though I live in Canada, I have family in the United States, I used to live there, and I recently became a US Permanent Resident. So to celebrate my first Independence Day as a Green Card holder, I decided to do some red, white and blue nail art.

Like a lot of people I took the opportunity to use Shimmer Polish Nichole, part of the package sent to me by Cindy of Shimmer Polish. Nichole is a clear-based glitter topper with silver, red, and blue micro and hex glitter of different sizes. Some of the small hex glitter is holographic. It really is stunning and easy to apply. On my index finger I used one coat, so there is also great glitter payoff.

Fourth of July nail art

Fourth of July nail art

The red is OPI Magazine Cover Mouse, and the blue is Zoya Song. For the white I used Sally Hansen White On. The black outlines of the stars are done with Orly Liquid Vinyl.

Fourth of July nail art

Fourth of July nail art

The stripes I did freehand of course. For the stars, I painted the star with black polish, then filled it in with white. My final step was to dab on some glitter. Everything was topped off with KBShimmer Clearly On Top, which is an excellent top coat. I've started to use it for nail art and I find it doesn't smear my designs like Seche Vite does.

Shimmer Polish is available on Etsy, from Harlow & Co., and Overall Beauty. Follow Shimmer on Facebook, and the Shimmer Polish blog for updates.

What do you think of this? Did you do some nail art for the Fourth of July?

*Shimmer Polish provided for review, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more details.*

Happy Canada Day!

Hi everyone! First off, I wanted to say thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway. I've chosen the two winners via random draw so congrats to Tanya Jung and Jennifer Markus Lee. Please respond to my email within 48 hours.

I was really touched by all the nice comments and things many of you had to say about my blog, and the new followers and support. Giveaways make me nervous because I always worry that there's going to be a mass exodus after the giveaway. But hopefully some people will stick around! As long as these giveaways are drama free, I'll continue to do them because I enjoy them, and so do you! So if you didn't win this time, hopefully you will next time. :)

So happy Canada Day to all you Canucks and Canuck-wannabes who celebrate. I originally wasn't going to do a Canada Day manicure, but I remembered that I had Julep O Canada! waiting to be tried. Instead of going with the usual maple leaf, I decided to do some freehand hearts on sticks.

Canada Day nail art

Canada Day nail art with Coin Coin ring

For the red I used Quo Old Hollywood, one of my favourite all time reds. If you don't have access to Quo, Orly Forever Crimson is a dupe. The white is Sally Hansen White On, and I did a bit of black outlining on the hearts with Orly Liquid Vinyl. The glitter is the Julep of course - it's a clear based glitter topper with small red hexes and iridescent hexes. I love the simplicity of it.

Canada Day nail art

Canada Day nail art with Coin Coin ring

For the occasion I also thought I'd show off my ring I bought a while back from Coin Coin Designs & Co. It's my friend's company and she sells keepsake coin jewelry, I'm so proud of her, and I love her products. This ring has a nickel from the Canadian centennial designed by artist Alex Colville. It's the only year that the nickel had a rabbit on it. Isn't it cute!? I thought it was the perfect accessory for Canada Day. :)

Canada Day nail art

What do you think of this design? If you're Canadian, how did you celebrate Canada Day?

KBShimmer Summer 2013 Collection - 24 Carrot Bold, Pimp My Pride, and Totally Tubular

Hi everyone! Is anyone out there excited about the release of the new KBShimmer collection tomorrow?! Katie from Harlow & Co. sent me a few of the polishes to swatch and review in anticipation for tomorrow's launch, so I rushed to get these on the blog! I always love to see what KBShimmer comes out with, the polishes are always gorgeous and colourful, and the quality is always top notch. And the new summer collection doesn't disappoint!

KBShimmer Totally Tubular, Pimp My Pride, and 24 Carrot Bold

I was also sent the new Clearly On Top quick dry top coat to try out. I will do a more complete review in the future when I've had a chance to test it over a longer period, but I did use it with two of these polishes, so I'll offer my thoughts on that at the end of this post.

24 Carrot Bold is a bright neon orange, very much like a traffic cone orange, with beautiful golden shimmer that is noticeable on the nails. And it has a matte finish! It's not the most flattering colour on me, but it's a very fun colour for summer.

KBShimmer 24 Carrot Bold

The formula was great - it went on very smooth and was perfectly self-leveling. It also dried very fast, although I'd say you still have to be careful even after 20-25 minutes. I find with matte polishes that the formula and dry time are even more important since you don't have the top coat to rely on. Here I used three coats, but there's still some visible nail line, so if that bothers you, you might want to try layering it over a matching polish, or even white - which would make the colour pop! And no top coat on these swatches.

KBShimmer 24 Carrot Bold

Pimp My Pride is a white crelly with red and blue glitter. There's tiny, small and medium hexes, and hair (mini bars, micro slices, or whatever you call them) glitter. It's definitely a very "Americana" polish, and I'm not sure how popular it will be with international customers, unless you like red, white, and blue colour combos.

KBShimmer Pimp My Pride

The formula was excellent, and there was good glitter payoff, although I did do a little bit of shaking to make sure I got plenty of glitter on my brush. It went on very smooth and leveled perfectly. This is three coats and there's still some VNL, so my only criticism is that I wish it was less sheer. I topped this off with KBShimmer Clearly On Top.

KBShimmer Pimp My Pride

Totally Tubular is a teal blue crelly with fuchsia and aqua circles and hexes, fuchsia hair glitter, and sapphire blue hexes. This is my favourite of the three, no surprise since I love blue, but I also love the bright colours. A word of warning though - most of the promotional images and swatches I've seen of this polish make it look lighter than it actually is. It's not a light teal blue. It's more of a mid-value teal blue, very close in value to Don't Teal Anyone. Totally Tubular is slightly brighter in hue than DTA, and of course has a different mixture of glitter. I just feel like the promotional images give the wrong impression of the polish. But don't get me wrong, it's still an awesome colour!

KBShimmer Totally Tubular

This is three coats plus KBShimmer Clearly On Top. Like Pimp My Pride it goes on really smooth, and it's easy to get enough glitter including the larger circles. However, I did shake it gently before applying.

KBShimmer Totally Tubular

Clearly On Top - I'm an ardent Seche Vite fan and I'm really picky about using another top coat. In my life I think I've tried two other top coats (Revlon and China Glaze), and I was not sure what to expect with this one. So my initial impression of Clearly On Top... so far so good! It dries to the touch within about 5 minutes, however, it can be dented after 15-20 minutes (Seche Vite is the same). It's very glossy, not too thick, no issues with shrinkage, and it's the big 3-Free. Finally, the price is good. If you buy top coat by the bottle, Clearly On Top is comparable and even cheaper than Seche Vite. I'm still curious to see how it works over the long run, and I'd like to try it with nail art, so I will report back with a follow-up.

KBShimmer is available for US customers through their website, and through Harlow & Co. for international (non-US) customers. Follow both Harlow & Co. and KBShimmer on Facebook for updates.

What do you think of these new polishes from KBShimmer? Are you planning to get anything when the collection is released tomorrow?

*Polishes provided for review, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more details.*

Seven Deadly Sins Challenge, Day 8: Sloth

Hi everyone! So with this post I've officially completed half of the Seven Deadly Sins challenge, yeah!! I haven't completed Day 7 yet, but that one involves putting together a tutorial so I'm going to tackle it on the weekend when I have more time.

The prompt for Day 8 is as follows: "(Only if you want) Create a manicure inspired by your laziness... or whatever... I'm so tired..." This is right up my alley! Lol!

Simple stripes and studs nail art

As I told you in my blogging goals last week, I wanted to do a no-buy for a week. Well I finished that, so I went out today and bought polish to celebrate!! :D And I got my first OPI Liquid Sand polishes - Tiffany Case and Solitaire from the Bond Girls collection. I couldn't wait to try them out so I did some simple nail art with the two.

Simple stripes and studs nail art

I can't take credit for this design, I got it from Chicago-based nail artist AstroWifey, she posted a similar design on her Instagram several days ago calling it a "SUPER easy and lightening fast nail art look." Her design used a nude and a pale yellow polish, but I thought it would work well with my two new Liquid Sand polishes. And I love how this turned out!

Simple stripes and studs nail art

In terms of how-to, it's very simple. Paint your nails with your base colour. When it's dry, paint a stripe with your second polish. Don't go all the way down to your cuticles, just go slightly past mid-point. You don't need to use a special nail art brush, just use the brush that comes with the polish. Add a small stud as an accent, and done!

Simple stripes and studs nail art

I used two coats of Solitaire, and it applied like a dream. Tiffany Case is almost a one-coater, so I only needed one stroke to get a perfect stripe. I did end up using top coat on this design, only to keep the studs on. And while I lost some of the texture, it still has the appearance of texture if that makes sense.

What do you think of this design? Have you tried any of the Liquid Sand polishes?

Polish Addict Nail Color Standing in the Neon and Unicorn Love, Swatches and Review!

Hi everyone! I don't know about you, but I love trying new indie brands. Sure, I've had a few letdowns (nothing that's made it to the blog though), but mostly I've been impressed and extremely satisfied by all the new brands I've tried since I first dived into collecting indies last August. I'm so amazed by all the talented, hardworking, and creative ladies out there that decide to make the leap into starting their own polish business.

With that, here's another new to me indie polish. I've been following Laura, the creator of Polish Addict Nail Color on Instagram for some time. So when Laura contacted me and asked me if I wanted to review some of her polishes, of course I jumped at the chance! She sent me two great polishes, and it couldn't have been a better first experience with this new-to-me indie brand. :)

Polish Addict Nail Color Standing in the Neon and Unicorn Love

Standing in the Neon is white crelly-based polish with silver holo micro-glitter, black and white bars, and black, white, and neon pink hexes and squares in different sizes. I'm always afraid with white polishes that they will be so sheer but not this one. I used three coats for full coverage. The formula was excellent and it went on very smooth and was completely self-leveling.

Polish Addict Nail Color Standing in the Neon

The glitter on this one was not overly dense, which I like. I think it makes the polish easier to apply but still interesting. I love how the final mani looks.

Polish Addict Nail Color Standing in the Neon

Unicorn Love is a pale blue crelly with neon micro-glitter in red, orange, yellow, blue and green. I love that it's scattered with glitter and not densely packed - the glitter provides a nice accent without being overwhelming. This one was more sheer so it took four coats for full coverage, so I recommend layering it over a base polish if that's too much for you. Otherwise the formula was great and it was completely self-leveling. I think this would be perfect for someone who does not like large glitter, or wants something with a softer effect.

Polish Addict Nail Unicorn Love

Polish Addict Nail Unicorn Love

What's not to love about these two polishes? Nice colours and glitter combinations, and perfect formulas - where the polish applies almost effortlessly. I can't wait to try more from this brand!

Polish Addict Nail Color is available on their Bigcartel site, and will be available soon from Mei Mei's Signatures. Follow Polish Addict Nail Color on Facebook and Instagram (@polishaddictnailcolor).

What do you think of these? Any stand out to you?

*Products provided for review, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more details.*

Cadillacquer Remember Me and Where is Carl?

Hi everyone! I hope you had/are having a great weekend! We've been experiencing some amazing weather here in southern Ontario, flip flops and shorts kinda weather. Unfortunately I chose this weekend to do a major swatch-a-thon, which is great for the blog and for getting through all the things I want to show you, but not so great for the part of me that wants to get out and play. :P

Cadillacquer is a new-to-me brand that I recently was able to get my hands on. I had seen these polishes on Globe & Nail and Love Life Lacquer, but when I saw them featured recently on Fashion Polish, it was confirmed - I need these in my life!!! Cadillacquer is available on Etsy, but the shipping is quite expensive to Canada. Fortunately Harlow & Co. recently started carrying this brand and I went a bit crazy and bought five of them. I have two to show you today and I'll save the other three for another time.

Cadillacquer Remember Me and Where is Carl?

The formula on both was the same, they went on very smooth and I had no issues with them. Sometimes indie polishes with glitter can be thick and difficult to spread out, but these were the perfect consistency. I used a coat of Gelous and a coat of Seche Vite to top them off, so that I could have a perfectly smooth finish, but one coat of a top coat would be fine for these as well.

Remember Me is pale mint creme with a stunning mix of blue shimmer/micro flakes, tiny silver glitter, and fuchsia glitter in tiny hexes and small circles. I used two coats. I love the contrast of the mint and fuchsia, but the addition of silver glitter and blue shimmer adds another layer of complexity. Love, love, love!! <3

Cadillacquer Remember Me

Cadillacquer Remember Me

Where is Carl? has a white milky base with blue and black glitter. There's tiny black squares, tiny iridescent squares, and tiny blue squares and small hexes. I used three coats over a ridge-filling base coat - the base coat is a sheer white that helps to cover the nail. I have a lot of white with blue glitter polishes and this is a really nice one, it has a delicacy that I really appreciate.

Cadillacquer Where is Carl?

Cadillacquer Where is Carl?

As I said earlier, Cadillacquer is available on Etsy, but shipping can be expensive if you are not in Europe (Cadillacquer is based in Switzerland). But quite a few of the polishes are now carried by Harlow & Co. including these two, which are both currently in stock. Follow Cadillacquer on Facebook and Instagram (@cadillacquer) for updates.

What do you think of these? Have you tried Cadillacquer?