Today's Purchases

Getting new nail polish is obviously very exciting, but so is getting other nail related stuff! If you follow me on Instagram, you'll see I posed a picture of the new light box I made. It's so much better than my current one because it's got so much more space! Also I used tissue paper on the sides and top instead of paper, and the backdrop is poster board instead of a piece of paper. 

All that aside, the only problem with my first light box was the lamp I used was not bright enough for my liking. It's a 25 watt lamp from Ikea, and I believe the bulb is a halogen? I know it's not fluorescent because it's got a sort of yellowy glow. So I went to Rona and got some things for my new light box. First of all I got a table lamp that has a maximum of 60 watts, so it could handle a much brighter bulb. Then I looked at the light bulbs. Kind of overwhelming since there's so many options! What really helped though was there were samples so I just chose a nice bright fluorescent bulb. I got a "cool white" bulb so there would be absolutely no yellow glow. 

Let me tell you. the bulb makes all the difference when photographing in a light box so I HIGHLY suggest you invest in a 40-60 watt fluorescent bulb, and make sure it's cool white. I was all giddy when I took a couple pictures in my light box because the pictures came out amazing! Here are a couple pictures taken on my phone in my first light box with the dim lamp and in the new light box with the bright lamp. There's some glare on the blue nails because of the way my hand was angled, but you can definitely see the yellow glow vs no yellow between the pictures. 

In addition to going to Rona, I also went to Walmart. Convenient that they're right across the street from each other where I am! A while ago I saw @lacquerloon posted a picture of her homemade polish remover, which she got from @loodieloodieloodie's blog, click here to see her original post! I'm not sure if she actually came up with it from looking at the ingredients or she got it from someone else, but I've given credit to my two sources. The inspiration for this homemade polish remover came from Zoya's Remove +. I've never personally used it but I've seen it on their website and heard it was amazing from other Instagrammers and Bloggers. 

The recipe is: 

• 16oz bottle of 100% acetone 
• 3tsp glycerin 

Both can be found at Walmart. The glycerin is about $4 and so is the bottle of acetone so you're spending under $10. Zoya's Remove + is $10 for an 8oz bottle. Plus with the bottle of glycerin you can get about 4 bottles of your own remover so it works out to be an incredibly good value for your money! It's around 1/4 or 1/5 the price of Zoya if I did the math correctly in my head. 

The glycerin might not mix into your acetone  too well, you'll just need to shake it until you notice there's no more glycerin blob at the bottom of the acetone bottle. For me it took a while and I shook it maybe 3-4 times over the course of two days. I know it's a bit annoying, and it probably took longer to dissolve since I first filled my bottle up with more acetone before I added the glycerin, so there wasn't too much shaking space in the bottle. You can also try adding a bit of water which will help the glycerin dissolve faster, I just wanted to keep my mixture strong and not dilute it at all. Anyway once the glycerin is dissolved, it won't separate again so just use the mixture as a normal polish remover. 

The reason this mixture works so well is because glycerin is a natural moisturizer. It's meant to nourish dry skin or burns. When you use this polish remover, you're pressing down with your cotton ball to remove your polish and it gets on your cuticles, and since there's glycerin in the mixture, when the acetone evaporates all that's left is the glycerin which moisturizes your cuticles and nails! Here's a picture of the bowl I use when I do clean up - I pour a bit of acetone in it so I can dip my brush. The little dots are leftover blobs of glycerin. 

I do still want to try the actual Zoya Remove +, and I'm sure I'll love it since the bottle has a built in pump and when dry the remover doesn't smell bad. I'll probably just stick to this homemade mixture for a while though since it's an incredibly cheap way to get a moisturizing effect when using acetone which is unheard of! Being the broke student that I am I love cheap alternatives. 

If you ladies have any tips regarding this homemade mixture, leave a comment below I'd love to hear what you have to say! 

Untrieds: China Glaze - White Cap

For this look I used a super dark purple base, Avon - Midnight Plum, and layered China Glaze - White Cap over top.  White Cap is a very translucent shimmery white base with lots of iridescent gold glitter in it. I didn't realize how much gold was actually in White Cap until I put it on, and I don't really like gold so I don't really like this colour combo. I'm sure some would, just not me. (Doesn't it look a little green to you?) Application was smooth, formula was thin so it was great to work with. When dry this polish is slightly textured but two top coats will cover it. I'd like to try White Cap over a white of slightly off white base next time. It would also be great as a subtle accent. (PS I didn't cap my nails that's why it looks like there's tonsss of tip wear!)

Manicures for Friends!

My friends are pretty damn lucky that they have me to constantly keep their nails pretty... 

I did this for one of my friends. She LOVES glitter and couldn't stop staring at her nails! I used her silver CND Shellac polish as the base and put China Glaze - Nova on top. It worked well for a couple days... but since polish and shellac don't really work together too well it peeled a bit on a couple fingers. Nova was great to work with at first but like all heavy glitter polishes, it got super thick fairly quick.

This was done for my other friend. It's a nice way to jazz up a plain skittle mani! The teal colour used was Essie - Turquoise & Caicos. I used this for the thumb and middle finger, and dot on the pinky. The white on the first finger and pinky is a random brand from a random store. It has great coverage which I really like cause that's sometimes hard to find with whites! The base on the ring finger is NOPI - Positive Energy. For the thumb, the glitter gradient was created using Orly - Tiara. The dots on the pointer finger are NOPI - Look At Me, Look At Me. On the middle finger, there's some subtle holographic flakies, Zoya - Opal. The glitter on the ring finger is CG - Nova, I used two coats. The dot on the pinky, like I said, was the Essie polish, and then I placed a 1.5mm rhinestone (purchased on eBay) in the centre.

Indie Polish: Forever Polished

Okay I'm becoming quite obsessed with indie polishes lately... I think it's absolutely amazing how so many laides have put so much time into creating gorgeous colours and combinations of glitter! 

Ashley's indie brand is called Forever Polished, and her polishes can be purchased through her Etsy shop. Also check out her Instagram! 

The two polishes I chose were Blue Smoke and Minty. Minty is now done but she's got some other holographic polishes which are also gorgeous! 

This first one is Blue Smoke. I'm not the biggest fan of blue but lately I've been kind of obsessed with really dark blues. Throw in some holographic glitter and I'm even more obsessed! The holo in this polish is nonlinear so it's a more subtle effect but the effect is still so pretty. This polish is WAY more breathtaking in person than it is in any of my pictures! Application was very good. You could get away with one semi thick coat of this, but I did two thin coats for perfect opacity. The polish got a bit thick after the first coat but it was still really easy to apply.

With flash:

This one is Minty. I've always loved mint polishes (I have way more than I thought I did!) so this polish was a nice addition to my collection. I love how the nonlinear holographic glitter is very subtle but still noticeable up close. Minty has less holo than Blue Smoke, and I prefer that since mint is a lighter colour than a bold dark blue. Application was good, I used two thin coats with no undies for the pictures below, but three coats would be ideal if you're using this polish on its own. Like Blue Smoke, this polish got a bit thicker after the first coat but I found this formula to be a bit thinner than Blue Smoke. The pictures make it look more see through than it actually is IRL. I don't find this shade of mint to be the most complementary with my skin tone but some undies with this as top coat might look better, but I still loved this polish.

This is only the second indie polish brand I've purchased and I'm very satisfied :) of the two polishes I got, I like Blue Smoke the best, but I still love both of them! Ashley also makes awesome soaps which are for sale in her Etsy shop! 

NOTD: Flat Half Moons

So I just wanted to do a simple mani and use these two colours together since I tried to for my water marble but it didn't work out... Kaitlin from The Daily Polish was my inspiration! She did a "flat" half moon mani and I thought it looked really cool. It's a nice twist on the classic half moon mani, and I figured since my nails are round, a straight horizontal line would look cool. 

It's definitely different, but I think it suits square tips much better than round tips. I apologize for my messed up first finger, I was getting restless while waiting for the polish to dry and bumped it :( 

Here are the colours I used: OPI - 3 Plums, I Win! and NOPI - Lemon-Lime Twist. I've had them both for about 4 years and I barely use them, and I thought they looked really nice together! 

Indie Polish: Tryst Lacquers

Hey guys! I'm SO excited to tell you all about Tryst Lacquers, made by the lovely Kimberly Maranan! Visit her etsy shop here, and check out her facebook page! Not only are the three polishes I bought from her absolutely GORGEOUS, but they're also my very first indies! Kimberly is from Canada like me hehehe and I love supporting indie polish makers but I especially love supporting those from my own country! 

The three colours I got are: High School Sweetheart, Sweet Nothings, and What A Girl Wants. 

This is High School Sweetheart. It's a lovely white base with large pink hex, and smaller pink, magenta, and red hex. It's also got some tiny silver square glitters as well! I'm absolutely in LOVE with this polish, I'm wearing it right now! In fact, I will be wearing it for the next few days because it's just so pretty. 
Application was great, I had no difficulties placing the glitter. In the pictures below I've got two thin coats with no undies! Three thin coats would have given a bit more coverage but I'm totally okay with how this looks. There's just something so classy and elegant about white nails, but put some  girly glitter in it and your nails look fab! 

And here it is in the bottle:

Next I've got Sweet Nothings and What A Girl Wants. Sweet nothings is on my first and ring fingers, What A Girl Wants is on my middle and pinky fingers. Undies: Orly - First Kiss, Orly - Decoded.
Application was also very nice. Absolutely no difficulties with placing glitter like most glitter polishes. Photographed below are two coats of undies and two coats of glitter polish on top.

Sweet Nothings has a clear base with large copper hex, smaller magenta and dark blue hex, and tiny silver square glitter.

What A Girl Wants has a clear base with large pink and blue hex, medium lighter pink hex, and small and tiny periwinkle hex. I love love love this one because it's so girly!

Here are Sweet Nothings and What A Girl Wants in their bottles.

Anddd I tried to do a jelly sandwich but I shouldn't have used such a shimmery polish. I'll be using a nude next time! Even though this didn't turn out too well, I love these glitters for jelly sandwiches! The different sizes of glitters go really well together and I love how the polishes are dominantly one colour but they've got contrasting big hex glitters in them that your eyes are just drawn to!

Once again, thank you Kimberly! These polishes are amazing and I will definitely be buying some more Tryst Lacquers soon! 

First Time Water Marbling

I've been wanting to try a water marble forever, but never got around to it! It just seemed like too much effort since it's so messy, so I was absolutely dreading cleanup! I watched so many tutorials on this before I finally worked up enough courage to try it. My favourite video is my Cute Polish. I love all her videos! They're so simple and they're so easy to follow, check her out! 

First I started by taping my nails like in the video so I wouldn't have too much to clean up after. The most important thing is to make sure your water is room temperature, and that your polishes are new, or haven't thickened over time. If the polish doesn't instantly spread out (like in the video) you'll need to try a different one. 

I decided to keep my first water marble simple so I only used two colours. I used Sally Hansen - Barracuda and Orly Passion Fruit. I really had no idea what I was doing when I started to swirl the polish around, and I had no idea how to line up my nails with the patterns. I also think my water was too cold because I originally started with two other polishes but they didn't spread very nicely. When I used Barracuda and Passion Fruit, they spread okay but a couple times I had to let the polish dry because it wasn't spread out at all. 

This is definitely a really cool mani and I really want to give it another try. I love how it dries so fast because it's only a very thin layer of polish. At the same time though it's a bit challenging to get the hang of because since it's so thin, you have to work fairly fast. 

I can't wait to try water marbling again, it's so unique looking compared to any other type of manicure. Let me know if you have any tips or comments about water marbling!

Glitter Me Crazy!

Lately I've been really obsessed with glitter. There's a ton of different kinds of glitter; this can be really confusing. There's a ton of different shapes and sizes too. There's round, square, hex, bar, holographic, shimmer... the list goes on. I'm not really an expert at this in the least, so I'm not going to pretend to be. All I know is I love glitter! 

There's so much you can do with glitter. The most common thing is to just layer it over polish. I really like this if the two colours are similar or if the glitter is very very fine and it just adds a nice sparkle to the mani. You can also create a glitter gradient - a little time consuming, especially on your first try because it takes some practice before you figure out how to spread the glitter out so it makes a nice gradient. You can also use it to create designs, or go under another polish, or even make a jelly sandwich. The possibilities are endless! 

Here are a few of my favourite glitters! 

China Glaze - Nova 

This is a beautiful rainbow glitter polish, it's got two sizes of hex glitters suspended in a clear base. 

NOPI - Gone Wishin'

I love this purple and blue glitter, it adds a little extra dazzle to any polish! Suspended in a clear base. 

Sally Hansen - Rock 'n' Roll

This isn't a glitter as much as it is a translucent pink shimmer. I love adding this over top of any colour, it gives the base colour a whole new look! 

NOPI - Look At Me, Look At Me

I've enjoyed this every time I've used it. Who doesn't love a polish thick with nothing but glitter? It's about 90% silver glitter, 10% pink glitter. Almost opaque in one coat, but I always use two. 

Finger Paints - Art You Wondering?

This is my favourite polish to put on top of China Glaze - Turned Up Turquoise. The colours were meant for each other! Click here to see my blog post about them. Suspended in a clear base. 

Sally Hansen - Diamonds

This is extremely pretty on top of any colour, it just adds an extra bit of glam. Suspended in a clear base. (Sorry this photo looks really weird, didn't realize it until after :/) 

NOPI - Wear Something Spar-Kylie

Similar to Look At Me, Look At Me, this one is a solid pink glitter. Opaque in two coats. 

Sally Hansen - Bling-Tastic

I love the colour of this glitter! It's got tiny blue hex with bigger silver hex, suspended in a clear base. I like using this when doing nail art. 

Orly - Tiara

Silver hex suspended in a clear base. Very pretty when doing glitter gradients. 

Revlon - Sparkling

Large and tiny pink hex suspended in a milky pink base. I also love this one for glitter gradients! 

Deborah Lippmann - Mermaid's Dream

Tiny teal hex suspended in a teal shimmer base, with tiny rainbow hex and bigger blue hex. One of my absolute favourite polishes of all time; definitely makes me feel like a mermaid! 

NOPI - Fabulous Is My Middle Name

Silver, red, purple and black bar glitter, and tiny silver hex suspended in a clear base. What can I say, bar glitter, especially with those four colours mixed together, is stunning! 

China Glaze - It's A Trap-eze!

Small and large blue, green, yellow, silver, pink and orange hex suspended in a milky base. Everyone loves this one, and for good reason! So much colourful glitter packed into one bottle is simply breathtaking. 

Feel free to comment below and tell me some of your favourite glitters!