Holiday Stripes

November 30, 2015

One of the holiday-esque manis I promised from a few weeks ago. This one is really subtle, but sparkly, which I think works since this time of year is so darn sparkly with all the lights, and decorated trees.

Please excuse how dry my skin is, I've been having a hard time protecting my hands lately.

Polishes Used:

China Glaze: "Hey Sailor!"
Julie G.: "My Private Palace"

Planchette

Originally I had planned a blood moon mani for this last week of October. Although, every attempt it fought me, so next year perhaps.

So instead I bring you a blingy planchette (you know the little pointing device for Ouija boards).

I hope you all have a safe, happy and positively frightening Halloween!

See you next week with some Christmas themes.

Colours used:

"Howl You Doin'" China Glaze
"Black Out" Sally Hansen

Ghoulish Ghosts

October 12th, 2015

Some glow in the dark ghosties. This one was easy and fast.

Colours:

O.P.I. "Stranger Tides"
Sally Hansen "Black Out"
China Glaze "Something's Brewing"

Just Batty

Another Halloween one! Pink and blue skies filled with bats!

Honesty I think bats are adorable with their little turned up noses, but I get how some people find them frightening.

I started the bats using some bundle monster plates but the polish I used refused to transfer well so I ended up just painting them over.

Colours:

"First Mate" by China Glaze
"Va Va Voom" by Orly

Candy Corn

It's finally October! It's time for Halloween manicures!

Sept/28/2015

This year we're starting off with something hopefully everyone recognizes; Candy Corn!

I originally thought this was going to be quick and easy but it turned into something much more painstaking. I'm quite out of practise, so it took a lot longer and my lines aren't nearly as nice as they could be.
When I first picked up this colour it looked like the perfect orange creme, although once I got it out of the bottle onto my nails I learned how much of a neon it really was. It is a really bright shade, I was not prepared for how bright it is. I found it also went on a bit streaky (as neons tend to), even after three coats, that was a little frustrating. But, it is a very pretty shade of orange.

Also my nail on my middle finger broke really close to the nail bed, which is why it's much shorter than the rest. It also broke in a really strange way, the under layer (can I call it that?) of the free edge is what broke but it's attached to the skin firmly so removing it would be unwise. The top layer is fine though. I guess I just have to let it grow out.
Anyway, I have a few manicures planned for this month, stay tuned for more Halloween-y goodness.

Colours:

"Lady and the Vamp" China Glaze (Halloween 2015 Collection)

End of Summer

September 06, 2015

Palm trees and leave on a sunset gradient background. Fall is fast approaching despite having a horrible muggy heatwave here, this is my ode to the last days of summer of 2015.

Colours used:

Essie "Blanc"
China Glaze "Solar Power"
Orly "Va Va Voom"
Sation "Miss Emo Shun All"

Matted Garden

I forgot to post these for you all last Monday.

August/04/2013

 As of late, my life has been getting increasingly hectic, much to my dismay. It seems as though every single weekend this summer has been consumed by stupid parties (those who know me personally know I'm no social butterfly, and crowds/people in general stress me out to no end). So as a result I have not had much time to think of designs, or even carry them out.

Luckily though, these turned out fast and simple enough to do. The roses are handpainted with red acrylic paint. The base colour I used was "Smoke and Ashes" by China Glaze, the shimmer in it does not show up because it's been mattified via China Glaze "Matte Magic".

I hope you all have a lovely week. Also to the Canadians who follow me, the CNE is opening this coming Friday!

Soft Water-less Marble

I find it so weird trying to type on my laptop since my work computer is completely different.

Also, it sucks that I missed last week, both LGBTQ pride AND Canada Day. I didn't get a chance to since my new furbaby wanted to play with my brushes.

Here's a simple and easy one:

July/07/2013

A super easy water-less marble, better known as "needle-dragging" except I used a brush in place of a needle.

I used "You Callin' Me a Lyre" by OPI as a base, with "Fairy Dust" (China Glaze), "Disco Ball" (Sally Hansen) and "French White Creme" (Wet n' Wild) for this.

Watercolour and Roses

I really wanted a floral, specifically cute little roses this week.

June/16/2013 to June/22/2013

The watercolour nails look like my bedspread hahah. I did those by using acetone to water down the polishes and that's how they made that blended look. I did roses on my thumb and ring finger, although it would've looked nicer if I went blue and purple flowers as opposed to pink and yellow.

On a side note, I cut into my middle finger with a butcher's knife last week while trying to chop up some stuff, so you won't be seeing that finger in my posts for a while until it has healed up.

Colours used:

"Don't Touch My Tutu" O.P.I

"Posh Plum" Sally Hansen

"Va Va Voom" Orly

"Blue Sparrow(Neon)" China Glaze
"Turned up Turquoise (Neon)" China Glaze

And some silver holo glitter bought at a local craft store.

Rose Among Thorns

Really simple for this week.

June/09/2013 to June/15/2013

The colours used were "Rose Among Thorns (Neon)" and "Tempt Carnation" by China Glaze. The stripes were done using striping tape and I then added some gold studs I got from the BornPrettyStore. 

Simple Glam

I had another design in mind for this week, but it kept failing, so I swapped it out for this one.

Indoors

 I also have a wedding coming up soon to go to, if my job plans hold out I won't be able to go. So this particular design is super simple, the main three fingers are "I Herd That" by China Glaze, with "Hot Blooded" by L.A. Colors on the ring and thumb nails as accents. I added a triangle half moon in "I Herd That" to them to make it a little less boring.

Outdoors

Since it's finally getting warm and beautiful outside, I was able to grab a nice shot of these in the sunshine.

These nails would look really great during the holidays too, now that I think about it.

Pink Galaxies

These looked much better in person, the "Fairy Dust" made them really come to life. For these I was inspired by Black Milk Clothing's  Pink Galaxy Leggings (you can see them here).

The colours I used for these nails are: "Black Creme" and "French White Creme" by Wet n' Wild; "Ahoy!", and "Evening Seduction" by China Glaze; and "Fuchsia Fever" Bye Revlon. I topped them off with some "Fairy Dust" (China Glaze) and "Disco Ball" (Covergirl).

Dress Nails (Feet Warning)

So a client of mine asked for nail art that resembled the dress she was wearing to an event.

March 06 2013

The pattern on the dress was very brushstroke-like using a magenta, hot pink and black. The colours I used were "Ahoy!" and "Flying Dragon(Neon)" by China Glaze and "Black Creme" by Wet n' Wild. This was a very quick and easy design to do and the client loved it.

House Lannister (Photo Heavy)

Week 3, we're almost there!

House Lannister nails:

Whole Hand

 So as you know the Lannister's sigil is a Lion, I chose not to use the original sigil for these because its very tough getting a whole lion in there with the amount of detail I would've wanted. So instead I opted for one of the desktop wallpaper lions.

Main Four.

 I also included a fancy chevron french manicure to the other nails, unfortunately the rhinestones on my index finger migrated a bit before I photographed these and noticed it. I added the lion's tail on the pinky because I didn't want it plain, and didn't know what else I should put there.

Thumb Close up.

 This is by far the best looking lion.

The base colour I used for these was "Hey Sailor!" by China Glaze. I painted the lions using a gold/yellow matte acrylic paint. The gold striping tape is from the BornPretty store.

These were fun, but didn't turn out as nicely as I hoped, but overall I'm pleased with them.

Have a good week! And stay tuned for the Finale!

If you would like a set of these feel free to contact me.

House Stark (Photo Heavy)

This week its House Stark in continuation of my Game of Thrones month.

Whole Hand

 Let me start by saying, I had a ton of trouble getting the Stark dire-wolf  right, they either looked to fluffy or like they were grinning as opposed to snarling.

Main Four.

 I chose to do some geometric patterns on the ring and index fingers because mimicking the wolf's fur would have made it too busy, and I like the geometric/asymmetrical french going on. The snow on the pinky is because of all the snow in Winterfell and obviously the wolf is the Stark sigil.

Thumb close up.

This one is the best looking wolf, most likely due to the large size of my thumbnail.

The colours I used are: China Glaze "First Mate", with "Wet Cement" by Sally Hansen. I used my trusted Speedball ink and dip nib pen for the black outlines.

If you would like a set of these, as either false nails or nail wraps, send me an email.

Have a Happy Monday!

House Baratheon

If you're one of my peeps on Facebook, you may have already heard that I'm dedicating this months manicures to Game of Thrones, in honour of Season 3 (airing March 31st, 2013).

The first house up is Baratheon!

Whole Hand.

The house sigil for Baratheon is the deer, so antlers were a definite must, as you can see the french on my index and ring fingers are outlined by black antlers, while I have the main deer in the center, even though it's just a close up of the head. 

Main Four.

The deer was done using, believe it or not, regular India ink by Speedball and a nib pen. You can see little crackle marks which appeared after I top-coated, but I love the way it did that. I found that it was a lot easier getting the fine details in using this method than using a brush and paint/polish.

Thumb detail.

I originally wanted to do another deer head on the thumb, but I came across an alternate symbol when I searched Baratheon on Google, it was an image of symmetrical antlers on a yellow-gold background; although my antlers are not symmetrical, I think I came as close as I'm going to.

So now on to the polishes, the base colour I used for my thumb and middle finger is "Fast Track" by China Glaze, from their Hunger Games collection. On the other nails is "Expresso 58" by Kleancolor, a nice rich metallic chocolate brown.

If you would like a set of these, be it false nails or nail decals, feel free to contact me at my email: ayeshaskhan27@yahoo.ca. Please put a subject in, so that I don't accidentally mistake it for spam.

Have an awesome week!

China Glaze "Sex on the Beach"; Swatch

I'm still wracking my brain for a design, so in the meantime here's a swatch:

2 coats of China Glaze's "Sex on the Beach" a nice neutral shade, it's base is a warm dusty rose colour with shimmer which changes the colours depending on the lighting. It's sheer as you can see my free edge on a couple of nails. Overall a nice shade, with reasonable wear and tear, although I noticed a chip on my right hand's index finger after the first day, oh well.

Have a Happy Monday!

China Glaze "Naked"; Swatch

Today's swatch is China Glaze's "Naked". A nice barbie pink with very subtle shimmer.

Naked by China Glaze

Firstly, pardon my index finger, I managed to dent it. Now then, this is a very nice sort of Barbie Pink shade with a subtle silver shimmer to it. This was with 3 coats as it's a bit sheer, but 2 thick coats and it would go on opaque. It dries quickly which is usual for China Glaze lacquers. It wears well, as you can see this photo was taken 2 days after regular work wear, and only a little tip wear is seen. This one dries to a satiny finish.  All in all, Naked is a very pretty pink. 

Also, Happy Valentine's Day!

Border Love

I have my final Valentine's Day nail art of this year for you.

From the side.

Frontal View.

The base colour for these is "Ahoy!" by China Glaze, with a champagne coloured paint used for the little hearts everywhere. I had the idea to do a vertical border on one side and I think it turned out nicely.

I hope you enjoy and have a good week!

Swatch: China Glaze Lemon Fizz

So today right when we were leaving work, we got hit with a blizzard. White-outs and black outs in some places in my city. Pretty scary driving home today.

But, I have a cheery yellow swatch for you:

January/30/2013

This is China Glaze's "Lemon Fizz" a nice pale, pastel, yellow creme. Took 3 coats, and I found some minimal streaking. This is a great colour for Easter nails. It's wearing pretty well, I've had very little wear on the tips, and the colour is very nice and soft. You might be wondering about the pinky finger. I got anxious and picked it off, also I apologize for the state of my cuticles, winter is being tough.