Shine like a star

Hello everyone! I hope you're having a merry Christmas with your loved ones. This year I'm rocking this star pattern that I made with a new image plate from Essence. It's only available in a set including a stamper and scraper, which I already have, but I really wanted the star design. The star shapes I have on other patterns are quite small which makes them harder to work with and less recognizable. (And besides, €3 for the whole set is a pretty good deal!) I used Color Club Where's The Soiree as my black, as usual, and the gold is China Glaze 2030. This look isn't very Christmassy per se, but I love it anyway. So much that I might even wear it again for New Year's Eve ^^ Happy Holidays!

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An Ugly Christmas Sweater Nail Design

December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas to you and your family!!! This is my Christmas weekend manicure.... I got the idea from Amber who pinned an ugly Christmas sweater nail design on Pintrest! The source of the nail design can be found here (At that link, there is another link to a tutorial on the manicure).

The green polish is two coats of Sinful Colors Last Chance. The red polish is two coats of OPI Just A Little Rosti At This. For the snowflakes I used Konad stamping plate M59. For the deer stamp, I used Bundle Monster stamping plate BM-214. For the lace print, I used Konad Stamping Plate M57. The photos show one coat of top coat.

Can't get enough of the ugly Christmas Sweaters?.... Check out my polish friend's, Casandra, Ugly Christmas Sweater nail design at her blog!!!!

Also, make sure to enter my Christmas giveaway. It ends TODAY! 

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Sweet Snowman

Hi guys! For this post I've made this chubby little snowman design by Rins from Simply Rins. I saw it on her blog just a little while ago and fell madly in love... I couldn't stop looking at all ten of them on her nails, because they're just too cute! So many, many thanks to Rins for this adorable design! Seriously, don't you want to hug it? ^^ I used acrylic paint to draw the snowman and the base color is Essence Viva La Green. I love the color because it's not that typical mint green that we've come across many times in the past few years. It's a bit darker and quite vibrant, although it doesn't really show in the pictures (where I'm holding OPI Spark The Triomphe as decoration heehee). Rins also made a tutorial for this design which you can find in the orignal post here. Make sure to check it out, as well as the rest of her blog, she's created plenty of other amazing (freehand!) looks, very inspiring.
Thanks for reading and see you soon :)

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Abstract Christmas tree

Here's a little bonus post that shows the design from today's tutorial "in action" :)

The green is China Glaze Mistletoe Kisses on top of OPI Jade Is The New Black and the gold is China Glaze 2030. Good night everyone!

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Tutorial: Abstract Christmas tree design

Hello everyone! Recently I posted my second Holiday tutorial, which shows you how to make a traditional Christmas tree shape. But for this tutorial I have an abstract take on the Christmas tree, for the more modern nail art fans who are looking for something different. All you need is two polishes, tape and something to act like your tree topper. I used a rhinestone, but you could also use one larger (star shaped) glitter, a sticker, a stamping design and so on. Be creative ;-)

First apply your base color (with a basecoat underneath) and let it dry completely. If needed use a fastdrying topcoat to quicken the drying.
I used a fine glitter as my base color to make it more festive, but you can also use a regular cream, a subtle shimmer polish or one with a foil finish etc. Just make sure it's not too dominating, because you want to keep the Christmas tree the center of attention.

Cut off two regular tape strips which you'll use in step 3, and a few small ones to make the garland in step 4. The best way for me to cut (fine) tape strips, is by cutting off a little piece of the tape roll first which I then stick on the scissorblade, like shown in the picture. I let it stick out on one side (right in de picture), depending on how big I want the strip to be. This allows me to make very thin but also straight strips with relatively little effort.
A tip: to keep multiple small strips the same size, use the thickness of the scissorblade as standard.

When the base color is entirely dry, place the two regular tape strips on your nail, forming a chevron shape.

Then place the small strips randomly accross the chevron to form the garland. Important is to remember the order in which you've placed them, for a quick removal and neat result afterwards. With opaque tape this shouldn't be a problem, clear tape on the other hand... To make it easier with the latter, you can place the tape strips per direction. So first apply the ones going in one direction (upper left for instance), then the strips going in a second direction (upper right). All you have to remember now are the ones lying on top.
When all strips are in the right position, press them down firmly and apply your layering color.

Then right away, carefully peel of all the pieces of tape. Try to remove them individually if you can, because this will create crisper lines. When you're done, give your design a little time to dry.

At last, finish your design with a sparkly tree topper and seal your work with a layer of topcoat. Tada!

Finally some useful tips:

• For my tape manis, all I use is regular stationery tape. (For this particular tutorial I used painters tape for better visibility.) But you might prefer something else, so just experiment with different sorts of tape to figure out what works best for you.
• For your base color you can use any polish you like, however one-coaters will allow you to place the tape much sooner because those are usually fast drying. Of course you can also quicken the drying of polishes that require several coats to cover, by applying a fast drying topcoat. (I use Seche Vite). 
• Your layering color(s) can be either a one- or two-coater. Because you've already applied a base color, most polishes that usually take two coats to cover now will do with one.
• Though I mention cutting the tape strips as step 2, I admit it is safer to cut before applying the base color. However, if you've learned how to cut the tape without having it touch your polished nails, it can save you a lot of time.
• You might want to leave the cut strips somewhere else than the edge of your desk/table, to prevent them from getting stuck to the surface while you're busy. You do not want to have to peel them off with your freshly painted claws!
• Apply your top color in one thin (but opaque) coat, this will create crisper lines.
• When you're removing the tape strips, try to remove them individually, if you can, because most of the time your design will come out neater this way
• Using tweezers to remove the tape strips can prevent your freshly painted nails from getting smudged.
• It's not always necessary to start all over if you've messed up your design, often a little touch-up with a nailart brush can solve the problem.
• If you want to use a matt topcoat, use a regular one underneath. My experience with matt topcoats is that they smudge the design very easily, even when it's completely dry. Applying a normal topcoat first will prevent that.
• Moisterize your cuticles afterwards, because the tape can really dry out your skin!
• You can practice this tutorial on your old mani that you applied a day (or more) before. That way it's certain that the base color is dry.
• Have fun and practice makes perfect ;)

I would absolutely love to see your attempt on my design, so feel free to leave a link to your creation in the comment section!

Polishes I used in this post are China Glaze Mistletoe Kisses and 2030.

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Christmas Fever

Hello everyone :) For today I have the mani I made after finishing the tutorial for the Christmas tree design with tape. The tutorial already received many comments, so thanks a lot for that! :) The beautiful red base color is P2's Fever. I love how elegant Fever is, the shimmer's just gorgeous and the finish is especially great for this month of the year. In the pictures you can see that the bottle has a golden glow, however that's not the case in real life, just a plain and perfect red shimmer! For a higher party-factor, I added a coat of Milani Gems. It looked fine with the glossy finish, but I mattified it anyway, so I could see all the different colors better ^^ Thanks for reading!

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Tutorial: Tape Christmas tree design

Hi everybody, welcome to my second Holiday design tutorial! In this tutorial I'll be showing you how to make the classic Christmas tree shape, with the help of tape for perfectly crisp lines. The design isn't too difficult to achieve, but you do need to cut and place many tape strips, so you may want to use it for accent nails only if you'd like to save yourself a lot of work ;-) Let's give it a try, shall we?

First apply your base color (with a basecoat underneath) and let it dry completely, if needed use a fastdrying topcoat to speed up the process.
With more detailed designs, I usually recommend using a plain base color to keep the focus on the design, but because that typical, zigzag shape of a Christmas tree is so simple and easy to recognize, we can go for something bolder this time. How about a (duo)chrome, a holographic polish or a sparkly glitter? Or perhaps just a simple but elegant shimmer?

Cut off two regular tape strips which you'll use in step 3, and four triangles for the rest in step 4. The way I cut the triangles is by first cutting off a little piece of the tape roll which I then cut in half diagonally, like shown in the picture.
Of course you can do the cutting before step 1, I personally like to cut the strips while I let my base color dry. But I have to be careful then, otherwise the tape might get stuck to my nails and ruin the polish. So admittedly, it is safer to start with cutting before applying the base color. However, if you've learned how to cut the tape without having it touch your polished nails, it can save you a lot of time.

When the base color is entirely dry, place the two rectangular tape strips on your nail, forming a chevron shape.

Then one by one, place two triangle shaped tape strips on each side of the chevron, with the points towards the center of the Christmas tree to be.
When you feel like all the tape strips are in the right position, press them down firmly so that they stay put on the surface. Then apply your layering color with a thin but opaque coat...

...and carefully peel off all the pieces of tape right away. And there it is, your classic Christmas tree design! Seal your design with a layer of (glitter) topcoat or add a rhinestone tree topper as a finishing touch. Merry Christmas!

Finally some useful tips:

• For my tape manis, all I use is regular stationery tape. (For this particular tutorial I used painters tape for better visibility.) But you might prefer something else, so just experiment with different sorts of tape to figure out what works best for you.
• For your base color you can use any polish you like, however one-coaters will allow you to place the tape much sooner because those are usually fast drying. Of course you can also quicken the drying of polishes that require several coats to cover, by applying a fast drying topcoat. (I use Seche Vite). 
• Your layering color(s) can be either a one- or two-coater. Because you've already applied a base color, most polishes that usually take two coats to cover now will do with one.
• Though I mention cutting the tape strips as step 2, I admit it is safer to cut before applying the base color. However, if you've learned how to cut the tape without having it touch your polished nails, it can save you a lot of time.
• You might want to leave the cut strips somewhere else than the edge of your desk/table, to prevent them from getting stuck to the surface while you're busy. You do not want to have to peel them off with your freshly painted claws!
• Apply your top color in one thin (but opaque) coat, this will create crisper lines.
• When you're removing the tape strips, try to remove them individually, if you can, because most of the time your design will come out neater this way
• Using tweezers to remove the tape strips can prevent your freshly painted nails from getting smudged.
• It's not always necessary to start all over if you've messed up your design, often a little touch-up with a nailart brush can solve the problem.
• If you want to use a matt topcoat, use a regular one underneath. My experience with matt topcoats is that they smudge the design very easily, even when it's completely dry. Applying a normal topcoat first will prevent that.
• Moisterize your cuticles afterwards, because the tape can really dry out your skin!
• You can practice this tutorial on your old mani that you applied a day (or more) before. That way it's certain that the base color is dry, plus this design is great for covering up tipwear!
• Have fun and practice makes perfect ;)

I would absolutely love to see your attempt on my design, so feel free to leave a link to your creation in the comment section!

Polishes I used in this post are P2 Fever and China Glaze Millenium.

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Celebrate the season with Zoya Nail Polish!

Celebrate in Style with Zoya Nail Polish this Holiday Season!

Zoya has the colors of the season for all... see our entire selection of beautiful nail polish colors here.

Like the gorgeous sparkling blue metallic shown here: Zoya Crystal

Hanukkah (Chanukah) 2011: December 20-28.

Christmas 2011 - December 25.

New Years Day 2012 - January 1.


Zoya is the new color of fashion!
www.zoya.com

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China Glaze - Mistletoe Kisses

Aaah... China Glaze Mistletoe Kisses ♥ When I first saw this sparkly, green beauty from the 2010 holiday collection online, I knew I needed it! Mistletoe Kisses is pretty opaque, it covers in two coats. But since I was already wearing OPI Jade Is The New Black, I just applied one coat of it on top. The tiny silver glitters add so much glamour, without hiding the emerald green base. Perfect for the december holidays ^^ Do you own Mistletoe Kisses? And what do you think about it?

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Christmas scene

Hi everyone :) For this post I have another Christmas mani. Since I haven't made any Halloween looks this fall, I'm planning on catching up some holiday manis with this year's Christmas ;-) Anyway, this week's been terribly busy, so I've been wearing Essie Your Hut Or Mine for the last three days. But today's weekend, yay! So I finally had time to update my mani. I added a Christmas tree for my accent nail, using tape. You know, if you think about it, a Christmas tree isn't that different from a lightning bolt! I mainly used tape triangles which I placed underneath each other on each side of the tree to create the zigzag lines. For a little sparkle I added silver glitter on top and a larger piece of glitter as my tree topper. On the rest of my nails I made "funky clouds", representing a snow scenery and later I added the "snow" with a dotting tool. In retrospect, I think the dots are a bit too much, so I doubt if I'm going to keep this mani longer than a day. But oh well, that means I can do my nails again tomorrow ^^ Thanks for reading!

Polishes I used:
Essie - Your Hut Or Mine
Essie - Lion Around
Orly - Pure Porcelain
H&M - Confetti Kisses

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Halloween Polish for Christmas!!! Another lovely Lacquistry Polish!!!

December 07, 2011

 Okay, I admit it... I have found my new favorite franken maker!!!! As you have noticed, I have been posting a lot of Lacquistry polishes lately... It is because I love them. Shhh, don't tell her I said anything, but she should be introducing about 20 new polishes in the next week or so!!!!  You can visit Jenna's (Lacquistry) Etsy shop here. She also recently launched a Facebook fanpage.  

I started off with two coats of Kleancolor Metallic Red (which is an amazing metallic red polish--the perfect red base for any Christmas manicure and the perfect red for stamping). The photo shows no top coat. 

Then I added two coats of Lacquistry Pluckered Spider and one coat of top coat! 

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Christmas nails with lace

Hi guys! These lacy nails were made recently when I was in a very Christmassy and girly mood, can you tell? ^^ I used OPI Big Apple Red and Konad imageplate M71 with Essence Stamp Me White!. This look is a lot girlier than I'm usually going for, but I enjoyed it nonetheless, squealing like a little child when I noticed how they matched red Christmas glasses from the Ikea was part of the fun haha :P
Thanks for stopping by!

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Tutorial: Snowflake

Hello everybody, welcome to my snowflake tutorial! Snowflakes have such beautiful and delicate shapes that instantly make a cute winter mani. In this tutorial I'll show you how to make a detailed but fairly simple snowflake. All you need is a small nail art brush and two matching polishes, let's start!


Begin with your base color (if necessary with a basecoat underneath) and let it dry. Because the snowflake will be quite detailed, I'd recommend using a plain base color like a cream or subtle shimmer polish, to keep the focus on your design.

Use your nail art brush and a contrasting polish/acrylic paint to draw three lines that cross each other in the middle.

Then add two small, slanted lines to each end of the lines you just drew. It's already starting to look like a snowflake now...

...but a little more detail will complete the design. So add two bigger, slanted lines to just three of the six 'legs', like highlighted in the picture.

Finally seal everything with a topcoat, clean up and you're done!

Use this design as a pattern on all nails or as an accent nail if you want to keep your mani simple.

Tip: Clean your nail art brush in between if you're using it for a long time. Because after a while polish will build up on it which can result in thick, goopy lines. Clean the brush by pouring a little bit of nail polish remover in a small dish (or the cap of the remover bottle), let your brush soak in it for a few seconds and dab it on a cotton pad a few times. Repeat this until your brush is clean.

I would absolutely love to see your attempt on this design, so feel free to leave a link to your creation in the comment section!

Polishes I used in this post are China Glaze First Mate and Essence Romeo (shimmer version).

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Snowflakes

Hi everyone :) Today I'd like to share these silver snowflakes with you. I was actually feeling pretty uninspired the whole day, sometimes you just have those days when you feel like you've got nothing to wear, even though you've got drawers of polish that could easily color the nails of your entire neighborhood... Anyone recognizes this? ;-) So to make a choice anyway, I just picked two bottles from my collection, with my eyes closed. Those polishes became L.A. Girl Matte Blue Twilight and Essence Romeo (the shimmer version), luckily they formed a great duo and they instantly said 'Snowflakes!'. I only had to apply one coat of Matte Blue Twilight, because it's very opaque and the formula is so smooth. (I'm gonna have to use this one more often!) And because it's matte, it dries quickly too, so soon after I could draw the snowflakes with a nail art brush and finally add top coat for a glossy finish. I'd already finished all my nails before I realized I should've taken pictures in between to make a tutorial. So I'll make new pictures once I've enjoyed this winter mani for a couple of days ^^ Hope you like it too and see you soon!

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China Glaze Fairy Dusty + Finger Paints Avante Garden Green

July 13, 2011

Christmas in July???

This manicure reminds me of Christmas!!!!!! I have to admit I love that time of year, so this manicure didn't bother me to wear. I guess it is the green tips. It especially looks like a Christmas manicure when you see the last couple of pictures with the Konad stamps. What do you think? Do you think it looks too much like it should be December?

I started with a clear base coat. Then painted on the tips with Finger Paints Avante Garden Green. Then added one coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust over the entire nail. I added a second coat over the tip only. 

Of course, I couldn't stop there.... I had to see what a Konad stamp looked like over it. So I choose a flower stamp.  I personally thought the Konad stamp ruined the manicure. Then I decided it needed a little more, so I added some dots of Avante Garden Green in the middle of the flowers. What do you think of this manicure? It sure sparkled in the sun!!!!

P.S. I know this post is picture heavy...BUT I love posts with lots of pictures so I thought I would start posting more pictures. Do you think I posted too many pictures and should scale back some?

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