H is for Haus of Lacquer Inspired

Hello my polished peeps!  Hope you are having a super week!!  It's a short one for me - flex day on Friday - woot woot!!

For today's prompt, H, I'm doing a mani inspired by Haus of Lacquer - I posted about this crazy talented chica yesterday - actually this whole week will be inspired by her and her amazingly amazing vintage roses.  I got the idea for an instagram inspired week from Heather over at Peace, Love and Polish - there is sooo much talent out there, it's crazy - Heather has done an amazing job of some of my favorites, I hope you have some time to check it out!!  Steph from Haus of Lacquer is definitely one of my faves and I love that she's from the same province as me - maybe one day I'll take the ferry over for a Haus of Lacquer mani - oh to dream the dream, hey?  Anyhoodle, hope you enjoy!

I'm off to check out my buddies and what they've come up with for "H" day - I'm bound to be blown away, that's for sure!!

Holla, N

Smelling the Roses

Hey everyone!  Super quick post today - it feels like that's all I do lately - do you miss me?

This week is dedicated to vintage roses and one of my favorite ladies of instagram Steph from Haus of Lacquer - this girl creates the most amazing nail art, I'm so in awe of her talent, it's amazaballs!!  She also sells sets, which is great for the eternal nubbinist like me!! Check her out by clicking the links above or searching on instagram and twitter: @hausoflacquer

Hope you like and hope you check Steph from Haus of Lacquer out - amazaballs, I tell ya!

Holla, N

G is for Gradient

Hiya!  Welcome to another installment of the ABC challenge!  I've been holding onto this mani for a week or so now and was going to post it last week, but I'm super happy I didn't because the gradient totally works for "G" day!

It's a very subtle gradient, but I promise you it's there!  I used my first ever Ulta polish (eye poppy cherry) and my first ever Candies polish (orange pop), both of which I LOVE (thank you Gini)!  I had to throw some leopard in there to round out the look - who doesn't like leopard?

I got to spend some time with my sister recently and of course she wanted me to do her nails.  I ended up using my new Essence polishes and taught her how to do leopard print - I'm surprised she actually had black in her stash, I've been teaching her well!!

The top is my work and the bottom is hers - pretty darn good for her first time and with  a toothpick, not a dotting tool like I normally use!

We had to take a fun picture and I love this one so much.  My sister is my world, she is the most amazing person I've ever known and she is growing up into the most amazing young woman.  I can't believe she'll be 16 in less than a month, I can remember holding her right after she was born - cutest baby ever!!  Love you to the moon sissy!!

Please join me in checking out the other lovelies and what they came up with for G, I hope I see some giraffe's!

Holla, N

Neon Roses

Hello friends!  I'm a little behind this week - I usually have my posts written and scheduled the Sunday before I post, this Sunday, I had a horrible headache and didn't get a chance to get any posts queued up!  I really want to stick to my Monday, Wednesday and Friday posting schedule, so I'm getting this one up even though it's late!

I've been trying really hard to improve my photos, I finally built my light box and got appropriate light bulbs, but I'm still trying to figure out best poses, best backgrounds etc.  I really want the whole set up, the fabric tent with fabric back drops and the right lights, I'm just so cheap.....I will keep trying this set up out, maybe someone will get me a better set up for my birthday - hint hint mom!!

Holla, N

Happy Valentine's Day

Hi friends!!  Hope you are enjoying the day of love, another quick post today, I have another potluck tomorrow - two potlucks in one short week - ugh, I hate cooking!!  I thought I would jump on the Valentine's day bandwagon and do a themed mani, hope you like!

Holla, N

F is for Fuchsia Powered Flocking Powder

Hiya friends!  Quick post today, I've committed to making soup for a work potluck tomorrow, I have to get this post up and still paint my nails - doesn't sound so bad when I write it out, but it feels like a lot.

I had the hardest time coming up with something for today's prompt.  Yes, I have a ton of Finger Paints, but I wanted to use my untrieds and had three that started with an F.  Ya, major disasticure!!  Anyhoodle, I'll still show you that epic fail, but up first my fuchsia powered flocking powdered mani!

Now for the failure - please don't laugh - lol!!

Now, I'm off to check out the other ladies masterpieces, join me by clicking the links below!

Holla, N

Holo Monday

Hiya!!  See what I did there, Holo Monday - like Hello Monday?  No?  Okay, moving on!  Happy Monday!!  This one's not so bad because it's the very first Family Day in British Columbia - woot woot!!  Another stat holiday to make the time between New Years and Easter not feel as long!!  There's a bunch of activities going on, but I'll likely pass - I have nails to paint and tv shows to watch!!

I'm always jealous when nail bloggers complain about their huge pile of untrieds - I mean as soon as I get a polish, it's on my digits within a week - untrieds - I wish!!  Well that has all changed within the last week.  First I told you the hubby finally listened to me when I told him no more flowers, polish only.  He went a little crazy and I've got about 30 polishes to try (25 are mini, he didn't go that crazy!!).  Then I received the most amazing nail mail from my polish sister Gini from Sassy Paints - holy crap, talk about untrieds and I even got some Butter London's - OMG, so excited!!  Then because that wasn't enough, I went to the only store in my town that sells Essence and bought 10 of them all in one go - polish problem much??  Needless to say, I have a huge pile of untrieds, but unlike some of you out there, I'm actually super duper excited to get into them!!

First up is one of the Essence's I picked up (that doesn't have a name grrrr!) and a Milani 3D holo from Gini!!  I can't believe I'm wearing green and loving it - who knew!!

Holla, N

Striped Roses

Hiya!  Yay, it's Friday!!  Woot woot!  I have no big plans for the weekend, I'm just happy to have two days off of work to relax and paint my nails!

In keeping with this weeks theme, I pulled out the ol' striping tape and created a striped background for my vintage roses.  I wish I had gotten better pictures of this mani, I loved it so much, but at least I get to share it, so I'm not too upset!  This was my first go with Avon polish.  I have to say, I'm pretty impressed.  The pink-y peach-y is much brighter irl, it reminds me a lot of Flip Flop Fantasy and we all know that's the prettiest polish ever!  I picked up 3 more Avon polishes and I can't wait to try them out - have you tried Avon polishes?  Do you love them as much as I did?

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Holla, N

E is for Essie

Happy Hump Day polished peeps!

Welcome to "E" day - so happy it was an easy choice and I didn't have to scramble through my stash to find a polish that starts with an "E"!  I'm not very happy with how this turned out - the color is awful on me (Essie's Go Overboard) and I had some smudging when I put on Essie's as Gold as it Gets.  I hate when polishes look so pretty in the bottle and look horrible on!  I think I've come to the conclusion that dark polishes don't suit me very well.  We all know I love me some neon, which I'm pretty sure impacts the decision that dark colors are so not me.

Anyone want to trade this for the brightest neon in your stash?!?  Yes?  No?  Well you decide, I'm off to check out the other lovelies doing this challenge, I'm hoping to see some elephants!!

Holla, N

The Bees Knees

Happy Monday friends!  I don't know about you, but my weekend went by WAY too fast!!  Now that the weather is starting to get better, it's going to be hard to enjoy getting up and going to work everyday!!

This week will be all about striping tape!  I love striping tape; however, I wish they made different width's, think of how much you could do with different widths.  I've tried cutting up regular tape, but my anal-ness can't get over the fact that I can't seem to get everything the same size.  I've even pulled out my ruler and quilting cutting board and it so didn't help!  The long and short of it is, if you don't have striping tape, and are struggling with regular tape - get some - immediately - it's so worth it!!

A week or so ago, Amanda from The Nail Polish Enthusiast asked if everyone who owns Tuilleries, by Lex Cosmetics to swatch and post it on February 2nd in honor of her mom who passed away 10 years ago from lung cancer.  Tuilleries was created based on Amanda's color story and inspired by her mom whose favorite color is red and favorite flower is tulips.  I don't own Tuilleries, although I'm seriously considering getting it because $1 from every sale goes to lung cancer research, I still wanted to show my support so posted the mani below on IG and Twitter yesterday in honor of Amanda's mom.

I was very honored to be a part of remembering Amanda's mom, and it warms my heart that so many other bloggers joined in as well.  If you have a moment, check out Amanda's post and read her beautiful tribute and see how gorgeous Tuilleries is!

Holla, N

Friday Review

Happy Friday - the best day of the week!!  As promised, I have a review of the Born Pretty Store's black flocking powder for you today!

I've been dying to get on the flocking powder band wagon for a while now but have had serious trouble tracking the stuff down that 1. wasn't the price of my first born and 2. that didn't have glitter in it.  You can get Martha Stewart flocking powder, but it's super pricey and has glitter in it.  The Michael's in my city used to carry flocking powder as part of it's recollection line, but they have stopped carrying it - they have every size of glitter and even some micro beads, but no flocking powder!!  So you can imagine my excitement at getting the opportunity to review some flocking powder for the Born Pretty Store!!

This flocking powder comes in clear plastic resealable container - you get quite a bit too!  Application was a breeze, I just slavered on the polish, used my trusty tweezers to grab some powder and dumped it on my nail.  You have to press it down once you have some on your nail - you also need to make sure the polish is still wet - I learned this the hard way.  That ring finger was cheetah once upon a time, but I let it dry too much and the flocking powder did not stick. Once I pressed the powder down, I knocked my nail over the container and the blew the remaining off - I did use a paint brush to get some more of the excess off, but I didn't want to ruin my design because I did use a good dose of polish.  You can get a kit from the Born Pretty Store that comes with a special set of scooped tweezers and a soft brush or you can order those separately  but if you have some regular tweezers and a clean dry paint brush, you're set!

I wanted to do something different than coating my whole nail with powder so I pulled out my trusty tape and  binder reinforcements and went to work!

If you're interested in picking up some flocking powder of your own, visit the Born Pretty Store and look up Item ID: 4507 or click here.  You get a HUGE container for $5.80 - total deal!!  Plus, here's a 10% off coupon code - double the deal!!

I can't wait to try out more designs with this fabulous stuff - have you tried flocking powder?  Do you love it?!?

Holla, N