Friday 31 August 2012

Ladybird Beetle Nails....AKA Lady bug nails (plus give away Q&A)

Good Morning World!!! ;)

Today I'm sharing with you my lady bug nails! I had to throw in the proper Ladybird Beetle name.  My parents are retired teachers so my mom always corrects me when I say lady bug.  :oP

I know most have tried this and I can understand why.....it's so darn cute!

I'm pretty proud that I did this all free hand. NO TAPE!!!  I decided it was a good time to do these as my nails are all nubbies right now.  I broke one so had to file them all down :o(

I really liked the idea of mixing it up a bit and not doing all the nails a full lady bug.  What do you guys think?







QUESTIONS FOR YOU!!!

I'm thinking of doing a 200 follower giveaway once I get there.  I've seen people use the raffle thingy. Others make it more of a competition which I like.  Do any of you have suggestions???
I also often see that people doing the giveaway ask people to re-post there post of the give away on there own blog.  Is this a good idea?  I would like to have it open internationally.   Any feedback is great feedback. You can post your suggestions here or email me at nailnarcotics@gmail.com

Thanks again

Thursday 30 August 2012

Colour Blocking Becca

Well helloooooo everyone!

I have a fun manicure for you today! Very fiddly and time consuming but I'm loving the end result.  I'd been planning on trying the colour blocking for awhile but keep putting it off.  There are so many fun different colour blocking nails out there. I didn't want to fuss too much about what colours I should use so I just picked them quick and randomly.

The base colour of the nail is Revlon's 'Raspberry Scone'.  It's the only scented nail polish that I don't get a headache from.  I made two random sized blocks on each nail. The blue is 'Blue Skies' by Quo and the teal green is 'Flour Leaf Clover' by China Glaze.

There is no way I could make straight enough lines to create this look.  I used black striping tape to make the border around each block.

What do you guys think?!  It's definitely a look every nail art enthusiast has to try!





Wednesday 29 August 2012

31 Day Challenge: GREEN

I'm so happy I did this on the weekend because I totally forgot until just now that it was day 4 of the challenge.  The only bad thing about doing it before hand is now I can't figure out what the exact polishes I used for it were.  All I can tell you is I used four

I used three of the polishes to create a gradient effect on my finger nails. Once it was dry I put different length pieces of striping tape on and covered up with two coats of polish. It was quite clumpy when I was finished. The top coat helped a bit but you can still tell there are ridges on there.
Oh well, better luck next time right!


Tuesday 28 August 2012

Revlon scented nail polish and practice flowers!

For some reason blogger is not allowing me to post from my computer. So I decided to give the mobile version another go.  Hence the short post...

I bought Revlon's scented 'Raspberry Scone' awhile ago so thought I would give cherry a try. The smell gave me a headache after awhile on this one. It only cost me $2.00 so no biggy. I do however love the application of it.
I wanted to practice my flowers some more. I can only make them with the dotter.  I should really start watching tutorials for other types ! :P



Sunday 26 August 2012

31 Day Challenge: Yellow

I have to start off with and angry sad face......:o(

I had so many problems with my yellow nail polish.  All of them were giving me a hard time.  I used thinner in some but nothing worked.  So frustrating!

Finally I decided forget the free hand I'm using a stamp! Thank goodness because it helped cover up some of the streaky grossness(not a real word but it fits) of the yellow. I ended up really liking it

Indirect light

Direct sunlight

I used two coats of Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow.  It's co-operated with me in the past but not this time. Then I stamped over with Konad image plate M65.  This is by far my favourite stamp.  Who doesn't love argyle!  It's especially adorable on little baby clothes.  Miniature argyle sweaters??..... Yes please!


Here is one of my fails.... I just was not a fan of it at all




Make sure to check out the other ladies yellow nails!



Saturday 25 August 2012

Chevron Tipped!

I love Saturday's sooo much but I'm always a little late on posting.  I think I'm actually busier on my days off then I am a work.  Scary thought!  I've cleaned pretty much the whole entire house and my nails are suffering for it.  Although they love taking a swim in the toilet I think they prefer to be pampered and prettied up

I did these nails(and took the pictures last night).  Are you wondering what they look like now?  Let's just say they look like the toilet bowl did before I cleaned it :oP

For these nails I used Sally Hansen's 'Red-y to Go' over the entire nail.  I would say it's more of a deep coral with a hint of red.  I then used Essie's 'Yogaga' to paint on the chevron type tip.  Then of course using my striping tape I cleaned up those edges. What do you guys think?! I like :o)

As I was mid posting this I noticed another blogger that used the same type of colour combination.  I was super stoked because it was The Daily Nail.  I'm no where near her talent of course but it was cool to see we shared the same colour combos.  I don't think there is one nail blogger that does not follow this girl.  If you don't then ya better ;o) One word three syllables to describe the girl A-MAZ-ING!

Peace out!

Friday 24 August 2012

Freakin awesome Friday nails!

It's Friiiiiidaaaaay!  Yay for weekend!

I'm liking these nails....for once.  I think other than dots I like geometric type nails. 


I used Quo by Orly in 'Blue Skies' for the base colour.  I believe I only used two coats.  The polish is getting pretty think though so I think it's time for thinner!  For the black triangle thingies I used a nail art brush. In the past I probably would of used tape but now that I have brushes I prefer to use them.  It's so much less time consuming.  Of course I had to use striping tape on for the final look.  Not only do I like the look of striping tape but it helps give it a nice crisp clean look.  It was my first time using white.  As you can seen it's a little transparent.  It's not quite as noticeable in person so I'm willing to live with it. :o)

Thursday 23 August 2012

ORANGE: Day 2 of 31 Day Challenge

So we are on to day two of our 31 Day challenge spread out over 93 days. ;o)

Obviously these nails were super easy.  I'm not one to put things on my nails but I could not pass this up.  How cute are little fimo fruit slices?!  I love everything tiny so even if I was not in to nail art I would still want these.  If something is miniature I want it!

For these nails I used two coats of Sally Hansen's Xtreme wear in 'Sun Kissed'.   Once I applied the second coat I just placed on the itty bitty orange slice.  Pretty easy peasy!!!







I thought I'd share a picture of my itty bitty desk buddies!  Gumby would like to say 'Hidey-Ho'! Pokey says 'sup?'


Check out the other participants in Kimber's Lacquer Korner 31 Day Challenge

Wednesday 22 August 2012

First flower mani post. eeks!

Here it is!  My very first post of a flower mani. I find them so intimidating because they never turn out as planned. I’m in awe with other bloggers flower art. Especially the queen of flowers Maria at Maria's Nail Art.   I find it hard enough doing them with the dotter let alone free hand.

 For this look I used two coats of Essie’s ‘YOGAGA’.  I wouldn’t usually pick up a colour like this but often find that I want one when I’m actually doing my nails.  For the flowers I used Revlon’s ‘Dreamer’ and a polish from Urban Outfitters’(sorry the name  peeled off).

Any suggestions for some good free hand flower tutorials?  I often see people using acrylic paint for nail art.  I’m considering trying it out but not 100% sure yet.  Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed uses them and her designs always look amazing. Does anyone else use paint?

Tuesday 21 August 2012

MOOD POLISH. aka Color changing polish

Morning everyone.

It’s a beautiful day in good old Kingston Ontario Canada!  I have a swatch for you today…don’t worry it’s a fun one. 
I made my first purchase from Born Pretty and this is one of the goodies! MOOD POLISH BABY!   I just had to get it!  When I was young I didn’t have one of those super, cool awesome colour changing t-shirts.  Lots of my friends did though :o( I actually think they were there parents because they were always so damn big!  Maybe they just didn’t have child sizes

I bought the blue/purple combo.  I wasn’t quite sure if it would work so I was quite impressed with the results

I’ve posted three pictures for you.  The Blue is when its warm and the purple is cold.  Seeing it was pretty hot here yesterday it stayed blue.  I had to dunk my hands in cold water for it to change to purple.  Hence the wet fingers. 


WARM FINGIES

 COLD FINGIES



IN BETWEEN FINGIES
After dunking my fingers in cold water it slowly changed back to blue

Monday 20 August 2012

RED: 31 Day Challenge

This if my very first official nail polish challenge.  I'd always seen post of people doing the 31 day challenge but I was very intimidated by it all :os I said what they hey though and jumped on the wagon. Kimber from Kimber's Laquer Korner had decided that it would be better if we did it every 3 days.  Less pressure for all of us.  So I guess its more like the 93 day challenge.



Of course the first day as most people know is red.  I'm extremely disappointed with the quality of the picture.  It did not capture the effect at all.  Unfortunately I didn't check the photos until this morning. 

Enough poor me though.  I used my favourite red by Rimmel London in 'Red Stilleto'.  I then used Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in 'Red Carpet' to create a gradient effect.  I wish you could all see it in person because it really did turn out beautifully


Sorry for the dry nasty fingers. They need some serious TLC


Sunday 19 August 2012

Black & White/Shiny & Matt

This weeks Sunday homework assignment was black & white.  Of course the first thing that came to my mind was polka dots.  I was able to refrain from it though.

I'm a little later on posting than usual so have had a chance to see Nicole Gets Nailed first.  Please check out her Dotty French.  It's amazing! I did not put as much effort in to mine and now I regret it.  :oP

To begin I painted just the tips of my nails in Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in 'White On'.  I then used two pieces of striping tape across the white section and covered the full nail in Rimmel's 'Black Satin'.  Before letting it dry completely I pulled off the striping tape exposing the white underneath.

I've showed a pick with Gosh's matt top coat and one with nothing.  If I were to leave it shiny I would definitely use a top coat. It gets a little bumpy where the tape is taken off


Which one do you guys prefer? I'm really liking the matt top coat on black in general. 

Saturday 18 August 2012

Glossy Box Zoya nail polish...with a little stamp action!

Hope everyone is having a relaxing Saturday!   Quick post for you today.

I've finally got settled in enough that I could pull out my Konad plates to make a mess of the table :o)   I wanted to show off the Zoya nail polish that I got in my final Glossy Box.  It's a subtle pink shimmer called Rory. Not something I would typically pick out but the quality is amazing.  This is two coats and it went on beautifully. I'm not sure if all Zoya polish is like this because it's my first bottle.  How do you guys feel about Zoya?

I used Konad image plate M64. It was also the first time I've used Konad's special polish. It's so nice not having to search your polishes for one that will stamp nicely! 



Friday 17 August 2012

Julep Maven Introductory Box- It Girl

Happy Friday!
What an amazing way to start a Friday.  I was locking up the house to go to work and noticed something in the mailbox.  It was my introductory box to Julep Maven!  I subscribed at the beginning of August so it took about two weeks to get here.  I had a subscription to Glossy Box but was rather disappointed with it.  I decided to switch beauty boxes because I knew I would be getting something I liked each month!  Of course in the last Glossy Box I received there was a bottle of Zoya nail polish.  :oP I also managed to snag my sister-in-laws polish

Like anything else I get into I researched a bit on Google first.  I read mixed reviews so decided to take the chance.  As I’m sure most of you know you have to take a quiz on the website to see what beauty category you are in. This part I’m not a huge fan of.  Nails are the one thing I can go a little crazy with.  Apparently I’m ‘Classic with a Twist’ but decided to go with the ‘It Girl’ introductory box. Not just because I liked the colours but because it was the only one with three polishes. 

I’ve swatched the three polishes below.  Yes, I did this as soon as I got to work.  From left to right we have Blake, Claire and Morgan.  I’m not a huge fan of Morgan because I’m not a huge shimmer fan.  I loooove Claire though.

Sorry for the picture quality.  They had to be taken with my phone





This is not the only thing that is making a happy Friday. I’m also getting some Konad polishes and stamping plates today.  I’m buying them from someone on Kijiji(Canadian site almost like Craig’s list minus the psycho murdering crazies).  They’ll be here sooooon :o)

POST UPDATE
OH HAPPY DAY!

Quick run down…..
Double sided stamp set
Image plates M19, M64, M62
11ml bottles in white and a dark shimmer green
5 ml bottles in silver, pink, purple and blue.








Also, because I'm a crazy dog lover I just wanted to show a pick of my puppy Casey! He had his manhood snipped off Wednesday.  It's the funniest thing watching him trying to manuver around the house with the huge cone


Finnegan is being very supportive!

Thursday 16 August 2012

Just Blue Colour Blocking

Hi All

Lucky me, I have my puppy Casey with me at work today.  He got the old 'snip snip' yesterday.  :os He had a check up first thing this morning so I just decided to bring him in afterwards.  He's licking a little too much and I forgot his cone so I'm keeping a very close eye on the little rascal.    

On to the nails....  It was a lot of fiddle work to accomplish this look.  I’m a little frustrated that all the nails are not exactly the same. However the only time it is noticeable is in this picture.  (I’m very critical of myself by the way)

I started off with two coats of Gosh nail polish in ‘Blue Balloon’ over the entire nail.  I then used two pieces of striping tape to create a cross.  That left me with three triangles to have a little fun with. The triangles going clockwise from the left are Quo by Orly in ‘The Blue Box’, Finger Paints ‘Inkblot Blue’ and  Quo by Orly in ‘Blue Skies’. After filling in the triangles and taking off the striping tape it looked a little messy. I used two more pieces of the tape to define the triangles and some top coat.  Voila!!! 

I can’t wait for my coloured stripping tape to arrive. I love the crisp clean look it adds to nails




Wednesday 15 August 2012

French tip/Dotticure/Sleepy girl

Today's nails are a post nap manicure.  I was still kind of groggy so I just went with it.  Generally these are the most fun. I don't like having an idea in my head then creating it.  Those ones I always tend to be so critical of.  Although this is not my favourite I just went with the flow and did what came to my head

For the full nail I used Quo by Orly in 'Green Meadow'.  I've really been a fan of the Quo nail polish but lately it has not been cooperating with me.  It was a mess until I put the top coat on.  I think adding some nail polish thinner may help.  Does anyone else use thinner? I'm just wondering if it works or if it ruins the polish.


The tips are in Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear 'Coral Reef'.  I didn't use tape for this as I knew I would be hiding the messy edge with something else.  What is that something else you ask??? DOTS!  For the dots across the the tip I used Revlon's 'Impulsive'.  It still looked really messy and blah at that point so I added the final vertical line of dots in Sally Hansen's Xtreme wear in 'Lacey Lialac'. It was amazing how much it changed the look.  It created a much more clean even manicure.

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Nfu Oh Intergalatic nails

I can't help but sing Beastie Boys 'Intergalactic' and do the robot around the house every time I wear this polish. It's so futuristic looking.
I wanted to try and convey how I feel about it with a bit of nail art.  This was the result.  I'm thinking laser beam type art.
For the base I used three coats of Nfu Oh 61.  This look was quite easy. I used stripping tape here, there, everywhere!  I just wanted to do the accent nail as this is a polish you don't want to cover up. Once the tape was on I covered the entire nail in an Urban Outfitters black.  I didn't wait to long before removing the tape.  It was a very gentle process as the tape was overlapping one another and I had to figure out which one comes off first.
I'm loving the end result.  I tried to get the right angle in the sunlight otherwise it just looks like a dull mess. 



I've been considering getting the blue holographic from Nfu Oh.  I find that if you don't have sunlight the colour is so dull and old looking. Hopefully the blue will give it a little more life 

Monday 13 August 2012

Tickle Trunk Nails with Casey and Finnegan - Canadian nail art!

If your Canadian and you don’t get the post title shame on you ;o) 

I created this manicure over a month ago.  I wanted to hold off on posting it until I had more Canadian followers.  Well today’s the day!

To give a quick summary these nails are based on a toy trunk that from a Canadian children’s show Mr. Dressup.  Mr. Dressup would sing songs, tell stories, and make crafts. He did this with the help of his friends(puppets) Casey and Finnegan, a child and a dog who lived in a tree house in the back yard.  One of the segments would be where Mr. Dressup would get a costume out of the ‘Tickle Trunk’ for an imagination game.

Seeing I cannot recreate the Canadian flag on my nails for the life of me I thought this would be a great alternative. It screams Canada!

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts I have two dogs.  We named our 2 ½ year old border collie/a bunch of other breed mix Finnegan. In March we got a four month old golden retriever/rough collie mix at the humane society and of course had to name him Casey :o) (and yes they do have a tickle trunk for their toys)

If your Canadian please feel free to share this proud to be Canadian nail art either by blog, twitter or facebook.  :o)








Finnegan





Casey





Mr. Dressup's Tickle trunk
Everything used was Sally Hansen.  The base colour is Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Red-y to go purchased for 5 buckaroos at well.ca