Woe is me and leopard print mani

Hi guys!!


Today, a tale of great sorrow: from long nails to short nails. Yeah, I wanted to keep my nails as long as possible, to see just how long I could get them to grow. Here's what they looked like about 2 weeks ago:

 The pointer and middle fingers have patches on them, and it was about time I redo them. You can clearly see the tear in the middle finger, eh?

There's a patch on the thumb, which you can see.

And so after redoing the patches and watching them grow for just a little bit more, some other nails tore and I just thought it'd be better to cut them short and let them grow again. I just hope it won't take too much time!! Here's what they look now:

I just took a picture of my right hand, because I had already started to put on the base font for my leopard print mani, seen below. I tried to cut them so short that there wouldn't be any more tears, but there are still 5 of them with a tear, and 1 that I just put on the gel resin on it to make it a little stronger. It was thinner where a patch used to be.


Here's the leopard prints mani:

And here's what I used:

- Seche Clear base coat
- Borghese Biscotti Beige
- Nail Star Two-Way Pen & Brush in brown
- Seche Vite top coat
- Kiss Nail Artist Fine Art Pen in black (missing on the picture)


So for a few more weeks, you'll get a few posts from the vault. I'm not really sure how inspired I'll be by my new nubbins. They're at their shortest since maybe August last year, when I first started "nail arting".


Alright! So thanks for coming by!


GabZ ♥

French manis from the vault

Hi guys!

Today, I will present 2 French manicures that I did before Christmas.

This one was taken on August '10, when I had just basically started. I was still testing the Mavala product at this point. Here it is:

What I used:

- Mavala Nail Shield
- Sally Hansen Diamond Strenght
- Sally Hansen New Length Ceramic White Tips
- Nicole Top Coat Plus
- Rhinestones

Then here's another French manicure I did in November '10. I had made it to go to a hockey game, and the Oceanics' color is blue. Here it is:

I used:
- 4 Nail Star Nail Art Pen and Brush in blue
- L.A. Colors Art Deco Silver Glitter
- No sure what I used for base and top coats, though..

And here's another one I made in December '10. Here it is:

My aunt gave me this Rimmel purple polish, but I really have no idea what the name of the color is. It was really hard to work with, as it was really goopy. And I used L.A. Colors Nail Art Silver Glitter to outline the slant.

And here's my attempt at reproducing Tartofraise's corset design:

It was my first attempt at freehanding something with a very thin brush. I liked it! It was made in December as well. I did it for another hockey game, on a weekend getaway, and remembered to take a pic after I came back. I used:
- Rimmel Base Coat Top Coat
- 4 Nail Star Nail Art Pen and Brush in navy and white
- Aldo's Hit The Pavement Perfecto

As always, please forgive the extra dry cuticle. I'm working on it!

Thanks for coming by! Feel free to leave a comment below, eh!

GabZ ♥

Sally Hauls

Hi!


So as I was saying in my previous post, I went to the new Sally Beauty Supplies that opened last month in my town. Super exciting, the people working there are really nice and knowledgeable, a very enjoyable shopping experience.

Here's what I came home with:

Let's take a closer look, shall we?

.: Hemp with Argan Oil Body Moisturizer. I was a bit skeptical at first, wasn't sure if it was gonna smell like hemp a whole lot, but turns out to smell simply divine! It's not an overpowering smell, and the smell stays on for about 3 or 4 hours. Almost 24 hours later, my skin still feels hydrated. (best impulse buy I've done in a long time!)
.: Cotton Gloves. I wanted to try these for a while now, putting a thick coat of body butter or heavy hand cream before slipping these on for the night. I tried them last night, and it really works! I had rashes due to cold weather on top of both my hands, and it's gone. Also, not sure if this is related, but one of my nails had a white spot on it, and it's a lot less noticeable now.

.: Pure Acetone. I was almost running out of it anyway, and it was on sale for $1.99. 
.: Nail Polish Thinner. One of my polishes is.. I don't know.. Too thick? Not sure if it's the problem for sure, but I'm gonna try thinning it. It's my last hope.
.: Cuticle scissors. Not that I cut my cuticles, but I'm hoping it'll be easier to cut the little silk patches for repair.

.: Bubble White. This stuff really works!! I wear 2 coats of base coat, to prevent yellowing, and I'm super paranoid when it comes to this topic. I usually brush my nails with baking soda every time I change my manicure, but if it's getting out of hand, I use this Bubble White product. I leave it on for about 10 minutes, and the yellow hue is gone.

.: Orly Des Fleurs. I was curious to try a pink base for a French manicure. I think it'll be too pink, from the small swatch I did. But we'll see.
.: Orly White Tips. My white from Sally Hansen is getting just too thick, and this one seem good enough to replace it.
These are my very first Orly polishes!

.: China Glaze Broken Hearted. Originally, I wasn't a fan of crackle polish. Until I had it on my nails! I tried this one over my existing (chipping) mani, and it looked great. I did a few tests with the brush stroke, to find out which way it cracks better. This goes on my nails next, that's for sure.
.: China Glaze Crushed Candy. This looks amazing too, it's unbelievable. 
.: China Glaze Liquid Leather. My only other black (from Aldo) is a little on the thin side, and has a beautiful shimmer in it. I just thought I needed a simple black.


This was my second time going to Sally's. The first time, about a month ago, here's what I had bought:

.: Supernail Swiss Silk patches. Works wonders. As soon as you put on the gel, it's completely transparent. And it's tough too.
.: Finger Paint Hue Left Me A  Message? This is my very first FP polish! Though it's a subtle color, it looks really good on my nails. I did one mani with it, that should appear over the next few weeks.
.: China Glaze Grape Juice. My very first CG polish! The shimmers in it look so good! It's a bit on the sheer side, but build up very nicely. I also did a mani with it, to be seen within a few weeks.
.: Wonder Bond Brush-on Gel Glue. This works better than just regular brush-on glue or just any nail glue I've encountered. I pair it with the silk patches, and it stays on for at least 3 changes in manicures. It's very tough on its own too, and doesn't take much time to dry (1-2 min tops).
.: Missing from the picture: 2 individual packets of Bubble White. I wanted to try it first before buying the bigger container.

Also, soon to come on my nails:

So there you have it! My most recent haul. I was tempted to buy more, though, because I saw a new Finger Paint collection, with giant flower rings on some bottles, and a few other China Glaze and Orly polishes that I wanted, but it'll have to wait another time.


Thanks for coming by today! Feel free to leave comments, questions, reactions, etc!


GabZ ♥

Champagne purple squiggles

Hi!


Here's a mani I before Christmas, but just forgot to post it. I wasn't sure I was gonna like that color on my nails, 'cause it's much more pale than what I usually wear, but it turned out well in the end.

Here's what I used:
- Sally Hansen 4-in-1 treatment (1 coat)
- Borghese Luna Pearl
- Nail art pen from eBay in purple
- rhinestones

*********
This post was suppose to be posted last week, via scheduled posts, but I guess it failed to go through!  So sorry about that! 


Oh! And I went to Sally Beauty Supply this morning, and got nice little haul there. Stay tuned for more, either tomorrow or Monday! :D


Cheers,


GabZ ♥