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 ♥

Christmas mani

Yes, you read right, it's a Christmas mani! I had first lost my battery charger before New Year's Eve, so my camera wouldn't turn on to take the pictures out, and then I lost my USB cable. I now have bought a new charger (about a week or so ago), and I've found my cable this morning!!


Here's what I was sporting on my nails for the event (sorry for the incredibly dry cuticles):

For this mani, I used:
- 1 coat of Rimmel Base Coat
- 1 coat of Joe Fig
- 1 coat of Apple Bottoms Red Delicious
- water decals from Viva La Nail
- 2 coats of Seche Vite


Now that I have like a month worth of manis to share, I'm hoping to post a little more often. No promises, though, 'cause I'm super tired lately, but will try my best!


Oh, and hey to my new followers!


Take care,


GabZ ♥

Double Wammy!

Good morning!


So incredibly sorry for the lack of update. I could make up excuses, but to tell you the truth, I was really tired from getting back to work and getting back into the routine of things. 


I bought a charger, so now I'll be able to retrieve my pictures! I have a few pictures taken with my iPod, and a few others with my cell, which have a very sad quality picture. I'm gonna upload all of them at the same time either tomorrow or Tuesday.


On to the manicures. Yes, with a "s" at the end: there will be 2 today! I wanna get back into the routines of posting at least once a week.


First: 

What I used:

- Sally Hansen 4-in-1 treatment (absent from photo)
- Color Institute Top Coat
- Sally Hansen New Lengths Ceramics - #02 White Tips
- Color Institute (no name, so  I called it Graphite)


It was the first time I really tried to hand pant something a little harder. I like it, but it has some place for improvement, that's for sure.


Second:

What I used:
(Sorry, no picture of what I used. I most likely forgot about it.)
- Sally Hansen 4-in-1 treatment
- Joe Gunmetal
- Joe matte top coat
- L.A. Colors Art Deco NA903 Silver Glitter

So there you go! I hope I'll get back into your graces! :P But seriously, though, I'm going to try to get a post out each week. Maybe if I use the scheduling function? I don't know. We'll see!

Ciao!


GabZ ♥

Holiday manicures

Hey!!


Whoo! Almost a week since I last posted! I guess time caught up with me, eh. 

Christmas is 2 days away, and for once I'm actually ready to welcome it with all my shopping done! I put up the tree on Tuesday, and we've put all the presents underneath it. I can't wait to see my Hun's face when he opens his main gift!! I really outdid myself this year, I think. 


Back to manicures! As promised, here are the manicures my sister-in-law and I wore to our men's job's Christmas party. 

 My sister-in-law's manicure

I forgot to take a picture of what I used, but I'll tell you. First, I put on a coat of Rimmel Base Coat Top Coat Plus. Then I put on 2 coats of Joe Fig. Then I painted half of the nail diagonally with Maybeline Salon Expert #700 Black Is Black. I painted the other half of the nail with Wet n Wild Wild Shine #435G Sparkled. Then I did the little dots with the same black. I topped it off with 1 coat of Nicole's Top Coat Pro.

My manicure

What I used

I started up with 1 coat of Sally Hansen 4-in-1 treatment, followed by 3 coats of Apple Bottoms Club Queen. Then I used  Nail Star Two-Way Nail Art Pen & Brush in green to make the leaves of the mistletoe, and added 3 2mm red rhinestones. I topped everything with a coat of Nicole's Top Coat Pro.

I enjoyed doing my sister-in-law's nails. It was different working on someone else's nails. I didn't quite know how to position her hand to make it easy. I'm super proud of the result, as you can see the lines aren't straight, and the little dots aren't the same shape and spaced the same. But she was happy with her nails and I was super excited to have done my first manicure on someone else! 

I'm not sure if I'll write another post before next week, so I want to take this opportunity to wish you guys the best Holidays, to you and all your family. ;)

Ciao!

GabZ ♥

Weekend Haul, Viva La Nail, Stamped Kisses

Hi!!


Since this will be pretty picture heavy, I want to apologize in advance. I have tons of new goodies I received/bought over the week, and I wanted to show you guys!


First, I want to say that Viva La Nail rocks, big time baby! Remember my last post about them? It was missing a water decal, and they kindly offered to send it to me. Well imagine my surprised when I got a whole new sample pack in the mail this week. I am so impressed with their customer service skills, and I will definitely buy from them again. Here are the stickers and decals I got this time:

Last weekend, I got to Rimouski, and while my sister-in-law was shopping for shoes, I went into the dollar store. Here's what I got:

 Ultra fine glitter!

 To store the glitter without a mess

 Different shape rhinestones

And when I came looking out for her in the Aldo, look what I found:

"Twilight Rendez-Vous Prune Givrée" & " Hit The Pavement Perfecto"

Now after that, we went to Winners. Have you ever been to one? Last time I went, I bought 5 Borghese polishes for $15.99, when the original price for just one of these babies is $13.99 at my local drug store. I think it's like the equivalent of Marden's in the US. Well this time, here's what I found:

Can you believe it?! Sèche Vite for $7.99! I thought I'd have to buy it online, as I don't have a beauty store in my area (the closest is like a 3hr drive..) So that's why I bought 2 bottles.


I also got these:

And this pack also came with 2 packs of stencils:

And then on Monday, I went to the mail box, and I picked up my stamper/scratcher combo:

So of course, with all these new toys, I had to try them on! Here's the mani I did 2 days ago:

This is 1 coat of Rimmel Base Coat Top Coat Pro, with 2 coats of Twilight Rendez-Vous Prune Givrée, 1 coat of Sèche Vite, stamped the kisses on BM02 plate using Hit The Pavement Perfecto, topped with another coat of Sèche Vite. I realize the stamping isn't that visible, but it's just because I thought that if I'd mess up the stamping, I wouldn't have to redo my mani. I have 4 nails with a little bandage, and I didn't want to spend time to redo them all again!

Twilight applied a little streaky for the first coat, but a second coat evened everything out. As for Sèche Vite, I have to say I now understand what all the fuss is about. Wow! By the time I was done my thumb, my pinky was already dry to the touch. The only downside to SV is the tip shrinkage.. It may just be a reaction to the Twilight polish, but I think I read another blogger having the same reaction. So.. If anyone has any tips to prevent the shrinkage, it'd be much appreciated!


So here's the giga post for tonight! Thanks for reading me, and for taking the time to come by!

Next, there will be the Holiday manicures I made last Friday, for the my Hun's and brother's Christmas party.


GabZ ♥

Summer Nails

Hey!! :D


Here's a manicure I did this summer, around the end of August. It feels sunny, I like it! 

Here's what I used:

- Rimmel Base Coat Top Coat Pro
- Wet n Wild Wild Shine - #405 Sunny Side Up
- Sally Hansen Maximum Growth - #12 Fearless Fushia
- Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamonds
- L.A. Colors Art Deco NA903 Silver Glitter

Thoughts? Opinions? Feel free to comment! ;) 


See you next time!


P.S: Welcome to my new follower! :D If you like my work (so to speak), spread the word! ;)