Sunday, February 23, 2014

Sochi Winter Olympics 2014




The Sochi Olympic Games just came to a close but what games they were! All of the athletes were so impressive and they made it fun for all of us at home. From the slopes to the ice rinks I'm sure all of the athletes have made their respective countries very proud. As a Canadian I can't even say how proud I am of all of our athletes and how proud I am to be Canadian.
Congratulations to all of the athletes, whether you placed or not you did your best and made these games something special.

As for my nails, while this design is specifically for the Sochi Olympics, it is a bit of a throwback to the design I did for the London Summer Olympics in 2012:


I've definitely improved a lot since then, my Sochi design is something that I wouldn't have even been able to consider doing two years ago. I'm most impressed by how much the maple leaf has improved, a feat I've been working on since having to repeatedly draw the flag in grade school.

Also, in case you're curious, I decided to show a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at how I (sometimes) plan out my nail designs:


It also goes to show that even pre-planned designs change a little in the execution. I hadn't meant to have the Olympic Rings so small or high up but it happened that way and I decided to roll with it and it turned out better than I had originally planned!

I hope you all enjoyed the games as much as I did! Can't wait to be able to do another design for Rio in 2016 and the Pyeongchang in 2018!

Products Used:
Ciaté - 074 Big Yellow Taxi
Essie - 846 After School Blazer
Essie - 922 Mojito Madness
Essie - 941 Good as Gold
Essie - Grow Stonger Base Coat
Maybelline - 390 Audacious Asphalt
Sally Hansen - 130 Blue Me Away!
Sally Hansen - 300 White On
Sally Hansen - 360 Diamonds & Rubies
Sally Hansen - 370 Black Out
Seche Vite - Quick Dry Top Coat

- Becca.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Sweetheart


To optimize the number of V-Day mani's I could get in by the day itself I ended up doing two different designs on my right and left hands. I had this on my right hand at the same time as my Love Letter nails.

I was interested in playing around a bit with negative space and I think it turned out pretty well. I may have to remember to use striping tape for the lines next time around, though because those lines are a mess!

Still, I think this is a really cute and relatively simple manicure!
Products Used:
China Glaze - Designer Satin
Essie - Grow Stronger Base Coat
Sally Hansen - 03 Dune
Sally Hansen - 300 White On
Seche Vite - Quick Dry Top Coat

- Becca.

Then and Now: Love Letters





This is my first time going back and redoing a design and I adore how it turned out! After a year of practice I had the skills to go back in and tweak the design a little and I couldn't be happier. I still love this design a year later.

This is just the first of my new "Then and Now" series; though I'm not sure when I'll continue it, rest assured this won't be the only entry of the series!

Products Used:
China Glaze - Designer Satin
Coco & Lulu - Macaron
Essie - Grow Stronger Base Coat
Sally Hansen - 370 Black Out
Seche Vite - Quick Dry Top Coat

- Becca.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Pure Heart



I'm falling behind on updates again but I promise I'll catch up!
This is my first (official) Valentine's design of the year. I saw a gift bag with a similar colour-blocked heart when I was walking through Target the other day and that's what inspired this.
It was also a good excuse to use my Pure polish which is really pretty, if a little impractical. I quite like it though, so you may be seeing some more glitter manicures from me in the near future!

Products Used:
China Glaze - 654 Designer Satin
Coco & Lulu - 432 Macaron
Essie - Grow Stronger Base Coat
Essie - 941 Good as Gold
Essie - 1017 Bottle Service
OPI - Pure
Sally Hansen - 300 White On
Sally Hansen - 370 Black Out
Seche Vite - Quick Dry Top Coat

- Becca.

Post-Midterm Manis

With the first set of midterms over my friends and I celebrated by doing nails:



They asked for pandas and cherry blossoms which turned out really cute!
They were also curious about how I did gradients so I showed them by re-doing my bamboo nails from day 4 of the 30 day challenge last year!

Products Used (Cherry Blossoms):
Essie - Grow Stronger Base Coat
Sally Hansen - 300 White On
Sally Hansen - 370 Black Out
Seche Vite Top Coat
Reeves Watercolours

Products Used (Pandas):
Essie - Grow Stronger Base Coat
Essie - 752 Turquiose & Caicos
Essie - 922 Mojito Madness
Essie - 1027 The More the Merrier
Sally Hansen - 300 White On
Sally Hansen - 370 Black Out
Seche Vite - Quick Dry Top Coat

- Becca.

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Domino Game

In a surprising turn of events, my first kpop-inspired manicure of the year is for the rookie girl group Kiss&Cry. I happened to see the mv for their debut song Domino Game and couldn't resist using some of their outfits for a nail design.