I had an idea of what I wanted to do once I saw these Salon Express plates. I knew I wanted to use the sea-horse just because he was so cute. It’s a quick and simple design and if you don’t have these plates or a similar one then you can draw a small sea-horse on your nail instead.
I am still practising using the nail plates to stamp designs on. Once I’ve got it down I hope to use them more often in my tutorials as well as my own nails.
Let’s get this design started!
I know, I’m lame at coming up with blog entry names. 
I’ve always wanted to try the Konad plates or a similar product for not as much money. I’d try to order the stamper from Amazon but the shipping to Canada was $30 while the actual stamper and scraper was around $4. Totally wasn’t going to do that. So when I saw that the Salon Express was available in Canada (but apparently not at Sally Beauty despite being on the site and the woman at the store suggesting I check the website — it doesn’t ship to Canada), I wanted to find someplace I could buy it.
After searching online for places it could be, I realized it had a “As Seen On TV” logo on it. I immediately went out to the mall, walked in the store, and picked it up without hesitation. I really only wanted the stamper and scraper and the fact that it had 5 plates was just bonus.
I came home and had to give it a shot. I admit, it took me a few tries to actually get the technique down but it seems to be a little easier for me now that I’ve done it a few times. I’ve watched nail stamping videos for a while now . . . a long while actually, without being able to try it. It seems so easy when they do it that I was sure that I was doing it wrong. I tried it again today and had absolutely no problems.
Unfortunately when I did these nails a few days ago I wasn’t completely successful but I was so proud of how they turned out that I decided to keep them.
I really wasn’t sure about this colour on my nails next to my skin colour. The gold and yellowishness of my skin just didn’t mesh well. But then I realized it’s only in certain light and I am really in love with the green that comes out.
The first pictures here you can see a lot more of the gold colour coming out. It doesn’t seem to look to bad next to my skin in these pictures and to tell you the truth, it’s really growing on me.
OPI Just Spotted The Lizard with top coat. Flash.
OPI Just Spotted The Lizard with top coat. Flash.
OPI Just Spotted The Lizard with top coat. Flash.
You don’t see much of the green in these pictures but I assure you that in the right light, there is plenty of greens . . . nice dark, rich greens.
When I knew I had to do green nails, only one image came to my mind. Green Lantern. No, not because of Ryan Reynolds . . . in fact I don’t find him attractive and haven’t ever since I watched him on Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place a million years ago.
My brothers got me reading the comics before they had cast Hal Jordan. Actually it still bugs me that people think Hal is Green Lantern when there are multiple Green Lanterns as the first line of this page states . . . but I won’t go into that any further. I will save my ranting for a different time and place. 
I had originally thought about making a series of all the Lantern colours and symbols (9 in total) but I decided against it. Meh, I might do it in the future.
But for now, just the Green Lantern for this week 4 design of green nails. Let’s get started!
I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do for yellow nails. I wanted to do a tape mani with a sunburst inspired design but after a few tries I decided maybe that wasn’t the best way to go. I played around with a few ideas and knew I wanted to use white and black in my design. I didn’t want to copy all the “bee” designs out there which is one I commonly see. Playing around on Photoshop I came up with something I thought could work. Once I tried it on the nail I actually liked the way it turned out.
I used only one colour nail polish and some acrylic paints to create this design. It’s easy and quick and you can completely substitute the polish for your favourite colour. Hopefully you all like it. Let’s get started!
I think this is the first full collection of nail polishes I have ever bought. I’ve liked other ones but it’s hard to find a lot of retailers that carry all the colours or the special collection sets. When I saw this collection mentioned I knew I had to get it and the next day I went down to the mall and prayed all the colours would be there. I was so happy that they were and made sure to get them all right away.
Okay so I did hesitate and think I should maybe buy three at a time. I couldn’t find the shatter polish so I figure okay I’ll buy three now and three later. Then I thought about it . . . what if they’re all gone? So I went back to the display and picked up the other three. As I set them down at the counter to pay I saw the shatter one on display near the cash register. I picked it up too! I am happy to have gotten them. Besides My Boyfriend Scales Walls I don’t really have other colours that are the same or very similar to these. I am extremely happy about that.
So let’s get things started! Here is a picture of all the polishes:
From left to right: Shatter the Scales, Just Spotted the Lizard, Number One Nemesis, Into the Night, Call Me Gwen-ever, Your Web or Mine?, and My Boyfriend Scales Walls.
My next mani will have to be one of these colours. I can’t wait to try them all on! I have to say that my favourite two are definitely Just Spotted The Lizard and Into The Night. Love those two!
One thing I knew I had to do once I discovered it was to buy Zoya’s Carmen polish — for obvious reasons!! It was my first ever Zoya polish and I’m really liking it. As soon as I got to the store I went for the Zoyas and the first one I reached for was the right one. Now maybe it was luck or maybe I just stared at the swatches on the computer a bit too long, whatever the case, we found each other.
I knew I had to get it on my nails this weekend. So after trying to work on some other blog related things today, I put it on my nails and decided to add Essie’s Pure Pearlfection (which I had decided previously not to buy) on top. I am in love with the whole look. I love the red colour. I love the way it looks with the Pearlfection on top. I love that I decided to finally buy a Zoya polish and expand my collection.
Here’s the items I used:
So I seriously almost gave you all a very different tutorial here. I came up with 5+ or so designs and the one I really wanted wasn’t working out at all. After a million attempts all week I decided to just give in and change it. That’s how I came up with all the 5+ after trying all week with the original plan. What can I say, I’m mega stubborn. After only being so-so about the other ones, I went back to the idea of an orange. I couldn’t turn my whole nail into an orange but I decided a french tip was the next best thing. I used the same orange for the whole thing rather than changing up the oranges I had which wasn’t working.
It’s simple and fairly easy but I’m not really trying to come out with overly complicated designs until of course I’ve practised more and had a bit more of a chance to play around. Anyway, let me know what you think and if you do try it out. Let’s get started!
As promised, this is the first in a challenge I have slightly modified to be a weekly challenge rather than a daily challenge. I talked a little bit about this in my latest update entry. I’m using this challenge more as inspiration for when I can’t really come up with anything to share. It’s a nice challenge to get my mind working. 
I have always wanted to do the ladybug nails I’ve seen in a few places on the internet. Everyone does them a little different to make it their own but I didn’t want to just copy those tutorials on here. I thought if I modified it or came up with another design inspired by them, I would still get a similar look without really copying.
I absolutely how this design came out. I think it turned out really cute and delicate. I love it and hope you will too! Let’s get started!
I recently purchased 5 magnetic nail polishes. I hadn’t been able to find them before but it appears I just wasn’t looking in the right places.
I bought 2 different brands . . . Icing Magnetix and Color Club Magnetic Force.
** FYI: All of the swatches without the magnetic design are one coat of polish and the one with the magnetic design have a two coats of polish **
C5′s Polished Nails
