Aussie Christmas 17/12 - Beach

Hey hey! Today's challenge prompt is Beach! :D I like the beach but I don't love it. I really dislike sand, haha. It gets into EVERYTHING! And also, the beach is usually pretty windy which can be annoying. But I do hope to go to the beach sometime soon because it's now the summer school holidays here so all my siblings are home for the next 6 or so weeks!
So anyway, my beach mani is inspired by all things beach related. :)

On my pointer I used a base of Face Of Australia Once In A Blue Moon topped with China Glaze Snow Globe and then used a dotting tool with Essie Van D Go to paint two little starfish! :) I actually used a tutorial for this, by MissJenFabulous on YouTube.

On my middle finger I was inspired by my sister's new rainbow striped beach towel! I used Ulta3 Lily White for my base, and then freehanded my stripes with a striping brush using Butter London Pillar Box Red, Ulta3 Tangerine Tango*, Frangipani, Sea Breeze Swirl*, Face Of Australia Once In A Blue Moon and Ulta3 Flirty Bikini*. (I will have full swatches of the 3 Ulta3s* soon!).

My ring finger is inspired by the water and sand, which is probably obvious. ;) There's also a little heart in the sand, aww. :P I used Essence Sleepy*, as my base and freehanded the sand with Essence Iced Latte using the regular polish brush. The little heart was done with BYS Fairytale Florals. I used Ulta3 Lily White for the line where the sea hits the sand.

And lastly, my pinky nail is a beach ball! This looked harder than it actually was to do! I used a striping brush with Ulta3 Blue Marlin, Frangipani, and Butter London Pillar Box Red and the base colour was my trusty Ulta3 Lily White.

Phew, that's a lot of polish for one mani haha!
Hope you enjoyed! :)

Aussie Christmas - 5/12 Pool Party

20 days til Christmas! :D WOO! Who else loves this time of year as much as me?!

Today for the Aussie Christmas Nail Challenge, the theme is pool party! Christmas and summer time in Australia usually involves going to the pool, or going out in your backyard if you're lucky enough to have a pool! Or running under sprinklers, which is what I did when I was a kid lol. I've never had my own pool but always wanted one and have always loved swimming at the pool. I'm not a massive fan of the beach, it's alright, but I prefer the pool!

My nail art today is inspired by my board shorts! I was going to use my tankini as inspiration but they're just blue, red and white, like the Aussie flag and I've already done Aussie flag nails before! ;) My boardies are a sunset sort of print, with palm trees all over.

My boardies

I used a base of Ulta3 Lily White, my favourite white. It's almost opaque in one coat! Perfecto. :P

I then did a gradient using Cotton On Body's Neon Orchid, Essie Fear or Desire and Ulta3 Frangipani. The technique I use for gradients can be seen in this tutorial by MissJenFabulous on YouTube. I drew a palm tree on my ring finger using my black BYS nail art striper (which I actually just dropped on the concrete outside and I'm surprised it didn't smash).

This is easily the most vibrant nail art I have ever done, haha! I love it!

Elissa xx

This is Halloween: 31/10 Recreate Your Fave

Happy Halloween! :)
I've said it before but I don't celebrate Halloween (I think 90% of Aussies don't, really, but it's becoming more popular each year), though I am into all of the cute Halloween novelties and especially Halloween polishes!

For the last day of the This is Halloween challenge, we're supposed to recreate our favourite from another blogger (or just anyone) who participated in the challenge! :)

I decided to recreate Plisherrific's super cute Bat nail art! :D (She got her idea from Nail Craze with Dayze)
I thought it was SO cute so I had to recreate it. I'm so into cute designs like this rather than anything gory or spooky.

For my base colour I used Essie Fear or Desire (I used up about half of my mini bottle during this challenge!) and then added Essie Shine of the Times. For the bats I used my BYS Black striper, and my BYS White striper (which I really need to replace, it's very gummy and stringy). I also used Ulta3 Black Satin and Lily White for the eyes. :)

Damn the smudged pinky finger. :(

Hope you've enjoyed the This is Halloween Challenge! I had so much fun doing it! Thanks Bec for starting this challenge, I think everyone loved it just as much as me. :)

This is Halloween: 29/10 Graveyard

This is the second last day of the This is Halloween Challenge! :( How sad! Today's theme is Graveyard, and I did a pretty simple and predictable mani, hehe.

Tombstones, of course!

For the actual tombstone, I freehand-ed it with the regular polish brush and I used BYS Matte Grey (sorry about the messy bottle lol). Then Essie Mojito Madness for the grass. I wrote 'RIP' on each tombstone with a BYS Black striper. I topped it all off with Sally Hansen Insta Dri top coat.

SUPER simple and easy nail art! :)

Tomorrow is the LAST day of the Halloween challenge! :( I'm gonna be stuck for post ideas! Hahah, let me know if you have any requests!

Elissa

This is Halloween: 12/10 Jack o Lanterns

Hey lovely ladies!

I want to apologise for my previous mani I put up for this challenge. It was far from my best work! I'm trying to do my manis for the challenge at least a few days in advance so that in case my idea doesn't work out, I have time to retry it. :)

Today's theme is Jack o Lanterns! I wish people carved/decorated pumpkins here. It looks like fun! Okay, I wish we celebrated Halloween properly here to begin with!

For this mani I used Essie - Fear or Desire (told you that you'd be seeing this polish a lot in the challenge! I reckon by the time it's over, I'll have used up the whole mini bottle!) and a black BYS striper, which I am in need of replacing because it's becoming a bit stringy and thick! They're great stripers but they're kinda pricey at $5 each from Gloss.

I chose to do my Jack o Lantern only on my ring finger, and I did black french tips on all other nails. :) I wanted to make my Jack o Lantern more of a cute/happy looking one. Didn't really work. LOL.

I tested out my mum's camera for these photos. Not sure if I like it better than my camera. My camera seems to make all of my photos look very dark, even when I take them outside (unless I'm in the sun - and there hasn't been any of that for the last few days!). I made a small light box the other day which is what I used to take these photos. Please bare with me while I try and figure out a good lighting/camera situation! I'm not a fan of the glare on these photos. :(

Hope you enjoyed! I have some exciting stuff coming up soon so stay tuned! I also have a lot of polish on its way to me in the next couple weeks. ;) Make sure to follow me via GFC, BlogLovin or email (whichever you prefer), so you can stay updated if you wish! :)

Elissa

31DC2012: Day 29 - Inspired by the Supernatural

Hello girlies. My sickness just keeps getting worse. :( But I don't want to fall behind too much in the challenge! Plus I'm so bored and I have to do SOMETHING. The last couple days for the 31 Day Challenge will be very simple manis unfortunately. :( It really sucks.

So today's theme is "Inspired by the Supernatural". What I chose isn't exactly supernatural... I think it fits more into "fantasy", but oh well. ;)
I chose a really simple Harry Potter inspired mani! And yes, yet again I used a tutorial. But I really did not have enough energy to come up with something of my own lol.

Here is the video tutorial I used, by missglamorazzi on YouTube:

For my base on my index and ring fingers, I used NYC - Lemon. For the base on my middle finger I used OPI - Swimsuit Nailed It and on my pinky I used OPI - Cuckoo For This Colour! For the base on my thumb I used Ulta3 - Black Satin. (I chose not to show my thumb, as I had to patch it today and I haven't buffed it out enough, and it looked horrible and bumpy in photos. On my thumb I had a gold sparkly lightning bolt.)
I also used Ulta3 - English Rose, Ulta3 - Antique Copper, Sally Hansen - Celeb City and BYS stripers in Black, Gold glitter and Silver glitter.

This was SO simple to do and only took 20 minutes max, which is pretty perfect for me right now because I can't concentrate for too long and I keep having coughing fits! :(

I'm hoping I'll be feeling a bit better tomorrow! The 31 Day Challenge is almost over! I'm sorry this post was probably all over the place. :(

Elissa

31DC2012: Day 26 - Inspired by a Pattern

Hey there girlies! :)

Today my nails are again, inspired by a tutorial. I know, another look that was inspired by a tutorial. But lately I've only been getting inspired by nail tutorials (which is where I see most nail art on YouTube) so yeah. But hey, that means I can share the video I used and you can try it too. :D

Today's mani was inspired by MissJenFabulous again! Her nails are just awesome though so how can I not want to recreate all of her nail tutorials!? :) Jen's looks much better than mine though! I also didn't use tape like she did, I just freehanded the black section.

I think this one is Jen's most recent nail tutorial! Argyle print! When I saw the title, I was like "what on earth is argyle print?" :P But I've definitely seen it before. You might have seen it on socks or something, if you don't know what it is.

Polishes used:

• China Glaze - Dance Baby
• Sally Hansen - Celeb City
• Ulta3 - Black Satin
• BYS White striper

Hope you enjoyed this cool preppy mani! ;)

Elissa

31DC2012: Day 25 - Inspired by Fashion

I had a hard time coming up with something for today's nails. I'm not really into fashion and don't keep up with the latest 'trends'.
But I remembered seeing this post by Jen @ Polish and Pearls and thought it'd be fun to try out. :) I've been seeing this Ikat print on a lot of girls' nails but to be honest I've never seen it on clothing, even though Jen said in her video tutorial that she's seen it everywhere!

This nail art is suuuuuper easy to create, but Jen's looks so much better than mine turned out!

For the base colour I used Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue (an AWESOME colour, get your hands on it if you can!), and I also used White and Black BYS stripers, and China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy.

Hope you like it!

Elissa

31DC2012: Day 24 - Inspired by a Book

Every girl out there should know what these nails are inspired by. ;) And if you haven't, HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK?! :P

I saw BrieBrie do Burn Book nails, so I did Burn Book nails. ;)

YES it's the Burn Book from Mean Girls! Fellow Aussie, Brie, did an amazing tutorial on Instagram and I knew I HAD to do it for "Inspired by a Book"! Perfect! :D Tons of my manis lately have been inspired by Brie! Her nails are gorgeous. :) If you aren't following her on Instagram already, get on it! :D
Beware, this post includes many photos with a super awkward hand pose in order to show my thumb in the photo. 

For my base colour I used Rimmel London - Hot Shot. My bottle is getting low (the bottles are quite small, and it's my go to hot pink polish) so it's kinda thick and getting bubbly. :( I also used Ulta3 - Lily White, Black Satin and Butter London - Pillar Box Red for the lips on my thumb (not sure if you can see that in my photos since it kinda blends in with the pink base). I also used Black and White BY stripers.

This was surprisingly easy to do but my impatient-ness caused me to smudge a couple nails with my top coat. :(

My sister was a meanie and said this mani looks crap. She's like my worst critic. She said the colour didn't accurately match the Burn Book and that it was a shade lighter. Oh jeez. Hahah. By the way, she's 12. LOL!

Elissa

31DC2012: Day 16 - Tribal Print

For tribal print, I was a bit worried. I've never been a huge fan of the tribal print trend. But hey I had to give it a go for the challenge! :)

I was inspired by this video on youtube! I only watched about 30 seconds into the video and used the pictures for my inspiration. I thought this looked like the easiest version of tribal print and looked really cool too! 

I used the classic China Glaze - For Audrey for the base. I then freehanded two thick horizontal stripes across my nail with Ulta3 - Lily White and a random polish I bought from Cotton On (in the Body section), very appropriately named 'Taupe'. ;)

This polish from Cotton On Body is actually a pretty good formula for being made by a clothing store! I have a few others from Cotton On and I only had a problem with one of them being a not-so-nice formula! I think I paid $5 for that polish. They do tend to change up which polishes they sell in store pretty often though so I don't know if you'll still be able to find it.
I also used BYS nail art stripers in Black and White for the small details. :) 

This nail art was extremely easy to create! I really like the look! I'd never wear this print on my clothing but for my nails I think it looks pretty awesome.

Come back tomorrow to see my GLITTER mani! :D

Elissa

31DC2012: Day 15 - Delicate

Helloo again. :) Today's nails are delicate themed! Technically it was delicate print, but I couldn't really come up with a print! So I just decided to go with delicate in general.

I had a hard time coming up with a design but I asked for some help with ideas from my nail girlies and the lovely Brie (strawbrie on Instagram) suggested snowflakes! Thanks Brie!

For the base I used Essie - Bikini So Teeny and topped it with China Glaze - Snow Globe. For the snowflakes I used a white striper by BYS, and for the dots I used Ulta3 - Lily White (an awesome white, by the way! Very opaque and apparently great for stamping, though I haven't tried it yet).

These snowflake nails are kinda perfect for today because it's kinda cold outside and it's been raining. :( The weather is so mean! It's really warm and sunny one day, and then raining for a freaking week! Can't wait for summer.

Elissa

31DC2012: Day 5 - Blue

For the 5th day of the 31 Day Challenge I have a cool polish to show you! I bought this one on the weekend and was really excited to try it! :)

Technically this will be going up past midnight on the 6th. :P My bad.

Natural Light

This is BYS Colour Changing Polish in Glitter Blue! I first saw these on Instagram and on LabMuffin! I thought it looked really cool so I had to check them out for myself! :) I was tossing up between the blue/turquoise one, and Glitter Blue but I went for the glittery one of course. :P

I used my Essence Peel Off Base Coat under this polish. If you want to know more about it and how you can have a go at DIY-ing the base coat, have a look at Alanna @ Pretty Purple Polish's blog post here and Michelle @ LabMuffin's post here. It was my second time using the base coat and I had much more success this time around! I used a very thick coat of it (which took forever to dry) and once it was about half dry, I painted more base coat onto the tips of my nails because it seems to pull away from the tips a bit as it dries. I had no troubles peeling it off my tips this time, whereas last time the polish stuck to the tips.

Natural Light

Artificial Light

Anyway, this post is about this pretty polish! :) BYS - Glitter Blue is a colour changing polish. Though to be honest, I didn't see a whole lot of colour changing with it. :( I only noticed ONE time where the tips were a slightly darker blue than the rest of my nail. I was pretty disappointed but other girls have had great results with it so I have a feeling that it may have been the thick base coat that stopped the colour change... Since it sort of changes with your body temperature and if the base coat was so thick, maybe it couldn't feel my body temperature? LOL I don't know. But I'm going to try again soon.

Artificial Light
After running my hands under freezing water

Artificial Light
The only time I noticed any colour change - Tips are slightly darker

The polish was a really pretty colour anyhow. It mostly looked like a dusty medium toned blue. The glitter is really pretty too. :) The only bad thing was that it took 3 coats to be almost opaque. It wasn't completely opaque when I wore it.

I'm probably going to try one of the cream colours of the BYS Colour Changing polishes before I make my mind up about them.

If you've tried any of them, let me know your thoughts!

Elissa

31DC2012: Day 1 - Red and 2 - Orange

Hey girls! Here is day one and two of the 31DC2012 (31 Day Challenge 2012)! I hoped to have this post up earlier but my internet wasn't working so please forgive that!

Day one of the challenge was RED. I'm not a huge red wearer on my nails because red creams just feel too classic for me, and sparkly reds feel too Christmas-y! :P And reds can look very hooker-ish on long nails. But I did buy a red recently that I've been itching to try!

Artificial Light

This is Ulta3 - English Rose. A super sparkly red jelly-ish polish. It has a LOAD of red micro glitter in it and maybe some gold too. I put it on in my bedroom which is pretty dimly lit. I have a chandelier sort of light with 5 bulbs and all but 2 need to be replaced. Anywho, I turned on the lamp next to my bed to take a photo and i was literally like "WHOAAA SO SPARKLY"! :P 

I'm wearing two coats here, with no base or top coat since I didn't plan on wearing it for more than 20 minutes. I think I could've done with another coat though if I was wearing for a proper mani because I could sort of see visible nail line.
Please excuse my one crappy photo, I took it on my iPhone because I was too lazy to grab my camera.
I first saw this polish on Dana @ Polished Claws Up, she has a beautiful swatch of it so I suggest you go and find her's! :)

Click "Read more" to see the polish I chose for day two!