Current Fave: Nail Polish

 

I love dark nail polish! It's just so dramatic and fun. There are definitely a lot of dark selections to choose from nowadays, but one particular one which is my current favourite is OPI's "Every Month is Oktoberfest". Almost as dark as a black at first glance, it's got a beautiful almost deep purple tone to it. Currently being featured on both my manicure and pedicure, I think when it's time to redo them, I might stick with it again - it's so perfect for fall!

February Resolution: Recap

Earlier this month I made a resolution to try to have/maintain freshly polished, manicured nails for the entire month of February. Well the time has come to reveal the results...

I (almost) did it! I will be honest, the last few days I have had just a clear coat on my nails but for the other 25 days of this month I have had a constant manicure and in this entire month, never had a single chiped nail! It was definitely work but certainly not as much as I expected. I really did love having coloured nails and playing with colour. Aside from the current clear polish, I had only 4 manicures. I thought for sure there would be more - maybe I was just being more careful knowing I had made this commitment! Or maybe because it was a short month. 

I think having done it I will definitely keep up the polishing and will DEFINITELY NOT sport chipped nails again. That was my favourite part. Funny how I have always had those standards with my pedicures (the second I see chipped polish on my toes, it is immediately removed, I hate it!) but not with my hands. Well, now I do! And even though the last few days I've had an "invisible" manicure, I quite liked this resolution and will call it a success!

OPI "Red Lights Ahead...Where?"|OPI "Ski Teal We Drop"|Essie "Turquoise & Caicos"|OPI "Kiss Me On My Tulips" 

 

February Resolution: Constant Manicure

How is it February already? Can you believe we are already one month into the New Year? Anyways, moving on...

No shortage of colours to play with!

As I was doing a little self-pampering last weekend, I thought up a mini-resolution for myself to try out this February: to constantly have a fresh manicure. Now when I say that I should specify that what I am actually referring to is specifically the polish. Fresh, perfect polish. My nails are always cut and filed - I'm kind of obsessive about that - so in a sense they are always manicured. BUT, I don't always have polish on them. If I do have polish on them and they start to chip, I will remove the polish at my earliest convenience but will almost never repaint right away. THIS is what I'd like to try to do. I really love having freshly painted nails, and I definitely notice and appreciate it when someone else always has them done. Now that I've blogged about it, and am somewhat accountable, I hope to be one of those people! :)

First selection: OPI "Red Lights Ahead... Where?"
(this colour is WAY more orange-y than it appears)

To be clear with another thing, this resolution of course involve self-polishing. I think the key to my success here might simply be to really take the time to ensure that my base coat and top coat get on, and that the final manicure has the appropriate amount of drying time. Often times when I do paint my nails it's usually for something and I end up rushing through it and skip the top coat. My life (and chances of success) will be made easier if my manicure lasts longer.

So I realize it's a bit of a fluffy resolution, but I'm pretty excited to look down at my hands and see perfect polish all February long! Wish me luck!

Monkey See, Monkey (try to) Do

Is it just me, or is nail art huge nowadays? It seems to be everywhere I look. When I say nail art, I am referring to multicolour nails, intricate patterns on nails, embellishments creating a 3D nail - basically anything other than one solid colour.

On TV the other day, I saw a beauty segment where the host went to a nail salon and got a different design on each nail. One nail had very tiny beads glued to it, another had a black and white check pattern, and so on. Although I wasn't necessarily taken with any of her designs, I did start to think a little more about trying something myself. Enter: Pinterest. I saw a cute design that involved a neutral base and a glitter overlay. I figured something simple like that would be a good start for me (I like colours but didn't want to start with anything crazy).

The inspiration on the left and my handiwork on the right.

For my base I used the OPI colour At First Sight. I applied my usual two coats and let it dry fully (like 12 hours). Then I took a piece of regular tape and laid it diagonally across my nail, choosing to cover the cuticle as was done in the picture I was working from. I then did two coats on the exposed area, one after the other, on each nail and removed the tape pretty much right away. I worried if I let it dry too much the tape would take some of the polish with it. I did a quick clear coat over the whole nail and - VOILA!

Overall I'm quite happy with the result! A very subtle first foray into the world of nail art. Have you tried any designs or embellishments on your nails?