GuestPost - Wacie

Fun With Pink and Coral 

Hello, Secretary's Nail Art readers!
I am Stacie from wacie.com, and I am your guest blogger today.
I have mani for you that combines many nail art techniques to create one cohesive mani.

 For this look, I used Essie's Pink Glove Service and Tart Deco, Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Too Close to the Flame, OPI's Live, Love, Carnaval, and a nameless pink glow-in-the-dark polish I got at Rite-Aid. Each nail is topped with Dream Polish's Gem Glam top coat in the Melon Baller scent, and Essie's Matte About You matte top coat.

(The white spots are from the matte top coat)

As I mentioned, I employed many different styles for this mani.
All nails have a gradient done with Pink Glove Service and Tart Deco, but only one, my thumb, has the gradient alone and unfettered. The index finger has a coat of Too Close to the Flame under the gradient, while the pinky has it over the top. The middle two nails have the water marble done with Live, Love, Carnaval and Pink Glove Service. It's harder to see on some nails, but it is there.

Pink Glove Service is the workhorse of this mani, and I chose it because it's so sheer and so neutral that you can barely tell it's there. I definitely recommend a polish like this for everyone.

I used it here for all my negative-space needs, it watermarbles, and it's soft enough to work on every skintone.

Each nail also has a dose of the no-name glow-in-the-dark. I applied it at a different time on each nail, dependent on what nail art was done.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to get a really strong glow. I'll definitely use more if I attempt this again.

This photo was taken in complete darkness.

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers are sold in their online shop.
You probably already know where to find OPI and Essie.

Thank you so much for guestposting for me Stacie! Be sure to check out her work over at her blog wacie.com. Preparing for life as a new mom is keeping me busy, and I am looking forward to be getting back to blogging and getting the hang of having a baby around.

Royal Polish - Shining Armor

Very rarely do I go for solid black polish, but this polish from Royal Polish packs just enough of glitter for it to not feel "too black" for me. Being somewhat of an Office-Goth it's a bit strange that I don't like black nail polish, I suppose that I find it all just a bit "too dark" altogether; with black shoes, black pants, black jacket, black stockings... Most of my wardrobe is black, grey or navy after all.

Today I am showing you Royal Polish - Shining Armour.

Royal Polish - Shining Armour has a black jelly base and is packed with round silver glitters, some small and some slightly bigger. It covers completely in 2 coats, thought I did find it to drag a little of the first coat when applying the second coat. With a topcoat over it feels smooth, and sits nice and flat on the nail. When looking at it with the naked eye it almost looks as if there is a grey tinge in the slightly larger silver glitters.

Royal Polish - Shining Armor

Now that I have gotten accustomed with using UNT peelable basecoat, I am starting to feel more confident in using more glitter polishes from my stash. Left unloved for so long, and finally getting to see the outside of my Helmer.

Since the polish is so packed with glitter it leaves little room to incorporate nail art with it. I wore it for a couple of days, and then decided to change it up and make an accent nail using this polish.

OPI - Crown Me Already and  Royal Polish - Shining Armor 

I also added some stamping using Wet n Wild - Black Creme and Moyra - Damask stamping plate.
Love the finished look and I hope you did too!

Royal Polish - Shining Armor

Inspired By Pink Floyd

I am super excited to share this with you all. Me and TheHumbleBear from Instagram decided to do a twinmani. We ended up chatting for a long time and discovered that we both grew up listening to Pink Floyd. A lot. 

I used to sit ready with my cassette recorder in case a Pink Floyd, or Sting song would come on the radio, ready to tape. I think I still got some of my favourites on a cassette at mums place. 

I would have them on in the background when reading books, which was something I was always doing (unless I was doing homework). 

Polishes that I used for this Pink Floyd Themed Nail Art

I haven't done a freehand nail art look in a while, so I decided to grab my striping brushes and a box of nail polishes for this look. 

I sat in the living room, trying it out for filming, and as you can see from the video it is not enough light in there and the natural light from the windows is causing a lot of flickering in the light (our house came with 3 over friendly pigeons that like to fly back n forth in front of our windows) Will pull down the blinds and add more light next time. 

Products used:
Wet n Wild - Black Creme
Barry M - Coconut
Barry M - Plum
Barry M - Blue Grape
Barry M - Yellow (Superdrug LTD)
Barry M - Mango
Barry M - Lime Green
L'oreal - Scarlet Vamp
OPI - Sheer Enchantment
Sally Hansen - Pearly Whites

Two thin striping brushes from Bundlemonster

Pink Floyd - Galaxy Nail Art

My main inspiration for this nail art look was Insomia over at DeviantArt. 

When talking about Pink Floyd you can not escape mentioning their album The Dark Side of the Moon, so when me and TheHumbleBear did out nail art looks, we both did one based on the cover of that album.

When I was living in Spain 2 years ago, I came across this wall, and had to take a picture.

I Wish You Were Beer 

Be sure to check out TheHumbleBear over at Instagram, and send her my love. We had so much fun with this twinmani, and hope you liked the looks that we created. 

Pink Floyd 🌈~ One of my favourite bands 💖😘💖 #Art #AcrylicPaint #Intricate #CuteNailArt #Wishyouwerehere #PinkFloyd #RainbowNails #Polish #Asian #NailArt #NormalPolish #NailArtist #Gelish #Manicure #PrestoGel #InkArt #Favourite #Nailstagram #SharingArt #ArtDiscover #like4like #HandPaintedNailArt #Presto #OOTD #AngelPro #GellyFit #NOTD #POTD #Nails #LOVE

A photo posted by BearBearley 🐻 (@thehumblebear) on May 23, 2016 at 5:50pm PDT

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Lemon

The first thing that comes to my mind when someone mentions neon, is a traffic-stopping yellow neon. I have several yellow neons in my collection and not many other neon shades. Why that is, I don't know, but I often feel that you can really tell how good the maker is, and what to expect from the collection, by looking at their yellows.

So today I am showing you Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Lemon

You can find a Live Swatch that I did over at my YouTube Channel for the entire collection, by following this link.

 

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Lemon

On my swatch you can see 2 coats Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Lemon, over 1 coat Sinful Color - Snow Me White. On my swatching stick you can see one coat alone.

This really reminds me of those Gel Sharpie Markers, and I think if anyone turned those into a polish, this would be it. Super glossy, high shine, and easy application.

I noticed that the bottles from Opulent Essences has a bit of a shattered look in the middle of the lettering. So I thought, what better than pairing it with a shatter / crackle polish? I pulled them all out of my Helmers and decided to use OPI - Shatter - Super Bass Shatter, and stamp an accent with Bundlemonster BMXL202 using Sally Hansen - 640 - Plum Luck, as it pairs very well with OPI - Shatter - Super Bass Shatter, only difference being that OPI - Shatter - Super Bass Shatter has some glitter specs in it. 

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Lemon with OPI - Shatter - Super Bass Shatter and Sally Hansen - Plum Luck with Bundlemonster BMXL202

The above picture is without topcoat, and the glittery specs in OPI - Shatter - Super Bass Shatter really came out of hiding when topcoat was added, but sadly I also smudged my accent, as it had not been given proper time to dry.

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Lemon with OPI - Shatter - Super Bass Shatter and Sally Hansen - Plum Luck with Bundlemonster BMXL202

When I did the Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow - Strawberry and tried using Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow - Lemon to stamp with I promised to do a proper stamping test. Below you can see it stamped over Sinful Color - Snow Me White and Wet N Wild - Black Creme. 

Stamping test over black and white with Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow - Lemon

Here comes the Sun! Check out my Youtube channel for a full Live Swatch and review of the Taste The Rainbow Collection from @opulent_essences link in the bio. #neon #opulentessences #indieswatch #swatch #indiepolish #ukpolish #neonpolish #secretarysnailart

A video posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on Mar 27, 2016 at 2:57pm PDT

OPI - ColorPaints

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen a sneak peak of this look already. I had recently picked up some OPI ColorPaints at TK MAXX. I got the OPI - ColorPaints - Chromatic Orange and OPI - ColorPaints - Purple Perspective. Eagerly tried them out.

Should I add some stamping to these? #opi #colorpaints #barrym #accentnail #nailartaddict #nailpolish #paamani #paamanimonday #nailart #nailartoohlala #nailsoftheday

A video posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on Feb 8, 2016 at 2:33pm PST

I'm just starting to get the hang of Instagram, I am sure you will see lot more fun from me there.


For this look I started out with Barry M - Gelly - Cream Soda.  

On my Uber Chic Beauty stamping mat I took a bit of  OPI - ColorPaints - Chromatic Orange and OPI - ColorPaints - Purple Perspective and marbled them together, and pressed a stamper over the marble. I allowed it to dry on the stamping mat as well at that on the stamper head and applied a coat of Out the Door topcoat.  After the decals had dried I applied them to my nails and left one finger as an accent.

The little finger did not turn out quite how I had hoped, but I still think it's a fun look.

Barry M - Cream Soda, marbled nail art using 
OPI - ColorPaints - Chromatic Orange and OPI - ColorPaints - Purple Perspective

I quite like the idea of these ColorPaints, and will be cool to see what other looks I can pull together with these.

Oh Christmas Tree

Today I have skipped the stamping nail art, and rather gone for a look everyone can achieve.
2 polishes. That is all there is to it.
I am super happy with how this turned out, and I can see myself go back to this combination again.

When I walk to work in the morning it is still dark outside, and I can see Christmas Trees in the windows to the houses that I pass, and in the morning light they look like this. Blackened Green.
So this is a look inspired by the Christmas Trees out there, lighting up my walk to work.

I started out with Barry M - Black Pistachio I chose this polish because of the the blackened green shade. also a sucker for the Gelly range from Barry M. Gorgeous.

Then I layered one coat of OPI - Snow Globetrotter. I was so lucky to come across this polish in a bargain section on one of my many travels around the UK. I always make sure to check any local shops that might have nail polishes for some good deals. This was one of them.

Barry M - Gelly - Black Pistachio with one coat of OPI - Snow Globetrotter

Do you see a Galaxy, or a Christmas Tree in this manicure?

For a complete list of my Christmas themed nails follow this link.

MSMD - Christmas Baubles

Today I have for you a MSMD - Monkey See, Monkey Do I don't know how long it is since last time I did one of these, but I am sure it has been a couple of years now.
So I am bringing it back!

Today I am recreating Celeste Laureen's Christmas Ornament Designs from 2013, she recently recreated it herself, and you can find that over at her Instagram page.  Apparently her original design had been stolen and someone had cropped out her watermark and spread it all over Pinterest with another watermark. Shame on them.
Someone on PAA was asking who it belonged to and I was able to direct them to the rightful owner.

I liked the design so much I decided to recreate it myself.
Celeste Laureen used Essie - Bobbing For Baubles, and even though I have that polish I decided to use a lighter background colour for this.
'Ard As Nails - Mauve. This polish doesn't actually have that name, as it was a Custom Polish, but as it is a mauve shade, more specifically #B784A7 aka Opera Mauve. I am going to call this polish; Mauve for future reference.

It will make it easier for to me keep order in my stash.

On the nails you can see 2 coats of  'Ard As Nails - Mauve you could easily get away with one coat, but the after effects of my sugar craze yesterday has left me a bit shaky, so I needed a second coat. This polish is absolutely amazing, and it wears like iron on me. It has a subtle shimmer/holoness to it, and the shade is just the perfect work appropriate polish.

'Ard As Nails - Mauve 

Then I grabbed China Glaze -Mistletoe Kisses, China Glaze - Ruby Pumps, China Glaze - Midnight Kiss, and OPI - Moonraker, as well as a striper brush and Wet N Wild - Black Creme. I made large round circles with the polishes and traced around the baubles.

'Ard As Nails - Mauve with Christmas Baubles using  China Glaze -Mistletoe Kisses, China Glaze - Ruby Pumps, China Glaze - Midnight Kiss, and OPI - Moonraker

I hope you liked this look, be sure to follow me on the blog, Facebook, or Google + for more Christmas nail art designs.

For more Christmas themed nails check out my other designs here.

Christmas/New Year Haul

I have gotten my hands on a couple of new polishes and nail art items lately. This post is dedicated to those new darlings.  This time I have been to the 99 p store, Poundland, The Works and H&M. 

I have noticed that The Works sometimes has great rhinestone sets, as well as flocking powder. Great for nail art.  

From the 99 p store I picked up the Shatter collection from OPI.

OPI Silver Shatter
OPI Black Shatter
OPI Shatter the Scales
OPI Super bass Shatter
OPI Red Shatter
OPI Gold Shatter

Gold/White glitter from H&M NOK 29,-

From Poundland. Allura Diamante Nail Charms. Purple bows, white snowflakes, Christmas stockings and Christmas tree.

From Poundland, Revlon Chroma Chameleon Collection.

Revlon Chroma Chameleon - Pink Quartz
Revlon Chroma Chameleon - Gold
Revlon Chroma Chameleon - Cobalt

I know there is a green and a purple as well in this collection. Will have to keep my eyes out for them, and see if they are at any of the other Poundlands in town.

Nail Wraps. Got these two for £1.99 ea.

£ 1.99,- set of three (0,3 - 0,4 - 0,5) different sized rhinestones in four colours, from The Works.

Blog Haul

I have been shopping and today a huge parcel was dumped on my doorstep. Okay, maybe not that huge, just  7 polishes. Which is, if I may say it, quite a modest haul.
It took 2 days for the parcel to end up at my doorstep, I wasn't expecting it until end of this week, looks like Royal Mail is faster than I thought.

CG - No Plain Jane, CG - Want My Bawdy, CG - Unpredictable.

For manicures using:
China Glaze - No Plain Jane
China Glaze - Want My Bawdy
China Glaze - Unpredictable

China Glaze - Get Carried Away, China Glaze - Whirled Away.

For manicures using:
China Glaze - Get Carrier Away
China Glaze - Whirled Away

Barry M - Denim

For manicures using Barry M - Denim, follow this link.

OPI - Moonraker

For manicures using OPI - Moonraker, follow this link

OPI - Live And Let Die

I am on a green nail polish roll here. The next polish I wanted to show you from my green box, is OPI - Live And Let Die. I really love this. It's a one coater, and dries quick, and is just gorgeous.

Live and Let Die is from OPI’s Skyfall 007 collection, and was the only polish in the collection that caught my eyes. It's a blackened green with golden shimmer.

[Pic Spam]

Bonus nail art picture with FIMO