Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection Nail Art

My entire flat is filled with bags and boxes of stuff. Most of the nail room has already been packed down and is ready to go to the new place this weekend, to my new Nail Cave.
I am super excited about getting a bit larger room for my nail stuff, and not having to share it when we have visitors. At the moment, my nail cave is in the spare bedroom, but in the new house, we are swapping the large double bed we have for guests now, for a super comfy sofa bed.

Since moving is hard on the nails I have filed them a bit shorter, and made sure there is a nail file and plenty of cuticle oil ready for me at the new place. Cardboard boxes always dries up my cuticles.

I know I have already written a couple of times about how I move and travel with my nail polishes, if you want an update and a bit through post about different packing ideas and methods let me know. For the past 4 years I have moved  about 10 times across 5 different countries, bringing nail polishes with me on planes, boats, trains, cars and carried them on my back in a rucksack.
I have found some great ways to bring with me my entire collection which is now counting around 700 polishes, when I first moved to Wales from Norway I had "only" 150 polishes...

I wanted to show you two different nail art looks that I have done lately, between all the packing and arranging stuff for the move.

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection (neon polish)

First one is a drybrush look, which I did using the Taste The Rainbow Collection from Opulent Essences that I purchased a while back.

Neon Drybrush Nail Art using Opulent Essences Orange, Strawberry and Lemon over Sinful Color - Snow Me White

I used Sinful Color - Snow Me White as a base for this look and a drybrush technique using Opulent Essences - Strawberry, Opulent Essences - Lemon, and Opulent Essences - Orange.

I have been too hard on my nails when packing, so sadly this is the only picture I got of this look. It's still a pretty mani, so I wanted to share with you all.

Sinful Color - Snow Me White polish base and my food.

The next look I wanted to show today is a look that ended up as a total fail.
It's a fail because I decided to add some animal prints to the look, and had this fantastic idea of making "Cougar Nails". Sadly, the animal prints I decided to use, destroyed everything.

@opulent_essences Taste The Rainbow Collection using Strawberry and Orange for a gradient and some animal print stickers from Bundlemonster. The stickers turned the mani all gloopy, so this is the only picture of my gorgeous gradient.. #secretarysnailart #Bundlemonster #nailsticker #gradient #nailart #nailartaddict #nailartoohlala #opulentessences #neonpolish #neonpinkpolish #animalprint #neonorangepolish #neonpolish #indiepolishuk #indiepolish

A photo posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on May 18, 2016 at 10:15am PDT

Before Christmas I purchased some stuff from Bundlemonster, and I threw in a Surprise Bundle with Nail Art stuff. I had chosen to use the stickers (MP019) that was in this bundle of fun.

I applied them like you would with any other nail art stickers and seal with a topcoat. Didn't really think much about it, and let them dry for 30 min before adding another layer of top as the stickers where still sticking through the topcoat. Not long after the stickers started wrinkling, and turned gummy, and turned not just the topcoat and the stickers gummy, but the entire gradient underneath and the white undie as well(!)
It would not dry.
After 5 hours I noticed that it looked like it was sliding off my nails...
So I removed it all.
I was gutted, because I was so happy with my gorgeous gradient, and had not taken pictures of the steps. Needless to say, I was not in the mood to sit down and do another gradient.


What are some of your nail art related horror stories?

Natalie's Christmas

A nail polish in this post was gifted to me and it contains product previously sent for reviewing purposes and affiliate link. For the full review of the 3D Christmas Sticker from BornPrettyStore, click here. Nothing further to disclose.

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

Today's look started out with 3 coats of Ciate - Encore!, it came in the Ciate Advent Calendar I bought, and if you want to see all the looks I have done using products from the Calendar, check them out here.  A warning has to be mentioned about Ciate - Encore!, it is a stainer. Though yellow nails are not in any way dangerous, it is ugly, and we would all prefer it if our nail polishes didn't stain our nails.

Ciate - Encore!

Since I can't leave anything alone, I topped it with Ard As Nails - Natalie, hence the title, and stuck some Christmas Stickers from BornPrettyStore in Gold from the TY114 section. In my initial post I was complaining about some bleeding that I discovered, and that was not the case with this look, which I am very glad for.

Ciate - Encore! with Ard As Nails - Natalie and BornPrettyStore TY114 Christmas Stickers

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

A nail polish in this post was gifted to me and it contains product previously sent for reviewing purposes and affiliate link. For the full review of the 3D Christmas Sticker from BornPrettyStore, click here. Nothing further to disclose.

Shooting Stars

Products in this post has previously been sent for reviewing purposes, to view the original post, follow this link.

Today I have some nudes for you.
We are not talking about the aftermath of a Christmas Company Dinner going wrong here, but of today's nail art that I did for my little Advent Calendar here on the blog.
One new post every day until December 25th.

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

Yesterday I did a bright red look with cute hearts, and today I am toning it down a little with a nude polish and some gold nail art stickers. I am really trying to cater to everyone's taste  this holiday season.

This time I am back with a polish that I got in my Ciate Advent Calendar, this one was hiding behind door number 4. Ciate - Members only. This polish is very similar to Ciate - Ivory Queen, only difference is that Ciate - Members only is even sheerer. We are talking topper sort of sheerness in this one.  On my nails you will see 3 coats.

To finish the look I applied Christmas Stickers from BornPrettyStore in Gold, from the TY103 section of the sheet. In my initial post I was complaining about some bleeding that I discovered, and that was not the case with this look, which I am very glad for.

Ciate - Members only and BornPrettyStore stickers in TY103

This would actually work really well for a New Year look.

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

Products in this post has previously been sent for reviewing purposes, to view the original post, follow this link.

Merry Christmas Nails

I received this product of my own choosing, free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store.

Today I have for you the 12 pcs 3D  Christmas Stickers from BornPrettyStore in Gold.

I wanted to make sure I posted this before December so that those of you out there looking for Christmas Nail Ideas still have time to buy these before the festivities are over.

I for one know how frustrating it can be to find "the perfect" Christmas/Halloween/Birthday look for your nails AFTER it is over. I feel ya sisters. Been there, done that.


Like all great nail arts, I started out with a solid base colour. Today I decided to finally use my China Glaze - Gussied Up Green.

China Glaze - Gussied Up Green

China Glaze - Gussied Up Green 

I see now that I have a Barry M and a Misa polish that might actually be dupes with this polish, but look at that beauty. I think we all understand how I managed to end up with 3 polishes that looks like this. Gorgeous.

To be honest, this was not the easiest polish to work with, it was very thin, and I think what you are seeing here is actually 4-5 coats.


When doing reviews one can only report what you see, and experience, and from what I can see from the macro shot of this manicure, is that the gold in the stickers bleed a little. The instructions says to apply 2 coats of topcoat over, I only used 1 coat, and the topcoat that I used was Out The Door. Just so that is said.
As you can see from the pictures it was only the garland that bleed. That garland is found on the TY105 section. I also used a ribbon and "Merry Christmas" taken from TY110. I did not experience any problems with those stickers, and after a week wear they still looked pretty good.

China Glaze - Gussied Up Green with stickers from BornPrettyStore, TY110 and TY105

China Glaze - Gussied Up Green with stickers from BornPrettyStore, TY110 and TY105

The  12 pcs 3D  Christmas Stickers from BornPrettyStore cost $ 5.57, but at the time of writing this post, it is on sale for $4.46.

If you will be placing an order, feel free to use my 10 % off coupon: RAMG10
There are plenty of products to choose from at their site, not just nail related items, and the prices are very affordable and they have free worldwide shipping.
Click the image below and you will be taken to their site.

For more Christmas themed nails, check out my other work.


I received this product of my own choosing, free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store.

Fun With Flag - A Blogger Collaboration

If you regularly hang out on the internet I am sure you have seen this post on 9gag, Facebook or even Pinterest lately. That within one flag, you can often find other flags.

That is what started this idea, and as I looked up from my screen in the office, I caught a glance of another rerun of Big Bang Theory on one of the large TVs we have here. This was one of the "Fun With Flag" episodes, where Dr.Sheldon Cooper talks about flag-history on the Youtube series he has.

...and the idea was created.

I reached out to a handful of bloggers asking if they wanted to join in on the fun. I was overwhelmed with the response, and so thrilled that they found the time to join in on this "Fun With Flag" collaboration.

That instead of doing flag manicures only for patriotic reasons, I wanted to do them united with other bloggers, as a sign of unity. We are all in this hobby together, and borders mean nothing.


I am from Norway, so there will be no surprise for many of you that I have chosen to write about the flag of my home country.

Prior to the 17th century Norway had a flag with a golden lion with crown and axe on a red background, but our union with Denmark would put an end to this flag. When Norway in 1814 became independent, the golden lion was brought back and put in the upper left corner (the canton) on the Danish flag.

Source: Wikipedia

But it was not going to last for long. Norway joined a union with Sweden and needed to change their flag. Out of respect to the Swedish union and the historical friendship with Denmark, the Parliament wanted the flag to represent this by having something blue, red and white in the flag.
After much back and forth for almost a 100 years the Norwegian flag as we know it today was accepted. 9th of June 1905 the Norwegian flag was raised.

Flag Manicures. Red, White and Blue

Please check out what the other girls are doing by clicking through here:

An InLinkz Link-up

Serendipity

I received this product of my own choosing, free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store. Contains affiliate link.

Serendipity:
Finding something good,
without looking for it.


I recently bought some polishes from Rainbow Connection, and I wanted to show you what I came up with for my first time wearing this beauty. It's bad to say it really, but this one was something I just threw in my online shopping basket because it had the "Rainbow Connection Exclusive" tag on it. I am happy to announce that I love it.

Dollish Polish - Serendipity is this gorgeous forest green shade with a subtle holo. It only required two coats for full opacity.

Dollish Polish - Serendipity (Rainbow Connection Exclusive)

I recently received some lovely nail-stickers from BornPrettyStore that I have been dying to use, and thought this would be a great opportunity.

20174 - 3D Metallic Nail Art Stickers Chic Flower Lace Butterfly Stickers Nail Tips Stamping Decals Nr. 4 from BornPrettyStore

The stickers come in 6 different sizes, 12 of each design, so firstly you have to find one that fits your nail. The largest design is big enough to fit my toenail, and is the size of a full nail image on a standard stamping plate.
I like cutting the design out, to make it easier to get my Tweezers in and peel the design of the backing.
The backing is of sturdy plastic, and it comes in a large plastic pocket, that can be used for storing it in.
To avoid those pesky cat hairs we all seem to gather.

When I received my stickers they had bent a bit during shipping and needed a couple of days under some lexicons. This straightened them out, without any problems.

Once you have peel off the design, place it down on your nails, but be sure that your basecoat is completely dry. This gives you plenty of time to re-position the design before tapping it down on the nail.
Add topcoat over and you are good to go.

Dollish Polish - Serendipity and 20174 stickers from BornPrettyStore

The design lasted the 4 days I had them on my talons. I would like to note for those who are looking to get these that the glue that is used is very thick, and did not go away with acetone remover, but had to use my thumb and run it over my nails to get the glue off.
Think of it like a thick version of a peel off base. I think that is the best way I can describe it.
It did not damage my nails in any way and came off very easily, but if you don't like the feel of removing a gummy glue on your nails, you have hereby been warned.

If you want to pick up these 3D Metallic Nail Art Stickers Chic Flower Lace Butterfly Stickers Nail Tips Stamping Decals they are $ 4,99,- and as always BornPrettyStore also offers free shipping worldwide. If you use my code (RAMG10) you get 10% off your order.

I received this product of my own choosing, free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store. Contains affiliate link.

Jump to the Airport - mani

So there I am, finishes packed and ready to go to Spain. When I noitice something horrible. My nail polish has chipped!!! I don't want to be selfconcious on the entire trip, I want to be able to relax. So those nails had to be done. 

For this manicure I did something cool.

I made a decal!

I ended up using it on my thumb, I forgot how large the image was... Oh well. There is a first time for everything, and everyone. This was mine. I am no longer a decal-virigin. 

I used the Cheeky - Jumbo Plate - Tropical Holiday. It was the only plate I could use really. Tropical Holiday, I was going to Spain, ya know?!

How-to:

Select an image you want on your nails. Transfer it to your stamper. Fill in with colours using a fine brush or dotting tool, Let it dry for 10 min. Apply a generously amount of clear nail polish over, or the background colour of your choice. Let it dry for 10-15 min. Take it of carefully, and apply to wet/tacky polish on your nails. There you go!


Now, enough about decals. Over to the nails. Since I was kinda in a hurry, I forgot the usual step-to-step pics, but you get an idea.

Jump to the Airport - mani

The thumb is the decal I made. I used ESSIE - Navigate Her as base and ESSIE - Moijito Madness for the top of the palm tree and W7 - Buff for the stem
Iindex finger I used Barry M - Lime Green stamped a plane over and filled it in using Wet & Wild - Black Creme
Middle finger I used Barry M - Superdrug Limited Edition Yellow, and stamped over using Barry M - Lychee with seashells
Ringfinger has Barry M - Acid Yellow as base with Barry M - Fuchsia stamped over with hibiscus flowers
Little finger is ESSIE - Navigate Her and a nail sticker with hipster glasses

Phuuu that is a long list of polishes.

I got to the Airport in time, and got to sit down there for a couple of minutes before take up. UK was raining like all hell was loose as soon as I got in the Airport, and when I landed in Spain, it had just stopped raining.
There was some tubulense on the trip, but all in all, it went good.


PS: If you are planning on taking EasyJet any time soon.. They are planning on denying all liquids on check-in luggage. Just FYI.

Holy Motherboard

I have to admit I am a bit late with this post, I'm playing catch-up on these challenges. The girls over at Llama Nails on FB have this Nerd Challenge going, and it looks really cool.
Previously on this challenge we have had "Inspired by Math", "Inspired by Space", "Inspired by Science Fiction" and "Inspired by Litterature", now its time for "Inspired by Technology".

I love computers, that's just how it is. So when this challenge arrived I knew what I wanted to do. A post I did last year was a programmers -manicure with HTML codes, and this time I'm going deeper, and taking a look at the Motherboard. Interesting enough, I'm holding my first motherboard in the HTML -code manicure.

For this manicure I used black and white acrylic paint, a liner brush, a script liner brush and a dotting tool. I used China Glaze - Unpredictable as my base color. At the end I added a metal circle and a nail art sticker ( for the serial number)

Mystic Dotticures

It's been incredible sunny lately, its insane. I would never guess that England could be this warm and toasty. It's like being in Florida. My hair goes all curly, I don't sleep as long as I usually do, cause its just too warm, too bright a light outside. I get about 4-5 hours before I'm up again. Then another hour middle of the day, when I'm outside working on my tan (I got an alarm waking me up after 30 min, to turn around, and do another 30 min)
I have decided to get a decent tan this year. Nothing over the top, but a little bit more than a base colour. Last year, my tan stuck on my skin for 6 months before it was gone (without added sun). I'm guessing that's what you get when you avoid sun for all cost when you are younger. At least I am conscious about the dangers of overexposure, and use sunscreen and stuff.
An hour outside a day has really done wonders for my skin though, not just with giving me some color. If you are a regular visitor you might also have noticed that my normally super dry hands are not so dry. I'm very pleased with that.

I'm back with a nail art using NYC - Aqua Mystic as a base colour. I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I opted for dotticures.

This looks so pretty. The sticker with three dots on the other nails. 

I feel like this was a bit too much. It would have worked without the sticker in my mind. Stick to one thing...

4th Of July Manicure

I deserve some credit for my dedication. 

I made this manicure 2 months ago cause I was afraid I would miss it. I was just not having it. 

This manicure had to be made. 

I used two coats of H&M - Red Nail, for the french, then made a ribbon using ESSIE - Bobbing for Baubles, and finished it all off with a white nail sticker I got from Ebay.

Happy 4th of July!

FNUG - Fashion Show

I needed something neutral, and nice for a job interview, and I opted for one for my FNUG polishes. This one is called Fashion Show. When it comes to office-nails this is my favorite. I have worn it previously, you can see the post here and an other version here.

The color is easy to work with, it needs two coats, and dries fast. If you are sensitive to smells, this might be a polish to look into, I find the scent to be lighter than a lot of my other polishes.

Added a few nail stickers I got from Ebay on my nails, and I was ready to impress.

Makeup Mekka - Remember 79'

It was about time I got into the habit of doing my nails again. I have been missing out a lot, cause of the moving to UK and all, but the worse parts are over.
Last night I tried Makeup Mekka - Remember 79'.

I am so happy that my nubs are starting to grow out, and I am taking as good care of them as I can. I have been trimming my little finger-nail a lot, cause it grows like crazy, while the rest of them don't. 

I really like this color here, it was easy to apply, worked well with the brush it came with. Doesn't have a terrible smell to it, quite ordinary as nail polish goes. Covered in two coats. 

I couldn't leave it like this, and I debated with myself for a long time, before I decided to get my stickers out to play. 

I found a tripod in the computer room, and my landlord let me borrow it to take some pictures. I had a lot of fun testing the tripod out. Felt so pro.

Where the Wild Roses Grow

Today I actually altered a manicure I made last night. I love how it turned out.
Funny thing is, when I am halfway happy with my manicure, adding dots never seem to fail.

So lets take a peak at what I did last night.

I started out with 2 coats of FNUG - Fashion Show, added a nail sticker strip with flowers. They kinda look like roses actually. 

Then the say after I added some dots.

Arent they just adorable?!

Reminds me of old dresses, and "The Good Ol` Days" 

So I started humming on this song, and I just love the cover version to Kamelot.

FNUG - Fashion Show in a cascade of flowers

I just showed a swatch of this color, now lets do something with it, so its not so naked.

For this manicure I used a no-brand nail art stickers I bought from Ebay. If you want I can provide a link to the buyer/item.

By the time I had done this mani, the sun had set, and I had to take a picture with just my ordinary lamp. It doesnt give the best light, so the color is a bit of. I took a series of pictures with Blitz, and without, here are the two best shots.

What do you think?

Organizing a Collection

So last week, I posted about my Collection of polishes. 
And today I bought a photo album, and started organizing my stamping plates, and nail stickers.
This is how it turned out.

*showing random-pages*

Do you organize your BM / Konad (etc..) plates and nailstickers?

BeYu - 164

This mani I made using three coats of BeYu - 164, from Lovely Nudes collection 2010.
I have seen other pictures of this polish, and on the website it looks like its grey, but its not. The two first pictures are true to the colour. It goes on very nice, and it easy to apply.

I'm not really a huge fan of nudes so I added some flowers to my thumb and ringfinger.

Do you like nudes?

Vacation Haul - Spain

Effect polishes, and Essence Cuticle Remover.

A handful of Sinful Colors.

BeYu polish.

Nailstamps and stickers.

Instead of getting Fimo canes, where you have to cut them, yourself, I got this from Claire`s.

Sideview of black polish with glitter, from Claire`s.

Seen from the bottom.

Some Magnetic polishes from Kiko, for 2.50 Euro each.