Ok this post is pretty huge if I do say so myself, it even has two tutorials including a lilac lace nail art… that’s right two!
I’ve been getting a lot of nail polish related requests lately so here is a gigantic post to take care of some of them!
Firstly a lot of people have been asking how many nail polishes I have… the answer is 87. That sounds like a lot… and well it is a lot but I’ve collected those over the last 4 years aaaaand a lot of them were gifts and the ones I bought were all like $2 so it’s not actually the gigantic money pit it sounds like!
Question 2: how do I store them? Well if I’m going to be making a lot of nail art to sell at once then I set them all up on a table organized by colour. Other than that they all live in a draw organized by whatever I shoved in there first.
With that many polishes how do you choose colours that go well together?! Well I make swatches out of old fakes nails and paddle pop sticks like this:
I got the idea from one of your blogs actually… but I can’t for the life of me find the post and I’ve been searching all morning >_< If it was you just let me know in the comments because I want to credit you!! *edit* some has said it was invented by “krisprimps.bradandkris.com” but I haven’t ever been to her blog so I must have seen it somewhere else!*/edit*
A random selection:
I use white nail tips so when I need to test out how opaque a white polish is I paint the tips black first.
So how do you make them? Well let me show you with the new Lilac polish that Eyekowas kind enough to send me 😀
Gather all the items above, you need: -A glue gun -Paddle pop sticks -A pen -Old false nail tips -Various polishes you want to swatch, I try to save them up and do around 10 at a time.
First count how many polishes you have and get that many paddle pop sticks and nail tips.
Heat your glue gun and put some glue on the back curve of one of the nail tips.
Press it down onto the edge of the paddle pop stick. Be very careful not to burn yourself!
Add some extra glue to the back to make sure everything is secure.
Rinse and repeat for how ever many you need…
Now wait until all of that is dry and paint one coat of polish over the whole thing.
Wait for it to dry!
While we’re waiting for it to dry here’s a mini review of the Eyeko polish:
The application was quite good it was a nice consistency and very shiny after application. It was opaque/the colour in the bottle after 2 coats. This next photo is a really good representation of the colour, it’s nice and soft and reminds me a lot of OPI “Do you lilac it?”. I didn’t find the smell of the polish over powering either which was nice.
The packaging is super cute too which is a plus!
The bottle is quite small at 8.5ml for £3 but for a boutique company that seems to be fairly standard. So the verdict = good! Everything they have is themed on a very cute manga which they update on the site every week, here’s some of the cute info they sent through:
Now back to the tutorial! After the first coat is dry write the name and colour of the polish on the other end of the stick!
Just like this 😀
Now time for the second coat, this time you should only paint the top 2/3rds of the nail.
Then leave that to dry. Once it’s dry you should paint one final coat on the top 1/3rd of the nail.
So you should have something like this, the numbers represent the number of coats. This doesn’t mean much for a polish as opaque as this one but when you have a more sheer polish it’s much more useful to know how many coats you’ll need for the finish you want. Now you can see at a glance without having to trial and error it every time.
This is an example of some polishes where the differences are a little more obvious, especially the orange.
So there you have it! Now it’s time for a nail art tutorial 😀 Today we’re going to make a pretty but easy lace finish on a base of the Eyeko Lilac Polish. Video is below!
<div-id= “lilac”>
Hope you enjoyed the double tutorial post! And please let me know if you have any other nail art related questions <3
Let me know what you think of it all especially the lilac lace nail art, I want to do more tutorials ^_^
That’s right you heard it, 4 outfit posts for the price of 1!
These are some of the outfits I wore while we were in Melbourne! Because were weren’t sure of the weather (which is famously unpredictable) I focused a lot on layering. With each outfit I’ll give you some tips for dressing well while traveling ^_^
Before we get into the outfits though… I totally want to show you my nails!
These nails are very much my favorites of all of the sets I’ve ever done!
Oh no creepy witch hands!
Unfortunately this is the best photo I got of them the whole time and it was taken by Aurora Hime!
Basically they are alternating light blue and pink with silver glitter, then white stripes over the top. They have then been decorated with a mix of diamantes, stars, tiny gold/silver balls, and gigantic 3D pearls (look on the blue thumb, gigantic right?). You can’t see a lot of the details here but these babies were spectacular in the light! Doing them reminded me that bigger is definitely better and inspired me to do more insanely big nail art 😀 Funnily enough because everything was rounded they were one of the least annoying sets I’ve worn because they didn’t catch on anything!
Outfit Number 1:
Skirt: Angelic Pretty Singlet: Some cheap store Cardigan: Ally Shoes: Bodyline Stockings: Myer Necklace: Little Waltz Hair Bow: Uncaring Kitty Other Jewelery: Random places
This outfit was for a day that started with a chill in the air and ended being very very hot! This was the day that we flew back to Brisbane so I picked an outfit that was cute but still comfortable enough for the plane. While the skirt is big, it’s not so big that you can’t move easily through the plane’s aisles and the cardigan sits flat so if needed I can add a thin jacket over the top for extra warmth
With outfits like this, its really all about the accessories! If you took the bows and jewelery away you would have something quite plain but adding the bling makes everything stand out more 😀 When I travel I will always scrimp on the actual clothes and take a lot more accessories. Something always gets lost or ruined on holiday so I would rather have enough accessories that if I have to re-wear an outfit I can make it look completely different with the accessories!
Picking pieces that can coordinate with pretty much any outfit is good too, for example, this bow on my hair is a white/cream so I can wear it with any colour dress because it doesn’t have a strong colour.
Outfit Number 2:
Dress: Target Cardigan: Present from my Mum Blue bow: Angelic Pretty Scarf: Some shop in Bugis in Singapore Beret: Portmans with a bow taken off a Bodyline dress Stockings: Myer Shoes: Bodyline
This outfit is a good example of one that can handle several different temperatures each day. The cardigan has an open weave patten so it breathes in the heat BUT it still provides warmth against a breeze. The scarf is so thin that when worn loose like this you can barely feel it but if it gets chilly you can wrap it several times and stay warm. The beret gives you a chance to rest your hair from all the spray/teasing and keeps you nice and warm, if you get too warm… take it off!
Outfit Number 3:
Skirt: Vintage from Blue Velvet Vintage Shirt: I think it was from Temp or some store, its just a v-neck t-shirt with a small puff sleeve Cardigan: Myer (I think… it was a gift) Hair accessories: Bows are from a Bodyline dress and the roses were made by me! Blue Bow: Angelic Pretty Stockings: Myer Shoes: Bodyline
This outfit was another example when we didn’t know what the weather would be like, the shirt is pretty enough that if it got too warm I could just lose the cardigan. This was my Chinese New Years/Valentines Day outfit 😀
Outfit Number 4:
Dress: Bodyline Cardigan: Op shop Stockings: Swimmer Jewelery: Little Waltz and some randoms Bow: Uncaring Kitty
Ok let’s talk about shoes… I took 3 pairs down for the week and the whole time I only ended up wearing these ones. The other two I took were both high heels, what’s the difference? This pair has a platform base on the front so if you actually measure the *real* height difference from your toes to your heals it’s only a few centimeters… this means that I can walk ALL day in them without getting horrible blisters but they still look awesome! I picked them in white because as well as lengthening the look of my legs (with the white stockings) they go with pretty much anything at all 😀
Taking several pairs of different stockings is another way to change your co-ordinates easily without taking up valuable suitcase space. Pattern stocks are awesome for any occasion as long as you pick the pattern carefully. I’m wearing cupcakes for out tea party 😀
So what’s there to take away from this? Small objects can make a big difference to an outfit!
P.S This is on a completely different note but I am looking for a new hairdresser! If you can recommend anyone in Brisbane (or even Melbourne so I can add to the list of reasons to move) then please let me know. They need to be awesome with colour and possibly extensions because I’m interested in that too. If you’re a hair dresser in Brisbane/Melbourne either leave a comment or contact me at [email protected] <3 <3 <3
Recently we held a tea party at the new Cristina Re store and it was so beautifully decorated I couldn’t wait to post the photos!
When we decided to take a trip to Melbourne, the one thing I *really* wanted to do was have a big meet up where I could catch up with all of my blogging friends and everyone else we knew in Melbourne ^_^
SuperKawaiiMama was completely awesome about the idea and organised a tea party for us at the new Cristina Re flagship store. I had only heard of Cristina Re in the sense that she makes the beautiful scrap-booking supplies and stationary and I had no idea that there was a beautiful little cafe attached!
The cafe was decorated with beautiful butterflies:
We had a great turn out! From left to right below:
Being that we were pretty much all bloggers we had a huuuge amount of photos by the end of the day!
There were two token boys there as well, Kitty’s Drawing’s partner Johnny and Jameswho was being the photographer for the day ^_^
Here he is!
Everyone was dressed so immaculately!
The setting was delightful and oh my god the food… the food!
There was so much food! We had spinach quiche…
Macarons:
Tiny delicious cupcakes:
And the most beautiful hand made chocolates:
James ate about a billion of the delicious sandwiches!
Everywhere you looked there was something else beautifully presented!
It was quite funny, not many of the people who came had actually met in real life before but I don’t think there was an awkward pause the whole time! We bloggers sure can chat!
SuperKawaiiMamaand I chatting to our hostess, who was the friendliest person in the entire world!
I so love this photo:
We ended up staying right up until closing time because we were having so much fun 😀
There were several yummy teas served that day including mint, lemon, chamomile, fruit and others that I’ve forgotten. We had a lot of fun trying to work out which tea was which because they all came in the same tea pots XD Lucky dip tea!
I was totally jealous of Aurora Hime’snails, they had little bunnies on them!
More food… because I just can’t get enough of it! The service at the cafe was really great, and they just kept bringing more tea as we drank it all.
I wanted to take this chandelier home with me!
We had such a wonderful time that day, it was a really lovely introduction to Melbourne and it was great to finally meet some of the people I’ve been chatting online to for years! I can’t wait to go back!!
Thanks so much to everyone who came to have tea with us at the Cristina Re store! <3 <3 <3
In which we start with nail art and it just gets more random from there….
I’ve been wanting to do a proper update for a while but I just haven’t had the time >_< So I present you, the last couple of months in photos!
I made my Mum some Christmas themed nails for her work party:
I like the nails that look like presents!
And the stripey ones. Stripes are awesome 😀
I made this cake when my Mum came over for dinner.
It didn’t turn out very well but it was pretty yummy! I think next time I need to just stick with icing because I tired to paint roses on the sides and it looked terrible!
One day I went to brush my teeth and there was a lizard in the sink who couldn’t get out. He was stuck because the sink was slippery >_<
He was scared of us (I named him Steven by the way) so I used the string on my pajamas to make a ladder for him. He got out and lived in our bathroom for a few days eating the ants.
One day he tried to venture into the lounge so we had to put him outside in case someone stepped on him 🙁
BYE STEVEN! He lives under our back steps now.
We discovered that there was a Japanese bakery that just opened up at one of our favorite shopping centers… and went a bit crazy. Turns out that as pretty as the below cake looked it was disgustingly stale >_< Luckily their other things are absolutely delicious so we’ve been going back almost every week!
These are the photos James took on Christmas Day. I didn’t get any of the morning when we went to my Dad’s house so here are the ones from lunch with James’ family. The food was so yummy!
And the table was very pretty ^_^
Candied yams… we don’t usually have this in Aus, it’s very American. I’d never heard of it until James introduced me but it’s sooo yummy!
Group shot!
I stole some of the decorations from the crackers to make my bow more Christmas-y.
For New Years we went to James’ Parent’s unit in Mooloolaba. There was such a pretty view from the balcony!
Oh course it always had a breeze in the most inappropriate times XD I still love this photo!
James wanted to try out lots of new camera settings so I got to do lots of cam-whoring.
And I wanted to show you how glittery my nails looked in the sun…
So glittery! I can’t believe I forgot to take a close up >_< They were seriously all pink and silver glitter with some cute black hearts.
For dinner that night I had Okonomiyaki from a street vendor, so over priced and not very nice. I give it a 5/10 because they didn’t have extras on top.
The view from that night, there were lots of street stalls there.
A kiss at midnight!
And the pretty fireworks.
It was a pity that half of them were behind that tree. Pretty anyway 😀
So there you go! I’ll be back again with another nail art tutorial soon ^_^
Well this week has been all about nail art hasn’t it?
Today I’m happy to announce the grand opening of my nail art for sale section ^_^
Scroll down to see some of the false nails I’ve got for sale or scroll to the bottom to see how to order!
Set 1. Princess Pink Nail Art
Description:
These beautiful nails are fit for even the fussiest of princesses. They are striped in light pink, white and dark pink with a pearlised finish so they shimmer in the light. Two rows of pink, purple and red diamantes bejewel each nail, the tiny gaps between the dimantes are filled with small gold bullions. Perfect for any royal event.Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a square tip. The largest size is 1.8cm wide and 1.9cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.2cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.Price: US$30Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.
A close up of the first 10 nails.
Set 2. Loving the Leopard
Sold!
Description:
There is no hiding from these nails, you won’t need to camouflage! With a bright purple base and fluro pink leopard spots these nails sure make a splash! The tips have been dipped in bright pink glitter and a matching pink diamante has been added to polish off. These are guaranteed to grab attention!
Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a rounded tip. The largest size is 1.7cm wide and 2.3cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.4cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.
Price: US$15
Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.
A close up of the first 10 nails.
Set 3. Gilded Roses
Description:
A dark red base with tiny black flecks featuring a gold glitter wash and hand painted gold roses. They shimmer beautifully in the sunlight and make an eye catching addition to a day or evening outfit.
Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a rounded tip. The largest size is 1.7cm wide and 2.3cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.4cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.
Price: US$15
Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.
A close up of the first 10 nails.
Set 4. Cake Parade
Description:
Mmm Cake. Each nail in this set of 20 is individually decorated in the theme of strawberry cake. They even have yummy 3D icing! Some of the designs include: a slice of cake, a fork, and an icing heart. So yummy you might want to bite them off and eat them!
Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a rounded tip. The largest size is 1.7cm wide and 2.3cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.4cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.
Price: US$20
Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.
A close up of the first 10 nails. Particularly note the hand painted bow and delicious strawberry cake slice.
Set 5. A Midnight Rendezvous
Description:
The perfect nails for a night out on the town or a civilized evening waltzing on the dance floor. The deep blue background on these can’t be completely captured in photographs, it’s stunning in person! Gold glitter tips with strings of gold bullions falling from the sky adorn this set with hand painted stars and crescent moons accenting 8 of the 20 nails. Each gold bullions has been hand placed in it’s individual string.
Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a square tip. The largest size is 1.8cm wide and 1.9cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.2cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.
Price: US$30
Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.
A close up of the first 10 nails.
Set 6. Seeing Spots
Sold!
Description:
With a mixture of gold, purple and pink these nails are perfect for an every day look. They are classy and have just enough bling to keep everyone’s attention firmly on your nails. They have a mixture of french tips and moons. The diamantes used are complimentary colour in the shapes of circles, flowers, hearts and stars.
Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a square tip. The largest size is 1.8cm wide and 1.9cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.2cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.
Price: US$15
Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.
A close up of the first 10 nails.
Set 7. Tea for Two
Description:
These nails would go beautifully with a Lolita co-ordinate. Pastel pink and blue themed they are each individually hand painted with items such as lace, bows, lollipops and even a portrait or two! Please view them close up to fully appreciate the details. The perfect accessory to top off any outfit!
Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a rounded tip. The largest size is 1.7cm wide and 2.3cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.4cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.
Price: US$35
Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.
A close up of the first 10 nails.
Set 8. Koi Pond
Description:
Koi fish splishing and splashing their way through the waves on your nails. These koi have all been painstakingly hand painted. They have gold metallic scales and the waves have silver metallic accents to make them shimmer in the sunlight. Please view them up close to see all of the little details.
Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly long nails with a rounded tip. Please note that these particular nails have been hand filed to shape, as such they are not completely even. Please examine the photos carefully before ordering. The largest size is 1.9cm wide and 2.7cm long. The smallest size is 0.9cm wide and 1.8cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.
Price: US$35
Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.
A close up of the first 10 nails.
Set 9. Tartan Icing
Description:
These nails feature hand painted tartan style pointed french tips and tiny silver bullions. The base are frosted white with silver glitter to make them extra shiny. The tartan is made with 4 different shades of pink and white.
Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a square tip. The largest size is 1.8cm wide and 1.9cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.2cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.
Price: US$20
Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.
A close up of the first 10 nails.
Set 10. Frosted Fruit Candy
Description:
This set just screams summer to me! Each nail has a summery base colour with a thin white french tip. The tips have gradated silver glitter so they really catch the light and a slice of fruit to top it all off! These nails would look great sipping cocktails by the pool.
Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a rounded tip. The largest size is 1.7cm wide and 2.3cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.4cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.
Price: US$15
Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.
A close up of the first 10 nails.
Extra Information!
Custom Orders:
I will take custom orders, please comment with what you are interested for a quote 🙂
Ordering:
Before you order please take the time to read all of the information.
You can order by either commenting here or by emailing me using my Contact Page to let me know which set you would like to buy and your email address so I can send you a Paypal Invoice. Please note that the email address you put in the comment form can only be seen by me so if you are uncomfortable publishing your email either put it there or order via the Contact Page. Anything that doesn’t sell here is going to be put up in my Etsy shop, if you would prefer to buy via Etsy let me know and I will create a listing for you 🙂
Payment:
Payment must be made via Paypal. All prices are in US Dollars.
Australian buyers have the option of doing a direct bank transfer in Australian Dollars but must contact me for details.
Postage:
Shipping fees are included in the listed prices. Shipping is via Australia Post. International shipping will be by standard Airmail (unless you want to pay extra for express).
Insurance is not included in the price, if you would like to buy insurance please contact me. If you do not opt to buy insurance I cannot be held responsible for lost packages.
Notes:
Please note that these nails are all hand painted and as such they are all unique. They are not mass produced and therefore they have small irregularities. Please view the pictures carefully to be sure before you place your order as I will not accept refunds if you just change your mind. Larger photos are available upon request.
Illustrator. Strong tea, knitting, watercolours, and making a video game called Moonlight in Garland. Living with her adorable husband Jimmy, fluffy puppy Miss Lottie and Bergamot Bunny in Melbourne, Australia.
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