NOTD: Neon and Triangles

   Hey you guys :D Now I know the past few manis from last week were all neon based.. not to worry though, this is the last of them (for now :P). 

   For this mani, I used Chi Chi OTT and OMG (Chi Chi really like their acronyms haha) and Australis Peek-a-boo, as well as a couple triangle studs from the Born Pretty Store (don't forget to use XFSQ10 at checkout to get 10% off your order!).

   Is it just me, or is there something about neons and triangles that just really work well together?! 

NOTD: Neon Mix 'n' Match + #mynailsmysmoothie

   Hey guys! So here in Australia, we've begun our descent into Autumn: last week brought a couple of cold, rainy days, the sky looming with clouds. Perfect weather to be skipping gym, staying cozy in bed, and reading a good ol' book (Game of Thrones saga.. anyone else addicted?!). But there are also nails to be painted! And who's to say I can't bring out the neons as the weather cools? 

   For this mani, I used Chi Chi OTT which I was quite intrigued by, because unlike most highlighter yellow neon polishes, it leans slightly more towards a green than a yellow. 

   Little anecdote - with my friend at the shops: 

      Friend: It's the same colour as the one you have already!

      Me: No it's not. This one is slightly more green than the highlighter yellow polish I have at home.

      Friend: But it's similar right? So you don't need this one?

      Me: Don't be ridiculous, of course I do. 

   Anyone else had a similar experience? haha SIMILAR DOES NOT MEAN SAME.

   Okay, so back to the mani, I used 4 coats of OTT. Which is a lot I know. But I didn't use a white base, and this polish was more of a jelly-like consistency instead of a creme. For the accent nail I used 1 coat of Butter London Fairy Cake and 2 coats of Australis Shimmy Shake. The lines were painted on using my ever trusty Sinful Colors Black on Black, and a small detail brush. 

NOTD: Prismatic Triangles

   ...say what? "Prismatic Triangles" - what is that?! *shrugs* first two words that came to mind when typing up this post.. *awkward turtle hand motion*

   OKAY. Now that the awkwardness has been dealt with.. HEY GUYS! It feels good to be back, 2 weeks absence is too long - apologies! But my life's just taken an unexpected turn, and I needed time to deal with it, but in saying so, I have a great piece of news to share with you all. Starting mid April, I'll be beginning a Nail Technology course at a beauty college in the city *eep* so excited! It will be full time study, but hopefully my nail posts won't slow down too much, and I'd love to keep you guys in the loop with everything, and to also blog about my experiences (and hopefully that doesn't bother or bore you guys!). 

   And to celebrate the news, I did these, and wore them for almost a week! I couldn't bare to take them off, they even survived the week of stocktake we did at work :P 

NOTD: Pretty Pink Florals

   Hey y'all! Happy Friday (yes, it's a thing!) to everyone who's living where it's already Friday! And advance happy Friday to those who aren't! :P Darn that's a lot of exclamation marks in the first few sentences haha

   Anyhows, there's not much to report today, so I've only got my recent NOTD pictures to share. First up is a pretty pink floral mani that is so pink I felt so girly prancing around the gym haha. I used Australis #totesamaze layered with Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter on the pointer and pinky nails. For the two floral accent nails, I used Australis #totesamaze and W7 Fuchsia for the roses, and Rimmel Sky High and Orly Glitzy for the leaves. I really wanted the roses to be tiny delicate flowers and the leaves to not be so ginormous haha but I guess I'll keep that in mind for next time.

   And of course, a couple days later, I switched my pink nails for something a little vampier and simple. This is 3 coats of Ulta3 Spring Break (looks like a dupe for China Glaze Creative Fantasy!) and on the accent is Face of Australia Midnight Fireworks - which is a gold glitter texture polish that is absolutely gorgeous, I'd go as far as wearing it as an entire mani one time ♥_♥

   And that's it for now, though I've got plenty more posts to come throughout the month! So stay tuned for that, there are a number of pretties to be seen :P

Top 5 Polish: Most Used

   Mornin' all! Today's post is something a little different.. I pose to you all a question: have you ever finished a bottle of nail polish? Of course I don't mean top and base coats, or black and white polishes used for nail art! :P 

   Why I ask this? Well recently, I've realised that I'm actually running low on a few bottles of polish, and that I need to buy a second bottle of all of them! Shocking isn't it?! 

This post reveals my 5 most used polishes!

   First up is Butter London Pillar Box Red. It's my go to 'classic' red and still glides on as smoothly as it did the first day I got it - so much love for this polish seriously ♥ It's only got about 1/4 of the bottle left... I'm absolutely dreading the day I can no longer scrape the remaining dregs of polish from the bottom of the bottle *sobs in the corner* Unfortunately, BL isn't available in stores here in Australia, so my only option is to buy them online, or through someone in the US willing to ship it to me here (even then, the shipping will kill me now that postage has been hiked up again!) 

Butter London 'Pillar Box Red' topped with Shades of Phoenix 'Chaos'

Next is Sally Hansen Cafe Au Lait. And this bottle is completely and utterly empty!! The first ever bottle of polish that I've finished, and my most favourite nude shade! It's been with me through my nubbins and claws, and I've bought two back ups already, so I won't be running out any time soon :P

Sally Hansen 'Cafe Au Lait' with lace accent using Ulta3 'Black Satin'

   Third up is Australis #totesamaze and I took advantage of the recent 40% off priceline sale to grab me another bottle, because, like Cafe Au Lait, it's also empty! It's the perfect shade of pink - nice and bright without being neon, but not too dark a hot pink that it looks almost red on my skin - love love love it... and its name, as cheesy as it is :P

Australis '#totesamaze' tribal mix n match

   Next up is Sinful Colors Endless Blue. Since I couldn't get my hands on Essie Butler Please or Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, Endless Blue was what I settled for, and now I can't get enough of it! It's a gorgeous vibrant blue, and is pretty much my go-to blue when doing nail art. There's about 1/3 of the bottle left.. may have to take advantage of the 2 for $6 Sinful Colors sale at Target this week :P

Sinful Colors 'Endless Blue' topped with Katt Claws 'Community Pool'

   Last, but definitely not the least, is Femme Fatale Cosmetics Eventide. Yes, it's an indie polish, and yes it's almost finished! This is the only 'top 5 most used polishes' that also holds a spot in my 'top 5 favourite polishes of all time' - I love it that much! But alas, it's been discontinued and I wasn't fast enough at grabbing back ups, so now I'll be using it sparingly!

2 generous coats of 'Eventide'  on its own as accents on the index and pinky

   And there you have it - my 5 most used polishes! Have you ever actually finished a bottle of polish? I thought it was impossible, until now :P

TUTORIAL: Neon Cut-Out Nails

   'Ello 'ello 'ello! How are we all today? :D So you all remember my most recent neon cut-out nails right? 

   Well today, for all my beautiful followers, I've put together a (hopefully simple to follow) picture tutorial - I have left it unfiltered so you get the joy of seeing my naked nails in all their stained glory ♥

What you'll need:

Top Coat 

White Polish/ Black Polish

2 Neon Polishes

Small Nail Art Brush

   1. Start off by marking out the cut-out design with some black polish - I used Sinful Colors Black on Black - and a small nail art brush.
   2. Again with the small brush, colour in the panels you want to be coloured later in a white polish - I used Sinful Colors Snow Me White.
   3. Alternating between your 2 neon colours of choice - mine were BYS Anyone for Tennis? and Australis #totesamaze - colour in the panels. Depending on your polish, you may need more than 1 coat - I used 2 coats of each colour.
   4. With your black polish and small brush, re-trace over the black outline making each coloured panel more defined. If you make a mistake, dipping the small brush into acetone and "rubbing out" your mistake on the nail like an eraser really helps in keeping the lines straight!
   5. Wait for the black polish to dry before painting a layer of top coat on to seal it all in! Make sure to give it all time to dry before top coating - or use a top coat you know won't smudge - so you don't smear the design.

   Et Voila! Neon cut out nails! Hopefully that was easy enough to understand, and if not, feel free to shoot me a message or leave a comment, and I'll get back to you as soon as I read it!

   I'd also love to see your recreations using this tutorial if you do choose to recreate it! Just post it onto my facebook page Nails at 2am, or tag me on Instagram @xtinemayyy!

NOTD: Neon Cut-Outs

   Sick of neons yet? I hope not! 'cos I'm in a serious neon mood swing :P

Outdoors in the sun

Outdoors in the sun

   I was going to do a skittle mani... but after seeing my old cut out nails (from this post in March) I decided to recreate them instead - though this time I used a neon pink and yellow (Australis #totesamaze and BYS Anyone For Tennis) and a couple of pink neon studs from the Born Pretty Store. And as per usual, to make the colours stand out, I used two coats each, over a white base (Sinful Colors Snow Me White).

   For the black I used Sinful Colors Black on Black. For some reason I just can't work with black acrylic paint, maybe my paint's just not pigmented enough, or maybe I just suck at using it *shrugs*. And the black lines are a little thicker than I wanted, but I think that just means my brush needs replacing (I sat on it and didn't realise.. now the bristles are all frayed woops).

   Despite all my complaints, I absolutely love these :D Neons, triangles and studs, what's not to love right?!

Artificial light in a light box

Artificial light in a light box

   Sorry for the picture spam (not really :P) but I couldn't just pick 3 to show you all! 

   On another note, Nails a 2am has reached 100 followers on blogger! That's a big milestone in my opinion and, with the opening of the Nails at 2am facebook page, I think this calls for a celebration :D So stay tuned for that!

   Okay, so maybe just one more picture? :P

Artificial light in a light box   

NOTD: Neon Gradient + Watermarble

   ♫♪ I can't sleep at night, when you are on my mind ... We belong together babyyyyy~ 

   Anyone listen to old school Mariah Carey? :P I found a playlist of old school songs in a folder on my laptop and now I'm getting sidetracked and instead find myself singing along (trying to) with whatever lyrics I remember - it's a tad hard writing this post with impulses to sing every 2 seconds ♪Your lips, your smile, I love it when you kiss me baby (next track - Mesmerized Ja Rule).

   Okay. Anyways. I put the volume down, maybe that'll help - and here I thought I was good at multitasking. SO. NAILS. This neon gradient is by far my most fave! From a lime green to a medium blue to bright pink  (Tony Moly P004, Australis Sky's The Limit and #totesamaze) - it just screams Summer. I was so tempted to leave it as is, cos come on, just look at it, it's so stinkin' cute! :P 

   As for what to layer on top of the gradient, I had a couple of ideas: waterspotting, black tribal pattern, or I could have taken the lazy way out and just added a glitter topper... but I was feeling adventurous, so I gave water marbling a go. Just as an FYI, water marbling and I do not mix well: I attempt it, I fail miserably, I try another 10 times, and finally, successfully marble 1 nail - ONE nail. This little escapade wasn't any different, just my left hand took at least an hour and a half! 

   And the bubbles! Damn the bubbles! I pull my finger out of the water and there are air bubbles in my water marble - it drives me nuts! What am I doing wrong?? ): What I did to try and salvage them, without having to redo the gradient and the marble, was to pop the bubbles and paint over it with a small brush and black nail polish. You can sort of see in the photos where the black is slightly darker - that's where I painted over :P

   Buuuuuuuut... the results are just so pretty, I don't mind facing off against my arch nemesis every now and then.

   So water marbling is my love/ hate relationship, what's yours? 

   ALSO, NAIL MAIL :P Swatches of these will be up on the blog within the week ♥

NOTD: Pastel vs Neon

   Mornin' all! You should all know by now that I have quite a soft spot for neons, but occasionally, my love for for them is diverted to pastels. I just can't help myself, the colours look so pretty in their bottles! One such colour is a new found love: Essie Mint Candy Apple. I paired it with Ulta3 Lilac Bloom and Sinful Colors Black on Black to create this pastel floral design.

   Though I did like it, I felt a little underwhelmed... the colours looked a little washed out ): Also, it is almost Summer here in Australia, so I think I was just subconsciously craving for something brighter! So I pulled out Emily De Molly Flurocious, Australis Peek-a-boo and #Totesamaze and a few golden nail studs to create a much brighter floral mani, with glitter too!

   I like this much better :P but then again, I am a sucker for bright colours. Which do you prefer? Are you a pastel person, or a neon lover like me?

Vibrant Green and Pink Ikat Nails

   WELCOME BACK SUN! 

   And HELLO green and pink ikats!! Eye-searing-ly bright but oh-so-fun! I haven't done an ikat in while, nor have I used any of my neons (they've been feeling quite neglected lately), so why not celebrate the return of the sun with these?! (Sounds like some ancient cult ritual haha)

   For the blinding green base colour I used Tony Moly P004, and Australis #totesamaze for the pink ikat. My mum saw these on my instagram and asked me "Why do so many people like it? It's ugly and hurts my eyes." Well, gee! thanks mum! hahahaha 

   As for me, I utterly love neons, especially when they hurt my eyes :P that just means I bought a pretty damn good neon!!

   And to take it a step further, I took a photo of these in direct sunlight... EVEN BETTER. RIGHT?!

Sweet Floral matched with Savvy "Razzle & Dazzle"

   Goodmorning y'all! Hope everyone's been well (: 

   Today's #NOTD are these soft pastel /floral /glitter nails. I used Revlon Lilac Pastelle for the base, Savvy Razzle & Dazzle for the glitter, and a handful of polishes for the roses and leaves (purples, pinks, blues and greens).

   I also have something to ask you all; if you've noticed, in the past few months, I've been taking pictures of my manis outdoors with just my regular phone camera. This is because I haven't had access to the DSLR or SLR or whatever special camera it is (it's not mine, it's my dad's haha), and therefore haven't been able to take shots of my mani in my light box. I was able to borrow it for my last post, but my dad's since taken it back. 

This is where y'all come in: I've tried taking shots in the light box using my Samsung galaxy S4, I'd appreciate it if you could let me know if you prefer the outdoor lighting, or don't mind the indoor shots under the lamps. 

[Edit: I forgot to mention that the two following photos are the ones taken under the lightboc]

   Thanks to everyone in advance. and I hope y'all enjoy the rest of your week! OH and I have exciting news to come.. so stay tuned for that :D

#totesamaze

   Hello my lovelies! How have you all been? *beaming smile*

   At the end of my last post, I promised you all sweet lookin' tasties on my fingertips ...and so here was the end result:

  Chocolate drips. These remind me of cupcakes. Or ice cream. And donuts. Oh and pop tarts. Damn. *stomach rumbles*

   Anyways... YAY for more nail art! 

   I'll let you guys in on a little secret ...I hate the colour pink with a passion. But at the moment, it's all I seem to want to have! It's driving me nuts!

   I saw this Australis shade #totesamaze (the polish bottle I'm holding in the picture above) at Kmart the other day and KNEW I had to have it, and that I HAD to do a mani based around it. 

   SO for the ring finger and pinky, I started with a sponge mani using Beauty Attitude pastels Mint Candy and Grape Smoothie and combined it with the Australis hot pink polish. Then I added the white tribal print on top with just regular white polish. To add a little sparkle, I topped it all off with Bloom Aspen before sealing it in with top coat.

   For the index and middle finger, I used 3 coats of Australis #totesamaze (what a name eh?), added a row of 2mm square studs and painted one half of the nail with Aspen to tie it all together.

   For anyone who's interested in a close up of what's on my thumbnail, it just so happened to creep into one of the photos :P Just a regular white to pink ombre topped with Aspen.

   In more news ...NAIL MAIL!

   My Emily De Molly's came in today! Guess which will be the first I dip my nails into :P  

Is It Too Bright? *covers eyes*

   YEP. Totally digging this. 

   *Austin Powers voice* Groovy Baby~

   Haha, sorry, I just had to. 

   It's Monday again, so to prepare for the week ahead, why not sport some bright colourful nails? (who else suffers from Monday-itis?!) 

   It's a kaleidoscope of colours: Australis Sky's The Limit, Ulta3 Honolulu and Tangelo, Essence Bloom-A-Loom and a Coral Colours that has lost its tag (the one pictured above). With a base coat of white, a thin brush and a whole load of patience, I managed to pull it off :P

   I was thinking of adding black stripes between the colours just to add a bit of extra detail... but I tried and ruined the mani. Luckily I only used black acrylic paint, so I wiped it straight off with a cotton ball and some water :P 

Pastel Leopard Print over Essence 'Sweet as Candy'

   First and foremost, I LOVE THIS ESSENCE POLISH (Sweet as Candy)! It is very sheer, and takes about 4-5 coats to even be remotely opaque, but it is so darn pretty and delicate, I can't help but love it!

   This photo's just from my mobile (regretted not taking a proper photo of it after *sigh), it looks pretty similar to the OPI Don't Burst My Bubble swatches I've been seeing lately. It felt like such a shame to cover this beauty with nail art.

   I used Essence Bloom-a-loom, Ulta3 Corsican Rose and Soft Hydrangea, and Sinful Colors Black on Black for the leopard print. For the two accent fingers, I just used 2-3 thin coats of Australis Shimmy Shake.

   Annnnnd, just because I feel the need to sulk:

   Not even 24 hours after top coating this mani, disaster struck. My index finger nail broke at work ): ...I thought this was bad, but a week passes and I'm back at work again, then BAM another break ARGHHHH

   Look at my poor poor index finger ): now I have such uneven nail lengths ): I am seriously a stickler for even nail lengths, but my right hand takes ages (and I mean AGES) to grow so I thought I'd wait it out until they're somewhat longer before I even them all out again *exasperatedsigh