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

Flirty Floral Print

   SO PURRRRRTY *star struck eyes*

   Of course, these beauties are inspired by Candice from MrCandiipants. That square frame is absolutely genius! Check out her tumblr for the tutorial! :D

   So for my version, I used a deep purple base colour (A Max Factor polish that doesn't have a label.. since I may have ripped it off unknowingly :P). For the flowers I used Face of Australia Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy, BC Co Shade 13, Ulta3 Honolulu, Tangelo, Tahitian Lime and Frog Prince. The studs I used were 2mm silver square studs from the BornPrettyStore. 

   In other news, I'm currently using Duri Rejuvacote to help with the splitting and peeling of my nails in hopes that my nails will finally grow out like they used to. *fingers crossed*

Flirty Floral Print Anyone? :P

   My nails feel so pretty! I was in the mood for some cute lookin' nails and this was the outcome. I was worried that adding the itty bitty blue flowers would make the mani feel too 'crowded', but they actually pair pretty nicely with the larger red roses, so MEH I'm digging it like crazy :P

   I was going to do a cute neon geometric design using China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, but used it for the roses instead. I added highlights using Bloom Tuscany, added leaves with Ulta3 Tahitian Lime, and outlined the entire rose using Sinful Colors Black on Black. For the blue flowers I used a tiny dotting tool and BC Co Shade 21, and Ulta3  Honolulu for the centre. Topped everything off with a quick dry top coat, et voila! I don't ever want to take these off :P (I say that about almost every mani haha #firstworldproblems of a nail art addict)

    This reminds me, I have a half finished nail art wheel of floral prints laying around. I may actually get around to finishing it this week. *fingers crossed* I'd love to show it to you all when it's done :D

    But until then, more picture spam! (I love it when my camera cooperates and captures the mani perfectly *cheer*)

Feeling a little flower-y

Before I start, I have an ANNOUNCEMENT: I finally got a light box! haha I ordered it off ebay Friday morning and it's arrived on Monday morning, talk about lightning fast delivery! It was about $65 AUD altogether including postage. The kit includes the light box itself, 4 different coloured backdrops, and 2 lamps. The actual light tent is collapsible and it all folds up into a carry folder kind of thing, so storage is pretty damn easy! 

Okay so back to the nails! These are my version of an abstract flower print. I wanted to do a gradient or something other than plain white for the base colour but it was late and I was lazy :P I used a total of 7 colours for the 'flowers' in this mani: Bloom Alcapulco, Sally Hansen I Pink I Can, L'oreal Chop Chop, Ulta3 Orchid, Miki 9155, Revlon Intrigue, Maybelline Wonder Violet.

 So, just as a comparison, here's a picture I took in the bathroom (whitest/brightest lighting in my house lol!) with just my Galaxt s2 camera phone:

Here's my first nooby picture of these nails in the lightbox:

Couldn't fiddle too much more with the lighting and such because I had to go to work, but as soon as I got home I tried it again, and this time decided to try using the flash. I think I much prefer it with the flash, the nail design comes out a lot clearer. What do you all think?

Roses Are Red

   ...and these were meant to be cherries =O !!

   So my family have spontaneously decided to go cherry/ berry picking this weekend and hence why I wanted matching cherry nails ): but every time I painted them on they just didn't look right...they weren't as cute as all the other cherry nails I've seen! So in the end, I cleared my nails again and I put my own spin on the "cherry nail art" notion by painting cherry blossoms instead!

   At first, I was so discouraged by my fail cherries that I was going to wear just plain nails (a coat of black and a coat of Essence 'Jacob's Protection' from the new twilight range which is the base for this mani, unfortunately I didn't take a swatch picture for it *boo). But I know I wouldn't be able to stand plain nails for  a whole 3 days so I struggled on haha

   I don't actually know if cherry blossoms actually look like this in real life, but hey, blossoms are blossoms, and they're pretty so I don't mind :P

   See you all on the other side of the weekend! Look forward to cherry nails then (hopefully) AND pictures of actual cherries that I picked! Toodles ~

Naked Nails!

   Well.. half naked nails. 

   I started painting my nails frequently around May of this year and ever since then I've never worn my nails naked or half naked if I could help it. Of course back then I was a complete amateur and never wore base coat, which is probably why my nails stained faster. Only recently have I paid extra attention to painting 2 coats of base coat and lightly buffing my nails every now and then between manicures. And I'm so thrilled that after chopping my claws off, almost all the staining is gone! So thrilled that I decided on this black glitter tip mani on my naked nails:

   It's basically just sponging on a black "french" tip then sponging on a fine silver glitter polish to mask any hard lines and blend the black/naked nails better together for a smoother transition. The flowers on each of the nails are done by hand using a technique I saw on youtube years ago. I don't remember whose video it was, but if anyone knows let me know so I can credit them properly! 

   To create the flower, all you need to do is with a dotting tool (or use a bobby pin like me), paint 5 dots in a circle. Let them dry for a few seconds until the dots are a little tacky, then with a toothpick or a pin, drag each dot outwards, then drag inwards to create the petal shape. Finish it off with a large glitter piece, or a dot of glitter polish, et voila a flower!

   And a couple more snaps of the design: