Throwback Thursday NOTD: White and Silver

   Hey y'all! So everyone on Instagram knows what #tbt or #throwbackthursday is, so let's bring that over here and do a #tbt of our own!

   A few months ago, I did this gold and white mani which I absolutely loved. It was so clean and simple, but oh so blingy too!

   Although I already did a white and silver remake of this design last week, I wasn't too keen on it, so in the spirit of #tbt I thought I'd try another white and silver recreation, and I gotta admit, I may like this version more :P 

   I used my ever faithful Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Revlon Silver Screen, Chi Chi Celebrity Meltdown, and an assortment of loose glitters and studs from the Born Pretty Store online.

   It actually came together pretty well, and is the sort of mani I would wear on my own wedding day: clean, classy, and complete with cut outs and studs!

   I mean, I'd love to wear something fun, bright and neon but deep down I know I want that fairytale white dress to walk down the aisle in, so these would be a perfect match. Not too splashy, but not too subdued either :P

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

Femme Fatale Cosmetics: Eventide inspired Floral

BAM.

BAM.

And an outdoor photo for good measure. BAM.

   Sorry (not really :P) for the dramatic opening,  but I LOVE how these turned out. I've had Femme Fatale Cosmetics' Eventide sitting on my shelf for a couple of weeks now, so thought I'd better hurry up and use it. 

   I drew inspiration from the flecks of pink glitter in the polish and created this simple floral design. I was going for a glitzy elegant look, but I couldn't resist adding studs to make it a little less girly, and a little more 'edgy' :P

Excuse the wonky studs *gasp* I did these at 4am 

(I'd been in a nailart rut so I was determined to get something done!)

   I used 3 coats of Eventide on the index and pinky, and Sinful Colors Black on Black for the rest. The flowers were done just with a regular light pink, red, and white polish; mint, green, and gold for the leaves. 

   I was contemplating whether to add Eventide onto my thumb or go with black and golden studs, but went with the same design as my ring finger instead. What do y'all think? 

   And another outdoor picture (how awesome does this gold polish look in its bottle?! *dazzled*:

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

Weekly Round Up ft New Babies

   Hey y'all! Hope you've all been well (: I've acquired some new pretties recently so I haven't been doing any actual nail art. So instead, I have a couple of manis from the past week, showcasing my new babies :D

   First up is OPI DS Extravagance and BYS Glitter Crystal. I LOVED this mani, the OPI DS was amazing! I've seen it in pictures, but to see it in person, and watch the mani shine in the sunlight *hyperventilates* haha okay maybe I was exaggerating, but nonetheless, I was really impressed. However! I won't let the OPI overshadow the little BYS glitter! I got Butter London Fairy Cake recently and wasn't too psyched about it. But this BYS is much MUCH more glitzy, and doesn't dull down like the BL did. So overall, I give this mani an 11/10 haha It really was a shame taking it off. 

   Anddddd... as you can see, my index finger nail is broken on the side *sobs* I finished work on Thursday night and found it like that, with no recollection as to how or when it happened ): I was left with 3 choices: 1. cut them all to short squares 2. reshape the index finger and leave the rest square 3. reshape all my nails. 

   Soooo... for the sake of uniformity, and the fact that it took ages to grow my nails out, I opted for option 3. Welcome new nail shape! 

   I have been drooling (almost literally) over the swatches of Polka.com from the OPI Euro Centrale collection ever since it first came out, so I caved and bought it for $20 at hairhouse warehouse *guilty smile* But I don't regret it one bit! Absolutely in love with it! My new favourite glitter <3 This is one coat layered over black. 

   How do you all like the new nail shape? I've had claws before, that were wayyyy longer than this, but I think this time around, I'll keep them filed to around this length (:

   SO back to the Napoleon Perdis make up day, I had so much fun! I work at target in the cosmetics department, and the big bosses finally sent me to a make up training day for free, fully paid! hehe We learnt how to create a "day look" as well as a "night look" using of course, the Napoleon products. 

   A day of playing with make up and fiddling with people's faces was at first very daunting since I've never done any real make up on people, but it turned out to be a lot of fun, AND we got freebies at the end *yay* okay rant over haha, thought I'd just share that tidbit of my life :D

Pink Neon Hearts

   Or are they?...

   This was my not-so-valentine-y Valentine's Day mani, sort of an abstract/ geometric heart shape mani... (tries to justify herself). I started off with the two accent fingers using Revlon Silver Screen as the base, and topped it off with Australis Shimmy Shake (I LOVE THIS GLITTER). It looked so glitzy and girly that I used China Glaze Pool Party with the full intention of creating a fun and flirty design. 

   Well that failed... hahah I ended up with a tribalesque theme. So in the end, the 'look' is kind of uncoordinated, but eh I can deal. 

   I really like the triangular shapes of the pattern though, so I may try recreate this with different colours and minus the glitter :P

REOWR

   Hey y'all! Long time no see! *this sounds familiar... happens almost every other week~ I DO APOLOGIZE ):* But in the time I wasn't posting I have been active on Instagram <follow me @xtinemayyy> so come and visit me over there for manis that don't immediately make it onto my blog/ tumblr or do not warrant a post on its own! :D

   SO. BACK TO NAILS. First, a confession: I've got to admit I've previously had an uncalled for prejudice against anything leopard print: clothes, shoes, accessories, stationery - you name it! But in the spirit of trying something new, I tried my hand at leopard print nails. Slap me silly and call me barney (there's a saying like that but I can't remember the exact wording but you get my point!) I absolutely adore these nails! <3

   I used Rimmel Sky High for the teal base and Face of Australia Polyester Girl for the pink gradient accents and spots. Added some 2mm square silver studs et voila! :D

   I found it too difficult to create the random round splodges and markings with a brush so for this mani, I opted for a tiny tiny dotting tool instead.

And for once, I'm pretty proud of my right hand! Though I did get too lazy to do the gradient accents :P

Do excuse the wear and tear, I've been wearing this mani for a few days now: to the gym, to work, to do the shopping :P I've only found the time to properly photograph them now.

AND just a couple of manis from IG (:

Revlon Scandalous mattefied.

Maybelline Mini Colorama Electric Blue 

topped with Different Dimension Boo, You Whore.

A deep blue jelly sandwich to cleanse the palate

 

I've been so caught up in bright neons lately I thought I'd tone it down (if you call using glitter toning it down :P) a little. I used Revlon Royal and Ulta3 New Years Eve (: Simple but striking.

I added the black embellishments just so the mani wouldn't be too plain :P The blue glitter is so pretty (and so appropriately named!) that I may just have to incorporate it into my New Year's mani!

Christmas Craze

   First and foremost: 

I want to wish everyone a Merry and Blessed Christmas!!

   Apologies for being MIA this past week, but Christmas in retail is one busy BUSY season! I was stuck at work until 6pm Christmas Eve with shoppers still wandering the store looking for VERY late minute presents! haha (I laugh now, but back then, I was ready to chase those people out of the store so I could finally leave and go home grrr)

   I have a couple of manis for you lovely people today (: First of which is a design I did for a guest post on Katy's blog: Nailed It. She has kindly obliged by allowing me to write up a guest post while she's on vacation. If you aren't already following this creative young lady, then I kindly urge you to take a peek at her nails and see for yourself. 

Guest post on Nailed It

   Second, is a festive glitter gradient I wore to work during the week. 

   I used 2 coats of China Glaze Twinkle Lights for the base, OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air and BYS Dazzling for the green gradient on top. 

   I LOVED THESE. So bright, sparkly and fun! Don't they just scream Christmas to you?!

   Finally, today's mani: something really quick and random. I'm still on the fence with these. May even take them off tonight and attempt something else :/

   Until then I hope everyone has a safe and blessed Christmas break! I promise my next post won't take as long as this did! 

   P.S. I would share with you all what I got for Christmas, but it's kind of hard when I didn't get anything. hahaha This year my brother and I spoiled my parents and younger siblings instead with gifts. Though I did buy myself a purple macaron patterned onesie from Target :P