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

AN Monday: Christmas Tree

   *Oops* Another AN Monday mani a couple days late :P So this week's theme was Christmas trees, and I was cheeky and took the easy way out (;

   I used Sinful Colors San Francisco, Ulta3 Luck of the Irish and China Glaze Twinkle Lights for the gradient, and a simple gold on black Christmas tree scribble for an accent (Orly Glitzy over Sinful Colors Black on Black). Though it's terribly simple, I still love how it turned out! They sparkle so bright in the sun, they're quite the attention seekers :P

   To check out all the other girls participating in AN Monday, check out the AN Monday page on my blog :D

NOTD: Round - Up

   Hey y'all! So you all would realize by now that there's two different quality photos I upload: one from my phone's camera, and the other using a DSLR camera. The DSLR belongs to my dad, so I have very limited access to it at times, and so use my S4 camera a lot more often. When using my phone camera, sometimes I only take one or two pics, and upload it straight onto my Instagram (another reason for y'all to follow me on IG if you're not already! :P @xtinemayyy) and don't blog about it here (as there's really not much else to say about them lol).

   There were a few manis I did this week that I haven't blogged about, so instead of not showing you them at all, I've just decided to roll them into this one blog post, here.

Still can't get enough of cut out nails!

I don't have a scale stamp, so I free handed these mermaid nails instead :P 

Silver version of my gold and white mani from a while back - it's a lot cleaner looking, but I still love the look of the gold and white even though I'm more of a silver girl myself.

And a pop of neon to round it all up :P This Tony Moly green is now my favourite neon green - just look at it! It screams: LOOK AT ME! :P

   And that's all for now (: If you're interested in any of the specific colours used in each mani, just leave a comment below and I'll reply to you asap. 

Announcement: Money Milk Honey

   Hey guys! Today I have some news I can finally share with y'all! For the past few months I've been working with Anne from Money Milk Honey on showcasing her nail art bundles that she has for sale on her Etsy store. She sent me 4 bundle packs to play around with: Chanel Belle, Louis Vee, Gucci 2 Timez and Dolla Bill. Every bundle came with 10 flat gold brand labels (Chanel, Gucci etc), 2-5" gold chains, 100 rhinestones and 1 pack of gold striping tape. And I can now share with you all the looks I created using them! :D

Using the Chanel Belle gold labels, with the gold striping tape and rhinestones

Using the Gucci 2 Timez gold labels, with the gold chain

Using the Louis Vee gold labels, with the gold chain and rhinestones

Using the Dolla Bill gold labels, with the gold chain and rhinestones

   If you are interested in any of these nail art bundles, be sure to check out her Etsy store :D 

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

NOTD: Drag Marble Nails

   Mornin' all! Just a quick NOTD post for today - or more like NOLW (Nails of last week) :P I posted these on my IG last week, and am only getting around to writing this blog post now *oops* 

   This is a basic drag marble mani, using 3 neon BYS colours: Anyone For Tennis?, Steal the Limelight and Baby Let's Cruise. I started with a coat of white, topped with a generous layer of each colour, then with a needle (or toothpick, or long striping brush - whichever works best for you) drag the polish from one side to the other. A coat of top coat will then smoothe everything out (: 

   I was going to top it off with something on top, but I just couldn't figure out what would go with it - water marble, tribal, dots? So I ended up leaving it as is, but I couldn't really complain, I quite like it simple like this, looked like a smooth gradient too from afar! :D

Announcement: Polish Blog Sale

   Hey y'all! It's been one hell of a week, so I do apologize for the absence. But I have been working on a couple of blog posts, organizing the little celebratory give away for after Christmas, and I've also been destashing and compiling a blog sale!

   About 10 months ago, I built this polish rack for my wall. Most of the top two shelves of polish were top coats and base coats. Now, after a almost a year of hoarding...

   It's completely and utterly full! I've taken out the top coats, base coats, black and white polishes, and I've still got about 50-60 polishes just sitting on my desk with no where to fit! 

   And so, A BLOG SALE it is!! Please help me destash by heading over to the blog sale page and taking a look to see if there's anything you fancy (:

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!

Review: Bella's Touch Lacquer

   Hey y'all! And a happy Friday arvo to all my Australian readers - it's finally the weekend :D In today's post I'll be sharing swatches/reviews of another wonderful Australian indie brand: Bella's Touch Lacquer by Ellie Roczniak.

   First up is Pinky Promise. It's a dark pink jelly polish filled with tons of blue and purple matte glitters. This is 3 coats on it's own and you can see just how much glitter comes with each coat - it's like I dipped my nails in coloured sprinkles!

   It was a little sheer for me, and I don't particularly like having to do 3 coats for full opacity, so I tried it over a base colour as well. This is 1 coat over Australis #totesamaze (my favourite pink) and just look at that pop! Definitely will be a favourite combo in the future (my mum's already wearing it herself :P)!

   Next up is Beautiful Nightmare. It's a very sheer black jelly (I'd say it's more tinted black than an actual jelly) jam packed with different sized holo hexes. It looked absolutely stunning in the bottle! I tried layering this on its own until full opacity, but that wasn't going to happen without overloading my nails with glitter haha So I layered 2 coats of Beautiful Nightmare over a base coat of Sinful Colors Black on Black, and bam just look at that glitter! I'd actually like to try sandwiching this between a black jelly polish just to tone down the glitter a little - maybe for a post in the near future :D

   Last, but definitely not the least, is Aquamarine. It's an explosion of tiny blue, silver and holo glitters suspended in a sheer blue jelly base. This is 2 coats over Australis Sky's The Limit. And if you're a glitter fiend like I can be at times :P it's perfect for adding that little bit of sparkle to an otherwise plain blue mani. 

   You can find these beautiful polishes over on Ellie's etsy Bella's Touch Lacquer, though her store is currently closed for a make over, but should re-open in a couple of weeks, so keep an eye out! :D She's also on Instagram @bellastouchlacquer so you can check there for updates also.

   So which is your favourite? Mine is definitely Pinky Promise!!

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