Essence Whoom Boooom-inspired nail design
15 Apr 2011 1 Comment
in Essence, geometric design, nail design, nail stickers, tutorial Tags: blue, essence, Essence Whoom Boom!!, geometric design, nail art, nail design, nail stickers, nail tutorial, tutorial, white
I’m back! I’ve been gone for nearly a month now due to exams, but they are over and I’m ready to play with nailpolish again 
Firsly, the Essence Whoom Boooom-inspired look I’d promised ages ago. This was obviously inspired by the retro comicbook-style packaging of the Whoom Boom limited edition collection that came out in February… I know that was ages ago but you can still pick up a few items from there if you’re in the Netherlands, because the limited edition collections always come here late for some reason.
Anyway… I got only one nailpolish plus the nail stickers from that collection, so I tried to select colors similar to the ones in the collection for this design. Here are the items I used:
A base and top coat; dark blue, white, coral red, and lime green nail polishes; a white tip painter (for corrections); a small dotting tool, Essence Whoom Boooom stickers, angled french tip stickers, and clear adhesive tape.
Begin with applying a protective base coat over your bare nails, followed by several layers of the dark blue. Then, apply slanted strips of clear adhesive tape, to create a diagonal line on each of your nails. (Stick the tape on the back of your hand several times first, to remove the excess glue.) Then, paint the top half of the nail white.
Don’t worry if it’s a bit messy around your cuticles, you can always clean that up with a cotton swab and a bit of nailpolish remover later.
Wait until the nailpolish is nearly dry, then carefully peel off the tape.
Next, take the angled french nail tip guides (available at most drugstores or nail art counters), and position them on the white area, as in the picture (again, remove the excess glue first).
Apply the lime green to the tips on the nails.
When the green coat is nearly dry, carefully remove the guide stickers. Fix up any imperfections with the white nail tip painter.
Using the dotting tool, create little coral red dots along the edge where the white meets the green.
And now for the fun part! Using a pair of tweasers, carefully pick up one of the nail stickers and place it on the dark blue area of the nail. The set contains pleanty of colorful fun stickers with lips, dollar signs, exclamation points, speech bubbles, etc. And all the stickers smell of peppermint! Small impractical detail, but a really nice touch in my opinion.
Finally, apply a generous top coat to seal the stickers and bring all of the layers into a single design. Have fun wearing it! XOXO
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Guest post: Easy Spring flower design
24 Mar 2011 9 Comments
in easy to do!, fellow bloggers, flowers, Spring design Tags: fellow bloggers, flowers, nail art, nail design, nail tutorial, pink, quick&easy nails, Spring design, tutorial
The lovely Emma invited me to do a guest post for her blog, which I was happy to do! Emma’s blog is full of reviews, hauls, fashion and beauty tips, etc., and Emma is a really sweet girl with a young, feminine sense of style so make sure to check out her blog
This design is very easy to do without special tools–all you need is 3 of your favorite colors and a toothpick!
If you want to learn to create it, click here for the step-by-step instructions! XOXO
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Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat nail art tutorial 2!
17 Mar 2011 4 Comments
in blue, Dr. Seuss, french tip, nail design, red, request, tutorial Tags: blue, Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss, french tip, H&M, nail art, nail design, nail tutorial, red, tutorial
Hi peeps! Since according to this post, you all absolutely loved these two tutorials, I made a new Cat in the Hat* nail art design!
This one was inspired by this picture of the Cat with a blue background:
Here are the items I used:
- base coat by OPI, top coat by Seche vite
- sky blue polish (Denim Dreams by H&M)
- red polish (036 by Inglot)
- opaque white polish (by Seventeen)
- red, white, and black nail art stripers
- a medium and a very small dotting tool or toothpick
Once your base coat has dried, apply the sky blue color to your nails.
Next, create quite a thick french tip on all fingers but your ring finger:
Next, with the red nail art striper, create two thin red stripes over the white tip: one at the base of the strip, the second one in the middle. This will represen the cat’s hat
Get your red and white nailpolishes, along with your dotting tools and a scrap sheet of paper, ready.
Dab a bit of the white nailpolish on the scrap sheet of paper, and with the medium dotting tool, roughtly create the outline of the Cat in the Hat on your ring finger.
Next, dab a bit of the red polish onto the paper and with the smaller dotting tool, create the red hat stripes and the bow.
Finally, with the black nailpolish and the smallest dotting tool you have, fill in the black parts of the cat’s body and draw his facial features.
Since you applied so many layers of nailpolish, wait a long while (I would recommend an hour) until your design is completely dry before applying your top coat.
You’re done! Have fun with your nail design XXOX
*Disclaimer: I don’t own the cat in the hat image posted above; I borrowed it to use for inspiration 
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Catrice Floralista: Lavender Breeze
14 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in Catrice, Catrice Floralista, Haul Tags: catrice, Catrice Floralista, nail haul, product review, swatches, white
The only color I got from the limited edition Catrice Floralista collection that is out now, is the C03 Lavender Breeze color. I must say, I expected more: I wouldn’t even call this a breeze, more like a distant memory of a breeze… The color is so pale it’s more white than anything else, and it’s even more pale on your nails than it is in the tube. If you don’t have a nice white in your collection, I’d say go for it. Otherwise, give it a pass… XO
Essence Whoom Boom (Haul + swatch)
14 Mar 2011 1 Comment
in Essence, Haul, nail stickers, Swatches Tags: blue, essence, Essence Whoom Boom!!, nail haul, nail stickers, swatches
The new Essence Whoom Boom limited collection edition is out and I picked up two things from the nail art section.
Firstly, the nail varnish. Out of the four nailpolishes I got just one: 01 Chacalaca. It;s a deep shimmer-free blue with a purple undertone.
Here is the swatch with a flash:
and in natural light:
The nail varnishes were around 1.75 euros each. There was also a hot pink, orange, and lime-green one but I already have similar shades so I passed on those.
The second thing I got was the nail art stickers that came with the collection.
They’re very cute and fun, and they’re scented! The smell is like eucalyptus mixed with liquorice… kind of like peppermint, which suits the style of the collection very well.
I’ve done a tutorial with the nail varnish and stickers, that will be up next so stay tuned XO
Catrice Urban Baroque-inspired nail design
13 Mar 2011 3 Comments
in Catrice, Catrice Urban Baroque, nail design, pink, tutorial Tags: beauty, catrice, Catrice Urban Baroque, essence, Essence I Love Berlin, french tip, matte nail design, nail art, nail design, nail tutorial, pink, tutorial
This nail design was inspired by the Catrice Urban Baroque limited edition collection. It aims to combine Baroque elegance with a dirty, vintage feel.
Here are the items I used to create it:
- base coat by OPI
- a pale pink nail varnish (C02 Rock Baroque from the Urban Baroque LE collection by Catrice)
- a black nail varnish and tip painter (both from the Essence I Love Berlin LE collection)
- a matte top coat (by Essence)
- a medium and a small dotting tool.
Begin by applying a base coat. Once that is dry, apply several layers of the pale pink until the color is opaque.
With the black tip painter, create a french tip on your pinky, middle and index fingers.
Next, dab a bit of the black nailpolish on a scrap sheet of paper and create the baroque-inspired vase shape on your ring finger and thumb. To show you how I created the design, here is a step-by-step closeup on a sheet of paper:
1. With the medium dotting tool create five dots in a triangle-shape, closer to the tip of your nail.
2. With the small dotting tool or a toothpick, drag the nailpolish from the dots downwards to a point below the center of the triangle. From the top dot, drag an additional line upwards.
3. With the medium dotting tool, create a large wide “dot” just below the point where the dot-lines meet.
4. Drag two C-shaped curls from the dot, downwards. Create two short lines under the wide C-shape.
5. Add a few small dots around the vase design.
While the designs on your ring fingers and thumbs are drying, add three small black dots at the base of each of the french tip nails.
Wait at least 40 minutes until all of the layers have completely dried. Then apply a matte top coat to your nails. This will give the design that dirty vintage feel.
If you’re not satisfied with the “matte-ness” of the top coat, you can always add an extra layer to enhance the effect. Once that is dry, you’re done! Enjoy XO
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Mini collective haul January-March: Essence I Love Berlin, Catrice Urban Baroque
12 Mar 2011 1 Comment
in Catrice, Essence, Haul Tags: black, catrice, Catrice Urban Baroque, essence, Essence I Love Berlin, green, nail haul, pink
Hi guys!
February was declared a no-shopping month for me so I have a tinyhaul from a few thigs I picked up in the end of January and the beginning of March.
Firstly, from the Essence I Love Berlin LE collection I got three nailpolishes:
03 Green Grass, 05 Berlin Story, and the black matte tip painter.
Green Grass is an intense shimmer-free blue-green color. I’ve already done a tutorial with it–absolutely gorgeous color! And like all Catrice nailpolishes–very good quality.
05 Berlin Story is a plain black color, which is a great staple to have in your nailpolish collection. This one is quite opaque, so I’m really happy with it.
The tip painter is good as well; the brush is very thin and sturdy. I don’t care much that it’s a matte painter, as I’ll be using it with a top coat anyway.
Next, from the Catrice Urban Baroque LE collection, I was only able to get the C02 Rock Baroque color as all the others were sold out by the beginning of March 
It’s a gorgeous pastel pink color, though I was a bit dissappointed at the low pigmentation–the above coverage took five coats! Although this gives the nailcolor a translucent quality. Very pretty and feminine.
(I made an Urban Baroque-inspired tutorial with this color that’s coming up next so stay tuned )
Last but not least, I got 160 Sweets for my Sweets from the permanent Catrice collection.
It’s a fun bright pink for an extra pop of color in the sunny Spring weather XO
Beige black french tip
07 Mar 2011 2 Comments
in Essence, french tip, geometric design, nail design, smart nails, tutorial Tags: black, essence, french tip, geometric design, Maybelline, My MNY, nail art, nail design, nail tutorial, neutral, quick&easy nails, smart nails, tutorial
This is a very simple and understated design, great for the office or conferences. The black french tip is a classic but a bit boring, so I spiced it up a bit. Enjoy
Begin with ya neutral base color (I’m using 150 by My MNY, a milk chocolate-beige color)
With a black nail art striper (I’m using Essence), create a French tip on your nails.
Next, prepare a small dotting tool, a scrap sheet of paper, and a simple black nailpolish.
Dab a bit of the black polish onto the scrap sheet of paper, then using the dotting tool, create a line of small dots just under the french tip.
Now just add a top coat and you’re done! XO
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Experiment: Essence Lace nail art stickers (Valentine’s Day Nails!)
06 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in nail stickers, Review Tags: Elf, essence, lace, lace stickers, nail design, nail stickers, pink, product review, tutorial, Valentine's day, white
For the nail design I had on for Valentine’s day, I tried out Essence lace nail art stickers. You can get these at Essence nail art counters, but if Essence isn’t available where you live, other companies make them too. Check for them at your local beauty supply or online.
In order to make the design stand out more, I painted my nails with a matt white color (by Elf)
The Essence lace sticker pack looks like this:
There are five different lace designs, two rows of each. One row, if cut properly, is just enough to cover the width of five fingernails.
The first thing you need to do is measure off a length approximately equal to the width of your nail. Mark the line mentally or with a thin black marker, then cut it off with some nail scissors.
The sticker itself is quite fragile and has the consistency of a dried strip of transparent glue. I used a pair of tweasers to carefully peel it off the film and position it on my nail.
Repeat with the rest of the nails. Like I mentioned earlier, both strips are barely enough to cover the width of all of your nails, so do keep that in mind when you are cutting them.
As you can see, the stickers didn’t cover all of my nails perfectly; the line was simply a bit too short. Additionally, you have to use a top coat with these stickers in order to prevent them from peeling off.
On the plus side though, I really liked the velvety texture and flexibility of the stickers, which made them seem more like lace and less like stickers. The adhesive was also pretty good, even after i repositioned several stickers. Also, once the top coat was applied, the lace blended in well with the texture of the nail, and the stickers came off easily with nailpolish remover.
Overall I give them a 7/10, -2 points for the short length of the strips and -1 for the difficulty in sizing/handeling the stickers.
To draw the attention away from the imperfections of the design, I added a few dots and hearts using a small dotting tool. I must say, I quite like the end result
Ladies’ Night!
28 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Ladies' night!, nail design Tags: animal print, blue, flowers, geometric design, gold, green, Ladies' night, leopard, nail art, nail design, pink, rainbow, red, Sakura, smart nails, toenail design, waterlilies, white, yellow
Me and my girls had a ladies’ night in and of course I was able to do everyone’s nails there! Aaaah, nail art heaven: so many clean canvases! Most of the designs are variations of designs I previously did tutorials on, so I’ll add links if you’re interested in how to make them. The ladies chose the colors/design themes themselves, so I love the way the designs reflect each girl’s individual style.
Melissa’s design: Green emerald. I love doing variations of this design for classy, office-appropriate nails. It’s simple and chic, with a hint of glamour (which totally fits Melissa’s personality! )
(I don’t have a tutorial for this yet but I might do one in the future.)
Kirsten’s design is sweet and girly: purple with pink waterlilies.
In fact, the waterlily design was quite popular this evening: three girls chose it, but in different colors.
Alexandra chose neutral, very light colors for the design, making it feminine yet very clean and practical for the office.
Diane chose bright colors for the background and strict black-and-white for the flowers themselves. This gives the design a fun, almost tribal feel.
Alisa chose one of my favorite desings: Blossoming sakura on a blue background. It’s youthful, feminine, fresh, fun.
Last but not least, yours truly went for a flashy-yet-netural gold and silver leopard print design. Cause I’m the wild one! Animal prints are great for practically any occasion because they are usually done in neutral colors which go with everything, plus you can’t mess them up since the messier they are, the more natural they look!
Ooh almost forgot! I also did my toenails. I think the only thing missing from this design is some pink unicorns
It was a fun night and really fun for me to do all the girls’ nails! Nailpainting is a great opportunity for some female bonding XOXO
