Hi lovelies,

I'm sorry I haven't been around recently, but as I mentioned briefly in my last post, I've just started uni and these past couple of weeks have been a bit of a blur of organisation, finding my way around, buying books and getting lost on campus. Also, my workload is way more than I was expecting so I don't know how well I'm going to be able to manage uni, my job and running this blog. But never fear, there is no way I'm going to be leaving this blog. Although, I think I may have to revisit my New Years resolution about publishing at least 8 posts a month because obviously, I didn't manage that last month!

But, enough blathering on my part! On to today's nails!

I have obviously been on a massive mermaid appreciation phase lately, as both my my last mani's here have been mermaid themed ones! But what can I say? My mermaid style has exponentially increased since I dyed my hair blue and my new blue and iridescent purple lipsticks have arrived and I'm loving it all.

Although, the only problem is that while I got lots of great pictures of my gorgeous gradient base, I only got one usable picture of my finished look, which kind of sucks. But, never mind, I loved this look way too much to let that deter me from posting this design!

My Holy Grail Nail Products

Hi everyone!

I was talking to one of my friends recently and they were asking me for advice and tips on nail care and nail art and stuff and I realised I hadn't ever put together a nail care post or written properly on my favourite products for my nails. So here's a list of my nail products that have my it to holy grail status for me, and why they have achieved this highly acclaimed status.

Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter
This is a pretty legendary and well-known cuticle cream throughout the nail blogger world and it's pretty easy to see why. It's thick, nourishing and easy absorbed and moisturises better than any other I've tried. While I know many people, including all of my family, love it's sharp, lemony smell, I have to admit it took a while to grow on me. I hated it when I first bought it (I only bought it because I'd hearing non-stop about it's greatness for ages and thought I had better give it a go) but I've been using it for about a year and I do quite like the smell now. It does have a tendency to melt in the heat (so don't accidentally put it in your beach bag) and when it does melt, it acquires these grainy granules in it. Some people really dislike these, but I like them and the little bit of exfoliation they provide. Anyway, I live in Australia, so it's not like I can keep it under 30 degrees all the time!

It is a little pricey (in my cheap-sake opinion) at AUD$16.50 for a 50g pot, but it really lasts! I've been using mine daily for about a year now and it's not even half empty yet. Purchase it instore at Lush or online.

Inspired By: Avengers Assemble - Thor

Hi lovelies,

So I've been making a good head start on my New Year's resolutions and done another member of the Avengers as part of my Avengers Assemble series. Today, we have Thor, Norse God of Thunder...

While I was pretty happy with them overall, and very happy with some elements, I do think it could have been done a lot better. I was really quite proud of my lightning bolts and I reckon I've improved since I last tried them. It was just a pity that the pink bled through into the white when I applied my top coat...

Because these aren't the most straightforward 'Inspired By' nails I've done, here's a little run down on what each nail is meant to be.

Egads! A Pastel Manicure! Or, just a regular Easter one.

Hi lovelies,

So, with Easter around the corner, I thought it was high time to break the Easter themed manicures. Although, be warned, this is about the only time in the whole year in which you will witness a pastel colours on my nails. I just really am not into pastels. Like, at all. They don't do anything for me. But, I feel that Easter is a very pastel themed time, especially because of all the new life and lambies and duckies and springtime stuff that does not happen at all in Australia because we are meant to be in Autumn, even though the weather is being really weird and swinging being really hot (we had highs of 35 this week) and weirdly cold with lows of like, 9. Which is weird. And I'm sick of not being able to tell whether it's going to be a jeans or shorts day when I get up at 6:15 for work.... But anyway, moving onto my adorable Easter nail art...

Inspired by: Sculptures By The Sea

Hi there everyone!

So, I've decided to start a new series on my blog here where I do nail art that has to be inspired by something. (Actually, I think that was fairly self explanatory, but, oh well).

I've done a couple of inspired designs (like my dress ones (here) and my more recent Lily Allen ones), but I really think doing a more regular ones will help my technique and design execution. Or at least, that's what I hope.

Anyway, this one is inspired by the Sculptures by the Sea, which is a annual art exhibition and competition that's held at Cottesloe Beach in Perth. It was the first time I've gone and I really liked it, although I will admit I was a little tired, crotchety and over it by the end. It was really windy, there was a lot of walking in the sand, and I just don't get a lot of art. I mean, I can appreciate it for it's beauty and construction, but I can't look at it a see it as representation of something or read meanings into stuff or whatever it is that Opinionated (my art student sister) sees when she looks at them.

Lightning Nails

Hi lovelies,

I have just a short post for you today.

I thought that it is high time for me to get back into painting my nails excessively with crazy designs now that my nail course is nearly over. I have to say, that is one thing that I am veeery glad about, the fact that my poor little nails no longer have product on and off and on and off of them. In the last 8 weeks, they have have 2 and a half sets of acrylics, one set of gels and two manicures - one including a paraffin soak that my nails did not like at all! Not that I really begrudge it - the knowledge I have gained from this course far outweighs the cost of some broken, short and very much weakened nails.

Fake Tattoos Nail Tattoos Review + Birthday Nautical Nails!

Hi lovelies,

A couple of weeks ago, I received my order from Fake Tattoos, which is a Scandinavian based company that sells, obviously, fake tattoos. I hadn't even known you could get nail tattoos until I saw this post over at More Nail Polish. I immediately went, 'that is so cool I want some!'. Luckily, I was able to get some on sale and guess what?? They do free shipping worldwide. :)

I bought the Ocean Design and Bird design, both of which I am very happy with.

A Beige French look in Albany

Hello lovelies,

Here is my promised second part to my previous post here.

Continuing on from my neutral look with flowers, I went for a beige french look, with a bit of bling. To be honest, I don't actually like it very much. I don't really like beige, and I much prefer a pink French look a beige one. The only reason I used beige instead of pink was because I hadn't brought a pink with me. But, I also wanted to try out the beige I had bought while I was there (because it would come in handy for nail art).

Vines and Flowers in Albany

Hello lovelies,

Man, nearly another week has passed and I have not posted at all... My weeks seem to go so fast! Between my nail course (two days a week), a lot of practice and homework for said course and lots of work, I never seem to have any time. Isn't that ridiculous? I used to blog more regularly when I was at school five days a week, with days starting at 7:30, sometimes 6:45 and not ending till 7-8 at night (after homework and study), plus all saturday morning band... I need to start getting organised. :)

Some Supernatural Nails

Hi lovelies,

These are Supernatural inspired nails I did quite a while ago, but I came across just today and thought that it would be a good time to post them, as season nine is coming out.

Pink Flowered Nails

Hello there beautiful people,

The weather here in Perth has not gotten any cooler - it's still very hot. But, I really don't care, I love it! I love summer, and so I thought I'd post these old, but very summery nails.

Christmas Nail Challenge - Day 9

Hello lovelies,

Okay, so, I think this is becoming a habit. For each day of this challenge, I've come up with some great design, only to fall short at the execution of it... (Except for the presents, I really, really, liked those).

So, for the this prompt - Christmas decorations - you will get to see my right hand. Why, because my left hand turned out so horrific that there was no way I was going to post it. Mostly because I had red candles on the left hand and when I applied the top coat, the design was ruined... I need my new top coat. I've been using Poshe's Super Fast Drying Topcoat, which I get from here, and I really like it. Mostly because of the incredible drying time and I like the fact that it is 3-free. However, it ran out and I hadn't had the foresight to order a new one before then, so I've been using whatever's lying around, which, happens to be a Manicare Clear Coat that came as part of a French Manicure I got as a present once. Now I know that it is not suitable for nail art which is another strike against the kit. (I wouldn't recommend the kit).

Anyway, this is what I did in the end.



I went for candles because in my house, we have so many candles and all of them get lit at Christmas time. Also, Christmas time for me always has memories of sitting outside in the dark with only candles lighting the night while we talk tall evening.

I'm really sorry about the less than great photos - my photography with my left hand really needs improvement! :)

Check out the other's here.

For these, I used, OPI's 'My Boyfriend Scales Walls' (white), Mode's 'Blueberry' (blue), Chi Chi's 'Doris Day' (light yellow) and Ulta3's 'Honolulu' (darker yellow).

Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 6

Hello there beautiful people,

It's the 12th today and it was time for me to attempt 'Santa's List/Workshop'. I was not looking forward today - I was totally stumped as to what to do.

After much deliberation and many episodes of Torchwood, this is what I came up with.

Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 5

Hello lovelies,

Today, it's time for day 5 of the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge. Today's prompt was 'Christmas Song/Carol'. My nails for today were inspired by a very non-traditional Christmas song by Owl City called The Christmas Song. You can hear it here, if you haven't heard it (I recommend it, it's a lovely song). These nails were particularly inspired by the line

'It's Christmas, and we are in love, with the way that the soft snowflakes kiss us'

Christmas Day Art Challenge - Day 3

Hello lovelies,

Today I'm back with Day 3 of the 12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge. Today's theme was Christmas Candy and here is mine.

Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 2

Hello lovelies,

Right, it's the 3rd of December, meaning it's time for day 2 of the Christmas Nail art challenge. Today's theme was wrapping paper/presents, and this is what I came up with.

A little apology and Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Day 1

Hello there everyone!

Sorry about last week. I was away on holiday (yes, I had a lovely time, thank you for asking) and I thought that I would have access to internet - although, when I think about it, it seems quite obviously that I probably wouldn't.... Oh well. I'm back now and just in time for day 1 of the Christmas Nail Art challenge - Christmas tree. I'm sorry about my lack of creativity in this one - I was on a bus for about 9 hours today and so was feeling less than enthusiastic about this challenge. But I will forge ahead anyway and push forward through my exhaustion. :)

Wait! Hold the Halloween!

Hi my lovelies,

I'm sorry these are late getting up and I know that there's nothing more pathetic than an after the event contribution, but here they are - my slightly late Halloween nails.

Multi Dot Nails

Hello beautiful people,

You know what I love about the holidays? That fact that life slows down. Not just my life, but all of my family’s as well. With four children, my mum has a full schedule in making sure the household doesn’t fall apart and with so much homework and study, me and my sisters hardly get to see each other.

Update on Life and some Acid Wash Nails

Hello gorgeous people!

After my recent AWOL, I have vowed to come back with a bang. I hope that you guys appreciate the 6+ hours I have put in for you guys today, drafting ideas, creating posts, taking photos, editing photos, taking more photos, binning them all in frustration… No, not the last part. Today is a wonderfully beautiful gorgeous happy sunny day in Perth, with the temperature probably around the mid to late twenty’s. Absolutely gorgeous and so what I love. I am over this stupid winter and cold weather so bring on the sun and hit me with summer! :) But really, it also means I just can take a ton of good photos because of the beautiful sunlight – evidenced in the photos in this post.