Sponged Stripes & Bright Dots

I have another summery design today! There's nothing too special about this mani but I wanted to do a blog post regardless to give a few more details about it!

I started with a base of Sinful Color's Snow Me White and then dotted on Pamplona Purple - OPI, Naughty Nautical - Essie, and Did It On 'Em - OPI. For the accent nail, I applied a fast drying top coat, waited twenty minutes just to be safe, and applied some striping tape (the kind you can get from ebay). Then with ripped up bits of sponge, I sponged on the three colours. I didn't want to do a gradient or even combine the colours too much which is why I did each colour individually and it turned out way better than expected!

I really love this mani and I'm super proud of it. At first I wasn't sure about the colour combo, but as I did it, I realised it was a good choice and I was glad I didn't change any colours.

I'd love to do a full mani with the design from the accent nail and try out another colour combo!

Thanks for reading!

- Melissa.

Purple Pond Mani

Today's post will just be a quick one considering I did this mani for the blue prompt in the challenge in September, but had the urge to try it out in a different colour recently.

I used an OPI Sheer Tint again in the colour Don't Violet Me Down and I still really love this type of mani. I did less dots than last time so there's less definition than my previous one but it still looks super cool and 3D.

I really enjoy the look of this design because it's simple and still stands out. I think I did three or four layers on the sheer tint because I didn't want it to be too thick since I wanted to top coat it and wear it for a few days.

That's it for today! Thanks for reading.

- Melissa.

31DC2015: Day 11 - Polka Dots

I've already done a few dotticures in this challenge, so when today's prompt rolled around I was feeling a bit uninspired, and I guess that's why the mani I'm posting is the second one I did for this prompt. I did a simple dotticure and when I went to edit the pictures I realised I absolutely hated it and I couldn't even bring myself to continue editing. So I redid the mani and ended up with an even simpler one! Nothing like a good white base and bright colours to pull me back in!

If I remember correctly (because let's face it, I'm clearly writing this post days later with the plan to back date it) the colours are Mojito by Ulta3 and Vivid Rose by Maybelline Color Show with a base of Snow Me White by Sinful Colors.

- Melissa.

31DC2015: Day 10 - Gradient

I love a good gradient, but when I do them I always tend to stick to the safe colours such as green/purple/blue or pink/orange/yellow andddd today is no different! I went with the latter because I did the former last year for today's prompt. So I guess I'm still changing it up a bit!

Today I used Tangelo, and Frangipani by Ulta3 and Vivid Rose by Maybelline Color Show because they were already on my desk and I was in a rush. I then did some white dots (because the sponge stuck to almost every nail!) using Snow Me White by Sinful Colors.

So that's all for today! Nothing new or special this time round.

- Melissa.

31DC2015: Day 5 - Blue

For today's prompt I chose to do what I think is called a pond mani! Where you layer a sheer polish over dots and then do another layer of sheer and dots and so on until you get a 3D looking sort of pond design. I've never done this before, but I've seen it everywhere and always thought it look really cool! I didn't know just how cool it was until I did it myself and couldn't stop looking at it.

I used one of the OPI Sheer Tints called I Can Teal You Like Me. So it's definitely more teal than blue but I used it anyway because it was the closest.

I think all up I did maybe four or five layers of the dots, but I doubled up on the layers of sheer polish just because I felt like that covered it better and gave it more depth!

- Melissa.

31DC2015: Day 2 - Orange

Day 2 of the challenge is orange! I'm not a lover or hater of orange but I never know what to do with it, so today I just went with a simple dotticure and added some gray into the mix. I don't recall what polishes I used as I packed them away and am already planning tomorrow's mani. But that doesn't matter too much!

Only a short post today because there's not much else to explain about this one!

- Melissa.

Purple/Green/Blue Mix n Match

I have a random mix n match design to show you tonight. I started off with the idea of doing some chevron patterns with purple glitter and a purple gradient. But then I realise that I always do purple gradients so I chucked in a green and blue polish and once finished I realised again that I always use this colour scheme.

But anyway, I love how it ended up even though it wasn't my original plan (thanks to being too impatient for the polish to dry, causing the nail vinyls to imprint in my white base and then deciding I should do something else). I've probably done something similar to this because I'm a bit of a one trick pony, but it's something at least!

The base is Snow Me White by Sinful Colors, the lovely glitter is Lavender Sparks by Maybelline Color Show and the three colours are Pamplona Purple by OPI, Suzi Says Feng Shui by OPI and Emerald Inten-City by Ulta3. They all make for such a lovely combo and honestly, if it's not obvious the green/purple/blue colour scheme is one of my favourites to use on my nails. They just work so perfectly together!

That's it for tonight, thanks for reading!

- Melissa. 

Rose Nail Studs - Born Pretty Store Review

*This product was sent to me for review, all opinions are my own

Hi everyone! Today I have my third review of nail art products from Born Pretty Store. I chose some of these cute 3D roses in the colour lilac as I don't normally use nail art studs but I wanted to try something different and I loved the look of these so let's get into it!

These studs are $3.95AUD for 5 pieces and there's a range of colours to choose from. They're quite small when in the packet but once they're on the nail they seem a bit large. This however could just be because I have quite small nail widths so any studs look big on my nails (which is why I don't use them often). And they're very 3D, as in they're high when on the nail and stick up quite a lot. Because of that I think it would get in the way if you wanted to wear them for a while, but for decorative purposes or a special event they'd be perfect!

I thought I would do something simple to match the delicate look of the rose studs and I think the dots fit perfectly to keep the mani looking pretty!

All in all I quite like these studs, they're completely different to what I'd normally use and that's what makes them interesting. They don't budge when they're on the nail but they're also easy to pull off and can definitely be re-used if you want to keep them. They do stick out a bit so you'll have to be careful when wearing them so they don't get caught or ripped off. For $3.95 though it's a good deal because of the fact that you can reuse them multiple times without them getting ruined.

Don't forget to use the code MEPUK31 for 10% of the website. 

Thanks for reading!

- Melissa.

Inspired By... #12

Hello everyone!

I'm bringing my Inspired By... series back for this post as I couldn't come up with a creative name for this post as I have a lot of posts on dots. Today however, I'm inspired by another one of my phone cases, I think I've done three or four designs using inspiration from my phone cover and to be honest, that's partly why I buy the cases I do; for the inspiration!

I used a base of White On by Sally Hansen and the dots are E-nuf Is E-nuf by Essie and Turquoise Paradise by Maybelline Color Show. 

I absolutely love how this turned out, it looks exactly like the case.

And here are the nails against the case, how spot on are they?! 

I really enjoy this mani and I really enjoy doing spot on recreations of a pattern I've come across.

Hope you enjoyed this one, thanks for reading!

- Melissa.

Bright & Colourful Mix n Match Mani

Hi everybody!

This post was supposed to be up yesterday but I went on an impromptu road trip to see my grandparents instead and wasn't able to edit the photos or write up a post.

I've been wearing this bright mani for the past few days now (although it's all chipped by now). It's a bright and colourful design but I'm not sure how much I loved it, it kind of became annoying after a few days.

Anyway, I used a bunch of polishes that I can't remember the names of and I'm not near my nail desk to find them, so if you want to know a certain polish just ask and I'll have a look!

Just a quick post today to make up for the lack of posts the last few days, but stay tuned because in the next few days I'll have my bellabox review up and a 2014 favourites post which I'm in the middle of making! It'll be full of ALL my favourites of the year, nail art, makeup, skincare, etc.

Thanks for reading!

- Melissa.

OPI Sheer Tints Dotticure

Hi everybody!

I recently picked up the Sheer Tint Top Coats by OPI from a Catch Of The Day Sale. I had been eyeing these off ever since they were everywhere on Instagram and in the blogging world, but of course I wasn't going to pay full price for them because that's just way too much for four polishes. So I waited and as soon as I saw them on a COTD sale (thank you to my sister for notifying me of it) I had to get them! I'm happy I did, they're a really cool addition to my collection and something very different. Everyone knows I love watercolour designs so I can't wait to experiment further with these polishes!

For this mani I just did a simple dotticure. I didn't realise how stringy these polishes were though! It was crazy how much my fingers were covered in stringy polish while I was trying to dot it on my nails. I don't think I'll work with it like that again, as in blobbing the polish on paper and then taking the polish from that blob, it was all just a bit too messy.

Anyway, onto the mani! I used all four of the polishes for this one with a base colour of White On by Sally Hansen.

The more I look at them, the more I think that they look like I should have worn them to a baby shower. Definitely very pastel and soft! I like them though, I do wish the blue was a bit brighter though, it just seems a bit duller than the other colours.

That's all for today! Hope you enjoyed them and get ready for some more designs using these polishes in the coming weeks.

- Melissa.

Christmas Nails

Hello everyone!

Today I have some Christmas themed nails to share with you! Let me start off by saying that I'm not someone who gets really into Christmas; it's just not my thing. So these nails are out of my comfort zone. I'm also not someone who gets into doing holiday or special event themed nails like Easter or Halloween (as you've probably noticed) so appreciate these nails because I doubt I'll do another this year.

I used the following polishes:
Gold's Night Out - Maybelline Color Show Sequins Collection
Scarlet - Ulta3
Don't Mess With OPI - OPI

It's nothing spectacular but it's definitely a Christmassy mani. Let me know what you think and whether you'd like to see me do another Christmas mani! I may or may not do another one, but we'll see!

- Melissa.

White Dots / Glitter Accent

Hi everybody! It's been a week since I last posted but I'm back today with some nails I did recently. I did these nails over a week ago because last week I got my nails professionally done (just a simple french gel mani) for my sister's wedding over the weekend where I was the maid of honour. So these nails today are a filler until I take the gel off, which I may do this week because I'm not a massive fan of them.

This mani is just a simple blue dotticure using Blue Marlin by Ulta3 with a glitter accent by Moonstone Nail Polish called Star Queen Nebula from the September What's In-Die Box (which I never posted swatches of and I'm very disappointed in myself for but oh well, you'll eventually see them all when I use them in future manis). I believe the white dots were Lily White by Ulta3 also.

That's all for today! Hopefully I'll be back to normal nail art by the weekend if I can get this gel polish off safely without ruining my nails! Thanks for reading.

Pastel Mix n Match

Hello! Today's post is a simple one as I've come down with another cold and have spent most of this weekend in bed, so let's just jump into it.

I sat down today with the intent on doing a few designs, starting with a gradient; but it didn't work out and I couldn't deal with redoing it or even doing the other design I had in mine so I quickly did this one and actually liked how it turned out.

I used three Essie polishes: Fun In The Gondola, Bikini So Teeny and Bond With Whomever. And of course the white base is White On by Sally Hansen.

I am seriously loving the criss cross design on my index finger.

That's all I can muster up to write for today's post. I'll try to get some designs done when I'm feeling better!

31DC2014: Day 22 - Inspired By A Song

Hey everyone! Today's prompt is inspired by a song and I've kind of done my own interpretation of it. I had almost zero inspiration for what to do, so instead of looking at just songs, I looked at album covers and decided to recreate one of them. I went with something easy because I had to do it after work today. I chose the album Bloom by Beach House because it has a simple, classic album cover, plus I'm in love with the album and have been listening to it for a very long time. 

I used Black Satin and Lily White by Ulta3. I think the middle finger is the best recreation of the cover as it really shows the size difference. 

That's all for today! It's a simple mani and an easy recreation.

31DC2014: Day 21 - Inspired By A Colour

Hey everyone! Only ten more days left of the challenge; it feels like it's been going on forever and now we're in the section that's my least favourite because sometimes it's hard to force myself to be inspired by certain things. But I do have a few ideas so we'll see how they all work out.

Today's prompt is probably the second most ridiculous of them all (the first being 'inspired by a flag') but it's also easy because you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want to. My favourite colour is blue so I went with my favourite blue polish by Essie, Avenue Maintain and did a simple dotticure with Lily White by Ulta3.

It's a very classic and cute mani that will pretty much go with anything and you can easily change the colours up.

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend, thanks for reading!

31DC2014: Day 11 - Polka Dots

Hi everyone! We're now onto the styles section of the challenge which I enjoy because you get to do a lot of different designs and can use any colours, instead of having to stick to a general one like the first ten days.

Before I get into this post, I just need to inform everyone that the next few days of the challenge have all been pre done as I'm going away for the weekend to see my grandparents for my grandpa's 80th birthday. I'm currently in between designs as I write this because I leave tomorrow morning and need them all done and scheduled to post while I'm away. Therefore, these next few designs will be simple ones using techniques I've done before just to save myself the pressure of trying something new in the space of the 40 minutes I've assigned myself each design so that I can get through them all. 

Now onto today's post! Polka dots! Dots are so easy to do so these won't require much explanation. I had planned something else, but I didn't wake up early enough this morning to give myself enough time to execute it properly, therefore I've just gone with a simple dotticure.

I used all OPI polishes, the base is My Vampire Is Buff, the blue is Suzi Says Feng Shui and the green is Don't Mess With OPI.

That's it for today, be sure to look out for my next few posts and hopefully I'm still able to post on instagram so make sure to follow me there too!

31DC2014: Day 9 - Rainbow

Hi everyone! Today's rainbow prompt is always a fun one because it leads to sooo many possibilities. I didn't have a lot of time to plan this one out and I couldn't be bothered to do something very detailed. Lazy, I know, but I've been working.

I went with a dotticure design where I pretty much just dotted them anywhere and everywhere I could, halfway through I realised that it reminded me a clown costume and I really hate clowns so I tried to avoid it looking too clown-ish (I don't think it worked, it's still a bit creepy).

The polishes used were:
Red: Scarlet - Ulta3
Orange: Bright Me - Ulta3
Yellow: Fresh Squeezed - Ulta3
Green: Mojito Madness - Essie
Blue: Avenue Maintain - Essie
Purple: Palette Play - Ulta3

I really freakin' love these nails so much that I can get past the clown vibe and deal with it. I don't think I've ever done a dotticure with this many colours but it was so fun to just dot them anywhere and not worry about getting them all to look nice and be even. I probably should have kept these for the polka dot prompt but oh well, I have another plan for them.

Hope you enjoyed today's nails! Thanks for reading.

31DC2014: Day 3 - Yellow

Hi everybody! Today's prompt is yellow and just like with Monday I'm basing these nails off a Marc Jacobs perfume, this one is called Honey. My parents bought this for me while they were on a cruise earlier in the year. It's very similar to the Dot perfume, not in the way it smells, but the design of the bottle.

I started with a base of White On by Sally Hansen as I found the yellow polish I used, Freshly Squeezed by Ulta3, was too thin to look opaque even after a few coats. So on top of the white, I did two coats of yellow and then used a dotting tool for the dots! Very simple and probably a cop out considering it's the yellow version of Monday's mani, but oh well. I was going to do stripes on my ring finger but I didn't have the patience for striping tape. That's why the dots on that nail look a bit funny, because I'd already top coated the nail to make the striping tape process easier but at the last minute I decided not to go with it and proceeded with the dots, forgetting the top coat would still be a bit tacky underneath. Oops.

Tomorrow's prompt is green, so stay tuned for that!

31DC2014: Day 1 - Red

Hello there and welcome to this year's 31 Day Nail Art Challenge, I'm very excited to be doing this again and I think I'll do a lot better than I did last year now that I've got a year's worth of practice under my belt!

If you've been following me for a year, you'll remember that I hate the colour red. I have never liked it and I very rarely wear it, except on my lips. But this was an easy prompt for me because I was inspired by my bottle of Dot by Marc Jacobs. It's one of my favourite perfumes; my nana gave it to me for my 21st birthday last year.

I used Fame Fatal by Essence and Black Satin by Ulta3. I then top coated with Seche Vite, which I'm trying to get used to again, but as I had done the red dots on the black base twice, they were very bumpy so I top coated those nails twice which didn't do much as it was still bumpy.

So that's it for day 1 of the challenge! I'll be back tomorrow with some orange nails! :)