My first client.... sorta

Hello :]

Today a friend of my mum's came to stay for a few days. She long enough nails for me to do a decent design, and when she saw my stash, she did fangirl... just a bit ;] Anyway, she gave me two colours she wanted. Black and Yellow. So I used N.Y.C Banana Split and Ulta 3 Black Satin. See below for photos~

Sorry for the terrible photos. but they show the design well enough. For the gold hexes I used BYS Pot of Gold, just to spice the mani up. She was really happy with the design and wants me to do her nails again next time she comes. I used Nail Art Brushes & Dotting tools for the design.

What do you think?

xoxo,

Shaina :)

Glitter Me Up Friday- A real stunner ;)

Hi :)

Here's another GMU Friday post. Today I'm showcasing the stunning Diamond Glitter Aquamarine.

 I found it at Kmart last weekend, and have been waiting for GMU Friday to come around to post about it. Kmart has recently redone their Nail Polish displays, so get in a check them out. BYS used to be hidden in a corner, under a lot of stuff. I think I'm the only one who even knew it was there to be quiet honest. Anyway, I checked in my 'secret' spot last weekend, and all that was left were dingy old split colours. I then went to buy some pyjamas, and on my way there, I saw it. A beautiful array of colours, from MATTE, to GLAM.

 I absolutely love this colour.. It's a jelly blue base that is quiet sheer, so you can layer it, and its full of tiny little silver circular glitter, and some slightly bigger, silver hexes. It was beautifully covered in 3 coats and it looks amazing. Have a look at the photos below, and be amazed at the absolute gorgeousness of this colour.

Natural Light

Flash

I used Ulta 3 base coat (clear) and I used no top coat. Look at this glittery goodness close up;

How pretty, right? I loooooove this colour. It kinda reminds me of a swimming pool. A very glittery swimming pool. This is DEFINITELY my new favourite Nail Polish.

Do you like it as much as I do?

Alsoooo the other lovely ladies that also post Glitter Me Up Friday can be found below~

Alanna from Pretty Purple Polish
Kaz from Parisian Blue Sky
Rebecca from Polish Peripherals
Mam Glam from GlamOnTheCheap
Kelly from Kelly's Kolors


xoxo,
Shaina

Updates & Gradient Nails

Hi Everyone (:

So it's been 10 days since I posted :( My camera has been dead, and I've been working on something pretty cool. I've been working on a facebook page to sell some fake nails. The nails I have up there now aren't that good, but I'm working on some more. If you could all please like the page, it would be greatly appreciated http://www.facebook.com/LalaLovelyNails

I've also tried some gradient nails using a tutorial I found *here* before this tutorial my attempts were extremely horrible. See below for some pretty photos  ♥

I used Ulta 3 Strawberry Sundae & Blue Heaven.

I think the mistake I made was I used WHITE as the base color. I should have used the pink, like it said in the tutorial. But me thinking I know it all, didnt listen lol.

Flash

No Flash

Alsooo, I couldnt find just a square sponge, so I went to my local Price's Plus store and got some Christmas shaped ones. All I then was cut it up into rectangles and squares.

xoxo,

Shaina ♥

Blog Updates

Hi Lovelies (:

I've made a few updates, some very obvious. I've changed the theme to what I think is a better, more organised and one that suits me better. The pages can now be found on the sidebar under 'Followers'. I've also decided to start blogging about some beauty items, I will now be reviewing not only nail polish, but hair products, skin care products and on the rare occasion, make up. I've decided that this is the best thing for me because lately, I've been obsessed with hair.

I want to also welcome guest posts now. So if you would like to apply please click this link ---> http://sgnails.blogspot.com.au/p/guess-post-application.html

That is all for now,
xoxo,
Shaina (: xx

Glitter Me Up Friday (a day late I know) & Some other cool stuff.

Hi Everyone :)

It's been a while since I posted last. I've really had a lot of stuff to do. But even though my nails are still short, I couldn't resist showing off some glitter this Friday. I promise to post more this week, my school is going on camp, and I've decided to sit it out. So some free time! Yay!!

Ok, so on with GMU. I couldn't help not posting this week.

I used N.Y.C. Banana Split for the base coat (yellow). It's a creme that is really hard to work with, I wouldn't recommend it. The glitter I used was Leana Cosmetics, Color 48 (Muli Colored Glitter as described on bottle.)

N.Y.C Banana Split, Leana Cosmetics Color 48

I also took a macro of my nails, and the actual bottle of glitter.

Left: Leana Cosmetics Color 48 over N.Y.C Banana Split.
Right: Leana Cosmetics Color 48 (bottle)

I think it looks prettier on my nails than in the bottle, even though the yellow was a pain.

The other lovely Glitter Me Up Friday Participants;
Alanna from Pretty Purple Polish
Kaz from Parisian Blue Sky
Rebecca from Polish Peripherals
Mam Glam from GlamOnTheCheap

I am also having a giveaway at 30 followers, so tell your friends to follow!! 

I've also been nominated for a few awards, and I will post about these later this week.

xoxo,

Shaina :)

GMU Friday, School and no posting

Hey Everyone (:

So I haven't posted in a week and school is the blame for that. I've been so caught up in reports and feedback and catching up, I've had absolutely no time. Also all of my nails broke so I'm regrowing them and I've decided not to posting pictures of my own nails or doing GMU Fridays until I do. I'll be mainly posting reviews, I have a few stored up that I need to catch up on.

Until next time,

xoxo,
Shaina

Glitter Me Up Friday

Hello :)

This is the first Glitter Me Up Friday post, so I decided to keep it simple. I just did a Leana Cosmetics glitter as the base coat, it has no name. And I used Kiss Nail Art Polish for the lines. I couldn't help myself doing a design. I dont really have much to say about this mani, so just look below for photos. I did pink glitter ombre nails on Monday, but I didn't take any photos and I used all the glitter so I couldn't do them again.

Artificial Light

Sally Hansen Base Coat
Leana Cosmetics White Glitter
Kiss Hot Pink Nail Art Brush 

Flash

Most of my nails broke *tear tear*

It was a pretty simple mani, in the end I couldn't even come up with an idea.

The other lovely ladies doing Glitter Me Up Friday

Alanna from Pretty Purple Polish

Kaz from Parisian Blue Sky

Rebecca from Polish Peripherals

Mam Glam from GlamOnTheCheap

xoxo,

Shaina

P.S. Girls, you can do designs on your nails with glitter too. I forgot to mention that :)

Nail Art Practice Template

Hi Everyone (:

I was looking on google for a practice template for some nail designs. I couldn't find any so I made one. You can find it under the 'Downloads' button on the navigation bar. Please tell me what you think and if you like you can request some different shapes! What's there is sort of squoval, I can do all shapes, just let me know which one you want :)

xoxo,
~Shaina

Water Marbling

Hii! :)

Today I tried water marbling. Oh what a disaster. I didn't take any pictures, because it was so terrible.. It was my first time and with the help of my sister, it was decent, but stupidly thinking I could do better I cleaned my nails without taking photos. Ever since then I haven't been able to do them that well again.

I personally don't like this technique, its time consuming and messy. I used vaseline so I could easily clear the excess polish, but it was still really annoying to clean the dotting tools I used to make the design. I tried all the brands I own and Ulta 3 and OPI seem to work the best. NYC is ok too. I think I would rather do dry marbling, it's less messy and I like what I've seen. I also think it will be less time consuming.

I spent roughly 3 hours with all of my 3 attempts, about an hour each.

What was your experience with water marbling? Was it a good one? Send me your pics and comments! :)

xoxo,
Shaina

Glitter Me Up Friday (:

Hello!

I noticed a few little blogs have some days where they do something special, I know of 'Artsy Wednesday' which I found on Pretty Purple Polish (http://www.prettypurplepolish.com/) so I decided to make up my own day. Here's how it came about...

I was thinking of things that I have a lot of and really like and I came up with GLITTER. I asked my mum what day suits glitter and she said Friday. I guess that came from where we live, Friday is kinda a party night here, where a lot of people wear glitter and get really dressed up. So from now on, I will be posting glitter nails on Fridays! If you want to join it comment on this post, use the pic on this post and link to all the blogs you know of that are doing it (including me) Easy!! (: You'll be able to find the links of the blogs also joining in, in my next post.

xoxo,
Shaina (:

Gumleaf Mafia

Hey Everyone (:

I applied to be on the Gumleaf Mafia site and I got an email back saying yes!!! :D You may have noticed the cute little Koala on the sidebar click that and it will take you there. This is just a quick update post (:

xoxo,
Shaina (:

http://gumleaf-mafia.com/

Leana Cosmetics

Helloo!!

Recently I've been on the search for new colors brands ect. to get out there. I found a really cute little brand at my local "Prices Plus" Store that usually only stocks BYS that I've completely bought out. I asked my mum to get me some paddle pop sticks from there 2 days ago, and she quickly phoned me to tell me there was a new stand of nail polish. I went in and found this colorful array of a new brand called Leana Cosmetics. I bought 16 and 4 new storage containers for only $50!! What a bargain!!! Have a look below for photos...

^^ All 16 polishes ^^

^^ The worst brush, not that bad really, easy enough to use and the color looks great! ^^

^^ The fabulous crackle colors I picked up ^^

I really like the crackle, and the glitter is all really fabulous, I made a really vintage type of mani the other day, it just the glitter polish. It looks really nice and I was really happy with it.

I also did a quick google search on this polish and I couldnt find it anywhere, so I just assume its new or no-one has checked it out yet.

Have you ever seen Leana Cosmetics? Send me a comment with your thoughts.

xoxo,

Shaina

March/April Haul

Hello!!!!!!

Today I'm gonna share some pics of my March/April(ish) haul. I got some Ulta 3, and some coool stuff off eBay. Pics below.

xoxo,

Shaina ;))

Dotting Tools are here!!!

Hello Everybody!!


Guess what just got here??? Okay, so the title kinda gives it away, MY DOTTING TOOLS!! I ordered these off eBay last week and they got here this morning (Pretty quick seeing as they were from Tasmania).  I did a cute little Flower mani as soon as I got them. They were really easy to use, but I found my right hand was better because I was more used to it. I also did a mattte finish top coat, which looks fabo ;D The only thing I dont like is the white on the mani is a bit sheer D:  Look below for pics :)

Flash Fixed

Natural Light

Artificial Light

xoxo,

Shaina (:

China Glaze- Matte Magic Review

Hello :)

Something really exciting is happening in this post today, I'm using my own swatches!!! These are photos I've taken myself, so forgive me if they suck, they do show the main point though-- the matte.

Today I'm reviewing my first ever bottle of Chine Glaze, the first bottle I ever purchased of China Glaze. I had high expectations of this matte polish, and boy were they fulfilled. Read below for my most exciting review yet.

First up the Positives. I LOVE this matte polish. It's amazing, I could go ON AND ON using words to describe this AMAZING nail polish. I bought this item off eBay and it got to me over night, how fabo. I got to try it straight away, so I did some Easter nails. I fell in love. Then I did my current mani. This polish is great, I don't have to but matte polishes to get this affect, just add the matte magic top coat. The bottle was $9 with postage which was a bargain. It also lasts a long time, and seems to protect my nails better than my Sally Hansen top coat. I did some swatches on my swatch cardboard and painted half of the color matte and you can really see the different and fell it too. I don't love glossy top coats all the time, when I feel them, they seem 'sticky' like your finger gets caught, soft but it gets caught-- if you know what I mean. This matte polish when I feel it, it's like soft sand paper heaven. I just wanna keep touching my nails, which makes me look just the slightest bit weird in public. Everything about this polish I love. The formula is great, it's just amazing, nice and thin, but not yucky and runny.

Now for the negatives. For me, there are NONE!!! Ok, so there is just one. I want a bigger bottle of this stuff!!! I only have a cute 9.6ml bottle, so if any of you know where I can get a bigger bottle in Australia, let me know ;)

Here are the photos I took of my nails (: Sorry they aren't that good, it was my first time.

Natural Light

Flash

Sorry for the messy nails, I didn't have time to clean them.

xoxo,

Shaina (:

Another Giveaway!!

Hi Guys,

Checking out some other giveaways, I found this one~~  http://glam-polish.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/1300-follower-giveaway-china-glaze.html  I LOVE China Glaze and I'm sure a lot of you guys do to, so enter!! :)

xoxo,
Shaina

My Love Hate Relationship With Metallic Polish

Hi Everyone :)

I decided to do a quick post about metallic. For some reason, my family keep buying me metallic nail polish. Most of it I love, but then there is pink and purple..... Some shades of these two just don't suit metallic and for me, they seem dodgy. I remember my first bottle of nail polish was hot pink metallic, at first I loved it, but then I really started to hate it. There was something about the color that really annoyed me. The color was something like this-

There is something about it, I just didn't like it. Like I said, I find the pinks daggy, I would never wear them by themselves. That said, I LOVE some of the pink out there, it's mainly the hot pinks I don't like. Then the purples, there are some of those that I really love too, but some are just disgusting.  Like I said, love hate relationship. I love some and hate others.

What do you guys think of metallics, are there certain colors you just don't like?

I love blues in metallic, they are magic for me <3

Please leave me a comment with your opinion :)


xoxo,
Shaina :)                                                                                                                                                                  

School Holidays

Hi :)

Today I'm going to do a post about what I plan to do these school holidays! :) Well really all I have planned is painting my nails (lol) so I was looking for some nail inspiration to test out with my new products from eBay that are on their way to me <3 These are some nail designs I wanna try and see how they go.

It's meant to be autumn here, but I really like the summer designs. I also want to try a matte french manicure, fingers crossed it looks OK. 

As for my eBay stuff, I had an update. I got internet banking!! :D I was suuuper excited about this because I can now pay instantly and it will only take 24 hours to get into the other person's account. I really want to get some more brands into my collection, so if any of you could comment me some links (Australia Only) for Essie or any other brand you really like. Must be BUY IT NOW and Australia only :) I prefer to buy in bulk :)

xoxo,

Shaina

Nail Polish Review: Ulta 3 Blue Heaven

Hello :)

Today I'm going to be reviewing Ulta3 Blue Heaven. When I purchased this product I was super excited. But my excitement soon dulled slightly. Read below for more information :)

Positives; 
The thing that drew my to this nail polish color while vigorously searching through a bin of nail polish at the Chemist was the the color. For me this color really is like heaven. It's the love of my life right now (but I don't fully enjoy using it. See negatives). The color really POPS its like a sky blue, but a smidge darker, it's my dream color. I've been searching for this color for ever. The thing that I also LOVED about this polish was the price. At only $2.50 it was a bargain! I also bought 11 other colors in the brand so I had a little bit of a binge with it. But I was really happy with my purchase, the color is the most important positive for me. Check the negatives for what should be here.



Negatives;

These are the punches in the face I got when I used this color. First and foremost was the thickness of the color. When I tried to paint my nails with this color it was an absolute nightmare. For me, the stuff was thick and plainly disgusting. Unworthy to paint my nails with, I cleaned it off, repainted them another color and tried to find a way to fix my beautiful color (Pretty sure it's ok now, a bit of thinner and it was good). The brush wasn't the best for me either. I'm not sure what it was but I really despise it, so I'm going to wait for my replacement to come to try again. The sad thing about this color was that I was really in love with it and super excited but it let me down.

The score I'm going to give this color is a 3/5. My experience wasn't terrible, but it wasn't amazing. The formula could be improved but the color is amazing.

Did you guys have this problem with this color? Did my review put you off?



xoxo,
Shaina



Photo Source: http://www.prettypurplepolish.com

**DISCLAIMER: ALL PRODUCTS WERE PURCHASED BY MYSELF WITH MY OWN MONEY. I AM NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY NAIL POLISH COMPANY IN ANY WAY. MY OPINION IS BASED ON MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND MAY DIFFER FROM YOUR OWN**

Just a few updates :)

Hey Guys,

Well just a quick update before the Easter holidays officially start for Australia and Spring break for America. Not sure about the rest of the world. But I would say it would be either. I just finished school (finally) but I still have some work to do before I'm finished. Then there is still next term (sigh).

I have recently done a nail polish haul which I'll show later on. It includes 12 Ulta 3 and 3 Sally Hansen products (nail care not paint). This is my first Sally Hansen polish of any kind (Suuuuper Happy) The 12 polishes and 3 Sally Hansen only cost me $69!!! I was suuuuper happy about this, because I was giving $55 to spend for Easter and although I used it all and a bit extra I got loads. The Sally Hansen products I got were Sally Hansen Strengthening Base Coat and Top Coat, Manicure correction pen (acetone) and (my favourite) Growth Miracle. I will be reviewing the growth miracle. I purchased this because right now, my nails are short  which I really hate (I cut one by accident and couldn't helping myself cutting the others). So far, I actually thinks its working, I've been applying it as a base coat for about 3/4 days and (maybe I'm crazy) But I think I can see a difference. But enough on that, well until later on when I show you guys photos ect.

My next topic is eBay, oh lovely eBay. eBay is like my saving grace when it comes to purchasing awesome brands (OPI especially) and tools. I've only really purchased these dodgy pens (when I first started out) and a haul of around 15 OPI (mostly shatter). I've also recently purchased a 16pce Brush set to replace my old ones and a 4,5 or 6 piece dotting tool set. I haven't yet payed because my mum won't take me into town       (-_-) so I'm at risk of loosing the items. I've practically begged them to give me until Monday and so far one replied and said yes (YES!!!) Just waiting for the other.Hopefully I will get to play with these items over the holidays (I have to wait for them to be posted :'( ). I'm hopping to start a YouTube channel which will make it easier for me to do tutorials.

That's about all I have to say (for now). I just realized I have loads of ( )'s in this post (I don't know why-- but here's another one). Personally I think they're cool (lol). Comment me if you have any requests for reviews, ideas for polishes I could buy or anything else. I'll be setting up an email account for this blog soon so that will be an easier way to contact me.

That's all for now lovelies <3
xoxo,
Shaina

Nail Giveaway!!

Helloooo :)

I was doing my daily blog stalk, when I found this fabo perfect giveaway, how about you enter it?? Check it out here http://splatbyarfblat.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/matte-glitter-giveaway.html?showComment=1332823426541#c3803826497593979611 and comment if you enter!!

xoxo,
Shaina

Tutorials & Other News.

Hellooooo :)


Over the weekend I have edited the 'Tutorials' part of the blog. It has now got easy to follow graphics. I would appreciate it if you all went and took a look. If you have any suggestions leave a comment on this post! :)

 In other news, I've recently purchased Dotting Tools, Brushes, OPI Start to Finish polish and a Konad corrector Pen. As soon as I receive these items I'll be using them for tutorials, reviews and product suggestions. If you have any products you can suggest for me to review of try out, leave me a comment.

xoxo,
Shaina :)

First Ever Review!

Hello nail polish fans of the world!

Today I'm going to review OPI's Pirates of the Caribbean collection with the silver crack polish.

I bought this set off eBay about a month ago, all together it cost me $108 with postage. This was my first OPI collection and my first ever bottle of OPI.

Positives: 

• Good consistency 
• Fabulous colors
• Good value for size
• I also found that the OPI shatter works MUCH better than the BYS shatter (not saying I don't love both)
• I loved that there were a couple of vibrant colors and some 'dim' colors
• THE SHATTER DOESNT WASH OFF IF IT DOESN'T HAVE A TOP COAT!!!! (This is something major for me seeing as BYS does and it kinda put me off)

Negatives:

• I found that after about three nails the shatter gets thick so you have to shake it up again
• You have to do at least 3 coats if you want a bold color (not that you don't have to do this for any other polish)
• Steady as she rose is actually a purpley grey 

Really this is a GREAT set and I really love it, Planks A Lot is my go to purple and I'm in love with Sparrow Me the Drama. 

Comment and tell me what you think of this collection!!

xoxo,

Shaina :)

(Image Source: http://theplasticdiaries.com/body/opi-pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-stranger-tides-limited-edition-collection-with-silver-shatter-review-swatches-and-photos/)

Heyy :)

Hi Guys,

So this is my first ever post! I will be posting nail reviews, tutorials and all things nail art. Drop me a comment if you have any questions or need some info :) I'm happy to announce this blog officially open!!


xoxo Shaina