Author: RiaG

Polishers Inc. – A New Technique

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Hello everyone! I hope you guys are having a great Sunday :) I got an honor to join Polishers Inc. and this is my first post with them. I’m so excited to do this :D

“Polishers Inc. is a group of European nail bloggers that want to exchange their ideas about nail art and inspire each other! We post every first and third Sunday of the month.”

Other ladies in this group are (and what a group it is) :

 

Annie (Polish This!)
Charlotte (Chakalacquer.dk)
Coco (Coco’s Nails)
Emma (Wasting Lifestyle)
Karine (Nailderella)
Malene (Nail Escapades)
Maria (rijaH.dk)
Milena (Nail That Design)
Mina (Cubbiful)
Paulina (Paulina’s Passions)
Tamit (fall in…naiLove!)

 

Today’s theme is “A new technique” and I decided to try foil stamping. A while ago I saw someone mention foil stamping in FB and I just had to find a tutorial instantly. I watched a couple of YouTube videos and decided it was definitely something I wanted to try. Now today’s theme gave me a perfect opportunity to do so.

 

 

I started by applying a coat of clear polish on a minigrip bag and let it dry. Then I stamped a pattern from hehe 004 stamping plate using Konad Pinky Red stamping polish and immediately pressed a pink transfer foil over the pattern. I removed the foil and allowed the design to dry for a bit. I made a few extra ones for practicing cos I knew I was going to mess it up at first. Then I applied a coat of top coat and let everything dry again.

After the self made decals where dry I peeled them off the minigrip bag and cut them slightly smaller and into shape. I applied a coat of polish on my nail, placed the decal and gently pressed it on my nail. I slowly worked it on the nail, pressing down, cutting some more of the sides and using a brush dipped in acetone to shape it near the cuticle line. When I got it to look well attached and smooth on the nail I added a coat of HK Girl top coat.

For index and pinky nails I cut a slice off the decal and placed those on the middle of the nails. When they were fully attached I sealed them in with HK Girl.

On the nude base full nail design you can see that either the stamping polish or the foil bled into the base a little but it doesn’t look bad so I left it be. I really loved how these turned out. The foil gave a really nice look to the stamping pattern and I can see a lot more uses for this technique. This was also my first time doing my own decals and even if it was a bit more work it was totally worth it. Now I can’t wait to try reverse stamping :D

If someone is wondering why I didn’t just press the foil straight on my nail instead of making a decal here’s why. The foil didn’t attach on the pattern perfectly each time and some of the decals were useless. It was also a lot easier to press the foil on pattern/plastic bag laying on a smooth table surface instead of a curvy nail.

The polishes used for these nails:

Index and pinky: a coat of Sally Hansen Nail Rehab, a coat of Glisten & Glow Stuck On Blu!, two coats of OPI Ate Berries in the Canaries, a slice of foil stamping decal and HK Girl top coat.

Middle and ring finger: a coat of Sally Hansen Nail Rehab, a coat of Glisten & Glow Stuck On Blu!, a coat of Essie Sugar Daddy, full nail foil stamping decal and HK Girl top coat.

Thanks for reading and please check out the links at the end of the post to see what everyone else did for today :)

 

 

***All the products were purchased by me. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.

piCture pOlish pretties and Holiday nail art

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Since I didn’t die at the dentist (had another wisdom tooth pulled) today I guess I can sit down and show you the nails I did a couple of days ago.

For these I used Sally Hansen Nail Rehab and Glisten & Glow Stuck On Blu! as base coats.

I applied a coat of Essie Sugar Daddy, a coat of Glitter Gal Galaxy Holo Top coat  and HK Girl fast drying top coat on my thumb, middle and ring finger nails.

Then I applied two coats of piCture pOlish Kryptonite on my index finger nail and two coats of O’Hara on my pinky nail and topped them with HK Girl top coat.

After the thumb, middle and ring finger nails were completely dry I placed NailVinyls chevron vinyls on the middle of my nails and used the two piCture pOlish colors to paint next to the cuticle and the tip of the nails. This style was inspired by one of Sloteazzy’s manicures I saw in IG. Obviously the colors I used are completely different but either way I got an idea for this chevron manicure from her :)

I let the polish dry again and then I used a thin nail art brush from Born Pretty Store (review coming up) and white acrylic paint to free hand the snow flakes on my nails. I sealed the nail art in with another coat of HK Girl and done!

 

 

***Glitter Gal Galaxy Holo Top coat and nail art brushes were sent for review. piCture pOlish polishes and NailVinyls were purchased by me. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.

White and gold holiday nail art

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Today’s post is part of Finnish Beauty Bloggers Christmas calendar. I did today’s post together with the lovely Emma from Wasting lifestyle blog. Our idea behind the nail art was “Poor woman’s luxury” type of thing. So since I don’t have money to buy myself expensive diamonds I turned my nails into beautiful jewelry :D

 

For these nails I used:

Index: One coat of Sally Hansen Nail Rehab, two coats of Dance Legend Mountain Snow white texture polish

Middle: One coat of Sally Hansen Nail Rehab, two coats of Wet n Wild Break the Ice white shimmer and Dollish Polish Drooling Over Your Polish (CesarsShop Exclusive) glitter dabbed on parts of the nail.

Ring finger: One coat of Sally Hansen Nail Rehab, three coats of Dance Legend Zolotaya Ribka (Goldfish)

Pinky: One coat of Sally Hansen Nail Rehab, one coat of Wet n Wild Break the Ice. Gradient done with Dance Legend Zolotaya Ribka and textured pattern was done with Dance Legend Mountain Snow.

I had a secret weapon to help me place all those micro pearls and rhinestone and I will reveal that in another post ;)

 

 

 

***Dance Legend polishes, Wet n Wild Break the Ice and micro pearls were purchased by me. Dollish Polish Drooling over your polish and Konad rhinestones were sent for review. i don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.

Lookfantastic Beauty Box – December

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I just received my first LF Beauty Box yesterday and here’s what I found inside

 

This was my first Lookfantastic Beauty Box and I was quite pleased with what it had to offer. I’m really bad when it comes to skincare so it’s great for me to get new products to test and use like this.
I really needed an oil for my face so the Ole Henriksen Pure Truth Youth Activating Oil was just perfect. It has a strong citrus scent to it and I’m allergic to citrus. So I applied a small amount of this on my face last night and no reaction. I’m gonna start using this and I’ll keep you updated if I was able to continue even if I’m allergic.
The Macadamia Oil comb might not be good for my thin hair as it might make my hair look oily. I will definitely give it a try though. If the comb doesn’t work for me it will be perfect for my daughter who has thick, down to her hips long hair that is always a mess after a day of being an active, almost 5 year old kid.
I’ve heard good things about the Murad Cleanser so I’m also very excited to try that. The makeup in the box is also interesting to me and well, there’s no such thing as too much makeup so keep ’em coming :D

The only thing I wasn’t excited about was the Gold Collagen food supplement. I don’t see the point of testing something you need to use for weeks to see the result and only having one day worth of the product. I guess you can find out how it tastes and if your stomach can stand it but I would’ve rather had something else instead of this.

All in all, the box was a positive experience and I’m excited to try most of these products :) Now I have to seriously consider getting January’s box :D

***Lookfantastic Beauty Box was purchased by me.  I don’t benefit from clicking the link on this post.

Delush Polish Glam Squad goes Holiday

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Today I have a brand new Delush Polish pretty for you. This is Glam Squad from the Nue Collection. My newest order of Delushies arrived yesterday and I just had to wear this one right away and naturally I wanted to you guys too :D

A stunning metallic red. I love this! Excellent application and almost a one coater for me. Dry time was also quick. This didn’t stain my cuticles on clean up. Other than that the jury is still out cos I’m still wearing this manicure :D I’ll update the wear time and other information here in a few days.

For this manicure I used a coat of Sally Hansen Nail Rehab, a coat of Glisten & Glow Stuck On Blu!, two coats of Glam Squad and HK Girl top coat.

The icy details were made using a fine nail art brush and Dance Legend Mountain Snow white texture polish.

 

***Glam Squad and Mountain Snow were purchased by me.  I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.

Jindie Nails – O Holo Night and stamping nail art

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Happy Monday! It’s that magical time of the year and what would be a better polish to paint your nails with than the one that is called O Holo Night :D

“This one is a blackened navy blue linear holo with violet/blue glass fleck shimmer and made with SpectraFlair, the most potent holographic pigment on the market.  This is opaque in 2 coats!”

Formula on this was very good. Easy to apply, no dragging or balding and it was almost opaque already on one coat. Dry time was quick and it didn’t stain my nails. Unfortunately this time of the year there’s not enough sun here in Finland to see the holo effect as amazing as it would be in direct sunlight so I just have to show you how beautiful this looks with just daylight bulbs.

For this manicure I used a coat of Sally Hansen Nail Rehab, a coat of Glisten & Glow Stuck On Blu!, two coats of O Holo Night and HK Girl top coat.

 

 

Stamping is done with OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby, squishy XL stamper and XL stamping plate OB-M. Rhinestones are from Konad Pro Rhinestone Pallet Set 7.

You can buy Jindie Nails polishes from JindieNails.com or from authorized distributors. You can find the latest news, releases and restock info from their FB and IG.

 

 

***All the products on this post were sent for review. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.

More Holiday nail art

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I’m probably going to do nude nails for a month after all these sparkling, glitter-y nails I’ve been doing lately :D But till then, here goes another Holiday manicure.

For these nails I used Mavala polishes 105 Antarctic and 140 Magic Circus. I also used decorations from Born Pretty Store. I don’t quite know what to call those. I guess they are something in between of studs and rhinestones. These decorations come in a wheel that has different sizes and colors in it. This one is perfect for when your nail art is missing that one bright pink or ocean blue stud. I have a ton of decorations but I always seem to be missing some particular color. So this wheel is perfect for my collection and all the colors in it are very usable.

There’s quite a few different colors on this wheel and this time I just picked up green, red and silver ones. Like studs and rhinestones these are easy to use. Just place them on wet polish or apply a drop of top coat first then seal them in with the top coat of your choice. I used HK Girl and as you can see it didn’t make these bleed any color or dull them in any way. On the photos there’s a generous coat of HK Girl sealing them in.

 

 

For this manicure I used:

My usual base coats, Sally Hansen Nail Rehab and Glisten & Glow Stuck On Blu!

Mavala 105 Antarctic. Very well pigmented white with a hint of shimmer that makes the polish look somewhat softer than plain white creme. Easy enough to apply for a white polish and two coats was enough for opaque and even looking result.

Mavala 140 Magic Circus from the Holiday 2014 collection. The color combination on this one instantly made me think of Christmas. I applied a coat on the middle of the nails and allowed it to dry for a bit. Then I dabbed in a second coat and placed some glitter pieces in the empty spots.

For the ring finger I used a coat of Magic Circus and then placed the decorations on to the wet polish.

Last I applied a generous coat of HK Girl on all the nails.

You can find the nail decoration wheel from Born Pretty Store and they also have a wide range of other nail art supplies. Born Pretty Store offers free worldwide shipping. Please use the code “NZL91” when you order and get extra -10% discount.

 

www.bornprettystore.com

 

***Mavala polishes and the decoration wheel were sent for review. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.

Back to natural nails – The result

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About 6 months ago I decided to get rid of my gel nails and grow my natural nails back. I removed the gel completely from my right hand nails and grew it out from my left hand nails. It was a long process and now I’m finally at the point where my nails are healthy and they are not peeling or breaking.

During this nail growing project I found some new products that work great for me and also tested some that don’t work for my nails. At the moment my nails are growing fast but I’m keeping them at this length and not trying to grow them longer. Right now the perfect shape is more important to me than length. I also have 2,5 months old baby and weather is getting colder. So also for those reasons I’m not even trying to have longer nails.

I’m quite happy with the way they look now. My nails feel strong and healthy and they are actually in the best condition they’ve ever been before. Biggest thanks I owe to Bliss Kiss Pure Nail Oil and nail care tips I’ve read from NailCareHQ.com. I’m working on a blog post about my current nail care routines and products I use so I’m not going to go in to details here. I just want to show you the results this time and the nail care post will be up soon enough.

I know that some of you out there might be fighting with peeling and weak nails right now or you might be growing out acrylics/gel nails. By showing you my result I hope I can give a little extra kick to your nail growing project and show you that in the end your patience and taking good care of your nails is rewarded with beautiful and healthy natural nails :)

 

 

So this is where I started from at the end of May:

 

 

Yeah, I know. Looks like a mission impossible and if you thought that was bad, take a look at this next photo taken about a week later, right after nail polish remover. (Duri Rejuvacote was one of the products that did not work for my nails at all. It caused peeling and breaking which is what most nail strengtheners do for my nails).n.

 

 

Dry, damaged, weak nails and horrible cuticles. I had a looooong road ahead of me growing these nails back to being healthy.

 

And here’s were I’m now:

 

 

I’m so very proud of myself for having the patience to do this and not go back to gel nails. My nails are naturally very thin and they peel and break easily. Bliss Kiss and Ana’s nail care tips have changed everything for me. As I said earlier I have a post coming up soon about my nail care routines and on that post I explain how I keep my nails looking like this.
*** I don’t benefit from clicking the link on this post.

Holiday theme nails with Dollish Polish Redrum

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It’s December! I love this time of the year :) So now it’s also time for the first Holiday theme manicure!

For this manicure I used Sally Hansen Nail Rehab and Glisten & Glow Stuck On Blu! as my base coats.

For all the nails I used Dollish Polish Redrum, not so Chrismas-sy themed holo polish from the Halloween collection. Unfortunately this is no longer available so you’ll have to wait till next year to see if it makes a return for Halloween then. This was too very easy coats. Dry time was fast and no chipping in three days when I wore this.

For the ring finger I used Chaos & Crocodiles Fireside Nights to get some sparkle.

At last I added some red and gold studs and finished the manicure with HK Girl top coat.

 

***Redrum and Fireside Nights were purchased by me.  I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.