Do cherries grow up to become cherry blossom trees?

Ok, I totally took the title from a manga chapter of Gintama. Oops, let my nerd show for a bit there.

Going to Japan to see the cherry blossoms is at the top of my life list, but until that happens, I know of some cherry trees a bit closer to home. Last April of 2012, I visited High Park, Toronto after I heard that the blossoms would be in full bloom that weekend. It definitely did not disappoint.

Of course, I had to do my nails to show off my favourite flower. A bit different from the traditional cherry blossom mani, I used nail foil for the petals by painting on spots of glue in petal shapes. I love when the light catches the petals, they flash and glow.

I painted three coats of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu, then painted the branches with Essie Mink Muffs before applying the foil. I was thinking of doing a light blue-green gradient as the base, but I decided on a soft white base to let the foil shine on its own.

I dotted on some white afterwards, but I think I prefer it without.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to visit High Park this year - good thing I took so many pictures!

Hope you didn't mind my cherry blossom spam. Oh and one last gif from Gintama.

Bam. See you!

Watercolour Drip Nails

I'd been wanting to do watercolour nails for a long time, but the technique I've tried where you drop acetone onto blobs of polish didn't create the effect that I wanted. While the acetone does make a neat ring effect in the polish, I wanted a bit of a more brushstrokey, splodgey  look. I think I've achieved that with my American Apparel sheer polishes.

The best thing is, these are super easy to do with some good jelly polishes. I'd like to make a proper tutorial for the watercolour and drip effect in the future, so let me know if that's something you'd be interested in!

Polishes:

Left to right: American Apparel "Manhattan Beach", "Summerland Beach", "Pacific Beach", "Redondo Beach", "Moonlight Beach", OPI "Don't Touch My Tutu", Sally Hansen "White Out"

Directions:

1. Start off with a white base. I used two coats of a sheer white, OPI "Don't Touch My Tutu" to keep the transparency, but I don't think a solid white base would make a difference with all the layers we'll be doing.
2. Take a jelly colour, and make random strokes and splodges.
3. Repeat with all of your colours until your entire nail is covered.   
4. Paint over everything with one coat of a sheer white. 

I really liked the resulting look, but I wanted to add some hard edges in there to break things up a bit. Then I remembered I haven't tried drip nails yet either, and this was definitely the perfect opportunity.

I loved it so much, I went for a full-blown drip mani.

Again, please let me know if you'd like to see a full tutorial for this! I'll be back next week with another "Alice in Wonderland" design. Happy Friday, and have a great weekend!

Paint Splatter-esque Nails with OPI Don't Touch My Tutu & Rainbow Connection

I've been bitten by the DIY bug lately, and after cleaning out my closet, the itch only got worse. I found a couple pairs of jeans that I haven't worn in years, and instead of just giving them away, I thought why not try to breathe new life into them by splattering some paint on them? Yep, I'm talking paint splatter jeans and shorts. While the look isn't everyone's cup of tea, I quite like the "messy artist" idea. Or the "I-just-finished-painting-my-house-and-didn't-bother-to-change" look. Semantics.

I'll be splattering my jeans this weekend, and in the meantime, I wanted to have some paint splatter fun with my nails too. I didn't want to deal with the cleanup though, so I cheated.

This is two coats of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu, one coat of OPI Rainbow Connection, then one more coat of DTMT on top.

Don't Touch My Tutu is from OPI's New York City Ballet Collection for Spring 2012. It's a beautiful, soft white that gives your nails a very clean look. The formula is sheer and wonderfully workable, going on nice and evenly. This is two coats.

One coat of Rainbow Connection over two coats of Don't Touch My Tutu

One more coat of Don't Touch My Tutu over Rainbow Connection

One more coat of Don't Touch My Tutu over Rainbow Connection (matte)

I think this combination gives a pretty good paint splatter-esque effect, without any of the cleanup actual paint splatter nails would require. Even not, it's still very pretty.

What do you think? What nails are you wearing this weekend, and any DIY projects you're itching to try?

American Apparel Sheer Nail Polish: Swatches & Review

Today I have for you American Apparel's line of sheer nail polish. I've always been a huge fan of their polishes. They have great colours with amazing pigmentation, perfect for nail art! So when I heard they were coming out with a line of sheer polishes, I was intrigued, and when I saw the promo pictures, I was absolutely smitten.

They were so beautiful, I had to get them all.

The formula was thin and flowed easily onto the nail, and this was consistent across the line. While sheer, the pigmentation is spot on, and you can get great coverage in three coats (though you can still see your nail line). Drying time was very quick, and they all dry to a beautiful, glossy finish.

In the swatches below, I show each colour in one, two, and three coats to show you how they build up. There's a lot to show, so let's get to it:

Left to right: one, two , three coats

indoor

natural light

  Summerland Beach is a peachy rose pink.

Left to right: one, two, three coats

indoor

natural light

Manhattan Beach is a very pretty coral.

Left to right: one, two three coats

indoor

natural light

Redondo Beach is a bright, sky blue. It was a tiny bit streaky on the first coat, but evens out. This one might be my favourite in terms of layering possibilities, if not just for colour.

Left to right: one, two, three coats

indoor

natural light

Moonlight Beach is a navy blue with a strong hint of purple.

Left to right: one, two, three coats

indoor

natural light

Pacific Beach is a bright turquoise. There is definitely more green than blue in most lighting. Ok, this may be my favourite in terms of colour.

Left to right: one, two three coats

indoor

natural light

Zuma Beach is a chartreuse green that looks bright, but kind of muted at the same time. 

Of course, I had to recreate the gradient effect that I fell in love with in the promo pics. I painted three coats of each base colour, then made the gradient by sponging another colour onto the tips. Here are the combinations I used:

Thumb: Summerland Beach as base, Redondo Beach sponged on

Index: Redondo Beach as base, Manhattan Beach sponged on

Middle: Pacific Beach as base, Moonlight Beach sponged on

Ring: Manhattan Beach as base, Moonlight Beach sponged on

Pinky: Zuma Beach as base, Redondo Beach sponged on

Overall, I absolutely adored this sheer line! The colours are vibrant and go so beautifully together. I can't to try other gradient combinations, and layering experiments. Jelly sandwiches, layering colours over each other, layering over creme polishes...oh the possibilities!

What are your favourites and will you be picking any up to try out the gradient look?