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!

If a button nose is cute, why are button eyes creepy?

I am not a fan of scary movies. When I say I "watched" a scary movie, it means I watched the first ten minutes, then hid under a blanket with my ears plugged the rest of the time. Coraline is probably bordering on the amount of creepy that I can handle without having to do that. So finally getting into the spirit of things, here are my creepy Halloween nails.

I painted the faces of the three ghost children and on my ring finger is the Other Mother (though she ended up looking quite Joker-ish).

Polishes:

Left to right: Sally Hansen "White On", "Black Out", China Glaze "Elephant Walk", American Apparel "Factory Grey", Gosh Matte Effect Top Coat, OPI "Color So Hot it Berns"

I decided to have some more fun and give myself some button eyes. Too bad I can't go out with these since they look pretty ridiculous with my eyes open. *Warning for awkwardly posed pictures*

Did Coraline creep you out as much as it did me, or do you watch actual scary movies? What are you doing tonight for Halloween? I'm looking forward to giving out candy - hope we get some trick-or-treaters despite the weather. Stay safe and have fun!

Nail Art: The Cat in the Hat for Makeup Savvy Nail Challenge

My friend over at Lacqueerisa informed me about Makeup Savvy's 15 Day Nail Challenge previously, and while I enjoyed looking at her entries, the timing wasn't right for me to get in on the challenges myself. However, seeing as the theme for the last challenge is "Anything!", I thought, well heck, maybe I can squeeze in one entry before it ends. I know I'm late to the party, but better late than never?

I saw "The Cat in the Hat" on my bookshelf the other day and remembered how much I loved this book. So came forth these themed nails.

My favourite nails

Pages of inspiration

Polishes:

Left to right: American Apparel "Peacock", Sally Hansen "Kook-A-Mango", Sally Hansen "Blue Away", Sally Hansen "White On", Sally Hansen "Black Out"

If there's anything you'd like to know how I did, just ask! In general, I painted the outlines before filling in the colour. Everything was done with nail art brushes.

Possibly more Dr. Seuess themed nails to come? Mmm green eggs and ham. Any other Dr. Seuss stories you think would make a good nail design? 

Nail Art: Cinnamoroll Cupcake with Nails Inc Sweets Way

After my last cookies and milk design with Sugar House Lane, I was excited to try the other colour I picked up from the Nails Inc Sprinkles collection: Sweets Way.

I already had a cupcake in mind for the design, but what else? Here's a riddle: what's blue, pink, white, and ridiculously cute?

If your answer was Cinnamoroll, you are correct!

Most of you are probably saying "Cinnamo-who?" and I don't blame you. For the curious, here's some background info.

Sweets Way has a milky white base with blue, pink, and silver glitter. I love how the milky base changes the finish of the glitter, giving it a more muted look. The formula was smooth, but the glitter spread a little unevenly on the first coat. This fixed itself on the second coat once the glitter had something to grab onto.

Polishes:

Left to right: Nails Inc "Sweets Way", American Apparel "American Denim", OPI "No Room for the Blues", American Apparel "Coney Island", Sally Hansen "White On"

Materials:

• nail art brush

Directions:

 Tip: When outlining, don't be too worried about any mistakes. You can always go back with your colour to "erase" or fill in any gaps you might have.

Finished!

Hope you liked this cute little guy! OH and look what I found:

I collected a crapload of these 3D/foam stickers when I was younger. I'm proud that I actually used some.

Thanks for reading, have yourself a good 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?