The bunny jumped over the moon

I was reminded of the folklore story of the rabbit that lives on the moon, after seeing Shannon's adorable bunnies at night at Somewhere over the polish rainbow. This "moon rabbit" is akin to the idea of the man in the moon. It's really interesting to see variations of the story across cultures!

I recently scored a bottle of Zoya "Storm", and it is absolutely perfect for a night sky with millions of tiny holographic stars. Ugh, it's just so beautiful. I painted little stars and bunnies in white acrylic paint over three coats of Storm.

 

I just need to take the time to praise the wonderful, forgiving qualities of water-based, white acrylic paint. I first discovered while painting my Japanese wave nails that if I made a mistake, all I needed to do was rub it out with a Q-tip dipped in water. This saved me in more ways than one, let me tell you.

I hope you love these little bunnies as much as I do! Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends, may you stuff yourselves silly with turkey this weekend.

Who needs silver and gold

When you have turquoise and gold! If there were any colours that were made for each other, it would be these two. What? Complimentary colours, you say? Nope, turquoise and gold trumps all.

This was my first attempt with striping tape, and honestly, I don't know if I'd use it again. This tape was so thin and fiddly, it took me forever to position and stick it down. Having said that, I don't think there's any other way to get such thin, clean lines. I was channeling a necklace that I recently bought from Forever 21.

Polishes:

Left to right: Joe Fresh "Sun Kissed", Essie "As Gold As It Gets", Essie "Turquoise and Caicos", American Apparel "Pacific Beach"

I did two coats of Sun Kissed, then one coat of As Gold As It Gets for a bit of extra sparkle (though it doesn't show up well). I worked one nail at a time, placing the tape down, one coat of Turquoise and Caicos, then two generous coats of Pacific Beach, and finally removing the tape while the polish was still wet for cleaner lines.    

 

Turquoise and gold bonus! You can tell this is an old picture because I didn't have proper lighting back then and I took all my pictures sitting at my desk. Now I take pictures in the bathroom. Progress.

This is three coats of Turquoise and Caicos, followed by one coat of Deborah Lippmann "Boom Boom Pow", then another coat of Boom Boom Pow, focusing on the tips. It reminded me of gold jewelery in a Tiffany box!

What do you think of these? Have you had any experience with striping tape? What is YOUR favourite colour combination? Thanks for reading! Until next time, friends!

Japanese wave pattern

I've always liked this traditional Japanese pattern for ocean waves. It's simple, but quite intricate looking at the same time. I thought, how cool would that look on my nails?! I think this is the first time I freehanded a full pattern like this. I LIKE IT.

  
Polishes:

Left to right: China Glaze "Dorothy Who?", OPI "No Room for the Blues", American Apparel "American Denim"

First I painted two coats of Dorothy Who, and then sponged on a gradient with No Room for the Blues and American Denim. Then I painted on the pattern with a nail art brush and white acrylic paint, starting at the tip of my nail and then working the waves up to the cuticle.

 I really love the effect with the gradient. And they didn't even take as long as I was expecting! The lines are nowhere near perfect, but I think that lends a certain charm to the pattern :) That's all, have an awesome weekend!

Lazy Daisy

I didn't feel like breaking out the nail art brushes, so I turned to my good ol' bobby pin instead. These are inspired by my bottle of Daisy Eau So Fresh. I've been meaning to do a mani for this ever since I got this for Christmas last year! I love the scent, and I love the bottle.

Dark picture, I just liked the way the bottle looked lol

I used a bobby pin to dot on the pink daisies (the pink is a mix of Coney Island with white), then the white, then the yellow ones as accents. Then I used a smaller dotting tool for the flower centres. I really need more shiny golds in my collection, I didn't have much to choose from. 

Polishes:

Left to right: Wet n' Wild "Shield", Essie "Penny Talk", American Apparel "Coney Island", Sally Hansen "White On", "Mellow Yellow"

What do you think of these daisies? Isn't the bottle so adorable? What kind of manicure do you do when you're feeling lazy?

The Little Prince

I read this book for the first time maybe ten years ago, one afternoon at the local library. Today, it's still one of the most beautiful, honest, and thought-provoking books that I've had the pleasure of reading.

When I was little, I remember my cousin having this Little Prince calendar with illustrations and accompanying quotes from the book. My favourite one was of the "hat", which was actually clearly a boa constrictor eating an elephant.

These took an indecent amount of time (I think I set a new record), but I am really, really thrilled with them. Particularly proud of my left hand for its star-drawing capabilities.

It was wonderful to revisit this book. Hope you're having a great weekend!

Pink elephants

I just really wanted to paint pink elephants. I have a vague childhood memory of watching the movie Dumbo, and there were pink elephants in it. Other than that, I don't even know why.

Polishes:

Left to right: China Glaze "Skyscraper", American Apparel "Mount Royal", "Coney Island"

I've been itching to wear China Glaze "Skyscraper" ever since fall started. Skyscraper is a gorgeous, denim blue packed with tiny little silver glitters. The jelly-ish texture gives the polish a lot of depth, but it is prone to dragging, so it's best to wait in between coats. The first coat goes on a bit streaky, but it levels itself out and reaches opacity with a thick-ish second coat.

Hope you enjoyed this random little bit of nail art today!

Everything galaxy!

My love for galaxy nails burns brightly still. It is my second time doing these and I am still amazed at how easy it is to get little pieces of space on your nails. Very picture heavy post today (galaxy nails are just really photogenic), plus tutorial!

This is one design that I can do perfectly well with my non-dominant left hand, so I decided to switch it up and have my right hand be more detailed for once. On my left hand, I did a little "big bang" accent nail. Although the shape is a little off, I still enjoy the idea.

Polishes:

Left to right: China Glaze "For Audrey", OPI "No Room For the Blues", Joe Fresh "Teal", American Apparel "Peacock", "Dynasty", Zoya "Reagan"

Left to right: Rimmel "Midnight Blue", Deborah Lippmann "Edge of Glory", Sally Hansen "White On", Wet n' Wild "Kaleidoscope"

Materials:

• makeup sponge cut into small pieces 
• toothpick
• Optional: tweezers to hold your sponge pieces

Directions:
Start off with two coats of a dark navy blue. When choosing your colours, look at pictures for reference.

Add some sparkles for extra cosmic goodness. Finished!

I just can't stop staring when I have these on. I daresay these look even better the second time around. Same colours, but better technique I suppose.

Old picture for reference

I used the same sponging technique on a pair of cheap, black canvas shoes, and I adore them.

Whew, that's all I have today. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial! Have you tried galaxy nails yet?