Movie Themed Nails: 1st edition...Iron Man

Hi everyone, so I went to watch Iron Man 2 on Saturday and I enjoyed it. I wasn't there to judge it on its storyline or the actors (although I totally heart Robert Downey Jr...he's a sexy sexy man who ages well and he's hilarious in interviews and I love Gwyneth, too), I was there to just enjoy an action movie where I didn't have to think too hard about the storyline. Iron Man 2 was perfect.


All I kept thinking was that I really wanted to do a set of nails that were Iron Man themed. Which totally reminded me of Sarah from If the Shoe Fits... who does movie themed makeup looks. (If you're reading this, girl, HOLLA!) Only I think it's harder to do a makeup look based on a movie, cuz you have to find the right colours and apply them to your face in a way that looks pretty. So kudos to Sarah! I'm hoping to be able to bust out more of these, but to be honest I don't really take a lot of time out to watch movies...Maybe I'll have to make a point of doing that more often.

Anywho, here are the nails that I came up with...and yes, I only did one hand. My right hand only has black polish on it cuz there's no way my left hand could draw tiny, intricate little shapes and lines...it's kind of like a limp noodle. The pics may look small here cuz of the way my layout is, so feel free to click on the pics to enlarge.






If you guys are wondering what I used to create these looks...


I used from left to right, SpaRitual basecoat (on all the nails), Color Club polish in Black (on the middle and pinky fingers and the entire right hand! lol...And just to let you know this is the most opaque colour black or otherwise that I've ever used...I only ever need one coat!), Illamasqua polish in Caress (ring finger), SpaRitual polish in french tip (thumb) and Seche Vite dry fast top coat (on all nails).

And for my birthday I treated myself to a pack of nail art brushes (artnails.com) It comes with these...

...And these.

I think they were $45 with a 10% discount cuz I'm a nail student and it came with the 6 brushes and a bunch of instructions on how to use the brushes to create the art.

And then I bought these acrylic nail art paints. The whole pack was $15 minus the 10% discount for 12 paints and the little baggie they come packaged with.

To be honest, I'm not much of an instruction reader or follower when it comes to art. I didn't want to read instructions, I was so eager I just wanted to get to painting! I'll figure it out eventually on my own. I just find that I have my own way of doing things that work for me...It was fun and I don't get to do much drawing unless it's with my kids. Plus my daughter is loving the nails and that's a huge bonus.

But I can't believe how easy these made it to paint on my nails! If you make a boo boo, you just dip a brush in water and kind of swipe it away. It's acrylic, not nail polish so I didn't feel too bad if I messed up. Although the red does tend to stain the background...which reminds me that I forgot to apply a base to my pointer finger nail and I painted it with a dark red! gah. I can only imagine what that poor nail is going to look like (o_O)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the pics and hope you guys find something to inspire you...even if it is a dude who flies around in a red and gold suit.

My nails #7: newprinted mint

Hey everyone! I painted my nails a minty colour earlier this week (Orly's Gumdrop) and they looked like they needed to be jazzed up a bit...they just looked too plain for me! So I used Orly's Clean Prep and some newpaper to make a print and just added the black french manicure smile line.

If you want to know how to do this, you can check out Orly website here on the details.

My nails #6: Socialite Nails and my new nail polish home (for travel)

Hi everyone...So today I got to go and get a mani/pedi with my 2 girlfriends and it was heaven. Seriously, I wish I could get it done like 3 times a week. I love being pampered and getting taken care of! Plus, it was really fun checking out how people in my trade really do things once they leave school.

I went to a great little place called Socialite Nails. I'd been wanting to go there since I moved out to my area (which is like a year and a half ago!) but I'd never found the time. Well, I'm definitely going to find the time from now on. My hubby asked why I would pay money to get what I can do for free and I told him that foot rubs from myself are just plain weird and that my feet are too far for me to really get to and see properly. I'm pretty flexy, but I'm no pretzel!

This place looks amazing...New York loungey. And the staff were really nice and knew what they were doing. The owner of Socialite Nails, Amy, did my nails wowed me with just how nice she was and she was really easy to talk to. I told her that I was in a nail course to do what she was doing and it turns out I'm going to the school she went to. She explained everything she did (that isn't covered in my course) and answered all my questions. She even suggested that once I start the artificial nails portion of my class that I come in on a day when she's not too busy and that I watch her do a fill. She said that you can learn a lot from watching other people and I think I'm going to have to take her up on that!

I really wanted to tear the place up with pics for you guys, but to be honest, I was so busy enjoying myself and watching/learning that I only snapped a few.

Okay, so for obvious reasons I couldn't take pics of me getting a manicure, but I got a hot oil manicure where I soak my hands in coconut oil that's heated up. Great for dry cuticles like mine!

Okay, so weird pic. Here are my toots in a foot bath. So luxurious. Much nicer than the plastic tubs we use in class! And the best part was...

It was attached to a massage chair! Never been in a massage chair while getting a pedi done! And I love me my massages, I didn't want to get up!

So I picked a colour that I already have. So I thought I'd model it with the bottle of polish that I have at home. It's Lucky Lucky Lavender by OPI. And my ring finger is Mad As A Hatter by OPI, as well. On my toes I chose the sparkly ring finger colour on all 10 toes. Please don't mind the random smudges of paint on my hands if you can see them. I was trying to swatch some colours for you guys for an upcoming post and got a bit messy!

So if you guys are near White Rock, BC in Canada or even the Lower Mainland, check out this nail salon...much better than the chop shops and McNails out there. And I think they're one of only a few shops in the Lower Mainland that offers Minx nails.

So, I got a MAC gift certificate for my birthday from my lovely cousin and her hubby, so I thought I'd spend it. I needed something to hold my nail polishes for if I decide to travel with them (doing a home service or bringing them to school) and I checked out the hard carry all case, but I was surprised at how small it was for its price. Maybe eventually I'd grab one for myself, but the soft carry all seemed to be a perfect fit for what I was looking for:

It fits a good amount of nail polishes, not all of my nail polishes, but I can fit a good amount of a variety of polishes in there. AND it fits in my MAC Zuca rolling case which is a bonus.

It has a mirror in it, which to be honest is totally wonky and I would not use this to apply my makeup. It looks like those crazy mirrors you find in a carnival.

It comes with a zippered pouch on the back wall under the mirror and different sized pockets all the way around which is great...even though I'm not using those pockets, it's still a nice feature to have. It's not a huge case, but it's jsut the right size and shape, plus functional for travel. It's not heavy and I love it. I love how comfortable it is to carry. I think it'd be great for makeup artists who need to travel small...like for bridal touch ups before the reception. Or just a great thing to fit into a suitcase when you're traveling, if you're a makeup junkie like me who can't possibly pack light.

Anywho, I hope you guys have an amazing weekend and I'll talk with you soon!

My nails #4: crescent shape

Hi everyone! Just wanted to show you guys what I'm sporting on my nails this week:

So the colours I used were OPI's Elephantastic Pink and China Glaze's Lubu Heels.

This is a look my mom used to sport when I was a little youngin all the time! And I've been seeing it everywhere lately which is funny...I'm like hey. I've been sporting those since high school. lol.

If you guys want a play by play, all you have to do is choose 2 colours. Apply a base coat and then 1-2 coats of the first colour all over the nail, depending on how opaque your polish is (this will mirror your lunula or the light coloured half-moon area at the base of your nail). Then create a "smile line" like you would with a french manicure, using a darker colour and fill in the rest of the nail. Do 2 coats and then top with a top coat. It's best if you do thin layers of polish or it'll get too thick. And don't use thick or clumpy nail polish. It'll never turn out!

Hope you guys like :) G'nite!

My nails #3: Tsubasa Masuwaka inspired nails

Hi guys! Hope everyone's doing well :) So it was my hubby's birthday last Friday and we were going out with some of his friends to a casual pub, but I felt like jazzing up my nails a bit. I've had them short for a while to let them breathe, but I felt like I wanted a little length and I remembered a website called Cheeserland that I'd stubled upon while looking for Dolly Wink eyelashes (fakies from Japan) and it had a cute nail tutorial on it. They're nails from the creator of Dolly Wink lashes and I thought they were so girly and cute I had to give it a go. So I used some nail chips that I got from Daiso and painted them and just glued them onto my own nails. Here they are:

The little white heart on my ring finger is just a little hard plastic sticker from a scrapbooking place that I glued onto my nail. Quick and easy 3d. Ring is from forever 21 if you're wondering.

And in case you haven't seen my other blog, I posted this pic of my blinged out camera. Just thought I'd show you guys too! And there are my nails :D

So here's my question, do you guys do the whole press on nail thing? Just on a special occasion when you can't get to the nail salon or is it something that you just don't go near? Tacky? What are your thoughts?

Okay, that's enough from me, hope you guys have a good night!