Nail Art for Beginners: The Scrapbook Scissor Manicure

Hey Ladies! If you didn't see my guest post over at Beauty Full Lacquer, then click the link and head over there now. I did a nail art tutorial, and decided to start a series on here called "Nail Art for Beginners." These are going to be my attempts at nail art that I see on Pinterest or other blogs. Some might be successes and others might be complete failures, but I will share the process either way. Hopefully, other beginners like me will find some new techniques to try!

Today's manicure is my attempt at the Pin below. The picture is pretty straight forward. They used scrapbook scissors with a detailed edge to cut Scotch tape, thus getting an effortless design.

Credit

For my manicure I chose to use green painters tape, as I was worried that the Scotch tape would stick to the bottom nail polish too much. I used Joe Fresh Hula as my base colour, and Nubar Elegant Indigo as the accent colour. I was surprised that I actually liked how this colour combination looked.

The execution of the manicure worked okay. I was worried that the painters tape would wreck the base colour so I didn't push it down very hard. This caused the detailed edge to not be crisp and clean in some areas. Next time I attempt this I will wait to make sure the base colour is dry, and will try to use scissors with a less detailed pattern.

NOTD: Starry - My 1st Holographic!

I rarely go to the Real Canadian Superstore in my city, but during a shopping day a few weeks ago, I stopped in because I needed some grocery items. I took a walk through the cosmetics section and was really impressed by the set up and selection. I ended up purchasing quite a few items that were on sale. You can see them in my Shopping the Sales Haul.

During that shopping spree I found this Joe Fresh Holographic Nail polish, named Starry, on sale for only $1.99. Normally, JF polishes are $4 a piece so I quickly snatched up this colour, as it looked like they were clearing them out, and it was the last one in stock.

I was excited to try a holographic, but I have to say, now that I have I am kinda disappointed. I did two coats of polish and you can still see my nails underneath. And it is really hard to see the flash of different colours in person, let alone capture them on camera. I took almost 50 pictures trying to get the few you will see below.

Pros of this polish is that it dries super quick and goes on very smoothly. The formula of Joe Fresh polishes never ceases to amaze me, that's why I will always repurchase from this line. The sliver base of this polish is really pretty, and when you can detect the other colours it is incredibly beautiful.

Cons are that I would need at least 3-4 coats for this to be completely opaque. Also, compared to the Color Club and China Glaze Holos, these polishes are lacking a bit.

I may not purchase any more JF Holographics, but my disappointment in this polish will not sway me from trying other brands.

Have you tried a Joe Fresh Holographic? If so, what are your thoughts on them?

Shopping the Sales Haul

So I was bad again! I've had a talk with myself and I am not allowed to buy anything beauty related for the rest of March and all of April. The only exception is the Real Techniques Core Collection Brush Set, if I can find it in stock at my local Walmart.

Now I don't feel overly bad about these purchases because everything was on sale at least 50% off the regular retail price, but one of my goals is to save money for a house and I can't do that if I am buying more and more makeup. 

These purchases were from a few weeks ago so I don't think the same sales are still going on.

 

Revlon Minted - $2 at Dollarama. The perfect mint green polish.

Revlon Blue Lagoon - $2 at Dollarama. A light blue with silver micro shimmer. When I saw this I thought that if Cinderella was a nail polish this is what she would look like.

 

Revlon Star Attraction Pop Tart - $2 at Dollarama. This medium purple shade comes with a magnet on top to create a star pattern.

Revlon Stunning - $2 at Dollarama. This colour is as its name says STUNNING! It has silver micro glitter and holographic medium sized glitter.

Revlon Popular - $2 at Dollarama. A light milky pink with multi sized sliver glitter.

Joe Fresh Single Eye Shadows in Gold Rush and HoneyBell - $1.98 at The Real Canadian Superstore. These were on clearout marked down from $4 a piece. I have never tried Joe Fresh eyeshadows so I decided that now was a good time.

Revlon Shatter Nail Polish Duo - $3 at Dollarama. I have 4 of these Shatter Duos now and will be doing a review soon.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey - $4.99 on sale at RCSS.

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie - $4.99 on sale at RCSS.

Covergirl Clean Oil Control Foundation in 510 Classic Ivory - $5.87 on sale at RCSS + I had a $2 off coupon, so this was only $3.87!

Joe Fresh Nail Polish in Starry - $1.98 clearout price at RCSS. This is my first holographic polish and I am so excited to try it out!


Disclaimer - All products were bought with my own money. I am not being compensated for my showing or review of these products.

NOTD: Joe Fresh Hula

If I could only have one brand of nail polish for the rest of my life I would probably pick Joe Fresh. They don't have the biggest range of colours, but the formula and application of these polishes are a dream for me. The go on super smooth with little to no streaking. Colour payoff is always true to the bottle and the staying power is very impressive.

 

I added this little gem to my collection back at the beginning of this year because it was on sale for only $2! Hula is a pale peach colour with a hint of shimmer. The shimmer is hard to capture in pictures, but it adds a nice depth to the polish in person. I was wary about this colour at first because I thought it would never look good with my skin tone, but surprisingly I really like how this colour looks.

 

You can buy Joe Fresh polish for $4 a piece or 3 for $10 in any Zehrs Beauty Section. As far as I know right now they are only available in Canada, but I believe they are making their way to the States in the near future, if they are not there already.

 

 

NOTW - Twilight

The nail polish in this blog is probably the coolest nail polish I have ever seen/owned, and I feel like I need to share it. It is called Twilight and is part of the Joe Fresh Nail Polish Collection. I know in Canada that Joe Fresh products can be found at almost every Zehrs. The polishes cost $4 per bottle or 3 for $10.

While at Zehrs picking up some juice and cashews I decided to mosey on through the Beauty Department to see if there was anything good. Normal drugstore brands are sold there, so usually nothing jumps out at me. While looking at the Joe Nail Polish rack however, I saw this beautiful jem of a nail polish. It is a black jelly base with flakes of green, orange, gold, and blue. It is like nothing I have seen in a polish before and I instantly knew I had to have it.

At every different angle and in every lighting it looks different and unique. It is almost like you are wearing  a different polish every day. While trying to take pictures for this post I just couldn't capture the beauty of this polish so I am supplementing my pictures with ones I found by Google searching "Joe Twilight Nail Polish." I give recognition to those who originally took these pictures.

The only problem I have with this polish is that the black base is not as opaque as I would have liked. You need at least 2 thick coats or 3-4 thin coats to really get the depth and beauty of how the polish looks in the bottle.

If you live in Canada and have access to Joe Cosmetics I would definitely recommend this nail polish for part of your collection.

Picture taken by me

Picture taken by me

Picture taken by me

Picture found via Google

Picture found via Google