HELEN by Julep | Polish Swatch {My 100th post, wow!!!}

Helen - smoky pastel, lavender creme. 
I like how unassuming this color is, yet it is cheerful, not dark. Perfect for those days when you would like a well polished finger tips without the screaming "look at me! look at me" lol...

WHITE POLISHES | Featuring EL PORTO from Cult Cosmetics

White polish is a basic color in nail art.  It can be used as a base to make your nail color pop even more - for gradients, water marble, french tips, saran wrap technique - just about anything!  Best of all, I like it for making designs, it matches with any color of polish you use as a base. My favorite design is the ever easy flower-dots that you'll see on my Jelly polish below. A small dot in the middle then five around it.  Drag each dot towards the center of the flower for some definition... a walah!  You'll have an instant bouquet of flowers. Really, white is a great main-stay for your nail art basic supplies.

“Women think of all colors except the absence of color.
I have said that black has it all. White too.
Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.” 
~ Coco Chanel

Galaxy | Cosmic from Avon {Holographic Polish}

More swatches and nail art with Avon's Cosmic Holographic Polish called Galaxy
I am in love at how this holo polish sparkle and glitter. Can you tell?

"Starlight" | Cosmic from Avon {Holographic Polish}

"Starlight" ~ Beautiful Holographic polish from Avon.  At first, I wasn't so sure about this color.  It makes me think of darkened avocado pulp.  But it is undeniably pretty on the nails. I specially love how it sparkles even in the shade.  How much more so in the sun!  If you'd like to try Holo Polishes for less, try it from Avon.  I bought this for only $3.99 each.

Aurora Point | Cosmic from Avon {Holographic Polish}

I really enjoyed swatching the Avon Holographic Polishes.  I did a galaxy nail earlier featuring 4 different holographic colors from Avon.  Now I want to show you some swatches of these beautiful polishes one by one... Oh yeah, I went camera happy... Please check out these photos and see if you could blame me or not... Let's start with the purple one: Aurora Point

Green Nails and Some Time with Nature

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery
— air, mountains, trees, people. 

I thought, "This is what it is to be happy.” 

~Sylvia Plath "The Bell Jar"

Long weekends are fun especially when you are working full time... It's a happy long weekend day in New Brunswick, yay!!! We went hiking and kayaking with some friends... we thought it's great to spend time with nature as summer really goes by so fast here in NB and the winters can be so long.  So we are trying to get "stuff" done as much as we can before winter hits.

I thought green nails are appropriate for an intimate time with nature.  A few minutes before leaving the house, I painted them, ha ha! This is actually the first time in my nail art history that I'm wearing plain green nails! What do you think?

Outdoor Mani with Flowers and Seashells | OMD2 Theme: Outdoors (Flashback Friday)

Ah, How I do love the summer heat... The sun is shining, the flowers are in bloom, the ocean feels warmer... people look happier.



 Hubby and I took a very nice walk on Sunday evening.  I was a little worried that we went out late and that the sun would soon be gone.  Alas, it was 9:30 at night when it started to go down.  No beautiful sunset that night, too cloudy.  Yet, it was great.  I was able to snap some pictures of beautiful flowers along the way, we chatted with some friends, relaxed on the sand... and collected clams.  Yup, not just seashells, live ones!!!

Mosaic Effects Top Coat | Crackle Polish from Avon | OMD2 Theme: Abstract

"What do you do when you find yourself stuck in a crack in the ground underneath a giant boulder you can't move, with no hope of rescue.  Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far.  If it hasn't been good to you so far, which given your current circumstances seems more likely, consider how lucky you are that it won't be troubling you much longe.: ~ Douglas Adams quote (British comic writer 1952-2001)

COSMIC | The Holographic Polish from Avon

Who among us has not been bewildered by the beauty of the universe?

Artist have painted many perceptions of the world around us.  With the aide of technology, now we can have a glimpse of a whole new universe beyond.  It's such a wonder how we are able to notice and appreciate this kind of beauty.  Moreover, we are able to translate that kind of value into a our own expression of art.

First, Someone, with great wisdom and power, came up with the idea of a universe and made it happen.  Then, someone mimicked that beauty and created a very pretty polish-finish - Holos.  So that finally, we can have such beauty at our fingertips and use it to express our own creativity.  Forgive me, I am awestruck! (wink) I might try and do a Galaxy NailArt after this, but first let me show you Cosmic, Avon's version of the holographic polishes. I can't remember how many colors they released in total.  I have four to show you  ;)

Wish Upon a Star | Chome Polishes from Julep | OMD2 Theme: Duochrome

"Pleasant dreams may come true, it can happen to you... 

when you're young at heart."

-- Frank Sinatra

A Hundred Ways to Design your nails | OMD2 Theme: Corals

 Good morning everyone!  I hope that you are having a great day :)

Yesterday I worked on "Corals" before going to work.  It was such a busy day so I did a simple mani.  You can never go wrong with this color... okay, okay, I admit, It's my favorite color... he he he
I wanted to post this as my entry to the Second Day of the OMD2 held by the CraftyNail.com.  What do you think? 

Nautical Nails | First Bestie Twin Nails | OMD2 Theme: Nautical

Jennifer {of IG FilipinoGoddess619} and I had been planning for the longest time to have "Bestie Twin Nails."  This is my first so I was quite nervous.  My design took 2 nail fails before I got to do this.  Hence, you see my ring finger already stained in polish (yup, I can't get it off...)  Not only is this my first, Bestie Twin Nails, this is also my first Nautical Nails... I used Avon Polishes for this design. Please continue reading to see a great nautical nail art feature in the end of the post for your inspiration.  You'll also see all the polishes I've used and some swatches. 

Three Wishes | Julep June 2014 | Special Post

If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?
I present to you Julep's June 2014 Collection named "Three Wishes"

This collection is composed of glitter (yay), metallics and chromes... Of course, wishes comes with shine and sparkle... right? I am very excited about these new polishes because....

I hope you would continue reading.  You'll find polish, swatches and haul photos with a little bit of a personal, very meaningful story (at least to me ;)  I hope that you would enjoy...

                

My Pretty Namesake | Featuring Maya and Dakota from Julep

"Peachy pink seashell, like a shimmering pearl." 

- That is how Julep describes "Maya"
On my nails, I have "Maya" painted on 4 of my fingers and "Dakota" on my ring finger.
I was very excited to try to color.  Well, as you know... It's a bit of a name-sake (uhumm ;)

What do you think of these colors?

Red Flowers and Golden Glitter

Monica - Dark pink, almost red polish with blueish-purple and silver micro glitters. 

My Beaty Spot Nail Polish and Microbeads (Design 2 - Dark Pink)

I love the hue of this pink!  Here is the second shade of pink from my last "My Beauty Spot" haul.  I also posted a nail art design as well as a swatch on the light pink (precious post).  And maybe you could let me know what shade of pink you would prefer :)

Puprle Please (Cult Cosmetics May 2014 Black Box Review)

Happy Sunday Evening Everyone!

I hope that you had a refreshingly nice weekend. How nice it is to have sunny and warm days... May you have gained new experiences to learn from and new moments to cherish forever...

Today, I want to share with you my experience with my first BlackBox complimentary of Cult Cosmetics (as I posted in my previous post, this was a box I won through their Instagram contest. Wahoo!!!)

Julep Nail Polish Haul (Oscars Special Sales, Late Post :)

In this haul I have:
2 Oscars gold-sequin bag
From left to right: Ava, Yumi, Paris, Greta and Anisa
Holly, Greta, 2 Oscars (golden-glitter), Monica, Wendy and Portia
2 Freedom Polymer TopCoats

Julep have been offering great deals a few days before their Maven Window.  A few girls have been commenting on Julep's FB page that they have been missing these sales.  I feel bad that just days prior to this, they spend over $25 US without the added perks.  So, this would be a kind-of FYI to my dear fellow Mavens. ;) If you are not into Julep yet, please allow me to elaborate. ;)

My Beauty Spot Nail Polish and Microbeads (Design 1 - Light Pink) Plus Review

I have two shades of Pink that I want to share with you from the "My Beauty Spot" haul I did recently.  First, this very lovely, shimmery and delicate pink :)  On it's own is a very dainty, elegant polish.  Isn't it perfect for those quiet girly days... even a bridal shower?  Or it is excellent for a young girls' day-out as well...

What can I say about these little tiny dots... it's lovely, looks like candy. It's actually my first time using these micro-beads on my nails.  I am so scared that it would fall off or that I would accidentally eat it. :D Surprisingly, It stuck very well on my nails and it gave off some resistance when I was removing it.  So I guess it won't be that toxic... I applied a generous amount (twice) of clear polish to glue these babies on my nails.  And my, it turned out so cute... They really look like tiny candies. Don't you think?

POLISH REVIEW:

The package I bought contained 4 polishes and 4 bottles of microbeads + 1 funnel.  The cost is $9.99 Cad+13% tax.  The microbeads are of very pretty vibrant colors and did not color-bleed with the particular top-coat I used (Avon's quick dry clear coat).  I haven't tried it with other top coat brands yet.  The formula is excellent.  First coat was sheer.  Second coat provided great opacity and coverage as you see in the photos.  The hues are beautiful. So far so good. 

The only thing I did not like is that it emitted a very strong nailpolish remover like smell.  The package also did not claim to be toxin free (3 free) but it also did not indicate the toxins in its list of ingredients.  The uncertainty makes me feel uncomfortable. 

ACCESSORY:

My lovely gold bow ring is purchased from ebay for a really great deal.  I paid US $1.84 for this with 7 other rings!  This little gem alone is totally worth that price already.  You know ebay... the waiting time can be a little disadvantageous but that's nothing compared to the value.  So I totally recommend purchasing it from Ebay :)  I will show you friends the rest of the rings later on... please come back and visit again ;) 

Ciao Bella!
~*Maya*~

For more Nail Art designs, please visit my  

~* Nail Art Gallery.*~

Thank you and have a fancy nails day!

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Candy Dandy - Nicole by OPI

My First GUMDROPS, Nicole By OPI
"Candy Dandy"

This is a pretty instant nail-fab polish.  Wearing it just on it's own provides a very neat, elegant nail art design... perfect for those times when we don't have enough time to sit and play with polishes.  Some designs take a lot of time, ya'know? lol... ;)

This is my most favorite of the Gumdrops Collection from Nicole by OPI.  Frankly, it is the hex that I love the most.  Textured polish's main attribute is the sandy feeling. Rough feeling on my nails though, makes me uncomfortable.  I just have the urge to keep touching my nails with my fingertips, like there is something there that doesn't quite belong... But glitters makes me feel fabulous, lol... The hex does just that for me.  "Candy Dandy" is the right combination for some texture and glitter.  And though it is still quite rough, the glitter trumps the uncomfortable texture and spells fab all over it...

How about you?  Which kind of textured polish do you prefer?  The classic rough finish or like these ones that have glitter hexes added to it?

I hope that you feel great and beautiful today dolls.... Happy Tuesday!

~*Maya*~

Related Post:

My Nicole By OPI Haul

 LUX - Zoya's Magical Pixie Dust 1

Roughles {Ruffles} By Nicole by OPI