Winstonia Store Nail Foils Review

I have another review to share with you all today! I also received some nail foil from the Winstonia Store to try out and it is so fun! I have wanted to try nail foils for months now and have contemplated so many times just going for it and buying a bunch of colors. 

These foils are #17 from here and I also received some nail glue (which I believe you need to make these foils stick) which is free when you purchase 3D nail art supplies to the end of the month. It took me a few practice trial runs to actually figure a good technique to make these work, but in the end I really like how they turned out. 

To apply these, I cut the foil into small rectangles big enough to cover my entire nail. Look how pretty the foil is by itself! There is a TON of it too, so you won't feel like you're wasting anything. 

I initially tried applying the nail clue with the brush that came with the glue, but was failing miserably when I went to apply the foil. It wouldn't stick and I was getting super frustrated. I realized that the trick to making the foil stick lies with the glue being basically dry and tacky. I ended up applying the glue with a different brush which allowed me to paint a super thin coat of the glue that dried fast (and stays tacky). I think placed the foil over the glue and used a damp Q-tip to rub the foil over my entire nail. You can use your finger or an orange stick for this step, but I really liked using a Q-tip. If the glue has dried enough, the foil will transfer with ease and you'll be able to have a uniform look. 

If you do pull the foil up and it's not perfect, don't worry! Just reapply some more glue over the spot, let it dry, and replace some new foil. Once you find the right combo of glue thickness and wait time, you'll have success :) 

One thing I should mention, I used a fast dry top coat over these, which as you can see, wrinkles the foils - a look I happen to really like. If you want a smooth foil application, use a regular top coat or clear coat so that it doesn't shrink and cause crinkling. 

Has anyone else tried nail foils? How did the application go for you? If you'd like to try some nail foils yourself, use the code WONDROUSLY to receive 10% off of these :) You can find them here!

Happy Polishing :)

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 14: Flowers

So I've failed yet again at posting on time for this challenge :/ If anyone is waiting with bated breath every Tuesday and Friday...well, I'm sorry I'm always late! haha I actually had this manicure painted and photographed late last night but I had some misgivings about posting them. I decided to sleep on it and after looking back over my photos, I decided to use these as my flower nails!

What were my hesitations, you ask? Well, I was putting a ridiculous amount of pressure on myself for today's mani. I feel like on the whole I am relatively good at doing floral manicures but that has become a bit of a double edged sword! I feel like I've got to outdo myself every time I do florals and I've managed to let it stress me out - sad right!? ;) Please tell me I'm not the only one who is crazy and does this to themselves!? 

I was also a bit hesitant about using this design for my flower look because I don't think they are immediately recognizable as flowers. They are very abstract and more of a sketched and messy look (Meghan and I were totally on the same brain wave with our flowers!) and I thought that maybe I should stick with a more realistic look. In the end, though, I'm really happy with this mani. 

I just got all the cremes from the OPI San Francisco collection and was itching to use them! I started out with a base of Skull and Glossbones and added a top coat (I like doing this because it lets me easily remove errors with acetone). With First Date at the Golden Gate, I painted the red flower petals, followed by In the Cable Car-Pool Lane with the smaller purple petals. The leaves are several messy lines of A-Piers to be Tan and then with a tiny tiny detail brush and black acrylic paint, I did all my outlining. I didn't worry too much about how clean my line-work was or if I painted outside the lines because I wanted the messy, sketched look. 

What do you think of these? Do you prefer realistic flowers or more artsy looking flowers? 

Happy Polishing! :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Heart Skull

Illustrator, Joanna Carrero apparently loves(hearts) skulls as much as we do. Enough to give her heart design it's own set of skulls. A beautiful design combining the symbols of life and death into one.  A lovely idea at that.  Thanks for sharing it, Joanna!

Acrylic DJ Skull

This skull has got the party jumpin' with vibrancy and energy. Eliza Monks of Bridgeport, CT is raising the volume on our site by a few levels with this acrylic painting that explodes with movement.  Now, DJ Skull commands you to pump up whatever jam you're listening to and give a huge shout out to Eliza.  Thanks for sharing!

Lucy's Stash Guest Post

I'm so excited to share that the lovely Lucy over at Lucy's Stash asked me to do a guest blog post for her while she was on holiday for a few weeks - and of course of said yes! I feel so incredibly honored to have been asked...but it made me stress about producing something worthy of being posted on her blog! 

I ended up creating what I've seen called a "knit sweater" pattern (but also seen in tribal print design) and I've been wanting to share it since I did it! Do you know a better name for this pattern? Be sure to check out the blog post to find out more about this look and I would love to hear what you think either hear or on Lucy's post! 

Happy Polishing :)

Yoga Ruins Your Life (Video)

I fell across this video on my Tumblr feed and I just had to share it. Everything he says in this video I just keep nodding and goes "YES! That, exactly!" Yoga ruins your life in so many ways and it's fantastic.

Yoga Ruins Your LIfe from Yoga Workshop on Vimeo.

Manicure Monday - Darling Poppy Inspired Print

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope your day is flying by so that you can run home and relax tonight. My latest Mani Monday tutorial is now up over at the Lulu*s blog and I wanted to share with you guys what I put together! I put together a look inspired by this Darling Poppy print dress and I've hopefully made it easy for you all to recreate it as well :) You can find the tutorial for this here. What do you think of this look?

Happy Polishing! :)