Mani Monday: Proudly South African Mani

Hello Hello fair ones :)

So I don’t know about you, but Olympic fever has set in in a big way in my household! I like to think of myself as a ‘couch olympian’ :P and try to catch as much of the Olympics as I can. I don’t know what it is about this time of year every 4 years that makes me mad for swimming, gymnastics, weightlifting, diving…you name it! I love it when sporting events bring out our more patriotic side and I am 100% behind our South African Olympians. They have inspired my proudly South African mani this Monday! Congrats to our first SA Gold medallist in the 100m breastroke, Cameron van der Burgh…showing them how it’s done.

Let me show you how this mani is done!

I used x1 coat of Sally Hansen Instant Strength as a base coat, x2 coats of Rimmel Black Out, x1 coat of Essence Colour & Go in Wanna be your Sunshine, x1 coat Colours Xtreme Nail Colour in Jungle Fever, x1 coat of Revlon in White on White, x1 coat of Bella Nails in blue (no colour description…bargain buy from SA clothing store Mr.Price), x1 coat of Rimmel in Heart on Fire and x1 coat of Essence Gel Look Topcoat.

You will need:

• Base coat nail polish
• Base colour coat, I chose black
• Five coloured nail polishes, yellow, green, white, blue and red
• Top coat nail polish
• Orangewood stick / Dotting tool

Method:

1) Paint on base coat nail polish and wait for it to dry completely

2) Paint on two coats of base colour nail polish, wait for it to dry completely

3) Start building the colours of the SA flag onto your nail using the dotting technique, here’s a ‘lil reminder about what the SA flag looks like in the shape of beautiful SA as well :)

4) As I had painted the base colour of my nail black, I already had the black part of the flag done on my nail…I just had to dot onto my nail the remaining colours of the flag. I started dotting on the yellow stripe using an orangewood stick (or use a dotting tool). Pour a small pool of yellow nail polish onto a scrap piece of paper nearby and dip your dotting tool or orangewood stick into the polish and dot onto to the nail in the pattern of a ‘V’ resembling the yellow ‘V’ on the SA flag

5) Pour a small pool of green polish onto a scrap piece of paper nearby and dip your dotting tool or orangewood stick into the polish and dot onto to the nail in the pattern of a ‘Y’ resembling the green ‘Y’ on the SA flag

6) Pour a small pool of white nail polish onto a scrap piece of paper nearby and dip your dotting tool or orangewood stick into the polish and dot onto to the nail in the pattern of a ‘Y’ resembling the white ‘Y’ on the SA flag

7) Pour a small pool of blue nail polish onto a scrap piece of paper nearby and dip your dotting tool or orangewood stick into the polish and dot the blue nail polish onto the nail to fill in the space for the blue part of the SA flag

8) Pour a small pool of red nail polish onto a scrap piece of paper nearby and dip your dotting tool or orangewood stick into the polish and dot the red nail polish onto the nail to fill in the space for the red part of the SA flag

9) Wait for dots of coloured polish to dry completely before applying a top coat

10) Look down at your nails and totally feel your heart swell up with pride for this beautiful country of ours, South Africa. No place like Africa

11) Oh, and totally jam out to some Impi by Johnny Cleg, he is a famous South African artist for those of you who haven't been exposed to his awesomeness before! I’m totally trying to and failing miserably to sing along in Zulu…la la la, ‘Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza…Obani bengathinta amabhubesi?’…la la la

Have you ever done a patriotic mani before? What’s your favourtite Olympic sport ?

As always, linking up to Mani Monday below, with the fabulous Heather and Heather!  I will also be joining the ladies over at The Nail Files.

Join the fun side of life and link up to Mani Monday and The Nail Files below :)

Mani Monday: Glitter Gradient

Well Hi, how are you fine folks this Monday ?

I decided to tackle a mani I’ve been lusting after recently, the glitter gradient mani!

I made some Chicken & Dumplings for dinner this Monday, recipe coming soon! It was really warming and scrummy on this 'chilly' (you would prob laugh at our winter temps on the east coast of SA) winter evening!

To achieve this pale blushing glitter gradient mani, I used x1 coat of Sally Hansen in Instant Strength, x2 coats of H&M Nailpolish in Pink Skies, x3 coats of Tru Colour Nail Polish in Colours Midnight Swirl (bargain cheapie buy at Clicks, South African drug store) and x1 coat of Essence Gel Look Topcoat. We got the Pink Skies nail polish in Hamburg, Germany on a recent Euro trip this past Dec-Jan…I’m not sure if H&M is still stocking this nail polish colour though. We unfortunately have not been graced with H&M in South Africa as yet, I am patiently awaiting one! If the Fashion Gods are listening, we.need.one.asap!!!

You will need:

• Your pretty set of hands
• Base coat polish
• Your chosen base colour coat nail polish (I used a muted pale pink colour)
• Your chosen glitter colour nail polish(I used a sparkly silver colour)
• Topcoat nail polish

Method:

1) Paint base coat on nails and wait for it to dry completely

2) Paint one coat of pink nail polish wait for it to dry completely, then apply a second coat. I needed to apply a second coat of this nail polish as while it is a stunning colour, on a first coat application it is quite streaky, a second coat solved that and provided the much needed opacity

3) You are now ready to start applying the silver glitter nail polish in order to achieve the glitter gradient look. You will first apply a thin coat of silver glitter nail polish onto all nails…you MUST start painting this coat 3/4 of the way down your nail (this is slightly more than halfway on your nail). So you are in effect leaving the top 1/4 of your nail untouched, thus the pale pink nail polish peeps through. Wait for the first coat of the silver glitter nail polish to dry completely

4) Now you will apply a second coat of silver glitter nail polish to your nail, on top of the first coat…however you will have a DIFFERENT starting place as to where the first coat of silver glitter polish started. You are in effect building the layers to the gradient look of the silver glitter. Now, you will start painting your second coat of silver glitter nail polish halfway down your nail. This will leave a thin layer of silver glitter nail polish showing from 3/4 way down your nail (first coat) and now the silver glitter layer gets heavier halfway down the nail (second coat). Wait for the second coat of nail polish to dry completely

5) This is the third and final application of the silver glitter nail polish, you will start painting this layer on the last 1/4 of your nail…basically the area of your nail where you would normally paint a french tip…paint on a layer of the silver glitter nail polish here. You will now in effect have a built up a silver glitter gradient of three layers on your nails…and you will see the gradient from the least to the most amount of silver glitter nail polish deposited on your nail from top to bottom. Wait for this third coat of silver glitter nail polish to dry completely

6) Apply a topcoat of nail polish, wait for it to dry completely

7) Look down at your nails and totally feel like a sugar plum fairy princess, such sparkly pretty nails, this mani is totally darling!

8) This glittery pink mani makes me think of the music artist Pink, and a song of hers which wasn’t really a chart topper but amazing nonetheless! I am totally jamming to some Glitter in the Air by Pink on my iPod,…la la la… ‘Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air? Have you ever looked fear in the face and said I just don't care?’…la la la. Pink so needs to get back on the music scene!

Back when I was 19 and had pink streaks in my hair, don’t judge…what’s being young if not to have fun! (Disclaimer: My hair colour choice was not motivated by Pink in any way) :P 

I love challenging myself all the time and am a HUGE adrenaline junkie, one of the many times I’ve looked fear in the face and said I just don’t care…fear, BRING IT…was when my sister Nicole (aka Nicky), my best friend Kimona (aka Kim) and I went skydiving !!! Hurling ourselves out a little plane oh at say 9500 feet above ground level, no biggie! :)  Such a thrill I tell you, on Angels Way Farm, Eston, South Africa with Angel Skydive at the SkyDive Durban branch. This is an awesome company with a dynamic and knowledgeable team who make you feel at ease and prepare you with an abundant amount of information before the jump! They have great specials as well, so be sure to check them out here.

All suited up before our jump!

Are you a fan of Pink ? When did you last look fear in the face and said I just don’t care ?

As always, linking up to Mani Monday below, with the fabulous Heather and Heather!  I will also be joining the ladies over at The Nail Files.

Join the fun side of life and link up to Mani Monday and The Nail Files below :)

Mani Monday: Sugar, Sugar!

Good day my pretties! 

This awesome Mani Monday, I had a spring in my step and had a hankering for something sweet this morning…not only did I eat some awesome penguin waffles, yes everyone needs a penguin waffle maker in their lives! This sweet start to my Monday had me thinking about a sweet inspired Mani I’ve been meaning to try! A spun sugar mani was on the cards for today! This mani totally reminds me of eating floaty strands of candy floss!

Delicious penguin waffles that made me happy it was a Monday! Yes, I know, you should run out and buy yourself a penguin waffle maker right this very instant and make some delicious penguin waffles and then proceed to dive face first into these ‘lil penguins…of course…don’t forget the syrup!!! Ahh and all is right in the world, even though it’s a Monday!

I used Sally Hansen Instant Strength x1 coat as a base coat, Essence Colour & Go in Break Through x2 coats and Colours Nail Enamel in Creammoss (these polishes are a bargain buy here in SA, I've spoken about them before over here) for the spun sugar technique and Essence Gel Look Topcoat x1 coat.

You will need:

• Your pretty set of hands
• Base coat nail polish
• Two contrasting colours of your choice for the spun sugar technique, I chose purple and turquoise
• Top coat
• Dotting tool / orangewood stick or toothpick
• Piece of sturdy cardboard or old cd

Method
1) Paint base coat onto nails, wait for it dry completely
2) Paint one coat of base coloured polish (I used purple), wait for it to dry completely then apply second coat of base coloured polish, wait for it to dry completely

3) Now place a sizeable dollop of turquoise (or your choice) nail polish on the cardboard or old cd (I used an old plastic cd cover that is usually placed on top of a spindle of cds). You will want to let the nail polish sit for about 10-15 seconds before you apply it onto your nails using the spun sugar technique. While you are waiting, play around with the polish using the dotting tool/orangewood stick/toothpick…you want the nailpolish to get tacky (just very slightly like a caramel or taffy texture) so that when you dip your tool into the pool of polish and pull your tool away the nail polish pulls away on the tool as well, creating thin, long strands of nail polish that you can carefully place over your nail

4) Continue dipping the tool into the polish and pulling it away from polish and creating thin, long strands of polish that kind of resemble thin candy floss strands and drape each strand across your nails, continue this methodically until each nail is filled with a criss cross of “spun sugar’ nail polish strands

5) Continue step 4-5 until all nails are complete as desired

6) As you are executing the spun sugar technique, you will find that at times the strand will lay as a thick strand or leave little dollops on the nails as part of the strand (as you can see on my nails in the first picture). If you do not like this look, then before placing the nail polish strand onto your nail you should try and stretch each strand by getting one end of the strand to stick your nail (or edge of your finger) and gently pull the nail polish strand across the nail making it thinner as you are stretching the strand and then place the strand down onto your nail to stick . While you are doing this make sure to keep the polish strand still attached to the tool – this gets easier as the nail polish sits for longer on the cardboard/cd cover as the longer it sits and dries the easier it will be to achieve the spun sugar look, as the nail polish will be more tacky and easier to manipulate onto your nail

7) Once the spun sugar technique has been done on all nails, your nails will have strands of nail polish on the edges of your nails (like below), make sure to clean up the edges! I use a nail brush dipped in nail polish remover to clean up the edges

8) Admire your nails, you ‘lil nail goddess :)

9) Totally play some old school jams like Sugar Sugar by The Archies singing along Oh, Sugar, Sugar. You are my candy girl and you got me wanting you…la, la, la…how fitting for these sweet treat inspired nails!

On a related sweet note, what’s your favourite sweet treat?

As always, linking up to Mani Monday below, with the fabulous Heather and Heather!  I will also be joining the ladies over at The Nail Files.

Join the fun side of life and link up to Mani Monday and The Nail Files below :)

   

Mani Monday: Inverted Daisies

Well hello, hello…fancy seeing you here again!

So I decided to jump in this fabulous Monday and try out the inverted manicure but with a twist and added some cute as pie daisies and swopped the colours on an accent nail.

I used Sally Hansen Instant Strength x1 coat as a base coat, Revlon in White on White x2 coats, Colours Extreme Nail Colour in Matte Sunshine Sky x2 coats, Essence Colour & Go in Wanna be your Sunshine and Essence Nail Art Stampy Polish in Stamp me! Silver for the daisies nail art and Essence Gel Look Topcoat.

You will need:

• Your pretty set of hands
• Base coat nail polish
• Two alternating base nail polish colours (I chose a bluey-indigo and white polishes)
• Two contrasting nail polish colours for the daisy nail art (I chose silver and yellow)
• Top coat nail polish
• A toothpick / orangewood stick / dotting tool
• File reinforcements

Method:

1) Paint base coat nail polish and wait for it to dry completely

2) On the nails where I wanted the white nail polish to show through in the half moon shape…I needed the white to be the base colour and vice versa where I wanted the indigo colour to show through in the half moon shape

3) Paint on one coat of the white nail polish on your nails excluding the nail you want to use as an accent nail. Paint on one coat of the indigo nail polish on the accent nail. Wait for both to dry completely, then proceed to paint on a second coat until the nail polish is sufficiently solid and is fully opaque

4) Now carefully place a reinforcement sticker on all your nails so that the curve of the sticker follows a half moon shape at the top of your nail

5) Paint on a coat of the indigo polish now on your nails with the white base colour polish and on your accent nail, paint on white nail polish…remember the reinforcement sticker will keep in tact the half moon shape underneath the nail polish

6) Carefully remove each reinforcement sticker from each nail, you can do this immediately after the top colour nail polish has been applied (which I prefer as I find it leaves a cleaner line) or you can wait for all your nails to dry completely and then carefully remove the reinforcement stickers, do what works for you!

7) Complete steps 5-6 on all nails, as you can see above I started working on the daisies immediately as well…I was just careful not to smudge the freshly applied indigo nail polish

8) Practice the daisies on a piece of paper first before attempting it on your nail…it will be such a waste to restart if you do a wonky daisy that you aren’t happy with! 

9) To make the daisy I simply used a toothpick and dolloped a bit of the yellow and silver nail polish on a piece of paper. I then dipped the toothpick in the yellow nail polish and made a dot for the centre of the flower…I had to make sure I picked up enough nail polish to get the yellow dot to be wide enough and dark enough. I then repeated this process for the silver petals, by placing four or five of the silver dots in a circular design around the central yellow dot. Try dragging the silver dot of polish a little bit when you are placing it as this little drag will make the silver dot resemble more of a petal shape. I’m still perfecting this!

10) Continue with step 9 until all fingers are done, I swopped the colours for the daisies on the accent finger…and used the silver nail polish for the centre and the yellow for the petals…just a small fun change up.

11) Wait for nail polish to dry completely and then apply a top coat

12) Check out your mani, sheesh, look at you go…mad skills is not the word :)

13) I’m so stoked that even though it’s the middle of winter in South Africa I can still rock some fresh summer nails because on the east coast we are blessed with incredible summer weather in the middle of winter!  

14) This mani totally makes me want to sit in a sunny spot, daydreaming away while humming some Natasha Bedingfield…I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine…the sun is on my side and takes me for a ride I smile up to the sky, I know I'll be alright…la…la…la!

What’s your favourite summer/winter mani ?

 I will also be joining the ladies over at The Nail Files for the first time!

As always, linking up to Mani Monday below, with the fabulous Heather and Heather!

Join the fun side of life and link up to Mani Monday and The Nail Files below :)

Mani Monday: Classic French Manicure

Good morning my pretties!

So this fabulous Monday, I decided to go with something classy, elegant and simple. The go-to mani in my books, the french manicure. Sometimes you just need some good old fashioned simplistic elegance to look and feel fabulous :)

I used Sally Hansen Instant Strength as a base coat x1 coat, Revlon White on White x1 coat, Essence French Glam in Rose French and Essence Gel-Look Topcoat x1 coat.

You will need:

• Your pretty set of hands
• Base coat, white nail polish for tips, neutral colour nail polish for coat over white tips, topcoat nail polish
• Sticky tape
• Tweezers

Method:

1) Firstly, cut up 10 pieces of sticky tape and leave aside

2) Paint on base coat and wait for it to dry completely

3) Now work on one nail at a time by placing the sticky tape as desired on the nail to achieve whatever thickness you prefer for your white tips for a french manicure

4) Once you have stuck down the sticky tape to your satisfaction, paint on a layer of the white nail polish…not too thin that you will have to apply a second coat...you just want to have to apply only one coat for the white tips, otherwise I find the tip looks too bulky and risen in relation to the rest of the nail

5) As soon as you have finished painting the said nail, immediately remove the sticky tape from the nail by using the tweezers to help make it a smoother process. You are less likely to accidently smudge another nail if you use tweezers to help remove the sticky tape versus just using your fingers (but it’s up to you, whatever works…this is just what works best for me! I find removing the sticky tape immediately after painting the nails is best as it leaves a crisper and cleaner tip…whereas when I leave the nail polish to dry first and then remove the sticky tape I find the white nail polish on the tips tends to drag when removing the sticky tape and leaves an untidy line)

6) Repeat step 3-5 for every nail until all nails now have a white french tip and all the sticky tape should be removed from all nails as well

7) Wait for white french tips to dry completely

8) Apply top coat on all nails, wait for top coat to dry completely

9) You are good to go! Put on a beret and grab a baguette, some cheese and wine then find yourself a gloriously warm spot in the sun and totally pretend you are a classy french woman! C'est la vie!

10) Also play some Alors on Dans by Stromae on your iPod...gets you into the party mood on a Monday...meh...WHY NOT :)

My sister Nicky & I totally stoked to be in Paris at the Eiffel Tower!

What’s your go-to Mani ?

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