Video Tutorial: Saran Wrap Nail Technique

If you follow me on instagram you would know I made my first video tutorial. :$ I spent hours on basic editing and almost gave up when my lap top died in the middle of saving. It also took so long to upload on YouTube and the video is less than 2 minutes long.

This is my first video tutorial so be nice. ^_^ I'm not super satisfied but for the first time I did more than great. Main problem I have with this video is the angle of filming but I didn't want to rotate it, so I just left it like that and played with editing. Next time, if there will be next time, I know how to film. :i

This is one easy tutorial of Saran Wrap Technique I tried the other day and of course there's tons of tutorials around. :i

Saran/Cling Wrap with Love's a Beach
Nail Tek Foundation 2

China Glaze - Love's a Beach / 2 coats

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

Piece of Saran/Cling Wrap & China Glaze - Snow

Essie - Good to Go

Enjoy! :$

Leave comments here or on YouTube, rate and subscribe if you would love to see more tutorials. I'd really love to hear your feedback. Is there a tutorial you would like to see? Please let me know and I'll do my best.:)

Thanks for watching and reading! :i

Xoxo, 

Ivana :k

Saran/Cling Wrap with Love's a Beach

I'm having problems with wrist again so I will probably post even less than before. Anyway August is almost over so I wanted to wear a neon again. :L

I already had this color on my toes and I loved it, so I knew I picked the perfect color. I'm talking about China Glaze's . Perfect name, perfect color. :i

It's part of China Glaze's Summer Neons 2012 collection and I'm so happy I own it with Hang-Ten Toes. It has really great formula, two easy coats and layer of top coat to make it shiny.  It looks way too orange as in person but this polish is pink.

Daylight

Nail Tek Foundation 2

China Glaze - Love's a Beach / 2 coats

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

I was a bit scared because I thought this polish is like a shimmer version of Pool Party and I'm really not a fan of PP but they look close when you compare the bottles but once applied PP is orangey and this one isn't. :e

I spent a day at pool and it started chipping so I decided to try Saran Wrap / Cling Wrap technique I saw around. I don't know who came up with this technique but it's such an easy technique and it gives a lovely result. 

Daylight

Nail Tek Foundation 2

China Glaze - Love's a Beach / 2 coats

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

Piece of Saran/Cling Wrap & China Glaze - Snow

Essie - Good to Go

You start with fully dry base color. Then you paint one coat of 2nd color over base color. When that layer is still wet, you take a piece of saran/cling wrap and tap it over that's how you get this effect. Now all you have to do is clean your cuticles and seal everything with coat of top coat and you're done. :)

Did you ever try Saran/Cling Wrap technique? :) Thanks for reading!

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Inspired by: Leopard Print by Chalkboard Nails

This time I was inspired by a fellow blogger Sarah at Chalkboard Nails, who definitely is one very talented lady. :h Her blog is just amazing and full of inspiration! I needed a quick manicure so I went with an easy Leopard print tutorial.

I'm not really a fan of freehand nail art, because I want everything to be perfect, so when I was done, I wasn't really liking it at first. :i

Essence Nail Art - Protecting Base Coat

CH Nail - #14 / 2 coats

Leopard Print: Dotting tool + China Glaze - Snow & BPS  black stamping polish 

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

 

Daylight

Here you can read Sarah's post. I added her tutorial below if you haven't seen it already:



Very simple version of Leopard print if you prefer freehand nail art, all you need is a dotting tool and 3 colors of your choice. :D

Let me know what do you think! Thanks for reading! :h

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Subtle Baby Pink

Subtle manicure for summer? Why not?! :i

I wanted something girly but soft, so I finally tried Baby Pink from Barry M, which I got from Kvacka months ago. :h I had to add 3 coats to even up the color. Then I decided to use the pattern I used almost every time I did my nails when I started this blog, and it's still one of my favorite. :L

Daylight

Sun

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

Barry M - Baby Pink / 3 coats

Stamping: Konad m64 + Essence Stamp me! White

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

What do you think? Do you prefer pastels, bright or dark colors for summer? I love wearing brights, but from time to time I also love wearing pastels. <3

Xoxo,

Ivana :k

Bow & Dots

Just a quick post...

I got these cute 3D Bows from Born Pretty Store, which I always wanted to try out. I'm not really a fan of anything 3D on my nails, but these were too cute to not give them a try. You get 10 pieces in a package for less than $2. They're pretty big too, but I think they're perfect for accent nails. I decided to match one bow with polka dot pattern on other nails. I glued the bow with nail glue on my ring finger.

They're not really practical but they give a special touch to the manicure, don't you think? Bows are flat but they get stuck on my nails where the bow knot is. They probably don't last long if you're not careful or if you're like me, who have a need to pull things like this off my nail. ^_^

Color Club - She's so Glam / 3 coats

Dots: Essence Stamp me! White & Dotting Tool

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

I think these are perfect for special occasions, when you want something special, but I wouldn't wear them all the time. But if you're a fan of 3D stuff on your nails, you can't go wrong with them. :D

What do you think about 3D nail art? Thanks for reading!

Xoxo,

Ivana :k

*Some of the products in this post were sent to me by Born Pretty Store! For more information read my disclosure policy!

BeautyBird Stick Up Self-Adhesive Nail Foils

I've been really lazy so I'm not really wearing nail polish lately because of this heat we have (yay, Summer :L), that's why I decided to try out some stickers I have. :D

I got these from Nihrida months ago but I never got around to try them on. I got this super cute red polka dot pattern. <3 I was really sceptical about stickers, because I only tried Essence Studio Nails - Nail Fashion Stickers in Catwalk! so far, which didn't work for me at all. I wouldn't say these are foils (they do not need need adhesive glue) but stickers.

BeautyBird Stick Up Self-Adhesive Nail Foils

You get 20 self-adhesive stickers and a file. Your nails have to be clean, then you choose a sticker that will fit your nails and apply it. Smooth down with fingers and file off the excess. For better results you can add a coat of clear polish first.

I skipped this step and I applied stickers directly on clean nails. I had some problems with finding the the right size, so some of them don't fit perfectly on sides. Same with thumb - the biggest sticker is really rounded and since my thumb nail is really squared at cuticles, I cut off that rounded part of sticker and got perfect squared sticker. They're easy to smooth down, I used my fingertips and wooden cuticle pusher. Lastly I removed the excess with a file.

Final result....

Daylight

I applied them on Sunday and today on Thursday I'm still wearing them. I'm doing regular stuff I usually do on a daily basis, I took so many showers because it's so hot, washed dishes all the time, I even spent one day at pool... And after 4 days they look like this... :i

Daylight

Close up...

Some stickers are still perfect but some of them already lifted on tips but they aren't thick so they don't scratch my face when I touch it like those from Essence. You can't even notice these mistakes if you're not really searching them.To remove them you simply pull them off the nails. :)

The whole set costs 9€ and they offer lots of different designs. A bit pricey for my wallet, but I must say they worked great for me. Not something you could use every week but they're perfect for holidays, special occasions etc,... 

I got so many compliments so far and lots of them didn't believe that these are stickers. :i What do you think about these? Do you like wearing stickers? Thanks for reading! :h

Xoxo,

Ivana :k

Neon French Cheetah Print

Months ago I was contacted by KKCenterHk and they offered me to pick one of their stamping plates. Because I'm not really a fan of plates with tiny images on, I decided to go with french manicure plate - B57. I have no idea what was I thinking when I chose it because you all know I'm having nubs most of the time, so I waited and waited and when I found out my nails won't be long anytime soon I decided to try it out on my longer shorties. :D

Image plate came in a little plastic bag and it's protected with a very thin clear film, which is really hard to notice at first but keep sliding your finger at the end (but carefully because you can easily cut yourself) and the film will start lifting.

B57 has 6 patterns for french manicure...

 

I decided to go with cheetah print and diagonal french tips, because my tips weren't long enough and it would look weird if I would stamp it horizontally. :D I must say I'm not happy with this color combination but here it is. :D

Sun

The only reason I had neon polish on my nails was to check if Pool Party really looks better over white. :D I already had white nails from my last manicure, so I removed an accent nails and applied Pool Party without a white base to see the difference. It was obvious in person but I failed again with taking color accurate pictures of this neon. :D So Pool Party looks way to orange on this pictures, I think my phone just aren't smart enough to capture the real color. :P

I stamped the cheetah print from the image plate in diagonal way. The patterns came off really great so I had no problems with transfering the image from plate to stamper to nails. :)

Sun

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

China Glaze - Snow / 2 coats

China Glaze - Pool Party / 2 coats

Thumb & Ring Finger: China Glaze - Pool Party/ 3 coats

Beauty Secrets Top Coat Fast Finish Polish Dryer

What do you think? I really love diagonal tips, because I'm not really a fan of classic french manicures so I will definitely try another color combo soon. :D Would you wear a neon with cheetah tips? 

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day!

Xoxo,

Ivana :k 

*Product in this post was sent to me by KKCenterHk! For more information read my disclosure policy!

Manicure inspired by Real Madrid C. F.

I'm a big fan of football and my all time favorite club is Real Madrid. I started watching football since 1998, I still remember the world cup I watched with my dad and I loved it. :D As a kid, I even played it with my friends, but I'm sad I never tried to train it. :/

Old team of Real Madrid with Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Zizu, Raul, Figo, Beckham, etc... made me fell in love with this club and it's still my #1. <3

Yesterday we watched another El Clasico (Barcelona vs. Real Madrid) and I tweeted if RM wins, I'm doing a manicure inspired by RM. :D And they won! :e So here's what I came up with.... 

Sun

I'm not good with free hand nail art so I decided to keep it simple. :D I used white as a base, because I love their white uniforms with gold details. I added a RM's logo on my ring finger with nail art brush and 3 gold stripes from their uniform as Adidas logo on my thumb with tape.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org

Daylight

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

China Glaze - Snow / 2 coats

Ring finger: China Glaze - 2030 (gold), Essence - Cool and the Gang (blue), Essence - Back to the 50's (red) + nail art brush

Thumb: China Glaze - 2030 + tape

Beauty Secrets Top Coat Fast Finish Polish Dryer

I wanted to add numbers of players but since I love the whole team, I decided to keep other nails just white. :D

Pictures aren't even close to good, because we had such a grainy (grey + rain) day and my camera didn't let me pick the gold without any shine. :( I like this mani better in person as on this pictures, kinda looks like a fail. :D 

Any Madridistas here? Do you watch football? What's your fave team? My 2nd fave team is Chelsea. :e I check almost all their matches (if I don't have time to watch it, I always check the results).What do you think? Does this mani look like a fail? :$

Have a lovely start of the week and thanks for reading!

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Back to the 50's with Lightning Bolt

I didn't wear this because I added a coat of super pretty jelly and made jelly sandwich but I took some photos to show you how Lightning Bolt look like. It's a white creme crackle from China Glaze. I don't know why but I'm so over these crackles, I want something fresh, new, no more new crackles, please. xo

It dries fast and matte, I added a coat over Back to the 50's from Essence.

Daylight

Sun

Close up. :i

 Nail Tek - Foundation 2 / 1 coat

Essence - Back to the 50's / 2 coats

China Glaze - Lightning Bolt / 1 coat

What's your favorite crackle? Do you want more crackles in your collection?

That's all for today, thanks for reading and leaving a comment! :rainbow

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Fancy Snowy Fuchsia with Roses

Another mani from last month, because I'm still rocking my Teeez Smooth & Outta Control mani. I'm just not in the mood for removing almost perfect manicure. Yap, last two months made me even more lazy, because now I don't like changing my mani every other day like I used to do before. :D I hope I'll change that in near future. xP

I wore this mani for a week I think because I liked it so much. I wanted to have white nails after seeing this beautiful swatch at With love, Ana but then I changed my mind and I painted my nails with pink too. White polish I used was China Glaze - Snow from their Winter 2010 collection and my favorite pink polish Orly - Fancy Fuchsia. Both are two coats I think and their application is very thick to apply but a coat of TC saves everything.

Sun

When I got bored I added some stamping with one of my favorite patterns. :) I stamped white roses over Fancy Fuchsia with Essence Stamp me! White polish and pink roses over white with Fancy Fuchsia, as you can see FF is great for stamping over light colors too. :)

Daylight

It's fun combo, pink and white always go perfectly together and because I love pink, this was a fun way to wear pinks. :)

And if we're talking about pink/white combo, I got new pair of Adidas sneakers last week in exactly that combination. :L 

I love sneakers, I'd have all from Adidas. :L I wasn't planning to order them, but I got a mail about sales and when I saw them I just had to order them. Then after one day I changed my mind but they're already sent out. But the lady I contacted said if I don't want them that I just don't pick them up when mailman bring them. And I didn't but they're waiting another 15 days at post office. I didn't know what to do, I went even shopping if I'll find anything that I'd like even more but I didn't so I went to pick them up and I'm glad I did. They're little more open as usualy sneakers, like ballerinas, but they're totally cute. :L I got white and pink shoelaces but I decided to go with pink, they look cuter. :)

Do you like this color combination? :) What's your favorite pair of sneakers if you're wearing them?

Hope you're all having a great day! I'm going back to typing my thesis. :)

Xoxo,

Ivana :k

Valentine's Day ♥

It's a Valentine's Day today! Hope you're spending a nice time with those you love!

I made this manicure yesterday for this special day. It's not just a Valentine's day for me, every 14th in the month reminds me that I'm one month longer with my BF. Today we're 2 years and 10 months together... Love you honey!

Let's start with my manicure... I couldn't decide what color should I wear.. I didn't want ending with red, so I picked all these color and made pink-a-lilac creme skittles.

Essence - No More Drama

Essie - Lilacism

Orly - Lollipop

China Glaze - Something Sweet

China Glaze - Rich & Famous

I added 2 coat of each and 1 coat of Essie G2G. I didn't have any problems with applications. Here's one picture, but I forgot to include my thumb.

Sorry for the bad picture, it was so grey outside!

Then I started thinking what should I do now.... I searched for inspiration at many blogs and then decided to do this... Mix and match...

I was just holding Pure Ice for taking pictures, I didn't use it for this manicure. It's the only bottle I have at BF's.

Daylight, cloudy day

From L to R:
Essence - No More Drama stamped with Essence - Stamp me! White & Confetti - Vava Voom + BM02
Essie - Lilacism stamped with Essence Stamp me! White + m73
Orly - Lollipop sponged with Wet n Wild - Glitz
China Glaze - Something Sweet stamped with Essence Stamp me! White & Confetti - Vava Voom + BM02
China Glaze - Rich & Famous stamped with Essence Stamp me! White + m79

I tried sponging for the first time and I really like it how it turned out. What do you think? It's not classic red&white manicure, but it's so me. I spent an hour for this and then half hour just for my pinkie. I was perfectly done with both hands and then I ruined my pinkie... I decided to start at the beggining and ruined it again... And again... And again... And finally made it.

I won't be posting this week, because I'm having an exam on Thurdsay and I have to study. I also forgot all my polishes at home.

Happy Valentine's day girls!

Xoxo,

Ivana

Kelier Crack Polish - Purple

It's time for a Purple Crackle. It works like Red (pink!) crackle, just the brush is even worse, kind of turned up, total disaster.

My phone doesn't love purples so it's more blue than purple on my pictures. In RL is definetely warmer and pretty purple creme.

For the base color I used 1 coat of Essence - Black Hype from their Black & White collection - a white creme with kind of plastic finish. This is the worst white polish I've ever tried.

Sun

Daylight

I didn't apply TC on these pictures. They're really hard to remove, but when I tried foil method it goes off quickly and smoothly just like the glitter. I'm really avoiding rubbing my nails with remover so the foil method is the best discovery ever.

What do you think? Like it or not? With a perfect color combination they really look cool. I just wish the brush was better.

Xoxo,

Ivana

Christmas Manicure

I'm so lazy these days... Being lazy is the thing I'm really doing best.So one short post for today.

I did this mani on a Christmas Eve but I didn't like it. I stole the holy idea from Emerald Sparkled but she did better combination than me. Red was darker and my nail line wasn't visible like it's showed on picture below.

1 coat Essence Show Your Feet - Hot Red
2 coats Essence Stamp me! White on ring finger
BM14
Yes Love 287
Pink rhinestones Viva La Nails

I also won a 20$ cuopon code for BornPretty at Emerald Sparkled, I already purschase some things, can't wait to try them. This is my first giveaway I've ever won, yay. Keep them coming!

Hope you had a great Christmas!
Ivana