Double Floral Pattern

Happy Easter Monday! I'm bad, I didn't do any Easter themed mani this year. I was having too much fun in my other hobby, crocheting/knitting, spent my long weekend doing just that until my back felt sore.
Today I feel it's time to give my nails the attention they've been deprived of for the last few days. I painted a two-tone floral pattern over a white base, Cirque Carpe Diem. The grey and black I used here are KBShimmer How You Dune? and Eclipse. The brush I use is Winstonia Kolinsky brush #0000. Sealed off the design with HK Girl top coat.
I found the inspiration from google image , but looking at it, it's exactly like double stamping, right?

I really love the finish look, more than I thought I would! :)

XO
Novi

Despicable Me Nail Art

Hi guys! I hope you enjoyed your weekend! I'm sure when you saw the post title, it's obvious that you'll be seeing cute little minions on my nails. That's correct! But I also wanted to include Gru in it. I watched (half of) Despicable Me 2 on Netflix this weekend, and he was so adorable and sweet dressing as a fairy for Agnes' birthday. 
I have seen a lot of great minions manicures, but I don't think I've seen Gru in any of them, but I could be wrong. Anyhow, here's Gru with his minions.

This is my first time painting a face, it's not easy to get the shading right (even though it's just a cartoon face). I used Zoya Chantal, OPI Dulce de Leche, and OPI Bubble Bath for Gru's face. His striped scarf is using KBShimmer Eclipse and Julep Meryl, the same goes for my thumb and pinkie. 
Minions and the bananas are painted with OPI Good Grief! The green apron and orange wig are OPI You Are So Outta Lime! and OPI Call Me Gwen-ever, and OPI Dining Al Frisco is on the other minion. All the white is with Cirque Carpe Diem. Everything is sealed with HK Girl top coat.

XO
Novi

Born Pretty Store QGirl-033 Plate Review & Nail Art

Hi guys! Recently I received several stamping plates from BornPrettyStore to review. So today I'm creating a nail art look with one of the plates, I'm also mixed it up with some chevron vinyls cause for some reason I kept messing up my stamping today and ran out of patience to keep re-doing them.

The design I picked for today's mani is the zigzag one at the bottom of the plate as pictured above. I had no problem with picking up the image itself, and I really like a few other designs from this plate. I just wish they didn't place the designs so close to each other like that. But, if you're stamping with Mundo de Unas, a quick lift with scotch tape on the stamper for the part you don't want will fix the problem. 
You can find this Qgirl-033 plate in this link, and you can also use my code NVG10 to take 10% off your total purchase. 
The polishes I used in this mani are KBShimmer Blush Money, KBShimmer Rust No One, ILNP Mega, and Picture Polish Monroe. 

XO
Novi

Comparison Post: ILNP Cutie Pop vs KBShimmer Blush Money

Hi guys! A quick comparison post today for you. I totally forgot that I wanted to compare these two after I swatched Blush Money, then a kind reader asked and reminded me of it. So here they go..

In a glance, these looks similar. But not until you put them side by side and take a closer look, then you'll see that one of them leans more pink while the other is a straight up peach.

I can safely say that these two are not dupes. Both has the same gorgeous gold shimmer, and that's pretty much the only thing they have in common. 
ILNP Cutie Pop has a creamy formula, while KBShimmer Blush Money has a more squishy, jelly-ish formula. I used 3 thin coats for both of them in the swatches below. 
I should add that Cutie Pop gave me a slight stain after wearing it for around 3 days, but I'm not saying that it will definitely stain for everyone. It's possibly a body chemistry thing.

Hope this helps!

XO
Novi

Purple Hearts

Hi guys! I'm back! Sorry for the sudden disappearance. The bf had the entire week off, so I was a bit occupied, spending more quality time with him :). I had the same polish on for almost a week and just changed them yesterday for my day out on Sunday. I told a friend to pick a colour to get me started, and she picked lilac. I took out a bunch of my lilac/purple polish and ended up with this..

Although it doesn't really show, I used 4 shades of purple/lilac for the gradient, OPI Do You Lilac It?, KBShimmer Hugs and Wishes, piCture pOlish Twinkle, and OPI Rumple's Wiggin which I also used for the gradient base. 
I painted little hearts using piCture pOlish Violet Femme and a detail brush on my index and pinkie, and stamped the knitted heart image from Bundle Monster plate H01 using Color Club Eternal Beauty. I sealed everything with one coat of HK Girl top coat.

I think this is cute enough to wear for Valentine's Day if you're already pink overload with a million other V-day nails floating around online :)


XO
Novi

KBShimmer Spring 2015: Sweet Egg-scape, Funky Cold Patina, & Blush Money

Hi all! For my Monday post, I'm sharing 3 new shades from KBShimmer Spring 2015 collection. This collection consists of 12 shades, all perfect for the upcoming season and Easter! There are several finish polishes in this collection, 1 cream, 1 shimmery holo, 3 ultra holo, and 7 crelly glitter.
This collection will be released on February 6, 2015 at Harlow & Co. (worldwide), and directly from KBShimmer (US only).

Sweet Egg-scape

A pale, bubblegum pink polish. Glitters like, pastel aqua star glitters, coral triangles, lavender dots, red squares and sliver holo hexes swim among the pink base like a decorated Easter egg.

This one is super cute! The glitter combination in the pale pink are just perfect. You can wear this for Valentine's day or Easter, fits right in. Great formula and glitter pay off, no fishing required. The formula is a tiny bit thick, but nowhere near goopy and still easy to apply. I used 2 thin coats and 1 medium coat plus top coat. 

KBShimmer Funky Cold Patina

KBShimmer Funky Cold Patina

KBShimmer Funky Cold Patina

Funky Cold Patina

Like a long forgotten ancient copper statue turned blue green in color, this polish features a cool turquoise green base, with pops of metallic copper, blue and purple.

A fresh green shade, I liked it much better on my nails than when I first looked at the bottle. The formula is easy to work with, but a bit too opaque that the second/third layer could drawn the glitter underneath and lose the squishy finish you usually get from a crelly glitter. I recommend using thin coats with this. I used 3 thin coats plus top coat.
 

KBShimmer Funky Cold Patina

KBShimmer Funky Cold Patina

KBShimmer Funky Cold Patina

Blush Money

Based on the 2015 Pantone Color, Strawberry Ice, this peachy-rose colored polish shows off gold shimmer indoors and a linear holographic rainbow shines while outside.

I love this shade on me! This is a peach shade that would look flattering on any skin tone. The gold shimmer comes out beautifully when the lights hit it. Another great formula, I used 3 thin coats plus top coat. But for short nails, 2 coats should be enough.

KBShimmer Blush Money

KBShimmer Blush Money

You can also find the complete swatches of this collection at Jenny's blog in this link, and Tiffany's blog here. I love their swatches! 

So, which one is going on your list? :) Don't forget to mark your calendar, February 6, 2015 at Harlow & Co. and KBShimmer website.

**products were sent for my honest review

XO

Novi

KBShimmer (part of) Winter Collection - Swatches & Review

Hi everyone! Today I have swatches of some of the polishes from KBShimmer Winter 2014 collection, Katie from Harlow & Co. was kind enough to sent me these to review. From the swatches I have seen, I'm loving quite a few of the crelly glitter from this collection. I have 2 crelly glitter and 2 textured glitter to share with you. 

Mauve on Over, is a light mauve crelly base filled with orange, aqua, and navy glitter. I really like the formula in this one. Thin but not too thin that it would flood your cuticles, the glitter distribution is even and effortless. I used 3 thin coats for my swatches, and 1 coat of Clearly on Top.

KBShimmer Mauve on Over

KBShimmer Mauve on Over

KBShimmer Mauve on Over

Let's Sleigh Together, a pale gray crelly filled with green and blue hexes. I really liked this one when I first opened the package. For me, application was not as smooth and easy as the other KBShimmer crelly I have, but I still like the end result. I didn't get enough glitter on the brush (even after mixing the bottle with a tooth pick) as I would've liked. I use 4 thin coats and top coat here. The formula is thin but applies easily and the amount of coats I used doesn't make it look thick at all. 

KBShimmer Let's Sleigh Together

KBShimmer Let's Sleigh Together

KBShimmer Let's Sleigh Together

Dressed to Gild, this is another one from KBShimmer textured line. It's loaded with tons of gold holographic glitter, and hints of purple and green glitter which make it look even better! I only used 2 coats here, easy application even with the super loaded glitter, that's pretty amazing. Here's the textured look.

KBShimmer Dressed to Gild

KBShimmer Dressed to Gild

KBShimmer Dressed to Gild

With 1 coat of Gelous and 1 coat of Clearly on Top.

KBShimmer Dressed to Gild

Added matte top coat.

KBShimmer Dressed to Gild

Turnip the Beet, another textured polish in the collection. It's a berry pink base loaded with magenta, purple, and red glitter. Also opaque in 2 coats. Top coat really brings the sparkles alive in this one, but it also seem to make it look a bit less opaque. I really like this one with a matte top coat. Below is the textured look.

KBShimmer Turnip the Beet

KBShimmer Turnip the Beet

KBShimmer Turnip the Beet

With one coat of Gelous and one coat of Clearly on Top.

KBShimmer Turnip the Beet

Added matte top coat.

KBShimmer Turnip the Beet

Harlow & Co. will be restocking KBShimmer line, including the new Winter 2014 collection, tomorrow November 19th at 12PM EST. So set your timer and get your wish list ready! ;)

Harlow & Co.: Shop - Facebook - Instagram - Google+ - Pinterest

**products were sent for my honest review

XO
Novi

Gradient Purple Swirls

Hi guys! I had another post ready for today, but then I thought it would be nice to start the week with a nail art post instead. Plus I've been wanting to try my new brush from SharingVu. It feels like forever since I did a full free hand nail art. Today I did a semi intricate nail art, swirls, started with black near the cuticles then 4 shades of purple going down to the tips. 

I find the brush is really good for delicate nail art, though the polish/paint used seem to affect the result too. I realize that using nail polish will shorten the life of any nail art brushes, even with good care, at least that's what happened with all my brushes. I'm just not ready to switch to acrylic paints yet.
I sealed the design with HK Girl top coat and added INM Northern Lights for subtle sparkle. 

L-R
Eclipse, Aphrodisiac, Violet Femme, Pansy-monium, Hugs & Wishes, My Vampire is Buff, HK Girl tc, INM Northern Lights

For those who enjoys free hand nail art, what is your favorite brush?


XO
Novi

Killer Clown

Okay, I finally started on my halloween themed nail art! I usually tend to like a not-too-scary borderline cute halloween nails. But this year thought I'll step out of my comfort zone and actually try something scary. Nothing too gory like ripped nails or bleeding cuticles, lol. I am actually painting my fear onto my nails. Clowns, anything in costumes really, just make me feel uneasy, I just don't why or when that started. That doesn't stop me from wanting to go to Fright Night every year though.

So here it is.. My Killer Clown!

My base for this mani is Butter London Cotton Buds, for that creepy super white clown face. All the clown details were painted with a nail art brush. Colours used are: KBShimmer Eclipse, OPI Vodka & Caviar, KBShimmer Stonewashed and How You Dune? for the eyes details, three shades of orange from OPI for the hair: Juice Bar Hopping, Call me Gwen-ever, Where Did Suzi Man-go?. 
I dotted my pinkie and thumb with two of the orange, mimicking a clown suit. For the last touch of creepiness, I splattered the red polish all over the nails. There's a big blob of red on the thumb, but I think I like the randomness. Besides, do you think a killer clown would care about a big blob of blood on him? I don't think so!

I'm also entering this to Nail Polish Canada Halloween Nail Art Challenge. SO, vote for me if you like it :) Or enter your gruesome manicure! You can do either of them in this link.


XO
Novi