Royal Blue and Gold Nail Art With Born Pretty Store Stamping

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Happy Monday, dear readers! I hope your week is off to a great start! This weekend flew by and I got a lot of work accomplished! I made some serious headway on my holiday gifting craft projects, and I'm hoping to finish up one of them tonight for my monkey-loving toddler niece. I'd share details, but I know her momma occasionally pops in here so I'm going to have to keep that a secret, but trust me, it's awesome! I also was able to get a little nail art done, and I wanted to share my look with you today. Let;s jump on in!

I have this beautiful stamping plate BP-43 from Born Pretty Store (which, by the way, is on clearance for only $0.79 here so now is a good time to pick it up!). All the images on this plate are lovely, but the holiday star, tree, and swirls just begged to be used in the latest When Colours Collide challenge. The prompt from the Facebook group was royal blue and gold, and it all paired together beautifully! Let's check out my manicure!

I started off with Ellagee Heart of the Indie, a gorgeous custom shade Laura created for her blogger team, as my base. I then stamped the beautiful star, tree, and swirled pattern with Girly Bits Cosmetics Golden Ticket. The combination is magnificent, and this image stamped perfectly for me! The only thing that could possibly make this manicure better was to make it matte....which I did!

I added a coat of Girly Bits Cosmetics Polish Matte'rs to really let the microflakes of the blue pop and bring the gold stamping polish to life. While I usually prefer shiny nails, this is one of those times where I am so glad I opted to go with a matte finish!

As I mentioned previously, this stamping plate is available on clearance here. It's a great plate since it has this beautiful image as well as other non-seasonal images. While at the Born Pretty Store site, check out all they have to offer for your nail art needs! You can even save 10% off your full-priced items with discount code QWL-91.

I really loved the colour prompt for this challenge, and I wanted to include the collage of all the nail art looks created with the prompt. The next one is red and green, and you are more than welcome to join us if you so desire!

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful day!

XO!

Ever After Eyeshadows

Happy Saturday, dear readers! It was an early day around here since my toddler decided he just couldn't let his momma sleep in. I opted to just jump in on the day and we went to pick up donuts for the rest of the sleeping family and a large cup of coffee for me. All things considered, I'd say it has been an excellent day so far! Now to stop rambling and get my post written!

I've been a fan of Ever After Polish since I discovered the brand not too long after its launch, and I have been happy to watch the brand develop and add more products to the brand lineup in addition to nail polish. One of the more recent additions to the brand are gorgeous eyeshadows, and I have a few of them to share with you this morning. After confirming with Miranda, one of the makers behind the dynamic duo, that these eyeshadows were both eye AND lip safe, it was game on. Let's check out some of the colours and how I used them!

Once Upon a Dream: Burgundy with gold shimmer

over Trestique Chile Red

First eyeshadow up and it's on my lips! Once Upon a Dream is a gorgeous colour that looks fabulous as the intended eyeshadow, but with my toddlers severely impacting my sleep lately, it really exacerbates my tired eyes in spite of ample concealer use. Instead, I opted to wear in on my lips. I started off with Trestique Matte Lip Crayon in Chile Red, a beautiful bright red hue. This particular lip crayon has the tendency to feather without lipliner and doesn't have the lasting power I would like, and I opted to add a light dusting of Ever After's Once Upon a Dream to give me both the deeper colour I wanted and to help keep it in place longer. I wasn't too sure what to expect when I tried it out, but I am happy to report that this lip crayon stayed on for several hours because of the layering technique! I've got a rather sizable collection of red lipsticks (I just love the colour so much!) and I suspect Once Upon a Dream has just signed itself up to forever add gorgeous depth and sparkle to my lips.

Tale As Old As Time: 24Kt gold shimmer

Check it out! I actually am capable of putting eyeshadow on my eyes! Haha! Seriously though, Tale As Old As Time is such a beautiful golden hue, and it is going to be a staple in my holiday makeup looks this month! I have it shown here over my hooded *grumble* eyes by itself (other than eyeliner and mascara, of course) so you could really appreciate the shade. I wore this for a day look so I opted to not built it up, but you can definitely do so if you would like. Alternately, you can layer this over a super light base or pale primer (mine is closer to my skin colouring) or apply wet for even more KAPOW on your eyes.

Tale As Old As Time 

Center accent over MAC Cosmetics Cremesheen lipstick in Obi Orange

Another fun use for Tale As Old As Time is to add it over a lipstick for a glorious golden kiss on your pucker, pun intended! I opted to place it over the center of my lips here for a sunset-inspired look that was fun, but still very much wearable. You can definitely play around with shadow placement and layering to get a very different look. Now that I'm writing this post, I'm actually surprised I haven't paired this together with Once Upon a Dream on my lips yet! I guess I know how I'm doing my makeup tomorrow.....

Leather: Dark almost black used for shading and lining

Dreamer: Icy silver with a hint of blue and white sparkle

Lace: Ivory with just a hint of pink

I used Leather as my eyeliner for both the top and bottom, and I also added in Dreamer along the inner portion of my lower lash line for a brighter pop of colour.

I also used Dreamer on my eyelids, and while it was much more obvious to the eye, my camera somehow managed to cancel it out substantially. You can still see slight hints of the icy hue on my eyelid, but I am not happy with how it photographed. In addition to using it as eyeliner, Leather also went into my crease for a not-the-most-successful cut-crease look. It definitely was placed too low to be seen, especially since I have hooded eyes, but that is entirely my fault and has no bearing on the eyeshadow itself. I'm going to have to redo this eye look and actually make it look more finished as I was rushed to snap a couple photos and then run out the door. I used Lace to highlight my browbone.

And here is my "yuck, not another selfie" face of my final look with the previous eyeshadow combination. Next time it's getting paired with a different lippie as well!

These and other eyeshadows can be picked up at the Ever After website located here. There are currently 10 shades to choose from, including the brand new shades Naughty and Nice. I have no clue what the new colours look like, but I still bought them on Black Friday so share with you when they arrive. Each colour retails for $8.

Have you tried any of the Ever After eyeshadows or other non-polish products? Do you have any favorites? I'd love to hear from you!

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful weekend!

XO!

Nail Art Featuring China Glaze Seas and Greetings, Part 2

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TGIF, dear readers! This week has certainly felt like a long one since last week was so short, and I am so happy that the weekend is just about here! I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune soon as it gets closer to Christmas and I hit crunch time trying to finish up gifts I am making this year. I currently have 10 different projects in various stages of not-yet-done, and I am hoping to get a couple of them finished this weekend. Now on to today's blog post!

In my previous post, I shared two nail art designs I created using the China Glaze Seas and Greetings Collection. China Glaze went with a different take on the winter and holidays this year, and while it may not be for everyone, I personally love anything beachy so I think it's great. I have two more looks to share with you today; let's check them out! First up, with a "seas" and greetings collection, I NEEDED a look reminiscent of the ocean.

I naturally had to check the stamping qualities of the China Glaze creams, and I am happy to report that they stamp really well! I wanted this look to capture some of my favorite things about a beach vacation from collecting shells on the beach, sunbathing, and just watching the movement of the water.

Colours used: Good Tide-ings, 'Tis the Sea-Sun, and Joy to the Waves

I also used MoYou London stamping images from plates Sailor 05 and 06 and Born Pretty Store BP-23. 

The Seas and Greeting Collection is a lot of fun to play with, especially since depending on the combination of colours you use, you can get a very different "feeling" for your nail art. I went ultra-feminine with my second look for today's post. Check it out!

While I'm not generally a huge fan of incorporating hearts into my nail art designs, I do like this look of hearts on my accent nail paired with the simplicity of the overall design.

Colours used: Let's Shell-Ebrate, Seas and Greetings, and Eat, Pink, Be Merry.

Both the pink and the glitter are pretty sheer on their own so I painted a few coats on a mat, let them dry completely, and cut out my hearts. This way I could ensure the polish was opaque enough to be seen easily against the base without having to paint multiple coats on the nail while having it retain the shape. By the way, cutting teeny tiny hearts for on the nail sounds a lot easier than it really is! Or maybe my fingers are just too big and awkward.....

The Seas and Greetings Collection consists of 12 polishes, and only 6 of them are available for is purchase at Sally's stores. The complete collection is available for purchase online at Sally Beauty. Please note this collection is not available for purchase at Ulta.

What do you think of these two designs? Do you have a favorite between these and designs in my previous post? I'd love to hear from you!

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful day!

XO!