Wild Wednesday - Jumping Dolphins

Hey guys! I hope that your Wednesday is going well.  I'm so excited for today's Wild Wednesday so lets just jump straight to it!

Photo courtesy of National Geographic.

 Okay, so today's Wild Wednesday is featuring the bottlenose dolphin thanks to the suggestion of www.BigDaddyBeauty.com.  These curious and friendly creatures are being threatened by careless fishing practices that cause dolphins to become entangled in the nets.  Dolphins travel in social groups known as pods and can jump as high as sixteen feet high.  Dolphins range from 10 to 14 feet in length and can live for 45 to 50 years.

So for this manicure, I thought I would recreate the bright blue sparkling waters that the bottlenose dolphin inhabits by creating a jelly sandwich.   For this jelly sandwich, I used two coats of Nicole by OPI Nothing Kim-pears to Blue, one coat of Nicole by OPI Make U Smile, and then a final coat of Nothing Kim-pears to Blue.   I love how this captured the brilliance of the Caribbean Sea.  




In order to create the dolphin, I used Essie's over the edge.  I free handed the dolphin and used a dotting tool to create the perfect eye.  Overall, I think it really captures the look of a dolphin jumping out of the water.

If you love animals and the planet as much as I do and would like to join the Wild Wednesday movement, feel free to message me and I will add a link to your blog on my Wednesday posts.  Otherwise, if you have an animal that you would love to see featured, let me know by commenting on this post or tweeting me @ChippedNailBlog!

Keep those fingers pretty!

Mani Monday - Cosmetic Arts April Showers

Hi Readers! Mondays are such tough days.  The snow and rain today have made this Monday exceptionally hard.  I mean, snow in April? I know I live in Canada but really, this is like a cruel practical joke.  Anyways, I thought I'd talk about a little Christmas gift I got.  As a stocking stuffer I received a pretty Cosmetic Arts nail polish.  Trouble is, when the price tag was removed, so was the name of the polish.  Well, my strong investigative skills have concluded that this polish is probably Cosmetic Arts' April Showers (appropriately named for today).  Anyways, if you recognize this polish as some other colour let me know in the comments section!

Cosmetic Arts' April Showers is a sheer polish.  With this said, I used it overtop of four colours.  Because this polish is a shimmery blue-green, I wanted to show how a both green and blue make a significant difference in the final look.  I also used light pink and a creme coloured bases to show a more accurate representation of Cosmetic Art's April Showers.


For the picture on the left, I used Essie's Turquoise and Caicos on my index and middle finger followed by two coats of Cosmetic Arts' April Showers.  This really brought out the sparkly green tones in this nail polish.  For my ring and pinky fingers, I used two coats of Essie's Fiji followed by three coats of April Showers.  Three coats was needed to ensure even coverage because Fiji was so sheer.  The pink base colour caused April Showers to have a shimmery blue appearance.  Honestly, I don't think that either of these colours bring out the true appearance of CA's April Showers.  With that said, I really like how April Showers looks overtop of Essie's Turquoise and Caicos.

For this picture, I used two coats of Zoya's Sadie as a base colour with two coats of April Showers overtop.  This was the truest representation of April Showers.  Depending on the light, both the blue and green tones really popped.  For my index and pinky fingers, I used two coats of Nicole by OPI Nothing Kim-pears to Blue with two coats of April Showers overtop.  I feel like the blue tones overwhelmed April Showers.  This was the combination that I was the most excited for but I was the least impressed with.  With this said, my favourite combination for this picture is Zoya Sadie with CA's April Showers.  I feel like the true colour of April Showers aren't drowned out by the base colour.  Overall, my favourite colour combination was CA's April Showers overtop of Essie's Turquoise and Caicos.

Finally, this is what three coats of Cosmetic Arts' April Showers looks like with no base colour.  Though the picture doesn't show it, without a base colour the coverage is really spotty and streaky.  Overall, application is decent.  The formula is a little thin and you have to be careful to ensure brush strokes aren't left behind.

I love using this polish as a top coat to add a little shimmer to otherwise less dynamic polishes.  This polish was bought at Winners in Canada for around 7 dollars.

Let me know what you think.  Is this a polish you would use? Do you have this colour? If so, how do you use it?

Keep those fingers pretty!

Weekend Nail Art!

Hey guys and gals, I hope your weekend is going well! Now that the craziness of school is over for me, I get to let my hair down and let loose.  As a result, I created a magnificent manicure to match my stellar mood.  This manicure makes me feel a little like Lady Gaga.  Though it's not directly inspired by her, I feel as if this is something that she would do.

Anyways, this nail art was done free-handed.  No tape, no mess.  This manicure started with a base coat, three coats of Nicole by OPI Nothing Kim-pears to Blue (I reviewed this one yesterday), and two coats of China Glaze's Prism (reviewed this polish last week).  


To begin, I painted all of my nails with the blue base colour.  Once that was dry, I painted a diagonal portion of my nail with two coats of Prism.  In order to even out the layers and give the nail a high gloss finish, I used two coats of Essie's good to go.  This fast drying top coat is an absolute life-saver for those who can't wait for polish to dry.


I terms of wear, this combination is super durable.  I have worn this design since Tuesday and there is absolutely no evidence of tip wear or chipping on either hand.  This manicure is definitely one that I have gotten many complements on.  People seem to love the colour combination and how unique it is!   


I must say, I am not an expert at nail art whatsoever.  This is one of my first attempts at anything 'artsy' with my nails.  But this coming week I'll be focusing on art as well as reviewing a few new polishes.


Is this a design that inspires you? What type of nail art would you like to see me do?  If you have a blog, leave a link in the comments to your favourite nail art design.


Have a excellent weekend!

Nicole by OPI - Nothing Kim-pears to Blue

TGIF! Hey readers, I hope that Friday is going well for you.  This weekend looks like it'll be a busy weekend for me because I'll be working Sunday 830-5pm.  Anyways, today I'm showing you guys one of my favourite colours of the season.

Nicole by OPI launched the Wel-Kim To By World collection for Spring 2012, an extension to their previous Kardashian Colours collection.  My favourite colour from this collection is Nothing Kim-pears to Blue.  It's a light blue with a nice shimmer.  I found that the formula was a little thin and that it took three solid coats to get even coverage which was a little disappointing.  But honestly, I love the shade of blue and the hint of glitter that this polish has.

This polish will definitely become a regular nail colour for me. I must say, blue is one of my favourite colours but this is my first true blue polish because I wasn't sure how blue would look on finger nails.

As a whole, this collection was a little disappointing compared to the winter collection.  Pale by Kim-parison is a soft eggshell white.  I think this may be a white that I pick up mainly for nail art rather than a staple colour.    Up and Kim-ing Pink is a light pink creme.  Though I am a fan of pinks, I found that this pink was pretty much a spot on match for the OPI Nicki Minaj collection's Pink Friday.

Overall, I feel that Nothing Kim-pears to Blue is a must have for the season.  This is a buy that I definitely will not regret because it is a unique shade that will also be perfect for nail art.

What do you think? Have you tried this polish before? What is your must-have for the season?

Happy polishing!