Trendy Thursday - Malibu Sunset

Hi readers! I hope that your Thursday is wonderful.  It's bright and hot here today.  I'm leaving town for a few days to head to my 10km race in Ottawa this weekend so I'm super pumped.  But don't worry, I have lots of good posts that will be posted throughout the next few days.  These will feature many new polishes along with some funky nail art.  So wish me luck as it looks like it will be quite hot for my run (and I don't do well in heat) and I hope you guys enjoy the posts for the next few days!

Today I'm featuring some nail art that has become quite trendy.  I named this Malibu Sunset because it is similar to the logo of the infamous Malibu rum (which was a total coincidence).

To begin, I used three coats of Essie's Fiji (a light pink).  Once Fiji was dry, I sponged on Essie's e-nuf is e-nuf onto the top half of my nails using a makeup sponge.  I let this dry and then I sponged on Essie's Action.  Once both of these colours were dry, I blended them together with the sponge using extra orange and red.  This created the look of the iconic sunset.

Honestly I love how this really plays to the two significant nail polish trends right now (neons and gradient).  These are my favourite Essie colours for this summer and I can't wait feature them again!

Keep those fingers polished!

Nail Of The Day - Polkadot Nail Art

Hi there! I hope you guys are having a great day.  It cooled down here a little bit but it still feels like the beginning of summer.  Today and tomorrow I have to work from 8-5 so expect new posts around 1pm.  Anyways, work is really picking up at the dog boarding facility  because of the upcoming long weekend.  I must say that being around dogs always lifts your spirits.  For those of you traveling this long weekend, I hope your travels go safely and smoothly and that you have lots of fun!

So for today's nail of the day I did a little funky nail art.  I have been on a real nail art bender as I have recently purchased a nail art tool with a brush on one end and a dotting tool on the other end.  This makes nail art so much easier compared to using a bobby pin.

For this manicure I used two coats of OPI's Number One Nemesis (to read a review click here); two coats of Essie's e-nuf is e-nuf for the bottom part of the nail (to read a review click here); and Quo by Orly French White for the dots.  I began by applying OPI's Number One Nemesis to the whole nail.  Once this was completely dry, I applied Essie's e-nuf is e-nuf from the right bottom corner to the left top corner of my nails.  Again, once this was dry I added the dots using the dotting tool purchased from Sally Beauty Supply.



Overall, I absolutely love this manicure.  I have been wearing it for the was four days which is quite rare for me.  I think nail art is a great way to express your own uniqueness (and you'll receive lots of complements!).  Do you like doing nail art? What is your favourite nail art trend?

Keep those nails pretty!

Wild Wednesday - Tiger Talons

Hi readers! I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday.  This morning started off a little grey but the sky is slowly starting to clear so hopefully we will have another spectacular spring day.  I hope you guys are getting to enjoy nice weather as well!  Anyways, I thought I would start a new Wednesday trend.  As you may know, I have studied environmental sciences and hope to pursue a career in protecting the environment.  As a result, I came up with the concept of Wild Wednesday.  From now until the end of June I will be featuring one animal every Wednesday.  I would love to hear suggestions from you guys so email me , tweet me, or leave a comment below with your suggestions!

Image from National Geographic (click here for more info) 

Today's animal is the bengal tiger.  This large cat is native to India and is endangered.  Right now the wild population sits at around 1,250 bengal tigers which is approximately half of all the tiger subspecies put together.  These nocturnal mammals live alone and travel vast distances to hunt other animals such as buffalo, deer, and other large mammals.  They use their distinctive coat as a method of camouflage while stocking their prey. An adult bengal tiger weighs approximately 240-500 lbs and is six feet in length (head and body).  Though generally thought of as fearsome, bengal tigers generally avoid humans.  Not only do bengal tigers look impressive, they sound equally as impressive too! Their roar can be heard from distances as far as 2 miles away.

For today's manicure, I thought I would replicate this large cat's stripes.  To begin, I used two coats of Quo by Orly French white.  This really made the orange pop.  On top of the white, I used two coats of Essie's Action I reviewed this polish yesterday which you can read here).  This neon orange was a perfect contrast to the black stripes.  To do the striped pattern, I used the Konad stamp plate m57 and Essie's Over the Edge.  After stamping I freehand painted more detail to darken the pattern and to make it more realistic.  

Overall I was very pleased with how this turned out.  I really love animals and the environment and believe that it is our job to protect the planet.  I hope that this mani can inspire you to do one good thing for the planet today! 

Have a Wild Wednesday and keep those fingers pretty!

Trendy Tuesday - Polkadot Dragonfly

Hi readers! I hope that you are all doing well.  The weather has been miserable but I'm hoping that May will bring sun and warmth.  I was fortunate enough to travel to Toronto yesterday where I was able to make progress in my enrolment into a post-graduate certificate program.  Hopefully that this extra qualifications will mean a career.  Anyways, this trip also meant that I was able to pick up some new polishes.  As a result, I'll be bringing new colours such as Nubar's elegant indigo and OPI's Spiderman collection.  Keep your eyes peeled for these polishes in the coming days!

Today, I was in the mood for a sunny summer nail art mani. I have been such a fan of the polkadot trend that I decided to do this dragonfly using polkadots.  I repeated the dragonfly design on both of my thumbs and used the same colours for repeating polkadots on my other fingers.

For a base colour, I used Essie's turquoise & caicos.  As I have said before, this colour is absolutely amazing.  It reminds me of the colour of the Caribbean Seas so I thought it was fitting to use it as the background of my dragonfly.  For the body of the dragonfly, I used Essie's e-nuf is e-nuf. I have always been fascinated by the colours of dragonflies so I thought this colour would be fitting.  Because  dragonflies always seem so have shimmery wings, I thought it would be great to use China Glaze's Prism.  This purply silver really catches the light and almost seems to dance in the sun.  For the eyes, I used my new Nubar elegant indigo.  This black polish with a blue-purple duo-chrome shimmer.  I'll be talking about this polish tomorrow so stay tuned!


In order to do the polkadots, I used the end of a bobby pin. I still haven't found a set of dotting tools in Canada which is so disappointing.  If you guys know of anywhere in the states where I can pick them up, let me know because I'll be visiting the Lake Placid region next week.  Anyways, I really like how bobby pins do polkadots.  In order to even out the surface, I used two coats of Essie's good to go.  Not only does this topcoat dry very quickly, it also leave a super high-gloss finish.

Have you caught on to the polkadot trend? Show me your best polkadot art by tweeting me a picture @ChippedNailBlog.

Keep on polishing!

Trendy Tuesday - Favourite Essie Colours

Hi Readers! First of all, I would like to thank A Polish Problem for adding my blog to the Blog Round Up.  I hope that I can share my passion of nail polish with more people everyday! Okay, so today I thought I would write about my absolute favourite Essie polishes out there.  But if I featured them individually, this post would be a mile long (kind of like yesterdays).  Anyways, I got creative and decided to feature all of my favourites using polkadots! This way, you get a taste of each colour in a creative and fun way.

As I wrote yesterday, the weather here has been dreadful.  If it isn't raining, it's snowing (in APRIL!).  It has put me into a bit of a funk.  As a result, I thought I would brighten up an awesome platinum colour with these bright polkadots.  But I ran into a bit of a problem. For the past three weeks I've been on the hunt for a set of dotting tools. In the end, I never did find any.  I've tried Sally Beauty, Trade Secrets, Shoppers, and even Michaels.  If anyone knows of somewhere  to buy dotting tools in Canada, please let me know! Anyways in the end I got creative and used the plastic end of a bobby pin and I think they turned out quite nicely.  


As a base colour, I used two coats of Essie's Playa Del Platinum.  It's from the Resort 2010 collection.   It's a grey-beige blend rather than a pure grey.  The uniqueness of this colour is what originally brought me to buy it.  It truly is a warmer grey.  Then I used four colours for the polkadots. Firstly, I used Essie's E-nuf is E-nuf.  This creamy coral is a great punch of colour. Then I used Essie's Turquoise and Caicos.  This Tiffany box turquoise colour was also released as part of the Resort Collection in 2010.  For the third set of polkadots, I used Essie's Splash of Grenadine.  Again, this colour was a part of the Resort Collection in 2010.  As you can see, this was one of my favourite collections that has been released so far.  Splash of Grenadine is a wonderful mix of lavender and pink.  Alone, this colour almost makes me look like I've got some colour (which is far from the case).  I can't get enough of how it's not quite a true purple nor is it a true pink.  Splash of Grenadine is truly lovely.  The final colour used for the polkadots was Essie's Over the Edge.  This gunmetal grey has a nice hint of sparkle.  As described by Essie, it's "a dramatic metallic midnight silver".  I couldn't have described it any better.  I like how it's not just a flat black, rather it's quite a dramatic grey.

Overall, I love how this manicure turned out.  This was my first attempt at polkadots and I'm sure I'll get better.  Are any of these colours staples on your nails?  Do you use any other home-made tools to polkadot? If so, which ones?

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!