easy nail art

Purple Polish and Golden Wisps

November 10, 2013 By Maureen Wood Leave a Comment

This week’s manicure was inspired by Jen at PolishAholic although it really looks nothing like hers at this point. Jen created a left to right ombre effect with her purple polishes and while I love purple, apparently I do not like it enough to buy them all in coordiating tones (at least not yet). So I decided to use the new Julep eggplant purple nail polish accented with a gold by L’oreal (#580). Here is my final inspiration:

While it doesn’t look as elegant as Jen’s I quite like it. I would like to try it again with a thinner brush and without the gold accent nail; although I do like the combination without the wisps (above).

Dark eggplant is a wonderful nail color for this fall and gold dresses it up. Do you have any favorite purples in your nail stash you could dress up with some gold accents?

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Topic Links
* Check out Jen’s original nail art design that inspired me
* Pick up the eggplant nail polish from Julep

L’Oreal Gold Nail Polish

May 1, 2013 By Maureen Wood Leave a Comment

I finally had the opportunity last week to try the L’Oreal gold sparkle nail polish (#580 “because you’re worth it”) I picked up on sale at Shopper’s.

It is a sheer-ish polish. I used two coats but should have used three as I noticed sheer spots the next day (should have done it under better lighting too). I am not a fan of the color (although my Instagram friends liked it). I do not think it looks nice with my skin tone — it would probably look better on someone with a tan or at least more color than my white little hands — I might be more of a silver sparkle kind of person.

I am not impressed with the quality of this polish either. Within two days the pinkies were chipped and I do not even use those fingers for much. It is also very surprising since I had a base and top coat on. I probably could have touched them up but I am not a touch up kind of nail polish wearer.

I will probably save it to use as decor for nail art, or perhaps an accent nail but I do not see myself doing a full set of nails with this polish but who knows, as it gets closer to the holidays I may change my mind.

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Topic Links
* See what is new at L’Oreal Paris
* Purchase L’Oreal on Amazon.ca

Filed Under: Beauty Products Tagged With: easy nail art, L'oreal, nail polish

Nail Art Pen Review

August 23, 2011 By Maureen Wood Leave a Comment

Last week I picked up a black Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen. I have been wanting to put lady bugs on my finger tips for well over a year now and the concept of using a pen over trying to do it with a regular nail polish brush was definitely more exciting. Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in box

The pens can be bought at pretty much any drug store with a cosmetic section for about $8. There are about eight colors to choose from. The pen reminds me of those mini art paint pens that you had to shake to keep the paint flowing except more eco-friendly. There is obviously something in the pen to keep it mixed because I can hear it moving around when I shake it. The tip of the pen is actually hard and it fills up with polish the first time you press down on it (on paper to get it ready).

The Nail Art Pens must be applied to a prepared nail, either a base coat or a full nail polish. I highly recommend doing your strong hand first. I made the mistake of doing my left hand first (I am right handed) and I found it really awkward to do my right hand with damp nails. I would also practice drawing straight lights with pen on paper with your non-dominant hand just to practice.

Because the nail art pens are made with a water based formula it is imperative that you cover your nail art with a clear top coat to protect all your hard work.

For my first time using the product I am actually quite happy with the results and hope to improve my pen painting skills with further use. My nails are really short (summer nails for garden work) at the moment as you can see in the photo so I am looking forward to using it in the fall when my nails are longer. And possibly experimenting with the white for a black french manicure. If you are looking for a different way to dress up your nails that is pretty much hassle free and fun then I highly recommend giving the Nail Art Pens a try.

lady bug nail art