NOTW: Cows are exotic too!

Hello my lovelies!

Today I bring you a themed, stamped mani - I matched my design with the base colour, China Glaze Exotic Encounters! I was of two minds about this mani to begin with, as you'll see below... but let me show you my initial attempt at awesome before we get onto that:

I know what you're thinking - BUSY! Somehow this design looked very different in my head to on my nails. This is GALS Fairy plates GA32 (leopard print) and GA46 (cow print accent nail - it's a cow print, right?) stamped in Barry M Silver Foil. I'd sort of expected to see more of the base colour through the leopard stamp, and was kind of going for a contrasting stamp effect, but it didn't really work out. I was umming and ahhing over the mani but eventually had to save it, since I hated what I'd ended up with so far... So I reached for my acetone and a Q-tip and very gently swiped off my stamping, just leaving the accent nail untouched. I then top-coated my mani again and this was the result:

Better :-)

COWS ARE EXOTIC TOO!!! I obsessed about having cow print nails this week and I think the print looks much better alone ^^ However, I ended up taking the mani off within about a day; I just wasn't feeling all these cool colours somehow!

Finally, as always, here's the base colour in all its glory - China Glaze Exotic Encounters:

EE is a deep, dusky teal which leans green. This is my first CG polish and I have to confess that I'm not overly impressed formula-wise; I got a bit of cuticle flooding, since the polish is quite runny, but I do love the colour. One amazingly positive point about this polish, though: I didn't get ANY staining (ZOMG)! This is probably thanks to my own foresight, however; I applied my base coat (Essie Feed Me) and then I applied one coat of Miss Sporty It's Too Latte (a nice nude) over the top as an extra barrier against the evil that is all teal polish! Evidently, this worked!


My favourite teals are green-leaning teals, but I'm not that big a fan of animal prints. Cow print may be a strange exception! I think I tend to prefer more abstract patterns, or perhaps flowers/dots/stars. What are your fav patterns for your nails? Let me know in the comments!

'Til next time, curlettes :-)

- Skye x

NOTW: Geometric Tape Mani

Hi there :-) Welcome to my blog! I have picked up a veritable TON of new followers lately and I really can't believe it - I'm really grateful for each and every one of you :-) So make yourselves at home; grab a beanbag and enjoy :D

Today I have another tape mani to show you! This one gave me hell ~.~ First off, let's see my handiwork:

My thumb is pretty too!

Sadly I couldn't quite capture the silver-green-purple
flash of  the multichrome on camera :-(

This is REALLY pretty, but I will probably never do it again. Cutting the tape up into all the right shapes was making me tear my hair out - and getting everything symmetrical was such a headache! Call me lazy, but I never want to spend that much time with scotch tape EVER again. Also, the tape is now EVERYWHERE. Ugh. Of course, had I planned this mani properly, I would have applied the colours in reverse order, starting with the purple... and come to think of it, I bet it would have been a doddle with striping tape (which I don't own)... oh the gift of hindsight! ;-) At least I had pretty fingers (albeit just on the one hand...) :-)

Here's the polishes I used:

• Essie Trophy Wife (teal base)
• Barry M Silvery Lilac (strong silver multichrome - flashes purple and green)
• Kiko #315 (purple)

This is quite a short post today - go me! All I have left to show you is a full swatch of the base colour, which is perhaps the perfect teal :-) Take a look:

Please ignore the imperfections - I managed to mess up application
big-time but the angle of the photo hides most of it :-P

Y'all don't know this, but this colour is my weakness. If it has turquoise/teal on it, I automatically love it, regardless of what it is. I just can't help myself! My go-to turquoise has always been Rimmel Green With Envy, which is a bit brighter than this Essie, but the formula is awful (much like that of my beloved Black Cherries). In fact, the polish makes me so ANGRY that I don't use it anymore - but now I have a replacement :D

This Essie polish was an untried (staining is my enemy) and is my first ever Essie colour :-) I love, love, love the colour and finish, and I quite like the brush, but I don't love it; I normally always look for a wide brush, but this brush is a bit too wide for my tiny pinkies. It's not a big deal, I guess; it just means I have to paint more carefully! :-P

EDIT: The wear-time on the Essie turned out to be poor! What a shame. On the plus side, no staining :-)


What do y'all think? I enjoyed this mani but would definitely not approach it in the same way again! I'm really enjoying my tape mani spree this month and I can't wait to show you my next mani - perhaps my favourite EVER so far! DON'T MISS IT!!! :-)

'Til next time, curlettes! :-)

- Skye x