OPI Fifty Shades of Grey Collection Swatches and Review

Hey guys! Today I have something super exciting for you (well I thought it was super exciting), full swatches and a review of the Fifty Shades of Grey collection by OPI! This collection is hot off the shelves, released this month to promote the upcoming movie that is due for release on 14th February, 2015, so I just HAD to get my pretty little polished hands on it! I was mildly disappointed that this collection was not literally fifty shades of grey, but instead just three greys, a silver, a glitter and a red. The six part collection is available in a mini set, which I purchased from Farmers for $39.99; a steal compared to buying six full-sized bottles which would set you back about $120 here in New Zealand. So, take a look at my swatches and read on for my thoughts on each shade, and which are my faves!

Christmas Nail Art: Candycane Watermarble Tutorial

Hello again! This is my last Christmas design, I promise, but I just got my hands on a new bottle of white polish and thought I'd try out this candycane watermarble, inspired by @mucking_fusser on Instagram. This is probably my most successful watermarble to date, but I've still got some work to do, as you can see on my failure of a ring finger...But like anything, practice makes perfect, so don't give up before you've even started! With that in mind, check out my tutorial below to see how to get this sweet look for yourself :)

Christmas Nail Art: Santa + Presents Tutorial

Hey everyone! I have yet another Christmas design for you all, but something much simpler today. This red and white present design is super easy, and I think the little Santa is just oh-so-cute! I'm not 100% happy with the execution of this mani, but I blame my white polish which is well overdue for a replacement! As always, read on for my tutorial!

Christmas Nail Art: Layered Snowflake Tutorial

Hey guys! I've got another Christmas nail art tutorial for you all, this time with a white winter Christmas feel. Sadly, here in New Zealand it doesn't snow at Christmas time but I can pretend for a little bit while looking at this layered snowflake design, totally stolen from @christabellnails - you can see her YouTube tutorial here. You'll need a sheer or jelly polish for this design; OPI's Sheer Tints work perfectly for this. Read on for my tutorial! 

Christmas Nail Art: Christmas Tree Tutorial

Hey everyone! I'm back with another Christmas design, this time much more Christmassy! In this design I've used two polishes from the new OPI Gwen Stefani Holiday Collection - this pretty gold shimmer 'Rollin' In Cashmere' and this absolutely stunning glitter 'Snow Globetrotter' that I'm holding in the pic. Read on for my tutorial! 

Christmas Nail Art: Classy Christmas Tutorial

It's beginning to look a lot like...Christmas!!! I work in retail so actually it's been Christmas since October, but I thought that since today is December 1st, I could officially start on my Christmas nail art! I've got a few designs lined up, but I'm starting with this simple mani that doesn't immediately scream 'CHRISTMAS' to ease you all into it :) I think this look works perfectly for any Christmas party or work function where you want to keep it simple, yet classy. This design is inspired by @thesammersaurus, and you can check out her instagram here. As always, read on for my tutorial!

Rainbow Nail Foils Tutorial

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been busy with uni exams (actually I still am, but shhh.)These nails actually look soooo much prettier in the sunlight, but the weather has just been awful here in Auckland so please forgive me. Today I present my second attempt using nail foils, this time using a gorgeous multicoloured foil I purchased from my go-to online nailart shop, bornprettystore, of course.  They have loads of different colours and patterns and they're really cheap, so I recommend checking them out. This look is inspired by fellow kiwi nailart blogger @naileditnz, and you can check out her tutorial here. My tutorial is a bit different because I'll show you how to do it without the glue, because mine didn't come with any! Read on to find out more...

Halloween Nails #2: Blood Splatter Tutorial

Hi guys! As promised, today I have a second Halloween nail design for you all. I've seen this blood splatter look done by many people with a straw, but I tried that and failed miserably so this is my water-spotted version! If you've read my turquoise stone tutorial, this is pretty much the same process, but otherwise read on for my tutorial :)

Halloween Nails #1: Skull Nails Tutorial

Hey everyone! Sorry for not posting last week, but I'm making up for it now by giving you not one but TWO Halloween designs (the second one will up next week!) This skull design was pretty much directly taken from simplenailartdesigns' YouTube video, so all credit to her! Read on for my tutorial :) 

Striped Gradient Tutorial

Hey guys! I am in LOVE with my nails at the moment, they are just so bright and shiny and kinda trippy! This layered striped gradient can be achieved with any colour combination, but I chose blue because that's the colour I have the most shades in (fun fact for you there). The coolest thing about this design is that from a distance it looks like you have really shiny nails, but it's actually a kind of an illusion created by the different shades of stripes. Just to clarify, I did not come up with this design, but I've seen so many versions of it on instagram by a bunch of different people that I have no idea who came up with it originally, so big thumbs up to whoever that is! Read on for my tutorial :)

White/Gold Striping Tape Mani Tutorial

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been slightly overwhelmed with boring old uni stuff lately, but I did manage to get this pretty and simple design up. I LOVE the white and gold combo, and the accent nail design would look just as fab on all your nails if you had the time or the patience for it. All you need for this design is a white polish, a gold polish, scissors and striping tape (which you can get really cheaply from Trademe, ebay, or bornprettystore) As always, read on for a quick tutorial :)

Turquoise Stone Nails Tutorial

Hey guys! So I've been wanting to try these turquoise stone nails for a while and at LAST I found the perfect pretty turquoise to do it with; OPI My Dogsled Is A Hybrid from their new Nordic collection (it's a tad bluer in real life than the picture shows). I've seen so many versions of this mani all over Instagram and YouTube, but I followed cutepolish's tutorial on her super popular YouTube channel. This is quite a messy mani so prepare yourself with all the right supplies beforehand and clear yourself a big enough space to work in. Read on for my tutorial! 

Ladybird Nails Tutorial

Hello, Spring! This season is all about the birds and the bees, or in this case ladybirds/ladybugs (Which is it? Is there a difference between a ladybird and a ladybug? We'll never know.) This design is super simple and super cute, so as usual read on for the tutorial :)  

Ocean Ombre Tutorial

Hey guys, as promised I have some nail art to share with you today! Given the rubbish weather we've been having lately here in Auckland, I thought I'd lighten the mood with these ocean-inspired ombre nails as a little taste of summer! I bought these cute little seashell charms from bornprettystore and I reckon they are the perfect addition to this mani :) 

OPI Coca Cola Collection Swatches + Review

Hey guys! Today I present to you the much-anticipated OPI Coca Cola Collection! I was SO excited for these to come out in JUNE and I waited and I waited and I waited but they never seemed to be released in NZ stores! So, as usual, ebay was my saviour and I purchased the mini set, which included 8 out of the 9 polishes from the collection and a top and base coat (really OPI, REALLY, you couldn't just put that last polish in instead of a base coat?) and purchased a full sized bottle of the remaining polish (Orange you Fantastic). All up it cost me less than 50NZD, including shipping, which is pretty good considering how expensive individual full-sized OPI bottles are here in New Zealand. Read on to find more pictures and my thoughts on each polish and the collection as a whole (all polishes are shown without a top coat.)

Studded Leopard Print Tutorial

Hey everyone! This week I have an edgy take on the classic leopard print look for you guys, inspired by the lovely @sloteazzy. The combination of studs and leopard print might be a little bit trashy for some but certainly not me :) Read on for the tutorial: 

Quatrefoil Nails Tutorial

Hey guys, today I have an awesome design that the amazing @christabellnails came up with and I recreated to share you with you. This is called a quatrefoil pattern and my tutorial here is pretty much the same as Christabell's, so you can check out her YouTube tutorial here. It's actually A LOT simpler than it looks, so read on to find out the secret to achieving this gorgeous look :)

Nail Studs - Which Is Your Favourite?

Hey guys! Recently I got my hands on some nail studs from bornprettystore and I've been experimenting with them for the past few weeks, and these four designs are the results! Rather than giving you guys four individual tutorials (they're pretty straight forward and they'd be pretty repetitive) I thought I'd present each design and give you some general tips and tricks I discovered in the process. Enjoy! 

Glitter Placement Tutorial

Hey everyone! Today I have a nail art trend/method called glitter placement, which is, you guessed it, placing glitter in pretty patterns. This is a very fiddly design that requires time, patience and persistence (neither of which I have a lot of, but this was my second attempt) so be warned! These tiny little glitter pieces can be absolutely infuriating as they tend to go everywhere except where you want them to go. That in mind, here's a tutorial for how I achieved this look, enjoy! 

Nail Foils Tutorial

Hey everyone! Today I present to you the magic that is nail foils! These gorgeous and versatile nail decorations are easy to use and are absolutely stunning. Read on to find out more about them, how to use them and where to get them! 

Stained Glass Nails Tutorial

Hello everyone! Today I've got a pretty funky tutorial for you guys. I've seen this mosaic/stained glass window look all over Instagram so I thought I'd try it out for myself. It also qualifies as a negative space mani, as my bare nail is quite sluttily exposed (yes that's a word). I used sheer polishes for this design to get an authentic glass look, but if you don't own them then any brightly coloured polish would also look great.

Striping Tape: Three Ways

Hey guys! Today I have a mega tutorial for you all, with three different designs using striping tape. If you haven't heard of striping tape before, it's basically a roll of really thin tape that comes in a variety of colours and is great for nail art. I bought mine online from bornprettystore, it was super cheap and shipping is free, so I suggest you check them out here. There are endless possibilities of what you can do with striping tape, so here are just a few ideas to get you started.

Mermaid Mani Tutorial

If mermaids had fingernails then I'm sure this is what they'd look like - sparkly, shimmery scales to match their tails :) This look was inspired by @allnailseverything on instagram; you can check out her original here. For this look to really stand out, make sure you use metallic, duo-chrome shades for a realistic, scaley shimmer.

REVIEW: OPI Glitter Off Base Coat

I am obsessed with sparkly, colourful glitter polishes and strongly believe there is no such thing as too much glitter. So, imagine my amazement at discovering a product that allows me to wear as many layers of glitter as I like and change my mani as often as I want without having to worry about the disaster of glitter removal. Introducing the greatest invention of the century. . .OPI’s new Glitter Off base coat! This base coat is specifically designed for use with glitter polishes and makes for a quick, hassle-free removal. This product is not available in New Zealand yet, or not that I've seen, but I couldn't wait so I bought it from eBay :) Read on for more information about how it works and how it worked for me.

Liquid Sand Gradient Tutorial

Hello again! Some might consider posting twice a day a little excessive but hey, I've got nothing better to do and if you're reading this than neither do you. Yes, I am not holding a bottle in this photo, but I did this a little while ago before I started taking proper posed photos so this is all I got. I did this quick gradient with two OPI Liquid Sand polishes and it turned out really sparkly and Elsa-ish, so they work as a Frozen mani too if that's what you're after. All you need for this look is two polishes and a small sponge!

Glitter Triangles Tutorial

Hey everyone, today I’ve got a ridiculously simple but ridiculously gorgeous look for you guys. These glitter triangles are SO easy to do and would look great with any colour combination (I’m thinking black with gold glitter would look very classy). All you need is two polishes and some tape! If you're interested check out my inspiration;  @nailsbyjema's stunning glitter placement version on Instagram using blue and purple glitter. 

Ombre Butterfly Nails Tutorial

I LOVE these nails! I saw this version on @sloteazzy's instagram and I just had to try it myself. I've tried butterfly nails before but that was a while ago, and I think these turned out a billion times better :) For this mani you'll need two shades of the same colour, a black, white and glitter polish, as well as a makeup sponge, nail art brush and dotting 
tool.

Beach Nails Tutorial

Hey guys! This is my first blog post/tutorial so bear with me! These nails were inspired by @elleandish on Instagram and are actually pretty simple to do. This one of my favourite manis I’ve ever done so here’s a tutorial for y’all! (Note: This is a SUPER messy mani so be prepared for a bit of a lengthy cleanup)