Sparkle, Sparkle!

This is one of my favourite things to do with nail art and probably the most simple concept and that most people own and can do with both hands easily.  Literally all you do, is paint your nails white or which ever base colour you would like, then decide which way you want the triangle to go and paint a line diagonally across your nails and fill it in with glitter polish. It is amazing with all kinds of combinations and would look amazing on new years with black and gold glitter or silver or anything.

I feel like if you are interested in nail art it is a prerequisite to love glitter, and this is so simple and looks amazing that everyone should try it with their favourites!

The colours used were Sally Hansen XtremeWear in White On and China Glaze Twinkle Lights!
Let me know what you think, and if you have a blog or instagram that features your nail art I would love to see what you did this holiday season!

Semi-Fail Christmas Nails

This post is the nail art I attempted and pretty much failed this holiday season, I saw cutepolish upload a video about Santa and elf nails, so I tried it out and it looked awful so, I took off the elves and this is the Santa part of that tutorial and did the lilypebbles Santa hats. I used Gosh Oh My Gosh colour in Classic Red, Sally Hansen Xtremewear in White On, and the Art Deco stripers in black and sparkly silver and the Revlon Nail Art Expressionist in Vincent Van Gold*. For the Santa hats I used tape to make triangles and used a dotting tool for the white. So even if only one nail works out, just remove the rest and make it an accent nail and its brand new again!

This is another fail that would have definitely worked had I chosen different colours, with either red, white and silver, or just a lighter green for this one. So I used OPI and Nicole by OPI Khloe had a Little Lam Lam with the Revlon Nail Art Expressionist in Vincent Van Gold*. I was asked more than once if it was the Jamaican flag or Harry Potter related, so if that's what you're after this is great haha. I have a lighter green that would have maybe made this more festive but oh well, ya live 'n learn.

I feel like I'm not the only one who messes up, or makes poor colour choices, so I would love to know what you guys have messed up too, especially since I think themed nail art is the hardest!

Also, I was given the Revlon nail striper for consideration by entering their revlonselects thing on their facebook page, which was crazy cool and unexpected, so like them if you're into that!

Christmas Nails

So since it is less than a week before Christmas I figured I would show you what I have attempted when it comes to nail art this holiday season. These nails are very reminiscent of the white with blue dots I did in the summer, however now I used Christmas colours. I love this I think its so festive and I think of all the holiday nails I've done this has received the most compliments, if you're into that...

I used:

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme in White On
Red:  Essie Lacy not Racy
Green: Nicole by OPI Khloe had a little Lam-Lam
Gold: Green: OPI Just Spotted a Lizard
Silver: Joe Fresh Silver Coin
Glitter: China Glaze Twinkle Lights

It's very simple to do on your own, if you have a dotting tool or a toothpick!
Now that I have a break in school I hope to show you my holiday nails looks everyday until Christmas, and other things!

Good Bye Fall...

Now that Autumn is essentially over in terms of how I dress / accessorize I figured it was time to post two nail looks I did recently. The picture above is the classic glitter accent nail with Revlon's Sparkling and Essie Angora Cardi on the nails. Angora Cardi is such a strange shade, it is very reminiscent of nails in the 80s and early 90s, I can picture someone with heavy lip liner back in the day loving this polish hah (tell me I'm not crazy) Anyways I thought it was a pretty colour, but that is definitely what it reminded me of on the nails.

Then a trend that I absolutely love and can't wait to do with Christmas colours is the half-moon manicure. Here I used Orly Decades of Dysfunction and Essie Carry On which is one of my all time favourite polishes. This is such a classic manicure, and I just find myself gazing at my nails, like the typical polish addict that I am.

Denim and Cheetah

So, my last post featured one of my favourite fall outfits and here is one of my favourite shirts of all time, especially for right now though. Denim shirts are popping up everywhere this fall but I got this shirt from the Miley Cyrus Wal-Mart line ages ago and find a place to wear it in every season. The way I paired it recently was with a sequin bandeau underneath from Forever 21, I have a bit of an obsession with sequins and this is the perfect amount for casual wear without getting too crazy, and I just love it.

Another thing I have been loving is Cheetah accent nails, I feel like cheetah/leopard pops up every fall/winter and this is my favourite way to wear it. The Beauty Department has a great post on how to achieve it that is super simple and easy to do on both hands, and that is how I learned the technique. The black I used was OPI Black Onyx, Gold is Joe Fresh Sun Kissed and the base of the cheetah is Joe Fresh Latte, but I'm sure you can use whatever is in your collection to recreate it.

I have had nail art on my nails pretty much everyday for the past 6 months it seems, and have tons of photos to show off to you guys soon, and am really excited to experiment with holiday nail art and already have some on my nails even though its still November hah. Anyways hope you enjoyed the little glimpse of my OOTD /NOTD, leave a comment below I'd love to read it!

Green

So this is my new favourite Fall outfit, I heard about these pants through Sarahbelle93x on youtube and felt like I had to have them especially since they are only $14.95 from H&M. They also come in navy, black, maroon and khaki, I am legitimately kicking myself for not buying the maroon colour but, oh well.

The pants are high waisted, and I am wearing a Ralph Lauren polo, and black riding boots. Also please excuse the stank face, that is why I never feature my face because I just can't take it seriously, so I just look super serious.

Anyways, tell me what you have been loving this fall, also I am heading to America soon and would love to hear what you think I need to get!

Halloween Nails

With my obsession with nail art I had to go full out Halloween, and do "scary" nails. These were just for fun and not the best they could look, but I think they're so fun because they are recognizable Halloween characters.

I thought just having an accent nail of the face would not be enough, so I wanted to do the body/neck which I haven't seen when I've searched Halloween nail art. For both having a black striper is the best option, if not just use an old paint brush and tooth pick for dotting. For Dracula do basic tuxedo nail, just put polish along the top, to resemble a cape and free hand the rest and hope for the best!

I really want to know if any of you have been into halloween nail art, and what you've done, show me on instagram or twitter: AlsLoves!

Zebra

This is my zebra dress, I'm kind of obsessed with it and haven't worn it since the third week of September. But, since I took the pictures I figured I might as well at least make the blog post. As you can see it has a really high neck line, and an exposed zipper on the back, but the best part is definitely the print. It is from H&M and I have seen it in some stores still as well as the other dresses in the solid colours with this shape and zipper.

When I first saw it it was $19.99 and the rest of the colours including the same print but pink were $10, so being the bargain hunter I am, I left it. A week later, after the back to school "sales" it was marked down to $10 just like the rest. The moral of this ramble is sometimes when shopping, good things come to those who wait!

Also, the lipstick I'm wearing is Boots N7 Moisture Drench Lipstick in Sienna and my hair is third day, Dove dry shampoo hair and I used a 2" curling iron.

Anyways, do you think I could wear this for fall, with a cardigan and black tights and boots? I'm contemplating it because I like it so much. Also, if any of you just got a really good bargain I'd love to hear about it!

Thanksgiving!

It was Thanksgiving here in Canada last week, so I figured I would share with you guys how I stayed festive.  The things that makes the holidays is decorating and having the holiday spirit. So I was searching on pinterest and it brought me to HeyKayli's Thanksgiving Treats video and I just had to make them. Its rice krispie squares dyed orange and I used chocolate chips as the stem and icing for the leaves and the pilgrim hats are Reese's peanut butter cups on top of cookies stuck together with orange icing and you just need to create a little buckle. These are just a fun addition to the typical pumpkin pie :)

And it just wouldn't be me if I didn't have festive nails, so through more online searching, I created my own variations, I don't like all candy corn nails and I wanted to incorporate pumpkins, so pumpkin tips is easy and fun. For the pumpkin use your brush to create the edges of the top of a pumpkin then with a thin paint brush or striper, outline the top you just made, then create the rounded lines in the middle, then with a brush or dotting tool create the green stem. And for candy corn nails, paint your nails orange, wait for them to dry, cut  a piece of tape to fit the space you want and then place it in the middle of your nail, and on each side of the tape fill in the white and yellow, simple!

Sorry my nails are so grubby but this was as I was heading out the door to leave, as I had three turkey dinners last weekend, and didn't have time to capture my nails well or clean them up.

Anywho, I have edited all the pictures I have taken in the last two months so get ready for an influx of posts because they're pretty much done, I just get lazy and never publish. But I have a week off for Reading Week sonn which will be nice!

 

Back to School!

Nothing says back to school and the start of fall to me more than jeans and converse, I love wearing sneakers and feel like nothing looks better with them than jeans. When I saw CutePolish made this back to school nail tutorial I had to do it for the first day back.

I'm really excited with my program in school and am seriously contemplating making videos on youtube again, but still unsure. If anyone wants to share their opinion on potentially starting videos or what, let me know. And once I get settled in I'll defintely share the back to school outfits I've been sporting these days. :)


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Green and Yellow

So summer is officially over, although it may not end until the 21st, I'm back at school and packing away my shorts. I kind of abandoned this blog over the summer, but hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things in the "new year".

I hope everyone enjoyed their Labour day if you're in North America and I just wanted to show you this outfit. The shorts and belt are from H&M and on my fingernails is Just Spotted the Lizard by OPI from the Spiderman collection. Some say it is a dupe for Chanel's Peridot and many other brands have released similar dupes as well.

Tomorrow I start makeup school and I can't wait to share all of the tips I'm about to learn! Also as usual you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter: @AlsLoves to keep up to date when I don't update the blog so often. I'd love to know what any of you guys did over the summer or what your going to miss about summer etc. or just to have a chat!

Lace and Neon

What I have been wearing the majority of summer is jean cut offs and crop tops. It may not be the classiest ensemble but when it is 30+ degrees I don't care.

The shirt I got on sale from American Eagle marked down to $9.99 and they had 30% off sale items! woop woop!The shorts don't come off as bright as they are, but I love them. And I'm obsessed with the back of the shirt with the lace detailing.

I always wonder when reading some blogs, how do they stand the heat in some of the layered outfits girls wear in the summer? What has been your guys' summer staples? 

Nail Art Fever!

I have once again contracted nail art fever...

 I think I was going through a bit of a funk and only painting my nails one solid colour. But the urge has suddenly sprung up again.

It first started with MissJenFabulous on youtube and her fishtail braid nail tutorial which I tried but it was a little messy, but still fun and posted a picture on Instagram: "click" 

But then I found thekatizzzle on Instagram and had to try these nails. (you should totally watch her videos / read her blog I had a mini marathon after I found her.) Anyways this is what I came up with.

Its pretty easy, especially if you have many colours of one shade, just paint the base white and with a dotting tool or toothpick create a diagonal line of dots!

I used: China Glaze - For Audrey, Nicole by OPI - Blue Lace, Joe Fresh - Cement, Powder Blue, Cobalt and Persian Blue, OPI - Stranger Tides and Sally Hansen Xtremewear - White On

Then since I'm still kind of into the tribal trend and most tribal nail art is impossible to do I did this little number.

Just paint your nails the base colour, I chose yellow and blue. Then pick the colour you want in the middle I chose coral. And with a black striper I made the two lines at the edges of the coral and then made the zigzags. To finish it off. I used the opposite base colour with a dotting tool in and spaces and topped it off with a top coat!

The colours I used were Joe Fresh: Butter, Powder Blue and Coral. And the L.A. Colors Nail Deco in black.

P.S. Don't mind the messiness, I lost the brush I use to typically take off the excess polish :)

What have I been up to...

This summer is flying by...
In my mind I blog often, but really I don't, I take photos and even will edit them, but actually writing the post I just never get to. So I figured since it has been over two weeks since the last time you heard from me, I would update you on what I have been up to.

So, on June 25th I had planned on making an outfit post for Michael Jackson, I never really get to wear this shirt and if any day, June 25th is the day to wear it.

In honour of the "king" of pop, I sported my 80s shorts, with my I "glove" MJ t-shirt. While I had a mini marathon of his music. So I figured I would show you guys.

Then, me and my family celebrated Canada Day on the 1st and me and my cousins matched, and we ate smores, picked strawberries and had fireworks!

Next I did some DIY and baking which I suppose you might like to see.

That may look vile, but believe me it is delicious. It is a smores brownie, what you do is buy or if youre feeling ambitious make a graham cracker crust in a pie tin, get brownie mix and bake it in, then when that cools you get Fluff or Kraft Jet-Puffed and smear that on top and sprinkle that with chocolate chips. It is so disgustingly delicious, and so sweet you honestly can only handle small portions but I dare you all to try it.

Then because I feel like it is just a summer thing to do, I did some tie-dye.

We used the Tulip kit and it was worth every penny, they save so much time and give you so much precision with the bottles. And also some may be skeptical about trying a bathing suit, and although the colours aren't as vibrant as with the natural fabric, it stayed after I went swimming in a pool, so I would call it a success!

So that is a little bit of what I have been up to, I will try to post more but you can always follow me on Twitter or Instagram by the username: AlsLoves. I'm debating on whether I should put myself on a schedule, what do you guys think, and what have you all been up to this summer?

Summer Romp

I. Love. Rompers.

Rompers are the best laid-back summer outfit of all time. There is nothing more freeing because you don't have to be as conscious of how you sit as you would in a dress and most are made of comfortable breezy material that allows you to stay cool on those HOT summer days.

This one is obviously a bold floral pattern, from Fairweather and was only $15! They are my favourite thing to wear lounging by the pool or at the beach although the band does leave impressions on your stomach, it is just so easy to slip on and off. I also love to wear them when you know you will have a long day in the sun because you don't get awkward strap tanlines and as I said before you stay cool!

What do you guys think of rompers, are you a fan or not? Where do you get your rompers, what do you accessorize them with?

What a Peach!

Recently I was perusing the aisles of the new large Rexall near my house, and came across the Essie Spring collection. Unlike OPI I feel like the Essie collections go completely unnoticed by me, and I tend to just randomly pick up polishes when I see them. As opposed to the hype behind a lot of OPI collections.

I really like 'A Crewed Interest' because it is a true peach shade, which I have been craving to add to my collection this year. I got this opacity like most Essie polishes with 3 coats. It is very non-offensive and brings out Summer in your nails with out having to go the neon route.

I have really grown to like Essie and it tends to go on sale at either Wal-Mart, Shoppers or Rexall pretty often, so check for deals. My sights are currently set on Mojito Madness and Bikini So Teeny, because I do love the colours and I wont lie, I love the names.

What polishes are you guys after, or trends? and what are you thoughts on Essie?

The Graduate

YAY! Four years of university and I am finally done! I'm so happy to be done this time in my life / a little scared because I feel like since I didn't feel like a legitimate adult before, I am now :|

Don't mind the complete cheesy/fake smile, I was soooo excited about this dress and had to share. I had found it online from Jacob and when you signed up for their emailing list you got an additional 20% off!

I didn't want a white dress because I felt like that is a high school thing but I still wanted it to be nice, but not floral or anything too crazy. As you may know already I love bows and love the retro-ish vibe, when I saw it I had to have it.

After getting up at 6:45am, having to sit through that very very long ceremony and then taking photos and having refreshments, it was a long day and required a nice big ol' meal. This is the outfit I wore after the ceremony, essentially my eatin' clothes... :

Tank Top: Forever 21

Cardigan: GAP

Skirt: Banana Republic

Princess Bun

I have finally mastered the princess/donut bun! It has taken me ages to finally get it, I first tried when CarlyCristman did a tutorial but I cut the sock wrong, and then it just didn't look all that great. 

Then when I got back home for summer I wanted to try again but I couldn't grasp the full donut look like in the photo until... duh nuh nuh naahh
HeyKayli's video.

I love the whole shaytards family and am subscribed to them all, so that video just popped into my subscription box and it finally "clicked" for me. 

I think the key tips are:

1. cut the sock at the toe (duh its in both videos, but the first time I cut at the ankle)

2. roll the sock down your hair, kind of like when putting on pantyhose (that is what creates the great effect)

3. if you have layers just be conscious of if they are falling and shove them up through the sock before they are able to fall and make it messy

The best part about this bun is how secure it is, you literally don't need bobby pins, I put them in out of paranoia but I can literally shake my head and it doesn't fall out.

I keep trying and failing and the french-braid at the back of your head that leads up into the sock bun, but so far no luck...

Let me know if any of you are into the look of the sock bun, or think its an awful trend that needs to disappear, or any variations you have seen or tried! Also if any of you have any tips on flyaways that would be great to!!

ps. if you are wondering, geez she has great skin, no that is not the case. I have been playing with the airbrushing on picmonkey.com and pretty much turning myself into the scary toddlers and tiaras photos, don't judge haha

pps. I'm not naked, just wearing a romper.

Produits Français

A couple of days ago I tweeted that I was pee pants excited, and I still am. So, my mom had to go to France, and of course I had to ask for a little somethin somethin from a pharmacie.

Essiebutton and Lisa Eldridge both have put up videos somewhat recently about products from France, and like most international people I just admired it and moved on, because the prices are way to high to buy without trying in Canada.

So when my mom said she was going all I could think of was the Caudalie Eau de Beaute, that many of bloggers are raving about. I love it, although the smell is strong, I personally really really like it, it is very minty and really refreshing to breath in. I think I'll make a separate post cause I really do love it.

Then, this was definitely inspired by Estee, the NUXE reve de miel lip balm. I put this on before bed and my lips are extremely soft and they still feel moisturized when I wake up, it lasts forever on your lips. Normally I hate citrus, if someone sprays air freshener or cleans with citrus scent I go mental because I dislike it so much. But the scent of this, although lemony is very sweet. This as well as the Beauty Elixir come in glass containers, which I really enjoy because they just seem better and I love packaging.

Then the travel set, includes Caudalie: Gentle Conditioning Shampoo, Shower Gel, Body Lotion, Quenching Sorbet Creme and Cleansing Water. I haven't tried any of them but am really excited to.

Then because my mom clearly wasn't from France the lady was super nice and gave her a bunch of samples!

Which include: Caudalie Night Cream, Bioderma Shower Gel, Avene Emollient Balm, Bioderma Suncream and Topicrem 3D Sparkling Body Milk. 

Then my mom just brought back the Eiffel tower filled with candy. 

I just had to share, because I was really excited, if you own any of this stuff tell me if you like it, hate it, what you use it for? and if you don't what is something you can't get in the country you live in that you lust after, I think I would have a mile long list of things from the UK...

Rose Gold NOTD

Joe Fresh: Sunkissed and Revlon: Sparkling

I think I have found a new favourite nail combination. The rose gold craze has been going on for quite some time, and as I don't own any rose gold  jewellery, so I figured I could jump on the band wagon with my nails.

Many people have come up with their own creation using Orly Rage or layering Essie Luxe effect in A Cut Above over other nail polishes. As I was perusing through Wal-Mart about to buy the Essie polish I found this colour by Revlon.

It is the colour Sparkling, and while it isn't a good dupe for the Essie colour, it will do the job I want it to do, for half the price. I also don't like to shell out a whole bunch of money on glitter polishes because I tend not to wear them so often because of the tediousness of removing glitter polish.

Anyways, I really really enjoyed the way this combination turned out, I left it on for quite some time and would find my self staring at my nails far too often hah

Warmth

As a very pale individual I wear bronzer everyday along with the rest of the slap, but when it gets into the summer months, on a day-to-day basis I usually only wear bronzer, eyeliner and mascara. My favourite one to use is Warmth by Bare Minerals. I got it in the "Get Started Kit" which I also recommend if you want to try out the brand because it gives you all the essentials plenty of product and is pretty inexpensive for what you get.

As you can see I use the brush they give you, because I truly believe that their brushes work best with mineral makeup, and this brush: the flawless face brush is a lot softer than the full flawless face brush even though I use that as well for the foundation. 

In the photo you can see shimmer, however it is so finely milled that they are not overly visible. When most people say things give them a glow, I usually think its B.S. and discard it as probably making me a disco ball. But warmth really lives up to its name and gives your face a natural bronzed look and makes you look healthy. Some bronzers can be very muddy or orangey but Bare Minerals really knew what they were doing with this one. 

I can't really pull this off in the winter, but in the summer, it looks damn good. The cons are obviously that it is a loose product and can cause a huge mess, which is why I tend not to use the foundation, however there is usually just enough in the cap to use on my face that I just swirl the brush in the cap and don't even dip into the product itself.

I say if you want to try the brand, the started kit is a great idea, but if you just want to check out warmth it stays on skin for a decent amount of time and makes your complexion look bronzed and be-a-u-tiful! hah

Sponge Nails

As many of you have probably seen on all over Pinterest, I decided to try out the Makeup Sponge technique...

This is what I came up with and I quite like the technique, its simple and not overwhelmingly time consuming.

As you can see I put down a layer of white, and I made it sloppy because I didnt think it would make a difference, but it definitely does. You need to make the base layer opaque. Then i just pressed the sponge over the nail. To make it easier you could cut the sponge to fit your nail for less clean up, but I didnt bother.

I used Joe Fresh Butter, Revlon Perfect Pink and China Glaze Shocking Pink.

I think the best part of this kind of nail art is that it is just as simple to do the right hand as it is the left which is what I tend to struggle with with nail art.

Its super fun and can incorporate many trends like colorblocking, ombre, and colour trends like neons or mint or whatever colours are "in" at the time.