Powdery Blue & Gold // Essie Find Me An Oasis

This dreamy pale blue is Essie Find Me An Oasis. It's one of the latest polishes to arrive in my nail mail package from the US. I love the color but it was really difficult to capture in the photos, it's actually a bit paler than it appears, looking almost white at a distance or in certain lights. I included the last Instagram photo since that's probably the best representation of the color. 

Find Me An Oasis is reasonably alright to apply; after a super streaky first coat, the second coat almost evened everything out, but for me, a bit of perfectionist when it comes to my nails, it needed a third coat. You may think it's fine with two. Dry time was no problem but it did need a topcoat for more shine.

Orginally I planned to combine this one with glitter, but then I pulled out an old gem, a gold shimmer polish by Korean brand The Face Shop, and was reminded of this cute mani I'd seen on Instagram. I like the combination, the coolness of the blue and the warmth of the gold really compliment each other, don't you think? 

I'll probably be trying gold tips with other colors from here on out. 

What color do you have on your nails at the moment? Any colors/brands you recommend me to try? 

Manicure Monday // OPI Kiss Me I'm Brazilian

OPI Kiss Me I'm Brazilian is, as you'd expect from something with that name and from the "Brazil Collection", the kind of pink that just sings summer. It's a bright, bordering on neon, Barbie pink.  So naturally, I love it. 

I always like using OPI cream formulas, and this one is particularly good, it just seems to glide on so easily. I find that almost all the OPI cream formulas tend to level out well and dry slowly enough to allow for a few extra brush strokes to even out any iffy brushstrokes without dragging. The really great thing is you can add second coats and third coats in fairly rapid succession without creating a manicure that never dries. (I'm looking at you Essie) Don't you hate those?! This polish actually only required two coats, and you'd possibly get away with only one if your application was extremely careful. As I mentioned last Monday, I'm making an effort to do more nail art again. So, sticking to my word, I got out China Glaze I'm Not Lion and the nail tape for a little playtime. 

L to R  //  OPI - Kiss Me I'm Brazilian  /  China Glaze - I'm Not Lion  /  Seche Vite -  Dry Fast Top Coat

So what do you think of the results? I love it, and whilst it's certainly not a subtle manicure, I think it's perfect for summer and my mini-break by the pool this week....don't hate me too much please! ;)

Did you try any of the OPI Brazil Collection polishes? (You can see them here on OPI.com) I also really like the look of the Taupeless Beach and Don't Bossa Nova Me Around, which are both much more neutral grey/taupe shades. Which would be your pick?

Manicure Monday // Sweet Daisy

For no particular reason, I haven't been doing as much nail art lately. I can't fathom why not because it's one of my favourite things to do. As you know by now, I'm a compulsive nail painter - I never have bare nails, and I particularly love how creative you can be with nail art. It's not the world's greatest skill and it's hardly the most useful, but still, it gives me that little sense of achievement when I complete a pretty design, and a rewarding feeling of pride when someone notices them and I get to say I did them myself  :) So all that being said, I've decided to get back to doing more nail art, I'll be aiming to post my humble efforts at least a couple of times a month. 

On Saturday, I was feeling all 'Springy' and decided a muted, feminine nail would make a nice change from the hot pinks and corals I've been overdoing these past few weeks. Daisies are one of the easiest nail arts to do, but the results are super sweet, don't you think?!

Polishes

Base color - OPI Privacy Please

Daisy petals - OPI Alpine Snow

Daisy centres - Etude House Mini French 07 Gold Glitter

Heart Ring - Topshop Link!

Also, can we take a second to talk about this Chanel perfume bottle phone case. You've probably seen it in a few other places too by now, but isnt it so fun?!!