Whimsical Patchwork!

Something about summer makes me want to do fun whimsical manis... I had this Bundle Monster plate BM-607 with the patchwork design and wanted to use it for quite a while but I didn't get around to do it until now. 

I used the direct decal method so that I can make a colorful pattern. For tutorial of this method, check my previous post here. 

For this look, I first painted my nails with Essie Chillato (pale yellow). I used the patchwork design from Bundle Monster plate BM-607 and used the direct decal method. The colors I used to fill the designs are the following. Sally Hansen Ivory Skull (white), China Glaze Trip of a Lime Time (lime green), and China Glaze I Brake For Colour (pinkish red). Ceramic Glaze My Skinny Jeans (blue) was used for stamping outlines. 

My favorite polish this summer is definitely Essie Chillato. I have been using it so many times already!!! 

I really love this look! So fun and cute!! I have my nails quite short this time and I think the design like this suits short nails very well. 

Do you wear whimsical designs? 

Love,

Little Dot

I Like Birds Just In Case You Haven't Noticed...

I love birds... I don't have them as pets but I like bird patterns and things that are birds.

You can see other bird nails I did here and here. For this look, I first painted my nails with Essie Salt Water Happy. I used the direct decal method to stamp the birds, using Bundle Monster plate BM-607. I used Konad White for the outline and used Nubar Spotlight, Ceramic Glaze My Skinny Jeans, and Essie Mezmerised to fill in birds. 

I started to use the direct decal method recently and this makes things a lot easier! I used to make decals and placed them on nails like here. But I found out you can actually stamp the decal directly on your nails after coloring in. I will post a tutorial soon. 

It is rather subtle look and I think I could have probably stamped on all nails. It would look like bird printed fabric or something... I would buy it if there is a dress made of this pattern!

Are you a bird person? Do you wear bird nails?

Love,

Little Dot

Search for THE Yellow!

Every Spring/early Summer, I gravitate towards nice pale yellow colors. If I see any pale yellow polish at stores, I most likely grab them. But the right pale yellow is hard to find. They usually turn out too yellow out of the bottles... So, when I saw some leaked information about Essie Summer collection in Feb on web, I was so determined to get the bottle of Chilato! This may be THE one!!!

AND I wasn't disappointed! This is THE yellow I was waiting for!!! I don't think Essie has lots of yellow polish. At least, I don't know any. But this is so pretty... Yes it is a bit sheer and I needed 3 coats (almost 2 coater, though!), but I don't mind it because it is such lovely pale yellow. You might call it green because it is borderline lemony yellow and pale green. I still call it yellow, though. 

I love love love this color!!! I was so excited that I had to Instagram it right away!

For this look, I first painted my nails with Essie Chilato (pale yellow) and Ciate Snow Virgin (white). I stamped a design from Bundle Monster plate BM-404, using Ceramic Glaze My Skinny Jeans as stamping polish. 

I'm certain I will be wearing this color a lot this season! Do you like pale yellow? What is your best yellow?

Love,

Little Dot

Forest Friends!

I was in a mood for some fun nails this week! 

I wanted to use this Messy Mansion plate MM19 for some time. I got it a few months ago in summer but it felt like fall season design at that time. Now is the great time to have fun with it!!

My favorite design from this plate is the birch tree! I happen to have a big birch tree in my backyard. It is a very pretty tree in any season! I also wanted to use the cute little forest friends, the fox and the hedgehog. I noticed the fox design is fine-lined and to show the orange color, I ended up making decals. I will do a tutorial on decal making on my next post. So, stay tuned! 

For this look, first I made the fox decals (directions to follow on my next post!). While the decals are drying, I painted my nails with Essie Urban Jungle (off white cream) and Essie Sew Psyched (sage green). I stamped the birch tree design from Messy Mansion plate MM19 with Konad White stamping polish. I used leaf design from the same plate to stamp colorful leaves by mixing Essie Sew Psyched, Essie Roarrrrange, and Ceramic Glaze Pinapple Breeze. I stamped a hedgehog with Mundo de Unas stamping polish. When the decals are dry, I placed them on nails. Then I topped with HK Girl Top Coat. 

It is a lot more elaborate and labour intensive look but I had a lot of fun creating it!

I hope you enjoyed the forest friends!

Love,

Little Dot

Lily Anna Plates Review!

I finally got my first Lily Anna plates! I was eyeing on these plates for some time now but getting them all the way from Australia prevented me from ordering for a while. 

I bought Lily Anna 03 & 08. 

I actually bought these from Nail Polish Canada as they had great sale price recently for Bundle Monster and Pueen plates, which I posted here. It was a pleasant surprise to find out Nail Polish Canada carries Lily Anna and Messy Mansion plates! No more waiting for weeks and no shipping cost!

For this look, I first painted my nails with OPI My Vampire Is Buff, Ceramic Glaze Skinny Jeans, and Essie Sunday Funday. I stamped a couple of designs from Lily Anna plate 08 using Ceramic Glaze Skinny Jeans as stamping polish. 

My right hand with slight variation. 

Lily Anna plates are well etched and I can get great transfers of images everytime. The designs are beautiful and I think they are a little more grown up!

Do you have any Lily Anna plates? What is your opinion on them?

Love,

Little Dot

Nautical Nails!

Here is the nautical look I created this week!

I quite like how it came out!

For this look, I first painted my nails with Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Ivory Skull (white), Ceramic Glaze My Skinny Jeans (navy blue), and Essie Style Hunter (red). I used Bundle Monster image plates BM-401. BM-407, and BM-414 for various nautical theme designs. I used Ceramic Glaze My Skinny Jeans and Mundo de Unas 1 as stamping polish. 

My right hand with an octopus!!

It is a fun look I think you can only wear during the summer, so take the advantage!

Have you done any nautical theme nails this summer?

Love,

Little Dot

Birds!

I must post my beloved daughter's nails! Again, she did it all by herself. I'm so proud!

For this look, she painted her nails with OPI My Vampire is Buff and Essie Sew Psyched. Then stamped using MoYou London Mother Nature plate 02 with Ceramic Glaze My Skinny Jeans. Finally, she used a dotting tool to put a little details with Essie Size Matters. 

This plate has a lot of different birds on it! It's a great plate to have for bird lovers like us!!

Can you identify the birds on her nails? Do you have favorite bird design plate?

Love,

Little Dot

Orchid

My thumbs must be getting greener! I successfully got my orchid plants to flower this year again! I like orchids and bought a few plants here and there over the years. But I couldn't get them to flower for years until I found out the secret last winter. The big secret for making them flower? The significant daytime and evening temperature change!!! Since I found out about it, I had one plant to flower last year and this year, I have 3 plants with flowering stems!! Yay!

And here are the nails inspired by my orchid flowers!

I first painted my nails with Essie Boxer Shorts (periwinkle) and Ceramic Glaze Pinapple Breeze (yellow). I used the orchid flower image from MoYou London plate Pro collection 07 (regular) to stamp with Konad white stamping polish. Then using a dotting tool, I placed little dots of yellow and pink in the center of flowers to resemble my orchid flowers. 

I really like this periwinkle color in Spring. It reminds me of some of my other favorite flowers like violets and forget-me-nots! In the pictures, it looks more blue but in real life, it is more lavender shade. Such a beautiful color!

What are your favorite flowers? Do you like floral designs on your nails?

Little Dot

Happy Easter! - Double Feature

Happy Easter everyone! I was trying to multitask yesterday (cooking Easter feast and doing nails...) and it didn't go well. I got this design done first.

I guess I was a little inpatient and stamped a little too soon... It wrinkled my yellow polish!! Oh well, it wasn't perfect but I decided to live with it. 

But while checking my turkey in the oven, I somehow dinged a couple of nails... Ok now it's definitely ruined. It was nice while lasted...

For this look, I first painted my nails with Ceramic Glaze Pinapple Breeze (yellow) and Nails inc. Haymarket (teal). Then stamped a design from Pueen plate 31 using Konad white stamping polish.

Taking nail polish off and starting new, my beloved daugthter decided she wants to do some nail decals for me. 

Easter chicks!

For this look, I first painted my nails with Essie Boxer Shorts (periwinkle) and Ceramic Glaze Pinapple Breeze (yellow). My beloved daughter made nail decals by free-handing chicks. Applied them onto my nails and finished off with Seche Vite. 

Well, at least I got double feature for this post and the Easter feast was delicious!!

What nail design are you wearing for this weekend?

Love,

Little Dot

Black, White, and Yellow!

Something in Spring makes me gravitate towards black and white. And I quite like adding a little lemon yellow to the mix!

The color combo is just the same as the look I posted a few weeks ago. But I think I would be wearing these colors quite often this season. 

I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Ivory Skull (white) and Ceramic Glaze Pineapple Breeze (yellow) to paint my nails. Then stamped number design from Bundle Monster plate BM-311 with Konad stamping polish Black Pearl. 

I actually wanted to stamp plaid pattern if I had such design plate... Why?

To match my spring coat of course!!

Oh well, since I do not own such plate, I decided to stamp numbers. 

What is your favorite color combination for Spring? 

Love,

Little Dot

Spring time! Jk... Jk...

Today's post title was chosen by my beloved daughter! First day of Spring past and we still have snow?? Seriously?

Well, at least my nails look springy...

For this look, first I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Ivory Skull (white) and Ceramic Glaze Pineapple Breeze (yellow) to paint my nails. Then, I stamped the floral pattern from Nailz Craze plate NC 03 with Konad Black Pearl stamping polish. 

The inspiration came from the bedding in the background. Do you see? 

I wonder if we ever get Spring here... Do you see any sign of Spring in your area? Do you sport Springy colors or designs on your nails?

Love,

Little Dot

Blue Nails 2

More blue nails for you! I probably have so many blue polish that I can do quite a few variations...

First, I painted my nails with Ceramic Glaze My Skinny Jeans (dark blue), OPI My Vampire is Buff (creamy white), and OPI Kiss Me at Midnight (liquid sand blue). 

For stamping, I used My Skinny Jeans with Bundle Monster plate BM-406. My favorite pretzel heart design!

For my right hand, I switched around a bit and stamped the thumb with a bird design from BM-401.

I don't usually like glitter polish much but I like OPI's liquid sand. It's pretty smooth and easy to remove with polish remover. And this polish, Kiss Me at Midnight, is very pretty bright sparkly blue! 

Have you tried liquid sand? What is your favorite shade?

Love,

Little Dot