Category Archives: Nail Art

Nail Art: Blue Fiend Nails

Blue Fiend Nails Nail Art My friend was nice enough to lend me these blues from the China Glaze Cirque du Soleil Collection: Water You Waiting For and Hanging in the Balance!

Just like with my Green Fiend Nails, I decided to wear more than one shade as my manicure for these Blue Fiend Nails so that I could return her precious bottles sooner.

The bonus? It was easier to remove when you have glitter on just two fingers.

In this post, not only will I share some more photos of this design, but I’ll also give quick mini reviews on both polishes in case you’re curious if they’re must-haves or not.

Continue reading →

Nail Art: Green Fiend Nails

12 Replies

Green Fiend Nail Art China Glaze Cirque du Soleil Collection Swatches Hope that my readers south of the border had a great Thanksgiving. Haha, and I’m sure that many have been Black Friday shopping since the stroke of midnight.

Several years ago, I was in the States and experienced my first Black Friday. The deals were insane, but so were the crowds! (Good luck to those who are rubbing elbows with others to snag a deal. Just remember to be courteous!)

Today’s Green Fiend Nails were spontaneous. Go with the flow. Throw caution to the wind.

You see, a friend let me borrow 3 polishes from the brand-spankin’ new China Glaze Cirque du Soleil Collection – Running in Circles (glittery green), DEF Defying (snot green), and Creative Fantasy (purple)! I was so excited because green and purple are my favourite colours!

Sometimes I’m indecisive. I couldn’t decide which one to wear first. (Plus I don’t like to keep others’ polish with me for too long. Wearing each individually would take too long. Lacquers get homesick, I think. Although…if they met the numerous greens in my Helmer, I think they might make some friends, and it would escalate into something more – a relationship with long walks on the beach and candlelit dinners!) 😉

It hit me – why did I have to choose just one? This isn’t The Highlander! The more, the merrier, they say. The more greens, the “Mary-er”, I say!

The nail art you see was me trying to wear all the colours at once and still make it look somewhat cohesive and less like a mad person. 😉 (A little madness is good.)

Continue reading →

Nail Art: Vertical Stripe Nails

10 Replies

Vertical Stripe Nails Nail Art Swatches Do you ever have the itch to do nail art, but you can’t think of a design? It happened to me a couple of days ago.

I didn’t want to do something intricate due to time constraints, and I wasn’t up for dealing with the messiness of nail stamping.

These Vertical Stripe Nails helped satisfy the craving for nail art without taking up much time or concentration.

Ever since doing Jack Skellington nail art, I knew that I’d have to do a manicure with vertical stripes on all the nails because I think it’s a really fun look.

(It’s a bonus that it’s also incredibly easy to do! It’s okay if all the lines aren’t perfectly straight or of the same thickness. It puts your signature on the manicure!)

Here I used two shades from the Nicole by OPI Selena Gomez Collection coming out in January 2013 – Hit the Lights (yellow) and Spring Break (pink).

This manicure is a reminder to be true to yourself and to always show your stripes! 😉

Continue reading →

Nail Art Tutorial: Jack Skellington Nails (Nightmare Before Christmas Nails)

16 Replies

Jack Skellington Nails Nail Art Are you a fan of Tim Burton or of The Nightmare Before Christmas? Then you might like these Jack Skellington Nails!

When I sat down to paint this, I didn’t have much time, so a nail-art design that was fast and that didn’t use too many colours was imperative.

I’m so happy to share this look with you because it’s perfect if you’re just painting your nails tonight and need something easy. This is also a design that doesn’t require too much concentration. It’s okay if the lines aren’t really straight and even. It all goes together.

I want to wish you all a very HAPPY HALLOWE’EN! Please be safe no matter what you decide to do, and HAVE FUN! 🙂

Continue reading →

Nail Art Tutorial: Sheep Nails (I Did This Look on a MAN!)

40 Replies

Sheep-Nails-Nail-Art-Tutorial You’ll remember that I blogged about painting my guy friends’ nails before. Well, ever since then, I’ve been itching to do it again. And I did! 😉

The Sheep Nail Art you see was the result of a very fun painting session!

I actually had this design in my head for quite some time and had wanted to do it on my own nails, but I was just too busy.

(In addition to having a full-time job, I’m also a professional freelance writer on the side. Haha, it feels like I’m always working! But when I have spare time, I squeeze in socializing with friends, daily blogging, and knitting.)

So when I was chilling with this guy, I was thrilled when he agreed to not only let me paint a sheep nail design on him, but also publish it on Swatch And Learn. Also, he wanted to confirm that he could remove it immediately after. (Haha, no, nail polish isn’t permanent!) So, just a few seconds after this little sheep was born, it was axed. Poor baby!

Keep reading this blog post because I show you step-by-step with written instructions and fun photos of this man’s thumb nail to help you recreate the look (or to help you convince the guys in your life to not take themselves too seriously). 😉

P.S. Funny thing is that he actually pointed out that I got some of the blue polish on his skin. And then he also mentioned that the sheep was missing its ear. Hahaha! Sorry that your first nail-art experience wasn’t perfect, Mr. Brawny Man! 😛 I’ll do better next time. Because…oh yeahhhh, there’ll be a next time…and another time after that…and another….Hehehehe! Practice makes perfect, right? Right! (He’s actually a professional artist, so that’s why he was very observant of my nail-painting flaws. Haha, he’s not a jerk.)

P.P.S. I would make a terrible nail technician. The entire time, I was smiling and giggling! I just couldn’t keep quiet no matter how hard I tried.

Continue reading →

Nail Art Tutorial: The Bride of Frankenstein’s Monster Nails

16 Replies

The-Bride-of-Frankenstein-Nails-Nail-Art-Tutorial Ever since I saw this photo on Pinterest, I knew I had to try my hand at The Bride of Frankenstein’s Monster Nails!

Hers turned out better, but I still really enjoyed wearing my version of the Hallowe’en nail-art design because it has an underground comic-book feel.

I don’t think that my version immediately makes you think of the Bride of Frankenstein’s Monster. That’s why yesterday, when I posted a photo of it on Instagram and Twitter, I asked you what you thought they were.

Okay, some people did see the Bride of Frankenstein’s Monster (YAY!), but I also got other guesses: samurai and a rocker dude. Haha! After they mentioned it, I could see both! Oh, the power of suggestion!

And when my co-workers at lunch were looking at my nails, one thought that they were scary masks, and another thought they were a character from a horror film. Both agreed that the design was suitable for Hallowe’en.

Soooo…even if I missed the mark on them being ole Frankie’s better half, at least the seasonal vibe was there. 😉

Continue reading →

Hallowe’en Nail Art Ideas

14 Replies

Halloween Nail Art Ideas Can you believe that Hallowe’en is almost here? Since this year I haven’t had time to do as much Hallowe’en nail art as I would’ve liked, I decided to do a ’round-up’ type of post with Hallowe’en Nail Art Ideas in case you’re looking for some ideas.

You can click on the links or photos for each to be taken to the original blog post with the tutorial where I showed you how to recreate the look with step-by-step written instructions and visual aids.

As usual, if you try out any of the looks, I would love to see how yours turned out (and I’m sure that other readers would enjoy seeing it, too)! Please feel free to share photos of your nail art on my Facebook wall. 🙂

Continue reading →