Around the World Challenge: Rio de Janeiro

I'm super excited about today's post! As soon as I saw Rio on the list of places for the Around the World Challenge I knew exactly what I would do!! :)

Rio!! The lovely computer animated movie from 2011! When Blu, a domesticated macaw from small-town Minnesota, meets the fiercely independent Jewel, he takes off on an adventure to Rio de Janeiro with this bird of his dreams. source: IMDb

I started with a base of Barry M Blueberry Icecream on my index, middle, and ring finger and Finger Paints Paper Mache on my thumb and pinky. Then I sponged on Paper Mache to the three blue nails. 

The rest was done using a nail art brush and various polishes: Barry M Cyan Blue (for Blu's head and the details in 'Rio' and the beach ball) & Cobalt Blue (for fine details in Blu's head). Gosh Miss Grey and Finger Paints Black Expressionism (for the beak), OPI Germanicure (for the copper in his eye), and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow & Sun Kissed (for the letters/beachball)

And this is the HD Wallpaper I found on google which inspired it all :) 

Don't forget to head over to Guilty As Charged and check out the other entries for Week 4: Rio de Janeiro. And It's not too late to join in on the fun, the contest will be open until August, you could always play catch up on the first few or join in part way! :)

How time flies...

I cannot believe it has been a year since I posted my cousin Phoebe's 13th birthday nails... but here we are at year 14!! :)

She had her party over the weekend and asked, once again, that I come over and do some nails for her and her two closest friends. I happily agreed!

Let's lead off with the Birthday Girl...

Lucky duck got the China Glaze Avant Garden Blooming Brights collection for her Birthday... I suggested she try water marbelling (because it's much easier to do with new polish) and then she asked if we could try it out while I was there...

I started with a base of Finger Paints Paper Mache on the marbelled nails. Then we used the following polishes: Mimosas before Manis, Snap my Dragon (also featured on her pinky fingers), Sunday Funday (that gorgeous blue!), and Budding Romance. 

Second was her friend Olivia; who choose a simple but super cute manicure...

We used China Glaze Re-fresh Mint and Finger Paints Tiffany Imposter (a dupe of "for audrey"), and the glitter is Jordana Gemstones (a dupe of DL Happy Birthday).

Last but not least was Hayley, who decided to make use of my new Cult Nails Morning Glory polish...

She loved the mattified look, and after much deliberation, settled on this design. I think this one was my favourite of the evening. The base on the other nails was China Glaze Re-fresh Mint and the roses were freehanded using China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, Cult Nails Morning Glory, & American Apparel Malibu Green. I topped the accent nails off with Essie Matte About You. 


I love how all three girls choose an accent nail look! Overall the party was a lot of fun and I hope the girls each enjoyed themselves. It's sad to think I won't be around next year to do this again... Wait, did I get into Physio school in Halifax for September?? ;)

Around the World Challenge: Mexico City

Day 3 of the Around the World Challenge is Mexico City. It took me a while to think of a design for this one.. but eventually I remembered that Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a well-known mexican holiday that pays tribute to loved ones who have passed.

Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. Source: Wikipedia 

So I decided for today's challenge to do a sugar skull manicure :) 

I started with a base of Finger Paints Paper Mache. Using a dotting tool I created the design using China Glaze First Mate, Finger Paints Black Expressionism, Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Good to Grape & I Pink I Can. 

Don't forget to head over to Guilty as Charged and check out the other challenge participants :)

Cult Nails Morning Glory

I'm so excited about this polish! :)

The Cult Nails in the garden collection is fabulous!! Unfortunately, I had a limited budget at the time and couldn't pick up the whole collection. Of the few I did get, Morning Glory has to be my favourite!

Morning Glory is a gorgeous wax finish Magenta. But as usual I couldn't leave it by itself so I added a little freehand animal print :)

The base on the accent nails is Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Royal Blush. The other colors within the animal print are Morning Glory, SH Salon Manicure Calypso Blue, Good to Grape, and Cult Nails You're My Dandy Lion. 

I topped the accent nails off with a shiny top coat first and then decided it would look better Mattified, so I topped them off with Essie Matte About You. Below you can see the before and after...