My Dogsled is a Hybrid - My Christmas Day Nails - stamping nail art

Hello everyone!

This mani is inspired by the name of this green OPI polish from the fall/ winter 2014 Nordic Collection: My Dogsled is a Hybrid. 

I think it's the best nail polish name ever!!! :-) A hybrid sled would be nice if the dogs were tired. But how can it work? Do you turn it around and it drags the dogs? Or do you put the dogs in the sled and drive it with a gasoline motor? A battery would not last very long in the cold... Or as my boyfriend suggested, the driver would have to drag the dogs and the sled...


This is what I was wearing on Christmas Day. This manicure kind of evolved, so I'll show you the pictures in chronological order.


Step 1. Paint nails with OPI: My Dogsled is a Hybrid

When I noticed that the sun was actually shining, I ran outside to take some photos.

Not sure why my index nail looks strange.

Step 2. Stamp the trees, dogs and birds on. 

Then I hurried out before the sun went down, and I went for a long walk, as is our family tradition on Christmas Day.

winter sunset

It was -14°C outside, and the snow had turned into chrystals some places. You can see a parts of some chrystals on the photo below.

 This nail polish name also brings back a lot of memories from my childhood...

...I remember the Winter and Easter Vacations before I was old enough to go cross country skiing, when my dad used to put me in a pulk, and let his dog drag it. The dog ran like crazy, and never learned that the pulk was bigger than him... so it got stuck between trees, and turned upside down with baby me face down in the snow...

 ... and a few years later...

...our neighbours came with us. Our parents probably wanted to walk fast, so I was allowed to be in the pulk with the other children. We lay there, all four of us, in a pulk made for 1 or 2 kids, but we talked and laughed and had fun. It's one of the happiest moments from my childhood...

...and when I was about 12 years old...

...I took a course in dog sled driving. We only used 3 dogs, and it's a long time ago, so sadly I don't remember enough to do it today, but it gave me enough reasons to buy this bottle because of it's name, even though I had just bought the "little NORTHIES mini nail lacquers" set, and I think I alredy have some similar green polishes... You might remember them from my Summer Vacation haul post.


Here my skin looks pink because of the cold. I couldn't wear gloves, because they would have made my nails look hairy... LOL

Yes, I know it's upside down

Step 3. Add "snow". 

Sadly, I didn't look at the pictures until I came home. So it was then I added the snow on "the ground". I just used the brush from OPI: My Boyfriend Scales Walls.

Ott- Lite

Step 4. Add glitter. 

It was so cold outside that it looked like someone had sprinkled tiny diamonds everywhere. That's why I felt that the mani needed some glitter.

LED lamp

I put a few drops of OPI: My Voice is a Little Norse on a palette and used a tiny brush to apply it. It's from the Nordic Collection too.

LED lamp

Products used:

OPI: My Dogsled is a Hybrid - green creme
OPI: My Boyfriend Scales Walls - white creme
OPI: My Voice is a Little Norse - silver holographic glitter

Stamping plates:
Dashica Beauty Shop: Infinity Nails 75 - trees
MoYou London: Explorer Collection 23 - birds
MoYou London: Princess Collection 03 - dogs

Stamping polish:
Konad SN White
Konad SN Black

Seche Vite


As you see, exept for the stamping, I only used OPI. I don't have a sled image plate. LOL! So I had to leave the actual dog sled outside the design. Any suggestions?


Here's one photo taken in daylight, where you can see that it's shiny:

winter daylight

What do you think? Does this nail polish name give you good memories too? Any dog sled drivers among you?


Lani

Let it glitter! Golden Star - My Christmas Eve Nails

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a nice Christmas Holiday!

This is what I was wearing on Christmas Eve. Red with glitter.

The base is 1 coat of a red H&M creme called Dark Red. It's from a 6 pack mini set that's still available on H&M.

The glitter is called Golden Star. It's from a dutch indie brand called Let it glitter!. I had to try this brand after seing some beautiful holos on Maria's blog. The holos and Golden Star are from the Hohoholographic Collection. Golden Star is a clear base filled with tiny gold stars and hexagonal regular sized and small white glitter. This is one coat, and then I dabbed on a little more of the white glitter, and dipped the brush and picked up more stars with a dotting tool. Then I used Seche Vite, but I should have used more of the clear base first or Pochè, because I scratched myself a little. On her web page you can see how beautiful the glitter looks over black.

Look what winter did to my roses:

If you buy something from Let it glitter! remember to also buy O Holo night, or you'll regret it later...Now I wish I had bought big bottles... Do you like this?

Lani

December Solstice & Advent Nails - stamping nail art

Hello everyone!

LED lamp

I made this today, which is the shortest day of the year here in the northern hemisphere; December Solstice. Every year on this day, even though winter has just started, I always look forward to longer and longer days the next 6 months. It's also the last Sunday in advent. So I felt it was too early for red nails, and purple is the color traditionally used the month before Christmas around here. So that's why I made purple snowflake nails on this Midwinter Day.

Ott- Lite

And I was curious about Kings & Queens, this red toned purple linear holographic polish that I bought when I Love Nail Polish had a sale earlier this fall, when they sold out their round bottles with this I♥ logo. Their new bottles are square.

 I brought a little snow inside for these two pictures.

Unfortunately the sun wasn't shining today, and the winter daylight was low when I was ready to take the photos, so most of these photos are taken in artificial lighting and don't look as shiny as they do IRL.

Winter daylight, shade

 My swatches are too light or too dark, so I hope you can find better swatches somewhere.

LED lamp

Ott- Lite

The snowflakes are stamped on. I used HB 23, my favorite snowflake plate, and Konad stamping polish in White, Pastel Pink, and Pastel Purple.

Winter daylight, shade

LED lamp

Products used:

I Love Nail Polish: Kings & Queens
Stamping plate: HB 23
Stamping polishes: Konad SN White, Pastel Pink, and Pastel Purple
XL stamper
Seche Vite

Ott- Lite

♥ I wish you all a happy Midsummer Night/ Midwinter Day! ♥

If you want to see last year's Midsummer/ Midwinter French, click here!


Lani

#52WPNMC Camouflage & favorite cuticle oil

Hello everyone!


Camoflage is kind of simple around here now in the middle of winter. It's completely white.

Yes, if there is a military exercise, the soildiers are very well dressed with many layers of warm clothing, but the outer layer of their uniform is white from top to toe. I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls here, a white creme with a hint of grey.

The bottle I'm holding is my favorite cuticle oil from Mi-ny: Mi-ny Therapy Oil + Cuticles & Nails With Vitamine E & F. It smells like lemon, but the smell is not strong. I love the bottle shape. The plastic cap is very comfortable to hold, and the angled sponge on the tip is perfect for application. One dip into the bottle is enough for all the nails on one hand. Dip again, and your other hand is done in no time. I feel I use less time with this sponge applicator than with a brush. I also love how steady the bottle stands on any surface. So when I empty a Mi-ny cuticle oil bottle, I fill it up with other oils (that I've got as a gift), and have one bottle in each room.

Lani

#52WPNMC - Brushstrokes/ Favorite brand(s)

Hello everyone!

This is the brushstroke manicure I made for last weeks prompt. I used two of the polishes from my summer vacation hauls. The black Catrice polish is called: Black For Gold. It's pigmented and nice, but I used 2 coats here. Then I simply wiped off the brush of the red polish and tried to make brushstrokes. This pretty red shimmer is called Alluring Red. I'm very happy that I bought it! :-) It's from the limited edition Metallure collection.


The other prompt was "favorite brand", and with me that changes all the time. I like certain types of polish from certain brands, but from some brands I only have 2 polishes... Right now my favorite brands are probably Darling Diva and Nire's Desire, because I recently bought some polishes from them that I love.


But I do have a few brands that I like because of the diversity of polishes they make:

Dance Legend, Mi- ny, Deborah Lippmann, and Crowes Toes all make a lot of different polishes. I also love H&M for their cheap and good cremes, and sometimes they create something awesome like the blue string/ bar glitter in 2013. I also love their clothes and the cruelty- free hair color. Gina Tricot is also a favorite brand, but I must admit that I love their clothes more than their polish, but it's cheap, and I really like some of their polishes.


If you want to read my favorite brand list regarding types of polish, here it is:

Cremes: GOSH (because they're nearly one coaters), Deborah Lippmann's Spring Reveries collection (pretty pastels)

Multichromes: Enchanted Polish, I Love Nail Polish, Dance Legend, Crows Toes, and Nire's Desire (I haven't tried Nire's Desire Prana yet, but I know I'll like it. LOL!).

Flakies: Nfu- Oh (especially #51 and #56), Nubar 2010 (my most used flakie), Mi- ny, but I think they'll soon be beaten by I Love Nail Polish's multichrome flakies when they arrive (next year... because I forgot to preorder...)

Holographic:
-strong linear: Color Club Halo Hues, and I like the darker holos by Emily de Molly, Darling Diva, LilypadLacquer, and some brands I'm waiting for...
-scattered: Linda Johansen, Dance Legend, Picture Polish

Textured: IsaDora and GOSH


Now I feel bad about not mentioning some brands that have made my "Top 20 best polish list"...
Sorry! Sorry Sorry!

What's your favorite brand(s)?


Lani

An InLinkz Link-up

Dance Legend: The Knight

Hello everyone!

Dance Legend is a Russian brand that seem to make all kinds of nail polish. If it has been made, they make it too. If it hasn't been made, they make it. When I first heard about this brand, I'd never seen a franken collection before, and the caviar polish was also new to me. Interesting to see what this brand will do next. I couldn't find any information about animal testing, so I emailed them. And they wrote that they don't do animal testing! I hope we can trust their answer.

The Knight is a multichrome that goes from blue to gold, or is it copper? It's a no longer available limited edition polish from the Camelon collection.

I expected a full size bottle of maybe the most beautiful multichrome ever. When my tiny (6,5 ml.) mini bottle arrived, I panicked, and I tried to order one more. I knew it was limited edition, but I couldn't decide which extra bottle to buy, so I went to bed. Next day it was sold out! I waited for a very good reason to wear it. One evening in June, I was going to watch a ballet, and tried the Knight on, and it went right in on my top 20 list. I had to wait for day 2 to take the photos, and the polish had some scratch marks. But without any back up bottle on my way, I just couldn't take it off and reapply it. I didn't want to waste this polish... After I found a bottle on eBay, I wish I had better photos though...

As you see on the first picture below, this polish is like a camelon. Here is has picked up the surrounding green and yellow color, like a mirror:

Reflecting the surrounding green and yellow

To my surprise, this is what the cotton looks like when removing this polish. Where did all that gold go?

Do you love this polish as much as I do?


Lani

Norway Nails Nail Art Diabetes Awareness Contest Entry (2013)

Hello everyone!

This was my entry for the Norway Nails Nail Art Diabetes Awareness Contest in 2013. As you might have seen on facebook, I didn't win. You can see the winner manicure here. :-) I'm going to write a little about diabetes, and give you some links. Just click on the blue words if you want to know more. To read about this nail art, scroll down.

This is is a part of what Wenche, from Norway Nails (sells indie nail polish), wrote about why she chose to host this nail art contest:

"In october last year I were diagnosed with Diabetes 2 - the 14th of November are the World Diabetes day. I think it's important to spread awareness around this disease and how to prevent getting it and to manage it if you already got it. 

So - I'm putting up a nail art contest that will run from today until the 13th of november."

(I hope it's ok that i added the links above.)

Very short about diabetes:

Diabetes is a serious illness. It has to do with too little production of insulin or that insulin cannot be processed, and the glucose level gets too high. If you have diabetes, you can get many other deceases later in your life, if the long-term glucose levels are high. One thing you have to pay close attention to is wounds, because wounds can take longer to heal if you suffer from diabetes. There are very many types of diabetes.

These 3 are the main types of diabetes:

Type 1 is the most serious, and you will need injections with insulin to stay alive. Luckily the insulin pen was invented, and that made it much easier to regulate the insulin level and it allows people to be more free regarding to what they can eat, and they no longer have to stay on a very strict diet. Many get it early in life, and that can be a challenge. I still remember how my friend cried when she had to get her injections when she was a child. It can also be a challenge for adolescents to stay on a very strict diet and to not be able to party like their friends.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common (90%), and it often affects people who are overweight. Many can get well by simply loosing weight. This type of diabetes can in many cases be prevented by living a healthy life and maintaining a normal weight. But people in the world are getting bigger and bigger, and that makes diabetes a huge problem worldwide. 

Gestational diabetes (GDM) affects 25% of all pregnant women. Although many get well after giving birth, it's important to be aware of it, because it can lead to complications for both child and mother.

What you should do:

Be aware of the symptoms.

Get your glucose level checked every year. Remember to not eat the day you take the test. This can be measured in urin or a blodtest. And ask for both a glucose test and a HbA1c test (measures long term glucose level).

Be aware of the risk factors.

I also found this link: How Does Obesity Cause Type 2 Diabetes?

About the nails:

I wanted to use LilypadLacquer: Blueberry, a blue jelly, because blue is the color for diabetes awareness. And because I got it as a free sample when I bought something from Norway Nails. And because making a "stampwich" was the weekly challenge in a stamping group back then. I used images with a curve going up and down, like the glucose level.

Products used:

LilypadLacquer: Blueberry
Emily de Molly: Belissima
Konad SN White
MoYou London: Suki Collection 08

What I did:

This was a year ago, so I don't remember exactly how many layers of the jelly I used, but I stamped between the coats of the blue jelly. On the thumb I put glitter between the layers. So this is a glitter sandwich and my first jelly stampwich. Emily de Molly describes the glitter in Bellissima as "Holographic silver, matte pink and holographic lavender dots and hexes". It has a clear base, and the silver and pastel colored glitter is perfect for jelly sandwiches. The stamping wasn't perfect, so I used a brush and white to try to make it perfect.

I bought the jelly and the glitter from Norway Nails.

Everything is 50% off if you use the code BLACK on Norway Nails tomorrow; Friday the 28th of November 2014! (00.01- 23.59. CET) She has international shipping. If you want to try the Norwegian brand Linda Johansen, I recommend Razzle Dazzle and Lilac Lilly.


Lani