Candy cane nails - Day 4 Christmas Challenge

I really love the traditional candy cane manicure. I was going to do different colours again but I couldn't resist the traditional colours. It looks so Christmasy (if that's a word lol).

I used striping tape which is an absolute pain to use but worked to give me the desired look. The most difficult thing about this mani was finding the right top coat to not make the stripes bleed. I had to do a couple of attempts and even with an hours drying time on this one there is still a small amount of bleeding. I'll explain below a few tips I learnt while doing this mani.

For the white base I first used two coats of Nubar faded putty - this is a just off white with a hint of beige.

I then used one coast of Essence to go - Sparkling Water Lily. I used one coat of top coat and gave it half hour to dry. I then used striping tape placed like photo below.

Once I made sure all tape was stuck well and had pressed the sides in with a cuticle stick I added one coat of Sally Hansen Ruby Stilettos.

I first did this look with Essie After Sex and Leading Lady but they bled a lot. With SH ruby stilettos I found wiping my brush dry two times and applying a thin coat worked well, I then waited 1 minute 20 seconds before carefully removing the tape. It helped to pull the tape slowly and carefully not in the whip off manner I have used previously. The end result was worth it and the bleeds you see in the photos are not noticeable in real life, the camera truly does magnify everything!

UPDATE As Robyn noted I forgot to say about top coats. I tried both HK girl and Orly sec'n'dry and both made the polish bleed badly. This may not have been their fault as I could have waited longer, though with Orly it was 30 minutes. I eventually used my fav seche vite, it only bled a small amount, so much so that I didn't know it had until I saw the photos. This was added one hour after the last red nail polish.

Please visit the other bloggers taking part in this challenge!

XOXO Alexis Leigh
Purple Castle
Iced Laquer
A Ginger's Nail
The Polished Mommy
Robyn Loves Nails
Teen Polish Junkie
Fancy Schmancy Nails
Mari522 (on Instagram)
Fairytale Charm
nailzbyroro (on Instagram)

12 days of Christmas Day One challenge

Red was the theme for the day and while technically this may be more burgundy I couldn't go past Zoya Blaze. As part of the Zoya Ornate Collection this one is a favourite. The depth or beautiful colouring don't show as well in my photos but this polish is simply stunning.

I used three coast, probably would have gotten away with 2 but I had bald spots. This polish is highly pigmented and easy to use. The biggest problem is if you flood your cuticles it's very hard to remove the stain. For my ring finger I used Essie After Sex and created the tree with tap and striping tape. I added a little rhinestone to the top.

I love how it turned out and am very excited it's time for Christmas nails!!

International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month

This is a cause very close to my heart. While I have seen some beautiful breast cancer manicures this month I haven't yet seen one for International Pregnancy and Infant Loss  Awareness month. So I got out my pink and blue polishes and came up with this in honour of our beautiful daughter Grace.

There are some scars that can’t be seen by the eye

Some wounds that will never heal

Some hurts that time will never mend

And broken hearts with pieces missing that will never be whole again.

October 15th is International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness day. 

Each year in Australia approximately 58,000 couples 

experience reproductive loss: About 55,000 experience early pregnancy loss, 

1,750 babies are stillborn

and about 900 babies die in the first twenty-eight days after birth (source SANDS Australia)

I used Opi's breast cancer support polish - I Think in Pink on all fingers but the ring

On the ring I used Opi - Mod about you

The blue details are China Glaze flyin High.

It was fun but also hard as I wanted it to be just right. The hearts are done using a dotting tool and 

I finally had success with stripping tape to do the stripes. I free-handed the ribbon, certainly not great but for 

my first time trying to free hand a design I was happy enough with it.

To learn more about International Pregnancy and Infant Loss  Awareness month

visit

http://sidsandkidsnsw.org/page.aspx?pid=421

http://www.october15th.com/