Valentine's Day NOTD: Velvet Nails

Everyone has an opinion on Valentine's Day, so here is mine: I would absolutely love to be part of the fun but being in a LDR + my other half doesn't agree with it...I feel like a bitter old woman! I am eyeing off my friend's gifts and lovey dovey photos on Facebook with a bit of jealousy, I will admit. I've just never gotten the chance to celebrate it, you know what I mean?!

Anyway, moving on from my tragic sob story...

If you follow me on Instagram then you  may have already seen this picture. Fuzzy!

 L-R

Revlon Nailpolish in 'Fuschia Fever'

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 'White On'

Butter London 'Come to Bed Red'

I am being totally cliched by using pink and red. I applied two coats of each polish, doing one nail at a time and then sprinkled some of the flocking powder on top of the wet polish. I used an old makeup brush (which is lurking in the background of the photo) to spread the powder out evenly and also brush off any excess. I bought a set of 24 colours of flocking powder for about $5 from Ebay! That's about 21 cents per pot. Such an awesome deal. The colours are quite nice too. 

Hey, did anyone notice the Butter London is called 'Come To Bed Red'...how appropriate! 

 Red flocking powder

Pink flocking powder

I included these photos to show you how bright the colours are! The powder is a bit messy to use, I wasn't too sure how to do it but I poured some into the lid, and then sprinkled it onto my nail. Expect mess, I'll tell you that. Other than that, it was a pretty quick and easy mani. A few of my friends have asked if its waterproof, so I thought I'd comment on that...no it's not waterproof as such, it will get wet but then it dries again. It's not a long wearing thing though, gradually bits of the powder will fall off, but we all know that 3D nail art is always short lived! I'll probably remove it tonight, but I've really liked this mani :)

Did you do anything nice for Valentine's Day? I promise to not be too jealous! xx

NOTD: Kitty nails

Having no social life means I spend way too much time on my nails (hey, it's not a bad thing). Anyways, I thought I'd show you the mani I'm currently sporting...

Yay! Ignore my messed up cuticles. Anyways, we have a fishbone, cat paw, attempt at a cat's face (looks like a possum...should have added a pink nose on the face), another paw and my pinky finger is a little mouse :)

I'm certainly not going to claim this design as my own because I'm not that creative, I used a tutorial by Youtuber elleandish - check out the tutorial here.

As you can see, I've used quite a few polishes to achieve this look - eight, in total. I'm not going to name them all because I think most of these shades are pretty widely available, but if you're curious as to what colours I used, just ask :)

What have you been sporting on your nails lately?

NOTD + instructions!

The great thing about nail art is that sometimes the design itself is super simple when broken down into a series of steps. I decided to try out a leopard print design today, the best thing about it is that you don't really need to be that neat - if you're a little messy, it doesn't detract from the overall effect!

I usually paint my nails while randomly surfing the web...as a result, my laptop is a little bit colourful, but hey, that gives it character ;)

I started off by painting my nails two different colours, the magenta is Essie 'Big Spender' and the gold is Revlon 'Gold Coin'

Using the opposite colour, I used the end of the nail polish brush to make dots of varying sizes on my nails - don't worry about being neat!

Using the tip of a bobby pin (pictured behind) and a black polish, I drew two solid lines to outline the dots - you can see I haven't connected them. 

And that's it, super simple huh? I am really loving this colour combo! I will definitely try this out with different colours next time :)

All done!

Have you tried leopard print nails before? What do you think?

NOTD: Purple nails for Boston

I am sure most of you would have heard about the recent tragedy that occurred in Boston. I noticed a hashtag on instagram- #purplenailsforboston. (See http://followgram.me/tag/purplenailsforboston for more pictures). The number of photos under this tag is rapidly growing, and I think it goes to show that people really do care, and even if its just a small gesture, it shows we are still thinking of those who have been affected by the bombings.

Here is my contribution:

Sorry about the filter on the photo, but this was what I published on instagram! I'm wearing OPI 'A Grape Fit' as the purple solid coat, with Sally Hansen Gem Crush 'Be-Jewlled' as the glitter top coat.

OPI 'A Grape Fit'

Sally Hansen Gem Crush 'Be-Jeweled'

If you wish to follow me on instagram, my username is chocolate_squeeze 

http://followgram.me/chocolate_squeeze

What are your thoughts on hashtags on instagram for tragedies like this?

NOTD featuring 'For Audrey'

If you're into nail polish, you may/will/should know about China Glaze's gorgeous Tiffany blue - For Audrey. I recently purchased this and am in LOVE. It is amazing, a must-have for your collection! 

It's a beautiful colour on its own, but I jazzed it up with some glitter and polka dots!

Rare right hand shot! Normally I don't post pictures of my right hand as my left hand looks better but it turned out alright this time!

The tools I used (L-R)

Orly Bonder base coat

China Glaze 'For Audrey'

Ulta3 'Lily White' for the dots

Rimmel I Love Lasting Finish 'Disco Ball'

Seche Vite Dry Fast top coat

What are your thoughts on 'For Audrey'? 

NOTD: Ladybug nails

Funny that this is my first NOTD post, as I've just cut my nails really short! I had super long nails for a while but they were becoming impractical. It feels so much nicer to actually type with finger tips now.

Anyway, inspired by the warmer weather, I used a cutepolish nail tutorial to do some nail art!

Here are my lady bug nails:

This is really easy to do. I used a bobby pin to draw the straight line and to do the dots as well. No fancy tools needed!

Here are the polishes I used. Nail Tek Foundation II base coat (I swear by this product, it prevents staining, has made my nails much stronger and stopped them peeling!), Butter London 'Come to Bed Red', Sally Hansen 'Lustrous', Ulta3 'Lily White' and Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (best thing ever).

Have you tried ladybug nails before?