piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013: Year Of The Blogger

Hi ladies! It's been a while, I know. I'm actually taking a break from blogging right now mainly because my nails aren't in too good-a-shape at the moment after spending the last 5 months learning how to do acrylics & gels with countless applications to my nails, so they're feeling a little weak and unloved but for now I have a special one off post for you. A while back piCture pOlish advertised for new bloggers to take part in their blog fest for this year, having missed out on the opportunities in the past, I thought that now was as good a time as any to put myself forward. I'd actually forgotten about it until I got the e-mail saying I'd been chosen, needless to say I got a little excited.

However, unlike previous years, this year is a little different, instead of the chosen bloggers receiving a couple of the new collaboration shades to debut, we were given the task to 'create your most amazing nail art manicure ever' using the 3 unknown shades being provided to us by piCture pOlish. Since we didn't know the polishes we were to be using until they arrived, pre-planning a manicure was exceptionally hard, even more so because I am in no-way creatively inclined.

When my piCture pOlish arrived, I pondered over the possible nail art ideas for DAYS until I finally settled on my 'final piece' which was inspired by this negative space manicure I saw on Chelsea's Get Nailed. We were told when creating the manicure, that we could use any accessories/stamping/Black & White paint to help aid us, but the 3 piCture pOlish shades provided must shine through and not be overshadowed so baring all that in mind, I created this;

As you can see from the top photo, I was sent Hot Lips, Jade and Violet Femme which are all gorgeous on their own, but together? They just compliment each other so well. It wasn't until after I had finished the manicure, I realised I needed to make a tutorial, so I've quickly re-created the process of my ring finger using The Nail Trainer.

In hindsight, had I known the direction I wanted to go with this mani, I would have skipped step 6 and added the studs straight away, following the same pattern as they would have been enough to cover the connecting lines. I'm absolutely in LOVE with this mani, just the way the three colours all compliment each other perfectly and how vibrant they all are.

If you love this mani as much as I do, I need your help! piCture pOlish are going to be running a competition their Pinterest between all the bloggers participating in Blog Fest this year where all nail art creations go into the running to be chosen to create a collaboration shade with piCture pOlish launched in 2014! How exciting!!! VOTING IS NOW OPEN HERE FOR 24 HRS ONLY

However, there are only 3 awards that will be voted and chosen as follows via our special Pinterest Blog Fest 2013 board:

• 1 x Award - as voted by PP friends and fan - THAT'S YOU LADIES!
• 1 x Award - as voted by all participants of Blog Fest 2013
• 1 x Award - as voted by Jules & Megs of piCture pOlish

I'm super excited and anxious to see who else is participating in Blog Fest 2013 and find out what other amazing Nail Art creations have been entered!

To make sure you don't miss out on the announcement to vote, make sure you add all of piCture pOlish social media networks; Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram & YouTube

Also, if you'd like a bottle of Jade, Hot Lips or Violet Femme of your own, piCture pOlish can be purchased directly from picturepolish.com.au, who ship Worldwide, or alternatively you can purchase through their international network. If you're making an order directly from piCture pOlish with 4 polishes or more, check out their Everyday Deals page for the opportunity to get 1 or 2 FREE shades with your order!

Review: BornPrettyStore Studs

Hi ladies! I was recently contacted by bornprettystore asking whether I'd like to review one of their products, of course I said yes. I've been wanting to get my hands on some studs for a while now but haven't come across some I really like. Until I came across these - the colours, the shapes and the sizes were exactly what I wanted. I have a couple mani's to show you in which I used various studs from the wheel, you'll have to excuse the second mani, I did it late at night so I had to use my light box and artificial lighting, but my camera doesn't like when I do that and 99% of the photos I took were a blurred mess. Luckily, you can still see all the detailing.

As you'll see, there is a huge difference in nail length between mani's, I had a little accident with the nail clippers whilst trying to attempt to trim them slightly....so unfortunately, I had to cut them all down to nubs.

I saw this photo on Pinterest using studs to make a bow at the bottom of the nail against a solid background colour, and I really liked the idea, so I thought why not take that idea and turn it into a Tuxedo. I started off with a base of Essie - Licorice then painted on the triangles using White acrylic paint. Once that was dry, I added a Top Coat to one nail at a time and added the studs.

I got the idea from various images around Pinterest, I really liked the idea of a cross but also wanted to include the Diamond shape of studs too. I didn't want the whole mani to be studded, but was stumped for ideas to add to the pinkie and thumb, so of course, out came the stamping plates. I started off with a base of Essie - Licorice and an accent of A England - Excalibur. I then stamped with BM-223 and BM-314 using Excalibur for the stamping. As I mentioned the photo is a bit blurry since it was taken at night, so I apologise for that.

I loved the way both of these turned out, although after wearing the second mani to work, by the end of the day I had started to pick at the studs, so they didn't last very long. Of course, if you didn't pick at them they'd probably last you a lot longer! You can purchase your own studded wheel here for $4.89 as well as many other tools and decorations for your nails and otherwise! If you use the code below, you'll also receive 10% off of your order!