More Stamps

Hey all,
Sorry I haven't posted in a week! I've been working full-time hours at my job and got super busy recently. BUT, I did still find time to do these nails and post them for you. I really like how well the silvery stamp shows on the blue.

The stamp got a little smudged on the pinky finger, but I was in a rush and wasn't bothered by it enough to fix it.

I also wanted to send a shootout to all my friends that have been inspired to start doing more with their nails than painting solid colours - You're all doing an awesome job! :)

Base Colour: ACO - Electric Ocean

Stamp Colour: ACO - Vegas Gold (ended up looking silver once stamped)

Top Coat: PRO FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster - BM 205

. love&sunshine&nailpolish, Cait xo.

Half n' Half

This is a really easy design, all you have to do is paint on your base colour and let it dry completely. Then use scotch tape to make a line across your nails, painting the second colour on top. Peeling the tape off while the nail polish is still wet makes the cleanest line between the two colours.

Base Colour: OPI - Mod About You

Top Colour: ACO - Deep Green

Top Coat: PRO FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

. love&sunshine&nailpolish, Cait xo.

Reader's Request

Hey guys! I've had some friends ask me to do specific designs that they wanted to see, so I thought I'd open up the floor to all of you - What do YOU want to see me try next?

Leave your requests in the comments section below and I'll post all of the designs you suggest!

Lattice Nails

I decided to switch it up with this one and make the ring finger different. The gold polish in this design stamped surprisingly well, while the peach polish I used ended up looking more like orange once I had a few coats on. The lattice design ended up looking kind of like snakeskin or dragon scales to me.

Also, I just got new nail polish remover and I recommend it to anyone who paints their nails often and hates how long it takes to get the stuff off with generic brands of remover. The stuff I just got is called Onyx Professional remover and it's 100% acetone, meaning you should give your nails some time to breath between removing old polish and adding new. You can find it at Walmart and a bottle of 473 ml will cost you about $4.

Base Colour: ACO - Hot Coral

Stamping Colour: ACO - Vegas Gold

Stamping Plates: Bundle Monster - BM 208 & BM 209

Top Coat: PRO FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

. love&sunshine&nailpolish, Cait xo.

Birthday nails

It was my friend's birthday this past weekend and these were the nails I decided to create. Needless to say, one night out at the bar and these poor babies got chipped as hell and I had to take them off.

Base Coat: American Apparel Nail Lacquer - Factory Grey

Stamping Colour: American Apparel Nail Lacquer - L'esprit

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster - BM 210

Top Coat: Pro FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

. love&sunshine&nailpolish, Cait xo.

Cheetah Print!

I've always loved cheetah print and any excuse to re-paint my nails is good in my books. Pink and purple make this design extra girly.

Base Colour: L'Oreal Paris - Chicklette

Stamping Colour: ACO - Electric Ocean

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster - BM 221

Top Coat: PRO FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

. love&sunshine&nailpolish, Cait xo.

Zig Zags

Base Colour: ACO - Vegas Gold

Stamp Colour: ACO - Grape Times

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster - BM 225

Top Coat: PRO FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

. love&sunshine&nailpolish, Cait xo.

Sequin Stripes

Here's a design that looks fancy but is actually really simple. I haven't purchased my sequin set yet, so I used a chunky glitter polish to get the sequin effect. I simply pooled a little bit of the glitter polish on a small piece of scotch tape and then used a toothpick to pick up individual sparkles and place then in a line down my nail.

I sealed all the sequins in with 2 layers of top coat so they wouldn't flake off. As a side note - the ACO base colour I'm using (and used on a number of my designs) can be bought at Ardene's. This polish isn't the highest quality but doesn't chip easily if under a layer of top coat. They have a huge selection of colours and a 2 for $6 deal going on right now.

Base Colour: ACO - Grape Times

Sequin Colour: Sephora by OPI - Traffic-Stopper Copper

Top Coat: PRO FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

. love&sunshine&nailpolish, Cait, xo.

Elegant Flower Print

Here's another stamping plate design. I'm starting to get better at achieving clean lines and covering the entire nail. I think the grey and white looks elegant but fun at the same time.

Base Colour: American Apparel Nail Lacquer - Factory Grey

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster - BM225

Stamp Colour: Sally Hansen - Whitewind White

Top Coat: Pro FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

Also a big thanks to my friend Kim for letting me paint her nails!

. love&sunshine&nailpolish, Cait xo.

Ombre Nails

Ombre nails (and hair) are really popular right now so I thought I'd take a stab at recreating the look myself. This technique is a little bit tricky, but is easy to perfect with practice. You can do this design with 2, 3 or even 4 colours, but I've found that the more colours you try to squeeze onto your nail the less smoothly they tend to blend. I chose bright blue, turquoise and minty green colours for my nails as they would blend more naturally together into a gradient.

The easiest way to achieve this look is to use a small makeup sponge and paint your polish onto the skinny end from lightest to darkest, or darkest to lightest in my case, noting that the colour on the tip will be at the base of your nail. I painted a white colour onto my nails before sponging on the other colours so that they would be brighter. You may need to reapply the paint onto the sponge with each nail, and sponge some nails more than once to get a smooth blend between colours.

Base Colour: Sally Hansen - Whitewind White

Ombre Colours: ACO - Electric Ocean, Deep Green, Mint Cream

Top Coat: PRO FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

. love&sunshine&nailpolish, Cait xo.

Wild times at Western

I just finished university at UWO and have sadly moved back home. With Mustang pride (and a lot of great memories) still coursing through me, I decided to do a design with my Alma Mater in mind. To celebrate and remember all the wild nights at Western I chose a zebra print design from my new stamping plates and our purple and white school colours.

These stamping plates are really cool and a great way to get exciting nails without too much fuss. This was my first attempt using them so I haven't perfected the technique quite yet.

I ordered my stamping plates online from Bundle Monster and it was a pretty good deal. I got 25 plates, each with 4 or 5 stamp designs, for around $28 including shipping. Smaller kits can also be bought at Walmart (where I went to get the actual pink little stamper) or at the "As Seen on TV" store in most malls.

Base Colour: Sally Hansen - No Hard Feelings

Stamping Colour: The white that came with the stamp

Stamp Plate: Bundle Monster Plate BM-223

Top Coat: Pro FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

. love&sunshine&nailpolish, Cait xo.