Wednesday, 15 October 2014

PAIL Awareness Manicure

Last year I learned that, among other various organizations, October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss awareness month. As such, we have been encouraged to paint our nails any shade of pink and blue, the colours of the PAIL ribbon, every Tuesday of the month to raise awareness. Today is October 15, and has been named a day of remembrance for all of those lost babies and children, and the pain and grief that their parents go through.

Although 1 in 4 women will lose a child or baby in their lifetime, there remains a stigma surrounding talking about their loss or feelings. As such, we are also using today's manicures to not only raise awareness surrounding the organization, but to shatter the silence surrounding the loss and grief families everywhere go through. This organization is near and dear to me as I have had many family members, and very recently a dear, dear friend, have to suffer through the loss of a baby or child. I cannot imagine the pain and suffering that people go through upon losing a pregnancy or child, and though this manicure will not change anything in the larger picture, I am hoping that my blog post will go even a tiny way to raising awareness- the same way that similar blog posts did for me last year.

So, onto the actual manicure! On my left hand I painted my thumb and index finger with the pink creme OPI- Suzi Has a Swede Tooth, and on my left thumb and index finger I went with the blue creme OPI- Can't Find My Czechbook. On my middle and pinky nails of both hands I went with the pink holo Cirque- Powwow, and then using NailVinyls zigzag vinyls I painted Sweet Heart Polish-Sirius over top to create the finished design.

On my ring finger I used the absolutely stunning WingDust-Fair Lady. I cannot wait to wear this as an entire manicure. I absolutely love this company, even more so knowing that they're not only Canadian but from Ontario as well!






I planned this all out in my head, but then after it was done I wondered if the three fingers with patterns were too busy all in a row. In hindsight I'm thinking that the glitter should have been on the pinky, but I am still super happy with the turnout. Honestly, I am just happy to have been able to participate in this amazing movement.

Tuesday, 14 October 2014

Crumpet's Nail Tarts 52 Week Pick n' Mix Challenge

Hello there!! Okay, so obviously I wasn't able to finish the last 31 day challenge, and I assure you it was for good reason- we got a puppy!! We had recently gotten one in July and were just so in love that we decided to get a second one. However, it obviously meant less nail art time as all that drying time really adds up when you're having to take puppies out. So I unfortunately had to bail on the challenge, which was a bummer. In fact before I painted this manicure it had been over a month since I last painted my nails, and I was starting to go a little crazy  haha.

However, I recently became a member of Crumpet's Nail Tarts group, and there is a 52 Week Challenge that I'm taking part in which I think should be doable as one mani a week isn't too much to ask. I wasn't off to a great start as I missed the first week, but this is week two so hopefully I can redeem myself!

This week's prompt was pink/three colour gradient. I decided to combine them by first painting my nails nude and then stamping with a gradient of three pinks. My nude base is my favourite OPI- Don't Pretzel My Buttons and the three pinks, from lightest to darkest, are Color Club- Miss Bliss, Cirque- Powwow and I Love Nail Polish- Molly. All three colours are stunning and super pigmented holographic polishes, which can be seen by how well they stamped. Although I initially hoped they would appear darker, looking back at the finished product they're still quite pigmented. For my thumb I used three coats of Pahlish- Lantern Waste, which I am so in love with and thought went well with the other colours in the rest of the manicure ;-)


All in all I was pretty happy with how this turned out, although my one problem was that because my nails are currently quite short, the three colour part of the gradient got a bit lost. Oh well, live and learn! Like I said on facebook, this idea looked amazing in my head and only slightly less so in execution, so I'll take it haha.