HPB Presents Zoya Gingerbread Nail Art

Hiya guys!


I hope everyone is having a good December so far!? Mine has been really hectic, and I have the flu..again...This has seriously not been my winter, I have been sick more this winter than I was the last 2 years before this, but it is the holidays so, c'est la vie! :P  I have been slowly getting into the holiday spirit lately, with cookies, and decorating, and tree trimming, and of course that has translated onto my nails! I recently got an awesome early Christmas gift in the mail from the super talented, and super awesome Lena from What's Up Nails and knew it would be perfect for today's HPB monthly link up post!

Hobby Polish Bloggers is this amazing group of women who are so incredibly supportive and helpful with everything blogger related. They offer insight, advice and support for everything blogging. I have learned so much being in this group! If you dabble in blogging at all, I highly recommend that you join this group, you won't regret it!

This months theme was Holiday/Winter, and since gingerbread is one of my favourite parts of the holidays, I just knew it would be perfect for today's post!

 Fun fact about me, I LOVE gingerbread, it is probably my favourite cookie during the holidays. Not only do they taste amazing, but I also have fond cookie making memories with my grandmother. We would always bake a ridiculously huge assortment of Christmas cookies,  to not only eat, but also hang as ornaments on her tree. I always had such an amazing time doing that, and still have annual Christmas cookie baking sessions with my family as an adult. I really am in love with how these came out, and I can almost smell and taste the gingerbread when I look at my hands! 

To get this look, I started with a base of Zoya Flynn on all my fingers, once that was dry, I stamped the frosting drips with Vivid Lacquer Plate VL005 in Mundo De Unas White on my thumb, pointer, and pinky fingers. I then took the gingerbread man nail vinyls, and used the cut out portion and placed it onto my nail. As a side note, the really cool thing about these is that they can be used as stencils, like I did here, or they can be used as a decal by simply taking the centre out and placing it on your nail. Once the vinyl was securely in place, I took Zoya Louise and filled in the gingerbread man, and pulled up the vinyl, I did each nail one at a time so that they didn't dry before pulling up the tape. I then took a small dotting tool and using Rica Polish Whiteout, I framed the gingerbread men as well as adding eyes and some buttons! 

I can't even begin to tell you how pleased I am with the outcome of these nails! I am a huge fan of these, and the vinyls made it so easy! They stuck great without being to sticky, and peeled off super easy! I actually already have a couple of mani's in mind for some of the other designs that were in the holiday pack of vinyls! Let's just hope this stupid flu let's me get them done! :P

Alright guys and gals, I think that covers it for today! I really hope you found my gingerbread men as charming as I did! I am starting to get excited for the holidays, but with this flu I am not fully there yet. My favourite person in the whole world arrives on Tuesday though, so that should help get things feeling festive! Till next time Kittens! <3

P.S. Don't forget to check out all the other holiday/winter looks from all the amazingly talented HPB women! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Abstract Christmas Bows!

Hiya Guys!!


I know it has been a little bit, and I am sorry for that! I have had some RL stuff come up :l Sometimes RL just insists on getting in the way! :P Anyway, Today I want to show off some really adorable Christmas stamping I did with Colors by Llarowe Mj's Jacket, and this Born Pretty Store Plate.

This plate's images are perfect in size, not to small and not to large. I especially love that the images radiate outwards, so no matter your nail bed size, you can achieve the full effect of the image on your nails. This plate retail's for $2.99 and you can also use my code AFLW10 to get 10% of your purchase. Born Pretty Store also offers free international shipping. 

This like all of the Born Pretty Plates, comes wrapped in a blue protective film, that is to be removed before use. The underside of the plate, also has a paper backing to protect you from the sharp edges.  This plate stamped wonderfully as you can see, like all the the Born Pretty plates I have tried. The plate is deeply etched, so I had no trouble picking up the images, and they transferred beautifully  and cleanly onto the nail. I highly recommend this plate if you are looking for something unique and fun in your collection that can be used for all sorts of holidays and everyday looks, since abstract works with almost anything. With such a great price point of only $2.99 it is really hard to pass it up! 

To get this look, I started with a base of Colors By Llarowe Mj's Jacket, which is a gorgeous jewel toned red, packed full of glitters. It is so reflective, it actually reminded me of rubies on my nails. It was fairly opaque too for a jelly packed with glitter! It only took 2 coats to achieve opacity. It also went on super smooth, and dry time was really quick. Once that was dry, I stamped all my fingers with Born Pretty Plate BP-11 in Mundo De Unas Green 08 and Essie No Place Like Chrome (Silver) on all my fingers. I then top coated everything with KBShimmer Clearly on Top and voila! Christmas nails! I had a friend actually mention that they look like Christmas bows, and I thinks she is dead on. They totally remind me of abstract Christmas Bows!

I love that this look was not only festive, but incredibly quick and easy to achieve. I love that it steps outside of the normal Christmas box by being abstract, but it still looks incredibly festive, since the colours and glitz are perfect for this time of year! 

Alright guys and gals I think that covers it for today,. Again, I know that my posting has been sporadic lately, and I want to apologize for that. I was hoping to have things settled back to normal by now, but RL keeps getting in the way of my time! I am hoping to have a few more Christmas looks before the holidays, but with how things have been going I can't make any promises! I am so thankful that you guys are sticking with me, and I really hope you continue to do so. If all else fails, things should return to normal by the new year! I really hope you are all enjoying your December so far, and I really hope you like my take on some Abstract Christmas bows! If you you are interested in purchasing  the Born Pretty Store plate you can do so here and If you do, don't forget to use my code AFLW10 for 10% off all your purchases! Till next time Kittens! <3

**Stamping plate was sent for review, however all opinions are my own.** To see more information please see my disclosure policy.