Daring Digits: Blueberry Square & Ice

Good morning!  Today I have for you a post that is long overdue on publishing due to me being away and subsequent computer problems, but I (finally) bring you two gorgeous polishes from Daring Digits! 

Blueberry Square is a glitter topper made of small matte white hexes and medium blue square glitter in a clear base.  The glitter in this one is pretty dense and I only needed one coat for good coverage.  No issues to report on the application here.  I had a really difficult time choosing what to layer this over, because it looked good over so many different polishes!  Here I've shown  one coat of Blueberry Square over one coat of Orly Snowcone. 

Next is Ice, which is a flakie topper that looks best over dark colours.  It is a multi-coloured flakie, but the colours are more pastel, making it unique in my collection!  The flakies were kind of sparse in this one so you can use one coat if you'd like a more subtle effect, but here I've used two easy coats of Ice over one coat of Sally Hansen Black Out.

And of course matte, because you know how much I love matte flakies. :)

You can but Daring Digits polishes on Etsy here, and keep an eye on their Facebook page.  There is such a huge collection of diverse polishes in store, so be sure to check it out because there's definitely something for everybody!  (Your wallets probably won't thank me for that.) 

I also wanted to let you guys know that about a week ago I was part of a guest blogger series over at Sweet Sugar Nails.  I did a "Best of You" post which you can view here.  While you're over there be sure to check out the rest of Gwenn's blog, she does some really amazing nail art!  Hope you all have a great day!  :)

Disclaimer: The polishes in this post were sent to me for review and my honest opinion. 

Pacific Blue & Lacey Lilac Gradient

I'm back!! :) I literally got home 2 hours ago after being away for a month and I'm already writing a post, haha.  This is a manicure that I did one weekend while I was away using two Sally Hansen polishes, a base of Lacey Lilac sponged with my recently acquired Pacific Blue.   Topped with two coats of Seche Vite, as always!

The photos are not as good quality as normal because I didn't have my normal setup, but I hope you'll forgive me this once. ;) 

I had a really good time at ballet school the past month, I felt like I learned a lot and I really enjoyed the teachers and all the friends I made, and I'm seriously considering that school's post-grad program for next year, so it's been an exciting time! 

As for my blog, I realize that over the past while my posts have been mostly consisting of swatches and reviews and have probably been quite boring to read, and I apologize for that.  I feel like I have been neglecting my blog but I've got more time now to get back to what I love doing and the reason I started this blog, nail art!  I hope you'll stick around with me over the next couple of weeks as I get back into the swing of things with my blog and posting regularly again! :)

Guest Post: -XOXO Alexis Leigh

Today I've got something special for you!  The lovely Alexis from XOXO Alexis Leigh was the first place I was ever a guest poster, and now she's here on my blog sharing something really special with us!  I'll hand it over to Alexis!  :)

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Hi everyone! My name's Alexis and today I'm super excited to be sharing some special nail art created just for you and Emma while she's away at ballet camp! Let me first just thank Emma; thanks so much for letting me run wild on your blog while you're away, I hope I didn't wreak too much havoc! :D Anywayyyyy, Emma didn't really give me any theme or rules for what she wanted so I just waited and waited for some sort of creative idea surge to pop into my brain. It didn't take too long to think of this design because hello Emma's a ballet dancer and also I love ballet (I only did it for a few years when I was younger but so many members of my family have done dance, specifically ballet as well.)! I hope you all like it; I usually am very critical of myself but I'm really happy with this design!

The colors aren't necessarily realistic but I thought they were very feminine and ballerina-esque. On all of my nails except for my ring finger I used a pale pink franken, 3 coats. On my ring finger I used Wet n' Wild - French White Creme as my base color, 2 coats. For the ballet dancer's tights I used OPI - Suzi & The Lifeguard and for the pointe shoes I used Revlon - Cheers. I used FWC for my white on the thumb nail design too. All of my nails were topped with SV, my ring and thumb had more coats than the rest although I forget how many.

Here on my thumb, I did the silhouette of a ballerina dancing.

Bonus picture! Here are the sketches I made in my inspiration/idea book for my blog! :D

I hope you guys enjoyed my guest post, I had so much fun planning, sketching, actually executing it, and then of course writing up the post for you! I really do love doing guest posts! Thanks again Emma, I hope you love my post as much as I loved yours you did for me a little while back! Time for me to go back home to my blog :( sad to leave you but I do love my home :)

- xoxo Alexis Leigh

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Isn't that just great?!?  I couldn't stop smiling when I saw what Alexis had put together for me, I love it so much!  I think I might have to try it when I get back, though it probably won't look as amazing.  Thank you so much Alexis!  :)

Quick note, I thought I'd let you all know that Im having problems with my computer refusing to connect to the internet, so a few posts that I have pictures for but have not yet written won't be making their way to the blog until I get that sorted out. :( I'm in my last week here at ballet school, so hopefully I'll be able to get my computer sorted out and get back to posting regularly very soon!  Thank you all for sticking with me through this hiatus! :)

Guest Post: Sincerely, Obsessed With Polish

Today I've got a guest post from Amanda of Sincerely, Obsessed With Polish.  You can also see her nails on her Tumblr, JnJnails.  I love her blog because she always does great manicures with dotting tools, and I love dots!  :) I'll hand it over to Amanda now!

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Hi, I am Amanda from Sincerely Obsessed with Polish. I want to first thank Emma for letting me do a guest post. I am obsessed with dots and using doting tools. So, of course I chose to do a dot manicure for this post. I was inspired by a towel for this mani, and I have to say that I LLOOVVEE this one. I could not stop staring at it. The colors went so well together. They were almost the exact colors of the towel. I wish I had a pic of the towel to show you. For now, the nails will have to do. 

I used Sinful Colors Paradise, Essence Just Rock It!, and Sinful Colors Innocent. I want to try this color combination again just in a different way. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!!

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Looks great, Amanda!  I'm always looking out for new ways to do dots, and you've got something lovely here.  It seems that towels nearly always look good when translated onto nails, doesn't it?  Isn't this a great summer manicure?  

Thanks again, Amanda!  :)

The Liebster Award!

I wasn't planning on having another post for at least a few days, but I've been tagged for the Liebster Award by three lovely bloggers in the past couple days!  Thank you so much to Elissa of Lissa's Polish Addiction, Tintin from The Colors of My Empress Nails, and Brenda of  No Naked Nails for tagging me! 

*EDIT* Thank you also to Arielle at Klutzy Hands Nails who also tagged me for this award! *EDIT*

Here's the official rules:

1. Each person tagged must post 11 things about themselves.
2. They must also answer the 11 questions the 'tagger' has set for them.
3. They must create 11 more questions to ask bloggers they have decided to tag.

4. They must then choose 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers and tag them in their post.

5. These lucky bloggers must then be told.
6. There's no tag backs.

Here we go! 

11 Things About Me:

1. I have a sister who is (almost) two years younger than me and she is my best friend! :) <3

2. I went away to a full-time ballet boarding school alone in Washington, DC, for my grade 9 year.  

3. My favourite colour is a deep rich purple. 

4. My hair is slightly curly and reaches to my waist. 

5. I totally thought I was a Ravenclaw, but Pottermore sorted me into Gryffindor and now I'm a proud lion!

6. I'm almost done reading the Lord of the Rings series and think that it is the most flawlessly and thoroughly created world to ever come out of someone's imagination. 

7. I'd call my personal style Parisian chic with the occasional dose of almost-hipster.

8. I have blue eyes and I wear makeup every day.  I won't leave the house without it! 

9. I got a real leather jacket in dark purple for my 16th birthday and it's my favourite item of clothing! :)

10. I wear contact lenses every day, unless I'm not leaving the house in which case I don't bother to put them in because they aren't that bad.  I never wear my glasses. 

11. I LOVE food.  No question about that. 

Next is answering the questions of the tagger, and since I've been tagged three times I'll answer all of the questions from each blogger unless there are repeat questions!

Questions from The Colors of My Empress Nails:

1. What makes you decide to start a nail blog?

I was regularly doing my nails and taking pictures to post on Facebook and Instagram (@emmaclarem) and I was reading other nail blogs, so I decided to start my own! 2. Aside from nail art what hobbies you consider your favorite? 

My favourite hobby (though I don't think I can really call it a "hobby" at this point) is without a question dance.  I train full-time, focusing on classical ballet, and I hope to be a professional dancer after graduation! My other hobbies include doing my nails and blogging (obviously), cooking and baking, cake decorating, sewing, fashion designing, and obsessing over Harry Potter and Castle. 3. If you can have your own brand of nail polish, what would you name it and why?  

I have never given this any thought, as I think it's best to leave creating and frankening to the many talented polish makers out there.  If I did decide to start my own line, I would probably name it after my blog, Globe & Nail.  4. What is your favorite brand of nail polish so far? 

I don't think I could choose a favourite, but I definitely have more Essies than any other brand! 5. What is your favorite nail art of yours so far? (Please provide a photo) 

I couldn't choose a favourite, but anything with stripes is my favourite to wear.  Here's my favourite picture I've taken of my nails, though.  It's Deborah Lippmann Ray Of Light. Do yourself a favor and click to enlarge this one. 

6. What was your dream to be when you were a little kid?

To be a ballerina :)7. If you were a given a chance to change your name what would it be?

I don't think I'd change it, I'm quite happy as Emma and I can't imagine being called anything else! 8. What is your favorite color when wearing a polish? 

My favourite polish colour to wear, if I had to choose, would be a dark vampy purple. 9. How did you come up with your blog name?

There's a newspaper named The Globe & Mail, so I switched it up to be Globe & Nail for my blog :)10. What are the things that you can't last a day without?

If we're talking material possessions, then I'd have to say my phone, Burt's Bees lip balm, a ring my mom gave me and my Cross necklace that I never take off, and coffee. 11. Why do you do nail blogging? 

I blog about my nails to share what I love to do and hopefully inspire some others to be creative with their nails like I was once! :)

Questions from Lissa's Polish Addiction:

2. Where are you from? 

British Columbia, Canada :)

3. What are your five favourite nail polishes of all time? (Or more if you can't nail it down. ;))

In no particular order: Deborah Lippmann Ray Of Light, Essie Topless & Barefoot, OPI Black Cherry Chutney, Essie Mojito Madness, Nails Inc. Baker Street, and Orly Fowl Play.  (Sorry, I had to choose 6!) 

4. What is your favourite nail art design that you've done (or that you've seen on someone else, if you don't do nail art)? 

My favourite design in general would be anything with stripes :)

6. What are your favourite nail care products?

I'm not very particular about my nail care, the only product that I use faithfully is Barielle's Instant Liquid Nail Hardener, works miracles! 

7. Number one nail tip you'd like to share?

This isn't really a tip, but please clean up around your nails if you're going to post pictures of them.  Pet peeve of mine. 

8. How often do you do your nails?

Usually every other day, but I'll sometime go three or four days if I really love what I have on! 

9. Favourite base and top coat?

I use Barielle's Instant Liquid Nail Hardener as my base coat, and Seche Vite as a top coat. 

11. What nail trends do you love, and which do you hate?

I'm not a fan of crackles or the OPI Spotted, but I'm most definitely a huge supporter of the boom in indie polish lately! (That counts as a trend, right?) 

Questions from No Naked Nails:

1-How many polishes (including stripers) do you own? 

Last time I counted I had 122, but I've added at lease 10 since then! 

2-How much time each week do you spend working on your nails?

I do them bout every other day, but it can take me anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours (eek!) to do them. 

3-What or who got you started doing your nails?

I found the blog Chloe's Nails and that started the avalanche. 

5-What was your biggest polish haul of all time? (in quantity or value)

I think the most I've spent at one time is about $48. 

6-What has been your biggest life changing event?

Choosing to go away to a full-time ballet boarding school alone in Washington, DC for my grade 9 year. 

7-Words to live by or favorite quote.....

I don;t really have any words to live by or a favourite quote, but I try to learn something new every day, or do something a little bit better than I did the day before. 

8-Do you now or have you ever painted a pet's nails?

I've never had a pet with nails (I've only ever had a fish) so no. 

9-Do you ever go out with 'naked' nails?

Nope! The most naked I'll go is wearing only Barielle Instant Liquid Nail Hardener, and that only happens for performances and competitions. 

10-What was your biggest manicure fail?

Oh dear, there's been a couple times but I've removed all the evidence. 

11-What is your favorite 'unique'  invention of all time? 

This is an interesting question.  In terms of nail polish, I'm going to say that OPI Spotted has got to be the most unique invention I've ever seen, even though I'm not a huge fan of it. 

*EDIT* 
Questions from Klutzy Hands Nails:

1. What started your nail polish obsession? 

Chloe's Nails.  That is all. 

3. What mythical creature do you most identify with, and why?

Oh, creative question! I can't say I really identify with one, but I do love dragons and unicorns. 

5.  If you had to give up one of the five senses, which one would you give up and why?

Since we're speaking hypothetically, I'll say smell and pretend that not being able to smell wouldn't take away most of my ability to taste.  No more smelling polish fumes!

6. What song would you choose to sing at Karaoke?

Something from Hairspray, for sure. 

7. If you could jump into a movie or book, where would you go? 

HOGWARTS.  Who's with me?

8. What is your super power?

Flight at the moment, but I'll probably change my mind in not too long. 

9. What tattoo do you have or wish you could get?

I don't want a tattoo, but if I had to choose it would probably be something Celtic (I'm of mostly Irish heritage) or something in French because I love France and everything about French culture, I speak French fluently, and I wish I could live in Paris. 

10. What is your favorite tongue twister?

I've never really thought about this... I don't really have a favourite, but my favourite to say when I was younger was the whole Peter's pickled peppers thing.  You know the one. 

11.What supposedly cute thing do you find really creepy?

I'll come back and edit the post once I think of something for this one; you've got me stumped!

*EDIT*

Here are my 11 questions for the bloggers I'm tagging:

1. Why did you decide to start blogging, and how long ago did you start?
2. Favourite polish finish? (Creme, glitter, holo, shimmer, ect.?)
3. Ever had an embarrassing manicure failure?
4. What is your nail art/nail care pet peeve?
5. Biggest polish lemming?
6. What brand of polish do you own the most of?
7. What is your favourite movie?
8. Favourite book? 
9. Any hobbies besides nail art and blogging?
10. Three material possessions you couldn't live a day without?
11. Do you ever leave the house with naked nails?

Now for the blogs I'm tagging!
1. -XOXO Alexis Leigh
2. Polished Peripherals
3. Brummingbird
4. Polished Prisms
5. No Holos!
6. Lace: A Nail Art Blog
7. Not Too Polished
8. Cuti-CLUE-les
9. Lacquer Buzz
10. Hooked On Polish
11. The Nail Art Hobby

All That Glitters

 Hello!  I feel like it's been so long since I've written a post, since I've been really enjoying my time at this ballet school but I've also been really busy and with limited internet connection!  Luckily I'm back today with some swatches of a few beautiful polishes from All That Glitters!  Enjoy!

First Is Plum & Plummer.  I have to admit, glitters in shimmer bases don't normally appeal to me, but I picked this one solely for the name.  I'm very glad I did, because this polish was a pleasant surprise!  It's a mix of gunmetal and purple hex glitters in a shimmery light purple base.  The polish was easy to apply and didn't need any underwear.  For the photos I used 3 coats of Plum & Plummer, though two would be enough if you don't mind a bit of visible nail line.

Valentine Massacre is a mix of all different shapes and sizes of red and black glitter in a dark red base.  This one was a pain to apply, and it seemed as if there was more glitter than base in it.  It was really goopy, and got quite thick on some of my nails.  I do really like the final look though, I think this would be a good polish for fall and winter.  For the pictures I layered one coat of Valentine Massacre over one coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Cherry Red. 

Last for today is without a doubt one of this indie polish maker's most popular creations, Spotty Dottie Light.  I absolutely adore this polish, it's such a quick and easy way to turn a plain manicure into something eye-catching and unique!  When I wore this I had so many people asking me how I 'did' the white, and they couldn't believe it was just glitter! ("But glitter is sparkly!?")  Application is a little finicky, but the end result is so worth it.  Here I have one coat of Spotty Dottie Light over one coat of Orly Snowcone.

All That Glitters polishes can be bought on Etsy here, and like their Facebook page to keep up to date with new polishes and restocks so you don't miss out on getting yourself some of her unique polishes! 

On a side note, I just wanted to say thank you to you all for being so understanding about my lack in posting lately.  Also, thank you for all your lovely comments, even if I don't have time to respond to them right now I read and appreciate every single one!  :)

Disclaimer: The products in this post were sent to me for review and my honest opinion. 

Guest Post: Hooked On Polish

Hello!  To entertain you in my absence I have for you today a guest post from Kat of Hooked On Polish.  Take a look at what she's put together for us!  :)

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Hi there! For those of you that don't know me, I'm Kat and I will be your substitute blogger for the day since Emma is away at some godforsaken place where they don't allow nail polish.

I wanted to do something special for my post here and decided to finally try the fishtail mani! For some reason, I just can't get a fishtail braid to work on my hair so I'm happy I got it on my nails at least :D. To achieve this I used Lucy's tutorial here and changed the color scheme. I'm pretty excited about the result! It's definitely not as time consuming as I thought or that difficult. If I could do it, I'm sure anyone can too.

For this look I used Bettina Orchidea (blue-ish color) and Ortensia (green) and Revlon Silver Dollar.

The colors are mostly accurate, though Orchidea could be a touch bluer. Then, because I can't leave well enough alone, I added glitter to the solid nails. One coat of Jordana Cosmic:

I even did an upside down shot like Emma! Lol, my fingers are definitely not as graceful and elegant as hers but it'll do for a giggle.

If you're interested in doing this look, I have a couple of tips:

• If you don't know which colors to use: it helps to use colors that came out in the same collection. They almost always go great together and complement each other well and then pick a metallic contrasting color.
• Take your time but don't freak out if you don't start off fantastic, remember that the whole stripe you do is not going to show. For example, Silver Dollar would look patchy where I ended the 'swipe' but that was not visible at all so I left it as is.
• Use opaque colors! This is important if you don't want to end up with a super thick nail. I did about 5 designs in different colors before I settled on this one. Experiment and have fun with it. 

That's about it from me! Do you prefer it with or without the glitter? Is this something you would like to try? Do you think it's absolutely barbaric that they don't allow nail polish where Emma is? Should she just use the O.P.I Ballet sheers since that's what they were made for? Am I asking too many questions?  

Have a good day! 

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It looks great, Kat!  I saw that tutorial a while ago and put it on my "to-do" list, but haven't gotten around to it yet, thanks for the tips!  


I do agree that it is barbaric that they don't allow nail polish, but I'll definitely be stealth and wear my OPI NYCB colours!  Shhh!  ;)


Thanks again for doing this great post Kat! Make sure to go check out her blog Hooked On Polish! :)