Easter Nails

Happy Easter, nail polish addicts! Or if you don't celebrate Easter... erm... happy Sunday? I know everyone has loads to do today, so I'll make this tutorial short and sweet. Here's a quick design you can do to show your Easter spirit without spending your whole day on your nails! 

You will need:

- base coat

- light blue polish

- white polish

- dotting tool

- black polish

- pink polish

- green polish

- thin nail art brush

- red polish

- orange polish

- yellow polish

- fast drying top coat

Start out with a base coat. You know the drill! Then paint all of your nails a pale blue. 

China Glaze - For Audrey

First, I'll go through the accent nail. Start by painting a white semi-circle on the lower portion of your nail. 

China Glaze - White on White

Use your dotting tool to draw on two ears. 

Using the dotting tool again, add two little black eyes.

Sally Hansen - Black Heart

Add a pink nose and ears with the dotting tool. 

OPI - Sparrow Me the Drama

Using a thin nail art brush and green polish, paint on the green grass on the other nails. Use light, fast strokes to get the right texture.

China Glaze - Four Leaf Clover

Grab your dotting tool again, choose the colors for your flowers and create them by placing five dots close together in a circle. Complete them by adding a yellow dot in the center. Here I chose to do red and orange flowers because I thought the colors looked very... spring-y.

Red: OPI - Cajun Shrimp
Orange: Sally Hansen - Sun Kissed
Yellow: Sally Hansen - Lightening

Add a fast drying top coat so you can spend more time finishing preparing your Easter meal than waiting for your nails to dry.

There you go! For any of you nail-painting-procrastinators like me, this is quick and easy, as well as perfect for Easter. Enjoy!

If you liked this post, help me out by following here, 'liking' on Facebook, and following on Twitter. Happy Easter!

- Muffin

Review: Jamberry Nails

*Disclaimer: These products were sent to me for free. I chose to review them of my own accord. All opinions are my own.*

Hey wonderful nail junkies! Sorry for the super late post, but I feel like it's necessary for this one! Today (or rather, this week) I reviewed some wonderful nail wraps by Jamberry Nails! A while back, Jen from Jamberry Nails sent me some samples of their wraps to try out. I finally got around to trying them! So read on to hear about my adventures with the nail wraps.

The nail wraps came in a set of four on a little plastic shape. Each of them were different sizes, which was convenient, because each one perfectly (well, almost perfectly) fit each of my nails. I then followed the application instructions per the little card that came with the wraps. Here they are from the website:

From the Jamberry Nails Website

Here's what they looked like!

Ack! Look at the hair on one of my nails... woops...

About the application process:
It was definitely easier than I expected. I also felt like I got better (and faster) as I applied more and more of the wraps. I did have a little trouble actually placing them on the nail - I was terrified I'd accidentally place it down wrong, like touching my cuticle or something, and screw everything up. The wrap I used for my index finger was a little too large on one side, and touching the skin, but I just used a nail clipper and cut the extra part right off.
I also loved the quality of these. I've used Sally Hansen's nail wrap things before, and these are unbelievably better. I really liked how you used heat to seal them to the nail - it really made them seem completely strong and stuck onto the nail.
The only problem I had with them (as you can see from the pictures) was buckling on the sides (and on the tips on my more curved nails). I found the solution on this video after going through all the steps, so I left it as is. It's a little bit annoying now, so I wish I'd fixed it earlier, but ah, well.
So far, these have lasted *does math in head* six days? I think? There's a little peeling on the tip of a few nails. It looks like there's a clear layer of plastic above the actual design, and it's slowly peeling away a bit. Not too much, though - I think I could probably leave these on for another week or so with no real problems.

My favorite part about the nails wraps was that I didn't have to worry about them once I put them on. I didn't have to wait for a top coat to dry or worry about chipping them or anything. Once they were on, I was done. It was pretty wonderful. 

So all in all, I'd recommend these for anyone who likes an easy alternative for painting nails. The nail wraps come in loads of cool designs, so there are endless options. However, if you enjoy changing up your nails often, these probably aren't for you - at least in my opinion, they're a bit too expensive to be changing every couple of days (well, you could if you wanted to, but...). But even if you enjoy changing your nails a couple times a week, it's worth it to give these a try. You can buy a set of nail wraps for $15 on Jamberry Nails' website.

Thanks for reading! Since it's the day before Easter, you all lucked out: I have another (holiday-themed) post scheduled for today! So stay tuned for that. As usual, if you enjoyed reading this, make sure to follow here, 'like' on Facebook, and follow on Twitter.

- Muffin

Liebster Award #3!

So a while ago, I got tagged by Erica's Nails and More and Get Polished Up for the Liebster Award. And... I might have possibly... forgotten about it. Just a bit. But that's okay, because I finally got it done! Although I have to say that I wouldn't have been doing this post tonight, but I had a little issue with the post I was working on. I accidentally left the pictures I needed for it on a computer, and left for a little vacation without said pictures. This meant I needed to pull something together quickly. I remembered the Liebster Award, and here we are!

The rules are:

1. You must post 11 random facts about yourself.
2. You must answer the 11 questions that the person who nominated you asked.
3. You must then come up with 11 new questions and tag 11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers to keep the ball rolling. No tag backs, however!

My eleven facts:

1. I am a serious procrastinator. if I can leave something up to the last minute, I will. 
2. My bangs are purple. Because hair dye is just fun.
3. I'm a perfectionist. It kills me to include pictures in my blog posts if there's even the smallest thing wrong with them.
4. My favorite singer/band would have to be Regina Spektor, or Florence and the Machine, or Lana Del Rey, or Snow Patrol, or Muse, or... well, you get the point.
5. I have a Minecraft Addiction. I am on that game whenever I get a spare minute. I've had to play the game in peaceful mode, though, ever since I started watching the Walking Dead and the Minecraft zombies started to scare the bejeezus out of me. 
6. My favorite Pokemon is a Phanpy. Anyone remember my Phanpy nail post? Without a doubt, it's one of the cutest Pokemon to ever exist.
7. I have an addiction to the Legend of Korra. It is the best television show ever, case closed. 
8. I have an extremely short attention span. My brain really loves getting distracted by stuff.
9. I'm really bad at meeting new people. I can be wild and crazy with my friends, but put me in a room with someone I've never met before and I will be the most shy, socially awkward person you've ever seen. 
10. I'm currently in the process of learning Latin, and I love it. Roman culture is so fascinating, and I love the logical rules of the language's grammar- it seems so confusing at first, but once you start learning the patterns, everything suddenly makes sense.
11. I currently have an obsession with anything LBD (Lizzie Bennet Diaries). If you haven't watched them (go watch them now!),  they're a modern day interpretation of Pride and Prejudice. Sadly, there are only three left, so after that I'll have to satisfy my need for them by watching the earlier ones over and over again. 

Questions from Erica's Nails and More:

1. What is your favourite movie?
I don't have a favorite movie. It's usually the most recent thing I've seen. In this case, that would be Warm Bodies, and although it was a very cute movie, I don't think I can count that as a favorite.

2. What do you do for a living?
Getting an education! Hehe. But no, I'm a full time student. Fun stuff.

3. If you could rename your favourite polish colour, what polish would you choose and what would you rename it?
OPI Cajun Shrimp is my favorite polish, and I think the name suits it, but I wouldn't mind changing it just because I don't like or eat shrimp. But... I have no idea what I would change it to. Something witty or whatever.

4. What other hobbies do you have other than polishing?

Wait, you mean I'm supposed to have a life outside of nail polish? Kidding. I play a lot of tennis. I also like to spend time with my two darling kitties, Abraham and Oscar (check my 'about me' section if you haven't seen them yet!). 

5. What movie or TV show best describes your personality?

Arg, this is tough... I guess I'd have to say the Big Bang Theory? I don't really know. But I am nerdy and dorky and everything else that BBT is about, so that's the show I'd go with.

6. If you could have a fictional character as your best friend, who would it be?
Lizzie Bennet! Well, video-version Lizzie. Not the book version. Video-Lizzie is sarcastic and witty and she has a lot of faults and such, but I can relate to her a lot, so I feel like we'd really get along.

7. What is the one thing in life you wish you could do-over? Why?
I don't have any huge specific things (or at least, none that I'd like to confess to the entire internet). Maybe every rude thing I've ever said to my parents? I've had loads of things that I've just looked back on and thought, "they meant the best for me, even if I couldn't see it at that time- I shouldn't have been so hard on them." I think everyone can relate to that!

8. What is your staple product for hand and nail care, something you can't live or leave home without?

I know this is kind of stupid, but my nail file. I have a theory that if I don't have my nail file on me, a nail will break, just to spite me. But I hate going through the day with a torn or chipped nail, so I keep my nail file on hand to smooth down any edges if they chip or break. 

9. What is your favourite song from a movie?

Huh. I don't know. I guess I don't really pay attention to songs in movies. Or watch very many movies. Oh well.

10. What is your favourite type/style of nail art?
I think it just changes based on my mood. I don't have any particular favorite, and so usually my favorite will just depend on what I'm in the mood for that day.

11. What super power do you wish you had? Why?

Reading minds. Definitely. No more wondering what people mean when I can just hear their thoughts!

Questions from Get Polished Up!:
1. What is your favorite band?

See fact #4!

2. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Rome! I'd love to see all the ancient buildings, and culture, and basically everything.

3. What is your favorite nail polish of all time?

OPI Cajun Shrimp. I have no idea why, so don't ask me. But I just really like it. For whatever reason.

4. If you could meet anyone, past or present, who would it be and why?

5. What inspired you to start your blog?

I tend to pick up a hobby, obsess over it for a few weeks, and then move on. Determined not to do that with nail art, I decided to create my blog as incentive to work harder to keep up with my new hobby. And who would've known, almost a year later, I'm still here!

6. Where is your favorite place to buy nail polish?

Does online count? Other than that... well, anywhere. I tend to look for nail polish wherever I am at the moment. I guess I'll have to pick Sally Beauty, though, since they're the only place I go to get China Glaze (my favorite brand). 

7. What is your favorite beauty product (besides nail polish)?
My lip gloss! I practically hoard that stuff. Ask anyone. I've got a couple in every purse or bag I own, as well as just about every room in the house. You never know when chapped lips will strike!

8. What is your favorite movie?

See first question from Erica

9. Do you have any pets?

Why yes! Two cats, Abraham and Oscar. I have more information about them on my "About Me" page.

10. What do you do as a career (or what are you planning on doing)?

See second question from Erica

11. What is your favorite sports team?
I'm not a sports person, so I don't really have a favorite team. My family are mainly Bears and Cubs fans, so I guess I'd go with those? But I really don't care about either one, hehe.

My Questions:
1. If you could swap places with anyone for one day, who would it be?
2. What's the funniest story you have about painting your nails?
3. If you could time travel, what time would you go to and why?
4. What are your favorite bands/singers?
5. What's an interesting story you remember from your childhood?
6. If you had a million dollars to use for anything, what would you spend it on and why?
7. What's your biggest pet peeve?
8. What is your favorite TV show/movie at the moment?
9. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
10. How'd you get started with your blog?
11. What's a random fact about you most people probably don't know?


Bloggers I'm tagging:
1. Nail Polish in my Eyes
2. Shenailigans
3. Polished to a T
4. Dysphoria Nails
5. Time on my Nails
6. And Then There was Polish
7. Iced Lacquer
8. Lightwell Nails
9. Toad-ally Awesome Nails
10. Lacquer Wizard
11. Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

*whew* that took a while! But I hope you all enjoyed learning about me. I'd love to hear about all of you, too, so even if I didn't tag you, feel free to answer my questions in the comments! If you enjoyed it, please help me out and follow The Polished Platypus here, 'like' on Facebook, and follow on Twitter. I'll have the post that was planned for today finished sometime this weekend. Thanks for reading! 

- Muffin

Swatch/Review: LynBDesigns St. Patrick's Day Duo

Hello wonderful nail polish addicts! So today I have something pretty dang awesome to show you all... LynBDesigns St. Patrick's Day Duo! LynBDesigns is an indie nail polish brand that sells not only nail polish, but jewelry, perfumes, and loads of other amazing stuff! I'd definitely recommend checking Jenna's Etsy page out, but just to prove how wonderful her products are, make sure to keep reading for my review!