Blue Monday in Africa? LOL

Hello Sassies!! :-D

How are you all doing on this BEAUTIFUL #ManiMonday? It's been a technologically challenging day for me, hence the laaaaate Mani Monday post. LOL. My laptop is being SUCH a drama queen lately. Grrrr. At least I have a new IT hero, and he fixed me up quick sticks. Hehehe. Anyway.. My little drama queen has decided to join the Sassy Mani Monday Party, so here goes! :-D

I think this mani is SO fitting for today, as it's been a bit of a blue Monday for me, and well, I live in Africa. LOL. Whatevs, just humor me. ;-) 

The other day I walked into Planet Nails to buy Acetone, and foil wraps - ONLY. I picked them up, walked straight to the till, and even commended myself for being so mature. Yaaaaaay ME! :-D As I was standing there, next in line to pay and leave temptation HQ, I spotted it... The most breath taking holo blue I've ever seen - Color Club "Over The Moon"! YASSSSS! I was indeed "Over The Moon", and all self control vanished into a tiny speck of nothing as I picked it up and held it in my hand. FML.. This is it! I finally found it. Who cares about budget and self control, right? Erm. Shoosh. Just go with it! ;-) 

2 days later, some else fell in love with it, too - Obviously!! :-D One of the sassiest teens I know. We decided to go for a stamping mani. She loooooves animals almost as much as I do, so she picked this gorgeous African landscape plate from BornPretty Store. I've had it for months, and haven't used it before, even though I love it! The code is BP-16, and everybody needs it in their life IMHO. I stamped using China Glaze "Liquid Leather" - 544. I absolutely LOVE these stamping plates. They work really well with most normal (non-stamping) nail polishes, and is such an investment if you enjoy stamping.

Here, let me show you. :)

I am absolutely head over heels in love with this nail polish. Two easy coats is all you need for the perfect opaque blue holo, that will change your life forever. Trust me, I'm a pro! Lol. 

So, what do you think, did I nail it? :-) Remember, you can use my discount code SAMAW10 on checkout when buying from BornPretty Store, to get 10% off your purchase. It's located on the right side bar of the blog, click on it and it'll take you right to their online store. You can thank me later. ;-)

That's it from me for now MANIacs. Have a blessed week.

Lots of love. And remember - Stay Sassy!!

WOW Women Wednesday!!

Hello, Sassies! :-D

I'm so sorry for posting this so late, I've been having some IT problems, which is a bit of a challenge at the moment. But I really think this would be worth the wait!!

Wow, do I have something exciting to share with you today! Those of you who know me well, know that one of the things I love job, is empowering other women, and networking with like-minded ladies. Well, today's post is ALL about that!!

Towards the end of last year, I got this bright idea to do a fun project with a few ladies, who's network of clients will go hand in hand with each other. Between myself and my friend Andrea, we got the most perfect team together for a stylish and elegant photoshoot to use for marketing material, and at the same time, promote everyone else in the team. Everybody wins!! Everyone involved were young women, starting their own businesses, with one goal in common: To promote our businesses, and empower ourselves and each other on our journey to success. Freaking awesome bunch of ladies, let me tell you! Here, let me introduce them:

Model, Make-Up & Hair: Angelique Grobler from Composure Hair and Makeup Artistry

https://web.facebook.com/composurestylist/?ref=page_internal

The super talented, young and funky Dress Designer: Roxi Morris from Bye June https://web.facebook.com/ByeJuneFashion/?ref=page_internal

Henna Artist: Tineesha from A Touch Of Henna SA  

https://web.facebook.com/atouchofhennasouthafrica/?ref=page_internal

Florist & Event Designer: Angelique from Anubel Flower & Event Design

https://web.facebook.com/Anubel-100650660395566/

Photographers: Sean & Andrea Gerber from Andrea Gerber Photography

https://web.facebook.com/andreagerberphotography/

 Venue: The Hertford Country Hotel - Devon Venue

https://web.facebook.com/HertfordCountryHotel/?ref=page_internal

The Hertford Country Hotel is absolutely exquisite! It's a quick 15 minute drive from Fourways, towards Lanseria airport. Once you enter their premises, it feels like you're 100's of kilometers away from the noise and stress of South-Africa's biggest city. I could actually see myself going there every Sunday with a book, just to escape the buzz of the crazy busy Jozi vibes. Ahhhh, bliss!

Let's get to the bragging, shall we? Hehehe. I met Angelique at her day-time job, where she teaches makeup classes, and did here nails at work. (Yep, you can also get me to do your nails at work!!) The theme here was very soft, delicate and elegant, so I decided to do a nude base, with white lace stamping. Here, let me show you. :-) 

How gorgeous, right? And with that stunning henna design by the talented Tineesha - wow!! I really love it! For the mani, I used natural tips with an Acrygel overlay, over that we did a nude base with Planet Gel Polish's brownish gel polish. I love this colour, and so do most of my clients. It's a super popular color and if you don't have it in your collection yet, I suggest you get it! ASAP!

I then stamped with white Revlon ColorStay Gel Envy, and a born pretty store stamping plate. I just LOVE bornpretty's stamping plates. They work like a charm! When the stamping was done, I sealed it all in with Planet Nails's Gel Polish Top Coat (which I loooooooove, by the way).

Here's a look at some more pictures. :-D I'll share ALL of them on my Facebook page again in a few weeks.

So, honeys.. On that note, I'm going to say Happy International Women's day to ALL you fabulous ladies out there! Chat again soon!

xoxo
Sassy Sam

#ManiMonday - Pastel Rainbow Stamping

Hey Beauties! :-D

I'm BACK!! Whoop whoop. Gosh, I can't even BEGIN to tell you how much I missed blogging, and hearing from all of you sassy girls! How are you all doing? What's been happening? Drop me a comment below and tell me how much you've missed me too, okay. Hehehe. ;-) I'm sorry I went MIA. I had a medical emergency, that pretty much forced me to take some time out, and get my mind and soul and everything calm and revitalized again. :-) I have to say, at first I felt VERY irritated by this untimely nuisance... But after a while I realized how much I needed to just take a step back and work things out in my mind, before storming at my goals like a bull in a china shop. Anyway.. I hope I'm making sense. LOL. Moving on! ;-)

So, it's #ManiMonday, and I absolutely cannot WAIT to show you the stunner I have for you today. :-D When I met Jo-Ann, I knew we would come up with some AMAZING nail art ideas together, as we just clicked, and our style was clearly very similar. It didn't take us long to decide to go for this look, and OH, how happy we both were with the end result. :-D

I started off with natural tips and a white acrygel overlay as a base. We decided to go with Planet Gel Polish in gorgeous pastel shades (from Thumb  to Pinky): #010 - Orange, #019 - Purple, #004 - Nude, #025 - Teal and #012 - Pink. I love working with Planet's Gel Polishes. The consistency and opacity is just perfect. It stays right where you put it, and the colour builds perfectly in two easy coats. Being OCD about at LEAST two colour coats - ALWAYS, this is perfection for me.

We then finished this beautiful pastel look off with a stamped image from Born Pretty Store, code BP-05. It's such a pretty stamping plate, and super popular with my clients. :) (If you want to buy this stamping plate, remember to use my code when you check out: SAMAW10 for 10% discount at BornPrettyStore) I used Revlon Color Stay Gel Envy 010 "Sure Thing", it stamps like a dream, and is my go-to white stamping polish. I always have at least 2 bottles in my stash. #NoShame! Here, let me show you! :-D

What do you think? And what's your opinion on any of the products mentioned above? Do you have any tips or tricks you'd like to share with me? :-D I'd LOVE to hear from you in the comments section below! And because of this, and how much I've missed all of you... I've decided to give one of you fabulous ladies who comment below a surprise voucher! You can use this voucher for yourself, or you can donate it to a friend. So even if you're in Cape Town and would like to spoil a friend in Gauteng, this competition is for YOU! :-D

Rules and yada, yada, yada:
♥ Each comment of at least 4 words will be counted as an entry, limited to two entries per person per day.
♥ Entries will close on Friday 3 March at 12:00.
♥ The winner will be drawn by random, using random.org.
♥ You HAVE to be a member of the Sassy VIP Facebook Group, where I'll announce the lucky winner on Friday 3 March 2017 at 14:00.
♥ Click Here for a direct link to become a VIP member. Whoop Whoop!! It's THAT easy! :-D

That's it from me now, sassies. Good luck in the competition, and remember - Stay Sassy!!

Neon Orange Funk

Hello Sassies! :-D

How are you all doing? Can you believe it's Thursday already? The weeks are just FLYING by. It's unbelievable!

Today's mani started off as something completely different, and ended up (in my opinion) better than the original idea! :-D Yay!!! I love it when that happens. Let's get right to it, then. :-)

I started off with Hean Diamond HD Base Coat from Glamore Cosmetics. I then proceeded to paint two coats of Orange "Neon I Love Hean" on all but the ring fingers, as we wanted some negative space on the ring fingers. It's perfectly opaque in two coats. The consistency is beautiful, and it stays right where you put it down. It dries to a semi-matt finish, which I've come to expect from Neon polishes.. Why is that? Does anyone know? Enlighten me in the comments section, please! :-)

Glamore Cosmetics is the only stockist of Hean products in South Africa, and you can find the "Neon I love Hean" Nail Polish collection over here. Their customer service is AMAZING, and every single product I've used has been stunning. A definite favourite online shop for me when I want to spoil myself or my clients!

Anyway, back to the mani! ;-) While the Orange was busy drying, I covered the cuticle areas of the two ring and middle fingers with liquid palisade from Nail Candi, to prepare the nails for stamping. :-) I love the liquid palisade. It makes clean up so much quicker and easier. I then proceeded to stamp, using Revlon "Sure Thing" from their ColorStay Gel Envy range. :-) It's a dream to stamp with! It's a brilliant white nail polish in general, but I'll do a review on it later, coz that's how much I have to say about it! ;-) I stamped with Pueen20 on the middle fingers, and Pueen16 on her ring fingers. 

I sealed it with Essence Quick Dry Top Coat, which is absolutely perfect over most nail art techniques, as it doesn't really drag the nail polish underneath it. I then added a few rhinestones I got from BornPrettyStore (remember to use my discount code when you shop there for 10% off non-sale items - SAMAW10). Yay!! :-D

Do you own any of the Neon Hean polishes? Oh my gosh, I can remember the wave it made when they first hit South-Africa. Girls were going cray-cray over them! Lol. I reviewed, swatched and did some art with them over here (swatches) and over here (art). :-)

Anyway, that's all from me for now. :-) I'd love to hear from you!! Is there anything you'd like to say or ask about any of the products or techniques used in this manicure? Please chat with me in the comments section below.

Stay Sassy! Toodles.

Classic Nude & Delicate Lace

Hey babes! :-D

Wow, am I happy to be back!! :-D I hope you all had a MAGICAL festive season, and that you're ready to ROCK 2017. Whoop whoop!! I truly wish every single one of my readers the BEST YEAR EVER.

Today I have a very feminine and delicate manicure to share with you. A photographer sent me the picture for a shoot we're planning in March where I'll be doing the nails. I immediately fell in love when I saw it. I posted it online saying I want to do these for someone, and my insanely beautiful client Pam grabbed the opportunity. :-D Yay!!! Thanks Pam. Much love for you!!

We started off with natural tips and one thin layer of acrylic. When that was done, I applied two thin coats of Planet Nails Gel Polish in "nude". I absolutely love this gel polish. The colour is AMAZING (I literally fall in love with it every single time I work with it), the consistency is great, and it lasts for 3 to 4 weeks. Brilliant! We decided to do and accent nail on the middle finger, and used White Planet Nails Gel Polish for that one. Two thin coats ensure perfect opacity. :-)

Once the gel was done, I stamped with Revlon ColorStay "Sure Thing" and a Born Pretty Stamping plate, coded BP02. When we were done with that, I sealed it all in with Planet Nails UV Glaze, and added a silver diamond shaped rhinestone on the middle (accent) finger.

What do you think of these? I REALLY like the delicate and classic feel of this manicure. Something that I could've improved on, though, is the cleaning of the white polish from the stamping. Other than that, I think I'm going to be bold and call it PERFECTION!! *Bows, drops mic*


Till next time beauties - Stay Sassy!!

Butterfly Kisses

Hello beauties :-)

How are you all doing today? Can you even BELIEVE it's the 6th of December already?? INSANITY, I tell you!!

Today's mani was done for such a sweet client. She was a bride's maid at her sister's wedding, and I had the honor of doing her, the bride's and the bride's moms nails last week. What a stunning family!

Anyway.. We started off with a gorgeous mint gel polish from Planet Nails. I love their gel polishes. The colors are beautiful, and they apply like a charm. For this mint, we did 3 layers to build into a beautiful opaque mint.

Then, using a Born Pretty stamping plate, and Revlon Gel Envy "Sure Thing" (510) to stamp this beautiful delicate little butterfly.

Okay so I might have gone a bit overboard with the cuticle oil. Haha. So you really have to look to see the butterflies through all the shine.

Overall, I absolutely LOVE how this mani turned out. At first she wanted a hand painted flower on each accent finger, but when she saw the stamping plates. Well, everyone knows what I mean. LOL. Stamping for the win - ALWAYS!

Are YOUR nails and tootsies summer ready yet? What are you waiting for? Book your mani NOW, spots are filling up quite fast, especially after the 15th. :-)

Have a STUNNING Tuesday, babes. Lots of love.


Stay Sassy,

Owl you need is a STUNNING graphic designer.

Hey babes! :-D

Oooh, I have another awesome mani to share with you. Yay! At the same time, I would love to introduce you to my AMAZING design fairy, Ceri Carey from C3 Designs, who's the proud owner of this set of Sassy In The City nails.

Just a very quick few details of the mani, then we're focusing on this awesome power woman!

So, a while ago I did another mani, where the client wanted a VERY specific dark grey, which I didn't have. So, we decided that I should just mix my own colour. LOL. I used Tip Top Nails "Black Forest" and Tip Top Nails "Cream Puff" to create the colour. I had spares of both of these. Yay!

I painted two coats of this "Black Forest/Cream Puff" polish on all but the ring finger. I then sponged Morgan Taylor "Fame Game" Holo glitter on the ring finger nail. Ohhhh my GOODNESS! I love this polish. Well, it's a holo, which already says it all.

I then used Born Pretty silver stamping polish and a Born Pretty stamping plate to stamp the cutest little owls, and the full nail design on the same plate. :-) And the finished product..... Stunning!

(PS: Ceri might be a tiny bit obsessed with owls)


So.. Right on to the MAIN reason we're here. :-D The funky, crazy, passionate, loving, totally rockstar Ceri Carey. Here have a looksy (she might kill me, coz I'm still awaiting permission to actually use this stolen picture), how freakin SASSY is this chick???

I absolutely love her to BITS! What I love even more (sorry Ceri, but the love is VERY strong for this one...), is my super stunning business cards she designed for me. Here, have a look!

Front:

Back: 

RIGHT???? Way too awesome. I absolutely ADORE everything about it.

I asked Ceri how she's so amazing at what she does, why she started doing it, and what rocks her world with regards to her job.

Well, her passion DEFINITELY shows in her work.

You can find Ceri on Facebook, by visiting her facebook page. Or you can give her a call on 061 444 8253 or pop her an e-mail at ceri@c3designs.co.za.

So ladies, if you need an AMAZING graphic designer who totally gets you, and who invests so much love and energy in her work, please support this awesome momtrepreneur. I bet you, you'll love her and the work she does for you as much as I do!



Till next time - Stay Sassy!