31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Black & White

Hey everyone! Today is a challenge prompt day. Black and White is the theme, and I had such an awesome idea...in my head. On the nail, it didn't turn out as exciting as I was anticipating, and I kinda suck at free hand.

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - My Boyfriend Scales Walls

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

 

Rhinestone Studs

 

I know this is something that will get better with practice, but I am soooo impatient! I want to be awesome, right meow! Aside from the crooked lines, I kinda feel like the design feel a little flat and maybe I should have done more with the dots. Hindsight, as they say... Sigh.

 

Thursday's theme is Metallic, and I am using a couple of polishes from the UD Naked set (that I never swatched...oops) and hopefully it will turn out a little better!

Nail Of The Day: Drops of Golden Sun

Hey all! A quick little NotD post this weekend a part from the 31 Day Challenge prompts for you guys! I am loving all the green things growing in and around my garden lately and decided to give myself a matching mani!

 

 

Used:

 

Zoya - Tracie

 

Rhinestones

 

I recently picked up a rhinestone wheel from my local beauty supply store since I am trying to build up my nail art paraphernalia and I love it! I don't care if they are anything but practical, I will be using the hell outta these babies! I already have plans to use them for the 31 Day Challenge too.

 

 

My nails are also growing out a lot faster than I had thought, but I may keep the shorties around for a little while. They are definitely easier to manage!

 

I will be back with the next challenge post, Tuesday!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Violet

Hey all! We're just gonna pretend today is Thursday, alright? I do apologize for not getting my next challenge post up on time, my little one has been sick since Wednesday evening. She is starting to feel better, but now I am getting the cold! Lol, that's usually how it goes though. Anyway, the theme for today's post is Violet. I kinda took some liberties with the color, mainly because I wanted to use something specific.

 

 

Used:

 

China Glaze - Tart-y For The Party

China Glaze - Fancy Pants

 

Dotting Tools

 

I was gifted Fancy Pants by Rachael of The Perky Polisher for Easter and haven't had a chance to really play with it. I loved how it looked with Tart-y For The Party so I made the executive decision to use them for this post even though they are more blue toned than a red tone Violet color. Sorry, I am a color nerd! All the color theory classes in college kinda stuck with me!

 

Doing a dotted gradient is pretty simple. I used three different size dotting tools and just worked my way down the nail. I think the look is super cute and would work with all sorts of color combos!

 

 

Hopefully these cold germs vacate my system quickly and I can get back on schedule. Next up is Black & White and I have a really fun idea!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Blue

Hey all, happy Tuesday! Since it is Tuesday, that means I have another 31 Day nail art post for you all and today's theme is Blue! I absolutely love blue polish, and have a plethora of shades and finishes to choose from, but for this post, I knew exactly which ones I was going to use.

 

 

Used:

 

China Glaze - Sunday Funday

Pomegranate Lacquer - Blue Screen Of Death

 

Striping Brush

 

I think my first time doing some free handed striping turned out pretty dang good. Not too mention that I love how the two colors look together!

 

If you haven't noticed, I am sporting shorties for now. A bit of gardening this weekend managed to break my index finger nail, but all was not lost! Thankfully I managed to file down most of the break and there was enough to even out the free edge. Besides, they are growing a bit wonky and the shorties make it a lot less noticeable.

 

Anyway, I shall be back Thursday with Purple!

Fashion Friday #6

Hey everyone! I am so glad it's Friday! This week has really dragged by and I definitely am looking forward to getting out of the house and spending some time with my little family. Sometimes, staying home with little ones can get very repetitive and tiresome. I am ready for some fun!

Speaking of fun, Camille picked out the cutest skirt for one of her posts, and I instantly fell in love. It is bright and super cute and definitely makes me crave summer time just a little bit. I had to use it as inspiration for this week's mani.

 

Inspiration Look

 

Used:

 

OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls

China Glaze - Sunday Funday

 

Nail Art brush

 

I may have gone a tad over board with the brush strokes. Oops! Instead of looking like fern leaves in the dress, I think it looks more like an abstract painting (but that's how I paint on canvas, soooo.....). Either way, I loooove it! Fun colors, and definitely appropriate for the season. On a side note, OPI MBSW is as great as everyone says. Such a great polish for nail art. I wish all polishes had this great of a formula.

 

I am going to try to get some swatched of new ILNP glitters posted by the end of the weekend, we shall see! Otherwise, more 31 Day posts next week!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Green

Hello and happy Thursday! I have my 31 Day Challenge post up on time, yay! Today is Green, other than blue, it is my absolute favorite polish color. I am so happy that Pantone named Emerald the color of the year because that means so many pretty green things!

 

 

Used:

 

Gelous Base Coat

Takko Lacquer - Maneki Neko

 

Reinforcement Stickers

 

For this, I used my beloved Takko Lacquer and did a half moon mani. I had originally planned on doing a green base underneath, but decided on a bare nail since Maneki Neko is just so awesome. I also left it in it's natural state, which looks a lot like the textured polish as of late. Plus it has that extra little holo sparkle that is so pretty!

 

 

I will be back tomorrow with another Fashion Friday post and (if I have a chance) maybe some ILNP glitter swatches this weekend!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Yellow

Hey all! Super late posting today's 31 Day Challenge. Sorry! Yellow is the theme for this post, and we all know how difficult yellow polish can be. I opted for a simple sponge gradient, mainly because I didn't have the patience to mess around with something a little more complicated.

 

On a side note, apologies for the state of my cuticles. I tried out a new oil a few days ago, and it had the opposite effect! My cuticles became a crazy peely mess! I am trying to get them back into good condition, but it is quite the effort.

 

Used:

 

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - White Out

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry - Butter-Fly Stroke

Essence - Fortune Cookie

 

Triangle Make Up Sponge

I found that painting directly onto the sponge worked best, otherwise I had problems with bubbling. Anyway, Thursday's post should be on time, with Green!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Orange

Hello everyone! I'm back with #2 of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge, Orange! Again, this is not a color I tend to gravitate towards and I'm beginning to see that I have a lot of polish on the cooler side of the color spectrum. I do love a good orange polish, but it has to be the right shade, and I tend to be rather picky. China Glaze Riveting (from the Hunger Games collection) is my absolute favorite orangey-orange, so naturally, I had to use it!

 

 

 

Used:

 

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry - Man-Go Team!

China Glaze - Riveting

Hard Candy - Matte-ly In Love (discontinued)

 

Chevron nail tip stickers

 

Despite being on the fence about a lot of orange polish, I really love how this mani turned out. Mostly I think that is because I decided to matte it when I was finished. It definitely changed the entire look and made it stand out a bit more. Super funky for sure!

I have recently picked up the new Sally Hansen Insta-Dry LE summer brights and they are all pretty much win. I think they will prove especially useful during the challenge. Specifically for the next post, yellow!

Polish Days: Seven Deadly Sins

Hey! I'm back again with another post today for Polish Days. If you aren't familiar with Polish Days, it is a monthly nail art theme group post started by the lovely Polly of Polly Polish. This month's theme was the Seven Deadly Sins.

 

I had such a hard time deciding which sin to use as inspiration, but finally narrowed it down to Gluttony. This is the sin I mostly associate with polish collection, and with every bottle I get, I am totally commiting it. I'm sure many of you out there in polish hoarding land can relate to this!

 

 

Used:

 

Nails Inc - Baker St.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - White On

Pure Ice - It's Complicated

 

Dotting Tool

Drinking Straw

 

Gluttony isn't about food, like many people think, it's about consuming an excessive amount of things and never being satisfied with what you have. I loved the idea of a "kitchen sink" mani to represent this because it is a little bit about being excessive. Not just one accent nail, but all the nails are different, with multiple designs, as if one isn't enough. I did glitter gradients, dotted, and even a splatter (that's where the drinking straw comes in) which happens to be my fav nail.

 

I used Baker St. because this is the polish that really pushed me over the edge. I remember first seeing swatches of it and having that (almost carnal) urge to own it. I needed it despite have other blue colors to pick from. I swear, I even had dreams of it!

What I think is really funny, is that practically every one of the seven sins can be applied to polish collection. We lust after polishes, we are greedy and gluttonous with collection, we take pride in our nails and blog about them, we are envious of others collections or even nail shape. I'm sure Sloth and Wrath are in there somewhere too. But, for me, this obsession hobby also brings me joy, excitement and I get to be part of an awesome community. So if I am gonna burn in hell, then I will be there with all of you, lol! (kidding, gosh!)

I am so looking forward to seeing the rest of the Polish Days posts and what everyone else came up with. And if you want to participate in the next theme, you can read all about it, here.

 

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Red

Hello all! Today is the first post of my adventures doing the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge! The first ten posts are all about color and with that I wanted to keep it simple and really let the color shine. Red is not a polish color I have a lot of, and usually don't wear...like ever. Still, I really like what I came up with!

 

Used:

 

SOPI Betsey Johnson - Pushing Your Luck

Nubar - Ruby Red Glitz

 

Striping Tape

 

Again, I wanted to do something simple and really show off the color. Striping tape is a great tool for nail art because it is very easy to use, and you can create something really eye catching.

 

This particular design, is about as easy as it gets. I started with a base of Pushing Your Luck (the only red cream in my collection!), once it was dry, I placed small pieces of striping tape in a random pattern and used an orange stick to make sure they were nice and flat. Next I layered Ruby Red Glitz, peeled off the the tape and finished off with a top coat.

I'm still not sold on the idea of red nails, but I gotta admit, it does look kinda hot. Next up is Orange!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge

Hey guys & gals! Happy Monday! I have a bit of an announcement to make. I have decided to embarque on the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge! I have been toying around with the idea of doing it for some time, but I never quite felt ready. Honestly, I still don't but, that's part of the challenge! Being a busy mom doesn't exactly afford me the time to do this every day, so I will have a post ready every Tuesday and Thursday.

 

If you aren't familiar with this challenge, here is a handy list of what to expect.

 

Tomorrow will be the first day of the challenge with Red. I am super excited and I hope you all enjoy this as much as I am going too.

Fashion Friday #5

Hey all! I'm back with another Fashion Friday post! Camille has put together some really great spring looks this week and I had a lot of fun creating some manis to go with them!

 

Inspiration Look

 

Used:

 

Julep - Teresa

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

 

Striping Tape

 

This look is so classic and clean, that I couldn't help but put together a classic French mani. But you know me, I am not one to follow the rules ; ) I love the double stripe french tip and adding it to a couple of accent nails is a fun way to funkify a french manicure.

 

 

Inspiration Look

 

Used:

 

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - White On

Revlon - Urban

Nails Inc - Baker St

SOPI Betsey Johnson Mini - Too Too Turq

SOPI Betsey Johnson Mini - Yellow My Name Is Betsey

 

Sharpie Fine Point Marker

 

I love this outfit so hard. It's cute, fun and wild! I tried so hard to get the floral print to translate onto my nails, but I feel like I failed terribly. Bah. Sometimes this nail art business is rather frustrating.

 

Be sure to check out the other great looks Camille put together and I'll be back next time for more goodies!

KBShimmer Pastel Me More & Get Clover It

Hello all, happy April! I have two spring Indie polishes for today. KBShimmer recently released a fantastic collection of colorful glitter and pastel polishes. I snagged my two favorites to show you guys!

Please Note: All products in this post were purchased by me for my own personal use.

 

KBShimmer Pastel Me More over Revlon Urban

 

Pastel Me More is a glitter bomb of rainbow pastel glitters in various sizes. I have been looking for a versatile glitter and this totally works! It looks good over both light and dark colors. The formula is fabulous. Perfect consistency, no dragging or clumping. One smooth coat and no need to fish for glitter. It also dries very smooth. I didn't need to use Gelous or anything other than my current top coat (Sally Hansen Insta-Dry).

 

 

 

 

 

KBShimmer Get Clover It over Revlon Posh

 

Get Clover It is an emerald green jelly with sparse green micro glitter and small gold, green and blue circle glitter. I told you I was circle glitter obsessed! Not to mention that it is green and I love all things green, so I automatically love it. The formula wasn't easy though. It is very thin, almost runny and does not hold the glitter at all. I layered 2 coats over Revlon Posh (a great green, btw!) and still had to fish for glitter. I have worn it alone using 3 coats, but I feel that it looks best layered, and seems to work better this way as well. As much as I love the concept, I am sadly disappointed with it. Boo.

I am happy to continue adding to my Indie polish stash. There are so many incredible brands out there, that it can be kinda hard to choose from. But KBShimmer really stands out, at least for me. Especially since there are circle glitters, lol!


KBShimmer is available online. Polish retails for $8.75

Products shown were purchased by me for my own personal use. All opinions are my own.