Nails and Noms by Rescue Beauty

Hello lovelies! I have a delicious beauty to share today! If you read my blog, you know I am quite the little RBL fan girl and usually splurge when it's my birthday or Christmas. Since my birthday coincided with the release of the Rescue Beauty Blogger 2.0 collection, I naturally snagged a few bottles.

 

Ji picked some really wonderful bloggers to work with this time around, (the infamous Scrangie, Sam from Fashion Polish, Kellie Gonzo, Rie from Nails and Noms and Pammy from Polish Police) where each got to help create their dream polish color. How cool is that?!? I would die from sheer bliss if I ever got that chance.

 

I knew at once I would need to get my claws on the polish from Rie. She is one of my absolute fav bloggers. After all, it was her blog that led me to my beloved Takko Laquer!

 

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use.

 

 

 

Rescue Beauty Lounge Blogger 2.0 Nails and Noms (bottle shot)

 

Rescue Beauty Lounge Blogger 2.0 Nails and Noms

 

Nails and Noms is a bright juicy orange with insane pink/purple shimmer. If there was ever a polish that looked edible, this would be it! How awesome is it that it came from Rie?! Gorgeous. Formula was good, 2 coats for full coverage. If you usually paint thinner coats, you may need three. Dry time is a bit longer than normal. I managed to ding a nail on my other hand a good ten minutes after applying a top coat. It also dries matte due to the bright orange pigment, so grab your favorite shiny quick dry tc and have at it!

 

The shimmer is really something special. It is electric and shows up in most lighting. It truly comes alive in sunlight, which makes Nails and Noms a perfect summer polish!

 

 

Rescue Beauty Lounge Blogger 2.0 Nails and Noms (macro)

Hi there pretty shimmer! This is what makes me all giddy for polish. And why I am willing to drop a $20 on a bottle. Excuse me while I grab a napkin to wipe away the drool.

 

Congrats Rie on an amazing polish, and Ji, you are simply wonderful! Well done you two!

 

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use. All opinions are my own. Please read my disclaimer for more info.

 

Nails and Noms and the remaining Rescue Beauty Lounge Blogger 2.0 collection (Scrangie and Liberty are sold out! What?!) are available on line. Products retail between $18 -$20 a piece.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Recreate Your Favorite Challenge

Heeeeyyyy y'all! Guess what?!? Today is the last, very very last post of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge!!! I seriously cannot believe I made it all the way through! I am not one to finish things, I have a WIP crochet pile to prove it, lol! But those of you that comment here, on twitter and IG have really given me the motivation to finish. So thank you for all the love and support!!!

 

The last theme of the challenge is to "Recreate Your Favorite" and I chose a gradient. I hadn't ever really done one until the challenge and fell in love. Gradients are easy in terms of nail art and can produce some beautiful looks.

 

 

Used:

 

Essie - Mint Candy Apple

O.P.I. - My Vampire Is Buff

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Debut - Tint

 

Make Up Sponge

 

When I got Mint Candy Apple and My Vampire Is Buff, they looked so pretty together in my basket, that I knew they would work well for a gradient. And I was right! One of my favorite things to do to a gradient is layer a glitter or flakie top coat over it. Not only does it help blend the two colors, but also add extra depth for that "Oooooohh" factor.

Sigh. It is polish love.

 

I hope you all have liked my 31 day posts! I admit, I am going to be a little sad not having a challenge post to work on any more. But I want to keep doing nail art, and am going to be posting different designs on a weekly basis, along with more swatches and other things. Also, I have added a tab at the top of my blog for all the 31 day posts for easy reference and inspiration.

 

Hope you all have a great day and be sure to check back soon. I have some delicious goodies waiting to share!

Essie Mint Candy Apple

Hey lovelies! Today is a quickie swatch post, but I had to share because you all need this beauty! Essie Mint Candy Apple is a long time lemming of mine, and when Essie recently brought it back as part of their core line, I was quite the happy polish hoarder collector. I don't know why I didn't grab it sooner, but I am ever so glad I have it now!

 

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my own personal use.

 

 

Essie - Mint Candy Apple

 

Mint Candy Apple is a bright minty blue cream with a twitch of green. I was expecting more green, but the blue tone is really nice and clean. It reminds me of spearmint gum. Formula was a nice surprise, very smooth and buttery. It applied like a dream! 2 coats for full coverage. The first was a tiny bit patchy, but the second smoothed everything out perfectly. Average dry time as well. My only issue is that it is a little unfriendly to nails with ridges. My thumbs are very ridgey (is that a word?) and it is quite noticeable with this on and no base. So be sure to use a good ridge filler base coat when you wear it! My fav is butter London Nail Foundation. It smooths everything out really well.

 

Hope you all have a great weekend! And go get Mint Candy Apple, like now!

 

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use. All opinions are my own. For more info, please see my disclaimer.

 

Essie is available at various locations. Products retail approx. $8 a piece.

Fashion Friday #10

Happy Friday, my friends! Seriously glad this week is over. Long and boring over here in Casa de Painted Nail. Even though it is a mild summer by Texas summers, it is still hot and makes for lack luster days and stir crazy littles.

 

Camille and I are back with another installment of out fashion/nail art mash up. As always, be sure to check out Camille's awesome fashion blog, Pretty and Punk to get the inside scoop on her style and inspiration!

 

 

 

Inspiration Look

 

Used:

 

Zoya - Maya

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

 

Nail art brushes

 

If this doesn't scream Pretty and Punk, then I don't know what does. Just an FYI, I am astounded that I was able to free hand those little skull & cross bones. As much as I love the dress, I was scared to try to recreate it in nail form. But I am glad I did! Super cute dress, super cute nails! On a side note, Zoya Maya is the closest polish I have to a hot pink cream. It's more coral toned (big surprise) and a jelly. I couldn't believe that out of my 300+ polishes, that I didn't have a hot pink cream. Wtf.

 

 

Inspiration Look

 

Used:

 

Essie - Mint Candy Apple

O.P.I. - My Vampire Is Buff

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

 

Dotting Tool

 

I really like this pairing a lot; simple with a retro vibe and unusual color combinations. In mani form, it's a fun look to wear. Especially since my two new favorite polishes are MCA and MVIB. I may have used them again in an upcoming post, shhh! Accent nails are a fun way to do a little nail art if you a scared to tackle a full mani. Unusual color combos and different textural designs are a great way to mix things up and step outside of the boring mani box. Give it a try!

 

I really hope you guys have enjoyed the Fashion Friday collab posts! I certainly do, and I am excited to see what the fall season has in store! Have a great weekend!



31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By A Tutorial

Hey lovelies! Today is the last themed challenge post and I think it may be my fav out of the whole thing! The theme is "Inspired By A Tutorial" and I had a few different things floating around in my head, until I saw the awesome Waterfall Nails by the ever so amazing Sammie of The Nailasaurus. I am crazy in love with this design, and I want to do all the colors!

 

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - My Vampire Is Buff

O.P.I. - Funkey Dunkey

Zoya - Dannii

Essie - Play Date

Essie - Full Steam Ahead

 

Nail Art brush

 

Oh look! I actually used a different O.P.I this time! lol...

 

Initially, I was super nervous that I wouldn't be able to recreate the look, and also that it wouldn't look right on my longer nails. Sammie definitely knows how to rock shorties! But thankfully my years in college painting classes paid off, and it was as simple as doing brush work on canvas! Good to know that my tuition has paid off in the form of nail art!!!

 

There really is a lot of depth to this design, and I am going through my stash to see if I have enough of other colors to do it again. Seriously, it's so pretty in person. So go check out Sammie's tutorial and do some Waterfall Nails!

 

 

The very last challenge post is coming up Tuesday! I also have a few swatches and some other Nail Art stuff ready to post for you guys. Aaaannnnd!!!! My blog is turning one next weekend!!! I have a super awesome surprise planned, so be sure to follow me on twitter and IG so you don't miss it!!!!

KBShimmer What's Your Damage

Hey everyone! I have another KBShimmer for you guys! Monday I posted a review of The Dancing Green and today is the awesome What's Your Damage.

 

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use.

 

KBShimmer - What's Your Damage

 

What's Your Damage is a milky polish with black, neon green and pink large hex, pink square, black circle and black shard glitters. OMFG it is amaze-balls. I have been hesitant over the neon glitter thing going on in Indie Polish Land, but this is frickin awesome. The contrast of the black glitter really does it for me. Total badass vibe. I layered 2 coats over 2 coats of MBSW to make it completely opaque. Personal preference, you could totally build this up by itself. The glitter was a little finicky and I had to fish/dab for my application. Everything else was perfect. Finish off with a nice thick top coat, the larger glitters and the shards tend to poke up a bit. 

 

 

Are you into the neon glitter craze? What are some of your picks?

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use. All opinions are my own. For more info, please read my disclaimer.

KBShimmer polishes are available on line. Products retail for $8.75 a piece. For international shoppers, KBShimmer is available at Harlow & Co. Prices may vary.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By the Supernatural

Hey y'all! Today is a challenge post day! I am nearing the end of the 31 day nail art challenge, only two more after this one! I honestly can't believe how far I have come by doing this. It has really improved my nail art skills as well as my overall photo skills.

 

The theme for today is "Inspired By The Supernatural," and without a doubt, this was the one I was least looking forward to. Trying to find inspiration was beyond nerve wracking. Late last night, I was complaining to my husband about not having any ideas (while surfing pinterest trying to find one) and he said "How long have you known about it?" quite sarcastically. In the end, I decided to go with a design by Simply Rins, Skull Skittles!

 

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - MBSW

Essie - Mint Candy Apple

Bettina - Wild Orchid

Julep - Lexie

China Glaze - Tart-y For The Party

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

 

Nail art brushes

Dotting Tools

 

Aside from a little bit of streaking, I think it looks super cute! I wanted to go for the same bright feeling Rin's design had, but used colors that I like and go together. Maybe it doesn't exactly fit into the supernatural theme, but what ever. This is what you get from me, so yay!



 

 

More KBShimmer goodness tomorrow, and then the last two challenge posts Woohoo!!!

KBShimmer The Dancing Green

Hey y'all, happy Monday! This weekend was super short and went by way too fast for me. But it was fun while it lasted! Today I have one of the awesome new summer KBShimmer polishes to share! KBShimmer is one of my absolute fav Indie polish brands and I am constantly impressed by the creativity and quality that comes with each new collection. The summer collection is no different. It is full of awesome colors and glitter combos, as well as new wax finish neons, all inspired by the bold fashion trends of the 80's and 90's. You can read all about the inspiration and see bottle shots in the press release, here. I did a little birthday shopping and snagged a couple bottles for myself and one for an upcoming giveaway!!!

 

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my own personal use.

 

 

 

KBShimmer - The Dancing Green

 

The Dancing Green is a crazy bright green jelly loaded with circle, square and hex glitters in fuchsia, lime green, gold, and navy blue. We all know how I feel about green polish and circle glitter, so it's no secret that I needed this polish. Seriously, it's gorgeous. And so perfect for summer! Formula was a bit on the thin side. This is 3 coats, and there is a tiny bit of VNL still. It would work well over green undies ( Revlon Posh is a great green cream) to remedy the issue. Because of the this base, I did have to fish for glitter. I basically did a normal first coat, and then dabbed for the second and third. A couple coats of a good shiny topper, and your set!

 

 

 

 

 

The only gripe I have is the square glitter kept getting stuck in the brush. Overall, it does require a bit of work, but in the end, I think it is totally worth it. The finished result is so eye catching!

 

More 31 day challenge posts (I am almost done!!!) as well as the other KBShimmer I grabbed - What's Your Damage are in the line up for this week! And Fashion Friday is making a return! Lots of good stuff, so be sure you are keeping up with me on twitter, IG and Blog Lovin' (links are in the right sidebar for your convenience) so you don't miss out!

 

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use. All opinions are my own. For more info, please read my disclaimer.

 

KBShimmer polishes are available on line. Products retail for $8.75 a piece. For international shoppers, KBShimmer is available at Harlow & Co. Prices may vary.

Mint Mani For Talia Joy

When I first started my blog (almost a year ago, eep!) and joined the community of beauty bloggers, I was completely blown away. As a whole, this community, is amazing, supportive and beyond generous. We share in each others triumphs and struggles. Sure there are catty moments and people, but overall everyone who blogs or v-logs on YouTube is pretty rad, in my opinion.

 

Recently we lost a beautiful soul, and her presence will be sorely missed.

 

 

Used:

 

China Glaze - Keep Calm, Paint On

 

Born Pretty Studs

 

At the end of the day, it's not about the nail polish or the artwork. It's about coming together as a community, to honor the memory of Talia. She represented the best of us with her courage and strength and bright spirit. Shine on little one.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By A Flag

Hey guys and gals! Today is challenge day! Inspired by a flag is the theme and I honestly had a "WTF" moment trying to find inspiration. My husband suggested using Nautical Flags since I could use a different one for each nail. He was a Coastie (Coast Guard) when we met, and he has the flags and their meanings committed to memory apparently. After a quick google search and a mock up using nail art templates from Samarium's Swatches, I totally had an awesome design!

Used:

O.P.I. - MBSW

Pomegranate Laquer - Fit For A Prince

SOPI by Betsey Johnson - Pushing Your Luck

Julep - Lexie

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

Striping Tape

Nail Art Brush

The flags have several different meanings as well as an alphabetical association. I chose flags the correspond with the beginning letters of all out names. Pointer - C, Middle - B, Ring - M, Pinky - R.

I actually really like how these came out! I would totally do it again if we ever went on a cruise or spent a day on the lake.

A pic of my elusive thumb! I painted a bit of rope, or a piece of "line" as they call it on a ship, to go along with the flags.

I posted a pic on IG last night of my design on the awesome nail art templates Sarah made and graciously shared, and I am so glad to have these now! If you like to plan out your designs, this is definitely something to grab.

Aren't they awesome?!?

I am going to try to get some swatches up this weekend. I have a couple of polishes from the KBShimmer summer collection that I grabbed for my birthday!!!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By Artwork

Hey all you lovely people! Hope your week is going well! We have a bit of sunshine today, after an all day downpour yesterday. Rain is great an d all, but all frickin day is a bit much. My garden is looking rather water logged today!

 

Since it is Tuesday, that means another challenge post is up today! I have been eagerly waiting for this particular theme, because I am a huge art dork. Fun fact: I was a fine arts major in college and took long boring classes about art history! So I have a fair bit of knowledge pertaining to artists and their bodies of work. Finding a piece and translating it to nail art was a bit of a challenge, but after I decided to go for a more graphic style, everything fell in to place. One of the best graphic artists, I think, is Andy Warhol. His imagery is iconic, bright and totally eye catching. One of my favorite pieces is an earlier lithograph called "Flowers."

 

 

photo credit

 

 

 

Used:

 

Essie - The More The Merrier

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

Color Club - Coral Cascade

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry - Man-Go Team

Julep - Lexie

China Glaze - Passion For Petals

 

Nail Art Fan Brush

Dotting Tools

 

I cannot believe how awesome these turned out!!! I am so so so happy with everything about them. And I am totally gonna rock these all day long.

 

For the grassy back ground, I used the fan brush that came with my nail art brush set and I really love the grungy result. Dotting tools for the flowers and topped it all with NYC Grand Central Station (thinned down an excessive amount). Pop art on my finger tips! 

 

 I would really love to play around with this style and do different color combos. Maybe some like the NARS palettes that were released last fall?

Next up is "Inspired By A Flag" and I have noooooo clue what I am going to do! >_<

Nail Of The Day: It's My Birthday!

Hey everyone! I have just a quick NotD post today, my birthday nails! Today is my 33rd birthday, and naturally had to do some fun nail art for the occasion. I am NOT a fan of cupcake nails, so I opted for something a little different. And a huge thanks to my nail peeps on Twitter and IG for the help/inspiration!

 

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - MBSW

Essie - Full Steam Ahead

Essie - Naughty Nautical

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry - Man-Go Team

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry - Butter-Fly Stroke

 

Nail Art Brush

Dotting Tools

 

Sugar Spun! I am so in love with sugar spun nails now! I cannot wait to try more color combos. It is super easy too, just requires a little patience. I followed the tutorial from the fabulous Sammie of The Nailasaurus for these. Every time I look at them, I can't help but smile. They are so fun!

 

 

My birthday has been great. We went to see The Little Shop Of Horrors this weekend, followed by a day at the splash pad and dinner/birthday margaritas. My husband and daughter are making my birthday cake for me today. All in all, it has been a fantastic few days and I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family.

 

See you all tomorrow with another 31 Day challenge post!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By A Pattern

Hey y'all! I have the next challenge post up today. The theme is "Inspired By A Pattern" and I went with a stamped Geometric design.

 

 

Used:

 

Julep - Lexie

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry - In Record Lime

 

Bundle Monster Plate - BM 209

Dotting Tool

 

It's been a long time since I have stamped anything that turned out okay. Stamping is rather tricky for me, but I know if I actually practiced, I'm sure it wouldn't be so hard. Maybe I need to bring Sunday Stamped back after I finish the challenge?

 

I am kinda loving these two colors together. So super bright, with out being neon. I think I may leave this on for a while!

 

 

Monday is my birthday, so I am planning something fun. Hope you join me!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inpired By Fashion

Hey guys and gals! I am trying to get back to my nail art challenge posting schedule, so since today is Tuesday, is time for another challenge prompt. Today's theme is "Inspired By Fashion" and everything I know about the fashion industry I learned from Project Runway. I really don't consider myself to be fashionable. I am totally comfortable in jeans and a cute shirt. Probably the most fashionable thing about me is my nails! I do love the creative design that goes into fashion, and especially doing a little nail art inspired by it, as you have all seen in my Fashion Friday collab posts.

 

I simply did a google search for current runway fashions and came across Diane Von Furstenburg's spring line. This particular outfit caught my eye. I love the color combo and the detailing around the yoke on the top is so visually interesting. I would totally wear it.

 

 

 

 

Used:

 

Julep - Dianna

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Ghost

 

Dotting Tool

 

I tried to recreate the feel and the detailing in the yoke for my design. I was going to add a bit of coral, but I am glad I left it like this.  It has such a 70's bohemian vibe, I totally love it. It definitely ranks up there with my favs from the challenge.

 

Only six more posts left in the challenge! I can't believe how far I have come and that I have stuck with it! Next is "Inspired By A Pattern"!

Lacquer Lust - Morning Sunshine

Hey y'all, happy Monday! Hope the weekend was a good one. I want this week to go by as quickly as possible because next Monday is my birthday! I will be 33 and I'm not exactly sure how I feel about that. But I will be getting moar polish and that is definitely something to be happy about!

 

Today I have something new to share - thermal polish! A.K.A. polish that changes color depending on body/ambient temperatures. Thermal polish is a completely new thing for me, and I wasn't sure exactly how I felt about the trend, to be honest. Until I stumbled upon Lacquer Lust that is.

 

Please Note: Products were purchased by me for my personal use.

 

 

 

Lacquer Lust - Morning Sunshine

 

Morning Sunshine is a peach/coral thermal crelly with tiny gold flakies. It is beautiful! I cannot even begin to describe how much I luuuurvvvve this polish. The color change is awesome, very obvious and sensitive too. I was completely fascinated by it for the three days I wore this. Formula was nice, but strange. A little thick, but not problematic. More gluey in consistency, but again, it wasn't something that was an issue at all. It just felt different that other polish when I was applying that. I used three coats, two worked fine, but I used a third to cover a tiny bit of VNL. Application was really good, no dragging, pooling, or anything else. It was also kinda cool watching the polish change color while I was painting my nails.

 

 

Cold

 

Warm

 

Transition

 

 

Can you guess why I picked this particular thermal to try? If you said Coral, you're right! And you read my blog. Which means you are awesome. Anyway, I am totally blown away with this, and I am dying to get my hands on more thermals. There was recently a restock, and the shop is on vacation right now, but Jo (the creator) is active on twitter, facebook and IG so there are plenty of ways to find out when the next restock is. So go follow all the ways and get some thermals! She also makes some beautiful holos as well for all you holo lovers!

 

Lacquer Lust is available on line and at Harlow & Co for international shoppers. Prices range from $8.50 to $12.50 per bottle. Harlow & Co prices vary.

 

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my own personal use. All opinions are my own. Please read my disclaimer for more information.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By A Book

Hey lovelies! So obviously, I am super off schedule with my challenge posts this week. Just too much going on with little birthdays and fire works to have any real time for nail art.

 

This post is "Inspired By A Book" and I really struggled to find the perfect book for this. I am a huge book nerd and I am one of those people who can get lost in a good story. My favorite book(s) is the Harry Potter series. But it has been done a ton of times in the realm of nail art and I really wanted to do something different. It took a few days to make a decision, but I finally did, and am beyond happy with it!

 

 

I actually just finished reading it to the small person a few weeks ago and fell in love all over again with Pippi. She was one of my literary heroines as a kid, and I still admire her tenacity and good nature today.

 

Used:

 

Zoya - Arizona

 

Middle Finger:

Julep - Ingrid

Essie - Brooch The Subject

Sally Hansen Insta Dry - Butter-Fly Stroke

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

 

Ring Finger:

O.P.I. - MBSW

Maybelline Color Show - Paint The Town

Essie - Brooch The Subject

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

 

In the end, I couldn't have picked a better book to use and I am so happy with how it turned out. Hopefully, Pippi would be proud!

 

 

I will be trying to play catch up next week. I still have to post the rest of the Essie summer collection and I have an awesome Thermal polish to share as well! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Nail Of The Day: 'Merica Nails

Heeeyyyyyy! Happy 4th of July guys! I'm sure everyone's blog readers are full of festive nails, so let's add one more!

 

 

 

Used:

 

Takko Lacquer - Va Va Voom

Zoya Pixie Dust - Liberty

 

Born Pretty Stud

 

Of course I had to go overboard with the sparkles! Holo and Pixie Dust in one mani, plus studs. I think I have created the polish-obsessed trifecta. Plus, they kinda remind me of Wonder Woman. Can't get any more awesome than that!

 

Hope all of my fellow 'mericans have a fantastic 4th. Be sure to grab a cold drink and watch some fireworks tonight!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Inspired By A Movie

Hey y'all! I'm back with the next 31 Day challenge prompt, "Inspired By A Movie." I love movies and I love to nerd out over movies. One of my favorite directors is Hayao Miyazaki. I have seen and own almost every one of his movies. He is a masterful storyteller. My all time favorite is My Neighbor Totoro, so I used that as my inspiration. I know it's been done a million times already, but whatever.

 

 

Used:

 

Nails Inc - The Thames

Essie - Cocktail Bling

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

O.P.I. - MBSW

 

I'm kinda "meh" with the result. Totoro ended up looking more like a cat, and the soot sprites are a bit lumpy. I'm not quite sure how to make nail art look smooth, so any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

 

Inspired By A Book is next on the list!