Day 23: Animal Theme

Day 23 - Animal Theme. I chose Tiger print for my animal themed manicure. I used Seche Captivating and Orly Instant Artist Jet Black. I didn't apply any topcoat because I liked the shine of Captivating under the matte Jet Black. 

Day 20: Floral

These are my Johnny Jump Up/Pansy nails with OPI Passion, Essie Splash of Grenadine, Ciaté Big Yellow Taxi, Ulta Duty Free Shopping Spree, Essence Break Through, and Seche Collected Moments.

February Day 1: Glitter

I'm participating in a "Nail Art Challenge" for February created by @californails. Day 1 is Glitter so I used Seche Up Close & Personal (the deep red) and Sparkle, Cling, Kiss (the shimmery, foil-like gold with red glitter). 

@californails

Julep Joelle

Joelle is a super dense holo glitter polish that applies smoothly and is nearly opaque in 1 coat. However, I used 3 coats because I'm obsessed with how beautiful this is.

Twinsie Galaxy Nails

My sister and I did Twinsie Galaxy Nails recently and I loved the outcome.

I used Essie Licorice and Turquoise & Caicos, SinfulColors Snow the White, Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac, and Nicole by OPI Here Kim's the Sun.

How do you combine nature and hollywood?

...In this manicure of course! I admit that the light pearly green and silver star combination is an odd one but I loved trying something new. I used my very first Zoya nail polish, Tracy, Sonia Kashuk Smoke and Mirrors, and some glitter confetti.

Splash It! Art

So I have some catching up to do since my last post...in September. This manicure actually was the result of doing my nails in a hotel room in New York after a day of plane, train, subway, and bus travel. I needed my nails to look nice for my long weekend trip, but I was way too tired to do any design that required a steady hand. Thus this pain splatter look was born!

For the base I used Essie Cab-ana, then I used cling/saran wrap to dab on Essie Splash of Grenadine, L'Oréal New Money and Members Only. I added Sally Hansen Snow Globe for a nice iridescent glitter effect.

Pop Stars

I was in love with this girly, bright and cartoony manicure for the weekend.

So here's how it happened. I started with my favorite base coat, Butter London Nail Foundation (Thanks again mom. I can't believe it has lasted me a year.) and then painted two coats of Essie Bond With Whomever for the base.

Then I sponged on Bond With Whomever and L'Oréal Members Only using a super cheap makeup sponge triangle. Note: I put both colors on the sponge, side-by-side so that the colors will blend better. Look up Gradients on my tutorial page for pictures on that. 

After the colors on each nail was blended just the way I wanted, I immediately applied Nicole by OPI Here Kim's the Sun. Applying it while the gradient colors are still slightly wet helps the colors blend even more. After Seche Vite top coat, the gradient was done!

So this is what happened next: I wasn't really happy with my nails...they were just too plain for my mood. So I got out Ulta Sun-Sational and painted a few squares on a new Ziploc bag, making sure that the squares were opaque. I let them dry overnight, and, in the morning, I got my star hold punch (originally purchased for scrapbooking...that never happened), gently peeled off the dried yellow polish squares from of the plastic baggie, and put them through the hole punch as if they were paper. Out came these brightly colored, perfectly cut stars.

To attach the stars, I just did a dot of top coat on my nail, applied the star, and cut off any excess with small cuticle scissors. Another coat of Seche Vite and this little beauty was the result.

Glitter-licious, It's Hot Hot

Matte Glitter? Yes please. I used my favorite black polish for the base, Essie Licorice. Then it was a combo of Milani Teal and Hot Pink glitter topped off with Essie Matte About You top coat to finish off this look.

Blue Barbie

This was my manicure from the past weekend. I felt very Barbie-esque for some reason. Maybe it was the pink glitter and the light teal-ish blue color. Whatever it was, I loved it!

I used Essie Cab-ana, Revlon Whimsical, and Cina rhinestons

Starry Eyed

For the middle and ring finger, I used Essie Bond With Whomever. For the index and pinky finger, I used L'Oréal Members Only. I added Sally Hansen Snow Globe, then I placed star glitter. 

Glitter and Grunge

After doing a manicure that included trying to draw letters...and failing horribly (I might post that up later), I did this glitter gradient and saran wrap manicure that is more my style.

I used L'Oréal Royalty Reinvented as the base, Sally Hansen Snow Globe for the glitter gradient, and Essie Licorice as the second color for the saran wrap effect.
 

May's Purple Thursday Week 3 - Delayed Post

Note: I did try to upload this post on-time, and I believed that it had uploaded. I was very disappointed to see that it never did. Since then, I've tried repeatedly to upload this post, gotten an error message, and then became very frustrated with the whole complicated, problem-ridden procedure. Now I'm back and hopefully I won't encounter the same issue. 

I decided to do Galaxy nails with my poor rendition of the USS Enterprise...because I'm seeing Star Trek tonight. 

I used Barielle Hidden Hideaway, L'Oréal Royalty Reinvented, Essie Splash of Grenadine, Ciaté Magic Carpet, Orly Instant Artist Crisp White, and OPI Pirouette My Whistle. Plus a Essence polish I can't remember the name of (stat tuned). 

May's Purple Thursday Week 2

I know this post just barely made it, but I'm glad I took the time for this mix-and-match design.

I'll update this post with natural-light pictures tomorrow. 

For the base on every nail except my ring finger I used L'Oréal Royalty Reivented. Then I used Essie Bond With Whomever for the base on my ring finger... I added Sally Hansen Snow Globe to that. The heart was done with Ciaté Caberet, and I used Essie Splash of Grenadine for the swirled and criss crossed lines. 

May's Purple Thursday Week 1

So I had exactly 20 minutes to come up with a manicure idea, shape my nails, paint, and photograph them today. So this is what I came up with and execution was rushed, but I'll be improving every week.

I used Essie Splash of Grenadine and Ciaté Magic Carpet as the base and Essie Bond With Whomever,  L'Oréal Royalty Reinvented, and Barielle Grape Escape as the polka dots flower/star bursts.

Autism Awareness Month 2013

As you know, April is Autism Awareness Month. I did this manicure a few days back but have been slacking when it comes to updating my blog. I'm working on improving that. :)

More importantly:
A dear friend of mine's son was recently diagnosed with mild autism, so this is for her and her family.

I used Essie Marshmallow as the base with L'Oréal Not a Cloud in Sight, SinfulColors Why Not, and Ulta Blue Streak for the gradient. I added Ciaté Glass Slipper for sparkle and Milani Silver for the glitter placement heart.

Like my most recent gradient post, I used a white polish as the base (Essie Marshmallow) so that the colors would pop without me having to put tons of layers of blue on.

Wondering how I did the glitter placement? I used Milani Silver because it has large glitter in a clear polish. I just dabbed the polish on a piece of kitchen foil (so it wouldn't dry too fast) and used a dotting tool to pick up individual glitter pieces to make the heart.

A Cotton Candy Fairy Tale rendered in Pastels

What is this? Pastel gradient? Cotton Candy gradient? Fairy-tale gradient? Can it be all three please?

I used Essie Marshmallow as the base and then SinfulColors Cinderella, Glass Pink, and Mint Apple for the gradient. I added OPI Pirouette My Whistle for an even softer/fairy-like look. 

I've gotten some questions on how I do gradients and, personally, it depends on what colors and formulas are involved. For example, since each polish (the blue, pink, and green) is really sheer, I used one coat of white (Essie Marshmallow) for a base so that the finish manicure would be solid (no visible nail line) and would not interfere with the actual gradient colors. 

I'm going to be trying to describe how I do each gradient from here on out.

Loaded Gradient

In a desperate attempt to make up for all the days without having my nails done, I did a gradient, glitter, and rhinestones manicure. I don't usually have so many things going on at the same time, but I do love it!

I used Ciaté Speed Dial, Dangerous Affair, and Cabaret, OPI Pirouette My Whistle, and Cina Rhinestones.

In case the pictures don't really show it well, it goes from orangey-red, to red, to purple.

Cotton Candy Reminiscent

I finally got some real inspiration for a manicure. I dreamt I was wearing this combo so I had to recreate it, and I'm happy to say it turned out as planned. With a gradient that contains all of the colors of cotton candy I have ever consumed and delicate sparkles and glitter I couldn't stop staring. I used OPI Pink-ing of You, Ciaté Headliner, Ulta Duty Free Shopping Spree, and OPI Pirouette My Whistle.

Bows and Polka Dots

A friend of mine loves Hello Kitty and asked me to do a Hello Kitty manicure. She showed me a pic of it, but I don't know who originally did that manicure. All the nails, except the accent nail, were very much like my version of it. Unfortunately, I can't draw to save my life. So I tried to do Hello Kitty's bow instead of drawing her. I think my right hand turned our better but figured I would post both...it was my first time doing bows and this tutorial by The Daily Polish was really helpful.

I used SinfulColors Pink Forever, Orly Instant Artist Crisp White and Jet Black, Julep Kate, and, for the bow only, OPI Pink-ing of You and Nicole by OPI Here Kim's the Sun.

Left Hand

Right Hand