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 11: Pastel

I used OPI Pink-ing of You for the base, Essie In the Cab-ana and L'Oréal Royalty Reinvented for the polka dots, and Orly Instant Artist Crisp White for the stripe. I applied Ciaté Cutie Pie (a light, sheer pink) over the entire design to soften the colors.

February Day 9: Hearts

Apparently some of my favorite manicure ideas only pop into my head when I only have 30 minutes to create the look and no time for it to dry.

For these contrasting hearts I used Essie Splash of Grenadine and Marshmallow, Ulta Blue Streak and Sun-Sational, L'Oréal New Money and Crazy fro Chic, SinfulColors Hazard, and Orly Instant Artist Jet Black.

A Meandering Mess of Polka Dots

....I was just letting my creativity run free. Some of the dots actually turned into migrating dots I guess. I used L'Oréal Crazy for Chic, New Money, and Not a Cloud in Sight and Ulta Blue Streak.

Summer Thoughts

The brightness of Essie Peach Daiquiri is almost neon and certainly is uplifting, and the contrast of Beyond Cozy glams up this look.

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.

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. 

Chevron Contrast

Someone how my only two chevron manicures look the same. Search "chevron" for an earlier attempt at this style.

I used SinfulColors Pink Forever, Sonia Kashuk Smoke and Mirrors, and Ulta Blue Streak for this version. 

I know the tips turned out super thick. Lesson learned: give polish at least a few minutes to dry before adding another layer. 

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). 

Essie Splash of Grenadine

Splash of Grenadine is a popular and much loved polish among the nail artists I follow, but I never got around to trying it for myself.

It is a beautiful dusty pink-purple polish and the formula was very smooth and easy to work with.

This is two coats with no top coat.

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.

Ruffian Girl

So I tried my hand at the ruffian style manicure for the first time using OPI Pedal Faster Suzi! and Ciaté Headliner. I love how the colors look together, especially the contrast because Pedal Faster Suzi! has a pink/silver shimmer and Headliner has a subtle gold sparkle.

For this look I just painted my base color and then added the second color but with some distance away from my cuticles. So it did take time and a steady hand. I still need practice to get a better curve, but it was fun twist on just regular nail painting.

A Full-On Dotticure

I was inspired by Lucy at Lucy's Stash for this dotticure. I couldn't get the vibrant purples to correctly show up although I tried several poses and lighting arrangements. The base is Barielle Grape Escape and the polka dots are SinfulColors Mint Apple and Pink Forever, OPI Pink-ing of You, and Essie Licorice. 

I did the same design on both of my hands. You can see my dominant right hand at the bottom of the page. I thought it turned out pretty well...especially since it got so repetitive.

Left Hand - Indoor Lighting

Left Hand - Indoor Lighting

Left Hand - Natural Light

Right Hand - Natural Light

Sponge and Microbead It Up!

I was inspired by Tamara on ohtammm's Instagram page for the gradient/sponging technique and color combo, Sammy from The Nailasaurus Blog for the microbead use, and "Higasaurus" here on Instagram for combing both elements. Check those gorgeous gals out! 

I used Essie Marshmallow as the base for the middle and ring fingers with SinfulColors Pink Forever, Hazard, Why Not, Ulta Sun-Sational and Duty Free Shopping Spree sponged over that white base. Then my index and pinky finger is SinfulColors Why Not with silver Recollections Microbeads. It's all topped off with Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

Abstract and Warhol Inspired

Polka dots and flowers that ended up looking like anemones. It feels very vintage and cutesy to me. Someone commented on Instagram that they were reminded of Andy Warhol's art when they saw this photo. I used Ulta Blue Streak, Julep Kate, SinfulColors Pink Forever and Hazard, and Orly Instant Artist Jet Black.

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.

Stripe Bright

I used eight different colors to achieve this multi-stripe mani. I used SinfulColors Pink Forever and Hazard, Ulta Sun-Sational, Ciaté Mojito, Headliner, Cookies and Cream and Twilight, and Barielle Grape Escape.

I just applied each line with a thin nail art brush.

Saran/Cling Wrap

Here is my first try at Saran or Cling Wrap nails. It is super easy, and I didn't have to worry about being neat. I used Chelsea King's YouTube video here. I used Ciaté Big Yellow Taxi and SinfulColors Pink Forever, then I added Essie Pure Pearlfection.

The basic idea of saran or cling wrap nails: 1. Paint your base color and let it dry (or let it dry a little bit...I wasn't that patient); 2. Paint your second color over that; and then 3. Lightly dab wadded up cling wrap over the nail to remove the top layer of polish in some places.