L'Oréal Not a Cloud in Sight

Not a Cloud in Sight is a bright and sheer cream polish. I needed to paint three thin coats to cover any streaky areas. My bottle was very "fluid" which I guess is better than a thick polish, but when I painted just my nail, it would run onto my cuticles.

Oh well, this is three coats with no top coat.

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

Mini Interlocking Dots

Using an Interlocking Dot tutorial by @slacquerr on Instagram, I tried out this popular nail design. I modified it a little bit into what I am calling "Mini Interlocking Dots" and could not get enough of it. I was remarkably time consuming but not really complicated. It is important to have a good dotting tool so that the dots are uniform.

I used Essie Turquoise & Caicos and Lapiz of Luxury.

I would love to do this manicure again in all types of combinations. In fact, I just thought up one right now. Stay tuned!

I did the regular-sized interlocking dots on my thumbs so here is a comparison.

Vintage Abstract Roses

This is my first time trying to paint vintage roses, they turned into abstract vintage roses instead.

For the base color I used Essie Turquoise & Caicos, for the stripes I used Orly Instant Artist Crisp White, for the leaves I used Ulta Limelight, and for the roses I used Ulta Sun-Sational, Cream of the Crop, and OPI Pink-ing of You.

As you can see, my right hand has a more simple design as it is my dominant hand and I can't draw straight stripes with my left hand.

Left Hand

Left Hand

Right Hand

Tape Triangles 2.0

I hand painted a piece of regular Scotch Tape with Essie Secret Story and then let it dry a while back. I decided to cut triangles out of the tape and then apply it on top of the manicure I already had done.

Other polishes: SinfulColors Mint Apple and Rise and Shine and Essie Shine of the Times.

Tape Triangles

SinfulColors Mint Apple and Essie Shine of the Times as the base. After the polish was dry I placed tape on the nail and painted over with SinfulColors Rise and Shine. (Rise and Shine is a brighter green then any of the pictures could show.)

Indirect Sunlight

Direct Sunlight

A Mint Apple Flakie

Here is SinfulColors Mint Apple and Essie Shine of the Times. It's the base of my current manicure that I keep adding to.

Also, here is my go-to mascara: CoverGirl Lash Blast Volume: Waterproof. And there are those Olympic rings. I can't wait to watch them!

Cupcakes - Poll Winner

I always wanted to try out the cupcake look. This was much harder than I had expected but well worth the time. I think they are so cute! I used Grace Advantage French Beige, OPI Pink-ing of You, Essie Turquoise & Caicos, Lapiz of Luxury, and Blanc, and Ulta Duty Free Shopping Spree along with Cina rhinestones and Recollections microbeads for chocolate sprinkles on my ring finger.

Grace Advantage French Beige was used a a base for the whole nail. Grace Advantage is a smaller brand and their polishes are salicylate, formaldehyde, toluene, camphor, and dibutylpthalate free. The formula was sheer, as it should be, but was a little streaky with two coats.

Pictured with Essie Blanc

Pictured with OPI Pink-ing of Your

Pictured with Essie Lapiz of Luxury

From left to right, top to bottom: 1. Paint a sheer base color and, once dry, paint 1/3 from the tip of your nail up with a color (pink). 2. Using a thin brush, paint stripes on the pink using a different color (purple). 3. Paint a strip of white right above the pink and purple. Use your nail polish brush to round the white polish to try to match the curve of your cuticle. Then, with a dotting tool or round end of a small makeup or paint brush, drag some of the white polish onto the pink and purple stripes. 4. With a dotting tool, make your sprinkles and add a rhinestones on top.

Little Bow Ties for My Sister

I used Essie Turquoise & Caicos, Sephora by OPI A-ha! Moment, and Orly Instant Artist Jet Black.

From top to bottom: 1. Using a small paint or nail brush, draw a triangle shape on the nail with the base starting at the tip of the nail. 2. Use the paint brush again to make a thin line above the triangle. 3. Using a dotting tool, dot the outline of the bow tie. Meaning, put a dot in the center and one dot at each tip of the bow. Then fill in the rest with the black color. 4. With another color, create a little dot in the center of the bow. 

SinfulColors Mint Apple

Mint Apple is a cream teal color with silver shimmer. This color is very similar to Essie's Turquoise & Caicos. It is opaque in two coats and was smooth in application. Note: I was enjoying my grandma's homemade chocolate chip cookies at the time of this picture.

Two Coats

Marshmallow and Jelly Sandwich

I was inspired by a Jelly Sandwich manicure that used Essie Marshmallow and A Cut Above. I loved the pink and white together but wanted to try something I had not seen yet. So here's what happens when Essie Marshmallow and Milani Teal sandwich up.

Two coats of Essie Marshmallow and two coats of Milani Teal. I also loved this look but had to proceed with the marshmallow and jelly sandwich I was envisioning.

Step-by-Step. 1. Two coats of Essie Marshmallow. 2. One coat of Milani Teal (just to see how it looks). 3. Another coat of Milani Teal (two coats total of the glitter). 4. One thin coat of Essie Marshmallow.

The finished Marshmallow and Jelly Sandwich. Love, love, love!

Surfer Girl - Part 2

White Dots: Sephora by OPI A-ha! Moment. Caution: Make sure your dots are relatively dry before you apply a top coat. You don't want you dots to drag like mine did. Also, I discovered that white polish is a pain to get off of dry cuticles.

Surfer Girl - Part 1

Base: Essie Turquoise & Caicos. Dots: Sinful Colors Hazard. Turquoise & Caicos is turning out to be a very nice stand in for my Essie Mint Candy Apple.

Missing My Mint Candy Apple

This was my last manicure using Essie Mint Candy Apple. It is all thick now. I've heard about polish thinners but I haven't been able to purchase any yet. To complete this manicure though, I paired it with OPI Brisbane Bronze as the polka dot color.