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.

February Day 4: Polka Dots

Please pardon the dot smears - that's what I get for doing this in 30 minutes (including top coat). Please pardon the glare - it was cloudy and rainy when I took this photo.

I used Essie Bond With Whomever and Licorice, L'Oréal New Money, Orly Instant Artist Jet Black, and Seche Warm Hearted.

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.

Another Crazy Retro Pattern

I was experimenting with some different manicures I could make using the same colors. This somewhat retro pattern was a result of that and has been used as a guest post on one blog already.

I used L'Oréal New Money, Essie Bond With Whomever, Barielle Love, and Orly Instant Artist Jet Black.

Vintage Dotticure

I forgot to post this happy little dotticure when I did it. I used L'Oréal New Money and Essie Bond With Whomever for the base and Barrielle Love, a sheer pearl white, for the dots.

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.

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.

A Girl Watches Monsters University and then Does Her Nails

I was encouraged by my cousin, Julia Mendoza,  to do my nails and start posting!

I guess I was subconsciously influenced by watching Monsters University because one of my followers pointed out that it kind of looked inspired by the movie.

I used L'Oréal New Money (pictured) for the gradient base and the swirls Essie Cab-ana for the second color in the gradient and base for the ring finger and Splash of Grenadine to finish off the gradient.

This is what happens when Mike and Sully are smushed together with a touch of Celia Mae on the ring finger.

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.

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.

Connect-the-Mustache

Can you see the mustache? I used Ciaté Mojito and Barielle Grape Escape for the sponging, Essie Shine of the Times over that, and Orly Instant Artist Jet Black for the mustache. Note: I used Essie Marshmallow as a base so that the colors would be opaque but also light.

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.

Underwater Abstract

I was inspired by Chalkboard Nails for this manicure using Nicole by OPI Mer-Maid for Each Other and Orly Instant Artist for the wavy lines. I wish I could find the exact post that Chalkboard Nails did, but she has such a great blog I recommend just exploring it and getting inspiration.

Because of the green/blue base and wavy lines, my nails ended up looking like abstract seaweed to me.

Nicole by OPI Mer-Maid for Each Other

I had been eyeing this polish for some time. I was mesmerized by the metallic finish and iridescent shift from green to blue. So far, I have not seen another polish like it. It has great application and I highly recommend it.

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

Rainbow Streaks

To create these Rainbow Streaks, I used Julep Kate as the white base. (I'll post my swatch of that later.)

Pink: Orly Butterflies
Orange: SinfulColors Hazard
Yellow: Ulta Sun-Sational
Green: Ulta Limelght
Blue: Ulta Blue Streak
Purple: Ulta Duty Free Shopping Spree

The bottom two pictures show the finished product with Nicole by OPI Here Kim's the Sun on the tips and Cina rhinestones.

Here are my nails right after I painted all of the Rainbow Streaks. (No top coat.)

From left to right, top to bottom: 1. Paint your base color. 2. Using a small nail art brush, paint your pink streak(s). 3. Paint your orange streak(s). 4. Paint your yellow streak(s). Mine are hard to see in this picture because the yellow is on the side. 5-7. Continue on with streaks of green, blue, and purple. The last picture shows the manicure after I added a glitter coat to the tips and rhinestones on my ring finger.

I love the way the very edge looks.

Ulta - Limelight

Color swatch time again. My posts are a little out of order but this manicure was done right after I removed the cherry design. I realized that I am more critical of polish wear and tear when I have a design on. Is anyone else the same way?

Limelight had a very smooth consistency. Unfortunately, my top coat shrunk the polish. I used Essie Good to Go which is my current favorite but, because it had become thick with time, I added Seche Restore to return Good to Go back to its normal, smooth self. As a result, my top coat shrunk my polish just like how Seche Vite does to me. More details on this in my next post.

After a few days of wear and while eating peanut M&M's

Poll Winner - Cherries

The Cherry design was the recent poll winner, and when the time came for me to do the design, I realized I didn't have a true green for the leaves. The color I used is more of a dark sea green.

To start off, I used Essie Blanc and OPI Pink-ing of You for the base.

Then I used OPI I'm Not Really a Waitress and a large dotting tool (really it was the end of a eyeliner makeup brush) to make the cherries, Orly Instant Artist Jet Back for the stems, SinfulColors Rise and Shine for the leaves, and Essie Blanc with a small dotting tool for the polka dots on the thumb and with a small paint brush for the little shine on the cherries.

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.