31 Day Challenge, Day Seventeen: Glitter

I have a firm belief that glitter polish looks better in the bottle than it does on my hands. I'm not sure if its the curve of my nails or the colors I choose, but I never really quite feel the BLING factor.

Below I used: 

Revlon: Silver Dollar

Essie: Lapis of Luxury

Essie: Set in Stones

Two coats of "Lapis of Luxury"

Using nail tape I set the limits for the reverse chevron

Add a coat of "Set in Stones" and voila!

                                           

Overall I'm satisfied with this design, but I think I'll try it with a darker base coat next time.. hm.

31 Day Challenge, Day Eleven: Polka Dots

My Polka! For this challenge I used my fancy-schmancy dotting tools. I used two coats of the lighter shade of blue and then I free handed the dots. The dotting tool is really cool and easy to use.

Point to remember: the more polish on dotting tool, the bigger the dot!

31 Day Challenge, Day Five: Blue

So I've been dying to do the nail outline (I have no clue what the official name is) for some time but i forgot until i was reminded recently ^_^. Here's my blue, I used Essie- "Mesmerize" and my Bundle Monster plate you'll see below. A relatively easy design, I first painted my nails the base color and then outlined them free hand.

I also tried a new cleanup technique where I used Aquafor (you can use any oil based product) to coat my cuticles before I started polishing to cut down on my clean up process. You are moisturizing your nails AND helping them look neater allll in one. Just try not to get the oil based product on your nails or you will have a hard time painting over it!

Happy painting!

The actual shine of nails

The actual shade of blue

iPhone iNspiration

The title alone speaks for itself. Im trying to work up the courage to begin the 30-day nail challenge, so to kick of the New Year I had this idea to replicate my iPhone's case.

As a by product of this post I've 100% decided I'm going to stick with Seche Vite as my go-to top coat. I decided to give Orly a try and as you can see on my pinky, smudges galore. Which is pretty similar to what happened when I tried Essie's top coat. So word to the wise, when you want to keep it clean- stick with Seche Vite.

What I used

The culprit

Happy BLUE Year!

So I've been dying to use my studs from thebornprettystore.com and my new Julep colors.

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...!

So I was really excited to do a Christmas tree and Ta-Da! It's a really simple design but I like how it turned out.











What I used:

Milani- "Twinkle"
Seche Vite (Top Coat)
Brucci Acrylic (Basecoat)
Nails Inc- "Chelsea"
China Glaze- "Four Leaf Clover"
OPI- "Be-Claus I Said So" (ornaments)














       

As usual there's the issue of properly trying to capture glitter on camera

In this up close shot you can see the purple glitter more clearly

Right hand


In other news my Bundle Monster case came!

Happy Polishing!

Let it Snow Let is Snow...

HAPPY DECEMBER! I truly love this season. The lights, the music the warmth and the SNOW! Well... there's no snow yet but hopefully my gradient attempt can inspire mother nature. :)

Here's what I used: 

I was trying to do a bit of a snow effect to jump start my Christmas nail chain using the gradient effect from The Nailasaurus. Also, because I wanted my base to be dark I used Konad nail stamping polish as  the lighter blue so it would be opaque enough.

My Casualties:

Thanks for your time!

Stamping Leaves a Great First Impression!

Every time I think I have a favorite nail design style I discover something new and decide instantly that THIS must be the greatest thing ever. At least until tomorrow when I see something else that grabs my attention. Thats what happened with nail stamping, so many options, so easily done and only so many fingers!