31 Day Challenge, Day Sixteen: Tribal

I'm gonna start off by saying that tribal designs scare me. The idea of having to do such small sometimes intricate designs LEFT-HANDED (since I'm right-handed)!!! Just blows my mind. Anywhoo, here's my attempt at it.

I started out with two coats of my base coat
Then I drew in lines where I wanted to highlight my designs.

And then freestyle it!

31 Day Challenge, Days Fourteen and Fifteen: Delicately Printed Flowers

So when i began my nails for this design i realized that this was not only a lovely flower design but also very delicate looking. I used Julep's Oxygen Treatment as the base, it's the perfect jelly pink. Also helps to prevent pesky yellowing that comes with excessive polishing.

31 Day Challenge, Day Thirteen: Animal Print

My first time free-hand butterflies, a step-by-step guide....

1) One coat of this fabulous orange
2) Saran Wrap
3) Using the saran wrap technique I put on one coat of a lovely pink shade
4) Ta-Da!

First time trying but I like the effect

What's the deal with Nail Foil?!

So i think nail foils r glorious- simply because they look brilliant and it's and easy way to get a glorious sometimes intricate design. That being said i have to say i am truly disappointed with the longevity of the wear.

First try:
Base coat: Essi- "Blanco"

I used two top coats, Sally Hansen- "Invisible 100" and then a layer of Seche Vite. Seche Vite by itself led to wrinkling and Sally Hansen by itself just doesn't last. 

the Nail Foil

Second Try:

Base Coat Julep- "Teresa Boho Glam"

Day one, I actually prefer this base coat to the stark white

Day two!

Day Two!

I usually change my polish so frequently I don't care if  they last long, but I definitely expected more than a day,  maybe another print would be better. Until next time!

Tape Me Up

I decided to start if the new year with some tape manicures, LOVE tape manis! The first was actually inspired by my boyfriend, who although he makes fun of nail obsession he does ask me questions that force me to see my colors differently- sometimes less is more. My second look is inspired by packapunchpolish, I just LOVED this manicure the moment I saw it.

Look #1
What I used:

Essie- "Angora Cardi"
Nails Inc. - "Black Taxi"

Look #2

What I Used:

"High Hopes", "Grape Pop", "Four Leaf Clover", "Heli-Yum", & OPI- "Havana Dreams"
the Glitter used but not shown is OPI- "Spark-Tacular! Top Coat"

Using nail tape to create the boxes and then fill them in randomly did take time, but it was definitely worth it!

::Dots or Hearts <3

So this time around i tried out two new polishes. I'm not overly fond of polishes with too much character, i prefer to create my own character in designs... But when in a rush interesting polishes can give you and easy out. The two polishes I used were: Nicole by OPI Nail Lacquer, Love Your Life and Channeling Coco Nail Polish.

Please forgive my less than stellar cuticles!

What I love about this polish is the smooth application and the quick drying effect it had even before the top coat!

Tis the Season

So it's been a while since my last post, between work and more work plus holiday shopping and celebrating everyday normal activities took a bit of a backseat. Here i have Candy Cane inspired design where using nail taper i was able to create a really clean design.

My pointer finger was just an experiment with a different design and my pinky was a mistake but Im actually really happy with how this turned out ^_^

Favs: Perfect Pinks

Since I'm new to blogging, I've decided to catalogue some my favorite colors designs over 2012. One thing I have noticed through this process is my growth and change of taste. I also realized I did a disproportionate amount of pink nails this year... :-X  Enjoy!

China Glaze- "Heli-yum" & "Something Sweet"; BM03

Essie- "Muchi Muchi"

China Glaze- "Something Sweet" & "Admire"; BM21

China Glaze- "Admire"; Nails Inc- "Chelsea"; BM21

China Glaze- "Heli-yum"

China Glaze- "Heli-yum"; Konad M56

OPI- "Japanese Rose Garden"

OPI- "Japanese Rose Garden";  Konad M60; China Glaze- "Admire"

Revlon- "Gold Coin"; Sally Hansen- "Fushia Shock"

Rewind

So maybe I should thank Hurricane Sandy for gracing us over in NYC with a four day weekend...

Major shut down city-wide as we all sit and wait for the storm to pass.

In other news I was inspired to do something I never do, refresh a manicure. Not that I think it's a bad idea, I've just always been partial to fresh nails; the whole process just feels more rewarding that way. So, on this fine hurricane weekend I opted for a rewind on my bright pink Sinful Colors manicure from my first post.

Original manicure in Sinful Colors #52, Cream Pink with Seche Vite

Taped off with nail tape

First coat of OPI- You Don't Know Jacques

Second coat

Cleaned off excess and topped off with Seche Vite