Moon Strobe

I've been on a french-tip kick lately. 

Here I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Moonstone, freehanded the tips with the bottle brush of Maybelline Cool Couture (which has a nice hidden purple shimmer that really doesn't show after glitterfying), dotted along the line with Sinful Colors Lavender, then decided it needed more bling and finished up by adding another freehanded layer to the tip with Sally Hansen Strobe Light.

Autumn French

This one I just threw together at work, in lousy lighting, so it's no surprise it turned out a little meh. Thought I'd share anyway though. 

I started with three coats of Covergirl Scalding Emerald (I'm obsessed with the glassfleck glosstini polishes! They're so shiny! Even though they run sheer I love 'em to pieces). 

Then I did a brushstroke down the middle of each nail with Covergirl Violet Flicker. It didn't show up nearly as well as I'd hoped, so for a little more visual interest I added a french tip with Finger Paints Winter Chill.

June Polish Days: To Boldly Go

It's that time again! And perfect timing for the space/sci-fi theme, since I just got into a new show (new to me, that is)... DOCTOR WHO! 

So, of course I had to do a DW themed mani. Even though I seriously considered taking the opportunity to show some love to my old favorite, Star Trek... I just couldn't resist the Who-ness.

Oddly enough the hardest part and what took the longest was the TARDIS nail. I'm apparently much better at semi-abstract stuff like nebulas and time vortices. Speaking of, I LOVE how the time vortex nails turned out! 

(If you're not familiar with the show, the vortex is blue when traveling into the past and red when traveling into the future.)

The nebula on my pinky doesn't have any direct connection to Who, but I thought it was appropriate considering they go all over space, including lots of nebulas.

Featured Polish: Finger Paints Art You Blue?

Alright, it's been a while in the works but here it is, Featured Polish #2: Finger Paints Art You Blue?

This is a shimmery denim blue with a nice and easy two-coat formula. 

Like before, I've put together several nail art looks incorporating this polish. 

First, as undies for glitter. I decided to do a two-finger accent for this one, using Revlon Hearts of Gold FX on my pinky and index (yes, a little fishing for the hearts was necessary), and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear In The Spotlight for the rest.

Next up, I wanted to give texture another shot, and thought it might be interesting to do some nail art over a textured polish, so I brought out AYB for accent-nail polka dots over Milani Texture Purple Streak. 

Apparently I was on a bit of a purple streak myself, since this was the next thing to come to mind. AYB under China Glaze Fault Line, with stamped accent flowers done with BB Paris Cupcake and RA-121.

AYB does work well for stamping, as well: 

I used an L.A. Colors nude polish for the base, one that I bought in a set with no names... it's NOT Mega Watt, I couldn't find it in a google search. :/ But it's kind of a dupe or similar to OPI Sand in my Swimsuit, a light nude with a white shimmer... let me know if you know the name of it? 

I stamped with Art You Blue? and RA-108, then added a coat of Milani Diamond Dazzle for bling. 

Holographic Half-Moons

I've been slacking a bit lately, haven't I? Well... yes. And also working on a featured-polish post, but that's no excuse for neglecting to post a bit now and then! 

I do have a good one today, though!

Mmm, holographic! I have a hard time wanting to do fancy nail art with holographic polishes, since I feel like they're plenty fancy on their own and I don't want to distract too much from the inherent awesomeness. But on the other hand (hah!) I feel weird just painting my nails with one color anymore.

This time I just did a freehand half-moon over China Glaze When Stars Collide, using Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Black Tie. The duochrome in Black Tie got overwhelmed by the holo of When Stars Collide, but it still added a bit of subtle dimension to the moons. I think a creme would have just been too flat next to the holo! 

The pic was taken in direct sunlight, to best show off the holographic effect. These new China Glaze holos aren't as strong as the Color Club set I have, but still lovely, and this color in particular is gorgeous even without the holo effect. Also, I *was* able to use topcoat (NYC Grand Central Station) without dulling the rainbows.

Textured Stripes

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the trend of textured polishes. I'm generally not a big fan of rough things on my nails, and the glitter ones just look to me like being lazy about using top coat. Some of the creme ones though are at least interesting enough that I decided to give the trend a fair test by picking up a bottle and playing with it a bit. 

The base to this manicure is Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure (the new version), and I freehanded the stripes with the bottle brush of Milani Spoiled In Fuchsia.

I wasn't as annoyed by the texture as I expected to be, but I'm still kinda on the fence about the usefulness of these polishes for me. I'm really a big nail art person, so it's fun to play around with things like this... but is it really worth having a whole new set of the same colors, just for the texture? That's what I'm not sure about. 

I might pick up a few more of the Milani ones, or some other inexpensive ones if I see them in colors I like, but mostly to me this is a meh trend. I'm just not flipping my shit like I did over crackles and magnetics.

Linear holo french-tip

I promised to share a bit about my delicious new linear holo set from Color Club (the Halo Hues)... here we go!

For the first nail art with the set, I did a simple french tip: 

I cheated on my 10-pan challenge to get these, but they are so, SO worth it! I ordered the set of 12 from Amazon, with the six 2012 shades and the new 2013 shades. Every single one is gorgeous as can be! No guilt... ok maybe a little, but only a tiny bit!

The base for this manicure was Cloud Nine, the ever-so-slightly lavender leaning pale pink, and I freehanded the french tips with Harp On It, the silver of the set. 

I tried a trick I'd read about for getting more wear out of a holo polish without using aqua base, which I don't have (I used my regular base coat for this. I do buff my nails to remove ridges though, which I would definitely recommend if not using a ridge-filling base for linear holo to look its best!) or dulling the holo finish with top coat. The trick is, to sandwich your layers. Base coat, holo coat, top coat, holo coat OVER the top coat! This way you get the staying power of the top coat and the full rainbow effect of the holo. Very effective, very nice. 

I used NYC Grand Central Station, which some people say doesn't dull holos as much... I did definitely notice it dulling Cloud Nine though, until I put on the second coat.

Look for more holo nail art coming soon! I can't get enough of these beauties!

Half-angled French Glitter

A fleeting dark mood struck, and since I prefer a black with something extra instead of a plain creme now that I've outgrown my teenage goth phase I started out with a base of Sephora by OPI -- Never Enough Shoes, then blinged it up a little with Nicole by OPI -- All is Glam, All is Bright. 

And then, because I wasn't feeling shiny, I mattified myself.

I love how subtle the glittery bits in Never Enough Shoes are. Barely there, just enough to keep it fun instead of full goth black nails. 

And yes, I have absolutely no problem with wearing holiday-release polishes all year long. It's a pretty, pretty glitter! I love the effect of the red with the silver and the super-light blue. Yum yum! 

Do the intentions of the brand for the release or seasonal colors have any influence on your decision of when or not to wear certain polishes? Or do you just wear what you feel like all year 'round like me?

Spring Flowers

I was feeling in a very spring mood and desperately needed some major bling on my hands. What's the result? A freehand flowers accent nail over holo glitter!

The base is Color Club - Sugarplum Fairy, which despite being from a holiday collection is super appropriate for spring. Or summer. What the heck, I'd wear it all year! 

The flowers were freehanded with Kiss stripers and a toothpick dipped in Color Club - Almost Famous for the centers.

(I broke down and ordered the Color Club Halo Hues off Amazon. More on that later, for now I'll just say THEY. ARE. AMAZING!!!)

First Featured Polish: St. Patrick's Edition

So I've had this idea kicking around for a while, to do "featured polishes", where I take one polish and do a bunch of nail art using it and generally show off how awesome or un-awesome it is. 

Since St. Patrick's is coming right up, I had to pick a green. So today I present to you, in all its glory (for everything except.... well, you'll see) *drumroll* 

Sinful Colors San Francisco!

First up, I thought I'd show how the polish builds. It starts out pretty sheer, but two coats would be acceptable on short nails, full coverage and perfect bottle color in three:

(ready? One, two three!)

I just realized you can see some nail line on my index and middle nails in the photo still... rest assured, that wasn't visible IRL!

Note this is a stainer! I highly recommend doubling up on base coat.

Next, since it's a bit on the sheer side, I thought it might be cool to see how it layers, with one coat over white (Wet & Wild French White Creme) and black (Wet & Wild Black Creme):

Oooh lookie how pretty over black!

I tried stamping, it really is far too sheer for that... *might* show over white, but after this test I really didn't want to even bother trying.

Barely even shows stamping in a macro. Works fine with a dotting tool, however! The gold is Wet & Wild Chrome A Show At The Palladium.

Whew, that was a failure! Now let's get on to the successful nail art looks I tried! 

Ruffian style with Wet & Wild Chrome I Got A New Com-Pewter

 

Gradient over Sinful Colors Last Chance

Mattified under NOPI White Texture (how cool that the white turned green! It sure is a stainer haha!)

With Wet & Wild Coloricon Frosted Over, freehand on my index and pinky, brush over stamp on my ring finger, and layered as undies on my middle.

What a lot of fun that was! I think I'll do it again one of these days. Unless everyone hates it. Please tell me you don't hate it! I'll do requests! 

Seriously, I would love feedback. Since this is a new thing, obviously it might have kinks to smooth out. Let me know what you think?

Simply Odd

I got a bit of a bug up my butt to do something really odd but simple with my nails. Here's what happened:

Now, I know a lot of ladies consider sheer polishes and full visible nail line like this a no-go, but I actually really like it on occasion. Gotta be a super-sheer polish, one that makes no pretense of ever being able to hide VNL, and it works for me. It's kinda like lace lingerie for nails. Not quite naked, but the point's not to be properly covered either. Feels so vixenish! ;)

For this mani I started with Sinful Colors Purple Diamond, and freehanded the accent pinky with an orange L.A. Colors striper. 

This definitely got noticed! Most people weren't sure how to react to it, and that's exactly what I was going for, so I'm super happy with how it turned out. 

Would you ever wear a sheer polish on its own, letting your nail line hang out for the world to see? Or is that on your personal DON'T list?

Red and Gold

I've really been slacking on getting my nail art pics posted! I did this one the week before Christmas... 

Yep, slacking! Well, better late than never, right? 

I'm uncertain why I have ghost hands in all the pics I took of this

This was a really quick bit of fun, I started with an unknown Zoya polish that was given to me by a friend who wasn't using it anymore. I assume it has a name but I have no way of finding out, unless some Zoya fan happens to know (it's got a hidden silvery shimmer that doesn't show in the pic and barely shows IRL, if that helps)? 

Then I grabbed a gold L.A. Colors glitter striper and did a firework sort of design from the cuticles. 

Feather-grass?

I've been on just a bit of a duo/multichrome kick lately. But of course I have to do at least some minimal  nail art, still!

For this manicure I started with two coats of Sinful Colors Lavender, freehanded a feathery/grassy/whatever it is design with my black Kiss striper, then topped the whole thing with one coat of Sinful Colors Let Me Go.

I really love how this turned out, though I wish I'd been a bit more consistent with the striper. The base is just dark enough to bring out the duochrome shimmer in Let Me Go. I suck at taking pictures of duochromes, so you can't really see it here... but trust me, it's pretty!

Easter grass

There's a giveaway over at Gorgeois where you can earn a big chunk of entries by doing a mani with a fun color combination. Here's what I came up with:

I started with Color Club - Sheer Sugar (which, they're not kidding on the sheer part... three coats and I'd have needed another if I hadn't put something else over the tips!) Over that I used the dry-brushing technique with a striper brush and Nina Ultra Pro - Emerald City.

What do you think of this combination? The brushy green kinda ended up looking like grass to me, this  mani totally makes me think of Easter!

I liked it a little better in my head, but it still turned out pretty neat looking IMO!

Dotted half moons

More dotting practice, and the first one that I'm really happy with! I think I aced the dots on this one :D

It helps that I love the color combination to pieces of course!

I did the half moon freehand over the base, rather than using hole reinforcers as a guide, which doesn't work well for me due to my nails having a high curve. 

The base is Orly Fowl Play, which OMG LOVE. Purple and color shifting flakies and shimmer! So glad I bought this, might need a backup bottle.

For the moons I used Wet & Wild Mauve Frost, and the dots are the light brown shimmer from that Simple Pleasures set I despise for shitty formula (but hey, they work ok for nail art details). 

Simple dotting

I've struggled so much with the dotting, maybe I'm being too much of a perfectionist but it's never quite as good as I wish it would be! So I decided to try something super simple this time. 

The base for this manicure is Sally Hansen Lustre Shine - Copperhead, which is just beautiful. My new favorite copper polish! It's darker than the other coppers I have, with a subtle duochrome that perfectly suggests an older, slightly oxidized penny.

For the dots I used Color Club Overboard. I really like this combination!

Are my dotting skills finally improving? This one didn't drive me totally crazy with imperfections at least!

Dotted Chevrons

Continuing with dotting practice, I threw this one together on the fly. Totally unplanned!

The base is Sinful Colors Outrages, and the dots are Wet & Wild Toxic Apple (dark purple) and Lethal Injection (dark red), both from the Pick Your Poison collection. 

What do you think of vampy shimmers paired with slightly-dusty neon like this? 

Diagonal dots

I've spent a good while now being jealous of girls who can wear OPI polishes without them being a chippy mess in hours, all because of My Boyfriend Scales Walls. So I decided to have a go at frankening a dupe for it (or at least something similar, since I don't have it I can't make a side-by-side comparison). And then, of course I had to do another dotting-practice mani with it!

Holy cow this makes me look tan! I'm not sure how my ring finger got messed up at the cuticle, but I apologize to you all for making you look at that!

The recipe for this franken is super simple, I got a new bottle of Wet & Wild French White Creme and added one drop of Wet & Wild Black Creme. Ta-da! Of course I can't be sure quite how close a dupe this is to MBFSW, but it's certainly a nicely wearable almost-white. 

Since I'm fussy about polishes having names, I decided to call this one Porcelain.

I did the dots in Sinful Colors Moss Have and Gone Platinum. Love the color combination, still iffy on my dotting skills. 

(Badly) Dotted Flowers

I'm still working my way through untrieds, despite the whole 31 Day Challenge! I really should scale back my polish purchasing, at least until I catch up!

I'm not super thrilled with this mani. My dots ended up a bit all over the place, it's not very tidy at all. But maybe sharing my fails will help other ladies feel better about their nail art skills or the occasional lack thereof... we're all only human, after all!

For this mani I used three Apple Bottoms polishes (yes, another set from Ross! Great place to find nail polish on the cheap).

The base is Club Queen, the center of the flowers is Gold Mine, and the petals are Rock Star.

Maybe I'll spend a week or two brushing up my dotting skills, now that the challenge is over and I've seen how lacking I am in that department.

Polish Days - Sentimental

Hey look, it's my first ever mani for Polish Days! This month the theme is Sentimental, so I decided to re-create my very first ever piece of nail art. I wore the original of this mani to my grandmother's funeral  three years ago.

I started with a base of Wet & Wild - Black Creme on all but my pinky nail, on which I used a black Kiss striper for the design. Then I layered Jordana - Lilac Frost over everything, and used the same striper to add the thin french tip.