Holiday Nails Take 2

Inspired by Chloe's Nails candy cane mani, I recreated a candy cane accent nail! Using Sally Hansen "Red Carpet" and OPI "Alpine Snow," I masked off stripes with blue painters tape.

Holiday Nail Tutorial - Red Nails with Glitter Gradient Tip

Hello all!  Sorry I have been MIA lately.  Too much going on leaves me little time to my hobby, and an overall unhappy polish-a-holic!  But, today, I have a treat! A TUTORIAL!  I am going to give you step but step instructions on how to obtain this look!  You are seeing China Glaze "China Rouge" as the base color and OPI "Spark De Triomphe," and Essie's "Good as Gold" on the glitter tips.  Using a little striping tape, I created "present," accent nails.  Click the "read more" button for the instructions!  Enjoy!

Also, special thanks to my lovely hand model, Ms. Meghan Field!

Breast Cancer Awareness Take Two!

Because this is such an important topic, and because I have a lot of pink polishes, why not do an Ombre Tribute to Breast Cancer Awareness month!  Starting with the pinky nail you see OPI "Kiss my on my Tulips," "My Address is Hollywood," "Pedal Faster Suzi," and "Mod About You."

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I am pretty sure we all know that cancer is an evil, vile diagnosis, and likely know someone that has been somehow affected by cancer, if not specifically breast cancer. So, because this month is Breast Cancer Awareness month, it is only appropriate that I have a few dedicated posts to the cause!  Starting with this one!  What you see is OPI's "My Address is Hollywood," with white cancer ribbons stamped on my accent finger.  One picture in the lightbox and the other in direct sunlight.  Pray for a cure, my friends!

OPI DS Reflection & White Butterfly Accent

OPI DS Reflection is just one of many in this particular line by OPI.  Pretty much any color in the "Designer Series" is a must have.  They are almost all holographic, which I love, and they are ALL gorgeous.  So if you see a silver topped bottle like the one shown....BUY IT!  Because this polish is pretty on it's own, I really didn't want to embellish it much, so I just added a dainty little butterfly! 

The Tree of Life

There are a multitude of reasons why I love this manicure and what inspired me to do it.  Besides the fact that I think trees are beautiful and have a symbolic meaning directly correlated with life, I have a few wonderful people in my life that LOVE trees!  SO....to complete this manicure took a lot of time and patience and POLISH!  I used 9 different polishes for this one, including the top coat.  To create the sunrise gradient effect I used a makeup sponge with Sally Hansen's Insta-Dry "Lightening," "Snappy Sorbet," OPI's "Miami Beet," and Orly's "Velvet Rope," over a base of OPI "Alpine Snow."  Once the gradient was sufficient, and after removing a reapplying on at least two nails, I cleaned up the horrific mess called my cuticles and proceeded to stamp the tree.  With the trees in place, I then used a nail art brush to paint on the leaves with Orly "Lucky Duck" and Sally Hansen "Lickety-Split Lime."  Top it all off with clear coat, and a few hours later I got this!  I am fairly happy with it.  I wished I had more time to use the glue method for the gradient clean up because I hate how much polish got everywhere, but I am a bit neurotic about that.

In doing this manicure, it really gets me thinking about about how blessed I am to have all the wonderful people I have in my life, so without getting too mushy, I just want to say, "Thank you, and I love you!"

Elegant Lace French Manicure

There is a BUNCH going on this manicure.  It took some time for sure, but I think the pay out is well worth it!  Is started with Orly's "Deja Vu" French Manicure as a base.  I then used blue painters tape to mask off my tips and painted them white with Orly's "White Tips."  I then applied a coat of China Glaze's "Fairy Dust" which is a fine holographic glitter polish.  With each coat of Fairy dust, I also applied a holographic hex glitter I picked up from Michael's to the cuticle edge of my nail.  I covered all that with a coat of my Seche Vite top coat to expedite drying time.  Once my tips were dry enough for stamping, I stamped the lace image over the white tips using Konad's Special polish.  Remember that learning curve I mentioned earlier this week, you can still see a bit in this mani, which bums me out, but what can I do?  So a LOT of steps in this manicure, but I really like how it turned out.  What do you think?  To Blingy?  Just right?

Essie "Midnight Cami" and Color Club " Angel Kiss" Holographic Stamping

I am a little disappointed with how this one turned out.  I tested the paisley stamping and it seems like it would come out well, but when I actually did the manicure, the image got lost, so it looks like some random splashes of holographic somethings.  But I really can't complain about that color.  Essie's "Midnight Cami," has to be one of my all time favorite blue polishes and it is so pretty in the sun!  Combine that with some holographic sparkle and you should have a winner, but I digress.  You can be the judge!

China Glaze "China Rouge" and Konad Special Polish Houndstooth Stamping

This is my first stamping post using Konad's Special polish.  For all my previous stamping manicures, I have always used a drugstore brand.  Believe it or not, they work the best, besides Konad's special polishes of course.  These polishes that are made especially for the stamping system really do work a lot better, but they are a lot more expensive too.  At $8 a bottle, it makes it harder to collect a variety of colors, so I am an gradually increasing my collection.  As you can see from the pictures there is a slight learning curve with this polish because it seems to smear a bit with my top coat.  I am not sure if it is my application, or if it is actually the BRAND of top coat, so more research and development is required.

This manicure is simple, yet sharp.  I love the design, and I am a sucker for red!

Salon Perfect "Ivy League" and "Green Room" Reptile Skin Nails

Because I have a millions stamps (and still more on my list to collect) I frequently find myself on the hunt for the perfect polishes to use with them, as if I don't have enough.  One can never have enough nail polish, right?  Where ever I am shopping I always have to peruse the nail polish aisle in case there is something I cannot live without.  One day in Wal-Mart I stumbled across these beauties!  Of course, they were of the cheapest varieties too, so in the cart they went!  I knew exactly what I was going to do with them....Reptile skin.  Seriously, the dark green is so beautiful on its own, I am sure I find plenty to use it for.  But, this time it's going to look like this.....

Wet N Wild "Black Creme" and Lip Stamping

When I first started with this nail obsession, I had a favorite blogger that I followed.  I would stalk her blog everyday as she was consistent in her postings.  Unfortunately, now she is inactive.  She hasn't posted anything since last year.  But, this manicure is a recreation of her design because it was of the first that I really admired and encouraged me to get into stamping on my own, so thank you for that Chloe's Nails!.  I started with a base coat of my go to black, and proceeded to stamping the lips in Color Club's "Harp On It," and Sally Hansen's "Red Chrome" Color Quick pen polish.  Pictures in lightbox and sun light!

China Glaze Hologlam Collection "When Stars Collide" and Essie "As Good As Gold" Stamping

I bought this entire collection from China Glaze because as I have said, I LOVE HOLOGRAPHIC polishes. These ones aren't as blingy as some others than I have, which makes them even more gorgeous. They aren't so out there that they detract from the stamping, or other forms of nail art you might be inspired to create with these.  Here are two photos, one in the light box and the other in direct sunlight.  Please excuse the slightly off center stamping on some of the nails.

OPI "Miami Beet" and Color Club "Harp On It" Shredded Funky French tips

I have tried and failed this manicure before, so I figured it was time to give it a shot again.  I started with my base color of OPI "Miami Beet," applied a coat of top coat and let dry COMPLETELY.  I then, very carefully, cut the shredded pattern into some blue painters tape.  I stuck the tape to my palm a few time to release some of the adhesive, because pulling up your base coats when you are trying to make a design royally stinks!  I placed the tape over the nail and painted the holographic polish over the exposed portions of nail, creating the shredded effect!   Pictures in the light box and direct sunlight!

Happy iPhone 5s Release Day!

Even though I am not an iphone enthusiast, some of my favorite people in this world are!  So in honor of today's iPhone 5s release, I present, the Apple mani! Using Wet N Wild "Black Creme" and Orly's "Luxe, Rage and Dazzle" I stamped adorable Apple icons on all my piggies!  Of course, my color choices are inspired by all the lovely colors the new phone is coming out in!  Apple lovers rejoice, your long awaited phone is finally here, and even DROID lovers can appreciate that!

OPI "Mod About You," with Floral Stamping

As I mentioned before, nail art stamping with multiple colors takes practice and patience, and TIME!  I tested this color combination out before I did it on ten different fingers, and it seemed to be a go...however, as you can see, it isn't my best work.  This is almost a fail too, but hey, no one is perfect right?

Wet n Wild "Black Creme" Matte vs Glossy with Gold & Silver Dots

This is another mani, slightly spiced up, that was requested by another friend/follower.  I had been promising I would do a black matte nail with a glossy tip, but decided to add a little more to it.  I used dotting tools to create the polka dots, sealed with top coat and then masked off the tips to preserve the gloss while coating the rest of the nail with Essie's "Matte About You," matte top coat.

China Glaze "Galactic Gray" and Hibiscus Flower Stamping

It is easy to get stuck doing nail art stamping with one color. Trying to use multiple colors on the same stamp takes practice and patience, multiple failed attempts and occasionally you will score and achieve the desired result.  I would say this is a 50/50 fail.  The idea and the color combos are awesome!  The execution, perhaps not so much.  In my attempts to get a dual color hibiscus, you have this mani with one or two good looking flowers, and one or two that I am not too sad they came out a little out of focus!

Essie "Naughty Nautical" and Color Club "Angel Kiss" Zebra Stamping

I was very excited to do this mani because it was one of my first followers request. (Another followers request coming up later this week!)  It is similar to one that I have done before, but for some reason these colors are so much better together than my selection.  So here you have it, Essie's "Naughty Nautical" and stamped zebra print using Color Club's "Angel Kiss."  Of course, it is holographic, my favorite! Two pictures; in the light box and in direct sun light!

Color Club "Miss Bliss" Holographic Polish

Please remember, I warned you that I loooove holographic polishes and that I intend on posting a lot of them!  This one is such a beautiful, mild pink color, I just wanted to leave it alone and enjoy it by itself.  No stamping, not dots, no french tips, just the gorgeous polish color on its own,  Pictures in the light box and you can see how well it pops in natural sun light!  Thank goodness that is in abundance here on the Central Coast!

Mermaid Nails- OPI "Yodel Me on my Cell" and Pure Ice "Heart Breaker" & Gold Stamping

When I broke out the Pure Ice polishes I mentioned in yesterday's post, I not only stumbled across a color combo that looked like peacock feathers, but also a combo that resembled a Mermaid's tail.  Throw in some gold scale stamping and WAALAA!  I apologize ahead of time for not having a photo in natural sunlight as well, but I promise to make it up to you with tomorrows post!

Peacock Feather Nails with OPI "Russian Navy" and Pure Ice "Heartbreaker"

So I have had these awesome polishes I got from Wal-Mart of all places that were calling me to use them.  Wal-Mart carries the  "Pure Ice" brand and they are so nicely priced that it is hard not to collect them all.  However, for this mani I layered "Heartbreaker," a transparent base with green microglitter over the top of OPI's "Russian Navy."  Because the colors combined looked like the color of peacock feathers, I threw a gold stamp in there as well!

Last Days of Summer- OPI Alpine Snow & China Glaze Summer Neons

As summer draws to a close and the kids are all back in school, I was inspired to do something "Summerish" in protest of it ending.  Although I love fall, I just love bright colors!!  So to show them off, I used a fan shaped paint brush to create the brush strokes in neon colors from China Glaze.  The base color is the OPI "Alpine Snow."

OPI "Meep, Meep, Meep" and DS "Luxurious" with Sally Hansen Yellow (Name Unknown) Gradient

This manicure is going down in my book as a partial fail.  While it looks acceptable for wear, it is problematic for a perfectionist like me and will likely be removed later tonight.  While the concept is awesome and the colors work so well together, the method I used to create the gradient effect and, consequently, the cuticle clean up, was a NIGHTMARE.

Because these polishes all contain sparkles, they were nearly impossible to remove in a precise manner, and the sponging technique I used to apply the polish wedged polish DEEP into my cuticles.  So, with that said, I apologize for my cuticle cleanliness.  Other than that, I love how this manicure looks and the how the colors blend.  I will be trying this one again, but with a different application method and perhaps some more embellishment.

Orly "Miss Conduct" Holographic Polish with Black Stamped Nail Art

Be prepared to see a lot of holographic polishes on this blog.  I am a junkie for rainbow-y glitter type polishes much like this one.  Although it isn't as dramatic as some of the other polishes you will see, I absolutely LOVE this color by Orly.  Appropriately, it is called Miss Conduct.  I did some black stamping on this manicure as well, that turned out much better than I anticipated.  There is definitely still room for improvement though!

OPI “Vodka & Caviar” with OPI “Spark de Triumph” and Red Heart accent nail

This manicure could be well utilized for Valentine's Day, but I love it at any time of the year.  With red being my favorite color, it is hard for me not to want to wear it all the time.  And who doesn't love some sparkle and hearts?  Are you wondering how I painted the heart?  There are lots of effective ways to accomplish this seemingly difficult task, but I will save all of them of another post.  For this particular manicure, I used blue painters tape.  Yep, the kind you use to mask of walls etc.  I cut the design into the tape, placed the design as I wanted it to appear onto my nail and then painted the red.  I quickly, but carefully, removed the tape and topped with my favorite clear coat.  NOTE**  Two very important tips if you use this method...1. Be sure your nail is dry!  There is nothing worse than pulling up your base color with the tape! 2. Adhere the tape to the palm of your hand a few times to weaken the adhesive of the tape.  Even though it is designed to release from surfaces easily, it is still pretty sticky and you don't need it to be!

How do you paint your OWN nails?

One of the things I hear a lot when I talk to people about my obsession, hobby, addiction, whatever you want to call it, is that they don’t know how I DO IT!?  How do you paint YOUR OWN nails like that?  There are always the jokes out there about the left hand looking so great and the right hand looked like my three year old might have painted it.  Really, what it comes down to is….you guessed it, PRACTICE.  And to prove it, here is one of my older "manicures” before I really got hooked (and improved in technique).  Notice the terrible mess around my cuticles and I clearly didn't know enough about nail polish to know these glitters really don't work well to create a "French tip" effect! ;)

OPI- "Divine Swine" of the Muppets Collection

OPI- "Rainbow Connection" of the Muppets Collection

OPI "Affair in Red Square" and Black Nail Stamping

Really, what is better than a sexy red with some delicate artistic touches?  I guess a little black dress would have been nice too, but remember this is a Mom's blog, and (trying to contain my laughter) we don't get out much! ;)  

Rainbow Cheetah Print

As if I didn't love rainbow colored anything, a way to make it better, is to add an ANIMAL print! So...Waahlaahh!  For this mani, I used a variety of colors (as you can see). The Base colors for my index finger and ring finger were China Glaze's "Flirty Tankini" and to create the gradient color change I sponged on China Glaze's "Orange You Hot" and "Sun-Kissed" with a makeup sponge. The middle finger and pinky fingers got a base coat of CG's "Sun-Kissed" and then sponged with CG's "I'm With the Lifeguard" and Wet N Wild "Eggplant Frost."  Top that all off with some holographic top coat and then stamp with Konad M57 stamping plate, and you have this creation! Two coats of Seche Vite UV to finish were also used!

Finger Paints "Art You Wondering" & Black French Tips/ Accent Nail Striping

I always seem to shy away from glitter polishes because they are so hard to get off, yet they are so gorgeous! I can’t refuse anything sparkly, but I am always looking for ways to improve an already awesome polish.  I give you….Glitter polish meets black tips and accent nail sunbursts!