Negative Space Rainbow Nail Art

Today's mani is a simple rainbow nail art look.

My stamping image only had 3 stripes for my rainbow so I chose to do primary colors. I think it would look cute with pastel colors as well.

Products used:

Zoya Pippa

Zoya Sooki

Zoya Sia

China Glaze Fairy Dust

MoYou Scholar Collection 05

China Glaze Stone Cold

China Glaze Stone Cold is a fairly old polish in my collection and very well loved (look at that fill line in the bottle shot!)

I actually wore this mani on New Year's Eve. It takes 2 coats for full opacity and dries matte.

Winter/Christmas Nails 2018: Gingerbread Skittles

Happy holidays! This is likely my last holiday themed mani that I have for this year.

Products used:
China Glaze Kalahari Kiss
China Glaze Mingle With The Kringle
Zoya Emilia
Zoya Sookie

Winter/Christmas Nails 2018: Blue & White

For today's nails, I went with a sparkly blue and white snowflake manicure. We've only gotten snow once this season in my part of Wisconsin, and it didn't last long. At least I have some on my nails for a bit :)

Products used:
Too Fancy Lacquer Velvet Nights
China Glaze Glistening Snow

Fall Glitter Gradient

Hello! Today I went for a sort of fall looking mani using some older polishes from my stash.
I used China Glaze Cowgirl Up and I Herd That.

Halloween Nails 2018: Old School Witches

For today's Halloween manicure, I went old school and dug into my stash (which is actually pretty small for someone who's been active in the nail polish community for 7+ years).

I used China Glaze Something's Brewing which is part of their Halloween 2015 collection along with China Glaze Light As Air which is part of the core collection but my bottle dates from 2012.

I love the juxtaposition of the soft feminine purple with the bold glitters. So cool!

I freehanded a witch's hat detail on my middle finger using colors that matched the glitter to bring the whole look together.

China Glaze White on White

I don't wear plain white polish often so when I was debating what polish to put on last week, I decided to do just that.

This polish is China Glaze White on White, which is frankly not the best white. It's pretty thin and the formula isn't the greatest.

Zoya Breezi Chevron Nail Art

For today's mani, I decided to focus on Zoya's Breezi. It's a very pretty blue with a hint of teal and a duskiness to it. It applies nicely in two coats, but I could see where you need 3 as it is on the thinner side.

I paired it with a white polish (my go-to is Funky Fingers Gesso) and China Glaze Glistening Snow.

Radial Gradient: First Attempt!

I've been sticking to mostly easy nail art lately, but I am trying to more advanced stuff! I used to do more complicated nail art.

For today's mani, I did my first attempt at a radial gradient mani. For a radial gradient, the color blends from the outside in instead of in stripes. I have small nails so doing 3 colors was a bit difficult as I had a hard time getting all 3 to show. Next time, I'll try with 2.

For the gradient, I used Zoya Malia (purple), China Glaze DJ Blue My Mind (blue), and Fresh Paint Honeydew (mint green). On top, I stamped using a black polish and stamping plate Qgirl-035.

On my right hand, I decided to skip the stamping and add China Glaze Fairy Dust on top. I think I prefer the mani with fairy dust, but which do you like better?

Green Mani March: Day 2

Welcome to day 2 of my green mani theme for March.

I love doing skittles style manis. I tend to stick to simpler skittles designs which means they are usually pretty fast to do. They also use quite a few polishes which is great because I don't like having untrieds (it spikes my anxiety!) plus I can feature a couple at a time which is especially great for larger collections!

Today's mani features 3 green polishes (and 1 non-green polish).

For this mani, I used Barry M Black Pistachio, China Glaze Re-fresh Mint, and Dollish Polish 1-Up.

Barry M Black Pistachio is a very dark green polish. It looks almost black, especially in my photos since I took them on a cloudy day.

China Glaze Re-fresh Mint is a super light, dusty mint green. I was expecting 3 coats, but it went on in just 2!

Dollish Polish 1-Up is, I believe, discontinued. It's most green hex glitters with some white matte hex glitters and white matte bar glitter. Any other glitter polish would work with this look as well. This mani is a great way to feature any glitter polish you have.

Fall Colors: Revlon Autumn Spice & China Glaze Riveting

When I thought about fall mani ideas, these two colors seemed perfect!

I kept it simple and used two coats each of China Glaze Riveting and Revlon Autumn Spice plus some tiny gold studs.

Rainbow Tie Dye

I've had the concept for this mani in my head for a bit and decided to go ahead and do it finally!

So I used the Saran Wrap water color technique for this where you put a few blobs on color on your base and then smoosh it with a piece of plastic wrap or plastic storage bag. I've seen this technique around a lot, and I'm not sure who is the original creator of it.

My idea was to create rainbow tie dye effect with this technique. And it worked!

I started with my white gel base coat from the other day. Then I did blobs of all the rainbows colors and smooshed! The heart and peace sign were added in with acrylic paint. I wish I hadn't added Pure Ice Black Crackle on top because I laid it on a bit too heavy and the tie dye doesn't show through quite as well.

I topped the whole thing off with China Glaze Fairy Dust.

The watercolor technique was really easy and I can't wait to try it again.

June Nail Art Challenge, Day 25: Nude

How's everyone doing today? My day hasn't been too exciting. Got a good work out in with my husband this morning at the YMCA. Our local Y is really nice and has cheap daycare. It's a total win since it gives T a chance to play with other kids (I'm a stay-at-home mom) too.

The little guy's been a cranky butt though. He hasn't really wanted to nap at all. He did finally take one this afternoon and bedtime is soon!

Anyway onto today's mani. I've been really loving nude manis lately.

For this one, I used a base of Essie Brooch The Subject and China Glaze I'm Not Lion. Then I freehanded the design using Cosmo Wild Thing (a neon pink I won about 2 years ago from Cosmo magazine) and Milani Fresh Teal.

If the mani looks familiar, that's because I was inspired by an awesome blogger! 

@PolishCandies does some great stuff so  be sure to check her out.

My nude day didn't turn out quite how I wanted it. And I'm Not Lion didn't agree with me and it popped off in sheets the day after I did this mani (I did it at night and I noticed one nail already missing that morning!)

June Nail Art Challenge, Day 22: Tropical

How was everyone's weekend? We went to Greek Festival yesterday and ate some yummy food. Also picked up some delicious frozen custard at a place we don't get to very often since it's far away.

Today my husband and I got some time away while my parents watched T. We hit up some sushi :) It was very yum!!

Today's theme is tropical, and I tried to not be super traditional (sunset with palm tree which I've done anyway).

For this mani, I first painted one coat of Wet n Wild French White Creme. You need 2 for it to be opaque, but I just needed a base for my gradient to pop.

Then I sponged on Sinful Colors Dream On and Rise and Shine. Next I added a thin layer of China Glaze Fairy Dust.

Then I stamped a flower from Bundle Monster BM318 using Konad White.

Neon leopard

I'm not one to reserve certain colors for certain seasons, but neons are definitely colors I reach for more in summer.

I used China Glaze Exotic Encounters and Lime Crime Peaches <3 Cream.

I love this look and it just screams summer to me!

China Glaze floral skittle mani

Hello! Anyone have any fun plans for the weekend? Tomorrow we're heading to our state capitol in Madison. They do a wonderful farmer's market right around the Capitol Square. Then we'll hit up the free zoo there. The weather is looking to be nice so I can't wait to go! Sunday we're going to do lunch somewhere and then maybe a little shopping at a children's resale shop. Our little guy could use some more summery clothes.

I did this mani as part of a hashtag on Instagram called mani swap. The premise is that you and another Instagram-er pick a mani of the other person's and recreate it. Then you post a collage of all 4 manis. Be sure to check out my Instagram for my inspiration as well as the recreated mani.

I used all China Glaze polishes to create this look. The colors are For Audrey, Exotic Encounters, and White on White. The roses themselves are acrylic paint while the leaves are polish. 

NOTD: Octopus

Quickie post today. I used China Glaze Sea Spray, Konad Sky Pearl, and Bundle Monster BM-401.

Safari Leopard Nails

When I do my nails, I don't often like to do the same on all of them. I LOVE accent nails, but I like to switch up my normal (ring and thumb accents) sometimes. I did that today!

I've already been really wanting to do a leopard print on top of a super glittery polish. I decided on China Glaze I Herd That and used two coats.

When I was grabbing out polishes and holding them up to see what I should use an accent, I ended up with China Glaze Exotic Encounters and decided it was perfect since they are both from the On Safari collection.

I finished this up with dots of I Herd That on the index and middle fingers. The black for my leopard print is my standard Wet n Wild Black Creme.

Neon Skittles

We've had some crazy weather here lately (snow, rain, warm weather, cold weather, sunny, cloudy) so I was craving something bright. I recently got Glam Polish Freak Show in a swap plus some neon green star studs from Born Pretty Store to review (disclosure policy) so I decided to combine things for a bright skittle!

On my middle, ring, and thumb fingers, I applied three coats of Glam Polish Freak Show. Make sure you add some good top coat to smooth this down. I added Sinful Colors Why Not and the star studs to my ring and pinkie fingers. The star studs are nice are small so I can add a few to even my small nails. They lay flat too. I'm really happy with them.

On my index finger, I did a base of Wet n Wild French White Creme. Then I did a water marble on top using Sinful Colors Why Not and China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard. This is one of my better water marbles, but you can still see some base coat peeking through.

Why Not stains a bit so you can see some of that on my index and pinkie fingers.

I adore how this came out (even though hubby wasn't impressed :P). I may end up applying gel top coat to try to prolong this mani.

AAAAAANNNNNDDDDDD! Here's a 10% off code for Born Pretty Store for my followers. Enjoy!

Princess Jasmine Inspired Nails

This super simple mani was inspired by Princess Jasmine from Disney's Aladdin.

Colors used:

China Glaze For Audrey

Wet n Wild Black Creme

Barry M Gold Foil