Halloween Nail Art: Leopard Print and Stripes

I love leopard print nail art! It's such an easy go to design for me and you can really have fun. I did some for 4th of July this year so decided to do a Halloween version! 

I used almost all OPI polishes for this mani: My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Chop-sticking to My Story, and Don't Mess With OPI. The black is my standard Wet n Wild Black Creme. I used nail vinyls from Nailvinyls.com for the striped nail. Everything is topped with Essie Matte About You

Monday Mani: Black and White with ManGlaze

This week's Monday Mani theme is Black and White Only. It worked perfectly because I recently received two new ManGlaze polishes in the mail!

I used two coats of Matte is Murder and 3 of Mayonnaise. They both have shimmer, though you can't really see it in Mayo.

Finnish fabric inspired mani

When I've for time or I'm bored, I love to browse Pinterest for new mani ideas. I don't just mean manis posted by other bloggers. I love to browse fabrics, designs, and color seeds for other inspiration. This particular mani was inspired by a Finnish fabric I found on Pinterest.

It was really easy to do too! I used Zoya Skylar plus Wet n Wild Black Creme and French White Creme. Then I just randomly placed on the polka dots and added top coat. Done!

And my poor hands are now done completely to nubs. My middle finger received some serious damage and had a low side tear. It just kept getting worse so I cut it off, hence the strange shape.

Monday Mani: Chevrons

Today's Monday Mani theme is chevrons! It was actually a super close race!

I was gone for a family reunion on Sat and wasn't sure how much time I'd have so I did this mani on Friday. To make sure it would last, I actually used a gel base! I did a regular gel mani using Finger Paints Stay True to the Art (white) as the base. Gel manis don't last super long on me, but that last longer than a normal mani so I figured white would be a good base to use with other stuff on top!

After finishing up the gel part, I added the details using Nabi Fushia (yes that's how it's spelled :/) and some nail vinyls. Topped the whole thing off with Rica Glossy Glam which is also how I secured the studs).

Space-y Blue Skittles with MoYou London

What's that? Skittles in the title again! Well, at least I tried to get creative with the first half ;)

This mani is sort of a combination of a few different things: wanting to use and feature Dollish Polish Expecto Patronum again as well as wanting to use some more of my new MoYou London images.

 

I started with a base of Dollish Polish Expecto Pantronum first. I used 2-3 coats.

To jazz it up a bit, I freehanded some tips using Barry M Silver Foil and added on some square blue rhinestones.

The images are stamped with Barry M Silver Foil as well and are from MoYou Sci-Fi 03. It's such a cute plate!!!! See????

(Image courtesy of MoYou London)

I love all of the images on there and need to find some time to play around with them. Advanced stamping, on top of galaxy nails, oh the possibilities!!!!

Lime Crime neon polka dot skittles

My titles feel boring to me. How does everyone else come up with titles for their blog posts?

The inspiration for tons mani comes from the photo below. The watermark says linda165, but upon searching Instagram I find the proper name is @linda165_yt

I didn't have the exact colors she used. I've got a couple untrieds, and I hate having polishes go used so I decided to combine my new Lime Crime Pastelchio along with old love Lime Crime Peaches <3 Cream.

For my index finger, I used two coats of OPI Push and Shove followed by OPI Crown Me Already. The white base is my go-to white, Wet n Wild French White Creme.

I topped it all off with Rica Glossy Glam. After it dried, I added a coat of Essie Matte About You.

I had less issues with Glossy Glam this time. No smearing nail art (I floated the top coat better). I did have a TON of shrinkage on my nails with French White Creme as the base. But the Lime Crime hands were fine. It just must not like Wet n Wild.

Anyone try Glossy Glam? What are your thoughts?

Blue skittles

Quick post today.

I did this mani as part of a mani swap on Instagram.

The colors were Revlon Royal, Wet n Wild French White Creme, and Wet n Wild Black Creme. I used Rica Glossy Glam on top. Still not sure if I'm a fan it it. It's smearing my art, plus I'm having same day cuticle shrinkage. Not even Seche Vite gives me shrinkage that bad.

Below is the mani swap collage.

4th of July Part 2: Flag skittles

This is my second 4th of July mani and the one I'm currently wearing. I wanted to get both ideas so you'd have time to do your own nails before the holiday. My sister-in-law and her boyfriend are visiting today through Sat and Sunday is my birthday so I'm gonna take a little break :) I'll be back with a post on Sunday or Monday.

I just went simple again, though I wouldn't consider this my best work. My star is a bit wonky and I think that's because I used polish instead of acrylic paint. I just don't have luck using white polish for art.

Here are the colors used:

Wet n Wild French White Creme (star design)

OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls (white polish base)

Zoya Sooki (red flag stripes)

Rimmel Blue Eyed Girl

Savvy Ruby Slippers

4th of July Part 1: Leopard Print Skittles

Hello! I wasn't sure how I was gonna squeeze in any 4th of July manis since my birthday is coming up and I have family coming, but it's a holiday! I fricking love doing holiday manis! They are so fun and everyone really gets in the spirit.

I decided to go simple for both to make things easy on myself.

I started with a base of Wet n Wild French White Creme on all nails. On my index and middle, I added one thin coat of Glitter Gal Light As A Feather.

On my ring and thumb, I created a leopard print using Zoya Sooki (the perfect red) and Revlon Royal.

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.

June Nail Art Challenge, Day 21: Aboriginal

When I first saw the theme "aboriginal," my mind immediately went to those dotted paintings. As I'm a huge history nerd (one of my majors in college), I needed to Google and find out more.

Aboriginal refers to natives from Australia. The dotted paintings that so many think of are a newer form of art amongst the Aboriginals. They art form is called Papunya after the region of Australia where it started in the 1970s. Yep, it's new!

You can see my inspiration photo (courtesy Google) and resulting mani below.

The base is Sinful Colors Ardoise. The details are Zoya Riley and Wet n Wild French White Creme.

June Nail Art Challenge, Day 4: Disney

Gah! Almost forgot to post today so just a quickie. I did these 101 Dalmation nails today for today's Disney theme. They are inspired by @everylittlepolish.

Base coat is Wet n Wild French White Creme, and I used acrylic paint for the rest to make it super fast.

June Nail Art Challenge, Day 1: Sky

Over on Instagram, there's a pretty popular monthly nail art challenge.

What's great about this one is that it's spread out so much more easily doable. Plus the hashtag makes linking nail art doers easier than I think than blogging.

I posted mine yesterday on Instagram, but didn't have a chance to blog yet so here is my day 1!

I thought about going literal with clouds, but I've seen lots of daisy-like flowers and tutorials on Instagram that I've been loving so I went with that.

I only use nail polish for this design. Base is Barry M Blueberry. After topping the design with top coat to dry, I added a coat of Essie Matte About You. It does sometimes leave random white dots which can be a pain.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Happy holidays everyone! For those of you not in the US, Memorial Day falls on the last Monday of May. It is a holiday to commerate our soliders who have fought and died for this country. It also is a big BBQ weekend and basically a kick off to summer.

Since it's such a patriotic holiday, I got my toes and fingers in the spirit!

For my nails, I used Zoya Sooki, Revlon Royal, China Glaze Fairy Dust, white acrylic paint for the French line, Konad White, and Bundle Monster BM14.

For my piggies, I used Zoya Chyna and Zoya Liberty plus I repeated the stamping from my fingers.

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. 

Royal Madness Flowers

Normally I don't stick to seasonality in regards to polish colors. However, for me flowers really are a spring/summer MAYBE even fall thing. I love doing simple dotted flower manis too, and they've become a sort of go-to for me.

For this flower mani, I first used a base of Revlon Royal. Then I dotted on flowers (I tried to do some different sizes) with Essie Mojito Madness (that's where I tried to get creative with the title of today's post....not quite sure it worked). The white is my go-to, Wet N Wild French White Creme.

Cherry Blossoms Redux

I decided to recreate my very first mani that I posted on this blog over two years ago. The concept was good (cherry blossoms), but I definitely could improve on the execution, clean up, etc.

I really wanted to do a lighter base with something like China Glaze For Audrey but stuck to the original spirit of things.

The new mani uses a base of Rimmel Blue My Mind.

For the original, I used only nail art pens in black, red and white. This time I used brushes and dotting tools. The vines are Essie Little Brown Dress. For the cherry blossoms, I dotted using Zoya Shelby. Then I mixed Shelby with a bit of Wet n Wild French White Cream and dotted on that. Finally I added dots of French White Cream and top coat.

Here's the mani all on it's own:

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!

Valentine's Day: Pink and Grey

Just a quick post today. I have company coming over today, tomorrow, and Monday plus we're going out tomorrow and Sunday! Hence the crappy cuticles because I've been cleaning, though my husband did do quite a bit last night while I was sleeping as a Valentine's Day gift.

Rimmel Grey Matter

Zoya Shelby

Wet n Wild French White Creme

Valentine's Day: Skittle mani

I'm not a huge fan of how this turned out, but I'll share it anyway.

I did a base of Wet N Wild French White Creme. On my thumb and pinkie, I added a coat of Wet n Wild Sparked, a pink glitter. It's pretty, but I wish it was more dense.

On the other fingers, I added two coats of Lynderella Mon Petit Chou Chou. It's soooo sheer! This is layered over white, and you can see how sheer it still looks. Not a fan.

I used Migi Nail Art Pens to do the details on my ring finger.

This mani came off the next day. It just didn't work for me.