Raindrops Frogs

I decided to add some nail art to Illamasqua Raindrops. I went with this frog design, but I didn't follow the video and just freehanded base upon the picture.

My nails aren't quite long enough to do both the frog and the lily pads on the same nail so I split them up.  This could be a super cute design to add cover up tip wear by simply making sure the lily pads are on the tips only instead of by the cuticles like I did.

I used a ton of different colors for this design:

Light green: Sally Hansen Green with Envy
Green: Essie Mojito Madness
Light pink: Ulta Encore Pink
Pink: Pure Ice Peony
Wet N Wild Black Creme
Wet N Wild French White Creme

I used a small nail art brush for the whole design and it was super easy. I was a bit worried about the lily pads, but I just sorta did light pink blobs, outlined them in dark pink, and added some dark pink accents. They turned out great, but I love the one on my middle finger best. I do sorta like that the one on my pinkie kinda looks like a heart though <3

Illamasqua Raindrops

OMG, I'm soooo excited to be showing you this polish today!!! Can't you tell?!?

Illamasqua Raindrops has been on my wishlist for forever so I was super excited when it was announced that they were bringing it back! I managed to purchase this bottle from a nail polish sales Facebook group. I just couldn't help myself!

Raindrops is a beautiful light grey creme polish base with the tiniest hint of blue that has added silver/white flakies.  I love grey polish to begin with, but the flakies really make it stand out.

It had that great Illamasqua formula and went on in only two coats. I did one thinner one to set the foundation and one thicker one to add the color. I've been doing this method lately for application, and it seems to work well!

Essence Date in the Moonlight

I went to a wedding at the beginning of the month and wanted to do a simple but elegant mani for the occasion.  I decided to wear a blue striped summer dress and chose to use Essence Date in the Moonlight which I picked up a bit ago.

Date in the Moonlight is a super dark navy blue with brighter blue shimmer.  It's part of the Color and Go collection so the fast dry aspect appealed to me.  It went on wonderfully in two coats. 

It chipped really easily though :( I did this mani two days before the wedding, and it completely peeled off the day before so I had to redo it. It didn't peel off that time, but I had a few chips before the ceremony was even over.

I added some silver glitter on the tips using Barry M Silver Glitter and rhinestones on the moon.

This last picture is taken in direct sunlight and really shows off the brighter blue shimmer.

Zoya Riley

I meant to post this yesterday, but we were out of town most of the day so things were kinda crazy!

I got Zoya Riley along with a couple of other Zoya polishes for my mom because she always uses Zoya Sooki when she visits. My mom gave Riley back to me because she said the formula was a bit weird.

I didn't find the formula weird at all! It went on wonderfully just like the other Zoya polishes that I own.  Riley is a gorgeous raspberry creme that went on it almost one coat. I used two for this mani though. I'm not a big red fan, but I really liked this one a lot.  Notice that I did have some staining around my nails though. Moisturizing before doing the mani might have helped with that.

This photo was taken using direct lamp light compared to the others which were take using indirect sun light.

I decided to play around a bit with this mani and added some gold glequins to my ring and pinkie fingers and 1 coat of Milani Jewel FX Gold to my middle and index fingers.

Zoya Neely

Zoya Neely is another mini Zoya that I picked up a while ago and hadn't had a chance to use yet.

It's a light green creme, but it's showing up more blue for me.  In these pictures, it looks quite a bit more like China Glaze For Audrey.

Neely went on pretty nicely in two coats, though dry time was a little slower because of its pastel nature.

Spring Daisies

I decided to add some nail art on top of Zoya Pippa.  Normally, I do my thumb and ring finger as accents, but I decided to mix it up a bit for this mani.

I love flowery manis, but I haven't done any yet this year! (At least I don't think so....) Pippa is such a perfect spring color so I knew flowers would look great over top.

I used a small dotting tool and added the white petals first using Wet N Wild French White Creme. Then I went back over top and added a dot of Zoya Pippa to bring it together. I tried to make some of the flowers off center, but I'm not sure if I quite like how that looks.

On my other fingers, I knew I wanted to add some glitter so I searched around in my stash until I found the perfect one: Dollish Polish The Koopa King. I painted one coat on my other nails. I love how the yellow and orange and green glitters in the polish add to the flowery feel of this mani.

Zoya Pippa

Just a quick post today.

I got Zoya Pippa a while ago when Zoya was offering some of their polishes as minis. I decided on Pippa because I don't really have a good yellow that I can use as a base and a mini is the perfect trial size.

Overall, Pippa seems to be a pretty good yellow. I used 2 thicker coats for this mani, and I see that I could have probably used a third coat.

It is a bit streaky in just these 2 coats, but I think the third would have covered up that. Dry time was average which is about the most I can expect from any yellow polish.

June Polish Days: To Boldly Go

The theme for this month's Polish Days is To Boldly Go. Anything sci-fi goes for this theme.

I'm fairly new to the cult of Doctor Who (just started the 11th Doctor), but I've been wanting to do Doctor Who nails since I got hooked.  Doctor Who nails work perfectly for the sci-fi theme!

On my nails I painted (from index to pinkie), the 9th Doctor's outfit (he's my favorite!), the (new) Doctor Who logo, a Dalek, and the T.A.R.D.I.S.

I started my painting the base I needed for each image. Here's what I used:

Index: Essie Brooch the Subject

Middle: Zoya Storm

Ring: Revlon Gold Coin

Pinkie: Revlon Royal

Then I added on the details using some small nail art brushes and several different polishes. Here are the rest of the polishes I used:

Index: Revlon Royal (blue), Wet N Wild Black Creme (black)

Middle: Barry M Silver Foil (silver)

Pinkie: Wet n Wild Black Creme, Wet n Wild French White Creme

I adore how this came out. The Dalek and the 9th Doctor's outfit are my favorite :)

Check out other mani from June's Polish Days through the links below

Zoya Liberty

Zoya Liberty is the final Summer 2013 Pixie Dust I added to my collection. This one is simply a stunner and seems to be super popular!

Liberty went on with two coats. It does stain a bit so be careful not to get it on your skin or it will be hard to get off. I used a Elmer's glue base with this. It didn't affect application at all. The glue base didn't work as well for removal though with this. Liberty came off in tiny little flakes. I think it helped with staining of the nail beds though, as I had very little.

Zoya Pixies use a fine silver dust, and I think it really stands out nicely in Liberty.

I loved this so much on my hands that I put it on my toes too! I've been trying to spend a lot of time outside when it's nice (plus the little man loves it too!). I find myself staring at my toes often as the sunlight catches the silver in Liberty. And no chips so far either! I think the Pixie Dusts will be my go-to colors for pedis since normal colors chip like crazy on my toes.

Zoya Solange

Zoya Solange is another of the Summer 2013 Pixie Dusts that I bought. I kept wavering over this one, and I'm so glad I bought it!

You may have noticed the new water mark. I have the logo of the frog drawn up because it matches my email (rubytadpole) which is where I got the idea of Ruby's Nails for my blog (ruby being my birth stone). The artist even included little painted nails on the frog and a ruby brush stroke. It was more than I was expecting! The water mark is also the new header for my blog and Facebook page. I also redesigned my blog layout to better fit with the frog concept.  Check it out and tell me what you think!

Solange is a gold textured polish with gold dust that is exclusive to Zoya.  As with the other Pixie Dusts, this one applied beautifully. I used two coats, but maybe could have been just one.

This polish is gorgeous. I really like how it looks with my skin tone, and it's a perfect color for summer.

Zoya Stevie

For Mother's Day, my awesome husband gave me a few hours out of the house by myself and permission to do some shopping. What a sweet guy! I meet up with my friend Kristen from Darling Nails while out. She wanted to head to Ulta, and I'm so glad we did!

They had the Zoya Summer 2013 Pixie Dusts in stock. I've been waiting for a sale on Zoya.com to buy them, but I couldn't wait any longer so I bought 3.  At the register, they rang up as Buy 2, Get 1 free! I finally the deal I was looking for!

Zoya Stevie is one of the Pixie Dusts that I picked up, and it is so pretty!

I used 3 thin coats for this mani, though I could have probably gotten away with 2.

Look at all that silver glittery goodness! There was so much, that my poor camera had a hard time focusing. I didn't have much sun the day I took these pictures either, but you can see how sparkly they are in the shade; just imagine in the sun light!

I can't wait to wear this polish more over the summer. I'm sure it'll look super cute on my toes too :)