Happy 4th

Does anyone else find it ironic that we blow things up to celebrate the anniversary of war?

With 4th of July coming up, I was inspired by a recent email I received from Formula X to do this mani:

This is a super easy mani to do! I used striping tape and Essie "Guesso" to paint the white part of my nails. Then I added the awesome red-white-and-blue glitter topper from Funky Fingers called "Fireworks."  That's it -- simple yet festive!

Panda Bear Nails

Today's mani was inspired by my impending trip to one of my most favorite places, the National Zoo in DC.
My base is Fresh Paint "Firefly" : I like this polish because it is a light, light blue - almost white, but blue enough to allow the white to really pop. Next I did a double-stamping with Born Pretty's plate #BP18. I used two greens for the bamboo, but you can't really see it that well. The bamboo was done with more Fresh Paint, this time "Pistachio" and "#Winning."
I made decals with Bundle Monster plate #BM424 for the pandas. The paw prints are also from that plate.
I am so excited to go to the zoo -- what is your favorite animal?!

Celebrating Spring

Even though it feels like we jumped straight into summer, spring is in full swing here -- the lilacs and wisteria are blooming, the birds are mobbing the bird feeder, and my kid screams when I try to get her to go back inside. In honor of the season, I wanted to do something "flowery." I found the cutest houndstooth/floral design on Pinterest by Fall In NaiLove  (-you can see my inspiration here).

I used NOPI "Always a Silver Lining" as my base, and stamped on Funky Fingers "Gesso" with Bundle Monster plate #BM322. I used two pinks from The New Black pink ombre collection along with "Gesso" to paint the flowers, and then used acrylic paint in black and green for the leaves and to give the design definition. Acrylic is definitely easier to work with on more intricate lines.

I definitely feel inspired most by spring. What is your favorite season?

Funky Fingers "Dia de Muertos"

Happy Spring! It's finally here! Nevermind that it snowed here on the first day of spring :(  I can only suppose Mother Nature was letting Winter have a final hurrah.

Ulta had Dermelect polish in the clearance bin for $.97, so I picked up a few to try. I used Dermelect "Above It" for my base. This looked more like a baby blue in the bottle, but on my nails it looks more periwinkle. Whatever - I like it :)
 I decided to use one of my untrieds, Funky Fingers "Dia de Muertos" on my ring finger and thumb. "Dia" (pictured) is a blue-tinted glitter topper. AND - guess what - it glows! It is nice to realize this ahead of time, so you don't scare yourself like I did. As I was climbing into bed, I saw something glowing out of the corner of my eye, and startled myself for a second before realizing that I am a dumbass and it was just my nails. I'm not really sure what I was thinking during that few seconds of panic, but it definitely got my heart racing.
I stamped my pinky with Kleancolor "Neon Aqua" and Born Pretty stamping plate #BP21. To keep the pink/blue theme going, I added some pink dots with my dotting tool and Ruby Wing "Groupie."
For my middle finger, I used a tip design guide from Kiss as a stencil, and painted over the nail with "Groupie." I really like the tip guides because you can do so much more with them than just french tips. Just be sure to pull off the guide carefully before the polish dries!
The pointer is double stamped with  Bundle Monster plate #BM201 and another Born Pretty plate, #BP10. I am really loving the new Born Pretty plates - not only do they have great designs and quality plates, you can't beat their pricing! You can check out the Born Pretty Store here.

Today's 5Below Haul!

If you don’t have a 5Below store near you, I am very sorry. I LOVE this store. I cannot leave without nail polish. Along with a bunch of bow cabochons and nail sequins, I grabbed up 4 bottles. The Fresh Paint is called “Winning” - it’s a nice earthy green color. I can definitely see using that for nail art. Next up (wer’e going left to right, here!) is Funky Fingers “Dia De Muertos.” This cool blue jelly is chock-full of pink and blue glitter, and it even glows in the dark. Yay! FF “Fireworks” is a polish I have been eyeing. I will definitely use that next 4th of July. Fireworks is a clear polish with red, white and blue glitters, in a variety of sizes. Very cute topper. Last is FF “Varsity Blue.” This is another clear topper with black, blue and white glitter in 2 different sizes. I have oh so many mani ideas for these! 

Funky Fingers “Olaf”

I was very excited to try my new Funky Fingers polishes. I painted the base purple (Essie "Play Date"), and randomly painted on blue (Salon Perfect "Baby Blues") and pink (Milani "Tip Toe Pink"). I topped it with the new FF in "Olaf," which contains iridescent micro glitter as well as small white glitters. My finishing touch was a kitty stamped on my ring finger (MoYou Princess collection #3). I sealed it all in with Poshe topcoat, even though I didn’t feel like I had to have it ~ Olaf was pretty thick. ;)