Myst-iqual Nails

Hello people! I have been a major slackass with the blog, but for good reason! I have officially earned my license as an Esthetician. :)  Now, I am working on my Nail Tech license. It feels great getting to do what I love all day.
Getting back on the mani track, today's mani is very simplistic, but I love it. It is inspired by this pin from Hokuri. To recreate this delicate look, I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in "Myst-ique Pink"  - this bottle of polish is so old, I have no clue if it's even made any more. I had to brush a layer of dust off it before using it.
Next, I used OPI's "Push and Shove," which is the chrome from the Gwen Stefani collection, for the stars and dots.

You may be asking yourself, what on Earth is she holding in that pic? Why, I am glad you asked. It's a loofah - yes that thing in your shower. Turns out it's first a veggie, like a squash or zucchini, but then you dry it out. The dryed out inside is your favorite exfoliating tool. This is my first year growing loofah, so we will see what happens when I dry this bad boy out. Have you ever grown loofah? If so, how did it turn out?

Purple Gradient with Foil

Hello Peeps! I have to keep my nails pretty short for Esthetics class, but that doesn't mean that they can't be cute! Today's mani utilizes some of my faves from the purple The New Black ombre set. I went for a lighter purple gradient, added a few loose flecks of bronze foil, and finally applied a matte topcoat. I really like the matte look with this. What do you think?

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?

Happy Star Wars Day!

Today is May the fourth, which is an international nerd holiday for those of us who love Star Wars. My tribute to this holy day is thus:

I garnered my inspiration from other fellow nerdesses over the great Web, including the Nailasaurus and Cosmetic Proof. I am not going to list all the polishes I used; if you want to know, just ask! I will mention that I used a very sheer coat of Indigo Bananas' "Great Scott!" over the light saber so that it would glow. :D I did actually use acrylic paints for the Death Star, and it seemed to work quite well. I definitely feel like I have more precision with acrylic, which is cool.
I am still using SensatioNail gel growth formula. I decided to go ahead and cut all my nails off short and get a fresh, new start on length, and I am not going to apologize for it! I see so many bloggers apologizing because her nails are short -- does that mean that short nails can't be as cute as long nails? I think not! It's Short Nails, No Wails for me all the way! Till they grow out of course :)

More Nails Magazine Inspiration!

What's going on peeps! It is FINALLY Spring and I couldn't be happier! I received my May issue of Nails Magazine, and I am engulfed in inspiration. Today's mani is inspired by the Technique Demo on page 56.

I used Dermelect "Above It" as my base -- it's much more periwinkle in color than the picture shows, unfortunately. I used a small, dry brush to add my accent colors - Dermelect "Lust Struck" (pink), Floss Gloss "Wet" (green), and Floss Gloss "Con Limon" (neon yellow). The white flowers are all from Born Pretty plate #BP24. This is the second time I have used this stamp, and I had a lot more difficulty with it this time. Not sure why.

Nails Mag Recreations

I always look forward to my nail mags -  even though print media is going out of style, it's still nice to turn those pages every once in a while. The March 2015 edition of Nails Magazine was no exception. In fact, I loved a few of the designs so much that I immediately felt the urge to re-create them!

First up is my version from CND Vinylux ad - I used a no-name Sally Girl gray as my base. For the floral/abstract design, I free-handed with Zoya "Noir" along with 3 shades from The New Black's pink ombre set. This was a very easy design to do, and can be accomplished easily with multipe varieties of colors!

The Snake Eye Tutorial on page 52 was submitted to the mag from Anna Mally of Las Vegas. I used Wet N Wild "SaGreena the Teenage Witch" as my base, and another TNB green (this time from the Runway collection) for the scales. The eyes were done with "Gold Dots" nail foil, and then detailed with black and white stripers. I loved this design so much, I had to create a full design, but that is a post for another day :)  The eye itself was a little challenging, but overall the design was not too terribly complicated or hard.

My last reproduction is based off the page 62 tutorial, entitled Royal Jeweled Nails with Gelish Cinderella Collection. I used Whet "Facetious" for my base, added glitter and then created a circle with "Jungle Tides" nail foil. I painted around my green circle with a gold striper, and added the tiny dots with my trusty dotting tool. Unfortunately, the green foil didn't give me the coverage I wanted/needed, so I covered it with a gorgeous sparkly "Glee" green from Jesse's Girl.  Again, not too difficult - I think I just need more practice with the foils.

From the Pinterest Vault

Today's mani is from one of the many that I have stored in my Pinterest Nail Art stash.

 When I choose someone else's mani to recreate, I do a little research (beyond just looking at the pic) on the original artist so that I may give credit where it is due. I was pleasantly pleased with Miriam Elizabeth's work -- you can find her Facebook page here and Instagram  here -- you too can be inspired by her creativity! The original mani which serves as my inspiration can be seen

here. 

I used Essence "Breakthrough" as my base, and added the purple (OPI "Siberian Nights), blue (Zoya "Ling") and White (Funky Fingers "Gesso") by using the watercolor technique . As the final touch, I added some gold nail foil. This time, I decided to use the nail foil glue, like you are supposed to do. Usually I use my quick-dry top coat. Musta had the big girl panties on. Long story short, I do not care for the nail glue.

Bottom line, this is one of those manis that I keep staring at my own fingers. I love it. I will definitely be trying to recreate mroe of Miriam's work in the near future.  :)

Golden Snowflakes

I do a snowy design on my nails, and it snows :( I guess I need to do some kind of spring/summer mani next.

Anywho, in case you couldn't tell, I'm not a big fan of snow, Or cold. Nonetheless, I picked up a few gorgeous Zoya polishes on sale at Ulta ($1.97 for Pixie Dust? Yes please!) and thought that "Rebel" and "Nori" would look awesome together for some type of winter design. This is what I came up with :)

The base is Zoya's "Rebel," which is a sky blue metallic with a silver shimmer. I added "Nori" in a random, abstract pattern and a few gold snowflakes. It's a pretty simplistic mani, but I am pleased with how it turned out.

Bad Romance

Today I am using my Deborah Lippmann polish for the first time. This is "Bad Romance," which is a black jelly polish, loaded with purple glitters. I applied 3 coats, and then stamped Sally Hansen Insta Dri in "Silver Sweep" and one of the new plates from the Born Pretty Store, #BP-08.
While the color and formula itself is pleasing, I wasn't very happy that I had tip wear after less than 24 hours (with 2 coats of Seche Vite applied). Luckily, this bottle of DL was on sale at Ulta - had I paid retail price ($19), I wouldn't be too happy. Will I ever try DL again? Maybe, but only if it's on sale!

NYE Nails - C-Ya 2014!

So I am a week late with posting this mani, but better late then never, right?!?  I was so exhausted from our Christmas trip that NYE consisted of sitting on the couch with my kids, trying to stay awake until Midnight. Wild and crazy times! My nails definitely had a better time than I did.
 My base polish is Essie's "Over the Edge," which has been described as a "metallic midnight silver." It's an almost-black-but-not-really with just a hint of shimmer. I used Bundle Monster's plate #BM-H14 to stamp the fireworks in white, and then lead-lighted the colors in. The cityscape is from another Bundle Monster plate, this one is #BM-414. I pulled the music notes from a Pueen plate (#PUEEN47), and the cute little cocktail glasses are from Gals Cosmetics (#GA9).

'Tis the Season!

Now that Thansgiving is over, it's on to Christmas nails! I am a firm believer in waiting until after Turkey Day to celebrate/do anything Christmasy. My first mani of the season is inspired by a tablecloth I got at the Christmas Tree Shop.

 I used a base of Zoya "Godiva", and then proceeded to get my stamp on! As soon as I got my new Born Pretty Store plates, I was loving the Christmas trees on plate BP-01, and knew it would be the first plate I would use. I utilized two other tree images from Bundle Monster plates BM205 and BM321. For stamping, I used the following polishes:

            - Kleancolor "Red"

            - Fresh Paint "Spruce Street"

            - Nicole by OPI "Promises in the Dark"

Lastly, I used a dotting tool to make tiny dots on some of the trees with Kleancolor "White," and a coat of Seche Vite - which really made my mani shine! 

I really like this design a lot, but with so many awesome new plates to use and only 3 more weeks left till Christmas, I don't know how long until I change it out for something else :)

Thanksgiving Nails

Thanksgiving is my all-time favorite holiday! I love that it's not over-commercialized -- just you, food and family.
This year's Turkey Day mani is full of stamping, decals and leadlighting, all from the Bundle Monster Holiday edition (plates BMH11, BMH12 and BMH13) I used Nails Inc "Porchester Square" as my base. For the turkey and the pumpkin, I created my own decals, using colors from The New Black "Runway Collection." The pilgrim hat was simply stamped on, and I used the Leadlighting method for the leaves and the grasses.
My hands are now ready for eating, drinking, and Cards Against Humanity on Thursday. :)

Inspired by @narmai

Another recreation! I found this on Pinterest, and knew right away I wanted it on my nails!  I started with a base of ELF in "Thunderstorm" and sponged on Finger Paints "Sparkle and Snowflake" for a glittery gradient. For the leaves, I used Red Angel stamping plate #RA-121, and then went over the design with a striper. (Red, orange and  yellow polishes from The New Black "Runway" collection.)

Inspired by: @alisnailart

Today's mani is inspired by an amazing artist I came across on Instagram, @alisnailart. For this design, I used Funky Fingers "Bizerk Turq" for the base, and then sponged on Funky Fingers in "220 Volts" on half the nail.  I sponged on some of China Glaze "Travel in Colour" for some shimmer, and used a striping brush with the Funky Fingers colors to add the finishing touches. I was very pleased with the results, and I cannot wait to try some of her other designs. :)

This Sh*t is Bananas!

I was blessed to win a giveaway in which I received 3 small Indigo Bananas polishes of my choice, along with a cuticle balm. One of my three pics was Perfect Night - a purple jelly with blue flakies. This is flippin' gorgeous!!!! I have gotten more complements on this polish than any other I have worn. I added some rhinestones, pearls and caviar beads, and stamped a couple nails with plate BM502 from the Sunkissed Bundle Monster collection. I just love the blue and purple together. I apologize that my picture sucks (I am working on that, I swear!) - you can't tell how amazing this color is.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I had a more detailed mani in mind, but every time I would sit down to work on it, something would go wrong -- one time a stink bug landed on my pinky and drug his nasty little legs through my wet polish. After 3 tries, I gave up and decided to go with something simple. I painted the base with Nicole by OPI in "Still into Pink." This is a matte polish, and I wanted to love it, but I needed something a little more, so  I added a thin coat of Wet N Wild "Break the Ice" to add just a little shimmer. I popped on some rhinestones for the bow, added a few hearts, and there you have it!

Inspired by ... Tarte

Today's mani is inspired by the packaging for the Tarte Rainforest After Dark palette.
I started with Kleancolor in Neon Purple, and stamped the snakeskin pattern (BM224) with LA Colors in Reckless. The snake is from Winstonia plate W03, and it's stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Style Steel.  I am also sporting a new nail shape - I am working myself into an almond shape.

 I LOVE this mani. It turned out rockin'. :) The pics could be better, but I am working on that.

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! 

Fall Trees

Today’s mani has been inspired by the view from my desk window. 

The base is Fresh Paint in “Firefly.” I sponged the grass on with Fresh Paint “Pistachio” and LA Colors “Spring Frost.” The tree stamp is from Bundle Monster  #BM409, and the polish I used was NOPI “Promises in the Dark.” Finally, I put a light topcoat on the tree branches, and added some glitter in red, brown, yellow and orange. I sealed in everything with NYC’s “Grand Central Station” - after reading some reviews on a Facebook group, I am giving it a try. I am pretty pleased with how they turned out :)

Inspired by Robin Moses

If you don't know who Robin Moses is, and you are a nail art fan, you must google her now. Go. I will wait. 

Welcome back. She is .....tha shit...... Right?!?! Right. Besides the fact that her art is stupendous and she is creating these amazing videos to teach us for free, she is an amazing person. Kind. Thoughtful. Humble. I love her. She is the reason I decided to make myself a plan to make nail art more than just a hobby for me. 

Here's my nail art wheel that I created with Robin's tutorials.

If you haven't already, be sure to Like her Facebook page.  And while you are at it, subscribe to her YouTube page as well. I promise you will not regret it.