Hello Venique

As a beauty school student, I am now officially allowed to shop at cool places like Cosmo Prof.  On Saturday, I took my little student license and got my "card" from the Cosmo Prof store in Hagerstown, MD. The cashier was super friendly and nice. Once I got my paperwork out of the way, I felt like she had released me into a candy store of sorts -- I didn't know where to start! Everything at Cosmo Prof is basically wholesale-priced for cosmetology professionals, meaning everything is SO MUCH CHEAPER than your typical retail venue. I didn't go too crazy this time (as I was supposed to be Easter shopping), but I did come across a brand of polish that was new to me -- Venique. Have you heard of it? I decided to give it a try, and got a cute little bottle with no name on it of course.

I used 3 coats to achieve full coverage, but this could easily be used as a topper. I can only describe this as a rose-gold colored glitter, with larger pieces of glitters that are multi-colored. I love the look of glitter but hate the process of getting it off my nails, so I don't typically gravitate toward these type of polishes, but this one kept catching my eye. I actually liked this enough to wear it on its own for a few days, but I feel the urge to stamp coming on.
Have you tried Venique? What was your opinion? So far I think I will definitely be trying more of this brand -- another excuse to go back to Cosmo Prof :)

Purple Flowers

Today's mani is inspired by this post by So Nailicious.

I used two of the purples from The New Black's "Haze" Ombre Set on this design. The negative space stripes were done using nail striping tape, and I used the watercolor technique for the flowers. I had originally placed three small white dots in the middle of the flowers, but I didn't really like how they looked, so I used the watercolor technique again to blend them into the purple and added tiny black dots. This design wasn't too difficult, and I have been getting tons of compliments all day :)

*Nails are pictured with my new awesome Pitcher Plant!

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. :)

It's my Birthday!

I had a fabulous birthday weekend :) I did a simple mani with Color Club's "Harp On It" and stamped it with Pueen26 and Pueen45. It was a pretty simple mani, but I was under time constraints, so it got the job done! Hope everyone had a great weekend -- I know I did!!

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!

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! 

Down the Rabbit Hole

A set of nails I did for Listia, on an Alice in Wonderland theme. These were lots of fun to do! 
 I used rabbit, rose and playing card fimo, as well as black, white and red rhinestones. I also placed small pieces of iridescent glitter on each nail.

RW&B

A simple yet effective red, white and blue mani.