My Nails Mag Debut!

I'm ridiculously excited to report that one of my nail art pics was in the October Nails Magazine (pg 36):

You may remember this as the promo pic I did for Nails for Tails. I had no idea they were using it, so it was definitely quite the pleasant surprise!

I am currently wearing a gorgeous deep blue polish from Whet called "Facetious." I had never heard of this polish before I received this bottle in one of my Ipsy bags. It took a good three coats to get the level of opacity I wanted, but it was well worth it for this rich cobalt blue.

Unfortunately, this picture doesn't show how stunning this blue truly is. I stamped on some feathers with Bundle Monster plate #BM419 and Fresh Paint in "Firefly." I used a detail brush to add some microglitter to the feathers.

Have you ever used Whet polish? Did you like it?

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?

Born Pretty Stamping Plate #BP17

Hello peeps! Life has been crazy for me -- my kids went back to school, I graduated from my Esthetics program and have started the Nail Tech program, my husband started a new job -- it's been a whirlwind! I am quite excited to have started the Nail Tech program. I am two weeks in, and I am having a blast! It's great to do what I love all day long :) Did you know that in the early 20th century, people would keep their broken nail tips and donate them to a nail bank for nail techs to use as needed?!? Crazy.
Anyway, I have to keep my nails short for my Esthetics state board exam in a little over a week, so I'm rocking the nubs. Today's mani base is Floss Gloss "Dinge." I used Funky Fingers "Dark Knight" to stamp the image from Born Pretty plate #BP17 on my nails (and my toes too, but I will spare you the feet!)

Simple yet elegant - I like it! Have you used the Born Pretty plates yet?

Kitties and Doggies for My Little Princess

After much consideration, I have made a conscious decision to choose happiness above everything in life. I have promised myself to do something fun, or something that makes me happy, every day. I could give you the life is short speech, but really, I don't want to grow old and become the cranky one in the Golden Girls.
Today's Project Happiness Daily Fun Shit was Gwen asking me for a mani/pedi, and even sitting still for it!

She wanted pink and purple kitties and doggies, naturally. The problem is, this kid's nails are almost polish-resistant. I can use Orly Bonder (an a$$kicking base coat), Seche Vite on top, plenty of drying time, and the next day she is peeling the polish off like and old sunburn.
This time, I decided to do a gel mani on her. ****Please - no need to lecture me on risks, etc: I have read the info. Thanks for caring though :)*****
I dusted off my SensatioNAIL gel starter kit, and followed the super-easy directions. I added some stamping with MoYou London's Princess Collection plate #03 over the single layer of pink chiffon.
Even though we only got 75% of the project done (she agreed we could do the last hand tomorrow after school), we had fun together doing the mother-daughter bonding thing :)  So far, Project Happiness is having positive results for me. Why didn't I learn this earlier in life?

Do you set aside special time for yourself each day?

 Is there anything special you like to do? 

Grayscale Geode, Inspired by the Lovely Lady Alayna

     I started my Nail Technician classes this week, and I am very excited to be able to focus on my love. I saw this mani on Pinterest by Lady Alayna, and it was an instant "do me now" project.

     Although I have admired the geode nail art for some time, this was my first time attempting it. I used a fine art brush and various polishes to create the geode design. In hindsight, I will either 1) use acetone to soften the lines or 2) use watered down acrylic paint instead. I added a slight pinch of loose gold microglitter to the golden centers of the geodes.
     The remaining nails are done with a variety of techniques, including stamping, spray water marbling (shout out to Liquid Palisade for making water marbling and stamping infinitely easier to do) and glitter placement, along with a few goldtone accessories and a rhinestone.
     This was tremendously fun yet challenging - there will definitely be more geode nail art in my future. What do you think - have you tried this type of nail art before? What did you think -- any tips? I'd love to hear from you :)

Gelibility + Crushed Shell Nail Art

Today I did my first and last crushed shell nail art mani!

I have had a package of little bottles, containing plastic crushed shell/iridescent looking stuff - I am really not technically certain what this material is called - sitting, untouched, unloved. No time like the present! - only thing is, I am not really 100% certain what I am supposed to do with this stuff. It's experiment time! Here's my tools:

I started out by using Gelibility to turn my China Glaze "Travel in Color" into a sheer base coat. I elected to use the Gelibility in hopes that the added thickness of the gel will sandwich in the little glittery pieces. After two coats of polish, I used my dotting tool to place the shell/glitter/whatever this substance is onto my nails. It took two more layers of Gelibility to really seal in the shards, and even with that I can still feel some of the material when I brush my fingers against my nails. I added a little gold shell and a pearl as an accent, and that was it!

I felt like this mani was more time consuming than it was worth. I still don 't even know if I used this stuff correctly (or should I say for the reason it was intended). Have you ever used this stuff? I would love to hear other people's experiences with this --- what is this stuff called?!? (for the record, the packaging said nothing.)

Do you FiMo?

For some strange reason, I am addicted to fimo nail art, but I don't really like wearing it on myself. Go figure. I do, however, list auctions for fimo on Listia, where the buyer can choose the pieces he/she wants, instead of having to get some random crap that they didn't really want. I started doing fimo auctions this way because I was tired of bidding on a packet of nail art, when I only wanted 1 or 2 things in it.
So now.... I have an Etsy store!

This is my "trial" run to see if I have as much success on Etsy as I have with Listia. I have NO plans to leave Listia, I just want to see what happens :)


Are you an Etsy chick? Who is your favorite seller?