China Glaze

The One Where I Re-Create my Blue-Ming Floral Design

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this fine Sunday??  It's been an abnormally warm winter here so I'm not going to lie, it's making me itch for Spring.  Sure I would like one massive snow storm where I can buckle down and just lounge out at home, but the longer we go with little to no snow, the less and less I feel like that is actually going to happen.  So I have begun focusing my attention on Spring.  And what better way to do that than with a total Spring manicure?!

Today I am sharing with you a re-creation of a design I did in 2013.  It's still surprising to me that I've been blogging so long that I can look back to a post from 2013.  Seriously, I feel like I just started this thing last year.  Anyways, the design is what I named the blue-ming floral design since it was done on  blue base and the flowers are blooming....get it?  One of my old blogger buddies came up with it. I'm not that punny...har har har.

Let's take a look at my re-creation...almost three years later!




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Boho Blues
  • Zoya - Pinks & Greens - I cannot remember the names as it is 12:45am as I am writing this post - Another reason I should write the colors down when I actually do the designs....
China Glaze Boho Blues is a gorgeous periwinkle blue.  It applies evenly in two coats.  I was a tad worried because the first coat was super sheer, but the second one it built up perfectly.  No issues what so ever.  It also dried rather fast too, so I was able to move on right to the nail art.

For the design, I followed my tutorial that I created three years ago as well.  I started off by creating the larger pink outline, then filling it in with lighter pink.  I did the same with the leaves...darker green than lighter green accenting.  Once all the details were dried, I went through with a striper brush and added the black details.
 


Looking at my design three years ago and this one today, I think I've come along way as a nail artist and a blogger.  My technique is neater, my photos are better...although I do miss my outdoor photos.  I however don't miss my neighbors glaring at me as I stand in the yard taking pictures of my hands.  I think throughout 2016 though, I am going to visit some of my old designs and see how far I"ve come.  Might be fun!

What do you think of the design?  Something you would do?  Have you tried it before?

Until next time, <3.

Animal Mani

The One With the #ThemedThursdayJan Winter Wonderland Theme

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this fine Thursday?!  This week is going by super slow and I feel like today should be Friday.  Oh well, what can you do....at least it's one more day before Friday.

Today is the last #ThemedThursdayJan prompt!  I've been enjoying this challenge and I hope that the lovely ladies who created this will do a Themed Thursday February!  Today's theme is winter wonderland!  Back when I started my blog (a few more days until the 4 year anniversary!), I stumbled upon this winter berry manicure which was accented with a cute cardinal.  I clearly remember pinning it with the hopes that my skills would improve and I would be able to re-create it.   Each year since then, I have looked at it and never attempted it because I truly didn't believe I could manage the design. 

When I saw the prompt for today, the manicure immediately popped into my mind.  I think that it truly resembles a winter wonderland.  Nine times out of ten when it's snowing outside and those large fluffy snowflakes are falling from the sky, I always happen to see the red cardinals jumping around or sitting on the bird feeder.  For those little guys and me, it's a winter wonderland.

So I mustered up the courage and I attempted the manicure....and I am so HAPPY with how it turned out!  Let's take a look!!




Colors Used:
  • Orly - Boho Bonnet
  • INM - Northern Lights
  • Acrylics
Orly Boho Bonnet....oh how I love thee!  This was one of my first ever Orly polishes and I really hope that someday in the near future Orly re-releases the shade.  I was going to take a bottle shot with it, but I ended up dropping a brand new bottle of hunter green polish and it shattered and made such a mess on the carpet.  So I spent most of my night scrubbing the carpet and ran out of time to take a decent bottle shot.

But anyways, Orly Boho Bonnet is a gorgeous dusty grey blue shade.  You can get it to apply evenly in two coats, but I tend to use three.  I ended up having a few bald spots on some nails because I was lightly applying the base.   This time around I added a top coat of INM Northern Lights and holy gorgeous.  It made the gorgeous shade pop.



When my base was dried, I went through with acrylics and created the designs.  The branches, berries, and snow were easy.  The thing I was most scared to do was that cardinal.  I think that I did a pretty dang good job!  He looks stinkin' cute!  I started by making his body then added his little head.  After he was dried, I went through with the black acrylic and started outlining different areas.  Ahh, I just think he's so cute!

What do you think?  Is this something you would try?  Does it remind you of a winter wonderland?

I'm going to go stare at my nails for a little longer!  Until next time, <3.

Animal Print

The One With the Grey and Gold Theme for Twinsie Tuesday

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's Tuesday which means it is time for yet another Twinsie Tuesday.  Today's prompt is grey and gold!  I wasn't 100% sure what I was going to do because grey and gold, in my opinion, are the worst colors and really don't go together.

So I sat down and started thinking of different ideas.  I realized I hadn't done an animal print manicure in awhile so I started fiddling around with different designs.  I came up with today's random leopard print manicure, which I ended up really liking!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • INM - Granite
  • FingerPaints - Golden Glaze
  • China Glaze - Bring on the Bubbly
  • Black Acrylic
While I'm not a huge fan of grey, Granite by INM has to be my favorite grey polish.  It applies evenly in two coats and dries super fast.  It's not too dark and not too light, literally the perfect shade of grey.  I think if it were darker, it would have taken away from the leopard print.






I think the black really brought this manicure together.  If I didn't have black accenting at all I really would have hated the combination on my nails.  

What do you think?  Are you a fan of the grey and gold?

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie's posts!


Sorry for such a short post today.  I am beyond exhausted after my trip to the trampoline park.  I wrote this post Monday night and I can't think straight right now.  So with that, I am off!

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

Glitzy Dotticure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  I feel like it's been forever since I last posted even though it was just on Thursday.  I think it's because I have been feeling a little under the weather again and when I'm sick time seems to go super slow.  I also had a naked nail day, so that tells you how ill I really was.

Today's manicure is one that I did last week which I think has become one of my all time favorites.  It's so simple, but beyond lovely.  I was cleaning out my Melmer and discovered all my nude polishes which I rarely use.  I vowed to start using them more and started with this manicure.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
  • OPI - Do You Take Lei Away?
  • Zoya - Tomoko
Why haven't I done black, nude, and gold manicures like this before?!  Seriously such a lovely change from all my blues and purples.  Don't get me wrong, I love my crazy nails, but this is just so refreshing.  And it was more work appropriate than say my stained glass nails I had last week.

Regardless, Do You Take Lei Away? is one of my new favorite nude polishes.  It's slightly darker than my favorite OPI My Vampire is Buff.  Two coats and I had full coverage.



Tomoko, my favorite of the Pixie Dusts.  I just ordered a back up bottle in the Zoya promo because I have been avoiding it because I don't want to run out.  You're going to be seeing a lot more of this polish in the near future.  And some other Pixies which I ordered.  I know that a lot of people are over the textured trend, but I'm in love with it.  Especially when it comes to these original formula Pixies.

What do you think?  Fan of this simple manicure?  Something you would try?

Only now I realized that I should have used some of my Zoya nudes for this manicure.  Oh well, I guess that means that I'll have to do more refreshing manicures like this!

Until next time,< 3.

Theme Thursday

#ThemedThursdayJan - Snowman!

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's cold, chilly, and snowy here.  Winter time!  I'm not angry about it.  I thought I would be, but it's kind of good to see the snow.  I do wish that it happened before Christmas, but whatever.  Hopefully the snow will only last a few months and not all the way into May or something weird!

Today is Thursday and I again am posting a manicure for Themed Thursday January (#ThemedThursdayJan).  This week, the prompt is snowman!  I really loved my snowman manicure I did last year so I decided to re-create it for today's prompt!  Last year this look was inspired by Simply Rins.

Let's take a look at this years re-creation!




Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Rebel
  • INM - Northern Lights
  • Acrylics
I think I did a little better this year!  Last year, I remember when I was drawing my outline of the snowman I was having a little problem with spacing.  I kept making the face too large and the hat ended up being a tiny little thing.  This year I really paid attention on trying to get the hat to be a little larger and I like the overall look a lot better!

I also changed up my snowflake nails this year as well.  Instead of doing one large flake with the dots, I did two different sized ones.  At first I thought it looked a little cramped and too busy, but once the snowman was on the nail, it all blended together.


I always forget how gorgeous Rebel is.  This polish was from the Zoya Awaken collection a few Springs ago.  There was a beautiful purple and mint with this same formula also which I need to start using more of.  While this polish did not need a sparkly top coat, I added INM Northern Lights.  It was honestly one of the best polish decisions I've ever made.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Think I did better this year??

Until next time, <3.

China Glaze

Twinsie Tuesday: Shattered Glass

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's snowing here!  It's about time my new tires get some use.  I was starting to think I could get one more winter out of the old ones.  I'm so thankful I bought them because I really would have skid off the road for sure last night.

It's Tuesday which means it is time for another Twinsie Tuesday!!  This week we are sharing shattered glass manicures.  Now, usually this design is done using cellophane, but I didn't have any of that, so I had to improvise.  It came to me that stained glass windows are created using pieces of shattered glass.  Right?  Maybe?

Regardless, I decided to do a stained glass manicure.  After looking around pinterest, I found this gorgeous design by Miss Bella Tracy and I decided to re-create it.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Assorted Neons
  • Nine Zero Lacquer - Holo All the Things
  • Orly - Instant Artist Black

So I didn't do a typical sponge gradient for this manicure!  Instead, I did a dry brush!  Meaning, I started with a purple polish and dry brushed it over white, then did the same with the other colors down the rest of the nail.  When I added a top coat it blended it together and it looked like I did a sponged gradient!  Honestly creating a gradient this way took a lot less time and clean up versus the typical gradient.  I'm sure though I wouldn't be able to do it for all designs, but I might try it again in the near future!


Once my gradient was complete, I added a top coat of Holo All The Things by Nine Zero Lacquer.  I am so happy to have a holo topper in my collection!  Now I will literally be holo-ing all the things!  The top coat dried kind of matte, so after I did my stained glass lines, I added a topper of INM Out the Door.  This made the whole manicure shine and sparkle.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Pass for shattered glass?

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsies!


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amanda at Fashion Footing
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Claire at Kerruticles
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Marisa at Polish Those Nails
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Savannah at Addicted to Polish
Sharon at Behind Green Eyes
Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

Random Dot Mani with Orly Indie

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's Sunday which means tomorrow is the grand return to the work world.  I kind of don't want to go back because I just was able to get colored pencils for my adult coloring book and I'm kind of hooked on coloring.  It's so relaxing!  So now my life outside of work revolves around nail polish, crocheting, and coloring.  I'm such an old lady, but meh.

Today I am sharing a manicure I did a week or so ago.  I've been feeling the simple mish mosh manicures again lately.  By the time I get to do my nails at night lately it's always after 9:30pm and I'm not in the mood to start something crazy at that time.  So simple it is!

So let's take a look at my simple dot, stripe, fun manicure.




Colors Used:
  • Orly - Indie
  • Orly - Mirrorball
  • Orly - White Tips
  • Orly - Instant Artist White
  • FingerPaints - Sparkle With Me
Let's talk about how gorgeous Orly Indie is.  I purchased this polish in the Fall and used it once and kind of forgot about it.  I'm sad I did because it's absolutely gorgeous.  Weird thing about this polish though is that it's super separated looking in the bottle.  When I pulled it out of the drawer, it had these white swirls all throughout.  I had to shake it up real good to get it to semi mix together.  I was kind of nervous that the white would show up on the nails or make the polish itself streaky but it didn't.



See at the bottom of the bottle the white?  Yeah that's what was swirled throughout.  It settled at the bottom and just kind of stays there.  Regardless, as I said it doesn't affect the actual polish.  Two coats and you have full beautiful coverage.  Honestly, you can get away with one coat, but I feel weird doing only one coat of polish.  Anyone else like that?  I just feel like my nails are more vulnerable to chipping with the less coats.  Maybe I'm weird.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Does your bottle of Indie have weird white swirls?  I'll share a photo on my Instagram of it if I can remember.

Until next time, <3.

Animal Mani

#ThemedThursdayJan - Penguins

9:00:00 AM


Hey all!  How are you all doing on this fine Thursday!   As I mentioned last week, I have decided to take part in Themed Thursday January on Instagram.  You can see all the posts by looking p the hashtag #ThemedThursdayJan.  This prompt was created by @kellimarissa and @wondrouslypolished.

This week the theme is penguins!  I love penguin nail art.  I have yet to see a penguin manicure which I do not think is cute.  I did a penguin design in December for Christmas and really wasn't planning on doing another.  I'm happy I decided to take part in this little challenge because I was able to create another create little design on my nails.

It originally was going to be a re-creation of my design a few years ago, then I saw this one by @judyrox on Instagram and decided to make my penguins look more like hers.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Color Club - Crystal Baller
  • FingerPaints - Sparkle With Me
  • Orly - White Tips
  • Acrylics
Isn't Color Club Crystal Baller gorgeous?!  Amanda from Fashion Footing got me this polish for Christmas and I am so beyond thrilled that she did.  It's such a gorgeous blue holo polish which was most certainly lacking from my collection.  Kind of hate the name though.  I like the other names of my halo hues like Over the Moon.  Honestly that polish name describes a holo more than this but that's my personal opinion.  Two coats and it was pure holo perfection.



I added a top coat of FingerPaints Sparkle With Me for the snow.  This polish has holo glitter flecks in it which made the Color Club even more awesome.  It really added a fun dimension to this polish.  I then went through with Orly White tips and added the snow drifts.  When those were dry, I added the happy little penguins with my acrylics and this time I used a nail art brush.  I figured I should start shying away from the toothpicks and practice my brush skills.  I think I did pretty well.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Something you try?  Own any of the gorgeous Halo Hues?


Have a Happy Thursday everyone!  Until next time, <3.

Incoco

Twinsie Tuesday: Words - Incoco Strips - Mon Amour

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's Tuesday which means it is time for another Twinsie Tuesday.  This week we are sharing "word" manicures.  Honestly was not sure at all what to do for this post because I hate writing on my nails.

I thought about skipping and then Incoco sent me some nail wraps to review!  Thankfully one of the designs had words on it so it worked out perfectly.  Cheating?  Maybe....but it works.

Let's take a look at the Mon Amour.




I'm not a huge fan of nail wraps.  I love look of them, but they feel heavy on my nails.  If you're used to wraps, you probably won't even notice this.  I have a wonky nail line and I found that these fit that perfectly.  This is because the wraps are double sided so you can truly pick a size.

What I really liked about this design was that I could pick and choose what design I wanted on what nail.  I decided to make my pointer and pinkie the same, but I could have played around with them and made them more like a skittle if I wanted to.

What do you think?  Fan of these wraps?  Do you wear them?

Check out the other Twinsie's posts!


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amanda at Fashion Footing
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Claire at Kerruticles
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Until next time,<3.

Bestie Twin Nails

Bestie Twin Nails With Fashion Footing! Round 20!

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?!  It's Sunday which means today will go way too fast and then I'll be back at work before I know it.  Sigh.  At least I baked a cake last night so that will get me through my upcoming Monday!

It's Round 20 of Bestie Twin Nails with Fashion Footing!  I cannot believe that we have been doing this feature for 20 months now.  It's beyond crazy to me how fast time has flown by.  This month we decided to recreate this black, golden, and white design by SoNailicious.  We thought it was perfect for New Years, and actually this was the manicure I wore on New Years Day.  Kind of got delayed in posting it, but oh well here we are now.

Let's take a look!  Ahhh my long nails, how I can't wait for them to grow out to be like this again.




Colors Used:
  • FingerPaints - Patent Black
  • Finger Paints - Golden Glaze
  • FingerPaints - Paper Mache
Lovely, right??  I started off with a base coat of Patent Black by FingerPaints.  This polish came in a set last year and I'm super happy to own it.  It covers in one coat...that's right, one coat and has the most incredible shine ever.  

When my base was dry, I added a gold brush stroke down the middle of all my nails using Golden Glaze.  This polish just was released by FingerPaints and in my opinion is a must have if you like gold.  Even if you don't like gold, it's a great polish.  It's a little darker than OPI's Love Angel Music Baby, but it has the same sort of formula.



For the last step, I used a striper brush and Paper Mache by FingerPaints.  This is one of my favorite whites because I've been able to get it opaque in just one coat.  Using it over the gold with the striper brush I was able to do the same.  There were a few balder looking spots, but nothing awful and I just quickly filled it in.

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Something you would try, want to try, have tried?

Don't forget to check out Amanda's post!

Until next time, <3.

Color Club

#ThemedThursdayJan - Snowflakes!

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  I'm doing quite well.  It's almost the end of the week so that means my day to sleep in is right around the corner!  We are supposed to get snow this weekend so I think I'm going to stay in and bake, crochet, and color in my new coloring book.  Yes, I got an adult coloring book!

The other day on Instagram I saw that @kellimarissa and @wonderouslypolished were hosting Themed Thursday this month.  The prompts were simple, fun, and perfect for the month of January so I thought I would join in.  Then it would force me to get on a more consistent posting schedule.  Hopefully now I'll post every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.

Anyways, today's prompt is Snowflakes!  I was inspired by Fashion Footing's manicure she posted a few days ago!  And she gifted me some awesome new polishes which would be perfect to re-create the look.  So I got to work!

Let's take a look!  Ignore my super nubs, I had a bad break.  I closed a window and it just bend back and ouch.




Colors Used:
  • Glitter Daze - You've Got Mail
  • Color Club - Over the Moon
  • OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls
Originally for my holo nail I was going to use Color Club Crystal Baller which Amanda also gifted em along with this Glitter Daze polish, but it just wasn't bright enough.  So I went with my trusted Over the Moon, which is just as gorgeous as the other Halo Hue.  I need all these holos, they're seriously gorgeous!



Glitter Daze You've Got Mail is a gorgeous navy polish.  I don't have many like this in my collection so it is a much welcomed addition.  It applied well in two coats and worked great for nail art.  I used it to create the snowflakes.  Those were added using toothpicks because I felt like I had more control than what I do with brushes.

What do you think?  Something you would try?  Loving these polishes?

Until next time, <3.

China Glaze

Twinsie Tuesday: Dotticure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's Tuesday and it is again time for Twinsie Tuesday!!  That's right, we are back for the new year with new themes!  I'm kind of excited to be back because it will force me to have a more consistent blogging schedule.  We will see how long I last with that!

Today we are sharing dotticures!  Back in October, I did a candy corn dot gradient manicure and I was in love with it.  Ever since I have been wanting to do another dot gradient mani.  After seeing a blue one on Pinterest, I decided it would be perfect to recreate it this week.  Especially since blue seems wintery to me, and winter truly has hit my home town!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Sally Hansen - Sheer Force
  • Zoya - Ling
  • China Glaze - Capacity to See Beyond
  • OPI - This Crown Needs a Gown
Love, right?  Last time I did the dot gradient on my naked nail, but since I was using blue I decided not to do that.  Usually blue stains so I wanted to have a little more protection.  So I grabbed my bottle of Sally Hansen Sheer Force and applied just one coat.  It was the perfect way to just add a little color to my nail.  I was shocked that I got full coverage in one coat, especially since the word "Sheer" is part of the name.



Once my base was dry, I started to add the dots.  I first applied the dark blue, which is Zoya Ling  It dried super fast so I was able to then go through with Capacity to See Beyond.  Once those dots were dried, I filled in the empty spaces with This Crown Needs a Gown.  I let it dry for a good 10 minutes before I applied my top coat because I was scared the blue would smear.

What do you think?  Something you would do?  Fan of this color combo?

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie's posts!!  I love dotticures so I cannot wait to see what everyone came up with!


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amanda at Fashion Footing
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Claire at Kerruticles
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Savannah at Addicted to Polish
Sharon at Behind Green Eyes
Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

I apologize my pictures are a little blurry.  I wasn't feeling 100% and I think that I just wasn't paying attention. These were the clearest I could get!

Until next time, <3.

FingerPaints

Snow Globe Nail Art

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all today?  It's funny, the day right after Christmas, winter hit my town.  That's right, cold weather, sleet, ice rain, and now today some snow!  I'm kind of bummed that this didn't happen before Christmas because I love seeing snow on the bushes with the Christmas lights.  Unfortunately I took the lights down yesterday so I won't be seeing that today when the snow hits.

Today I am sharing with you a perfect winter manicure which is completely fitting for the weather we are supposed to get!  I created this snow globe manicure after seeing a few similar ones on Pinterest.  Most of them were Christmas themed, but I decided to take out the Christmas and make it look like what you would see in a snow globe.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • FingerPaints - Sparkle With Me
  • Zoya - Hunter
  • Orly - White Tips
  • Acrylic Paints
Doesn't this design remind you of a snow globe scene??  I started off with a plain clear base coat.  When that was dried, I added a coat of FingerPaints Sparkle With Me on my naked nail.  This matte white glitter with holo pieces is the perfect polish to resemble snow.  I debated on using dots, but I'm happy I decided to use this glitter.  One coat and I had complete coverage.  No need to place any of the hexes!

The glitter dried super fast so I was able to add the next part right away.  I went through with Orly White Tips and added an uneven french tip to my nails.  I debated on making my french tips perfect, but I decided against it since I wanted my nails to look like a snowy landscape.



I then went through with Zoya Hunter and added the trees to my nails.  For this step, I ended up using a toothpick.  I know some nail artists find it easier to use nail art brushes, but I find I have more control when using a toothpick.  While the green was drying, I created the snowman using dotting tools and toothpicks.  It was kind of a pain to get such a tiny snowman on my nails but totally worth it!  The last step was to add the white snow on the trees.

What do you think?  Something you see yourself doing??

I love how this manicure turned out.  I feel like it's been awhile since I've done "intense" nail art like this.  It took me a little longer that most manicures but it was really worth it.  I was sad when one of the nails chipped and I had to take them off.

Until next time, <3.