Dot Mani

Guest Post on CaseyLane Loves Polish

9:00:00 AM

Hey everyone!  Today I'm the guest blogger over at CaseyLane Loves Polish.  As you may know, Miss CaseyLane was my first ever Nail Artist of the Month back in May.  Ever since she did the amazing kitchen sink manicure for my blog, I began pestering her to create her own blog.  A little while ago, she finally caved and created one!!  I couldn't be happier posting over there today, and hope that you all head over and follow her!  She's one of the nicest people you will ever meet, and she has some amazing swatches and nail art designs.

Here's a sneak peek of the manicure.  Casey picked the colors out herself.  To see what those colors are, head on over!!!


Until next time, <3.

Tribal Print

Simple Art with Zoya Belinda, Dream, & Seraphina

9:00:00 AM

Hey everyone!  Hope you're doing well!!  I've been enjoying some gorgeous Fall weather we've been having the last few days.  I'm hoping it lasts through the weekend so I can possibly get some apple picking in so I can start baking with fresh apples.  Nothing is better than apple pie or apple cookies.  Mmmm I want an apple pie now.

Today I'm bringing you a manicure I did using polishes from the Winter 2013 Zenith collection by Zoya.  A week or so ago, I posted a Press Release from Zoya introducing everyone to the gorgeous colors in this new collection.  I was quick to fall in love with the collection from just from the promo pics, and when I received the polishes last week, I was head over heals.  I posted a picture of them on Instagram, along with a little video of the sparkly beauties.

For this manicure, I wanted to use Belinda, the gorgeous purple, and Dream, the blue sister of Aurora.  These two stood out to me the most, especially since purple and blue are my favorite colors.  I grabbed Seraphina, the silver metallic of the collection, and began painting.

Here's the simple design I came up with.




Colors Used:

  • Zoya - Belinda
  • Zoya - Dream
  • Zoya - Seraphina
Gorgeous, right?  Sorry that the coloring is off in the last photo.  Since it's now Fall, even though it's sunny out here, the sun is in a different position in the sky, and everything seems off.  Still, you can see the sparkly gorgeousness of Dream.

Before I start talking about Dream, let's talk about Belinda.  I kind of hate the name (no offense to Belinda's out there), but when I hear the name, for some reason I think of Glenda the Good Witch from Wizard of Oz, and I think of pink.  Weird how my mind works, but that's how I'm wired.  I can best describe this polish as the purple sister of Zoya Neve from the Satin Collection.  Both are deep colors with gorgeous shimmery flecks.  Where Neve was blue with purple and pink flecks, Belinda has blue and pink flecks.  Just as Neve, Belinda applied very easily with two coats.  If you wanted a deeper color, you could have used three, but I really didn't see the point.  With a top coat of Out the Door, the polish was just as shiny as Neve also.

Now it's time to talk about Dream.  How gorgeous is that sparkly beauty on my middle finger?  I was most excited for Dream because as I said, it's the sister of Aurora from last years winter collection.  In all fairness, it's the sister of Storm and Blaze as well.  Last year, I purchased Aurora and Storm and was never regretful of that decision, if you can find them, buy them.  I believe everyone needs dream as well, especially if you love Blue polishes.  I applied so well in two coats and was so holo glitter packed.  This polish is perfectly named, it's a dream.

Seraphina is the metallic silver on my ring finger.  Just as the other polishes, it applied very well in two coats.  I could have used three to make the silver stand out a little more in this manicure, but since I was planning on covering it with some form of art, I decided two was enough.  I'm excited to use this for more winter manicures.  It reminds me of snow.

For the design, I followed this tutorial I found on Pinterest.  I wanted something simple so it wouldn't take away from the beautiful colors.  I was overall pleased how it turned out, as it looks kind of tribal to me.  I need more practice with making straight lines using a nail art brush.  Next time, I may use an Orly Instant Artist if I do this design again.

What do you think?  Like the colors from the Zenith Collection?  Like the design?

These colors, along with Cassedy, Payton, and Mosheen (all gorgeous, head on over to my Instagram to see bottle shots), will be available October 1st on Zoya's website.  If you like glitter, I highly suggest picking up Dream, Payton (which is the darker version of last years Blaze), and Mosheen (the glitter top coat).  All are perfect for winter!  Who am I kidding, the whole collection is perfect for winter.

Until next time, <3.

**Zoya Zenith Polishes were provided by Zoya for promotional purposes.  Expressed opinions are my own.  Please see my disclosure policy**

Zoya

Zoya Camo Nail Art

9:00:00 AM

Hello everyone!  It's officially Fall, and well I couldn't be happier!  Do not get me wrong, I love Summer, and it's sad to see it go, but I really really love Fall.  Honestly, I think it's my favorite season.  The changing of the leaves, the cooler temperatures, being cozy inside, baking apple and pumpkin treats, ahhhhh Fall, how can you hate it?  Now wait, I bet when Winter and Spring comes I'll start off a post with how much those are my favorite seasons.  Guess we shall wait and see!

Today I'm bringing you a camo manicure I posted a sneak peek of on Instagram a few weeks ago when I really wasn't feeling the manicure.  After so many of my lovely followers said they loved the manicure, I decided it can't be that bad and I would post it here today!  This manicure was done using a few of the Zoya Cashmere polishes along with one other random Zoya that I have had for awhile.  When I first received this collection, I knew I wanted to try a camouflage manicure of some sort since the colors were perfect for it!

Let's take a look!  Reason I don't like Fall, back to the lightbox I go.....




Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Flynn
  • Zoya - Hunter
  • Zoya - Louise
  • Zoya - Avery
Mehhhhh, still not feeling this manicure.  I'm not huge on earth toned colors being combined like this all in the same manicure.  Separately, the colors are gorgeous.  It's nothing against the polishes, seriously they're all great, it's just my personal preference.  I am super impressed with how rich the colors were in Flynn, Hunter, and Louise.  

Flynn is the base, which applied so well in two coats.  I almost could have gotten away with one coat since I was planning on doing the design on top, but I decided to put two since there were a few bald spots.  Hunter and Louise were very saturated with color as well.  I swatched them individually before doing the nail art and I could have again gotten away with one coat.  These polishes are what a nail artist dreams of when looking for the best nail art polish.  When using a doting tool, as I did in this manicure, you never have to worry that the polish will transfer too light like some thinner polishes do.

To get the look, I started off with my base coat of Flynn.  When it was dried, I took my dotting tool and added random splotches of Louise, the chocolate brown polish.  Oh boy, do I have ideas with this polish for Christmas (reindeer anyone?).  I then took Hunter, the green polish, and again dotted on random splotches.  This is a perfect green for leaves or forest-y manicures.  I then took Avery, a nude polish I purchased awhile ago, and did the same thing.  I went back through with Flynn to fill in any weird areas, and called it a night.

What do you think?  Have you used the Zoya Cashmeres yet?  Ever done a camo manicure?  Any suggestions how to make them look more camo-ed?

Can't wait to play around more with the Cashmere polishes a little more with some nail art designs!  I wonder what I could do!  If you have any ideas, feel free to send me a message!

Until next time, <3.

**The Zoya Cashmere polishes were provided to me by Zoya for promotional purposes.  I purchased Zoya Avery.  Please see my disclosure policy.**

Flowers

Zoya Mason & Neve Dot Flowers

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world!  Hope you are all doing fantastic today!  It's supposed to be a gorgeous day here, so I know I will be having one!  This weather is weird though, a few days ago it was barely 60 degrees and now today the high is 84.  Mother nature needs to make up her mind about what season it is.  Doesn't she know that she is making it hard for this little old blogger who is trying to figure out what type of manicure is appropriate to post?

Despite still having one more neon manicure to show you from my collection, I decided to go with this lovely manicure which I believe to be almost a transitional manicure.  The colors are from the new Zoya Satin collection which are gorgeous Fall shades, but at the same time are appropriate for the end of summer.

When I first received these polishes, I was unsure about them.  I really liked the Satins more than the Cashmeres but still wasn't 100% head over heals for them like I have been over previous collections.  This is mostly due to the fact I tend to gravitate towards bright, cheery colors most of the time.  The more I played around with these polishes though, I started to see how truly gorgeous darker colors can be.  Does this mean I'm going to start gravitating towards darker colors?  Well, for this season, let's hope so!

For today's manicure, I used Zoya Mason and Neve, and accented with an Orly from the Hope and Freedom Fest Collection.  I have to say, I think this is one of my first manicures where I didn't use a white accent nail.  Kind of forgot lighter colors can do the job just as nicely.

Enough of my babbling, time to look at the nails!




Colors Used:

  • Zoya - Mason
  • Zoya - Neve
  • Orly - Boho Bonnet
Kind of loving this manicure.  I kept it on for days, and even touched it up once or twice to keep it on a little longer.  I found that the darker colors made my nails look longer than what they really were.  Also, do you see how shiney Mason and Neve are?!  Literally, they were the shiniest polishes I have worn in a long time.

Zoya describes Mason as a "exciting red violet or Fandango Pink metallic" polish.  It truly is gorgeous.  I wasn't sure about this shade since I have a Sinful that is kind of similar that I never used and kind of kicked myself for buying.  Before doing this mani, I decided to use this polish for a Summer/Fall transition pedi with a top coat of Northern Lights and fell in love.  The polish applies very easily in two coats.

Zoya Neve also applied very easily with two coats.  Zoya describes this polish as a "sapphire blue metallic."  As a lover of blue polishes, I couldn't get over how gorgeous this one is.  In the light it has a pinkish purple shimmery flecks which give it such amazing depth.  My only complaint was that my brush is a little wonky and bends weird where it connects to the stick thing.  Probably just a manufacturing issue, and I would not say it made or break the polish.  I just had to be a tad more careful with it when applying, but again, two easy coats with no need for a third.

For the accents, I used two coats of Orly Boho Bonnet which is a grey blue polish.  Rather gorgeous, I've used it once before when I did my dandelions and it had such great wear time.  With my dotting tools, I created the little flowers using the Zoyas, and just like all other Zoya polishes, they work great for nail art.  I didn't have to go back over the dots to make the more pronounced and they didn't dry super fast that I couldn't work with them.  Loved them

What do you think?  Love Neve and Mason?  Have you picked up any of the polishes from the Satin collection?

If you follow me on Instagram, you can take a look at a swatch of Zoya Giovanna from this collection which is the emerald green shimmer polish.  I really liked this one as well.  Sadly, like all greens, I had a bit of a staining problem, but it came off after one shower.  Just like these two, it was super shiny.

Well, I am off!  Have a great day!  Until next time, <3.

**The Zoya polishes were provided by Zoya for promotional purposes.  The Orly was a prize in a contest.  All opinions expressed are my own.  Please see my disclosure policy**

kitchen sink mani

Peach and Mint Kitchen Sink Manicure

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world!  Hope you're all having a good start to your week!!!  It is very chilly here, which is a drastic change from last week.  I kid you not, this time last week it was 80 something degrees.  Last Wednesday I think the high was 92 degrees.  After the cold front came through though, our temperatures dropped and it was goodbye shorts and tshirts, and hello jeans and hoodies.  So it seems that Fall is officially here.

Another reason I know Fall is here is because the outdoor lighting is getting funky.  Typically in the summer I would take my outdoor photos around 3:30pm and I would get the clearest photos.  Now, it's getting darker earlier, meaning I need to get my booty out in my front yard sooner to take nail photos.  This was one of those manicures where I wish I got outside sooner to photograph but of course was working and couldn't.  It really was quite gorgeous in person, just the lighting is all off and I'm not 100% happy with the photos.

Let's take a look at the random Peach and Mint Kitchen Sink manicure!




Colors Used:
  • Sinful Colors - Orange Cream
  • Funky Fingers - Mrs. Mint
  • Sally Hansen - Celeb City
  • China Glaze - Make a Spectacle
  • Sinful Colors - Queen of Beauty
Regardless of not getting it to photograph it well, I still loved this manicure.  I usually do not wear light pastel colors like this, so it was a nice change of pace from the neons, purples, and blues.  

On the plain Orange Cream nails, I did two coats of this gorgeous Sinful Colors polish.  When the Sugar Rush Collection came out, I was unsure of this polish as I thought it was really close to Luminary which I purchased last year.  After seeing that Luminary had a heavy shimmery to it, I went back and purchased Orange Cream on sale.  It was a good purchase since it really is a pretty color.  I then added a coat of China Glaze Make a Spectacle which was from last years Halloween Collection.  I really do not think I have used this polish yet, and I'm not sure why I haven't since it is quite amazing.  It reminds me of Essie Shine of the Times but not in Flakie form.  I didn't have the desired look though from just using that glitter alone, therefore I went back through and added a plain silver glitter polish.

On my ring and thumb, I did three coats of Mrs. Mint by Funky Fingers.  This polish can be a tad streaky, but I do enjoy it.  It's worth the effort it takes to sometimes put it on.  I then added orange and silver dots using Orange Cream and Celeb City.  I then had a plain silver nail on my middle finger but I wanted something with more umph.  I removed that nail and put on a base coat of Orange Cream.  When it was completely dried, I added three pieces of nail art tape and painted a coat of Celeb City on top.  I quickly removed the tape and really liked the end result.

What do you think?  Like this kitchen sink manicure?  Think it's weird to do pastels in the Summer/Fall?

Until next time, <3.


Color Block Mani

OPI You're Such a Budapest with Color Club Eternal Beauty

9:00:00 AM

Well hello there everyone!  How are you today?  Can I tell you how happy I am that it's Saturday!?  It has been quite a long week.  I think it felt this way due to how it all started.  I'm just ready to spend the weekend sleeping in, resting, painting, blogging, crafting more Pinterest crafts, and being thankful for everything I have. 

Today's manicure was yet another one that got lost in the drafts folder here on blogger.  I really should start blogging every other day because I keep finding all these manicures I did and am having a tough time picking which I should post first.  This one won tonight because it's purple and holo, and well who doesn't love that?!

I got the idea for this manicure after being inspired by this pin which is of a manicure by Pshiiit polish.  I fell in love with the cream grey polish accented with the the silver holo.  I needed to have some form of this manicure on my nails right away!  Since I didn't have a gorgeous silver holo like Pshiiit used, I opted for the beautiful purple holo that is Eternal Beauty by Color Club.  I grabbed a bottle of lavender polish and got started!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:

  • OPI - You're Such a Budapest
  • Color Club - Eternal Beauty
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
Really pretty, right?!  I started off with a base coat of OPI Youre Such a Budapest which is a gorgeous lavender polish with a very subtle shimmer.  It's application was decent.  You could get away with two coats, but I used three to even out some random bald spots I had.  It was worth it though because the color is just gorgeous.

When the base was dried, I took my nail art brush and on black lines.  I then filled in the areas I wanted to with Eternal Beauty using a nail art brush.  When the holo was dried, I went back through with the nail art brush and cleaned up the black lines.

I love how the holo looked against the cream base.  The black line was kind of striking in between.  I was originally going to use a dark purple cream polish but I hated how it looked on the one nail I tried it on.  Only problem I had with the manicure was that I wish my lines were a little straighter and cleaner.  I may need to try this again with an Orly Instant Artist striper and see if I can get a better result.  This manicure was done before I received the Nail Art Society Kit which included those polishes.  Which by the way, I will be holding a contest soon where the prize is a set of those polishes!!!!  I need to work out the kinks with that still, expect it in the next few weeks!!!

What do you think?  Like the combo of cream and holo?

Well, I'm off to enjoy my weekend.  I hope you all have a great weekend!!!!  Until next time, <3.

**I purchased all the polishes in this post**

Press Release

Zoya Press Release: Winter 2013 Zenith Collection

8:47:00 PM

Good Evening!  That's right, evening.  Normally I never post at night, but I just HAD to share the new Zoya Winter collection with you!  It's gorgeous! Check it out!

________________________________
ZENITH
Harmonious Cosmic Color for Winter/Holiday 2013
Enter the color cosmos with this new collection of six perfectly harmonious nail polish beauties by Zoya.

ZOYA ZENITH WINTER/HOLIDAY 2013


ZP689 - Seraphina: Polaris Silver Metallic. Full Coverage Formula (bottle shown above).
ZP687 - Cassedy: Celestial Pewter Metallic. Full Coverage F Formula (shown above).
ZP678 - Belinda: Cosmic Purple Metallic. Full Coverage Formula (bottle shown above).
ZP688 - Payton: Galactic Cranberry Halo. Full Coverage Formula (shown above).
ZP686 - Dream: Deep Space Blue Halo. Full Coverage Formula (shown to the left)
ZP643 - Mosheen: Astro Ice Blue Topper - great for layering over other hues (bottle shown above).

Ultra long-wearing, nail lacquers by Zoya are BIG5FREE - all formulas are completely free of harmful industrial chemicals such as toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known to cause cancer and birth defects.

Find over 300 stunning Zoya colors on www.zoya.com. Each and every color has a name as unique as the women who inspired it.

ZOYA IS THE NEW COLOR OF FASHION!
Zoya Zenith Collection
$8.00 ea. (US)
Available on Zoya.com

NEW COLOR – AVAILABLE OCTOBER 01, 2013

_________________________________

Goodness gracious, I cannot wait for this collection! I'm already in love with Dream! A deep space blue halo...aka a blue version of the gorgeous Aurora that was part of last years collection? As a lover of purple, silvers, and blues, I have a feeling this collection is going to be my all time favorite.

Excuse me as I go cross my fingers that Zoya releases a winter Pixie Dust collection with some more gorgeous shades!

Goodnight, <3.

Animal Mani

Oink Oink - Piggy Nail Art - Take 2

9:00:00 AM

I quickly want to start off this post by saying God bless America on this day, and always.  My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who were affected by the September 11th attack, as well as our military who fight day in and day out to protect our freedoms as Americans.
________________

Good day, polished world!  How are you?  I have been pretty out of it lately.  Late Sunday, I found out that an older woman who was like a second grandmother to me passed away.  While I am comforted in the fact she is at home with the Lord and no longer suffering, it still is sad.  I will miss her and never forget her.

It's funny, I never thought my nail painting hobby would impact an older woman such as herself.  She was a huge supporter of my hobby and this blog.  Whenever she would see me she would always ask "what's on the nails??" while taking out her reading glasses so she could get a better look at my hand.  I would have never dared to have a naked nail day around her!  Once I started blogging, she used to come sit with me and we would scroll through each and every single design.  As each design appeared on the screen, she would give me her honest critique about the manicure.  Generally she loved anything glitter or full of detail, and hated anything that had tons of black.  Black crackle was a no no.  I'm about 90% positive that her rubber duckies were my favorite design.

I had the base coat on for this manicure I'm sharing with you today when I found out that she passed.  I thought to myself "take them off, do something for her" but I continued on and finished up my little piggies.  Since she liked my duckies so much, I'm sure she would have loved these just as much.  Part of me slightly remembers her loving my first attempt at the piggies wayyyyy back when.  So I can stop my tearing up, let's take a look and talk about the nails a tad.




Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Avril
  • Sally Hansen - Pink Blink
  • Zoya - Micky
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
Cute, right??  I started off with a base coat of Zoya Avril which is a gorgeous pink nude polish.  I purchased it during a promo earlier this year since my neutral polish collection is severely lacking, and I couldn't be happier with the decision!  I highly recommend this polish!  It applied evenly and was full coverage in two coats.  I could have worn it alone to be honest.  And for me, the person who HATES plain colored manicures, that's saying a lot.

When the base was dry, Pink Blink I painted circles onto my nails using the brush itself.  The Sally Hansen brush in the Insta Dri polishes is already curved, so it worked perfectly for this.  Once that dried, with a nail art brush, I went through with Micky and drew on the nose and ears.  With my dotting tool and a nail art brush, I used my black and added the final details.

I loved my little piggies.  What about you?  Have you created this look before?  I feel like I must do a barnyard manicure very soon with a bunch of cute lil animals!!!

I do apologize that this post is such a downer, I realize that going back through now.  While I am saddened by the passing of this lovely woman, I'm am blessed to have known her.  She impacted my life, and I feel like my life and even my hobby made a difference in hers.  It was something she enjoyed seeing, and I know I enjoyed sitting and talking about my nails with her.

I also enjoy talking about my nails with each and every single one of my followers.  You guys are all truly amazing.  I do hope that my blog continues to inspire you.  If you have any questions, want to see me do a design, or even want to see a tutorial, please get in contact with me on Twitter or Instagram!  I'll try my hardest to accomplish all the tasks.  :)

Until next time, <3.




Animal Print

Neon Leopard

9:00:00 AM

Good day, polished world!  How are you today?  Today I will be finishing up a DIY Pinterest craft!  It's the first time I was actually drawn to a craft on Pinterest and found the need to create it!  Sure, I have been inspired by numerous nail designs on Pinterest, but this is different.  It involves wood, paint, hot glue...goodness, I hope it turns out okay!

Enough about my project though, we're here to talk about nails!  The weather here has been super Fall like.  It was 65 and raining yesterday, and well today it's probably going to be just as chilly.  The sun is setting earlier, and the smell of Fall is in the air.  I'm not 100% ready for Fall though, especially since I have a few neon designs I have yet to share with you.

That's right, more neon!  I did this design a while back and kept kicking myself for not posting it because I loved it so much.  I really enjoy doing leopard spots, but I enjoy them even more when they're multi colored!  I have done crazy color leopard prints in the past, and only published one similar to this as a guest post on another blog.  It was time to re-do them and share them here. 

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:

  • Ulta - Snow White
  • China Glaze - Sun Kissed, I'm With the Lifeguard, Splish Splash, Flip Flop Fantasy
  • INM - Bikini
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
Awesome, right?  Loved how bright this nail art was!!!  I also truly enjoyed how many people thought that these nails were press on stickers and not done by hand.  I kind of love the expression on people's face when I say "nope, did these nails myself with dotting tools and little paint brushes!"  Nine times out of ten, the person always looks at me and says "I wish I could do that!"

I truly believe anyone can do it!  What's great about the leopard print design is the simplicity of it.  It was one of my very first attempts at nail art before blogging which made me realize I could start venturing into more types of nail art.

To get the look, you take a dotting tool (or bobbing pin if you don't have a dotter) and put uneven dots on your nails.  They can be whatever size you want, I tend to do five of these medium sized splotches.  When they're dry, with a nail art brush (or a tooth pick if you don't have one), add little black semi circles around the dots.  I try my best to make them uneven but I noticed on this manicure they're a little neater than usual.  I then go through and add some more black dots to fill in the empty spaces.  Finish with a top coat, and enjoy my nails!

What do you think?  Have you ever tried the leopard print?  What about the crazy leopard?

I am off to finish my Pinterest project!  The blogger in me has taken photos of each step, so if it turns out well, I may have to show you all how I got my little craft!  Wish me luck!

Until next time, <3!


Gradient Mani

Neon Gradient Kitchen Sink Mani....I Think

9:00:00 AM

Oh my goodness, September is here.  That's right, August has left and Fall is beginning to creep it's head around the corner.  I must hold on to summer as long as I can, therefore I'm posting all the neon manicures that I have had stored up which I keep delaying.  I'm not purposely delaying the posts, it's just that a new manicure comes along that I love and I get uber antsy and have to share it with you all.  Part of me wants to switch to posting every 2 days, but I'm scared that I'm going to run out of manicures to share with you then have to go to once a week postings or something.  We shall see how it goes.

This manicure I partially enjoyed.  I liked the idea of it, but not the colors that I used.  In the pictures the colors show up more vibrantly than they did in real life.  I feel like the yellow got lost on the white.  This is the only time I enjoyed the fact that neons make cameras freak out.

When I did this manicure, I was really bored and ambitious with my tape.  Literally, I had all my painters tape, nail art tape, and even scotch tape out.  I had done a manicure in the past (and never photographed it) using the technique I did on my middle finger and loved it.  I wanted to do that again, but I also wanted to try out other taping techniques that I had seen lately all over Instagram.  What was born was a kitchen sink tape manicure using the brightest neons ever.  In my head, yellow to blue seemed like a wise choice, but maybe it wasn't.

I'll let you be the judge...let's take a look.




Colors Used:

  • OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls
  • China Glaze - Sun Kissed, I'm With the Lifeguard, Splish Splash
I started off with a base coat of OPI MBSW and topped it with a quick coat of OTD.  I let my nails dry overnight because I was lazy when I started the manicure and was kind of feeling uninspired at the time.  It's a sure bet though that if I do a base of this polish, some form of nail art which includes tape will happen later on.

I then got to work, I layered painters tape, and nail art tape in all different directions and styles on the nail.  When the tape was on the nail in the desired fashion, I applied the gradient then removed the tape.  

The hardest nail to complete was the ring and middle finger.  Goodness, did that take a lot of little pieces of tape and patience.  I think it was 9 pieces all together...that seems right looking at the photos now.  I'm a tad OCD with my work and want it to be somewhat perfect (for me at least), therefore I reapplied the tape about a million times before my triangles looked perfect with one another.  Despite it being a complete pain, I'm going to do this again because the look is totally neat!  Something different than the typical checkerboard.

My pinkie finger was my favorite.   For that nail, I took some painters tape and put it on the nail to form a big white triangle.  Then underneath it a bit I added two smaller pieces of painters tape.  Dab the make up sponge and remove, and goodness gracious isn't it pretty.  I'm going to try this again maybe on a full manicure in the near future.

So what do you think?  Like the colors or dislike them like me?  Like the kitchen sink of tape manicures?

Also, quick note.  I kind of learned that I stink at replying to comments when I sat down to do it the other day and realized I was a MONTH behind.  I do read all the comments when they come in and I greatly appreciate them.  I will try to get better at this in the near future!  I truly am grateful for all your support.

Until next time, <3.

**I purchased all the polishes used within this post**

Nail Artist of the Month

September Nail Artist of the Month - triracialbeauty2

9:00:00 AM

It's the first post of September, and you know what that means!!!!  That's right, today I'm bringing you my September Nail Artist of the Month.  My goal is to bring you fresh, new artists who are rather unknown to the nail art world.  If I select your account from Instagram, I typically see if you have less than 1,000 followers.  While the girls who have over 1,000 are amazing as well, I want everyone to have their chance of hitting that 1,000 milestone.

Since I was having some issue deciding who to pick, I posted on Instagram asking for help from some of my followers.  My September Nail Artist of the Month, the amazing Leslie from triracialbeauty2, posted that I should select her.  Now normally, I would have passed this, but I kinda liked her boldness.  I clicked on to her Instagram and quickly fell in love.  With each of her manicures, she paints up a matching ring, which was just amazing to me.  You'll see.  

Enough of my babbling!  Polished peeps, please welcome Leslie!

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Hey girls(and guys if there are any)! I jokingly through my name out there when Alaina was asking for recommendations for her Nail Artist of the Month. I didn't actually think she'd contact me but I was SUPER flattered that she thought my work was good enough to share on her blog.

A little about me. My name is Leslie. I live in Las Vegas. I am a stay at home mommy/wife. I've been married 8 years this coming December. I have 17, 8 and 6 year old daughters and a 15 month old son. I also have 2 Golden Retrievers and 2 Siamese. I've been doing my nails since December of 2012. I used to have acrylics so I only would paint my toes(which I now neglect due to the rate at which I'm changing my fingernail polish,lol). I used to be way into makeup. But I switched gears though I am getting the makeup bug again. I didn't realize when I started doing my nails that there was so much more than just painting them. I started out doing a lot of accent nails. Then branched out to gradients which I have a knack for. I also was a natural at cheetah print. I try different things with regular tape and striping tape. I always want to try new things-even if they don't come out great. Practice makes better:)

Today I did a kitchen sink mani because I couldn't think of one thing I wanted to do. On my pinky, I used the saran wrap techniche. On my ring finger I used regular tape to create a diagonal space to add glitter polish and some cheetah print which I created with a dotting tool. My middle nails just has a couple of flowers that I created with a dotting tool. On my index finger, I did a pink and blue gradient and topped it with a glitter polish.





The thing I'm holding is a cabochon ring that I paint with every manicure. I wanted to stick with the kitchen sink mani theme and only have the colors match the manicure.

I hope you all enjoyed this!
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What an amazing kitchen sink manicure!  I'm in love with the colors and all the techniques used!  Seriously, flawless.  And that ring!  Ahhh I want it!  Thank you so much for this amazing post!!!!  If you want to see more of Leslie's designs, head on over to her Instagram and make sure to follow!!!

As for all the other lovely ladies who were mentioned in the comments of that post, I am following all of you and you are on my radar to be featured!!!!  

Until next time, <3