Monthly Mani Favs

The One With February Monthly Mani Favs

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing?  Can you believe today is last day of February?  Sure, it's the shortest month of the year, but it still flew by.  I swear it was just New Years Eve.  This whole month is odd though.  It's been the warmest February on record, it feels like it's Spring, and we have had no snow.  I don't get it.

Since it's the last day of the month, I thought it would be fitting to share my monthly mani favs.  Unfortunately I didn't post a lot this month, but I had enough to pull together my four favorites!

Let's take a look!



  1. The One With the Gradient and the Dry Brush - I really loved this manicure, I think it was my favorite of the whole month.  The purple to pink, the sparkle,and the random black swipes, it just all came together nicely.
  2. The One With the Mosaic Nail Art - I loved the color combination of this one as well.  I haven't done a free hand mosaic in years, so I'm happy that I re-attempted one this month.  I still need to get my hands on the new Serendipity Polish collection.
  3. Bestie Twin Nails with 25SweetPeas! - This month I did a Bestie Twin Nail feature with the lovely Sarah from 25SweetPeas.  We decided to do a black and white interlocking dot manicure.  Second favorite manicure of the month for sure!  Close to being number one!  I really need to do more interlocking manicures like this in the future.  They were so fun!
  4. The One With the Rose Manicure - This is a re-creation of a manicure I did years and years ago.  It was one of my favorites then, and still is now.  I think each month I'm going to re-create a manicure I did years ago.  Now that this blog has been around for five years, I'm allowed to do that.
What do you think?  Which is your favorite?

Alright all, I'm going to have a busy few weeks on the blog!  I have some swatches to share, and new nail art to post.  I swear I'm going to be posting a lot and will be getting out of this blogging funk!  

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

The One With the ORLY Dotticure

9:00:00 AM

Nothing to Disclose

Good morning polished world and happy Sunday!  Yes, that's right, another weekend has come and gone.  Sigh.  Friday it was in the high 60s, this morning I woke up and there was snow on the ground.  Honestly, cannot win.  Another sigh.

Today's manicure is a super simple dotticure.  I keep seeing LaLaLoveNailArt create these cute dotticures and I've always wanted to try one.  Whenever I do a dot manicure, I always throw about ten other designs on there and never just keep the simple, completed dots.

Let's take a look at my plain dot manicure with no other nail art!


Colors Used:
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • ORLY - MirrorBall
  • ORLY - Charged Up
Triple sigh for this post, I couldn't get my other nail photos to look right so I'm down to just these two.  Not really a triple sigh though because these photos are decent. Just look at how perfectly holographic Mirrorball is.  So happy that I have five back up bottles.  Yes, five.  When Sally Beauty discontinued them for Lord knows what reason, I snagged them all at $2.99 each.  Best decision ever. 



Charged Up is such a pretty deep purple shade.  I don't use it as often as I should.  Two coats and full coverage.  I always think this would be a one coater because it's kind of watery, but it builds up quite nicely.

What do you think?  Like the simple dot manicure??

Alright, I'm off to enjoy the last little bit of my weekend!

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

The One With the Red Rose Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you doing today??  It is finally Thursday which if you were me, you would have thought yesterday was Thursday.  I don't know why I keep doing that other than I just am excited for the weekends.

The manicure I'm sharing with you today is the one I actually wore on Valentine's Day.  I was going to post it but had the other pink rose one so I decided to hold off.  I also was kind of lazy and didn't feel like editing the photos until recently.  I really need to stop slacking when it comes to this blog.  I literally have 6 posts to share with you!

For now, let's take a look at today's manicure!




Colors Used:
  • OPI - Having a Big Head Day
  • Serendipity Polish - Building My Empire
  • Serendipity Polish - Holoday Lights
  • ORLY - White Tips
It's actually quite pretty, isn't it?  I was going for something totally different when I did this manicure, but it did not work out no matter what I was doing.  Seriously, who thought it would be so difficult to paint some hearts on a nail.  I should have done a stencil or something.  Oh well, when all else fails, do a floral design.



Having a Big Head Day by OPI is such a gorgeous red polish.  I bought it last year for my mom because she loves having red pedicures in the summer, and this is the perfect red for her.  I'm never one to use red so I never have tried it for myself.  Or maybe I have but can't remember.  Regardless, two coats and I had full coverage.  A classic OPI red for sure.


Accented with my love, Holoday Lights.  You can never go wrong with this beautiful silver holo polish.  I need to purchase some back ups.  I also need to purchase the new Serendipity collection.

What do you think?  Like this manicure?  Fan of the rose?

Until next time, <3.

OPI

The One With the Mosaic Nail Art

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this fine Monday?  I apologize for not posting yesterday.  I lost track of my days and thought I had a post scheduled.  Now I have about 7 back logged posts.  I'm really not kicking 2017 off right on the blog.  Forgetting posts, not sharing stuff in a timely manner.  I hope you all forgive me.

Today I'm sharing with you a simple little mosaic looking manicure I did using some of my Serendipity Polishes!  Mixed a Zoya and OPI in there also, but they went together quite well!!

 Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Serendipity Polish - Building My Empire
  • Serendipity Polish - Mint Martini
  • OPI - My Vampire is Buff
  • Zoya - Tomoko
Lovely, right?  I love the color combination!  Very simple to get the look.  You start off with a base of a nude polish.  I used my favorite, My Vampire is Buff by OPI, which takes two to three coats.  Usually I can get it to work with two.  When that was dried, I went through with a nail art brush and randomly drew lines across my nail.  I then went through and filled in the squares I wanted with Mint Martini and Tomoko.  Took the nail art brush and straightened up the lines, added top coat, and enjoyed.



Building My Empire is one of my favorite black polishes.  I need to get my hands on a back up bottle, and I need to snag a bottle of the white polish that they just released as part of their Spring collection.  You cannot go wrong with a one coat black or white polish!


Mint Martini is one of my favorite mint shades.  You guessed it, one coat.  Goodness I cannot begin to tell you how much I love my Serendipity Polish's!

What do you think? Like this manicure?  Something you'd try? Own any of these Serendipity Polish's? 

Until next time, <3.


Bestie Twin Nails

Bestie Twin Nails with 25 SweetPeas!

9:00:00 AM


Good morning and happy Thursday!!!  This week is dragging on by.  Yesterday I woke up thinking it was Thursday, then realized it was Wednesday and got so upset.  Funny thing is, a lot of my co-workers thought that it was Thursday also.  We all must be going crazy, or all of us are thinking that this week is dragging.

Today I'm excited to be posting alongside Sarah from 25 SweetPeas!  For today's manicure, we painted a black and white interlocking design.  It's so trippy, but so fun!!!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • ORLY - Liquid Vinyl
  • ORLY - White Tips
How awesome is this manicure??  I started off with a base coat of ORLY's White Tips, one of my all time favorite white polishes.  When that base was dry, I swiped Liquid Vinyl diagonally across my nail.  After a little bit of dry time, I started interlocking the dots!  Honestly it's a lot easier than it looks!



I have tried every way manageable to describe how to get this look, but I cannot think of a way that makes sense when it's written out.  I think I'm going to have to create a tutorial.

What do you think? Ever done an interlocking manicure before?  Isn't it fun??

Make sure to check out Sarah's design!!!

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

The One With the Pink Dots

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  We were supposed to get some huge snow storm but it really never amounted to anything.  It's been such an odd winter, we really have had no snow.  I know I should be happy, but I would just like a foot of the fluffy stuff at least once.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day (blech) so I figured I should do something somewhat festive on my nails.  I couldn't think of anything super creative, so I opted for a naked nail dot manicure.  When in doubt, grab three colors and just dot them on your nails.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • FingerPaints - Paper Mache
  • Zoya - Rooney
  • Sally Hansen - Pink Cadillaquer
For someone who dislikes pink and Valentine's Day, I really did enjoy this manicure.  The naked dot manicure always is super easy, and makes it look like my nails are way longer than they really are.  To get the look, I started off with a base coat.  Currently I'm using FingerPaints base coat that you find on the shelf with their core collection.  It's a milky white base which dries clear on the nail.  When dried, I went through and started dotting.



I always tend to put the darkest color down first.  For this manicure, it was Zoya Rooney.  A gorgeous deep pink shade that sits in the back of my Melmer completely neglected.  It truly is beautiful.


After my Rooney dots were dried, I went through with Pink Cadillaquer by Sallly Hansen.  This polish is a beauty, but unfortunately I don't think I'm ever going to be able to use it again as a base color.  The brush has completely fallen apart!!  I'll have to take a picture and post it to Instagram, I can't even explain it.  It's literally destroyed.

Anyways, when the baby pink dots were on and dried, I went through and filled in the empty spaces with the white.  Slapped on a top coat and called it a day.

What do you think? Are your nails all ready for Valentine's Day?  Has anyone else's brushes in their Miracle Gel polishes completely fallen apart???

Until next time, <3.


Dot Mani

The One With the Rose Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  Happy Friday to you all!!  To my friends on the East Coast, hope you are staying warm while the snow is falling.  I'm kind of jealous, I want a big snow storm.  Just one snow storm, then let it melt, and let Spring begin.  Unfortunately I don't see that happening.

Today I am sharing with you a re-creation of a rose manicure I did back in 2014.   This manicure is one of my all time favorite floral designs that I've ever done on the blog.  After it came up on my Facebook memories a few weeks ago, I have been wanting to re-create it.  Since Valentine's Day (ew) is right around the corner, I thought it would be an appropriate time to do so.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • FingerPaints - Blushing With Excitement
  • Acrylics
For the life of me I cannot remember what polishes I used to create the roses.  The only thing that was done with acrylics on this manicure were the dots and the black outline on the roses.  Everything else was done with polish.  I think the green was Josie by Zoya.....I really need to learn to write these things down.



Anywho, Blushing With Excitement by FingerPaints is a gorgeous pink nude polish from the Limited Edition Ashley Neill Tipton Collection.  I don'tk now why it has taken me so long to use this beauty.  two coats and I had complete coverage.  It's such a gorgeous, delicate shade.  FingerPaints really needs to release something like this in their permanent collection.

What do you think?  Like this manicure?  Something you would try??

I have to stay, it still is one of my favorites.  So happy that I decided to re-create it!

Until next time, <3.

Dry Brush Mani

The One With the Gradient and the Dry Brush

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  The week has started and is in full swing and I'm already for it to be the weekend.  It will be here before we know it, followed by my most hated holiday, Valentine's Day!  Funny that my five year anniversary on the blog falls around the same time.  Clearly five years ago I was so angered over Valentine's Day that I thought blogging would be a good distraction.

Well, you know me, I'm not one for traditional Valentine's Day manicures.  I've decided to try to throw some pink and purple manicures together that are semi festive, but not totally in your face Valentine's.  Today's manicure is a purple to pink gradient with a black dry brush thrown over the top.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • FingerPaints - Lavender Love
  • FingerPaints - Black Patent
  • OPI - Kiss Me I'm Brazilian
  • INM - Northern Lights
I am in love with gradient!  I started off with a base coat of Lavender Love by FingerPaints.  I used one coat since I knew I knew I was going to be doing a gradient it would cover any patchy areas.  Once the one coat was dried, I painted Lavender Love and Kiss Me I'm Brazilian on a make up sponge and dabbed it on my nails.  The colors blended quite nicely with one another, especially after I added the top coat of INM Northern Lights.



After Northern Lights was added, I went back through with Patent Black by FingerPaints and did a light dry brush across all my nails.  I was going to copy a look by mrswhite8907 on Instagram where she had this gradient then black on the outer edge, but it failed miserably.  I don't know how she was able to do her manicure so flawlessly.  Maybe one day I will try again.


One more bottle shot because I truly do love this manicure.  I think it's one of my favorite gradients of all time.  I don't know why I avoid doing the two color ones and always end up reverting to three.  Hmm.

What do you think?  Like this look? Fan of the simple dry brush?  


Until next time, <3.

Orly

The One With Round 33 of Bestie Twin Nails With Fashion Footing

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!!  How are you all doing today?  I'm getting sick, so you know it's going to be a great weekend because of that.  I was wondering when I was going to get the illness that's been going around work.  Oh well, what can you do?

Today is round 33 of Bestie Twin nails with Fashion Footing!  I know we just posted Round 32 last week, but we really wanted to do Super Bowl nails for tomorrow's big game.  Now, I wanted the Packer's to be in the Super Bowl so I'm not 100% thrilled with the game.  I will be routing for the Falcons though because I am not a fan of the Patriots, at all.

Let's take a look at our Super Bowl mani!  One photo since I accidentally destroyed them after taking this photo and didn't feel like re-doing them.


Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Hunter
  • Zoya - Louise
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • ORLY - Liquid Vinyl

It was nice using some of my lovely Zoya polishes which I rarely use since they aren't the colors I would typically gravitate towards.  Both Hunter and Louise cover completely in two coats.  I feel like I need to start using Louise a little more, it's such a pretty brown polish.  I bet it would be a pretty base for a floral manicure....hmmm.

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Something you would wear for the Super Bowl??

Until next time, <3.

Monthly Mani Favs

The One With the January Monthly Mani Favs

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world!  I apologize for not having this post up yesterday on January 31st, but my days got away from me and I literally thought that today was the 31st.  Oh well, I guess maybe I'll make the first post of the new month the manicure favorites of the previous month??  We will see how the year goes....

Let's take a look at my favorite manicures for January!


  • The One with the Dry Brush Chevrons and Zoya Finley - I absolutely loved this chevron dry brush manicure.  Zoya Finley is one of my new favorite polishes.  Two coats of a purple scattered holo?  Yes please.  Everyone needs to get their hands on a bottle of this beauty.
  • The One With the Blue Gradient and Splatter Manicure - I think this is my favorite manicure of the month.  A blue gradient with a fun black and white splatter - you really cannot go wrong.  I'm in love with the new ORLY LaLa Land collection for Spring.  So many pretty pastels.  This blue was a perfect base for this gradient.
  • The One With Round 32 of Bestie Twin Nails With FashionFooting - I swear, every single time month my manicure with Amanda pops up on this list.  I loved this yellow, black, and taupe tape manicure.  Most certainly a color combination I never would have used if it weren't for the Pinterest pin that inspired us.  I need to start using more yellow.
  • The One With the Snowflakes and ORLY Celebrity Spotting - Last but not least, this beautiful snowflake manicure with ORLY Celebrity Spotting.  Such a gorgeous purple polish.  This manicure took me forever to do because the design was so intricate.  My OCD took over and I needed them to be absolutely perfect, so that's what took me so much longer.  Well worth it in the end.
What do you think?  Were any of these your favorite this month??

Here's to February!!!  

Until next time, <3.