Dot Mani

The One With Round 35 of Bestie Twin Nails with Fashion Footing

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!!  I apologize for not posting more, but I have had quite the busy week.  I wanted to have this post up yesterday, but I went to a gala on Wednesday and never got around to editing the photos.  I really need to edit my photos ahead of time.  Maybe this weekend I can sit down and just do them.

Today is round 35, yes 35 of Bestie Twin Nails with Fashion Footing.  Amanda is taking a little break from her blog, but she is still posting on Instagram.  Then there's me, who hasn't even updated her Instagram in a week.  Where has my motivation gone?!  I"m still painting, still buying polish, but forgetting to post to social media.  Speaking of which, I really need to update the Facebook too.  Sigh, there aren't enough hours in the day!

Today, we are re-creating a splatter manicure originally done by Young Wild and Polished.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • OPI - You're Such a Budapest
  • OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls
  • Sinful Colors - Taupe is Dope!
  • ORLY - Liquid Vinyl
Love this manicure so much.  I never would have thought of this color combination on my own.  I really need to start looking at my Colors board on Pinterest for different color combinations.  I'm in love with the taupe nail, which is Taupe is Dope! by Sinful Colors.  I picked this up a few weeks ago and honestly didn't even pay attention to which display it came off of.  I think I also purchased a blurple color which I need to go locate.  Anyways, this taupe applies perfectly in two coats and dries very fast.  Works wonderfully for the splatter.



I wasn't sure if You're Such a Budapest was going to splatter because it's a bit sheer.  It's a light purple cream with a shimmer.  I think the shimmer is what makes it thinner than your typical cream.  Regardless, it takes three coats to get full coverage, so that's why I didn't think that the splatter would work.  Luckily it did and it's just gorgeous mixed with the taupe and black.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Something different!

Until next time, <3.

#ColorOfTheMoment

Sally Hansen #ColorOfTheMoment For March - A Month Late

9:00:00 AM


Hi all and Happy Monday!!!  I don't know why I said Happy Monday because honestly there is nothing happy about Monday's.  Unless you don't work a full time job, then it's really happy.  Then it is just another day.  I'm hoping today is a good work day, we shall see though.  I can go in with my day planned out minute but minute and then something happens and none of what I planned gets accomplished.

Anyways, the other day I posted that I was invited to be a part of the Sally Hansen #ColorOfTheMoment program where I will be sent the latest color trends to share with you!  Now, last month was super crazy for me.  I received the Color of the Moment package, and my power went out for five days.  No polishing, no photos, no editting, everything kind of went crazy and I fell super behind.

The other day when I was posting my Color of the Moment manicure for April, I found these in the draft folder never published.  And that my friends is what happens when your life is thrown upside down due to lack of power.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Sally Hansen - Commander in Chic
  • Sally Hansen - Gilty Party
Have I ever mentioned how wonderful the Complete Salon Manicure line is?  To me, it is right on par with the Miracle Gel line.  I know some people have mixed emotions with both collections, but for me, they work super well and don't chip quickly.  Maybe it's my nail chemistry, but I can get at least 5 days out of a mani using the Complete Salon Manicure line or the Miracle Gel Line.

These polishes are absolutely gorgeous.  Gilty Party covered completely in two coats.  Dried fast so I was able to throw the tape on right away.  When I had my tape on how I liked it, I painted two thin coats over the nail and removed the tape.  Commander in Chic is I think one of my new favorite shades.  It's just a gorgeous neutral taupe which can be used alongside so many different colors.

What do you think?  Like this design?  Fan of the Complete Salon line?

I apologize again for not getting this post up in a timely manner.  I promise next month I will!!!  Kind of like how I did with this month's #ColorOfTheMoment!

Until next time, <3.





#ColorOfTheMoment

Sally Hansen #ColorOfTheMoment

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's Friday, so you know that I am extremely happy.  Saturday is almost here and that means I can sleep in!  Spring has also officially sprung in my neck of the woods and we all know that makes me a very happy girl.

I am very excited to bring you today's post!  Sally Hansen has invited me to be part of their #ColorOfTheMoment program!  Through this program, Sally Hansen along with their Global Color Ambassador Madeline Poole announce the latest nail colors every month.  This month the colors are pink!  I'm not a huge fan of pink, but I am in love with the Miracle Gel polishes that they sent!

Let's take a look at what I came up with! I apologize for not posting swatches, but I've been under the weather and it's been a struggle just to paint my nails.  Next month I'll do swatches!




Colors Used:
  • Sally Hansen - Pink Cadillaquer
  • Sally Hansen - Electric Pop
  • Sally Hansen - Tipsy Gypsy
You know me and my love for negative space floral manicures.  Now that Spring is here, be on the lookout for many, many more.  Now the Color of the Moment package for this month only included Electric Pop and Tipsy Gypsy.  I already owned Pink Cadillaquer, but thought it would go well with this manicure and keep with the pink theme.  Plus, it's another Miracle Gel and really, you can't have enough of those.



On my index and pinkie finger, I decided to do a gradient with the three shades.  They blended together beautifully and didn't cause any bubbling like other cream polishes.  Topped it off with one coat of the Miracle Gel top coat.  Honestly,  I think this is one of my best gradients yet.


For the floral nails, I just did a base coat then used a dotting tool and added the flowers on the nails.  I threw a few white dots in with an acrylic white just to break it up a little bit.  The pinks kind of blended with my nail bed, so adding the white really made the colors stand out more.  Topped off with Miracle Gel top coat which is the black bottle in this last shot, and admired my pretty pink nails.

What do you think?  Fan of the Color of the Moment?  I think it's perfect for Spring!!

Until next time, <3.

Galaxy Mani

The One With the Galaxy Nail Art

9:00:00 AM


Happy Wednesday polished world!!  How are you all doing today?  I'm slowly starting to feel better.  I'm going to emphasize the slowly in that last sentence.  I think I caught a weird virus because I'm not the only one who has had the same symptoms.  Hopefully it will continue to go away.

Since I have been under the weather, I have not been on top of my blogging game.  In all honesty I've felt kind of lazy and not wanting to photograph, edit, or write.  I've painted, but all other things literally feel like an impossible task that I don't want to accomplish.  I have so many polishes to swatch too, so I really need to get my booty in gear.

Anyways, today I am sharing with you a simple galaxy manicure.  Nothing is simpler but looks like it took ten years than a galaxy design.  I haven't done one in awhile and my nails at the time were shorter because of some breaks, so I figured slapping on a coat of black and doing a galaxy would make them look not so shabby.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • ORLY - Liquid Vinyl
  • Zoya - Dream
  • Zoya - Aurora
  • Zoya - Finley
  • INM - Northern Lights
I told you I was slacking on the photos, therefore this post only has one.  Plus, I didn't think that this design really needed more than one shot.  I thought this captured the design well...maybe?  I don't know.

Anyways, I like how this design turned out.  I love using my Zoya scattered holographic polishes for the galaxy design itself.  To get the look, I first sponge some white polish down.  When that's dry, I take the scattered holos and sponge them over the white.  They blend so well and leave that holo sparkle that truly looks like a galaxy.

When it's all dry, I always go back over the design with a coat of INM Northern Lights.  That gives the manicure a whole sparkly night sky look with dozens of twinkly lights.  I always have a spare bottle of Northern Lights because it's honestly the greatest scattered holo topper.

What do you think?  Like this look?  Have you ever used the Zoya scattered holos for a galaxy?

Until next time, <3.


Animal Mani

Happy Easter!!!!

9:00:00 AM


Happy Easter Polished World!!!!!  What a glorious day, He is Risen!!!  How are you all doing on this wonderful Easter Sunday?  Despite being under the weather, I am wonderful.  Yeah, that's right, it's a holiday and I'm sick...shocker.  Hopefully I'm feeling better so I can return to work tomorrow.  I hate missing work due to sickness.

Easter kind of snuck up on me, so I wasn't able to do as many Easter designs as I wanted to.  Every year I usually do a design that represents the true meaning of the holiday, and of course I didn't this year.  I'm kind of kicking myself for that now.

Today's design is inspired by the lovely Sarah from 25 Sweet Peas.  She did a cute Easter bunny design which she snapped me and I think filmed a tutorial for that I just had to re-create.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Lotus Begin
  • China Glaze - Highlight of My Summer
  • China Glaze - Pinking Out the Window
  • ORLY - White Tips
I am absolutely in love with this manicure.  Everyone really is loving the polka dot middle finger I did as an accent.  I'm not going to lie, I do love that one also.  It looks like a cute little Easter Egg.  Which honestly I wasn't going for that look.



I don't think I've used Highlight of My Summer yet.  Maybe for a gradient or something, but I cannot remember if I ever used it as a base color.  I am in LOVE with this bright mint polish.  It's a perfect neon pastel shade.  Covered completely in two coats.  A little streaky, so be patient with it.

What do you think?  Like this cute Easter bunny??

I hope everyone has a Happy and Blessed Easter!!!

Color Club

The One With the Re-Creation of an Easter Bunny Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It was super warm two days ago, and now it's super cold again.  Okay, maybe I'm being dramatic, it's Spring time cold.  You know, 50s and rainy.  Those April showers better bring the May flowers.

Easter is right around the corner and I am here with some Easter nail art!  I'm on this kick of re-doing manicures that I've done in the past.  It's been fun for me to see how I've grown when it comes to nail art.  Heck, it's even impressive to me to see how I've grown when it comes to painting my actual nail, my nail shape, etc.

The design I'm re-creating today is a floppy eared bunny which I originally did as part of a Bestie Twin Nail feature with 25 Sweet Peas.  I absolutely loved this design two years ago, and I love it again now.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Color Club - Pucci-licious
  • ORLY - Vintage
  • FingerPaints - Sterling Sculpture
I can't believe that I purchased Pucci-licious two years ago around the time I originally did this manicure.  Shows me how little I use this polish because the bottle itself really looks like it's never been used.  I should look at see how many manicures I have used it for.  Regardless, it's a gorgeous shade which covers completely in two coats.



I was going to use Color Club Blue-Ming like I did last time, but I just recently got my hands on ORLY Vintage and it's been screaming to be used.  Two coats, pure mint gorgeous perfection.  I'm so happy that Sally Beauty added this beauty to the ORLY core collection along with some other neons.

What do you think?  Fan of this cute bunny manicure?  Something you'd try?

Until next time, <3.

Dry Brush Mani

The One With the Pink and Purple Dry Brush Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this fine Monday?  The weekend has come and gone in a blink of an eye, and here we are starting another work week.  This work week is also the beginning of Easter week....and I have no Easter manicures.  I'm rather ashamed with myself htat I'm so behind on the Easter nail art.  I hope to have some up mid week....

Today's manicure is kind of Easter-ish...maybe?  It's a pastel dry brush which I believe was inspired by The Nail Trail.  I say I believe because I honestly cannot remember where I got the idea for this design and for some reason I feel like it was Hannah.  Who knows.....

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • ORLY - Frolic
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • Serendipity Polish - Sunshine Rainbow
  • Zoya - Kitridge
Love the color combination of this manicure.  I really need to start doing more manicures with gold accent nails.  I am just so hung up on my silver holos that I forget gold even exists.  I don't think that this manicure would have looked as well if it were done with a silver accent.



Sunshine Rainbow is a gorgeous gold glitter polish.  I'm so happy that I have it as part of my collection.  It covers perfectly in one coat and there is no dabbing of the glitter required.  Such a perfect topper.


Kitridge is such a fun pink shade.  I need to grab another bottle of this.  Maybe now that Zoya is hosting their Earth Day Exchange, I can get rid of some of these polishes that need to be thrown out for some new pretties at half off.

What do you think of this design?  Don't you love the dry brush design?  I think it looks more marbled than dry brush!

Until next time, <3.

Animal Print

The One With the Lime Green Zebra Print Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Happy Friday!!!!  Finally, the week is over!!!  Who else is ready for the weekend??  I know I am.  Especially because the weather is going to take a turn and be BEAUTIFUL.  We are going to ignore the fact that it's in the 30s today and possibly snow.  We instead are going to look forward to that lovely 68 degree weather they're forecasting.  Sure, I'll get a sinus infection from these temperature fluctuations, but I'll survive.

Since it's going to be in the 30s today and I'm craving warmer weather, it's only fitting that I share a bright, neon manicure.  Last week (or maybe it was the week before) I received the ORLY Summer collection since I signed up for the ORLY color pass.  The collection consists of 6 gorgeous neon shades which I have yet to play with.  After seeing them, I decided to revisit some of my old neons before focusing on them.

As we know, China Glaze has some of the best neons out there.  I decided to use Lime After Lime and do a fun zebra design since I haven't done one in a loooong time.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Lime After Lime
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • ILNP - Mega X
I was absolutely in love with this manicure.  Originally when I painted on my white base, I wasn't going to sponge Lime After Lime on, but I'm super happy I did.  Years ago I did a similar zebra design using a pink polish and loved how I lightly sponged the color on the white.  I could have done a gradient, but I think I prefer this look.



Mega X by ILNP is one of my all time favorite silver holos.  Me and my silver holo accents.  How can you go wrong though?  The holo effect is so strong in natural light and in room light.  I need to purchase some back up bottles of this.  A little expensive, but well worth the price.


Lime After Lime is a gorgeous neon green.  Two coats and full coverage.  It isn't patchy, dries semi glossy.  I added a top coat to make it fully glossed.  I think this is my favorite neon green polish.  I honestly forgot that I purchased this last year and am upset that I didn't get back ups.

What do you think?  Like this look?  Fan of Mega X or Lime After Lime??

Until next time, <3.

Flowers

The One With Yet Another Floral Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world.  How are you all doing on this fine Tuesday?  I mean to have a post up yesterday but it slipped my mind.  I really need to pre-publish these posts that I have photos all editted for.  That way I won't forget, it will all be done for me.

Today I'm bringing you a cute floral manicure inspired by the lovely Jessica from lalalovenailart.  It was only fitting that I share this manicure today now that Spring really feels like it's here.  Sure it's raining, but April showers, bring May flowers....right?

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Morgan Taylor - Potts of Tea
  • Various colors
Yes, various colors, I'm slacking.  I cannot remember which polishes I used for the pink, purple, and peach flowers.  I am pretty sure that they are all OPI, but I'm just way too lazy to go to my Melmer and figure out which they were.  Another reason why I should pre-publish my posts, so I can tell you exactly what colors I used.  Oh well, what can you do.



All that really does matter is the gorgeous base - Morgan Taylor Potts of Tea.  This polish is from the Beauty and the Beast collection which was just recently released.  This is a gorgeous off white polish with a subtle pink shimmer.  I think that this is my second favorite white polish next to My Boyfriend Scales Walls.  Two coats and full coverage.  It really is gorgeous in person.  I absolutely love it.

What do you think?  Fan of this floral look?  Think it's something you would try?

Until next time, <3.

**Polishes provided by Morgan Taylor through the PreenDotMe VIP program.  All opinions expressed are my own.**