Dot Mani

The One with INM Daisies

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  Welcome to Monday!  This week is going to be loooonggg.  My one co-worker is on vacation and I hate when she leaves.  Now I have no one to joke with for the whole week.  Guess it's all work and no play for this girl this week.  Actually, I'm looking forward to buying fall decorations for the facility!!  I've bought all new decorations throughout this year and I've just been waiting to do Fall, which is my favorite season.  Ahhhhh, cannot wait.

Anyways, before summer is over, I still have plenty of summery nail art designs to share with you.  Daisies, of course, are my favorite thing to paint in the summertime.  Actually they're my favorite thing to paint year round since they are one of my favorite flowers.  I'm still bitter that there isn't an actual daisy emoji.

Let's take a look....


Colors Used:
  • INM - Humanity
  • Acrylics
Humanity is one of my favorite polishes by INM.  I don't know if they call their polishes INM or Out the Door lacquer.  Both are on the bottle so it always confuses me, therefore I just call them INM.  I'm getting off track.  This polish is one of my favorite blues.  It covers completely in two coats, and has such a pretty shimmer to it.  It lasts like iron on my nails too taking forever to chip.

What do you think?  Like this look?  Isn't this blue perfect for this art?

Until next time, <3.


China Glaze

The One With Flip Flop Fantasy

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this wonderful Friday!?  I'm going to a concert tonight so nothing is going to bring me down.  The weather is supposed to be beautiful, I have tickets under the shell, it's one of my favorite country artists.  Ahhhh it's a Happy Friday indeed!

What makes it happier is that I'm sharing this beautiful manicure with you today!  I cannot tell you how much I loved this neon rose design using one of my oldie but goodie neon's - Flip Flop Fantasy.  If you remember, years ago China Glaze reformulated Flip Flop Fantasy.  The original formula had a more of a pink-ish tone, whereas the new one (this one in the post), leans more towards the pink/orange tone.  I have both, but barely left of the original formula.  I don't think I've actually used the new one until now.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy
  • ILNP - Tick Tock
  • ORLY - White Tips
Just like the original formula, this covers completely in two coats.  I'm torn, I love the original color but love this color too.  Maybe China Glaze will one day come out with the original formula again.  This begs the question, to companies even know when their color stock changes so drastically?  I feel someone would notice, especially in the day and age of social media where everyone can tag the company and leave comments.



Who knows.  Regardless, this manicure is gorgeous and I absolutely loved how bright it was.  I wasn't sure if I was going to like the flowers in the center of the nail, as I typically tend to lean to framing my nails, but this was quite nice.  I didn't like all the empty white space and went through and added the dots.  I had a love hate with the dots, but I'm leaning more towards love now that I see the photos.

What do you think?  Like this look?  Remember the original Flip Flop Fantasy?

Until next time, <3.

Sinful Colors

The One With the Sinful Colors Abstract Looking Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this fine Monday?  The weather held out this weekend so the annual family picnic at work went amazingly!  I woke up Saturday around 5am and heard rain, then looked at the radar and did not see a pretty picture.  After some prayers, I drifted back to sleep until 8am, and woke up to a little drizzle, that went away after an hour or so.  Then I got to work, walked around under the tents, and it was a complete miracle.  Despite the fact it rained all night long, the ground was dry.  No mud puddles, nothing.  Everything went perfectly and everyone had fun!  I'm so happy I have a month before we have to start planning for the next big event.

Anyways, today's manicure is an abstract one I did the other night when I was completely uninspired and not in the mood to paint at all.  I feel I never use my original polishes...you know the first brand that got you into painting.  For me that was Sinful Colors.  I purchased pretty much every color when I started this blog because they were inexpensive and came in every color.  Every once and awhile I'll wander by a display and pick one or two up.  That's how this beauty became part of my collection.

Let's take a look!



Colors Used:
  • Sinful Colors - She's Gone Matte
Have I ever mentioned that this is one of my favorite shades ever created?  It's hard for me to walk by a display and not buy mints, blues, or teals.  I bought this one a while ago and I don't think I ever used it.  It had full coverage in two coats.  Now, it's supposed to be a matte polish, but it wasn't your typical matte when it dried.  Of course, I added a shiny top coat so this design doesn't show the matte at all.  Regardless, it wasn't a matte you'd expect like if you were to use a matte top coat.

What do you think?  Like this design?  Like the color?

Until next time, <3.

Flowers

The One With the Blue Serendipity Polish Flowers....Again

9:00:00 AM


Hey all!  How are you all doing on this fine Thursday??  I've been super busy that I'm shocked that I'm actually getting this post up.  Yesterday we got a whole heck of a lot of rain, which caused quite a little mess.  Standing water inside is never a good thing.  Now I just saw on the news that it's supposed to rain heavy again today and Friday.  I feel like crying.  Let's all take a minute and say a prayer that the rain isn't as horrible as it was the other day.  Plus we have our annual family picnic outdoors on Saturday, so I need the sun!

Today's manicure is a re-creation of one I did a year or so ago using some of my beloved Serendipity Polish's.  You have no idea how much I miss this brand.  One coat and two coat creams that dried super fast and didn't chip.  Ughhhh how I miss them!

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Serendipity Polish - We Run This Beach
  • Serendipity Polish - Vitamin Sea
  • Serendipity Polish - Hike & Be Happy
Absolutely love We Run This Beach.  Two coats for this polish, but well worth it.  Different consistency compared to my other Serendipity loves.  I wish I had more than one bottle of this polish since it's my favorite shade of blue.  You can never have too many bottles of this color, let alone one that's perfect.



Part of me likes last year's design better than this one.  Then the other part of me likes this one.  This one seems a little more balanced, if that makes sense.  Hmmm whatever.

What do you think?  Like this design?

Until next time, <3.

Flowers

The One With the OPI Daisies

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  The weekend got away from me and I never posted yesterday.  I'm going to try to fit two more posts in this week.  Of course it's a busy week with the annual family picnic this Saturday.  Part of me is excited, but part of me wants it over because I'm tired of the whole planning.  Oh well, let's just hope the weather holds out since it's supposed to pour all week.

Today's design is actually a re-creation of one that I used to do on one of my resident's nails.  She recently passed away and it was quite a tough time for myself and the other staff members at the facility.  She was such a cutie who had the brightest smile.  She would bead bracelet's and crochet all the time.  I'm so happy to have numerous bracelets and my very own blanket made by her.  Things I will hold near and dear to my heart for a long time.

Anyways, she used to love her mauve/dark rose polishes and she loved when I painted daisies on her nails.  So for her funeral, I did the same.  Let's take a look.


Colors Used:
  • OPI - Just Lanai-ing Around
  • Acrylics
This is such a pretty polish.  I bought it a few years ago, and I don't think I've actually used it before this manicure.  Maybe just once.  Now I'm thinking about all the polishes that I own and haven't used yet.....goodness.  Anyways, this polish covers completely in two coats and has a subtle shimmer to it.  It's quite lovely.



I really did love how this manicure turned out.  I cannot wait to paint my lovely lady's nails again one day in heaven.  Until then, I'll be painting my nails, wearing her beads, and lounging in the blanket.

Until next time, <3.

Birthday

The One With My Birthday Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world and Happy Friday!!!  I apologize for my lack of posting but it's been a busy few weeks.  I just sat down to edit photos and realized I have about 6 or so to share with you.  Kind of crazy I got this behind, but it makes sense, my life has been crazy.  I've been painting, just haven't been posting.  I also didn't post because Wednesday was my 30th birthday!!!  Ahhh, cannot believe I'm 30!

So, today I'm sharing with you my birthday manicure!  This year I wasn't going to do one because my week was beyond crazy and I had a plain swatch most of the week.  Late Tuesday I decided to throw the cupcake and polka dots onto the base.  Sure the tips are worn, but I thought it was too cute not to share.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • ORLY - Purple Crush
  • INM - Northern Lights
Okay, here's my problem with this manicure.  Why is ORLY Purple Crush, called Purple Crush?!  Am I the only one who doesn't see purple when they look at this polish?!  I see a pink/magenta polish.  Despite the name, the polish is gorgeous.  Applied perfectly in two coats and dried super fast.  I decided to add INM Northern Lights because, well how could you not?!



What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Do you know why this is called Purple Crush?

Until next time, <3.

China Glaze

The One With the China Glaze Palm Trees

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's Sunday and the weekend is almost over.  We are also entering my birthday week!!  I'm going to be 30....ahhhh.  Cannot believe that I'm this old.  Some days I feel it, other days I don't.  It's weird to me that I'm working an adult job, living an adult life.  Other days I feel like I'm still a kid and just got out of high school.  Being this age is....odd.

Well it's supposed to be in the 90s today, with of course high humidity.  Forever and always my favorite weather.  Can you sense the sarcasm in that?  I'm happy when it's warm out, but not happy when it's humid.  It's hard to breath, I feel like I can never cool down, and I'm just all around miserable.

So since it's warm and humid like it is in the tropics, it only makes sense that I share a tropical palm tree manicure using some of my bright China Glaze neons.  Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • China Glaze - Bite Me
  • China Glaze - What I Like About Blue
  • Serendipity Polish - Holoday Lights
  • INM - Northern Lights
Kind of fabulous, isn't it?  I am in LOVE with the the dry brush background underneath the palm trees.  I cannot remember who originally created this look, but I know I was inspired by someone.  I kind of hate that I didn't write it down.  Regardless, I started off with a base of white polish, then went through with Bite Me and What I like About Blue and did a quick dry brush design.  I then added a quick top coat of INM Northern Lights to blend the dry brush and tie in the sparkle of the pinkie accent nail.  Plus, Bite Me has a weird formula, so I needed to put a top coat of Northern Lights over that because it looked kind of bubbly.  Who knows, that might have been due to the humidity also.



Super happy with how my palm trees turned out.  Sometimes when I paint them they do not look at all like a palm tree.  These turned out perfectly.  You can see the little palm leaves, they fit perfectly on the nail.  Happy nail artist here.

What do you think?  Like this fun summer look?  Something a little different?

Until next time, <3.

Monthly Mani Favs

The One With July's #MonthlyManiFavs

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world and welcome to Thursday!  Can you believe the week is almost over?  And that August is here?  And that I didn't get this post up yesterday.  I actually can believe the last one.  I really, really, really need to sit down and pre-publish my posts and get a more organized schedule.  I also realized that my comment section isn't working on the blog, and I truly have no clue how to fix it.  Ugh.

Anyways, welcome to August, the Sunday of Summer.  Someone posted that the other day and ugh there's so much truth behind it.  August though is a fun month.  My birthday, the annual family picnic at work....just so much going on that's fun!  Before though we get into all that, it's time to take a look at July's Monthly Mani Favs!

Let's look!


  • The One With the Butterfly Nail Art - I have decided that I'm going to do some sort of annual purple butterfly post in honor of my friend's friend who passed away from a horrible disease.  Click on the post to learn a little bit more behind this manicure and my reasons why I'm going to do so. :)
  • The One With the Dainty Dot Flower - Love, love, LOVED this manicure!  One of my most popular ones in a long time.  I feel like my Instagram account hasn't gotten a lot of hits lately, and i'm losing followers left and right.  But as soon as I posted this design and another shot of it, the like's kept coming and the followers started up again.  Of course though the next design they fell right off again, but it is what it is.  By far one of my favorite designs that I've ever done.
  • The One with the Orange Floral Manicure - Loved this design too, which was inspired by mvargas_nails on Instagram.  Only thing I didn't like was that my nails were stained afterwards, but it was well worth it.
  • The One With the Pink Smoosh Manicure - Nothing better than a good smoosh manicure.  Add a neon polish in there, and you have an awesome one!  This pink by ORLY was beyond bright!

What do you think?  Which was your favorite?  

Until next time, <3.