Monthly Mani Favs

The One With March's #MonthlyManiFavs

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this lovely Sunday?  I meant to have this post up yesterday, but work has been abnormally crazy. I feel that all my posts start out this way, but this week truly is an exception.  Maybe next week it will slow down?  Who knows.

Well, March isn't over yet, so technically I'm on time sharing my Monthly Mani Favs for March!  Can you believe April is right around the corner?  I feel like March just began.  I feel most of my days are a blur.  Regardless, March had a lot of good manicures, it was hard for me to pick!  I didn't really do many St. Patrick's Day designs and looking back I kind of wish I did more. 

Let's take a look!


  • The One Inspired by JasmineNobleNails - The first of many abstract manicures that are coming up on the blog.  Jasmine created this design and I absolutely fell in love due to the color combination.  Her design was better because she has longer nails, but I still think it turned out well.
  • The One With the Mani Swap with NailsBySammie_ - I took to my Instagram Story and asked if anyone would be interested in doing a ManiSwap and NailsBySammie_ was quick to answer.  She has some of the best manicures on her page, so you really should go check her out.  I love how she uses little accent rings.  I loved her rose manicure, so I had to do it for my mani swap.  Plus, I was able to use Spare Me A French Quarter which is a lovely shade I forgot I owned.
  • The One With the Abstract China Glaze Manicure - My favorite of the month.  Simple design which looked like it took forever to create.  Loved the gold accent with the fun neons.  Part of me wonders what it would look like with a silver accent....so I might be re-creating it real soon.
  • The One With the Floral Manicure Inspired By Srg.Nails - I had a lot of manicures this month inspired by fellow nail artists.  Might be because I went on a mass unfollow of dead accounts and followed a lot of new, talented artists.  I need to become more active on Instagram more often so I can be inspired by more lovelies.  This manicure was absolutely lovely and I was really impressed with my nail art.
What do you think? Which was your favorite?

I need to start thinking about some Easter manicures!!!

Until next time, <3.


Dot Mani

The One With a Floral Manicure Inspired by SRG.Nails

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  Welcome to Sunday.  My weekend has been almost as crazy as my weekdays.  I also was without a phone for a good portion of the weekend because I updated my iPhone and, well, the one I of course got was defective.  Kept resetting itself and just being an all around nightmare.  I went back to Verizon yesterday, had them switch it out, and sat there for another 2 hours while things restored.  Both days though I met some really wonderful people while waiting which otherwise I wouldn't have.  So, just proof that everything happens for a reason!

I kind of am on a Zoya kick lately.  After my St. Patrick's Day manicure using Zoya Rikki, I re-discovered all my Zoya polishes and now am using them.  I feel I do this where I go through a phase where all I use is one brand.  There's a soft spot in my heart for the Pixie Dust polishes, and I always forget I own them until I go to use one for an accent, and then I have to re-visit them all.

Today's design is another manicure inspired by SRG.Nails on Instagram.  Absolutely loved her fun floral design accented with dots and black glitter.  Zoya Dahlia was the perfect accent for this beauty, and I just absolutely love how it all comes together.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Dahlia
  • Zoya - Dillon
  • Zoya - Hunter
  • Zoya - Kitridge
  • ORLY - White TIps
  • ORLY - Liquid Vinyl
I failed at making htis an all Zoya manicure, but I just can't get over my love for White Tips and Liquid Vinyl.  By far, ORLY has the best white and black polish.  I've used a lot of other brands, Zoya included, and I just don't like them as much.  Zoya though does beautiful colors and beautiful Pixies.  Seriously, look at that accent nail!



I'm impressed with myself over that nail art.  By far one of the neatest looking designs I've done with 100% paint and no acrylics.  I think I might shy away from the acrylics a little more in 2019 and try to test my skills with more polish art.

I love how the shimmer of Dillon looks for the flowers.  Then mixed in with the other details, it just looks so dainty.

What do you think of this design?  Loving that floral pattern as much as I am?

Until next time, <3.

China Glaze

The One With the Abstract China Glaze Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  I apologize for being a little MIA the past few days.  I have been in hard core work mode because I'll be at a conference the next two days.  I kind of dislike conferences because I'm used to running around all day, so sitting for 8 hours straight never bodes well.

Yesterday was the official first day of Spring, and boy was it gorgeous outside.  Beautiful, sunny, in the 50s, tulips popping up.  Just wonderful.  We will ignore the fact that we are supposed to get snow this weekend.  I logged onto Facebook to see that we may get 2-4 inches....third Winter, here we come.

Despite it being third winter, I still can paint my nails something fun and semi bright.  I decided to do a neon abstract design which I saw on Pinterest.  This is such a versatile fun manicure which could be worn year round.  Some neons, some black and white, mixed with gold....perfect.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - I'll Pink to That
  • China Glaze - That's Shore Bright
  • China Glaze - I Got a Blue Attitude
  • China Glaze - Big Hair and Bubbly
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • ORLY - Liquid Vinyl
Isn't it pretty?  I was very upset when this one chipped because I loved it so much.  What I especially loved was how it all went together.  I decided to accent the whole design with I'll Pink to That, but really I could have even accented it with That's Shore Bright or I Got a Blue Attitude.  I'm actually shocked I didn't accent it with That's Shore Bright seeing as I usually gravitate towards mint polishes.  Maybe next time.



I loved the cluster of dots on the ring finger.  So different than just my normal polka dots.  I actually used a toothpick to get them to be so small.  Wish they were a little straighter, but it added to the whole abstract look.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Think it's a good manicure for this time of year?

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

The One With the St. Patrick's Day Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning and Happy St. Patrick's Day to you, polished world!  How are you all doing today?  Have you gone out and faked being Irish for the day?  Yesterday my city put on their big St. Patrick's Day parade and party downtown.  I didn't go because I'm not into the whole drunk people acting like jerks for a day thing that they all do.  Kind of ruins the holiday.  I instead went and saw Captain Marvel and now am fully ready for Avengers: Endgame.  That's for another post....

Today's design is just a simple green and gold heart manicure.  To be completely honest with you, I wasn't inspired this year to do many St. Patrick's Day designs.  I kept having to stop myself from doing purple or blue manicures, and had to remind myself to use the green.  When I sat down to do this manicure, I pulled out a few greens and my eye went immediately to Zoya Rikki.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Rikki
  • Zoya - Tomoko

 It's a cute, subtle St. Patrick's Day design.  I have to say, I think Zoya Rikki is the perfect green for today.  It's a gorgeous green foil with flecks of gold. It really has that leprechaun pot of gold feel.  Paired off with Tomoko, I really had that whole St. Patrick's Day vibe going.  Too bad I was uninspired and just went for some dots and a heart.  I probably really could have had an amazing design with these colors.


It still turned out okay.  I was happy with my heart, which nine times out of ten I am not.  I was going to do a shamrock, but I'm not the best at doing hearts, therefore I didn't think I would be able to get a cute little shamrock on my nail.  Then, I turned around and made a perfect little heart and wish I made it smaller so I could have done a shamrock.  Oh well, always next year.

What do you think? Fan of this manicure?

Have a safe, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Until next time, <3.

OPI

The One With the St. Patrick's Day Manicure Inspired by SRG.Nails

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this fine Thursday?  It's going to be gorgeous out today.  Temperatures in the 60s, hopefully sunny, and just all around wonderful.  Maybe I'll be able to sneak out of work a little early to enjoy it before the next round of cold comes in.  Doubt it, but one can be hopeful, right?

Well, St. Patrick's Day is Sunday, so I thought I better get my booty in gear and do at least one, maybe two nail art designs for the holiday.  I feel like last year I did St. Patrick's day designs, or at least all green manicures, for most of the month.  I wasn't really feeling it this year.  Yes I love my green polishes but I just wasn't in the mood for them on my nails.  It's weird, has anyone else ever gone through that phase where they just hate a color they usually love?

Today's design is a recreation of one by SRG.Nails on Instagram.  I saw her design and loved it.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • OPI - I'm Sooo Swamped
  • China Glaze - Big Hair and Bubbly
  • China Glaze - Merry Whatever
  • Acrylics
Cute, right?  You have to check out SRG.Nails' post, because I loved hers much more than mine.  Still think mine is cute, but compared to hers, they're just okay.  I do love that rainbow accent nail.  Never would have thought to do a dry brush rainbow like that.



I liked putting a top coat of Merry Whatever on the rainbow.  It really made it a nice pot of gold look over the top of it.  Subtle sparkle, holo gold flecks.  Beautiful.

What do you think?  Like this design?

Should be able to get one more St. Patrick's Day design in before Sunday!

Until next time, <3.

Jessica Cosmetics

The One Inspired by JasmineNobleNails

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's yet another Monday, where oh where did the weekend go?  I actually feel like I was quite productive.  Went on a bunch of errands, watched a bunch of tv, ate a bunch of food.  All and all, a successful weekend.  Now, let's hope my week is not busy.

Today I'm bringing you a manicure inspired by JasminNobleNails on Instagram.  It's a fun, abstract design that she did ten times better than I did.  I did it a few weeks ago, but am sharing it now because it's St. Patrick's week and, well, I need to start sharing some green manicures.  Even if they are mint green and not at all St. Patrick's Day themed.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Jessica Cosmetics - Flower Crown
  • ORLY - Mirrorball
  • Serendipity Polish - Holoday Lights
  • Acrylics
Even though I think Jasmine's are better, I really do like this manicure.  It's so fun and abstract!  It looks like a painting you would see in a gallery somewhere.  I think what really makes this manicure is the stripe of holographic silver right down the center.  After I put on two coats of that beautiful Flower Crown by Jessica Cosmetics, I swiped a coat of Mirrorball down the center of my nail.  I didn't have to worry how neat it was because I knew there was going to be all that abstract design over the top.



Mirrorball didn't make it holographic enough, so I swiped a thin coat of Holoday Lights down the center.  That gave it the holo look just like Jasmine had on her manicure.  I then went through with my acrylics and started adding the detail.  It was all just so fun to do!

What do you think?  Are you a fan of the acrylic design?

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

The One With Serendipity Polish CE0,000,000 and Dots

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's Thursday, and to be honest with you I really felt like it was Friday.  It has been yet another long week and I cannot wait for the weekend.  I am a little bitter that it's going to be Day Light Savings, but that rant is for another post.  Instead, I will sit here and tell you that I'm cold, cranky, and tired.

Since I'm tired, I was too lazy to edit new photos, therefore I'm digging into my archive of posts. Which currently is this, and only this.  I am about four posts behind in photo editing, so it's going to make for a fun weekend.

Today's design is just a holographic base with some black and white polka dots.  Funny enough, when I painted this design, I was extremely tired and really was just going to do a swatch and call it a night.  Then I got the big, bright idea to do a random dot design over it.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Serendipity Polish, CE0,000,000
  • Acrylics
Yes, I cheated and used acrylics for my dots.  I told you that I was tired that night.  Acrylics just are easier to work with compared to polish and they dry much faster.  When they're dry, it's quick to just slap a topcoat on and call it a night.



Only issue with acrylics is that I find they chip faster than polishes.  My other issue with acrylics is that they suck up the top coat, so you have to do at least two coats of topper on them for them to be shiny like polish.  In the end though, when you're using a fast dry top coat, that really isn't a huge problem.

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?

Until next time, <3.

Color Block Mani

The One With the ILNP Mosaic Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Hello all!  How are you all doing on this wonderful Monday?  It really isn't wonderful, but I'm being optimistic that it will be.  So far we woke up to some lovely snow....again, and some lovely cold temperatures....again.  We are in third winter here.  You know, when you think Spring is actually going to happen, but then winter rears its head again leaving you nice, cold, and under a mound of snow.

Despite the awful weather, I decided to crack out my ILNP Summer polishes from last year and do something fun and bright on my nails.  After pre-ordering the whole ILNP Spring Lush collection, and a few from the Tranquility collection, I was wanting to use some of my older pretties.  These are holding me over until all my new babies arrive.  That shipment date of March 12th cannot come soon enough.

I really couldn't decide on which one of the Ultra Holos from Summer 2018 I wanted to use, therefore I decided to use all of them.  I combined them all into a fun mosaic looking manicure.  I really loved the end result.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • ILNP - Sail Away
  • ILNP - Pick Me Up
  • ILNP - Kiss and Tell
  • ILNP - Sidekick
  • ILNP - Tidal Wave
  • ILNP - Sundance
Look at how gorgeously holographic this manicure is!  These polishes absolutely are ultra holographic.  The color is so concentrated in all of them as well!  This manicure wasn't done on a base of white like most people thought.  Nope, I started off with two coats of Sail Away as my base.  Yes, that gorgeous, turquoise beauty was the base for this manicure and all those lovely, bright colors were layered on top of it.



When my base of Sail Away was dried, I added my lines using a black acrylic.  I then started filling in the empty spaces with different polishes from the collection.  I was nervous they'd disappear over the turquoise and it was a huge risk, but it paid off so much.  Even Sundance (the green) showed up brilliantly as if it were on a white base.

What do you think?  Love these polishes?  Do you own any of them?  Did you pre-order any of the Spring polishes?

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

The One With the Mani Swap with @NailsbySammie_

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this lovely, lovely, LOVELY Friday?  Yes, it's a lovely Friday because tomorrow is Saturday meaning I finally get a day off after what seems to be the longest week ever!  My to-do list at work is growing and growing and I feel like I'm never going to get caught up.  I felt like this a few months ago and it turned around, so I'm expecting it to again.  We shall see.

Today, I am super excited to be bringing you a Mani Swap!  It's been forever since I've done a collaboration with another blogger.  After seeing so many people doing them, I took to my Instagram story and asked who would be interested and I had some lovelies respond.  One of them being @NailsBySammie_.  I've been a fan of Sam's page for so long!  Her nail art is so neat, her swatches are amazing, and I love all of her rings.  Seriously, I really want to get me some rings for my manicure photos.

After looking through her page, I stumbled across a beautiful rose manicure with a dotted accent.  You know me and how I love roses and dots, so of course this would be the design I would create!

Let's take a look!



Colors Used:
  • OPI - Spare Me A French Quarter?
  • OPI - Alpine Snow

I forgot that I even owned "Spare Me A French Quarter?" by OPI.  I really am questioning if I've ever used it before because when I opened it up the inside was perfectly clean like a brand new bottle.  It's such a gorgeous shade that I would have completely forgotten about if it weren't for this mani swap!  Two coats and full coverage.  Honestly, you could get away with one coat of this beauty.


I love the design so much.  I rarely accent my manicures like this.  Usually I do the ring and index finger.  This is such a fun set up for a manicure that I will most certainly be using more often!


Sam re-created my gradient heart design I did last month!  Make sure to head over to her Instagram to take a look at her post!  I absolutely love her swap!  I think her manicures are so much better than mine!

What do you think?  Like the mani swap?  Which is your favorite??

Thank you so much Sam for doing this collaboration with me!!!  I hope to do it again soon!

Until next time, <3.