Halloween

The One With the Halloween Manicure I Did When I Should Have Gone to Bed

9:00:00 AM

Nothing to Disclose


Good Morning and Happy Halloween!!!!  Whew, I'm exhausted from this marathon of nail posts!!!  I think I might need to take a week break before I post again.  Maybe.  I actually realized I have to catch up on posting some manicures over on Instagram so I'll probably do that, edit some new photos, and then come back here.  I'm not going to lie, even though I'm posting more consistently, I'm a little disappointed that my engagement is down across all social media.  I need to rebuild myself it seems.  So that's why I'm going to keep posting so when it comes time for Christmas manicures, my engagement is back to where it should be!

Today's design is one I came up with last minute the other evening.  I was exhausted but needed to have festive nails for work.  Plus, I couldn't give up on Halloween posts literally right before Halloween.  Of course, I didn't plan this out right, because now I'm bringing you two spider web designs in a row, but oh well.  It was either that or bringing you two candy corn themed posts in a row.  The Smoosh needed to break that up.  Maybe?  Who knows.

Anyways, let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Jessica - Sahara Sun
  • Zoya - Dahlia
  • Acrylic black
Yup, cheated using acrylics, and I'm not going to lie, I'm a little mad at myself.  I feel I should have done the designs with the sparkly polish.  Zoya Dahlia, along with all the other Pixie Dust polishes, really are amazing when it comes to manipulating for nail art.  I kid you not though, I painted this at 11:30pm the other night and I just wanted to get them painted and done so I could go to sleep.


For being as exhausted as I was, overall, I did a pretty decent job.  Dahlia really was the perfect accent and I couldn't ignore that beauty during the Halloween season.  Zoya really needs to come out with more Pixies, don't you agree?

What do you think? Fan of this final Halloween manicure??

Now, it's time to think of some Fall/Thanksgiving designs, and then Christmas!!!!  The best nail art time of the year!!!

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!


Gradient Mani

The One With the Candy Corn Spider Web

9:00:00 PM

Nothing to Disclose


Happy Friday to everyone!  How are you all doing??  Started out sunny here then turned into a rainy day really fast.  Yes, I'm posting this in the evening when I usually post in the mornings, but I was a total space case and forgot to write up the post and actually publish it.  Edited the photos the other day, uploaded them, pre-published the post, but then never wrote anything.  I really am wondering if I'm losing my mind.

Today's design is a re-creation of my candy corn spider web design.  Again, I'm in a little bit of a funk with new ideas, so I'm hitting up the oldies but goodies.  It's been awhile since I've created a gradient, and what better time to do one than with the candy corn colors?! 

Let's take a look! 


Colors Used:
  • Sally Hansen - Electra-Cute
  • Sally Hansen - Blacky O
  • Sally Hansen - some white that the label fell off of
  • ORLY - Mirrorball
Yeah, I had to break away from using only Sally Hansen polishes in this manicure because I just needed to have a holographic accent.  How can you blame me, Mirrorball is amazing and by far one of my favorite silver holographic polishes.  Plus, it really makes this whole manicure pop, don't you think?


I'm going to have one of those pat myself on the back moments with this design.  I'm very proud of my gradient, spider web, and my nail length.  You have no idea how long it has taken me to strengthen my nails and get them long again.  Now if I can only keep them this way through the Christmas season....

What do you think of this design?  Are your nails ready for Sunday??

I have one more post for you for Halloween.  Nothing fancy, but still worth sharing since I did it.

See you soon! <3 


China Glaze

The One With the Frankenstein Smoosh Manicure

9:00:00 AM

Nothing to Disclose


Good morning Polished World!  I told you that you were going to be seeing a lot of me over the next few days!  I'm really painting a decent amount of Halloween manicures, and I need to share them all before Sunday!  I think I will have them all timed out perfectly come Halloween.  Not going to lie, I'm rather proud of myself for keeping up on it.  Now if I can do this for Christmas, it will be a perfect end to the year.  We all know though that Christmas manicures are some of my favorite to paint, so I don't forsee myself having a problem.

Today's manicure is a fun one.  A few years go, I created an orange, white, and black Halloween smoosh manicure.  It came up on my facebook memories and I screen capped it as a reminder to re-create it this year.  The other night when I sat down to paint, I just wasn't feeling the colors.  I wanted to do the smoosh look, just didn't want that color combination.  While scrolling on Facebook, I came across one of those pages where they decorate cookies, and they were icing these cute purple and green Frankenstein's.  My color inspiration was born.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Drink Up Witches
  • Color Club - Plumeria 
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • ORLY - Liquid Vinyl
I'm not going to lie, I felt guilty that I gushed about other black and white polishes and veered from using my ORLY loves that I had to go back and use them for this look.  Happy I did, because they are the perfect consistency for the perfect smoosh manicure.  But let's get real here, Drink Up Witches is the real star of this manicure.  The perfect neon green for the Halloween season.  I've owned this polish for awhile, and I can't remember a time where I used it on it's own.  Maybe for my neon green drips last year....or was that two years ago?


Look at me getting off track.  The smoosh mani is very easy to re-create.  First, you start off with a base of white polish.  When that's dry, either use liquid latex or put tape around your nail to help with the clean up.  Now, there are two ways to do this, but both require a stamper.  The way I create it is by dripping the polishes on a paper plate.  For instance, I used about three little drips of green, two of purple, one larger black, and one white.  You then take the stamper and smoosh it into the paint on the plate.  I then dab some of the excess off the stamper once on the plate, then I stamp right onto the nail.  The second way to do this which can be a tad trickier and messier is to drip the polish directly on the stamper, then dab it onto the plate, then onto the nail.  I feel I don't have as much control over the polish the second way, but it still works.

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Somthing that screams Halloween?

See you in a few days for another mani! <3 


Halloween

The One With The Candy Corn Patch Work

9:00:00 AM

Nothing to Disclose Press Sample Affiliate Link


Good Morning, Polished World!  I meant to post this yesterday, but hey it's better than being a week late on posting.  I now have two more Halloween designs to share before Sunday.  Might even have three more depending on how my week goes with painting.  I'm actually enjoying keeping up on this blog.  Not going to lie, a little upset that my photos aren't getting as much traction on Instagram, but I blame myself.  I kind of fell off the face of the earth so I'm shadowbanned or something.  Maybe this week will help.

Today's design is a re-creation of one I did a few years ago.  Maybe it was even last year.  Who can even remember.  Regardless, I always love the Halloween patchwork designs but not the color combos, so I came up with a Candy Corn patchwork.  When I did it the first time, I fell in love, so it makes sense that I re-created it again this year.

Let's take a look! 


Colors Used:
  • Sally Hansen - Blacky-O
  • Sally Hansen - Electra-Cute
  • OPI - Exotic Birds Do Not Tweet
  • OPI - Alpine Snow
We all know that ORLY Liquid Vinyl and White Tips have been my favorite black and white polishes for quiet a long time.  I think that they have been replaced by Sally Hansen Blacky-O and OPI Alpine Snow.  The two of them apply so perfectly in two coats and dry super fast.  It actually shocks me the dry time on them.  Then I'm able to get right to work on the nail art.  Don't get me wrong, I still love my ORLY's but these are just wonderful.


I love the patchwork and the color combination.  Something about it framed with the black index and pinkie finger just really goes together well.  I didn't think people would notice these nails, but they did and I received a lot of compliments.  Now that I'm looking at the photos, they are rather eye catching.

What do you think? Fan of this manicure?

Until next time, <3.

Halloween

The One With the Halloween Drip

9:00:00 AM

Nothing to Disclose


Good Morning, Polished World!!!  Yes, that's right, two posts in one week.  Can you believe it?!  Well, I'm really knocking it out of the park with painting Halloween manicures and I need to share and post them as soon as I finish them.  Unlike my other designs, these can't disappear in a vault and be posted in two months.   I'm not going to lie, I'm enjoying getting back into a regular schedule!

Today's design is by far one of my favorite Halloween designs of all time.  The other night I was surfing Pinterest for some new ideas.  I came across a few Halloween drips on top of the negative nail. Most of them were plain black or red.  Now, I'm not one for the gruesome Halloween designs that look bloody, so I was drawn to the black drips.  Then, I came across the perfect one.  A black drip with a foil overlay which gave the drips a cool 3D look.   Since I didn't have foils, I got creative with some of my green polishes.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • FingerPaints - Smooth Over Ridge Filler
  • Acrylic Black
  • ORLY - Thrill Seeker
  • ILNP - Sundance
Before I get into gushing about how much I love the design, I need to share my secret for the perfect negative space manicure.  I am in LOVE with FingerPaints Ridge Filler.  It's come to my attention that this is on clearance at Sally Beauty, so I need to get to all my local stores and stock up.  It's the perfect nude-clear cream which still gives the illusion of the naked nail.  It also fills in my little gaps from when my nails are peeling.  For today's manicure I used two coats, which I normally do not do, but I felt like I wanted the background to be more cloudy.


Once that was dried, I went through and added the drips with my black acrylic.  Yes, I cheated, but I didn't feel like trying to manipulate black paint when it was 11pm.  When the paint was dry, I used a toothpick and created the Thrill Seeker outline.  Then went over that green outline with Sundance.  The two polishes together gave that 3D look that the foils gave other manicures.

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure? Something you'd try for Halloween?

Until next time, <3.


Halloween

The One With the Halloween Googly Eyes

9:00:00 AM

Nothing to Disclose


Good Morning and Happy Monday!!!  It's finally truly Fall here.  The cold, rainy weather is here in full force.  I'm not angry about it as we all know this is my favorite season.  Love the chilly weather, don't really love the rain though.  This week we are expected to have some sunny days so that means the leaves will turn more and it's going to be gorgeous outside.

And since it's mid-October, I am finally here with some Halloween designs!  The other night when I was painting a swatch on my nails because I was tired, I realized that I had yet to create any Halloween nails.  If you've been following my blog, you know that every year, even during my little breaks, I always came back around the holidays to post.  So, I grabbed my white polish, threw some googly eyes on the swatch, and started planning out other nails for the rest of the month.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Storm
  • ORLY - White Tips
Let's face it, Storm is the highlight of this manicure.  Two coats and you have a gorgeous scattered holographic black polish.  I need to purchase a back up bottle because mine is getting low.  I believe this is one of my very first holographic polishes.  I can't believe that it still applies like it were brand new all these years later.  I kid you not, this has to be at least 7 years old.


I debated on adding more eyes to the nails, but I'm happy I just went with the single set on each nail.  Less clutter, cuter, and just adorable.  I really love them on top of Storm.  It's like they're spying through a starry sky trying to figure out what's going on.

What do you think? Cute little Halloween design?

Until next time <3.


Flowers

The One With ILNP Better Days and Daisies

9:00:00 AM

Nothing to Disclose


Good morning and Happy Monday!  I cannot believe that it is already October 11th.  I'm literally shocked and so confused as to where the time went.  While I haven't started any of my Halloween designs, I was able to decorate for Halloween at my house, and get some Fall themed decorations up at work.  Now if I can get to my nails to be festive, that would be great.  Usually I bring you all Halloween designs for the whole month of October.  A little sad that I'm behind, but it is what it is.

So, since I don't have anything remotely Halloween related in my drafts, it's fitting that I bring you a daisy design using a fall-ish looking base.  Right?  

Let's take a look! 


Colors Used:
  • ILNP - Better Days
  • Acrylics
ILNP Better Days is now my favorite go to ILNP.  It is such a gorgeous grey blue polish.  The polish itself is described as a muted midnight holographic blue with gold accents. Those gold accents are really what stand out to me in person.  I wish that they captured in the photos, but instead you can see that gorgeous blue color with the lovely holographic.


When I bought this polish, I knew I wanted to do some sort of daisy design on top of it.  This design isn't what originally came to mind, but I'm happy it did.  I was thinking something little more dainty with some green leaves, but I really like this retro looking daisy.  I'm still thinking of doing the dainty design, but this was a good first daisy look with Better Days.

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?

Until next time when I hopefully have a Halloween design, <3.




Animal Print

The One With the Fun Leopard Gradient Re-Creation

9:00:00 AM

Nothing to Disclose


Hey all, and welcome to another Wednesday!  Here we are, smack dab in the middle of another work week.  I feel this week is going by super slowly, but that's probably because I'm just really looking forward to my Sleep-in-Saturday.  I feel like last weekend I was busy decorating for Halloween and running errands that I truly didn't have that fully relaxing weekend like I normally have.  Don't get me wrong, it was relaxing, but I just prefer more sleep.  What can I say, I work in healthcare, I'm always tired.

Today's design is a re-creation of an oldie but a goodie.  This fun gradient leopard print came up on my Facebook memories and I couldn't stop thinking about it, so of course I had to re-create it.  I need to continue to grow my nails out because I feel the design looks better when the nails are a tad longer, but overall, I still loved it.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Capacity to See Beyond
  • Some purple that I don't know the name of
  • Serendipity Polish - Holoday Lights
  • ORLY - Liquid Vinyl
So, Capacity to See Beyond by China Glaze is part of The Giver collection.  I can't help but laugh that each time I a description of the collection it starts off with "Fun colors inspired by the movie The Giver". Last time I checked The Giver wasn't a fun movie or book and was actually quite dark.  Pretty sure it's one of those books we all grew up reading that now aren't allowed in schools kind of like To Kill a Mockingbird or The Catcher in the Rye.  Literary classics, but you know, whatever.


Despite the premise of the book, the polish truly is a gorgeous fun blue that works wonderfully for gradients and nail art.  I actually have about three back up bottles of this color because I loved it so much when it came out.  I actually need to start investing in China Glaze again because they truly do make gorgeous polishes, I just always forget about the brand.  And, I'm not going to lie, the bottles are awkward to hold for photos so I kind of shy away from them.  Dumb reason not to use my China Glaze, but again, whatever. 

What do you think?  Fan of this look?

Until next time, <3.