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.


#SallySquad

The One With the Candy Corn Spider Web Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning, Polished World, and Happy Halloween!!!  Is it just me or is anyone else feeling anxious because of tonight's Blue Moon?  If you work in healthcare like me, you already know how a normal full moon affects the industry.  Hospitals, nursing homes, you name it, all things weird and crazy happen. Prayers to all my healthcare workers who are working today!  Hopefully I won't get called in.  Seriously though, leave it to 2020 for there to be a Blue Moon on Halloween.

Anyways, I almost forgot today's post, which is crazy because this is my favorite Halloween manicure to date. On Instagram, I have been obsessing over Sammie's Halloween manicures.  My first design this season was inspired by her, and if my nails were longer I would have re-created her pumpkin design.  Maybe I will put a Thanksgiving twist on the pumpkin and recreate it then.

Well, Sammie came up with a really cool orange ombre spider web design that I really wanted to re-create.  After my last mani with a nude base, I was really hating the idea of attempting another nude look, even if it was an ombre.  Then, it hit me....the candy corn gradient!  How cool would a spider web look on top of that?!  I always love doing the candy corn gradient, but hate it on it's own.  I've always wanted to put something on top but never knew what.  Now, that all changed...

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Sally Hansen - Electrocute
  • Sally Hansen - Blacky O
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • ORLY - Mirrorball
  • OPI - Exotic Birds Do Not Tweet
Seriously....isn't this the BEST Halloween manicure ever?!  Hands down it is my one of my all time favorite designs.  It honestly might be my favorite. Actually, I did like this naked nail with a black jelly, vampy accented spider web nail.  Getting off topic, but this is amazing.


I debated on having glittery black nails framing the manicure, but I decided for the plain black and am so happy that I did.  Then I was thinking of adding little googly eyes on the index finger, but thought it would take away from that awesome accent.  You know, my perfect candy corn gradient.  It's been a long time since I've attempted a gradient and I was beyond thrilled to see I still can accomplish one, especially one nubby nails like I have right now.

What do you think?  Fan of this Halloween design?

I hope that everyone is super safe this evening and has fun!

Until next time, <3.


Dot Mani

The One I Don't Really Like But Am Posting Anyways

9:00:00 AM

Press Sample 


Hey polished world.  Yes, you are reading the title right.  This is the manicure that I don't really like and am posting anyways.  I did this manicure last year too and I hated it then.  So I'm not really sure why I re-created it this year.  I think maybe in my mind I didn't hate it, then once I was finished it hit me how much I disliked it.  

Also another part that I dislike about it was the whole editing process.  I cannot get the colors to balance, therefore I'm legitimately not giving two craps and am not watermarking it or anything.  Watch, this will be the post that blows up and goes viral.  Oh well, again, don't really care because I don't like this manicure.  It looked a million times better on Coffee and Nail Polish's nails who inspired my original design last year.

I feel it's important to share though the manicures we don't like.  I feel sometimes we get lost in this world of perfection where we only show our most perfect sides of ourselves.  Look at Facebook.  No one is ever going to post on there how miserable they truly are.  Instead they are going to show you their perfect life, which in turn causes people who aren't having a perfect life to feel insecure or even more upset.  I don't know, it sound stupid but I feel we need to normalize showing our imperfections or things we dislike so others out there can see they aren't alone.

So, here I am, posting my imperfect manicure on my blog where I typically only show what I consider to be masterpieces.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • OPI - My Vampire is Buff
  • OPI - Alpine Snow
  • OPI - Exotic Birds Do Not Tweet
  • OPI - No Tan Lines
See how the photo just looks blah.  And how my dots are blah?  What you can't see are all the little air bubbles that popped up around the dots after I added the top coat.

Overall the manicure is a fabulous idea, but on my skin tone it just doesn't work.  I think if I went with a naked nail base I would really like this.  You know, like the negative space.  For me, the nude doesn't work.

What do you think?

I can't wait to show you my last Halloween design.  I can tell you, that one for sure is a masterpiece in my mind.

Until next time, <3.


#SallySquad

The One With the Candy Corn Patchwork

9:00:00 AM

Press Sample 


Good morning, Polished World!  How are you all doing on this fine Sunday?  Can you believe I am here for yet another post?  I haven't disappeared yet.  Nor am I planning on it.  I can't begin to tell you how grateful that I am to be back to painting my nails, posting, and sharing them on Social Media.  Sure, I'm not where I was when I disappeared a few months ago, but I'll get back there again.  It's been relaxing for me to find an escape again from my work life.

Today's design is a different Halloween design which I do not believe that I have done before.  The other night when I sat down to do my nails it was close to 11pm.  I didn't want to do just a swatch so I went to my Pinterest board for some inspirations. I came across a candy corn patchwork design and I settled for that.  At first I was going to do it on on my nails, but alas, it was 11pm and I didn't want to go all out like that.  So, I opted for the easy peasy accent nail.

To be honest, I love it just as an accent.  Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Sally Hansen - Blacky-O
  • OPI - Exotic Birds Do Not Tweet
  • OPI - No Tan Lines
  • ORLY - White Tips
Isn't this a cool manicure?  I really, really loved this design a lot more than I thought I would.  It also received a lot of compliments.  To get the look, I started out with a base coat of white polish.  Then I outlined the patchwork boxes.  I then colored in each box with either yellow or orange.  When that was dry, I went through and again outlined with black, and then added the little sew marks.


Now, you all know my love of ORLY Liquid Vinyl.  It has been my favorite black polish for years and years.  Sally Hansen Blacky-O is now right at the top of the list.  This polish applies kind of thin on the first coat but builds up beautifully on the second coat.  It is beyond shiny and just like the other Miracle Gel polishes, it wears like steel and doesn't chip easily.

What do you think? Like this Halloween manicure?

Until next time, <3.


China Glaze

The One With the Creepy Drippy Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good Morning Polished World!  Can you believe I'm back and posting again. You probably all thought I would disappear again, but nope.  Here I am.  I have too many Halloween designs to share to disappear back into the void of my busy life.  Getting back on Instagram and Blogging really felt good and I don't want to disappear again for awhile. 

Today's design is one I originally wasn't going to do.  I set out to create another spider web manicure, but my hand was quite shaky and my lines looked horrible.  Earlier in the day, I spray painted a pallet for a Halloween craft and I somehow managed to pull a muscle in my wrist while doing so.  I kid you not my arm hurt for a solid three days after.  Note to self: when I have to spray paint the top coat, I need to remember to alternate hands or take a break!

Anyways, since the spider webs didn't work out and I had a wonderful green base, I thought that some drips would look good and it would stick with the Halloween theme.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Drink Up Witches
  • ORLY - Liquid Vinyl
Okay, so Drink Up Witches is one of the best neon green polishes that I own.  You can use this on top of a white with about one coat, or three coats on it's own.  You can get away with two coats if you are careful with how you apply it.  It can be a bit thin if you don't have enough on the brush since it's kind of a jelly consistency.  Regardless, gorgeous green.


I do enjoy the drip manicures.  They're really easy to do but took like they would take awhile to accomplish.  I always start off with an acrylic outline then fill it in with the polish.  Add a top coat and you have the perfect, eye catching manicure.

What do you think? Fan of this Halloween look?

Until next time, <3.


Color Club

The One With the Spider Webs

9:00:00 AM


Good morning, Polished World!  Yes, I'm still alive.  I keep meaning to put up a post about where I've been but everytime I go to write it, I just end up falling asleep.  Not to mention, I didn't have any nail art to post afterwards so I didn't want to bring the blog back with no content.  Now, I have content and I'm just too lazy to write the post about where I've been.  If you follow me on Instagram, then you've seen a few updates about my life and how the pandemic really turned my life upside down.  I don't want to get into it fully because I still kind of want to write that post.

Until then, I'm here to share with you Halloween manicures!!!  Yes, my favorite time of the year when the holiday themed manicures can start.  For the past few years, I've tried to do Halloween designs throughout the whole month of October. In September, I dusted off my nail art brushes, dotting tools, and practiced a bit with some floral designs so I could head into October 100% ready.

On Instagram, I saw an awesome spider web manicure by SRG.Nails and I knew right away that was going to be my first manicure of the season.  Of course, I was a little shaky on my spider webs, but overall, I am obsessed with this manicure.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Color Club - Pucci-Licious
  • ORLY - Liquid Vinyl
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • ILNP - Mega X
Alright so they mega changed Blogger since I last posted so it is taking me a solid minute to figure out the new logos to get hyperlinks, spacing, bullets, etc.  It all pretty much in the same spots, but goodness, I'm too old and don't adapt well to change.  I also need to learn patience but that's a whole different story.  I really need to write that post on where I've been!


Look at me rambling, yet again. Isn't this manicure fabulous?  Pucci-Licious is a polish I have owned for at least 7 years and it still applies as if it were brand new.  Perfect purple for this time of year.  I love how the black spider web pops on top of it.  The best part?  Mega X!  It is the perfect accent for this design.  I really wish I could have done my white spider webs as silver ones like SRG.Nails did, but I really couldn't manipulate my silver polish that way. So, I cheated and used acrylic paint.

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

So happy to be back!  Hopefully I can keep this up long term. 

Until next time, <3.


Halloween

The One With the Spider Web Nail Art

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world and Happy Halloween to you all!  I almost forgot to do this post, but as I laid down in bed at 12:30am, I realized that I never edited the photos for this post, or wrote it.  I would have talked myself into doing it another day, but then I realized that the Halloween manicure kind of needs to be posted on Halloween, therefore I got up and got to work.  Of course Blogger didn't want to participate with me, so we will see if the photos actually end up getting uploaded. Technology hasn't been my friend today.

So, today is Halloween, and we are supposed to get a horrible storm.  I'm not sure if that means we will have any trick or treaters.  The southern part of the state is actually re-scheduling Halloween for Saturday because of this storm.  My guess is, because they're predicting it's going to be an awful storm, it really won't be and it will be a semi decent night.

Regardless, my nails are ready, this post is ready, so let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Serendipity Polish - CE0,000,000
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • Acrylic
I actually created this spider web design last year and loved it so much that I had to re-create it this year.  To get the look I started off with two coats of Serendipity Polish CE0,000,000.  I will always tell everyone how much I miss this brand.  Long wearing, fast drying, one coater polishes.  Ahhh, how I loved them.


Once my base was dry, which literally was two minutes, I sponged the white polish onto the nails.  This gives it a really spooky feel.  I then went through with my nail art brush and added the spider webs.  I feel like these are the best webs that I've ever created.

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

Hope everyone has a safe Halloween! 

Until next time, <3.