China Glaze

The One With A Cute Little Floral Manicure

9:00:00 AM

Nothing to Disclose 


Well hello there, Polished World!  I apologize for my lack of posting, but I've been slacking on all parts of my nails.  Literally back to the swatches up until last night when I painted the most fun sunflower manicure.  I've been dying to paint a sunflower design for the longest time, but work has consumed my life again that I haven't had the time.  Last night I purposely made the time because I haven't been feeling myself without my nails done up all pretty.  I'm sure glad I did because it also forced me to write this post and get more of my art out there.

Today's design is another design inspired by Pippy Polish.  I swear, I found her Instagram and I've been beyond obsessed wanting to re-create every design.  And as you know a few post back, I went on a spree about how much I have been loving doing these negative space designs, so it makes complete sense that I'm in love with her Instagram.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • Sally Hansen - Blacky-O
  • China Glaze - I Got a Blue Attitude
  • OPI - Exotic Birds Do Not Tweet
  • Sally Hansen - Wet My Thistle
  • Black and White Acrylic
Let's take a moment and applaud the fact that I wrote out the polish colors in this post back when I painted the design.  I've only been saying I need to do this for the past 3 years and never actually have.

The star polish of this manicure - China Glaze's I've Got a Blue Attitude.  The most perfect blurple polish ever.  That's right, blurple...a mixture of blue and purple.  It applies perfectly in two coats and has such a shiny finish.  I've been obsessed with this color this year using it non stop for pedicures with a holographic top coat.  For this design though, there was no need for holographics as it stands out on it's own just fine.


I love the mixtures of colors she used.  Never in a million years would I have thought have blending these colors together.  I'm so glad I found her blog so I can come out of my normal blue, pink, purple color zone and use some things I never would have before.  I think it all comes together so well, especially on top of the naked nail.

What do you think?  fan of this look?

Until next time, <3.


Flowers

The One Inspired by PippyPolish

9:00:00 AM

Nothing to Disclose Press Sample Affiliate Link


Good Morning Polished World!  Welcome to another week!  This weekend was partially a bust for me.  Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon in bed with the worst migraine.  Woke up, felt fine, went outside and was hit by the humidity and it just did not play well with my head.  Came back inside, laid down, fell asleep, then woke up hours later not even sure what day it was.  Not going to lie, it was a great nap despite the confusion upon waking up. 

Today's design is one that is inspired by PippyPolish on Instagram.  Since my nails are finally healthy again after months of peeling and breaking, I'm able to go back to my favorite type of manicure, a negative space manicure!  You know, the one where you create the design on top of your naked nail, or leave some blank space.  I apologize in advance for the sheer amount that will be posted over the next few weeks. 

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • ORLY - Liquid Vinyl
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • ORLY - some bright pink which the label fell off the bottom -_-
Negative space, daisies, and a neon?  Can't get much better than this!!  Now, PippyPolish used a yellow for the centers of her flowers, but since it's summertime, I decided to go for a neon pink.  I'm really happy with the decision.  It gave the manicure a retro feel.


In order to do a perfect negative space design, you cannot put the nail art direct on the nail.  You have to start off with a base coat.  For me, I use ORLY Top 2 Bottom.  I then add a layer of FingerPaints Smooth Over Ridge Filler.  This adds a little cloudy look to the nail, but still shows off the naked base.  Once it's dried, you have the perfect canvas for any nail art.  When you add your top coat, it all turns shiny and the design really holds onto the nail.  I've found when I don't use a base, it chips off super fast.

Until next time, <3.


FingerPaints

The One With the FingerPaints Gold Negative Space Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  I've been better.  Friday I ended up getting sick with some sort of allergic reaction where my breathing got all messed up and I've had the WORST stomach cramps for the past 24 close to 48 hours.  I'm hoping today it gets better and I can leave my house for more than 5 minutes.  Especially because it's supposed to be a perfect Fall day today.  Sunny, in the 70s...really hope I get outside.

Since I've been since, I haven't wanted to edit my latest Fall themed manicure.  Lucky for me, I had edited all my old photos over this past week and have 8 posts to share.  After looking through all the photos, I felt this negative space, gold, daisy manicure was fitting for a nice, sunny, Fall day.  Maybe.  

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • FingerPaints - Beverly's Touch
  • ORLY - White Tips
Pretty sure this is a re-creation of a manicure I did a few years ago.  I painted it back in April when I was feeling very uninspired but wanted some sort of floral design.  I remember looking on Instagram and finding a negative space manicure, and this one flew back into my mind.  Now you know me, I'm not a huge fan of gold, so this was a manicure that was way out of my comfort zone then, and was again when I recreated it.  Both times though, I absolutely loved the white and gold color combination.



Beverly's Touch is an oldie but goodie from my polish stash.  You can totally get away with one coat of this gorgeous yellow gold, but I used two.  I love how saturated it is because it makes it easier to use for nail art.

Fan of this manicure? Ever enjoyed the negative space look?

Until next time, <3.

China Glaze

The One With the Glittery Tipped Snowflake Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Hey polished world and Happy Sunday to you all!  I meant to have a post up yesterday but my Friday was crazy as crazy can be.  I worked an eleven hour day, which didn't stop when I got home.  So really, you could say I worked 12 hours.  Which let's face it, no one wants to do that on a Friday.  Although, I will say I didn't mind being indoors for all those hours because it was only about 19 degrees outside on Friday.

So, remember last post how I said I'm feeling all things snowflake since it finally feels like winter?  Well, today I'm bringing you another snowflake manicure!  This one is inspired by one NailStorming did and I fell in love with.  A gorgeous silver sponged glittery tip with snowflakes drawn over the top.  While I like the manicure, I still think her's is better.

We will let you be the judge though. Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • INM - Northern Lights
  • OPI - This Crown Needs a Gown
  • China Glaze - Disco Ball Drop
Alright, it's kind of grown on me since I did it the other night.  I did love the gradient I did using This Crown Needs a Gown and Disco Ball Drop.  This Crown Needs a Gown is one of my all time favorite silver polishes and I really wish OPI would re-release it.  It's such a shimmery metallic silver polish that has the most gorgeous satin finish.  If anyone has any idea where I can grab more bottles, let me know!

Once I had the sponged silver on the nail, I then went through and added Disco Ball Drop.  The pictures didn't capture this gorgeous glitter, but in real life my nails are sparkling thanks to this holographic silver glitter!  I'm not going to lie, I completely forgot I owned this polish.  I'm going to have to put it on top of everything so I never forget about it again.



After the gradient was just how I liked it, I went through with acrylics and added the snowflakes.  I love the white flakes, but I feel like the blue is a little out of place.  NailStorming did pink snowflakes on hers, and I'm not a huge pink fan, so that's why I opted for blue.  Also, I felt that blue was more winter-like.  I think if I were to re-create this design, I would only do white snowflakes or an even lighter blue.

What do you think?  Should I have not gone with blue?

Until next time, you know....when I probably have another snowflake manicure to share with you. <3.


Christmas

The One With the Christmas Light Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this cold, chilly Sunday?  I've had quite the relaxing weekend filled with sleeping, baking, and just a little bit of errand running.  Most of my errands consist of me returning all the clothes I ordered which didn't fit.  I much rather buy and return than go spend time in the stores.  Yes, I'm single handedly the reason why retail stores are caving in on themselves, but online shopping is so much easier and you don't have to deal with crowds.

One fun thing I was able to do this weekend was go around and look at all the Christmas lights!  If you follow me on Instagram, I posted a photo of one of the bushes out front of my house with some snow and twinkle lights on it.  It of course inspired me for today's nail art which is a re-creation of one I did yeaaaaars ago.

If you've been following me for a long time, then you know each year I have painted the Christmas light design.  When I first started the blog, I did the sponge french tip design which gave the illusion of snow.  The year after that I did a plain glittery white base, then the last two years after purchase Nine Zero Lacquer Twinkle Lights, I created the design on top of that.  Even though that polish is gorgeous, I didn't want to do that again this year.

Therefore, it was back to the sponged tips!  Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • Morgan Taylor - I'm Drawing a Blanco
  • Acrylics

Absolutely obsessed with this manicure!  The reason I'm posting it a few days late to the blog is because I wore it for four days and it delayed my painting of a new manicure to post later this week.  How could I take it off though when it was so perfect?  Seriously, I think this is my favorite recreation ever!


To get the look, I started off with a plain base coat.  I then sponged on some ORLY White Tips.  Once I had the white how I wanted it, I took Morgan Taylor I'm Drawing a Blanco and sponged some more on.  This gave the white a frosty, glittery fresh snow look.  I tried using a plain glitter and it looked horrible, so when I looked and found this polish it all came together wonderfully.

Once that was all dry, I went through with my acrylics and small paint brushes and got to work on my little twinkle lights.  A little bit of tooth pick details and outlining, and I was done.

What do you think?  Love this look?  Think you'd try it?

Until next time, <3.

Flowers

The One With the Negative Space Daisies

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  I apologize for slacking on posting, but it's been the BUSIEST week.  I know I'm saying that more and more frequently, but I'm not lying about this week.  There have been at least 2 nights that I worked until 7pm, then two nights ago I came home from work and had the WORST migraine.  It was so bad, I had never felt anything so horrible in my life.

Here I am though, feeling better, my injured nail is grown out, and ready to nail art and post more regularly.  Yes, you heard that right, my injured nail has FINALLY grown out and I'm able to paint it without having to throw a pound of glitter over it.  I wanted to paint them two nights ago but the migraine was so bad that I was shocked I was able to get a swatch on them.  It's been a week since I've done nail art and I think tonight I'm going to do something intense since I haven't in so long.

Anyways, let's take a look at one of my last designs before I went on my swatch spree while the injured nail regained it's shape.


Colors Used:
  • NYC New York Color - Copabanana (I think, I honestly cannot remember and I'm too lazy to go get it out and check)
  • Serendipity Polish - Holoday Lights
  • Acrylics
Oh how I have missed the negative space designs.  Now that my nail is has grown out, there are so many that I want to do.  Especially since lately I feel I'm seeing a lot of them pop up on Instagram.  BadGirlNails posted one the other day that was to die for and I have been wanting to re-create it.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Do you think I should do all of the negative space designs?

Until next time, <3.


Dot Mani

The One With the Negative Space Flowers

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's Saturday and usually I get to sleep in, but sadly, today I am off to work.  Okay, I'm not too sad about it because we have this huge annual picnic and it should be quite fun.  I am a little sad that I'm missing my day to sleep in, but what can you do.  There's always next weekend.

Today I'm sharing with you the manicure I wore last week on my birthday.  This year I opted to not wear a cupcake design and instead match the polka dot dress I wore.  Well, actually, I ended up wearing a really cute pair of polka dotted pants, and the day after wore the dress because the weather ended up being cold, but whatever.  It all worked out.

Let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • NYC - Tropicoral
  • ORLY - Gumdrop
  • ORLY - White Tips

It's super cute, right?  The dress is a coral dress with white polka dots, which literally matches my middle finger.  I put the bottle of Tropicoral on the dress and you couldn't tell the difference at all.  I forgot about this polish and am happy I re-visited it.  I always forget about NYC being a brand because it's not ever at any of the stores I go to.  Actually, I haven't gone to a beauty store or drug store in a long time.

I love negative space floral designs.  I am surprised it's taken me this long to create one this year.  I always thought it would look weird since I have an odd nail line, but you really can't tell because the design hides it.

What do you think?  Fan of this design?  Fan of the negative space floral?

I'm off to enjoy the picnic, then possibly go buy all of Sally Beauty Supply for a job well done.

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.

FingerPaints

The One with the Daisies and FingerPaints Fathom Blue

9:00:00 AM


Good morning and Happy Friday polished world!   How are you all doing on this fine day?  It's hot here.  Super hot, humid, and awful.  I just would like it to rain for a good two days in a row.  We seriously need the rain.  Everything is dying, we are in a drought warning, and I feel like I always need to be outside doing something because it's nice out.  I just want a day or two of rain...is that so much to ask??

Today I am sharing with you a daisy manicure I did using some of the new FingerPaints Fast Dry polishes I swatched the other day.  Fathom Blue was my favorite from the collection so I was dying to use it right away.  I thought about doing something nautical, but I was feeling more floral instead.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • FingerPaints - Fathom Blue
  • FingerPaints - Champagne Toast
  • FingerPaints - Paper Mache
  • Serendipity Polish - Sunshine Rainbow

I have mentioned it before, but I'm going to say it again; I love the negative space floral look!  These are especially cute.  I switched over to using the FingerPaints base coat which looks milky white in the bottle.  It's cloudy when applied to the nail so it really is a good base for a negative space manicure.  All around it's great because it really grabs the polish and holds it on.


Fathom Blue just looks so gorgeous with this design.  I love the daisies with the blue.  Champagne Toast really blended it all together as well.  Champagne Toast on it's own is gorgeous, but with a glitter topper it's even more stunning.  FingerPaints needs to come out with a holo gold glitter like this ASAP!

What do you think?  Something you would try??  Love Fathom Blue??

The FingerPaints Fast Dry Collection is available NOW at Sally Beauty Supply.  If you love blue, then you need this polish!

Until next time, <3.

**Some polishes in this post were provided for PR purposes, please see my disclosure policy**

Dot Mani

The One with the Negative Space Manicure for Twinsie Tuesday

9:00:00 AM


Hey all!  How are you all doing today??  Allergy season is in full swing over here so I've become a mouth breather.  I just want to drive around with my windows open but can't because the cotton wood trees are killing me.  Hopefully in a few weeks the pollen and all the other nasty stuff will calm down and I can utilize my sun roof.

Today is Tuesday which means it is time for another Twinsie Tuesday!  This week we are all creating negative space manicures!  When this technique first started to appear in the blog-o-sphere, I really wasn't a huge fan.  I didn't understand why anyone would want to have naked nails.  The point of painting them is to have the nail covered.  After trying a few different negative space designs, I fell in love.  Especially with the negative space florals.

For today's post, I created a gold negative space floral design using one of my new FingerPaints polishes.  Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • FingerPaints - Paper Mache
  • FingerPaints - Beverly's Touch
  • FingerPaints - Ridge Filler
Yes, you read that right, I used a Ridge Filler for this manicure.  My index finger tends to peel on both hands.  Peeling is actually ten times worse on my right hand and that's probably because that's my dominant hand and I end up always chipping my nails on that hand before the left.  When I do negative space manicures, I put down a coat of base coat and let it dry.  Since I have these peels, the base coat doesn't really make for an even surface to work with.  Enter in my Ridge Filler.  One coat and my nail is in perfect condition and peels disappear!



Beverly's Touch is a gorgeous gold polish from the Ashley Nell Tipton Collection available now at Sally Beauty Supply Stores.  I used two coats for this manicure, and I think I actually added a little bit of a sparkle glitter over the top.  The only gold micro I own is FingerPaints Wrapped in Ribbon so that's probably what I did.  Anyways, it was perfect with one coat but I did two.  You can see how sparkly the polish on it's own in the centers of the flowers and in the dots on the pinkie.  I really am loving this yellow gold shade.  Nothing like it in my collection and am so glad to have it.  Odd name, but oh well.

What do you think?  Fan of this negative space look?

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie's posts!


Sharon at Behind Green Eyes
Savannah at Addicted to Polish
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Claire at Kerruticles
Amber at NailsLikeLace
Amanda at Fashion Footing

China Glaze

The One with the Floral Manicure for Mother's Day

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there!  Especially mine!!  It's going to be some pretty cruddy weather around here today, so I think that my momma and I are going to stay in and lounge around.  Sounds like an amazing day.

Today's manicure is a super spring floral manicure inspired by Bad Girl Nails on Instagram.  When the negative space manicures first started to become big, I wasn't a huge fan of them.  I figured they were going to look awful on my nails so for the longest time I avoided trying them for myself.  After doing a couple, I started to like them, and after this design I'm in love.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Orly - White Tips
  • Sally Hansen - Pink Cadillaquer
  • China Glaze - Treble Maker
  • Orly - Melodious Utopia
Perfect manicure for Mother's Day....right?  I think so because when I think of Mother's Day, I think of flowers.  This design is super easy to re-create.  I started off with my clear base coat.  Since my nail seems to be peeling a little bit, I added a coat of FingerPaints Ridge Filler which is kind of a creamy beige color.  It's super sheer, but when it goes on the nail, it clouds it up a little bit so it's not as obvious that the nail is naked.  That sentence made sense in my head, but as I read it over it doesn't.  Oh well.  When that was dry, with a dotting tool, I added the flowers and all the different details.  I topped it off with my top coat and had my nailed nail design.

I find when I do naked nail designs, the polish dries super fast for the art.  Maybe because it doesn't have two other layers to go through that is still in the process of drying?  Regardless it's great, and the art doesn't smudge.


First time ever using this Orly polish!  Orly Melodious Utopia was part of the Hope and Freedom Fest collection years and years ago.  Notice that it is in the old bottle. I actually think this is the last collection they did before they switched their bottles to the new black cap and black label.  This polish is a yellow with pink shimmer throughout.  I couldn't for the life of me get it to photograph true to color, but you should see this polish in daylight.  So pretty with that subtle pink shimmer.  It really tied the whole manicure together well with that pink nail.


Trying a new bottle shot!  Sarah from 25 Sweet Pea told me to try something different.  I jumped out of my comfort zone and I'm kind of liking it.  The color I'm holding here is Treble Maker by China Glaze.  I used this polish on my thumb and for the leaves and dots.  Two coats, great coverage.  Love this one for water marbling too.  It's such a fun green.  I might need to see of HBBeauty Bar still sells it so I can grab some back ups.

 What do you think?  Fun manicure for Mother's Day?  Do you enjoy the naked manicure look?  Fan of the new bottle shot?  If you are I might start phasing out some of my other photos.

I hope that everyone has a great day, especially all the mother's out there!

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

The One with the Negative Space Daisies

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's April 5th, and well it snowed here.  We went from 60 degree weather to 20s and snow.  The poor daffodils didn't stand a chance.  Hopefully they perk back up when this melts.  That is if we get warmer weather in the near future.

Despite it being cold out, my nails are very Springy!  Today I am bringing you a negative space daisy manicure inspired by BadGirlNails.  I know that negative space manicures are all the rage, but I've never really gotten into them.  I think the only manicures I can even consider to be negative space that I have done are my gradient dot manicures on top of a naked nail.

These daisies though are beyond out of my comfort zone though.  You can see my nail line....soooo not used to that!  I may or may not like it.....

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Sally Hansen - Pink Cadillaquer
  • Sally Hansen - Lemon Heaven
  • Sally Hansen - InstaDri White
I'm really loving these Miracle Gels.  In my floppy eared bunny post, I talked about how that manicure lasted four days without a single chip using polishes from this line.  Same goes for this manicure.  I had to take it off because the naked nail was chipping.  That's right, the negative space nail chipped before the painted nails.  Top coat and flowers peeling away...Miracle Gels held strong.  Amazing.



Lemon Heaven is such a pretty yellow polish.  Three coats, but that's normal for most pastel yellows that I've used.  If you guys find a pastel yellow with complete coverage in two coats, let me know!  Pink Cadillaquer is a gorgeous pink shade.  Two coats for this beauty.

What do you think?  Are you a fan of the Miracle Gel polishes?  Fan of the negative space look??

Hmmm I wonder if I could do a Miracle Gel water marble and if it would last for four days.  I might have to try!

Until next time, <3.


Oh, P.S.  I might be hosting a giveaway coming soon!!!! :)