China Glaze

The One With the Funky Dots and Colors

9:00:00 AM

Nothing to Disclose 


Good morning Polished World!  How are you all on this fine Wednesday?  My whole week is thrown off because of the Labor Day Holiday.  I thought it was Monday all day yesterday, and I'm sure today I'm going to think it's Tuesday.  Hopefully I figure it out by Friday and don't show up to work on Saturday.  Speaking of work, as you can tell from my lack of posting, I've been a bit preoccupied.  I have so many posts to edit, and here we are in September and I have many summer-y looks still to post.

At least we are in early September and not late, so it's not too weird to be posting today's manicure.  Today's design is inspired by one I saw on Instagram.  And of course, I can't find the original link, so I apologize to whoever this was who gave me the inspiration.  If I find your page again, I will give you proper credit.  Regardless, there was something about the manicure that was so fun.  It got stuck in my head and I had to re-create it.

I apologize for the photos, they don't give the manicure justice.  The neons blew out the camera.

Let's take a look! 



Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Lady and the Vamp
  • China Glaze - Let's Jam
  • China Glaze - Glow With the Flow
  • China Glaze - Lime After Lime
  • Color Club - Under the Black Light
  • ORLY - Skinny Dip
And look at me, remembering to post all the colors so when I came here to write the post, I didn't have to dig into the deep, dark crevices of my brain to figure it out.  As you can see, I used mainly my China Glaze neons to achieve the design.  All funky colors that normally i never would have used side by side.


Throw in a little negative space with some dots, you have a winner of a manicure.  I really am pleased with how the design turned out.  Many people thought that they were stickers, but nope, that was just my skills with the a dotting tool and a steady hand.  Seriously, my lines were low key perfect and I didn't even use tape.

What do you think?  Like this look??

Tomorrow I plan on going on an editing spree and getting some other designs out here.  I neeeeed to get back into blogging.

Until next time, <3.


Dry Brush Mani

The One With the ORLY Neon Dry Brush Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's going to be a sad day for me because I have to bring one of our kitties at work to be put down.  She's 17 years old and has lost a ton of weight in the last week or so.  Poor girl I think also is sad since her brother had to be put down a month or so ago because he had a tumor.  He was also 17 years old.  We did get two new kitties at work though, but it's still sad.

Today's manicure is something bright and cheerful since I'm not feeling so cheerful.  I did this manicure a few weeks ago when I was short on time but still wanted a fun looking design.  I decided to do a neon dry brush design since I feel I haven't used my neons at all this summer.  Probably because it hasn't even felt like summer at all.....

Who knows, let's take a look!


Colors Used:
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • ORLY - Glowstick
  • ORLY - Vintage
  • ORLY - Frolic
  • ORLY - Push the Limit
Love it!  I also love how tan the manicure makes me look.  Super easy design to do.  First, you paint your nails with a base of white polish.  When the base is dry, you take your polish of choice and dry brush from the side of the nail towards the middle.  The overall goal is to make the area near the skin more concentrated in color, and let it fade out as it reaches the middle.

What do you think?  Like this design?  Find it as hard as I do to photograph neon yellow polish?

Until next time, <3.


Animal Print

The One With the Lime Green Zebra Print Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Happy Friday!!!!  Finally, the week is over!!!  Who else is ready for the weekend??  I know I am.  Especially because the weather is going to take a turn and be BEAUTIFUL.  We are going to ignore the fact that it's in the 30s today and possibly snow.  We instead are going to look forward to that lovely 68 degree weather they're forecasting.  Sure, I'll get a sinus infection from these temperature fluctuations, but I'll survive.

Since it's going to be in the 30s today and I'm craving warmer weather, it's only fitting that I share a bright, neon manicure.  Last week (or maybe it was the week before) I received the ORLY Summer collection since I signed up for the ORLY color pass.  The collection consists of 6 gorgeous neon shades which I have yet to play with.  After seeing them, I decided to revisit some of my old neons before focusing on them.

As we know, China Glaze has some of the best neons out there.  I decided to use Lime After Lime and do a fun zebra design since I haven't done one in a loooong time.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Lime After Lime
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • ILNP - Mega X
I was absolutely in love with this manicure.  Originally when I painted on my white base, I wasn't going to sponge Lime After Lime on, but I'm super happy I did.  Years ago I did a similar zebra design using a pink polish and loved how I lightly sponged the color on the white.  I could have done a gradient, but I think I prefer this look.



Mega X by ILNP is one of my all time favorite silver holos.  Me and my silver holo accents.  How can you go wrong though?  The holo effect is so strong in natural light and in room light.  I need to purchase some back up bottles of this.  A little expensive, but well worth the price.


Lime After Lime is a gorgeous neon green.  Two coats and full coverage.  It isn't patchy, dries semi glossy.  I added a top coat to make it fully glossed.  I think this is my favorite neon green polish.  I honestly forgot that I purchased this last year and am upset that I didn't get back ups.

What do you think?  Like this look?  Fan of Mega X or Lime After Lime??

Until next time, <3.

Color Block Mani

Twinsie Tuesday: Summer Lovin

9:00:00 AM

Hello polished world!  It's Tuesday, which means it's time for another Twinsie Tuesday.  Sadly, some Twinsies have left over the past few weeks, but we are welcoming back not only some old Twinsie's but new ones as well!  If you remember, last week we welcomed backed Cordia.  This week, we are welcoming Bridget from A Painted Nail, and Jessica from Blue Velvet Lacquer.  Now, I'm not 100% positive if Bridget and Jessica will be posting this week since it's all kind of new, but regardless, head on over to their blogs and check them out!

This week our theme is Summer Loving!  I was excited when I saw this prompt since the manicure options are endless.  I decided to do something fun and bright, aka use all the neons!  While I've been known to wear my neon polishes in the winter, they get the most use in the summer time.

For today's neon manicure, I was inspired by this manicure by my fellow Beauty Buff Lindsay from Nail That Accent.  I just loved the neon mosaic and had to copy it.  Instead of doing the design as an accent, I decided to go crazy and mosaic all my nails.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Base
    • FingerPaints - Paper Mache
  • Mosaic
    • China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy
    • Orly - Glowstick
    • Orly - Oh Cabana Boy!
    • China Glaze - That's Shore Bright
    • Orly - Instant Artist Black
Don't they look awesome?!  I'm seriously in LOVE with this manicure.  I have done mosaic designs in the past, but they did not come out as good as this one!  Reason this one rock; I tried a new technique thanks to Lindsay's Instagram tutorial!  Whenever I created this look, I would start off with a base coat of white polish.  When my base was dried, I would take a black striper and create the mosaic outline.  Then I would fill in the empty space, then go back over the black outline to clean up the edges.

How Lindsay did it was pure genius and so much easier!  She started out with a base coat, then created the color blocks on the white nail without the outline.  When the colors were all on the nail, she then went through and outlined each individual area.  It was sooooooooo much easier this way and my lines were a million times neater!



The color combination was pure genius also.  I was debating on adding a neon blue, but am super happy I didn't add that into the mix.  I think it would have taken away from the bright neon.  And boy are these nails bright.  I wish I could have truly captured the brightness, but as you ladies know, photographing a neon is near to impossible.

What do you think?  Loving the neon mosaic?  Think it's perfect for summer?

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie's posts!  I can't wait to see who else busted out their neons!


Amanda at Amandalandish
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Cordia at Seriously Swatched
Elizabeth at Did My Nails
Kelly at Tuxarina
Lakeisha at Refined and Polished
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Stephanie at A Little Polish
Traci at DrinkCitra

Until next time, <3.

Dry Brush Mani

Twinsie Tuesday - Grunge Nails

9:00:00 AM

Hello there!  How are you today?  Have you checked out the March Nail Artist of the Month yet?  If not, please check it out below today's post!  Since it's March, I'm in the process of making my blog St. Patrick's Day themed, so I have deleted all snowflakes and gone a tad green. I'm not 100% happy where it's at right now, but it's a work in progress!  In a day or so it will be perfect!

Today is again Tuesday, which means it is time for another Twinsie Tuesday post!  Our prompt for today is grunge nails!  In January, I posted my first ever grunge look on the blog.  In this post, I followed the tutorial by the talented Sarah of Chalkboard Nails.  It's one of my favorite posts because Sarah commented on my blog and I had a minor fan girl moment.

When I saw that today's prompt was grunge, I was really excited to re-create the design again, but a tad apprehensive because I wasn't sure what colors to do!  While I was re-reading my old post and looking at my blog, my eye caught the manicure to the far left of my banner.  That mani being this bright neon gradient zebra manicure which was inspired by my fellow Twinsie, Heather of Peace, Love and Polish.  Once I saw that gradient, I knew that had to be the base for today's grunge look!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Base
    • Sinful Colors - Snow Me White
  • Gradient
    • China Glaze - That's Shore Bright, Too Yacht to Handle, Sun Kissed, I'm With the Lifeguard, Flip Flop Fantasy
    • Orly - Oh Cabana Boy
  • Grunge Black
    • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
  • Glitter
    • INM - Northern Lights
Really awesome looking, right?!  To get the look, I started off with a base coat of white polish.  While my white polish was drying, I started taping off around my cuticle so I didn't have to deal with the nasty clean up which usually comes from applying a gradient.  I really should invest in some nail bibs.

After my nails were dry and my fingers were taped off, I started painting all six neons onto my make-up sponge kind of in a circle.  When I had enough paint on my sponge, I started dabbing onto the nail.  Since I had the white base, the neon polishes really popped.  Once I was happy with the colors, I added a quick coat of INM Northern Lights.

Then came time to "grunge" my nails up.  I grabbed my black polish and followed Sarah's tutorial.  I wiped all the black polish off the brush, then lightly swiped it over each nail.  Finished with a top coat and called it a day! 



I truly love this manicure!!  Huge thanks to Sarah for introducing me to the grunge look, and a bigger thanks to Heather for introducing me to the rainbow gradient.  If it weren't for these two lovely ladies, this manicure probably never would have been created.  Thank you both for continually inspiring me!

I cannot wait to see the other Twinsie's grunge looks!  I hope you all head on over to their blogs and take a look!


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Elizabeth at Did My Nails
Kelly at Tuxarina
Lakeisha at Refined and Polished
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Rachel at Top Coat It
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Stephanie at A Little Polish
Traci at DrinkCitra

Until next time, <3.

Animal Print

Neon Leopard

9:00:00 AM

Good day, polished world!  How are you today?  Today I will be finishing up a DIY Pinterest craft!  It's the first time I was actually drawn to a craft on Pinterest and found the need to create it!  Sure, I have been inspired by numerous nail designs on Pinterest, but this is different.  It involves wood, paint, hot glue...goodness, I hope it turns out okay!

Enough about my project though, we're here to talk about nails!  The weather here has been super Fall like.  It was 65 and raining yesterday, and well today it's probably going to be just as chilly.  The sun is setting earlier, and the smell of Fall is in the air.  I'm not 100% ready for Fall though, especially since I have a few neon designs I have yet to share with you.

That's right, more neon!  I did this design a while back and kept kicking myself for not posting it because I loved it so much.  I really enjoy doing leopard spots, but I enjoy them even more when they're multi colored!  I have done crazy color leopard prints in the past, and only published one similar to this as a guest post on another blog.  It was time to re-do them and share them here. 

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:

  • Ulta - Snow White
  • China Glaze - Sun Kissed, I'm With the Lifeguard, Splish Splash, Flip Flop Fantasy
  • INM - Bikini
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
Awesome, right?  Loved how bright this nail art was!!!  I also truly enjoyed how many people thought that these nails were press on stickers and not done by hand.  I kind of love the expression on people's face when I say "nope, did these nails myself with dotting tools and little paint brushes!"  Nine times out of ten, the person always looks at me and says "I wish I could do that!"

I truly believe anyone can do it!  What's great about the leopard print design is the simplicity of it.  It was one of my very first attempts at nail art before blogging which made me realize I could start venturing into more types of nail art.

To get the look, you take a dotting tool (or bobbing pin if you don't have a dotter) and put uneven dots on your nails.  They can be whatever size you want, I tend to do five of these medium sized splotches.  When they're dry, with a nail art brush (or a tooth pick if you don't have one), add little black semi circles around the dots.  I try my best to make them uneven but I noticed on this manicure they're a little neater than usual.  I then go through and add some more black dots to fill in the empty spaces.  Finish with a top coat, and enjoy my nails!

What do you think?  Have you ever tried the leopard print?  What about the crazy leopard?

I am off to finish my Pinterest project!  The blogger in me has taken photos of each step, so if it turns out well, I may have to show you all how I got my little craft!  Wish me luck!

Until next time, <3!