Animal Print

The One With the Leopard Accent

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  Happy Friday!  I'm so beyond thrilled that it is Friday because this has been the longest week ever.  It all started when I came down ith an awful cold.  At first I thought it was allergies, then a sinus infection, but now I'm pretty sure it's a cold.  It has knocked me down to the point where I have felt too sick to even paint my nails.  I had the same manicure on for five days.  That's how you for sure know that I'm sick.  I'm hoping today that I feel a bit better but so far it's not looking like it will be that way.  Ugh.

So, I have this back log of posts just in case I do get sick and can't keep up on blogging.  I think right now I'm up to five posts and honestly I couldn't be happier because I didn't feel like I had to push myself to paint to keep up with blogging.  I've ignored my social networks but what can you do.

Anyways, today I'm sharing with you a manicure I did about two weeks ago.  I wanted to do something simple because it was late at night.  What's simpler than a leopard accent with some glitter and creams?

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Let's Jam
  • FingerPaints - Paper Mache
  • FingerPaints - Umber-ella
I love China Glaze Let's Jam.  At first I wasn't going to get this polish because I figured I had similar purple polishes in my collection.  I'm so happy that I decided to get it because it is so unique!  It's a pretty purple with a shimmer of blue which picks up in the picture below.  In the sunlight it is gorgeous.  I need to use this for pedicures!



FingerPaints Umber-ella is such a unique polish.  It is part of the new core line for 2016 and I've had this beauty since February and totally forgot about it.  I really can't think of a way to describe this polish other than calling it sparkly sand.  Two coats were used for this manicure and I had full coverage.  I really didn't think that was going to happen since it was rather sheer on the first and I thought it would be better as a topper.  It built up though quite nicely and had such a pretty sparkle to it.  I can't wait to use this again!

What do you think?  Like this look?  Something simpler....

Here's to hoping I feel better!!

Until next time, <3.

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

Dot Mani

The One With the Mani Swap With 25 Sweet Peas

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this fine Sunday?  It's supposed to storm here all day so I'm going to be a bum.  Actually I hope to get around to cleaning my room and building my other Melmer.  I'm overflowing out of two and am running out of room on my polish shelf.  It's kind of a problem, but it's a good problem to have!

I'm very excited about today's post!  It is my first ever Mani Swap!!  I see other bloggers do this all the time and for some reason I never have done one.  The other day I asked Sarah from 25 Sweet Peas if she wanted to, and of course she said yes!


For today's mani swap, Sarah recreated my hibiscus flowers, and I recreated her vintage floral look!  I think Sarah's looks are better than mine and she thinks mine are better than hers!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Serendipity Polish - Mint Martini
  • Acrylics
Really loving this look.  The mint, the dots, the flowers - just everything is so pretty.  I started off with my base coat of Serendipity Polish in Mint Martini.  I'll talk about this polish below because I have a photo of a swatch of it.  Anyways, when my base was dried, I went through and added all the dots on my nails.  Ten nails, give or take 19 dots on each equals a whole heck of a lot of dots.  

When those were dried, I went through and added the white blobs which would be the base for the flowers.  I kind of think they look like little doilies.  I then went through and added the roses which were kind of a pain.


For my roses, I started with a light pink acrylic paint.  I then mixed together a red and a pink to make a darker pink.  While my light pink dots were still wet, I went through with a toothpick and swirled the darker pink to make the rose/marble look.  The details are so tiny that I thought this was the easiest way to make them look like roses.  I then went through and added the little leaves.  Top coat and done.


Now, let's take a minute to talk about this gorgeous polish by Serendipity Polish.  This beauty is Mint Martini from the Beach, Please collection.  I ordered this collection about two weeks ago during a promo.  Sarah kept telling me how awesome they were so I decided I needed to try them out.  I am so so happy that I did.  I kid you not, this polish could have been one coat.  I did two for the swatch above because one of my nails was a bit patchy.  By far one of the best formulas I have used in a long long time.  I cannot wait to use this one and the others for more nail art.  I can see myself ordering back-ups.  Especially since the customer service is beyond excellent with this company.  Long story short, my first package came with a damaged bottle. I contacted them and literally 2 minutes later they answered saying they were going to replace.  Three days later, replacement plus a free top coat showed up in my mail box!

What do you think?  Like the mani swap?  Have you used Serendipity Polish??

Cannot wait to do more mani swaps in the future!  Hope you guys enjoyed this post as much as I did!  Don't forget to check out Sarah's page!

Until next time, <3.

China Glaze

The One with the Purple Dry Brush

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this fine Thursday?  Since Monday was a holiday, this whole week is throwing me off.  I am a day off with everything I do.  Seriously, I thought it was Tuesday yesterday all day.  Oh well, at least I had a three day weekend!

Today I am sharing with you a purple dry brush manicure inspired by @kellimarissa.  I love doing dry brush manicures because they are such a simple way to get unique looking nails.  When I saw Kelli's dry brush I knew I had to re-create it right away!  It's so unique and different!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Lotus Begin
  • China Glaze - That's Shore Bright
  • China Glaze - Let's Jam
  • China Glaze - Looking Bootiful
  • Orly - White Tips
Isn't it neat?!  To get the look I started off with a base coat of white polish.  I used my favorite, Orly White Tips.  Love this polish so much, almost a one coater.  I used two coats since I was going to be dry brushing and I wanted to make sure everything was opaque.  When my base was dry, I started off with my lightest color of purple, Lotus Begin, and dry brushed from the center to the edges.  I tried to keep the center clean but add just a few streaks.  I did the same thing with each darker color purple.  By the time I got to Looking Bootiful, I just was dry brushing the edges.



Above I'm holding a bottle of Looking Bootiful which was from last years Halloween Collection.  I wasn't going to get any of these polishes but ended up purchasing all of them because you can never have too many China Glaze neons.  They're perfect for any nail art.  Such a pretty rich purple shade and a perfect way to end this manicure.

What do you think?  Fan of this dry brush look?  Think I should do it again with other colors?

Until next time, <3.