31DC2014 Day 18: Half-Moons

Super quick post today since there's not really much to say about this nail art haha, it's so simple!

Polishes used:
Essie Blue Rhapsody (metallic blue)
China Glaze First Mate (navy blue crème)

I first painted two coats of BR on all my nails and waited for that to dry completely. I purposely chose a metallic polish to use for the base color since metallics tend to dry faster than other polishes. Then I took paper hole reinforcement stickers (the ones you can buy in any office supply store), cut those in half, and placed one of those halves at the base of each nail to block out the half-moon shapes. After doing that, I painted one (maybe two?) coat(s) of FM over the areas of my nails that weren't covered by the sticker. Working one nail at a time, I removed each of the stickers while FM was still wet to ensure a nice, crisp line. I finished with one coat of a fast drying top coat.

I'm not that into half-moons to be honest. I just feel like they look a little weird on me. That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate them, though! I happen to really like this color combination and the fact that the half-moon is metallic; I think it makes it pop a little bit more.

Sorry for the lack of posts by the way! I'm trying to get better at posting more frequently but life keeps getting in the way (plus I've been binge watching Game of Thrones so...).

Thanks for reading!

31DC2014 Day 17: Glitter

There's something about a glitter placement manicure that I just love. Especially when it's a blue(ish) glitter. Then it's just like YES PLEASE.

Polish used:

OPI Black Onyx (black crème)

I painted my nails with two coats of Black Onyx and let that dry. Then I used a cheap, slow-drying top coat (I used one from Maybelline but I prefer the Wet N Wild $0.99 one) and painted a stripe of that down the center of my nail. While that was still wet, I used a damp orange stick to pick up one piece of glitter and place it on my nail the way I wanted, starting down by the cuticle (I used color #9 from Born Pretty Store). I like to start with a vertical line down the center of my nail because that way I can place as many full pieces of glitter on as I can, then go back later and cut pieces to fit the spaces where a full hex piece won't fit (like on my free edge and around my cuticle). To cut the glitter I use an X-ACTO knife and press that down right in the middle of the piece of glitter I want to cut. 

If you order this glitter from Born Pretty Store, it will seriously last you 12 lifetimes.

When I'm doing my glitter placements, I like to do it in a way where some of the base color can still be seen. Instead of matching up the edges of the glitter pieces, I match up the corners. It's a little more time consuming, but I think the end result is worth it. Once I'm done, I usually finish with two coats of top coat, but I sometimes do three depending on how bumpy the glitter is.

While I absolutely love how glitter placements turn out, they. Take. FOREVER. This was one of the few days of the challenge where I didn't end up doing both hands. It seriously took me like two and a half hours for this hand alone. When I'm in the mood to do a glitter placement, I usually do an accent nail or a half-moon-y triangleish type thing. I rarely do full glitter placements on all my nails only because they're so time consuming. When I do, though, I refuse to take them off until they start to lift or chip!

Thanks for reading!

NOTD: China Glaze Electric Nights Collection!

When I'm feeling stumped on what kind of nail art to do, lately I've been gravitating towards doing this. Since I picked up some polishes from the new China Glaze Electric Nights collection, and since I couldn't decide on which one to use, plastic bag decals seemed like a pretty good idea to me!

Polishes used (all from China Glaze):

Red-Y To Rave (neon coral-y red crème)

Plur-Ple (bright medium cool-toned purple crème)

UV Meant To Be (deep sky blue crème)

I finally changed my nail shape back! Granted they were oval for just a couple weeks, but I missed my squares! I wanted to go back to squares so badly even if it meant sporting some nubs for a while (well, they're nubs to me)...

Before I even started on my nails, I made sure I had all my decals ready to go. I used a little sandwich bag and cut the sides so that it laid flat in one long strip. Then I painted stripes of the three colors I used, making sure they were right next to each other. I used a toothpick immediately after placing the stripes and dragged it across in a zig-zag motion so that they all ended up looking like this:

I let those dry for about an hour before using them.

While I was waiting for my decals to dry, I painted my nails with one coat of Red-Y To Rave. Let me just pause for a moment to explain how AMAZING THIS POLISH IS OKAY. Even though this polish is like, eye-searingly neon, it doesn't need a white base to stand out. Two coats and it looks like it does in the bottle. It's that opaque. For a neon that's incredible! It's so bright, my camera kinda freaked out when I tried to take a picture of it (so just imagine it a wee bit brighter and more orange than what's shown here). I wanted to pick it up after hearing everyone rave about it all over the internet, and let me tell you that it does not disappoint. Seriously. If you love bright, in-your-face, eye-searing, LOUD colors, then you need this now! It's so fun!

After waiting for Red-Y To Rave to dry, I worked one nail at a time by carefully peeling off one of the decals with a pointed cuticle pusher/cleaner type of thing, placing it on my nail how I wanted, smoothing it out with a pointed q-tip, and then getting rid of the excess (I used a small pair of scissors for the free edge area and an orange stick dipped into polish remover for around my cuticles). After all my nails had the decals on them, I cleaned up around my cuticles with an angled brush dipped into an acetone-based polish remover, and finished off with two coats of a fast-drying top coat.

While I'm not too thrilled with how a few nails turned out, overall I really like this! I absolutely love how these colors work together. I only ended up getting five polishes from this collection (the other two being Treble Maker and Can I Get An Untz Untz), but now I really want to get the rest of them; They look amazing!

Thanks for reading!

31DC2014 Day 16: Geometric Nails

I remember this day of the challenge was inspired by this manicure from Chalkboard Nails. I loved it so much that I had to give it a try!

Polishes used:
Essie Fiji (baby pink crème)
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Coral Reef (vibrant coral crème - original formula)
Zoya Kristi (red crème)
Sephora by OPI Mr. Right Now (deep burgundy red jelly)

I started off with two coats of Fiji on all my nails. Then I used a very thin nail art brush that I trimmed myself and painted a random geometric shape in the center(ish) of my nails with CR. I think I filled in the shape with a dotting tool but I may have also used this brush set. After that, I went in with Kristi and made more random, faceted shapes; Some coming out of the original shape that I made with CR, and some overlapping it. I did that until I felt I had enough on each nail, then I did the same thing with MRN. The only thing I did differently with MRN than with the other colors was the fact that I had to paint each shape with two coats. Because it's a jelly, the extra coat made the color show up much better since the formula is sheerer than a basic crème polish. While doing all of this, I made sure that there were some spots where Fiji was showing through. Once I was done, I waited about 15 minutes before I applied top coat to avoid any smearing.

I am OBSESSED with these. Seriously. The entire day I wore these, I was asked by so many people if I used stickers. Chalkboard Nails comes up with some of the best designs ever. I always tend to look to her for inspiration when I'm stuck!

Thanks for reading!

NOTD: Lily's Special Request!

One of the kids at my job (I do child care) had her birthday yesterday. Earlier this week, she asked me if I could do something special on my nails for her birthday. I asked her what she would want and she told me that she wanted a flower with a rhinestone. So since her name is Lily, what better flower to paint her than a lily!

Polishes used:
Zoya Blu (baby blue crème)
OPI My Vampire Is Buff (off-white beige-y crème) - lily
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri OMGhost (white crème) - lily
Sinful Colors Big Daddy (red-orange crème) - inside of the lily
Color Club Disco's Not Dead (light bright pastel peachy yellow crème) - inside of the lily
China Glaze Sun Worshiper (neon yellow-y orange crème) - inside of the lily
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow (yellow crème - original formula) - inside of the lily
Sinful Colors Garden Party (medium green crème) - stem and leaves
Sephora by OPI Is It Payday Yet? (light green crème) - stem and leaves
Color Club 'Til The Record Stops (light bright pastel green crème) - stem and leaves

First, I changed my nail shape! I broke a corner off one of my nails while playing Egyptian Ratscrew with the kids, so I had to file all my other ones to match. I wanted to keep the length of my nails (instead of filing them all down to square nubs), so hello ovals! Honestly, I like the way my nails look better square, but I guess these are fine for a while.

I started by painting my nails with two coats of Blu. Then I took a little paint brush from a set that I got at an art store (this set is basically the same thing) and painted the shape of the lily with MVIB. Then I took GP on the same brush and painted the shapes of the stem and leaves. Then I took OMGhost on a smaller brush and painted that on top of the lily shape I had already painted, leaving the center alone so that MVIB would show through and add some depth.

(Excuse the marker stain on my thumb - I was organizing and re-capping all the markers at work)

After painting GP for the stems and leaves, I took IIPPY? on a very thin brush (I actually trimmed a regular sized nail art brush with an old pair of cuticle nippers to make it really thin for small details), mixed it with GP, and added some highlights. Then I took IIPY? on its own and added more. Using 'TTRS, I added little strokes on top. Basically I just kept going back and forth between the greens, cleaning the brush off in between colors, mixing them together, and adding them lightly in places until I reached my desired effect for the stem and leaves.

I did the same thing with the inside of the lily. I started by adding three little dots (really hard to see the "dots," I know) of BD. Then I mixed BD with some MY, SW, and DND and dotted it on top of the dots I had already placed. Then I switched to the really thin nail art brush, mixed the colors together in a way that made the color lighter and brighter, and kinda dabbed this new color on top of the dots. I wanted to go for a soft, pollen-y look, so I didn't want there to be stark, crisp dots; That's why I switched to the brush. I just kept repeating that technique until I finished with a color and finish that was similar to what I had in mind.

To finish everything off, I added a little dab of a cheap top coat on top of where the biggest dot of orange was. I picked up a yellow-y orange rhinestone with a damp orange stick and placed it on top. The rhinestone I used came in a little wheel with different colors and shapes, but I don't remember where I got them. Born Pretty Store or Amazon probably have something similar. After that, I waited about 10-15 minutes before adding my top coat to avoid smearing the flower.

I really like how this turned out! Lily loved it too; She was so happy when she saw them!

Thanks for reading!