NYE Mani #2

Ahhh... Much better. A NYE mani worthy of drinking and smooching the night away. I used "School of Hard Rocks" by Essie as a base color.  Then did a suuuper thin French tip in blueish glitter "Nail Junkie" by Sinful Colors. You can barely see it in the picture, but it looks awesome in person. I used a silver striper polish to do these little bursts coming from the corners of my nail bed. In the center of the silver bursty thing, I put a tiny silver rhinestone surrounded by tiny silver hexagons. Wish I could find my camera cord so I could upload better pictures of everything! Sorry!

Gold and brown new years mani

This is the sequel to yesterday's swatch of Bling Dyanasty by OPI. On top of the gold base color, I took the largest dotting tool I had to add random large chocolate brown (OPIs I Brake For Manicures) circles all over the nail. I filled in the empty spaces with the smaller end of the same dotting tool. I let this dry, and it looked cool by itself (sorry no pic!) then went over it with a thin coat of top coat to adhere tiny gold hexagons. I used a dotting tool dipped in top coat to individually place a single hexagon in the center of each large brown dot. On my accent ring nail, I placed a row of gold hexagons along the nail/cuticle line. It takes two coats of Seche Vite to encase the hexagons completely to a smooth finish, but shown is just with one coat. Hopefully I'll have time to squeeze in another new years inspired mani; this one is cute, but not blingy enough to ring in 2012!

OPIs Bling Dynasty Swatch

I had to chop off my nails because I broke two of them! But I got to swatch a new color that I got for Christmas. It's OPI's Bling Dynasty. A rich golden shimmer. I used two coats here, but should have used a third. I really like it but I'm always skeptical of metallics and shimmers because they come out streaky often times. This only had minor streakage due to shaky cold fingers, I suppose. But looks festive for the holidays. My favorite now of all my golds.

OPI I Brake For Manicures Swatch

Merry Christmas everyone! I got a couple of polishes from my boyfriends stepmom today, one of them being OPIs I Brake For Manicures. I had time after my nap navidad to swatch it for you guys because it's a really interesting color but I'm not sure the pictures do it justice. It's a creamy dark grey/brown/purple that goes on smooth and opaque in just two coats. I love it. It's from the Touring America Collection which I loved almost every color of. It's a new shade for me, and perfect for winter! I'm glad I'm on a break from acrylics so I could easily swatch this on my natural nails!

I hope you can see the complex hue combo in this color- might add a sunlight pic later on. Thanks, Diane!

Do any of you guys have this color? What do you think of it?

Merry Xmas, followers!

Xmas mani #3

Its a minimalist Christmas mani! I just did a white French tip to my natural smile lines (one coat of Snow Me White by Sinful Colors), with a single coat of Vanity Fairest by Essie over the whole nail. On my accent ring and thumb, I just took a tiny brush and painted on a dark green holly leaf with Zoya in Envy. Then added red rhinestone "berries". Topped with Seche Vite, a fresh bottle from Chrissy for Christmas! And voila! A simple, clean and appropriate Christmas mani done in just minutes.

Christmas / Winter Mani #2

So this is basically a redo of my Xmas mani #1 from yesterday. I just did the same design in different colors because my nail polish fell off in whole pieces!

I used Sinful Colors Snow Me White as a base, sponged on China Glaze For Audrey in the middle and Wet N Wild NERDS Need Love Too on the tips. Dotted on some silver and blue hex glitter, a coat of Sally Hansen Diamonds, a coat of Sally Hansen Strobelight glitter, and Seche Vite on top.

Christmas Mani #1

I'm back you guys! Temporarily taking pictures with my iphone until I can find my computer-camera cord!

So I used Wet N Wild's Red Red for the base, the sponged on Snow Me White by Sinful Colors. I coated it once over the whole nail with Diamonds by Sally Hansen. Then used a dotting tool to add random 1mm red hexagons, and sprinkled Sterling fine glitter by Martha Stewart on top. Then 2 coats of Seche Vite to encase the gritty glitter feel!

I'm going to try to upload 2 more Christmas manis before Christmas so wish me luck!! 

Missed you guys!!

Fimo Fruits and Rhinestone Flowers (Pic Heavy!)

I finally got around to using my Fimo fruit slices! I've had them for a really long time and I've been dying to try them out! When I sat down to give me boring white French tips a fill, I had no idea what I was in for...

After my backfill, I drilled the tips super thin, but they were still white tips, so I had to cover them up with some color. I used a combination of blue, green, and pink iridescent hexagon glitters, lightly, just to add some color. The white remains as the base color. I topped with some fruit slices, mostly kiwi, strawberry, lemon, lime, Fuji apple, and watermelon. Then encased with a THICK layer of clear acrylic. (filed, shaped, and buffed, yadah yadah yadah...)

And added some colorful flowers made from rhinestones!

These are the things I used: the pink, green, and blue hex, Fimo fruit slice wheel, and 2 sizes of multi colored rhinestones: 1.5 mm and 2 mm, which I adhered at the very end with a lil top coat (after 3 coats of top coat on each nail dried)

Because I was just applying the fruits to the tips, there isn't much space to have a variety of the full shapes. I used a craft knife to slice some of the fruit in half.

(Carefully)! I did this to the limes, lemons, and the strawberries. It allowed for more fruit to be placed on each nail, and they laid a bit better on the nail too!

 

Here are all the fruits that came in my Fimo wheel (which I got for about $5 at Sally Beauty Supply). The ones I know for sure are lemon, strawberry, kiwi, 2 watermelons, lime, leaves, apple, and Fuji apple. The ones I'm not sure about are papaya, kumquat, and banana. But they are so weird looking that I'm not sure what they look like and I probably won't be using them. ><

Let me know what you guys think!! They are busy, but they are super shiny and the rhinestone flowers sparkle really nicely, especially in dim light. I'm digging it!

Try It: Cuticle Oil Massage with Dotting Tool

I was sitting at my table on the phone and I couldn't move around because I was charging, plugged into the wall. After 15 minutes of chatting with my friend I began reaching for nail things that were near me: cuticle oil and a dotting tool. At first I was going to just apply the oil and rub in with my figertips, but then I thought I'd try massaging the oil in with a dotting tool. I used the larger size on this particular dotting tool to work the oil in and around my cuticles and near my new growth.

The large ball shape of the dotting tool was gentle and easy to maneuver around my nail bed! I worked the oil into my skin and new nail area for about 30 seconds on each finger, and I was surprised at the results. Not only did I feel like it absorbed easier into my skin, I didn't have both hands all oily!

The cuticle oil I'm using here I got from a wig shop in Oakland, by Ruby Kisses. It has lemon extract in it, and I almost like it better than my usual Beauty Secrets, because it smells more like lemons than oil. Yes, I can smell cuticle oil and it makes me sick. It smells... oily.

Anyways this random act of fidgeting while on the phone turned into a trick I might incorporate into my daily nail care! I hope you guys try it instead of rubbing it in with your fingers next time- lemme know how you like it!

Ahhhh hydration!

Basic Pink and White French Manicure

Ahh the tried and true pink and white acrylics... I can't believe I only lasted 2 days without my fake nails! >< I wrote on my to-do list "Swatch Zoya Envy for blog" and when I sat down to do it, this happened! Jeez... what is wrong with me?

On the upside, I've been meaning to try these new white tips I got for a few months now, and I've never actually done a real pink and white manicure before, and I've never gotten one done!! Can you believe it?

I tried to make them super thin as practice for doing other people's nails. Most people don't like them too thick, so I tried to do them as thin as possible. I'm pretty happy with this result, I just hope that they don't chip while I craft or do dishes!

I used my Pinky Promise acrylic mix that I made for the nail beds, but I can't see it in the pictures too well. Maybe I will upload a daytime/sunlight pic tomorrow! (And hopefully the sun will come out for it!)

Pink Flowers, Rhinestones, and Pink Striping Tape

So I've been meaning to upload this, I couldn't find my camera USB cable thing for a few days. These are Chrissy's nails, my lovely hand model. She thankfully gets her nails done for my blog when I don't want to do mine or when I have poop nails that need to be filled. :) I painted her nails white (she's always trying to paint them white and I always talk her out of it!). I then used a medium dotting tool to make drag-petal flowers with Essie Raise Awareness (light baby pink) and OPI Elepthantastic Pink. I put tiny purple and blue rhinestones onto the middle of the flowers. For her accent nail, I left the base white, and when dried, I used my new pink metallic striping tape to make a lil fishnet-esque grid. I laid down the striping tape where I wanted it and then used clippers to cut the tape off where the nail ended. I topped with top coat and was pleased with the design. I only put one layer of top coat on, as she had somewhere to go and she did not upkeep with more top coat at her house. She later told me that the pink striping tape had shed it's color! She sent me a picture on my phone of her stripes still intact, but the pink had rubbed off to a dull grey/silver!~!! I would post this picture, but it was on my phone and I am lazy. I will retry this design with more top coat to see if I have the same problem, and also add this to my earlier review of my nail haul post.

  I have 10 colors to try, so far, this is the only one I've used, and I'm very worried that it won't hold, because it's soo cute! Has anyone used striping tape like this? Or how would you use it?

Essie School of Hard Rocks Swatch

Ahhh I've had this polish for a few weeks now and haven't gotten a chance to swatch it out because my crap long acrylics and my 30 day challenge. But here's the scoop: School of Hard Rocks from Essie's Winter 2011 Collection is a creamy, slate blue/green/grey polish that glides on smooth and opaque in just 2 coats. I was sorta worried as it's been sitting upright in its drawer for at least 3 weeks and it had already settled at the thin liquidy stuff rose to the top. I gave it an extra few shakes and it was good as new. The first coat was transparent and streaky, but it coulda just been me, as my hands are very badly sore from 3 straight days of crocheting Xmas presents. I love the color, it is such a new shade of blue/grey/green (lol) that I really haven't seen before. I instantly felt like it was winter and it made me feel very warm inside. The only problem I have with this polish: when I was applying top coat, the polish started to rub off onto the top coat brush!!! And I'd had my nails dried for nearly 45 minutes! Maybe it was just this top coat, I'll let you guys know next time when I use a different top coat. But my review stands: this is a great new color!! I love it, and can't wait to try the other Winter 2011's from Essie!

Gold and Black Glitter Tips + Cross

I, admittedly a little tipsy, decided last night at 2 am, I was going to drill out my blue green glitter tips off my left hand and replace them with any color combo of my twin bro's picking. He was staying over at our place and was watching TV as I did my nails. He said black and gold so I used my new black hexagons on top of an old acrylic mix from last year that was Martha Stewart's Copper fine glitter and clear acrylic. I dumped a bunch of black hexs into the mix and applied it to my tips.

After shaping and buffing, I applied the black hexs to my index finger in the form of a cross. The center is a small silver rhinestones, with larger black rhinestones on the edges of the lines. I really like this and will probably try again is different colors later on.

 You can see my  thumb here without topcoat because I accidentally forgot my thumb, but thought I'd take a pic anyways for educational purposes. This is what it looks like buffed and before top coat. It looks a little cloudy.

Here's the interesting part of this post: One day, while looking in my black star cut out pot, I discovered a cut out heart. I dumped it out onto a piece of paper and rifled through it. I found about 30 cut out hearts with almost as many center cuts in there! It was enough for my to throw into its own empty container and save for  a rainy day. :) Bonus glitter!

Red and Black Bunny Set - RIGHT Hand

Yay! I finally got to do a set of bunny nails!! I decided it was time to do my right hand over because they were empty for a few weeks! And I'm so glad I did because they turned out pretty snazzy for applying with my left (non-dominant) hand!!

On my middle finger, I put a bunch of 1.5 mm red rhinestones on because my black stars were not encased deep enough in clear acrylic and when I was filing my nails, I shaved off half of the large cutout star :-/

Here's all the stuff I used in this set ^^

My glitter mix was clear acrylic, red hexagons, silver tinsel glitter by Martha Steward in Sterling, and black fine glitter also by Martha Stewart in Onyx.

(My NYE 2010/11 nails were this mix minus red hexagons.)

Aaaand here's my bunny heads and stars in the cap waiting to be placed on my nail. :)

Nail Mail Haul + Reviews

So this is my most recent and final nail art haul from www.banggood.com . They're located out of China, and like I said in my last nail haul from them, you're getting the same stuff you get off Amazon but for dirt cheap + no shipping. This 12 color hexagon set on Amazon is trying to sell for $17!! I got it for $3. 

The tiny jars ha twist on lids, as with most glitter pots, and there was only a small about of spillage. I wouldn't even call it spillage, it was just a few hexagons stuck to the larger container. I swept them off with a paper towel onto my glitter laden carpet and that was that. They are about 1mm (sorry I didn't have my ruler out to show you) and they are small enough to stick on to your nail with top coat and not have it be sticking out off the nail in one corner, also small enough to throw into a glitter acrylic mix (pic in my next post). But large enough to tell they are hexagons. The only problem I have with these is that some of them are straight metallic (red, black, silver, copper, pink/purple) and some are irridecent (pink, blue, purple, green, yellow, and clear/white). The only reason why I don't like that is because I was REALLY hoping the green would be a straight metallic green so I could do red/green/silver acrylic mix for Xmas! But I still have time before Xmas to figure it out or find a new green hexagon. LOL.....

These are 10 colors of striping tape that I also ordered... kind of an impulse buy because they were I think $1.50 for all ten colors? I just thought since I was ordering stuff, and everything takes so long to get here that I might as well stock up on stuff.

I'm not quite sure how I will use the stripe tape, but here you can see that it is very thin, but you can still clearly see it's pretty metallic blue color. As I was just testing the size of the tape on my nail and wasn't planning on leaving it there, I must report that it came off very easily and remained sticky, so if you place it in the wrong spot, it will be easy to pull off and move over.

The tape was so thin and hard to tell which color was which

, I thought while I had everything out during my nail mail photo shoot, I labeled all of the striping tape bags so it would be easy to grab the correct on quickly while doing nails.

And last but not least, a new set of double ended dotting tools (whose handles match my acrylic art brush set from my last haul) a wheel of flat backed pearls, and some 1.5mm and 2mm rhinestones, I thought I swore off rhinestones forever but these were too cheaply priced to pass up- I think each wheel was about $2 for about 24000 stones/wheel. And to answer the question you always ask: how do they hold up under top coat? They don't! Never do that! Rhinestones always look best if they are the very very last thing to apply! Even Swarovski crystals- you don't want to top coat those either! They lose their tiny facets under a layer of topcoat and therefore, lose their sparkle.

Here are my flat black pearls^^. Love them, haven't really seen them being sold before. I got these because my girlfriend Chrissy loves everything azn and cutesy so these are prolly going to only be used on her nails- maybe I'll take the red and blacks though. 

Oh yeah and I also got a pair of tweezers for picking up tiny things like Fimo slices, glitter shapes, rhinestones, etc. They were 79 cents each and they work great!

I hope you guys check out www.banggood.com because they are cheap, good quality, and they have free shipping!! Only took about 2 1/2 weeks to get here, but hey, I didn't pay a penny for shipping :)

Can we talk about Snooki's nails?

Snooki posted these nails on Twitter today. 

I'm all about weird crazy nails, and I'm not against duck feet tips... but why are these nails so bumpy?? The shape is way off, I can't imagine that she went to a salon and paid to have them do this. Here's an outlined version so you can see exactly what I'm talking about: 

I've seen her nails shaped and filed neatly and uniform before but I just can't imagine that she walked happily out of the salon- she either was drunk when she got her nails done or maybe she did them herself, but I highly doubt it. ><