SPARKLE MOTION

First set of nails done in my new place in COCO COUNTY!! Personally, I think I'm getting better at doing glitter acrylic French tips (versus painting them on). I got inspiration to mix the glitters like they're fading into one another from my last post of the sponging technique and from a Thank You card I recently made with the same glitter. I used Martha Stewart's "Lapis Lazuli" glitter (blue) and "Tourmaline" (pink). I just mixed a 1/4 tsp of the glitter with 1/2 tsp CLEAR acrylic and applied the pink in the shape of the smile line, leaving a small space. I then applied the blue at the tip (the squared off part) leaving the same space in the middle of the colors. Then I mixed the pink and blue (NOT USING PURPLE GLITTER), and voila~! Filled everything in with clear acrylic. If any one actually cares, it IS possible for me to do video tutorials, just ask nicely. :) Also, this design was really simple to do with my left hand as well.

These are my NYE firework nails for No Naked Nails! Did these on my old roomate Meghan. Miss you MegPoo!!

Makeup Sponging? Sponge-ing?

I finally got my hands on some makeup sponges to experiment with fading nail polish techniques! Since I just have makeup brushes, I never went out and bought a whole bag of sponges because I didn't know how it would turn out. Now that I do, I think that makeup sponges is a total must have for any nail polish fanatic. In the top picture, I sponged on a very light coat of nail polish starting from the very tip of my nail and working my way down toward the nail base. Only work in one direction! If you don't, you won't get a nice fading effect like shown here. Then once you have a light coat, apply more nail polish to the sponge and work from the tip down again to ensure full opacity. Since you don't get a completely smooth look from sponging they way you do painting the nail, I applied a full coat of shimmery top coat (glitter top coat would also work well). It helped to smooth out the look of any imperfections. In the second photo I started with pink and working my way up the tip, I started to add a darker purple and then the darked sponged right on to the very tip. I think if you have many shades of one color it looks more dramatic than the first photo, where I sponged on only one shade of each color. Hope you guys like this!

Sparkly Starry New Year's Nails!

Sorry, guys! I know I've been lazy and taking pictures with my webcam, its hella blurry compared to my digital camera... For this, I used Martha Stewarts Onyx glitter mixed with clear acrylic to do the black tips, I also threw in a tiny scoop of her tinsel glitter in Sterling. then I stuck on a few silver star confetti I got at Michael's (I think there's like 2-3 thousand stars in a bag for like $1.99). Then I gobbed on a top of clear acrylic to seal them in. It took me forever to file off the silver tips I had on for Xmas that I didn't take a picture of. I feel like I was just filing my nails for 3 hours. (I was.) Happy New Year's everyone!

Minnie Mouse

AGAIN I tried to do something for Xmas, see I started out ok... I painted on Wet N Wild Red Red tips, then white polka dots and then I couldnt help but draw on black bows like Minnie! I'm doomed! I can't get into the Xmas spirit for my nails!!!

Neons

I tried to do winter colors this holiday season, but it just wouldnt happen. I like having bright, colorful nails, and more importantly, neons. So heres a basic design with orange, yellow and green; the colors are the same on the other hand but in a different order. Black stripes and rhinestones. Short post- laters!

Cute ribbon stripes

I saw a design similar to this somewhere online, but unfortunately I'm unable to credit anyone because I can remember who it was, or even if I saw just a picture of it or on a nail tutorial on YouTube. sorry! But anyways, I wanted to do a design that looked like a present or nails wrapped up with bows, but I couldn't commit to holiday colors again (as I kept my candy cane nails for the weekend) so I caved and went with pinks and purples. I added some rhinestones but I know I will regret then later today when I'm cooking or trying to open up bobby pins.

Candy Cane Tips

Holiday design #1: Candy cane nails! They really look good enough to eat (aside from the layer of glitter on top). They really looked like candy before I put the glitter topcoat on. I just painted on white French tips, and used a red Art Deco striping brush (a gift from Harmony for my birthday). I originally did thick white and red stripes but then a looked at actual candy canes I had in my room and realized they have many thin red stripes as well so I just did really thin lines in the middle of the white. Voila!