Thursday, January 31, 2013

China Glaze Wicked Style & Models Own Hot Stuff

Hey loves! I started nursing school again this week so I won't be posting as often as I was the past month. Today's theme for the January nail art thing is "shiny." I used China Glaze Wicked Style and Models Own Hot Stuff. It looked super shiny in person! I loved how eye catching they were. I also love that the January nail art thing is over lol.



Monday, January 28, 2013

China Glaze Trendsetter & Bundle Monster 312

Hi loves! Today is my first day back to nursing school. I had a nice winter break and got to paint my nails a lot and now I gotta go back to naked nubs! I have a few posts saved up so you won't see my nubs for a couple weeks. Today's theme for the January nail art thing is vintage so I did a mani inspired by vintage wallpaper. I used China Glaze Trendsetter and stamped using BM 312 in Konad Yellow. These colors don't compliment me, but they go well with today's theme!



Friday, January 25, 2013

Nicole by OPI Pink Seriously & Nailz Craze NC 02

Happy Friday! Today's theme of the January nail art challenge that I'm doing is "silver." I used Nicole by OPI Pink Seriously and stamped using NC 02 in Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Silver Sweep. If any of you are interested in purchasing Nailz Craze plates, you can find all the info you need here.




Thursday, January 24, 2013

Born Pretty Store--Gucci Water Decals Review

Hey lovelies! Today I have Gucci water decals from Born Pretty Store to review. I have never used water decals before, but they were very easy to use and I would definitely try them out again. I used a base color of China Glaze Kalahari Kiss before applying the water decals and topcoat afterwards. I think they came out great for my first time using this type of nail art.





There are 20 decals in the package and directions are included on the back. For the most part, I followed the directions, but instead of transferring them directly from the film onto my nail, I took it off with tweezers and applied to to my nails because then the words would've been backwards otherwise. When I applied topcoat afterwards, a little bit of the pattern started rubbing off so I would apply topcoat with less strokes next time. I really like how these look! They are available here for $3.55. 

***Product provided for review***

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Zoya Goldie & OPI Skyfall Striping Tape Mani

Hey beauties! Quick post today. Today's theme in the January nail art thing I'm doing is burgandy. I didn't have much inspiration for this so I did a quick striping tape mani using Zoya Goldie & OPI Skyfall. My cleanup isn't great because the bristles in my cleanup brush started to all fall out!




Monday, January 21, 2013

OPI Just Spotted the Lizard & BM 215

Hey readers! Today I have a snakeskin mani inspired by the amazing Coewless. She did such a great job I wanted to re-create it. Too bad I don't have the same stamp that she used, but this is close enough! I used OPI Just Spotted the Lizard and stamped using BM 215 in MASH Black. Believe it or not, this was one of the fastest stamping manis I've done. I usually like to center everything perfectly and if it's not, I'll re-do it. I didn't redo anything here, so you get a glimpse of me not being perfect as I was short on time lol.




Sunday, January 20, 2013

Red & Gold 49ers Cloud Nails

Happy Sunday! I just finished these in time for the 49er game today. I'm watching it right now so this will be quick lol. For this cloud mani I used OPI Goldeneye, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, and OPI Die Another Day. Okay back to the game--GO NINERS!




Saturday, January 19, 2013

Purple, Fuchsia, & Aqua Dotticure

Happy Saturday! Today I have a super cute dotticure to show you. Day 19 of the January nail thing I'm doing is polka dots so I decided to do a dotticure because it's really easy to do and takes barely any time! I used a base of China Glaze Gothic Lolita and made the dots using China Glaze Wicked Style and China Glaze Aquadelic. I'm loving these colors together--it was inspired by my husband's leg pillow lol.




Thursday, January 17, 2013

Essie Jamaica Me Crazy & MASH 39

Hey beauties! Today I have a mani inspired by something I saw a couple of days ago in the movie The Last Samurai. Katsumoto's samurai sword was kept in a fuchsia cloth with gold fans on it and I had the perfect idea for a mani. I used Essie Jamaica Me Crazy and stamped using MASH 39 in Essie Good As Gold. I love getting inspired by random things! Where do you ladies find your inspiration?




Do you ladies remember the butterfly wing manicure I created last week? I entered it into a contest so if you liked it, please vote for me here--I'm entry #11--Natalie Niu.



Wednesday, January 16, 2013

China Glaze Electric Beat & Nubar White Polka Dot

Hey loves! Today I have a very simple mani using China Glaze Electric Beat and one coat of Nubar White Polka Dot. I mentioned in my last post that I'm doing a little January nail art thing on Instagram and today's theme is "subtle snow." I don't really care much for this mani, but at least I got to use 2 of my untrieds. White Polka dot was a little difficult to use because I had a hard time getting the hex glitter on my nails, but it totally worked for this "subtle snow" theme.




Sunday, January 13, 2013

China Glaze First Mate & Red Angel RA-110

Hi my polished pretties! Short post today. For this half-moonicure I used China Glaze First Mate and stamped using RA-110 in Essie Penny Talk. This is a really random mani for me because I'm doing this January nail art thing on Instagram and today's theme is navy blue. It's a color I have rarely wear and I had to think hard to come up with this one!




Saturday, January 12, 2013

China Glaze New Bohemians & Nailz Craze NC 01

Hey beauties! Today I have a beautiful butterfly wing mani that I will be entering into Nailz Craze stamping contest. I used the same method to do my base as I did in my pastel mani. In case you missed it, I used Miss Jen Fabulous's tutorial here. I started off with a base of China Glaze Rare & Radiant and made the blobs using China Glaze: Unpredictable, Want My Bawdy, Deviantly Daring, and No Plain Jane. I stamped using NC 01 in Konad Black. I added dots using white acrylic paint. Clean up was a pain, but I'm so happy with the result!





Friday, January 11, 2013

Born Pretty Store--Hello Kitty QA12 Stamping Plate Review

Happy Friday! Today I have a Hello Kitty stamping plate from Born Pretty Store to show you today. I was really excited to try this out and I am very happy with how well it works! I used 5 different images from this plate to test it out. I used China Glaze Escaping Reality and stamped using QA12 in Konad White. In case you were wondering, I used my Konad stamper and scraper to test out this image plate. I also added an extra watermark today because the Hello Kitty mani I did last summer is my most stolen photo ever!



Isn't this just adorable?! All of the images came out perfectly and I had no issues with getting the image to pick up or to stamp onto my nails. Hello Kitty's face on my ring finger is a tiny bit wide, but there were no issues with the quality of the plate at all. There are several different images to choose from on this one plate so you will be able to create several different manis out of it.

This plate is available here for $2.99 and you can use my code: NV7X31 for 10% off your entire purchase.

***Product provided for honest review***


Thursday, January 10, 2013

OPI My Very First Knockwurst & Konad M57

Hey lacquerheads! Today I have a mani from a week ago that I did as a palette cleanser for the new year. I used this combo once before in a rush and never took pics, so I tried it out again because I really enjoy how it looks. Here's OPI My Very First Knockwurst stamped using Konad M57 in Essie Good as Gold.



Wednesday, January 9, 2013

OPI Anti-Bleak & Bundle Monster 315

Hi ladies! Short post today--I have my first mani using one of my new OPI Mariah Carey shades. I used OPI Anti-Bleak and stamped using BM 315 in China Glaze Emotion. I was pleased to see all of the intricate details of the design stamp perfectly!




Monday, January 7, 2013

Pastel Saran Wrap Marble

Ok so my title sounds a little funky because I'm not really sure what to call the method I used. I used this really awesome tutorial from Jen at Polish and Pearls. I started off with a white base of Zoya Purity and then doing one nail at a time, made blobs of polish using China Glaze: Lemon Fizz, Something Sweet, Re-fresh Mint, and Kinetic Candy. While the blobs were still wet, I placed a piece of saran wrap on top of my nail and pressed lightly to smush the polish and then gently removed it. It is really such a cool way of doing nail art. I was kind of amazed at how it looks. After that was all done, I stamped using BM 208 in Konad White. Pretty awesome right?!



Sunday, January 6, 2013

OPI Fly, OPI Metallic 4 Life, & Bundle Monster 305

Hi beauties. Short post today, but no worries because I have a very eye catching mani to show you! I used OPI Fly and stamped using BM 305 in Konad Black. The glitter is OPI Metallic 4 Life. I love how these turned out!




Friday, January 4, 2013

Essie Butler Please & NYX Spot Light Reverse Glitter Gradient

Happy Friday! Today I have my very first reverse glitter gradient to show you. I tried it once before and it didn't turn out too well, but I was feeling brave and gave it another shot. It looks so beautiful in person because the glitter is so sparkly, I wish it translated in the photos. I used Essie Butler Please & did the glitter gradient using NYX Spot Light. Butler Please is not color accurate in the photos, it's slightly darker in person.  I will definitely be trying out more manicures using this method!



Thursday, January 3, 2013

OPI Mariah Carey Collection Swatches

Hi my pretties! Today I have OPI's Mariah Carey collection to show you. There are 4 Studio Shades and 4 Stage Shades. The Stage Shades are the "Liquid Sand" polishes and are meant to be worn without topcoat for a textured look and feel. Onto the photos!

Studio Shades:
A Butterfly Moment

Sprung

Anti-Bleak

Pink Yet Lavender (one coat over Anti-Bleak)--this combination looks so beautiful in person! <3

Stage Shades:

The Impossible--no topcoat

The Impossible--with topcoat. I was only able to get one star onto my index finger, but you can't see it under the 2nd coat =[

Can't Let Go--no topcoat

Can't Let Go--with topcoat

Get Your Number--no topcoat

Get Your Number--with topcoat

Stay the Night--no topcoat

Stay the Night--with topcoat

I love the 4 Studio shades. For the Stage Shades (Liquid Sand) I like The Impossible (pink) and Get Your Number (blue). The liquid sand polishes dry matte and are only minimally gritty, but just aren't for me like that. I'm partial to smooth and shiny nails and I will be wearing these with topcoat. The colors really are more vibrant with topcoat and I love how sparkly they look! I almost passed up this collection, but I'm so glad I didn't.