Indie Spotlight: LynBDesigns The Fault in Our Stars Collection Part 2

*LynBDesigns products provided for honest and unbiased review.  All other products were purchased by me*

Hello, everyone! We've had a lovely cool shift in weather and it's starting to really feel like fall in Chicago.  I know I should be worried that it means winter is just around the corner, but I love autumn so much I just can't care at the moment :)

On to the polish! I promised earlier in the week that I'd have the second half of LynBDesigns The Fault in Our Stars collection to share with you and here they are! (If you'd like a refresher over the first 3 gorgeous shades in this collection, you can see my swatches here.)

An olive-toned antique gold with a hint of pink shimmer, Tasting the Stars kind of snuck up on me.  I wasn't expecting to love it so much just looking at it in the bottle, but once I got it on my nails I didn't want to take it off!  I won't lie; this color is probably not for everyone but to me, it's a gorgeous, sophisticated color (and perfect for fall as well!).

Tasting the Stars was easy to apply and is opaque on its own in 2-3 coats (I'm showing 3 coats with 1 coat of Seche Vite here).  Jenna (LynBDesigns creator) mentioned that this would also look great over black, and I'm pretty sure she's right.  I'll definitely be giving it a try!  No application issues here, just a smooth easy finish.

If you're a sucker for fall colors, be sure to snag Tasting the Stars for your stash.  You won't regret it (I hear crunchy leaves in my head every time I look at it)!

Wish Granting Factory is up next.  In the bottle, this polish looked bronze-y orange but, once I applied it, I discovered a lovely plummy jelly brimming with holographic flash and golden shimmer. 

Opaque in 2-3 coats (I'm wearing 3 with 1 coat of Seche Vite), Wish Granting Factory has a smooth, easy to apply formula.  I wore this polish for about 3 days with little to no tip wear, so durability isn't an issue.

Wish Granting Factory is another shade that will be perfect for fall, the wine-hued base practically screams autumn.  It's another favorite of mine from this set (I seem to have a lot of those)!

Ok, I'm going to gush a bit. Our Little Infinity is by far and away my absolute favorite in this collection and is definitely in my Top 5 favorites of all time.  Not only is it purple, it's a shifter with holographic glitter...it's like Jenna reached into my brain and made this one just for me! A royal blue to rich plum multichrome with flashes of gold and pink, Our Little Infinity is nothing short of spectacular.  It's like a purple disco ball when the sunlight hits it and the shift in lower light is a vision.  Our Little Infinity seems to glow and its distractability factor is off the charts!  I'm thankful I don't drive when I wear this one...I can barely tear my eyes away from it!

*sigh*...I mean, just LOOK. AT. IT!  In addition to her spellbinding good looks, Our Little Infinity has a beautifully smooth formula, though you might need an extra coat for full opacity.  I'm showing 4 thin coats with a coat of Seche Vite in these photos.  I wore this for 3 days on 2 separate occasions and had almost no visible wear.  It's the perfect polish, I swear!

I did my best to capture the gorgeousness of Our Little Infinity, I hope you'll realize how special this one is because if you love purple and sparkly and shifty...you NEED this polish!

The Fault in Our Stars collection will be available on the LynBDesigns Etsy site on Friday, Sept. 19.  Tasting the Stars and Wish Granting Factory will each retail for $8 for a full size bottle with Our Little Infinity at $12.  I highly recommend following LynBDesigns on Facebook to keep updated on new releases, sales, and giveaways.  Jenna recently started a fan group on Facebook as well called LynB Loves.  Joining it will gain you access to sneak peeks and other great perks (like pre-order discounts!), so you might want to consider that, too. 

I hope you enjoyed this post and thanks so much for reading!  

Olympian Manicure

Hi there!  Thank goodness it's finally the weekend!  It's been a long week over here, and I'm thrilled to have two days in a row with nothing planned.  Like many of you I'm sure, I've been watching the Olympics most evenings over the last several days.  Last night, when I was looking around for a manicure inspiration, my eyes alighted on Adelina Sotnikova's skating outfit.  Then she won the gold medal and it pretty much sealed the deal.

As skating costumes go, this one is pretty tame.  But I love the color combo and you can never go wrong with a little bit of sparkle!

Here's what I came up with!  My mani comes off as more gold than her outfit, but that seems fitting when you consider the medal.  I started with 2 coats of China Glaze's Mingle with Kringle, a bright gold foil-like polish with some coppery glitter thrown in.  I topped that with a coat of Sinful Colors in All About You, a fine gold glitter topper again with copper glitter as well.  I wasn't able to quite capture that aged gold/bronze color of Adelina's glitter, but it's pretty nonetheless!

For my accent nail, I used striping tape to create a pattern similar to the skating costume's bodice.  I applied one coat of Sinful Colors in Smokin', a neutral dark grey creme.  I then removed the tape, et voila! the pattern was created!  I had originally wanted to do this on all my nails, instead of just an accent, but it was after midnight when I'd done the one and I just couldn't stay up any later.  I must be getting old...time never used to matter when it came to getting the perfect mani!
 

I hope you guys enjoyed this mani.  It was a lot of fun to wear and now I'm thinking I might do a few more skating costume-inspired manicures...the costumes are so pretty and almost all of them have glitter!  How could you go wrong?  :)

Please take a moment to enter my 1700k Facebook Likes giveaway that's currently open.  There are some great prizes available and I'd hate for you to miss out!

Thanks so much for reading!

Indie Spotlight: Ruby White Tips Christmas Balls

*RWT polish won in a giveaway.  Unsolicited review.  All other products purchased by me.*

Hello, Readers!  If there are, indeed, any of you left.  An explanation for my absence is warranted, I know.  I don't really have a good one.  Certainly, work has been busy but not so much that I haven't been painting my nails at all.  I think that mostly I've just worn myself out.  I love nail polish and I love blogging, but it's actually quite hard work.  Many people may not believe that but it's true.  Blogging is a time-consuming process and nail painting even more so.  I've just gotten burned out lately.  So I can't promise that I'll be back to posting as much as I was, but I'm working on it.  Above all, this venture should be fun and it was getting to the point where it was just stressful.  I've taken a little break and I'm hoping to get back in the groove, so don't count me out just yet!

Today I'm going to show you all a Christmas polish.  Yes, I know.  It's either a little late or a lot early, but it's my very first Ruby White Tips polish, a brand I regularly drool over on Facbook and Etsy, so I really had to show it off!  I actually won this in a giveaway from RWT and although I received it long before Christmas, I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

Christmas Balls is a pink to gold shimmer base with cheery red and gold dot and square glitters, topped off with a holographic sparkle.  After I put this on, I realized that despite the name, CB qualifies as a pretty Valentine's Day polish as well.  The pink shimmer is much more pronounced in real life and with the red and gold...well, it practially screams cupid!

CB has a lovely formula with a smooth application.  I'm wearing 3 coats here with a coat of Seche Vite on top and there is some visible nail line so I wouldn't expect complete opacity here.  If you'd like a more opaque look, you can layer this over white or any other color that strikes your fancy.  The glitter does settle a bit but turning the bottle upside down for a few moments before application will solve that issue.  The one coat of SV was enough to smooth out any bumpiness from the glitter.

*RWT polish won in a giveaway.  Unsolicited review.  All other products purchased by me.*

RWT still has Christmas Balls available (and the rest of their holiday collection) in their Etsy store for $9.75 for a full size bottle. RWT is also 5-free and vegan, which more and more folks are looking for these days.  You can follow RWT on Facebook to keep informed about new products, sales and other relevant deets.

Thanks so much for reading!

Try It On Tuesday: LynBDesigns Ametrine

*Unsolicited review. Gothic Gala Lacquers Smooth Me Over provided for separate unbiased review. All other products purchased by me.*

Hey there!  It's been a few weeks since I managed to get a Try It On Tuesday post done, but with all the polishes I snagged with the holiday sales, I better get back on the bandwagon cuz my untrieds bin is overflowing again!  I'm loving the polish I picked for today's post...give a look!

Ametrine from LynBDesigns is part of her Gem Show collection inspired by semi-precious stones.  If you're unfamiliar with the real life stone ametrine, it's a combination of amethyst and citrine.  I'm not sure how it forms but it is a lovely stone with purple, amber, and yellow tones.  Jenna has done a great job recreating the colors in this polish! 
 

Ametrine is a squishy purple jelly base with bunches of large lavender holographic dots, gold hexes in three sizes, bright purple hexes, and small lavender hexes.  The glitter mix is gorgeous and this baby is chock-full!  And I had no issues getting the glitters out of the bottle.  In fact, the large dots practically overwhelmed this mani, I got so many of them each time I dipped lol She's a stunner of a polish!  I'm wearing 3 coats here with one coat of Gothic Gala Lacquers Smooth Me Over top coat and one coat of Seche Vite. You will want a smoothing top coat with Ametrine, she's a little bumpy but totally worth the extra work!

*Unsolicited review. Gothic Gala Lacquers Smooth Me Over provided for separate unbiased review. All other products purchased by me.*

Ametrine is currently available on LynBDesigns' Etsy shop and retails for $8.00 for a full size 15ml bottle.  Jenna has some awesome fandom collections and her holos are gorgeous!  Be sure to follow LBD on Facebook to keep up with new releases, updates, and she always has fantastic sales...you won't want to miss them!  Thanks so much for reading!

Different Dimension's Money

Hiya, folks!  How's your day?  It's been pretty good for me.  It's amazing how a really good, hard work day can make you feel accomplished...especially when it means you get a 3-day weekend!  Yep, today turned out to be my Friday, yay!

Anyway, I have a fun polish to show you!  Different Dimension had a sale a couple of weeks ago to celebrate her impending (and, I'm positive, much deserved) vacation.  I couldn't resist grabbing a few polishes, so here's a swatch of one of the ones I picked up!

Meet Money.  Money is part of DD's Echoes collection, inspired by Pink Floyd songs.  I pretty much love everything in the collection and once I saw Money's dots, I knew she would be mine!  A white crelly chock full of holographic squares, gold and neon green hexes, small teal dots, and large teal, black AND holographic dots, this beauty made my heart go pitter-pat at first glance.

Look at all that dotty goodness!  I love the color combination and the formula was flawless.  Missi Barry, DD's maker, warns that the large dots might give some difficulty but I had no issues at all.  I turned the bottle upside down between coats and those larger dots just jumped right to the brush and from there to my nails.  I used 3-4 coats here, but you could definitely wear it over a white base for a faster payoff.  I love the depth in these types of polishes, so I'm usually happy to work up the opacity.
 

If you get a chance, you should definitely give Different Dimension polishes a try.  I've loved everything I've tried so far!

Thanks so much for reading!

ABC Challenge: K is for Klimt

Howdy, everyone!  I simply cannot seem to get more than two posts out a week these days..dunno what my deal is.  Anyway, to start my ABC Challenge post, I first have to send out a huge THANK YOU to Liz from A Mani Maniac.  Some of the girls from the Challenge participated in a secret St. Paddy's Day polish exchange and Liz drew my name and hooked me up with some fantastic goodies that will feature in future posts.  Thanks again!

On to today's manicure!  We're on to "K" in the ABC Challenge this week.  This was a tough letter for me.  I have very few polishes, either by brand or by name, that start with "K".  I decided to go with an inspired look and some nail art today.  One of my favorite artists is Gustav Klimt.  His colors, subject matter and symbolistic style appeal to me.  Many of you are no doubt familiar with The Kiss which is probably Klimt's most famous work.  If this is the only work you know from him, I urge you to Google him and check out some other images.  They're just beautiful! 

Today's manicure is inspired by Klimt's Hygeia.  A detail of a three part oil painting, Hygeia was unfortunately destroyed in 1945 during the final days of WWII when the castle where it was stored was burned by retreating SS troops to prevent it falling to Allied forces.  Nice little art history lesson for you.  War is bad, destroys pretty things!

Ok, on to the nails!

 

I'll include a polish list at the end of the post and I won't bore you with all the details here.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  Is it immediately recognizable as Klimt-inspired?  Maybe not.  However, when you see the detail in Hygeia's  robes, I hope you can see where I was going with it.

The accent nail is inspired by her hair.

This was really a fun manicure and I was glad to have a chance to do some nail art! 

Polishes used:
Red, Red by Wet 'n' Wild Wild Shine~cherry red creme
Diva on the Dunes by Jessica~bright red/orange creme
Pull Over by Sinful Colors~bright yellow creme
This Is It by Sinful Colors~shimmery gold with holographic flecks
Black and Brown Sharpie

Please take a moment to check out the other ladies in the ABC Challenge.  You can find them via the thumbnails below!  Thanks so much for reading!

Turquoise Manicure

Ok, guys.  Rarely do I get so excited about a manicure that I HAVE to post it on a Friday night when I know no one will probably see it, but I just couldn't wait!  A few weeks ago, I saw a tutorial on how to get the O.P.I. Spotted look without actually using Spotted.  As this polish is not currently available in the US (France only, s'il vous plait!), I was intrigued and wanted to see if it worked.  However, the tutorial called for spray hand sanitizer which I've had some trouble finding for some reason.  Basically, I kind of forgot about it.  Then, just a couple of days ago on Pinterest, I found this.  I had to squint to figure out what the secret ingredient was for this tutorial, but, after I did, I knew I had to give a try! Turquoise is one of my favorite stones, and as I do spend a good part of my week making jewelry, I thought it would be fun to have some stones on my nails lol

Take a look:

Are they not fantastic?!?  I was really worried because for most of the time I was working on this manicure, it looked a lot like mud.  Once I got the top coat on, however, it was like POW!

....more after the jump....

Heavenly Manicure Two Ways

Hi there!  I'd like to welcome my new readers as a few of you have joined over the last couple weeks.  A special hello to the lovely ladies from the ABC Challenge, you girls are making my day with all your nice comments on my first submission, so thanks!

Today I have a fun little manicure to show you.  A while ago, I hustled to my local Walgreen's to grab a couple of Revlon's new polishes including Heavenly, a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Stairway to Heaven.  Heavenly has square blue/purple/green iridescent glitters mixed with orange/copper/red iridescent glitters in a milky base.  The only thing to do with a polish this lovely is to layer it over a darker base color...which is what I did!  Whaddya think?

....more after the jump....

ABC Challenge: C is for Color Club

Hi, all!  I'm a little late to this party, but I've joined the ABC Challenge hosted by Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner.  They're actually into the 3rd week, "C", but she was kind enough to let me join anyway.  I'm looking forward to this Challenge as the rules are pretty relaxed.  Basically, it's a weekly manicure posted on Wednesdays.  The only rule for the manicure itself is that either the brand, color or technique has to start with the letter of the week; in this case, "C".  Super relaxed and super fun!

So this week, "C" is for Color Club.  While strolling through Marshall's with my oh-so-patient and wonderfully fantastic boyfriend the other day, I came upon their polish section which never fails to disappoint.  I was lucky enough to pick up a mini set of 4 duochrome Color Club nail polishes for $4.99!  They're so very lovely!  Take a look:

Unfortunately, neither the packaging nor the bottles had any names or numbers to reference, so I'll just have to make them up as I go along.  I decided I wanted to use the green, purple, and blue polishes and do a gradient for this challenge.  Here's what I got:

....more after the jump....

Liquid Sand Manicure

Hi there!  Hope everyone is well this evening.  Did anyone catch the Golden Globes?  All I ever think after award shows is how many movies I have yet to watch lol.  There were some gorgeous dresses on the red carpet and did anyone catch Zooey Deschanel's manicure?  So cute!  I love that nails are becoming such an accessory in the celebrity world, makes me feel a little less crazy in my obsession!

I managed a quick stop at Ulta this weekend and picked up a few things.  I was delighted to find Layla's Ceramic Effect in the clearance aisle but they were already out of the purple flakie I wanted.  I did pick up EL24 and am looking forward to swatching it in the near future.  Here's a quick pic of my small haul:

Left to right: China Glaze Cirque du Soleil in Get Carried Away, the O.P.I. Mariah Liquid Sand mini collection and the previously mentioned Layla EL24.  These are by no means the only polishes I've purchased this week...I made a quick stop at Walgreen's to pick up Girly and Heavenly by Revlon.  So be on the lookout for some swatches of those as well.

For today's manicure, I simply could not wait to try out the Liquid Sand collection.  I first saw these swatched over at  I Feel Polished! blog and knew I had to give them a try!  These polishes are packed with glitter and dry to a gritty finish, sort of like sandpaper or an emery board.  Here's my swatch with an accent nail thrown in for good measure:

This is Get Your Number from the collection; a royal blue polish with holographic glitter.  Once again, my camera really isn't able to capture all the sparkle here, but I think you can get the idea.  I used 3 coats for full coverage and I will say that I was disappointed in the color itself.  It just didn't get to the truly royal blue color that it appears to be in the bottle.  That said, it is a lovely color regardless.  Application was easy but do yourself a favor and wait a good few minutes between coats.  I waited about 5 minutes between and I wish I would have waited more like 10 or 15.  I've become spoiled with my Seche Vite and I get impatient waiting for things to dry now!  Do take your time with it though, as it will smudge a bit if you go too fast.  

The finish is definitely different and it's taking me awhile to decide if I like it or not.  I think the effect is nifty, but I miss the smooth shine of my topcoat.  It's a nice change for awhile though and I'm looking forward to trying out the other minis in the set.  For my accent nail, I started with 3 coats of Angel Wings by China Glaze and then taped off scallops to create the wavy look. 

Here's another look at the texture of Liquid Sand:

I am going to try this with a topcoat as well.  I may have to break down and buy some Gelous for this one.  Seems like Seche Vite might not cut it.

As a reminder, my giveway is still up and running.  I may end up extending it a bit as there haven't been too many entries yet.  I hope a few more folks will enter yet.  Feel free to share the giveaway on facebook or twitter, even if you don't want to enter yourself.  I know not everyone wants to sign up for blogger or to my blog specifically, but if you know someone who might be interested, feel free to spread the word! 

As always, thanks so much for reading!

New Year's Nails

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday.  I headed out with my favorite people for a nice dinner and then on to one of the girls' apartments for drinks and chatting.  It was a good evening and a great way to start the new year.  Another great way to start the year is with a fabulous manicure and I just so happen to have one for you right here!  Take a look:

.....more after the jump.....

Silver and Gold Manicure

Howdy, everyone!  Ah, Friday...the beautiful beginning to the weekend.  That is, if you have a job wherein you aren't required to work weekends...I have such a job.  But, at least it's a fun job!

I've got another holiday manicure for you today.  This one is super sparkly and packed with holo goodness.  Take a peek:

Silver and gold and glitter and holo, oh my!  I started this manicure by just swatching 3 coats of China Glaze Angel Wings and Glistening Snow.  These two polishes are part of China Glaze's 2012 Holiday Joy Collection and both are micro-glitters with a holographic punch.  Angel Wings is the gold and Glistening Snow is the silver.  Both of these applied easily with decent coverage on the second coat.  Initially, I was going to leave this manicure as just the two polishes on alternating nails, but why stop there?  I ended up doing glitter gradients on each nail.  I paired O.P.I.'s Servin' Up Sparkle, a silver micro and hex holographic glitter in a clear base, with Angel Wings while Glistening Snow matched up with e.l.f.'s Gold Star, a large hex glitter in a clear base.  

Here's another view:

I may have a holiday party to go to Saturday night, so I'll be sporting this glitter-fest because I think it's just perfect!  What do you guys think?

Thanks so much for reading!

Max Factor Fantasy Fire

Hello, everyone.  It's been a rough few weeks for myself and my friends and so I haven't been posting regularly.  I haven't even been doing my nails.  One of my favorite people in the world passed away two weeks ago and I miss her terribly.  It was a sudden and unexpected thing and it seems very unfair.   Shannon was one of my biggest blog fans and I'll miss her support immeasurably, here as well as in every other aspect of my life.  I'm not going to go on and on about it here, because it's just not the place for it, but it felt wrong to continue on here as if nothing had happened.  It's been hard to be creative, but I know she wouldn't want me to stop doing something I love so much.  

My nails look pretty terrible cuz I just haven't been taking care of them.  I broke almost every single one in the last 2 weeks and then got a "manicure" at a salon over the weekend.  I use the quotes because she really kind of messed up my nails and the color smudged within 5 minutes of leaving the shop.  Bleh, that's what I get for letting some one else touch 'em!

A few weeks ago, I scraped some pennies together and bid on eBay for a particular polish I HAD to have for my stash.  I won the auction but hadn't gotten around to swatching it yet. Here's what I came up with:

...more after the jump...

Nail-aween Challenge 8: Witch Nails

Howdy, everyone!  I know it's late, but I really wanted to get this post up before I turn in.  I've got a really cute manicure and it just couldn't wait til daylight!  The next Nail-aween Challenge is Witch Nails.  I dug around online and found a couple of fun ideas that I wanted to re-create.  You can find one of the originals here and the other link just takes me to a tumblr page.  If you know who's photo that is, let me know so I can give credit for the lovely artwork!  Here's my take:

I decided to go with a bright green background, but I didn't want it to be a flat color so I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails in Limestone topped off with 2 coats of Electric Slide by Nina Ultra Pro.  Limestone is a citrus-y green creme and Electric Slide has holographic and gold glitter suspended in a neon green base.  I used black acrylic paint to create the witch profile on my thumb and the boots on my middle and ring fingers.  The stripes on my other nails were done with a black striping polish.  I finished off the look with boot button details in Orly's Luxe.  

This is one of my favorite manicures so far from this challenge.  The color combo is fun and striking and the artwork turned out so well!

...more after the jump...

Happy Accident

Howdy everyone!  We're halfway through the week, how's everyone feeling?  If you're like me, you can't wait for Friday.  I actually have the day off Friday and I'm thinking I might go get a massage.  I received a gift certificate to a local spa for my birthday from a friend and I'm thinkin' it might be time to cash it in.  

I wanted to put up some photos of my nails today.  This is a good example of how mistakes can often become happy accidents.  I was trying out a new stamping plate and instead of getting the whole design, I only got a partial.  At first I was frustrated, but then I decided I like the abstract feel of the partial stamp anyway so I stamped all my nails that way.  Here's how it came out:

I started with 2 coats of Peachy Keen by China Glaze (another from my weekend Ulta spree) and stamped over top with Luxe from Orly.  Luxe is my favorite gold of all time.  It reminds me of the look of gold leaf or foil and the effect is just marvelous.  I thought the color combo worked well here, too.  It reminds me of that marble with the gold veins running through it.  So you can see the original pattern of the stamp was a bunch of stars.  I'll give this pattern another try with a thicker polish and see if I can get a clearer outcome in the future, but as far as oopsies go, this turned out alright.

I'll be posting my first manicure for the Nail-aween Challenge tomorrow so be sure to stop by and check it out!  Thanks for reading!

27 of 31: Nails Inspired by Artwork

Howdy, everyone!  Only 4 days left in the 31 Day Challenge!  Pretty crazy, huh?  Today's challenge was to be inspired by artwork.  My friend, Joe, went to Spain a couple of weeks ago and got to check out the Salvador Dali museum there.  Knowing my interest in jewelry, he brought me back a catalog of Dali's Jewels, a series of sculptures made out of precious metals and stones.  I hesitate to call them all jewelry as some of them aren't really meant to be worn, but they're all lovely.  While the photos in the catalog are spectacular, some day, I hope I'll get to see them in person.

I chose a particular piece from this collection as my inspiration.  The Royal Heart is a small gold heart with a miniature crown.  The center of the heart, a vertical rectangle has been cut out and in the space, an anatomical heart shaped out of rubies has been set.  The most amazing thing about this piece is that the ruby heart actually beats.  It's breath-taking to watch, almost creepy in a way.  I've tried to attach a video at the end of this post, so we'll see if it goes.  There's also a link, which I urge you to click so you can see the heart beat for yourself.  Here's my interpretation along with a picture of The Royal Heart:

Stunning, yes? (The Heart, not my manicure lol)  I started with a coat of Orly's Luxe topped with 2 coats of Oscar by Julep.  While that dried, I created some nail decals by placing dots of color on top of some saran wrap and left it to dry.  I made rectangle stencils with blue painter's tape and used a deep maroon O.P.I. whose name I don't know (obviously part of a mini set to which I don't have the packaging) to paint in the rectangles.  Once the decals dried, I cut them to fit the rectangles and fixed them to my nails with a coat of Seche Vite.  I added some yellow heart "jewels" in the center of each nail for some extra bling.

This challenge has been so fun (and exhausting) and I'll be a little sad when it's over (but not too sad).  I hope you all are enjoying it as much as I am.   Please tune in tomorrow to see some flag-inspired nail art!  Thanks so much for reading!

This *should* be the video of The Royal Heart beating.  Here's the link just in case this doesn't load the way I hope it will.  

25 of 31: Nails Inspired by Fashion

Howdy, everyone!  Gosh this 31 Day Challenge is just whizzin' right along, huh?  We're on Day 25 already, I can hardly believe it!  Today, we are inspired by fashion.  Now I have to admit, I don't know from fashion...I like what I like and that's what I like.  Whether anyone else cares for it doesn't interest me much.  That being said, I am an avid Project Runway viewer and I enjoy clothes overall.  Being in love with Pinterest as I am, I looked back through some of my fashion pins to see what jumped out at me.  Here's what I found:

These tights are from an etsy seller, Gal Stern, whose store can be found here.  I love pretty much everything she has listed even though I do hate to wear stockings myself.  For my manicure on the left, I started with 2 coats of MAC's Black Enough?, a  polish with a matte finish.  Then, using Orly's Luxe and my homemade dotting tool, I added some half moon dots and the pattern on my accent nail.  This is really simple, but I LOVE it!  Black and gold is such a great color combo and I think it's a great complement to the tights.  Whaddya think?

Thanks so much for reading and look out for tomorrow's post, inspired by pattern!

21 of 31: Nails Inspired by a Color

Howdy, all!  The weekend is finally here!  It's been a really long week, but I've gotten some good news today about some work-related things so I'm pretty excited.  I won't know anything for sure for awhile, but I'm looking forward to some changes in the near future.  Does anyone have any big weekend plans?  I'm headed to the local Kansas State sports bar to watch the game tomorrow night...pins and needles...we play the Sooners (my arch enemy!) and I'm hoping my Wildcats will pull off a big "W"!  Ok, ok, I know what you're thinking.  "Can we talk about nails, not sports, please?"  Alright, here ya go!

Day 21 starts the "inspired by" challenges; today's being "inspired by a color".  I had no idea what that meant at first.  I mean, inspired by a color?  So do I just paint a straight color on of my choice and go?  But, after a little research, I've discovered that we're to be inspired by a nail polish color name, not necessarily the color itself.  I deliberated on several color choices before deciding on Revlon's Royal.  I started with 2 coats as a base and then, using Orly's Luxe, painted on little crowns.  I went back in with a dotting tool to add the "jewels": Julep's January for rubies, Wet 'n' Wild's Fast Dry in Sage in the City for emeralds and more Royal for sapphires.  I actually think this would make a great holiday mani...I must remember it!

Here's a view showing the crowns a bit better:

I'm already stressing over tomorrow's "inspired by a song" manicure.  The aforementioned "big game" necessitates purple polish, so I'm not sure what song sounds purple ;)  Either way, check back in to check it out!  Thanks for reading!

19 of 31: Galaxy Nails

Howdy, everyone!  I've got some galaxy nails for you today.  I've done galaxies once before and so I wanted to try something with a different color palette this time.  I went for the darker side of things...whaddya think?

 I don't think I can even begin to list all the colors I used.  I know I started, once again, with 2 coats of Sonia Kashuk in Rock Star but after that it gets a little fuzzy lol  I had a lot of trouble with this manicure and had to start over once.  I'll include a list at the end of this post if you're interested in knowing exactly which colors I used.  Galaxy nails are really one of my favorite manicures ever.  The way the colors sponge on and look kind of like a mess until that top coat goes on is just magic every time!  There are tons of tutorials for this technique online and it's pretty easy to do, so grab as many colors as you want and give it a try...you know you want to!

Colors used:
NYC Long wearing in Luxury Lime Creme
Milani 3D Holographic in 3D
Milani Jewel FX in Gold 
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in For Sher-bert
Sally Hansen Diamond Strong in Something Blue
Wet 'n' Wild Wild Shine in French White Creme
Wet 'n' Wild Megalast in I Need a Refresh-Mint

I think that's everything!  Thanks so much for reading and check out tomorrow's challenge; water marble!

13 of 31: Animal Print Nails

Howdy, everyone!  I have to start by giving a big "Thank You!" to Sarah from Chalkboard Nails.  Even though I never win anything, I entered her Cirque All Hallow's Eve Giveaway and snagged the set!  I'm so excited, I can hardly wait to get them in the mail! 

On to today's challenge, animal print nails.  I went pretty traditional here because I actually don't do animal print that often.  (If you want to see some really out-of-the-box animal prints, try here and here.)  

Despite the fact that it's been done by everyone already, this is one of my favorite manicures so far in this challenge.  There are tons of tutorials out there on how to do both kinds of print here, so I won't go into it too much.  It really just takes a dotting tool (mine is homemade), a striping brush and a little patience.  As for the colors, the brown on the cheetah print nails is an O.P.I. mini bottle.  I got it from a customer at the pet store I work at and I'm guessing it was part of a collection and, as I don't have the packaging, I have no idea what it's called.  In any case, it's a pretty dark caramel creme.  The gold is Luxe by Orly and the blue on the zebra striped nails is Nina Ultra Pro in Blu La La.  The black is a striping polish from Color Club.

The next few days of the challenge are going to be extra challenging for me because I'm not particularly fond of the categories, but I'll give it my best!  Thanks so much for reading!