16 of 31: Tribal Nails

Howdy, everyone.  Short post this evening.  Tribal nails are the challenge of the day and mine aren't that great.  I really don't care for the look of most tribal manicures, it's just too much pattern on the nail for me.  However, I didn't want to skip the day so I decided to try my hand at some Maori tribe patterns.  Here's what they look like:

I started with two coats of Wet 'n' Wild Megalast in Private Viewing.  To do the tribal patterns, I used a Sharpie pen and just free-handed everything.  Some turned out better than others and I wish the marker would have given me a darker line overall.  I'm just too tired tonight to redo them, however.  I promise to give it my all for tomorrow...glitter nails!

Thanks for reading!

15 of 31: Delicate Print Nails

Howdy, everyone!  It was so great to have the day off today!  I took myself out to lunch and went on a Target run (picked up a couple of new polishes).  However, by the time I got home, I was feeling kinda cruddy.  I've been fighting off a cold or something most of the week, so I'm guzzling orange juice and trying to take it easy.

Anyway, on to today's challenge!  I'm still not really clear on what constitutes a "delicate print", but I did something that I think is cool and since it's my blog, that's what counts, right? :)

Believe it or not, I haven't actually done newsprint nails yet.  The process is pretty simple, you just dip your nail in rubbing alcohol and press a piece of printed newsprint onto it while it's wet.  For my manicure, I started with two alternating coats of Wet 'n' Wild's Wild Shine in French White Creme and Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Sunny Side.  The white and the yellow kind of mixed into a milder tone of Sunny Side and I thought the effect was nifty.  After a coat of Seche Vite and some drying time, I did the newsprint process.  One pass wasn't enough for me, so I Seche'd again and added another layer of print and kept repeating that until I was happy with it.  I'm not sure if it meets the challenge, but I think it looks pretty cool!  Here's a closer view:

We're going tribal tomorrow, so please stop by to check it out...thanks for reading!

14 of 31: Flower Nails

Howdy!  As usual, I'm running late with this post.  Today's challenge is Flower nails and, frankly, I was not excited about it.  I'm not really a flower-y girl.  So, I thought and I thought and I thought about what to do.  Then I started googling photos and found this one.  Poppies are one of my favorite flowers and I love the drama of the color.  Here's my version:

This turned out so fabulous that I'm almost sad I'm not at work tomorrow to get some feedback...almost sad, but not really :)  I started here with 2 coats of Wet 'n' Wild's Wild Shine in French White Creme.  Using a striper brush, I painted the flower outlines and seed pods onto my accent nail.  After that, I used acrylic paint to detail some flowers.  I also used the paint in a one-stroke technique to do the larger flowers on the rest of my nails.  Drama, drama, drama!  And in a good way!  Here's another look:

So, again, the 31 Day Manicure Challenge pushes me to come up with something out of nothing!  Thanks so much for reading and I hope you'll come check out my delicately printed nails tomorrow!

12 of 31: Striped Nails

Howdy!  Just a quick post today for the Challenge, stripes!

You can see I've got some wear on these already, the polishes I used are from a set I bought at Marshall's called Simply Sweet.  I know nothing about the brand, but I've worn it a couple of times and always get a lot of chipping really quickly.  Oh well.

 I started with 2 coats of Mac Vestral White for undies and then painted each nail a different color.  After that dried, I taped off some stripes and painted over it with Wet 'n' Wild's Wild Shine in Black Creme.  Super simple but I got more compliments on this manicure today than I've gotten in awhile, so it must pack a visual punch!

It's on to animal prints for tomorrow's Challenge, thanks so much for reading!

11 of 31: Polka Dot Nails

Howdy, everyone!  It's turning into another whirlwind week for me, I almost didn't get my Day 11 Challenge done!  I did manage to sneak it in after all so, on to the Polka Dots!

I started with one coat of Fingerpaints Hue Are You? topped by one coat of Maybelline's Color Show in Downtown Brown.  DB is a really pretty milk chocolate brown with a turquoise green shift.  I'll have to swatch this on its own and get some full sun photos going for you guys.  Maybelline has a few limited edition colors out in their Color Show line at the moment, but DB was the only one that caught my eye as something different.  Super pretty!

After all that dried (with the help of some Seche Vite, of course!), I did a polka dot gradient using Sinful Colors in Leap Flog and Athens and Wet 'n' Wild's Megalast in  I Need a Refresh-Mint.  I love the color combo here and the gradient effect is pretty nifty.

Tune in tomorrow for some stripe action!  Thanks for reading!

10 of 31: Gradient Nails

Howdy!  I'm a little late posting this, but oh well.  I figure the manicure was worn the whole day of Day 10, so it counts, even if I'm posting it 10 minutes after midnight ;)  Today is Gradient Nails and here's my version:

I started with 2 coats of Ulta's Magnetic polish in Put a Ring on It, a dusty rose polish with blue iridescent glitter.  Then, I taped off my nails in the middle and did a gradient from tip to cuticle using China Glaze Magnetix in Instant Chemistry, a dark maroon.  I reversed the gradient for the other half of the nail and then used a coat of non-fast drying top coat to reactivate the magnetic polish to create the diagonal lines.  This didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped it would, but I'll give it an "A" for effort.

Next up is polka dots so check out tomorrow's post!  Thanks for reading :)

8 of 31: Metallic Nails

Howdy, everyone!  Another Saturday gone and what a beautiful day here in Chicago!  This is perfect weather as far as I'm concerned...70 degrees, partly sunny and just a touch of nip in the air.  I've had a pretty great day.  My Wildcats won their game 52-13 and I got out of work early to go see Cirque at the Renegade Craft Fair.  Unfortunately, she was out of Tibetan Nights (seen here on Chalkboard Nails), but I was able to grab a few bottles of some other lovelies...but that's for another post.

This post is about metallic nails, which are today's theme for the 31 Day Challenge!  I had an extra challenge with these today.  Going through my stash, I noticed that I really have very few metallic polishes.  I don't really care for them.  They tend to have a streaky finish and the color is always so muted.  Metallic polishes just aren't my thing.  In addition to this, today being a game day, I had to have purple nails to support my team.  Not negotiable.  I finally managed to come up with something.  Take a look:

Super simple stripes of color.  The first stripe is Sally Hansen's Sheerly Daring in Silver Plum, a silvery lavender colored metallic polish.  The next stripe is Taffy from a brand called Naturistics which is a more saturated lavender metallic than Silver Plum.  For the Taffy stripe, I used tape to cover the first third of my nails and then just painted over top and removed the tape while the polish was still wet.  The last layer is Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails in Metalworks Frost, a bright deep purple frosty polish.  I ended up freehanding the last stripe because I was too impatient to wait for Taffy to dry completely so I could tape it lol 

I have had all of the polishes for at least 10 years, which is probably why you might notice some extra wear already on the tips of my nails.  Still, I think it worked out well and it's a simple but nice manicure.  

You don't want to miss tomorrow's mani...it's Rainbow Nails for Day 9!  Thanks for reading!

7 of 31: Black & White Nails

Howdy! I'm really loving this 31 Day Challenge!  I tried another new (to me) technique for today's manicure.  Check 'em out!

It looks like a water marble, right?  Well, it is a water marble, but without the water!  So much easier and much less mess...I think I'll marble this way from now on.  Basically, it's a homemade decal.  Using Wet 'n' Wild's Wild Shine in French White Creme and their Fast Dry in Ebony Hates Chris, I swiped stripes of polish onto cling wrap that I stretched over a magazine to flatten it.  You can also use a Ziploc bag or other surface that the polish can dry on, but won't adhere to.  I used a toothpick to create marble designs in the polish while wet and then let it dry.  While this was drying, I applied 2 coats of French White Creme to my nails.  Once the decals were dry, I peeled them off of the cling wrap and applied them to my nails (it helps if the polish on your nails is still tacky, so hold off on any fast dry top coat action).  I used a cuticle stick to trim the excess decal from my nail and topped everything off with Seche Vite.

Aren't they just fabulous?  This is one of my favorite manicures ever and I can't wait to try it with some other colors...although the black and white contrast is great.  Here's another shot:

Tune in tomorrow for some metallic polish!  Thanks for reading!

6 of 31: Purple Nails

Howdy, everyone!  I'm still keeping up with the 31 Day Challenge and we're on to Day 6.  Here's my take on Purple Nails:

This is my first attempt at a technique called one stroke painting.  I got the idea from this post on Lucy's Stash and did a little research on YouTube to find out how to do this technique.  It's relatively simple, but takes a bit of practice.  If you're interested in learning more, there are tons of videos out there, just google "one stroke painting".  

Here, I started with 2 coats of Essie's Bangle Jangle, a pretty grey lavender creme.  I painted the flowers using purple and white acrylic paint and topped everything with a coat of Seche Vite.  I'm pretty proud of this for a first attempt and I'm looking forward to trying this technique in some different colors.  Here's another look:

Thanks so much for reading and stop back in tomorrow to see some black & white nails!

5 of 31: Blue Nails

Howdy!  Is this week as long for everyone else as it seems to be for me?  Whew!  I'm bushed and no days off til next Saturday!  Oh well, at least the bills will get paid :)

On to Day 5 of the 31 Day Manicure Challenge; blue nails!

I started with one coat of a turquoise Cynthia Rowley polish and a coat of Seche Vite on top.   I cut out heart stencils from blue painter's tape and applied the stencils to my nails after letting the base polish dry.  Using China Glaze Crackle Glaze in Oxidized Aqua, I painted over the stencils and then removed them to create the silver hearts on top.  I saw this technique on Pinterest but, alas!, I'm unable to give credit to anyone since the link went to someone's tumblr page.  If anyone knows who thought this up, let me know so I can post a credit.  It's such a great idea and would work for all kinds of shapes.  Hearts were easy to cut out so that's why I started with those.

Tomorrow is purple, so be sure to stop by to check 'em out!  Thanks for reading!

4 of 31: Green Nails

Howdy!  It has been a long, long day and I have several more of those coming up.  So, this is going to be a rather short post today.  Day 4 of the 31 Day Challenge brings us green nails...I took the opportunity to swatch something that I hadn't used yet.  Take a look!

This is another of the polishes that a lovely customer brought to me at work a couple of weeks ago.  My very first Dior polish!  Dior's Waterlily is a lovely minty, sea green with a hint of shimmer.  It also happens to be scented, which was a surprise to me, and I actually quite like it.  It's a floral scent, though it smells a bit more like roses than lilies to me, but whatever.   And you can't argue with that color...it gorgeous!  Coverage was good, fully opaque in 2 coats.  What I didn't like about this polish?  The formula is terrible.  Gloppy, thick and hard to work with.  Now, I don't know if it's just my bottle since I don't know if the person who gave it to me had used it previously.  Even so, this color came out for Spring of 2012, so unless this bottle had been sitting around with the lid off, I can't see any reason for it to be this thick.  I also hate the brush.  It's a wide brush and I never have very much luck with those.  So, while I'm thrilled to have this in my stash, I won't be rushing to spend my hard earned cash on any other Dior polishes any time soon.

Tune in tomorrow for some blue nails!  Thanks for reading!

3 of 31: Yellow Nails

Howdy!  Everyone in the States enjoying Labor Day?  I know I am!  I started with a trip to a local apple orchard with some friends to pick some of those crunchy delicious fruits.  It was a little frustrating, because of all the crazy weather we've had, the apple crop is really not great.  I managed to find a few, but the selection was nothing to what it was last year.  To make up for it, we stopped at Sonic...twice!

Anyway, on to the nails!  Today is Day 3 of the 31 Day Challenge and we have yellow nails as the manicure of the day.  Here are mine:

I'm not hugely thrilled with the way this turned out but, since I already have to plan for another mani tomorrow, I'm just gonna let it slide.  I used 3 coats of Jessica's Hype as a base color here.  I really need to flesh out my nude collection (pun intended), I only have two and both of them have a shimmer which isn't really what I wanted for this.  Oh well, we make do with what we have.  On top of Hype, I used Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Sunny Side and my homemade dotting tool to make some bright polka dots.  I do think it's interesting that these dots are enough color that in the sunlight from farther away, it looks like my whole nail is yellow because of the color reflection off of the nude base.  So that's kinda neat, but overall, I think I need a little more contrast to pull this one off.

Tomorrow is green so I hope you'll stop by and check it out!  Thanks for reading!

2 of 31: Orange Nails

Howdy!  Today is Day 2 of the 31 Day Challenge...Orange nails!  Orange is my least favorite color (again with the challenging Challenge).  No real reason for it, I'm just more partial to blues and purples, so the warm side of the color wheel gets neglected.  You might remember a couple of weeks ago, a customer at work gave me a whole bag full of nail polishes that she wasn't using (thanks again and Hi! to Brody!).  In the bag of stuff she gave me was a set of Sephora nail polish, a collaboration with Pantone.  It's a fun set including a glitter, a creme, a shimmer and a matte polish all in the same color.  This one is called Tangerine Tango and was just perfect for this challenge!  Here are my orange nails for the day:

I used two polishes from the Sephora set here.  I started with 2 coats of the creme on every nail.  Then, using the glitter, I accented my thumbs and ring fingers.  Because I can never do things simply, I actually applied a layer of Tangerine Tango glitter and then a layer of KleanColor Chunky Holo in Poppy just to add some extra dimension to the accent nails.  I think this turned out well...simple and clean with just a bit of sparkle.  Tangerine Tango is impressing me so far, good application and coverage and the finish is nice on both polishes I tried.  The color is so fantastic that I'm going to have to rethink my aversion to orange and bulk up the choice of it in my stash!

Only 29 days to go!  Thanks so much for reading!

1 of 31-Red Nails

Howdy, everyone!  You can guess from the title of my post that I've decided to join in the 31 Day Challenge this month!  I was going to put it off til October, but I have a lot of fun Halloween manis planned and I didn't want this to interfere.  So, basically, it's a different manicure every day following the guidelines below:

I swiped this image from Kayla over at Nails by Kayla Shevonne, as she said anyone who was interested in participating was welcome to it.

Day number 1 is pretty simple; Red Nails!  I don't often wear red nail polish these days.  I'm not opposed to color but I think it's such a "standard" nail polish color that I overlook it in my stash a lot.  Already this Challenge is pushing me out of my box...I love it!  Here's my take on the red nails challenge:

I started with one coat of Wet 'n' Wild's Red Red and then added a coat of Sephora by O.P.I. in What's Your Poison?, a great red and silver glitter in a red jelly base.  I used a coat of Seche Vite to help everything firm up and then I applied e.l.f #20417 from Target to just the tips of my nails.  I've been unable to find names for this polish brand so if anyone knows any other way to refer to these, I'd love to hear about it!  #20417 is a micro-glitter gold base with large hexagonal holographic glitters mixed in, very pretty!  This is my first time trying e.l.f. and I liked it, but to warn you, it smells a lot like the KleanColor polishes.  PeeeeeeeeYouuuuuuuu!


I know that technically I'm posting this manicure a day late, but I promise I did apply it before midnight on the 1st...just took some time to get photos and a post together.  I'll try to be more timely for the rest of the month. If anyone else is participating, I'd love to see what you come up with and I'd love to hear what you think of my manis!

Thanks so much for reading!

K-S-U Wildcats! Manicure

Howdy, everyone!  In case you didn't know or aren't sports oriented, today is the college football opening day.  Thanks goodness!  I love football.  In particular, I love Kansas State University Wildcats football, and since we're currently winning our game 51-9  we just won our game 51-9 over Missouri State,  I'm thrilled to post my football inspired mani here!

Isn't it cute?!  I started with 2 coats of Sonia Kashuk's Rock Star and added a layer of Purple-xing by Nina Ultra Pro.   Then, I made stencils with blue painter's tape for the "Power Cats" on my thumb and ring fingers.   Power Cats are KSU's mascot symbol.  To make the stencils, I put the tape directly on my computer monitor over the design I wanted to trace.  I traced them with a pen and then moved the tape to a hard surface and used an X acto knife to cut out the stencil.  I waited until the base color was completely dry and then used the stencils to apply some white acrylic paint.  Using a dotting tool and a striping brush, I created the designs on my other nails.

Here's a closer look at the Power Cat design:

I'm so glad we won today!  It was a shaky start but hopefully we'll finish the season like the second half of that game!

As always, thanks for reading!

Magnetic Gradient Manicure

Howdy, everyone!  The weekend is just about here (well it IS here for me, as I have today off).  Any big Labor Day plans?  I'll be headed out of the city with my girlfriends to go pick some apples on Monday.  I love apple-picking and I really can't tell you why.  It's probably more my love of road trips and hanging out with my friends more than anything, but it's definitely something fun to do.  

On to my latest manicure!

This is a gradient manicure done with magnetic polishes.  I had no idea such a thing could be done, but it's actually surprisingly simple and I thought the results were pretty good for my first effort.  I only had 2 nails that were problematic and fortunately neither was on my photographed hand :)

I started with one thick coat of Ulta's Polar Opposites*, a teal sparkle magnetic polish. Then I applied my gradient of Ulta's Opposites Attract* (a deep purple magnetic polish with a silver sparkle), sponging it on just as I would for a normal gradient.  Then, one nail at a time, I applied one coat of non-fast drying top coat.  This will reactivate the polish already on the nail, thus allowing you to use your magnet!  While the top coat was still wet, I used the striped magnet that came with Ulta's kit to do alternating diagonal lines on top of the gradient.  I did this one nail at a time so the top coat wouldn't dry before I used the magnet.  I let everything set for a bit and then applied a coat of my beloved Seche Vite.  To my surprise, having the non-fast drying top coat on underneath the Seche seems to have given this manicure a bit more shine than usual.  I'm going to have to try this technique on another mani and see if it holds true.  It's one more step, but, hey I'm already putting 5 coats of polish on, what's one more?

I love learning new techniques and I'm thrilled to learn that magnetic polishes are much more versatile than I thought at first.  I mean, once you've used a magnetic polish, it's cool at first but if it only does the one thing it gets a bit boring.  It's good to know that I can use them more like regular polishes...I have a few ideas churning in my brain for some new manis now!

I hope everyone has a great Friday and, as always, thanks for reading!

*These two polishes came in a set with 2 others, I got the whole set at Ulta for $4.99.

Saran Wrap Manicure

Howdy, everyone!  I hope your weekend is going well so far.  I managed to get today off and had brunch with my friend and her parents this morning.  I do so love brunch :)  I also got to try out a new (for me) polish technique this week:  saran wrap!  Here are my results!

 If you're not familiar with the technique*, a saran wrap manicure is similar to some wall treatments I've seen.  You apply your base color (here I've used Sonia Kashuk's Rock Star) and let it dry completely.  I used a coat of Seche Vite to speed it up.  Then you apply one coat of a different color on top (my mani uses Essie's Bangle Jangle).  While this coat is still wet, you use a small piece of saran wrap (cling film, plastic wrap, whatever your favorite term is), crunch it up and dab your nails.  The wrap picks up bits of the wet polish and creates a fun texture.  I actually did this second step twice, using Zoya's Neeka for a little bit of sparkle.  I'm enjoying this technique and would like to try it with different color combinations...maybe something a little less monochrome next time.  Here's another shot of my mani:

 

Thanks so much for reading!!

*I don't know who "invented" this technique as I've seen it on many different blogs lately.  If there's someone I should give credit to, please let me know and I'll be happy to add it in!

Rock 'n' Roll B-Girl

Howdy, everyone!  Two posts in one day, very exciting!  I wanted to talk about the "Sinful" issue on its own, but I do have a manicure to show you! 

When I went to Walgreen's the other day, I found a new brand that I wasn't familiar with.  It's called "Black Radiance" and I believe it's owned by Wet 'n' Wild.  In any case, they had a display up and I thought some of the colors were really pretty.  They retail for about $2.99 so it might be a good replacement for Sinful Colors, if they don't shape up soon.

So this is 2 coats of Black Radiance Girls Rock in B-Girl, which is a pretty dark teal with a bit of a shimmer to it.  On top of that, I applied 2 coats of Wet 'n' Wild Fergie in Rock 'n' Roll; holographic and silver glitter in a gunmetal base.  It was cloudy today so I couldn't get any good outdoor photos, but trust me, this is FULL of sparkle!  So far, I'm really impressed with Wet 'n' Wild's Fergie line.  They apply easily and the glitters rock!  BR's Girls Rock collection is looking promising as well.  B-Girl has a satin finish on its own and it would look really nice with a topcoat as well.  

Thanks so much for reading!