Tried and True

Nail polish and glitter. It's one of my go-to techniques when I need a quick and pretty manicure. I really love this color combination. Kelly is one of the new colors I received in Zoya's promo that I have not yet tried out and this glitter is a new addition to my collection as well. They are perfect in their match!

Sunlight:

Indoor:

Three coats of Zoya Kelly and the addition of LA Splash Cosmetics in Illusion. Topped it off with China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat.

Faux Leopard

I did not intend on having nails that in my mind looked like a leopard, but that's all I see with this look. I have been experimenting with my OPI Black Shatter and the leopard look was actually a fluke result of said experimentation. Depending on how thick you polish the Shatter and the direction of your brush strokes, you can change the look of Shatter. In the previous vacation post, I went for a very thick coat of Shatter and it dried with larger chunks of black and less "shatter lines" (meaning it crackles less). This time I wanted to change my brush strokes, so I first painted (being much lighter in the application) the outside edges of my nails. Then, as I painted down the center of the nail, I moved the brush side to side in sort of a zig-zag motion. This is the end result:

Flash:

No Flash:

I painted three coats of Zoya Tiffany and one coat of CND Speedey. Once fully dried I applied OPI Black Shatter as describe above and coated with Seche Vite.

On a side note, I have found that Shatter does shrink your base polish leaving exposed tips. I did wait for my polish to fully dry before applying Shatter as instructed, but I'm thinking a crackle side effect is shrinking polish....

Vacation Manicures

I'm back! Had a wonderful time on vacation--it was warm, relaxing, refreshing! I told you I brought my nail polish with me. I was also lucky enough to come across a Sally's Beauty Supply in Mexico. Of course I had to check it out! They had so much more nail art supplies and decals than any of the stores I frequent. I wanted to buy them all, but I restrained myself by only purchasing a few.... They also carried the brand Color Club (which I have heard lots about, but up until now never owned) so I bought two colors. It was fun! Anyway, it's great to be home with all of my tools. Here are some of the pictures I captured of nails; the pics aren't that great, but you get the idea!




Green Crackle: Three coats of China Glaze In The Lime Light and one coat of OPI Black Shatter. I coated the manicure with China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat.

An Ocean Life Threesome: Coral color is China Glaze High Hopes, Pink is Color Club Peppermint Twist, Blue is Factory Girl. I used various stickers from Cina Under The Sea for all the nails plus China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat .

Pink Flowers: Three coats of China Glaze Ahoy and nail decals from Siena Diamond Nails (I can't find the exact link to the flowers, but here is the company's site.) China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat.

Sunsets at the Ocean

Alright! So it's time for vacation and as I sit here at the airport, I'm going to finish this post! I decided since the best part about going to a warm destination when you live in The Land of 10,000 Fozen Lakes, are ocean views and sunsets over said ocean. Thus, I decided to marble one hand in homage to my natural habitat--the water, and the other to the amazing sunsets that are best seen over it. In the end the two hands don't really match in color scheme, but ultimately they go together! So as I say "adios", enjoy the view!

I don't have the time to link to all my polishes, but for your reference, I first painted two coats of Zoya Harley on all ten fingers. The Ocean marble colors: China Glaze Swing Baby, Frostbite & Zoya Charla. Sunset marble colors: Zoya Jolene & Harley, China Glaze Peachy Keen & Secret Peri-Wink-Le. I coated the finished marble with two coats of China Glaze Fast Forward

Marble Hearts

This will be my last Valentine's day manicure (well at least before the day). I have each of my days planned as I'm getting ready for vacation, so time's up! I think this marble turned out pretty well. The hearts may not be too obvious on every nail, but when I say "hearts", you see hearts. As a marble, it was a bit difficult and due to my perfectionist nature, I did re-do a few nails after final inspection, but 14 marbles for 10 nails isn't too bad! I hope you all have someone to share some love with this V-day--whether it be a partner, a friend, a mom, a brother, a pet or a pillow!

Right Hand:

Left Hand:

Non-Flash:

I painted a base for the marble with two coats of Zoya Jolene, then used the same color plus China Glaze Salsa in order to "marble" the hearts. I sealed the look with one coat of CND Shiny.

Seeds Of Love

Manicure two of my Valentine's day nails. I finally received some of my new Zoya colors from their generous giveaway last month and had to try some. I absolutely love the color of this nude/pink. It was the perfect backdrop to my lovely growing hearts. The first pictures of the full hand don't give an accurate color depiction of Skye, so I added an over-exposed flash picture that is actually pretty color accurate. And I added the last one because I love that it looks like the flowers and grass are glowing. So pretty!

Right Hand:

Left Hand

I used three coats of Zoya Skye. I then painted stems and heart leaves with China Glaze Emerald Sparkle. I added glitter grass in LA Splash Cosmetics Immature and painted heart flowers in the following colors: China Glaze Shocking Pink, Salsa, High Hopes, Ahoy, Sexy Silhouette, Something Sweet, Zoya Sarah, Lisa, Jolene and Paris. I sealed the look with two coats of Seche Vite.

Love Is In The Air

Here start my whimsical, love-inspired Valentine's day manicures. I actually will be on vacation over Valentine's day, so I'm starting now because although my nail polish will be with me, my blogging desire will also be on vacation. I picked this glitter up on a recent trip to Ulta and I think it's pretty cute.

I painted three coats of China Glaze Spontaneous and the carefully applied the larger hearts and then the lighter glitter from LA Splash Cosmetics in Red Heart Spangle. I sealed the glitter with one coat of CND Speedey Top Coat and then one coat of Seche Vite.

Nothing Special

Honestly I am very excited about this new blue/gray from China Glaze's Anchor's Away Collection, but this manicure does not excite me in the least. Besides the Konad job being less than perfect, the top coat made the design bleed; I gouged a pointer finger and am less than impressed with this design. Oh well, c'est la vie!

I painted three coats of China Glaze Sea Spray and used Konad image disk m64 with Awaken. I used one coat of Seche Vite.