I painted two coats of Milani Blue Lightning and while the third coat was wet, I used my dotting tool and China Glaze Icicle and Mistletoe Me and a toothpick to drag/swirl the dots together. I sealed the manicure with one coat of Seche Vite.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Drag Marbling
This is my first attempt at drag marbling, a manicure technique often done by a blogger I follow, My Simple Pleasures. I think it turned out pretty well, but all the foil finishes make it look a bit un-crisp in the photos.
I painted two coats of Milani Blue Lightning and while the third coat was wet, I used my dotting tool and China Glaze Icicle and Mistletoe Me and a toothpick to drag/swirl the dots together. I sealed the manicure with one coat of Seche Vite.
I painted two coats of Milani Blue Lightning and while the third coat was wet, I used my dotting tool and China Glaze Icicle and Mistletoe Me and a toothpick to drag/swirl the dots together. I sealed the manicure with one coat of Seche Vite.
Fowl Flower
Orly's Fowl Play is a great base for a manicure. I ended up adding a lot of design to it and may have taken away from its awesomeness. But you can click on the link to my swatches of the color to see it in its full glory.
I painted three coats of Fowl Play and added Bundle Monster plate BM201 with Konad Special Polish in Violet and plate BM207 with China Glaze Platinum Silver. One coat Seche Vite was used to finish the manicure.
I painted three coats of Fowl Play and added Bundle Monster plate BM201 with Konad Special Polish in Violet and plate BM207 with China Glaze Platinum Silver. One coat Seche Vite was used to finish the manicure.
Red Feather
This manicure started with the glitter and the sponged black layer. However, I didn't like it enough. It needed more. Then I added the Bundle Monster stamp and it was complete.
I painted three coats of China Glaze Liquid Leather and added LA Splash Glitter in Midnight Star and sponged Liquid Leather on the bottom half of the manicure. I then added Bundle Monster image BM216 with China Glaze Platinum Silver. One coat of Seche Vite was used to finish the look.
Before:
After:
I painted three coats of China Glaze Liquid Leather and added LA Splash Glitter in Midnight Star and sponged Liquid Leather on the bottom half of the manicure. I then added Bundle Monster image BM216 with China Glaze Platinum Silver. One coat of Seche Vite was used to finish the look.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
V Neck
I might be behind the original trend, but now that flakies are coming out in full force this season, I'm in full support. It's such a great addition to a manicure that isn't full glitter.
This manicure was base coated with China Glaze Up All Night. I added in V formation, Essie Shine Of The Times and Zoya Lisa. I added one coat of Seche Vite.
This manicure was base coated with China Glaze Up All Night. I added in V formation, Essie Shine Of The Times and Zoya Lisa. I added one coat of Seche Vite.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Leather And Lace
Today was my nine year wedding anniversary and it coincided with me needing to paint my nails. So I looked up traditional wedding gifts for year and nine and the options were either Traditional: pottery, UK: copper or US Modern: leather goods. I thought pottery was not a concept I wanted to get into in terms of a manicure, so I thought I could go modern US and go leather. That got me thinking and it immediately triggered the song Leather and Lace by Stevie Nicks and Don Henley. Especially since my husband oddly requested we sing this duet karaoke (something he rarely does these days) but mostly odd because he wants to sing the Stevie Nicks part. ;) So I first I tried to find lace in my home and came across some lingerie from my bridal shower (how fitting) that I no longer wear and cut 10 to fit my fingers. However, it didn't work well as a concept because I used a black polish base (China Glaze Liquid Leather, of course. To keep with the theme) and when a clear polish was painted over the red lace, it lost all its contrast. So plan B was to use Konad design and a nude nail for the lace background.
And there you have the long back story to this manicure. I was happy with my stamping, I've been really trying to improve my accuracy since I had to use two different images. I like the lace mostly for it's tie to the manicure's nostalgia, but it's scratchy and hard once a top coat is applied, and I'm not sure if I actually like real lace manicures. Either way, happy anniversary to me!
On all fingers but ring, I painted three coats of China Glaze Liquid Leather and used Konad Image Disk m57 with China Glaze Passion. My ring fingers were painted with three coats Zoya Skye and then lace was added. Each finger was finished with one coat of Seche Vite.
And there you have the long back story to this manicure. I was happy with my stamping, I've been really trying to improve my accuracy since I had to use two different images. I like the lace mostly for it's tie to the manicure's nostalgia, but it's scratchy and hard once a top coat is applied, and I'm not sure if I actually like real lace manicures. Either way, happy anniversary to me!
Left Hand:
Right Hand:
On all fingers but ring, I painted three coats of China Glaze Liquid Leather and used Konad Image Disk m57 with China Glaze Passion. My ring fingers were painted with three coats Zoya Skye and then lace was added. Each finger was finished with one coat of Seche Vite.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Top Picks of 2011
It's time for another retrospective. Here are my favorite manicures of 2011. Click on the links to be transported to the original posts.
10. Spirit Animals: Stepping It Up A Notch. This manicure was my first dabble with water decals. It was fun to give them to my friends and have a fun manicure time.
9. Poison Control. Maybe skulls are overrated and cliché, but I liked this manicure.
8. Purple Pop Water Marble. I loved the color combination of this manicure.
7. Leather Corsets. A manicure concept that worked from my mind to my nails.
6. Seriously Pretty. I still am into the holographic nail polish, and this manicure is proof of why!
5. Red + Green = Awesome. I love my glitters, but this manicure really popped. The green nearly glowed behind the red glitter background.
4. Hint Of Lime. Marbling! Still such a great way to debut a manicure. I really liked the glow of the green/lime neon in this manicure. Such a great color combo.
3. Cosmic Ring. Another marble, probably my favorite of the year. It truly glowed from within; truly pretty.
2. Golden Chameleon. This was my favorite sparkle of the year. It was a the perfect color combination and ultra sparkly.
1. Beauty In Darkness. My affinity for this manicure is not necessarily in the paint job, but more in it's emotional tie to me. Since this is the manicure I did for my aunt who passed away, one of the most significant events of my 2011, it has one of the most special places in my heart.
10. Spirit Animals: Stepping It Up A Notch. This manicure was my first dabble with water decals. It was fun to give them to my friends and have a fun manicure time.
9. Poison Control. Maybe skulls are overrated and cliché, but I liked this manicure.
8. Purple Pop Water Marble. I loved the color combination of this manicure.
7. Leather Corsets. A manicure concept that worked from my mind to my nails.
6. Seriously Pretty. I still am into the holographic nail polish, and this manicure is proof of why!
5. Red + Green = Awesome. I love my glitters, but this manicure really popped. The green nearly glowed behind the red glitter background.
4. Hint Of Lime. Marbling! Still such a great way to debut a manicure. I really liked the glow of the green/lime neon in this manicure. Such a great color combo.
3. Cosmic Ring. Another marble, probably my favorite of the year. It truly glowed from within; truly pretty.
2. Golden Chameleon. This was my favorite sparkle of the year. It was a the perfect color combination and ultra sparkly.
1. Beauty In Darkness. My affinity for this manicure is not necessarily in the paint job, but more in it's emotional tie to me. Since this is the manicure I did for my aunt who passed away, one of the most significant events of my 2011, it has one of the most special places in my heart.
Runners Up
My runners up this year were my two claw manicures. Both fun, but I was proud to try a new medium with acrylic (even if it was totally impractical and I will most likely never do it again). Probably whey it didn't make my top picks.
Happy 2012!
This is the manicure I rang the new year in with. I wanted a glittery, confetti-type manicure, and was pleased with the result. However I was hoping my glitter would be more dense, but since I had made it myself and added a finer glitter to the mix, it wanted to adhere to my polish more than the larger glitter flecks did. Either way, I'm happy with the result. However, I am realizing with more and more manicures, my love for Seche Vite waning. I am pretty sure because of it's fast drying qualities, it makes my polish shrink. I have tip wear in these photos even though I just painted them. I'm torn because I love how shiny and fast it dries, but it bothers me it affects the tips of my manicures.
I painted three coats of Zoya Tao and to my pointer fingers I added LA Splash Cosmetics glitter in Silver Torpedo and mixed a glitter concotion of dots nail glitter flakes from Esther's Nail Center with LA Splash Cosmetics glitter in Silver Wave. I finished the manicure with two coats of Seche Vite.
I painted three coats of Zoya Tao and to my pointer fingers I added LA Splash Cosmetics glitter in Silver Torpedo and mixed a glitter concotion of dots nail glitter flakes from Esther's Nail Center with LA Splash Cosmetics glitter in Silver Wave. I finished the manicure with two coats of Seche Vite.
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