Sparkle All the Time

I love the hint of a sparkle at my cuticles.

For this look I used Zoya Caitlin and sponged Model's Own Southern Lights onto the base of my nails by my cuticles. 

Glam Dots

This is a Throwback Thursday manicure from 2015.

For this manicure I used OPI Angel with a Leadfoot, OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby, and Sally Hansen Black Out.

Spring Blooms

A design by nailsbycally on Instagram was the influence for today's manicure.

For this manicure I used Zoya Emilia and OPI My Vampire is Buff (accent) as my base colors.  For the rose on my accent nail I used Essie Lady Like, OPI My Very First Knockwurst, and Zoya Purity.  The leaves are simply Zoya Hunter.  

Abstract Holo

Portland is such a tease.  I look out the window and think "oh, it's sunny today!  Perfect time for holo!" and while I'm painting my nails it starts raining.  At least it's not cold...

For this manicure I used OPI Race Red and Color Club Harp On It.  The stamping plate I used was Konad m64.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to stamp with Race Red - I don't normally think of OPI as a stamping polish.

You can see some of the holo here (lighting from my kitchen) but unfortunately the sun never came back for me to get a better shot. 

Botanical Breakfast Floral Nails

Nail art inspiration comes from all places.  The other day a coworker of mine was wearing this gorgeous navy blue dress with orange flowers.  In addition to trying to hunt down a dress for myself, I drew inspiration from that dress for this manicure.

For my base I used Zoya Sia.  The flowers were created using Zoya Purity, Zoya Jancyn, OPI I Just Can't Cope-acabana, and Zoya Jace.  Everything was done with dotting tools and trying to give the various layers as much dry time as possible.  

Zoya Dana in Leopard

I love leopard.  So fast, so easy.  Nail art in under one hour.

This is two coats of Zoya Dana, Zoya Purity, and Sally Hansen Black Out.

Orly Cake Pop

I was digging through my pink drawer trying to figure out what to wear when I stumbled upon a nail polish I'd forgotten I'd had.  I'm not sure when I picked it up (maybe a FabFitFun Box?) but nonetheless, it's part of my collection, now.

Here I'm wearing three coats of Orly Cake Pop.  The formula was okay, a bit streaky, and I ended up with more coats than I'd normally like.  This is a soft white cream with a dash of pink.  Wear time less than optimal coming in at two days before it chipped and I removed the polish.

All the Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

Not Your Typical Valentine's Day Manicure

Simple heart manicure with not your typical Valentine's Day color palette.

This is Zoya Natty and OPI Angel with a Leadfoot.  I used a dotting tool to add three drops of color to each nail, then a needle to draw down through the dots to create hearts. 

Holo Flowers

The gloomy winter weather has gone and we're left with beautiful, sunny days in Portland.  Perfect weather for wearing my holographic nail polishes.  

I'm wearing Color Club Miss Bliss as my base, then used my dotting tools and Zoya Serenity, Kiko 391, and OPI I Just Can't Cope-acabana for the flowers.

OPI I Think in Pink and You Glitter Be Good to Me

In an attempt to find The Perfect Pink, I acquired OPI I Think in Pink and OPI You Glitter Be Good to Me from OPI Pink of Hearts 2012 collection.

I think in Pink isn't The One, but it's a nice color.  It's too sheer for my taste, this was four coats and there is still visible nail line.

Zoya Jana

It's been a while since I've done a wear to work post about business appropriate nail polish.  Since my last post, I've moved to the west coast where the definition of business casual trends more towards casual.  Case in point: nice jeans are considered appropriate pants.

Today on my nails I'm wearing Zoya Jana.  Jana is a beautiful creme polish with gray, mauve, and purple tones.  She's not a traditional nude polish, but still a gorgeous shade of gray.


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Pineapple Nails

I love pineapples.  I love how sweet they are.  I love the crowns they have on their tops.  I love their shape.  Painting pineapples on my nails have been a nail art bucket list item for me for over two years and when I was invited to a Hawaiian-themed birthday party I knew they'd be perfect.  For this design, I was inspired by the pineapple nails that Elle & Ish did a couple of years ago.

On my nails I'm wearing OPI I Just Can't Cope-acabana, Zoya Talia, and Zoya Purity for my bases.  To create the pineapple I used my dotting tools, OPI I Just Can't Cope-acabana, China Glaze Desert Sun, and Kiko 391.  The chevrons were done using nail vinyls and Zoya Talia over Zoya Purity.  A few gold stars and some top coat later and this manicure was ready to party.

Bonus?  I matched my nails to the pineapple shirt I was wearing.  #AllPineappleEverything

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Neon Leopard Nails

I've been wanting to do neon leopard nails for ages, and today's the day.  I love how bright these turned out!

I used Zoya Purity for my base and Sally Hansen Black Out as the accents around the leopard colors, plus my trusty dotting tools to make the leopard prints themselves.  For the rest of the colors I used China Glaze neons: China Glaze Splish Splash, China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard, China Glaze Sun-Kissed, China Glaze Love's a Beach, and China Glaze Hang-Ten Toes (on my thumb).

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Mermaid Nails

Mermaid nails are synonymous with summer for me.

I used Zoya Charla on my nails with Zoya Purity as my white base.  For the mermaid nails I used Vibrant Vinyl's Liquid Latex to block off my skin, mermaid scale vinyls from What's Up Nails, and then Zoya Charla and Zoya Ivanka in a gradient.

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Alpha Omega Epsilon Sorority Nails

This is an old manicure of mine from 2014, but I've never shared it on my blog until now.  I'm part of Alpha Omega Epsilon, a professional and social sorority composed of female engineers and technical scientists.  I'm attending convention next week and thought it a fitting time to share this manicure.

For this manicure I used OPI Angel with a Leadfoot and OPI Russian Navy Suede for the base.  I stamped the designs using Vivid Lacquer VL017, Bundle Monster BM-320, Bundle Monster BM-415, and Bundle Monster BM-323.

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Fourth of July Skittles Nail Art

 Today I have a 4th of July nail art idea to share with you.  This is a skittle manicure using some of my favorite Zoya polishes.  This design was super easy to do with a dotting tool and didn't take long at all.

For this manicure, I used Zoya America, Zoya Purity, and Zoya Sia.  I used the dotting tool for the dots on my accent nail and a silver metal star stud as another accent on my pinky.


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Summertime Nail Art

It's summertime!  Today I'm showing off a super cute summer nail art design that I saw from The Nail Lounge Miramar's Instagram.  I thought it was adorable and perfect for the summer weather that has finally made its way to Oregon.

For this look I used OPI Can't Find My Czechbook, OPI I Just Can't Cope-acabana, Zoya Tomoko, and Zoya Purity.  As usual, I made the daisies using dotting tools because it's the easiest way I know how to do nail art.

Coral Reef Nails

Now that we've passed the summer solstice and the calendar puts us in the summer season, it's time for some brighter colors on my fingertips.  More cute summer nail art that I created using dotting tools today.  I'm not very good with nail art brushes, but I can definitely play connect the dots until I've made something that looks like lines.

For this look I'm wearing OPI Suzi's Hungary Again, OPI What's with the Cattitude? and Zoya Purity.


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Dotted Flowers

Nail art with dotting tools is, in my opinion, the easiest nail art out there.  You can turn about anything into a dotting tool (bobby pin, toothpick, nail, etc.) but there are also a lot of cheap options on Amazon.  I have a set of five dotting tools but I find myself using the two smallest sizes over and over.

For the look I'm sharing today I'm using Zoya Zanna as my base with the flower petals created using Zoya Purity.  I put my topcoat over that pair, then added the center dots using Zoya Tomoko - a textured polish for an easy 3D look.

And voila!  Easy fast nail art.



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