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. 

Ocean Trip

I recently went to the Oregon coast and created these nails in celebration.  I used Mo-You London Doodles Collection plate 07 to create all the sea creatures and fishies.  The gradient was created using Zoya Ryan, Zoya Talia, Zoya Cecilia, and Zoya Wednesday.  I used Mundo de Unas 1 White as my stamping polish.

Clowning Around on a Gradient

I was inspired for this manicure by one from Candice over at Mommy Does Her Nails. Specifically her ring finger.  I love the neon glitter over a nude gradient!

To create this manicure I used three coats of Zoya Snow White, then sponged Zoya Snow White with OPI My Very First Knockwurst on top.  One coat of Seche Vite on top of all that smoothed things out nicely.  The I did three coats of Lush Lacquer Clowning Around, sort of half brushing the polish on and half dabbing the polish on.

Simple St. Pat's Tips

St. Patrick's Day will be upon us shortly and I've been playing around with a few different things I'd like to try on my nails this year.  If you live in a city like mine, St. Patrick's Day is a big deal.  The drinking starts the weekend before the actual holiday and goes all week.  This will be the first year in a while that I won't be hanging out in a bar on St. Paddy's day.  That doesn't mean I can't do something with my nails though!  

Today I have a simple green with gold tips manicure to share with you today.  I love how simple and easy to put together this type of manicure is.  

For my base I used two coats of Zoya Shawn, a perfect deep green polish with excellent coverage and formula.  At my tips I sponged two layers of SoFlaJo Freaky & Fabulous, a gold holo glitter top coat that pairs perfectly against the green base.  

Glitter Cuticles

Today I'm showing you my first glitter gradient stemming from my cuticles.  I've always been admirer of The Nailasaurus and Glitter and Nails and their ability to create beautiful glitter gradients.  Finally trying one on my own.  I think I need to learn what their trick to cuticle clean up it because this was pretty much a nightmare.  So much glitter everywhere!  The end result was very nice however.

On a majority of my nails I have two coats of OPI Can't Find My Czechbook and on my accent nail I have two coats of Zoya Malia.  Can't Find My Czechbook is from OPI's Spring 2013 Euro Centrale Collection and is best described as a light blue teal.  Zoya Malia is an oldie but goodie polish from Zoya's Spring 2009 Twist Collection and is a pretty lilac color.  To tie the two colors together, at the base of my cuticles I sponged Model's Own Southern Lights from their Winter 2012 Collection.

To conquer the cuticle glitter mess I ended up using those pointy ended cotton swabs soaked with acetone instead of my regular eye shadow brush.  The glitter clung to the cotton better than the brush and I was able to remove most of it.

Week 26: Neon Manicure

Welcome to the challenge for Week 26 of the 52 Week Challenge.  This challenge was to create a neon manicure.  I've mentioned a couple of times that I absolutely love the China Glaze Summer Neons collection (here, here, and here) so for me it was a no brainer to incorporate them into this manicure.

I randomly sponged China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard and China Glaze Splish Splash all over my nails (word to the wise: Splish Splash stains).  To complete this design I added one coat of Cover Band Lacquers Sticks 'n Stones on top.  

I was inspired by this manicure from the Lacquerologist when I was creating this design.  I have a blue and green shirt that I was thinking of when I was coming up with polishes and I'm really pleased with my polish pick for this.  I'm with the Lifeguard and Splish Splash both have a bit of shimmer mixed in that I'm in love with.

Be sure to check out what others have done for this challenge by visiting their blogs:

LizMarie at I'm Simply Complex • Jenna at I'm Still Thinking... • Caitlin at Addicted 2 Nails • Sarah at PrncessSarah02 • Charlotte at Charlotte's Nails :) • Shally at Polished & Not Quite Put Together • Rachel-Karina at Polished Criminails • Liz at Nothing But Nail Polish • Fun With My Nail Polish • Operation: Nail It! • Lauriestrodes Fun With Nails • Square Polish • Only Always Soccermom  • Hurr Did, Nails Did • Olivia Writes • The Dragon Lady • Kaki at Glitter Obsession • Isa at IsaBella's World • Gypsy at Gypsy's Glitter • Jackie at MeMa's Mani's  • Lissa at Lissa's Nail Blog  •  Marie at Polish, Polish, Polish...  • ChiChi at... •  Esra at Oje Sihirbazi (Wizard of Polish) •  Nails, Actually • Treselaine at Tres Chic Nails • Carol at Nails by Carol

Leopard Gradient

In the last week I've done mixed animals, zebra, and now it's time for a solo leopard!  While I was wearing my bright zebra manicure I kept looking at my nails wishing I'd done a hot pink and orange combination.  Then I thought I'd add a touch of yellow and maybe stamp something on top.  And thus today's manicure was created!

I painted my nails a base white color using Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On, then used two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow as my bottom color.  Next I sponged Zoya Jancyn on to the middle and then Zoya Areej on the tip.  I used M.A.S.H. plate m57 for the leopard stamp and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White as the polish.

This is another instance of "it sounded great in my head but not on my nails."  These types of manicures are always the most disappointing for me.  I'm going to have to try my pink and orange combination again sometime.

Week 17: Earth Appreciation Manicure

The challenge for Week 17 of the 52 Week Challenge was an earth appreciation manicure.  I think there are a lot of different things you can do with an "earth appreciation" design.  Earth as the planet...trees...dessert...water...  I decided to pick a water theme because I'm all about water!  No really, I'm a water treatment engineer.  You have a water problem? Come talk to me.

These were my Earth Day nails:

For this manicure I tried to capture water on my nails.  I started with one quick coat of Zoya Kristen, then took a ripped up sponge and dabbed Zoya Jo across my entire nail and did the same with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On.  The combination of these three nail polishes left me with a gauzy blue color that I think looks more sky-like than water-like.  Maybe next time I should add some green in?  I finished my manicure by stamping fish on my nails using M.A.S.H. plate m27 and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out.  I can almost imagine that these fish are moving through the water, but I'm pretty sure they're just in the clouds above.

Be sure to check out what others have done for this challenge by visiting their blogs:

LizMarie at I'm Simply Complex • Jenna at I'm Still Thinking... • Caitlin at Addicted 2 Nails • Sarah at PrncessSarah02 • Charlotte at Charlotte's Nails :) • Shally at Polished & Not Quite Put Together • Rachel-Karina at Polished Criminails • Liz at Nothing But Nail Polish • Fun With My Nail Polish • Operation: Nail It! • Lauriestrodes Fun With Nails • Square Polish • Only Always Soccermom  • Hurr Did, Nails Did • Olivia Writes • The Dragon Lady • Kaki at Glitter Obsession • Isa at IsaBella's World • Gypsy at Gypsy's Glitter • Jackie at MeMa's Mani's  • Lissa at Lissa's Nail Blog  •  Marie at Polish, Polish, Polish...  • ChiChi at... •  Esra at Oje Sihirbazi (Wizard of Polish) •  Nails, Actually • Treselaine at Tres Chic Nails • Carol at Nails by Carol

Taking a Walk on the Wild Side

Today I have a neat gradient plus stamping manicure to show you.  I've combined three of my favorite Zoya summer colors together and topped everything with sparkles and combination animal print stamp.  I've been admiring Zoya Wednesday since their promotional photos for the 2012 Beach and Surf Collection appeared on the internet.  Because I'm a sucker for punishment I held off on purchasing it; but finally it is mine!

For this manicure I painted my whole nail using Zoya Wednesday, a gorgeous green turquoise cream.  Then I sponged Zoya Mira over 2/3s of my nail.  Mira is what I think of when I think of the colors purple, not too dark but not too light.  On my tips I ended up using a stripe of Zoya Kieko, then sponged a little bit of it around to blend it (I couldn't get Kieko dark enough simply by sponging).  Because I'm in love with a little bit of sparkle, and I really think glitter ties everything together, I added a coat of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Kaleidoscope. Finally, I stamped M.A.S.H. plate m78 on top using Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out.  The final effect?  A pretty wild manicure for me to wear.  What do you think?

Day 23: Inspired by a MOVIE

Welcome to the next installment of the Longest 31 Day Challenge Ever.  Today I'd like to share with you Day 23: Inspired by a MOVIE, otherwise known as My Hunger Games Failure.

Like many of you, I devoured the Hunger Games series and was really excited to see the book turned into a movie.  I bought my tickets for opening day a head of time, painted flames on my nails, but completely underestimated how popular the movie would be!  I showed up for the movie only to find the only remaining seats were the ones in the very bottom corner...

So I still have yet to see the Hunger Games movie as I returned my tickets (why do theaters even include those seats in the first place??) but I'm hoping in the next week or so to try again.

To create the manicure I wore for opening day I relied heavily on Kayla Shevonne's Hunger Games inspired nails.  She always does such amazing work and I love seeing the designs she creates.  My attempts to duplicate her work never turn out quite the same.

I used a layer of Zoya Snow White for my base, then two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow.  I next sponged Zoya Tamsen on top, making the layers thicker as I moved towards my cuticles.  I then "drew" on flames with a Kiss Nail Art Pen in Black, finally filling in the area outside the drawing with my SoEasy Striper in Black.  A coat (or two) of Seche Vite was all I needed to make this design shine.  Clean up was a complete PITA, black polish just doesn't come off my skin nicely.

Overall, from a distance this design looks pretty sweet because you can't tell that my flames are a hot mess.  At this distance they're much more skeptical though I do enjoy them.  I really need to practice free-hand nail art more.

Day 19: GALAXIES

Galaxy nails for Day 19 of the 31 Day Challenge is another one I could be less than thrilled about.  I used Cutepolish's Easy Galaxy Nail Art YouTube video to guide me in this process.  When Cutepolish says to stipple the white dots along the nebula...well...my stippling ability needs some work.  Large stars!

I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow, China Glaze Fifth Avenue, and Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Glass Slipper.

Can you see the flakes from Glass Slipper?  I had a hard time seeing them while I was wearing it.  Maybe I'll try galaxy nails again.  Maybe.

Faye's Plum the Word

I've been loving dark colors lately, especially purples and greens.  This is a gradient/accent nail manicure I did a few weeks back.

For the base I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Plum's the Word, then sponged Zoya Faye at the base.  When my ring finger chipped away before I could snag a picture in daylight, I painted the whole nail with Zoya Faye.

Please excuse the cut on my middle finger.  I'm not sure what I did to cause it, but I probably snagged it on a steel tank at work.

What I liked about this manicure was the contrast of colors between Plum's the Word and Faye. What I didn't like about this manicure is that I couldn't see purple tones in Faye after I sponged it on my nails - everything looked gold to me.

Day 10: GRADIENT nails

I've known what I wanted to do for Day 10, gradient nails, of the 31 Day Challenge since I visited my parents earlier in October and picked up a couple of Butter London polishes.  A gradient with Rosie Lee :)

I used three coats of China Glaze Innocence as a base then sponged Butter London Rosie Lee on top.  I love this.  I've never done a design like this before and am head over heels with how it looks.  My fingers feel so sparkly I love waving them around, hehe.

For some reason it's really hard for me to see pale polish near my cuticles until after I take photos and enlarge the image so please excuse the mess.

Day 9: RAINBOW nails

Day 9 of the 31 Day Challenge and today it is rainbows!

I was inspired from this photo I saw on Pinterest:

Source: mlt93.blogspot.com via Kristen on Pinterest

but I failed to visit the blog of the photo to see how they'd achieved this look.  I just assumed the lovely rainbow gradient was done through sponging.  I broke out my best rainbow colors and sponged away, two colors for each nail and approximately two coats of each color.  It was my first time sponging but it was really easy to do!

The colors I used were Zoya America, Zoya Jancyn, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow, Zoya Shawn, Zoya Robyn, and Zoya Mira.  Can you tell I have a lot of Zoya polishes?

I'm thinking the two polish colors too harsh of a look and I should have gone with three colors for each nail.  It turns out the look on the photo I saw was achieved by a brush so once this challenge is over I'd like to go back and try to recreate her design.