purple panel ikat

purple nails ready for spring!

What I used:
O.P.I. - natural nail strengthener
O.P.I. - natural nail base coat
Love & Beauty - lavender
Love & Beauty - sheer purple glitter
Nail Star - white striper (108)
Nail Star  - wine striper
Nail Star  - black striper (109)
Kiss - soft purple striper
Kiss - bikini pink striper
10 PNL - perfectly clear (401)






and of course my nail design wouldn't feel complete without embellishments!
so i added small soft purple rhinestones at the top and base of my nail design and soft purple nail art beads in a random pattern on my thumb and ring finger for statement nails!

anti-vday

nails for a (hypothetical) broken heart

Love & Beauty - lime, O.P.I. - who the shrek are you?, Layla Magneffect - velvet groove, Ruby Kisses - french white, Revlon - gold coin (#925),  pink and magenta nail art beads and purple rhinestone cabochons. Topped off with Seche Vite -  fast dry top coat.

Jimmy Choo inspired nails

inspired by Jimmy Choo spring 2012 cuff+clutch, on my newly trimmed nails (semi- sad :(...) now if i only owned the bag to match...

The base color is Ruby Kisses - french white 3 coats, and the black spots and lines were done using Nail Star - black. Next the line was done using Kiss - red wine striper, and gold nail art beads. 

The top of the design was done using Sinful Colors - cloud 9, 2 coats, and O.P.I. - hong kong sunrise, with 1 coat of Revlon - pink chiffon (#911) on top to create a peachy pink. I finally topped off the design with a silver rhinestone at the top of the "V" to add some bling, and topped off the design O.P.I. - top coat. 

BLING BLUE!

I've been really into layering embellishments over patterns lately...

For the base color i used Revlon - midnight affair (#791), the leopard was done using Nail Star - pearl blue and Kiss - blue striper. I then used Seche VITE to seal the design. Next I placed the rhinestone cabochons and created false settings around them using gold nail art beads. 

BLING BLAO!

I LOVE BEDAZZLING!

These are my NEW YEARS EVE NAIL$$$! I wanted to bling out my nails, one, because of it being a night of celebration and two, because i'll either be wearing a LBD or something sequined... decisions, decisions. :) Just like I find it difficult to NOT have crazy embellished and busy nails, I also prefer to have two different (or similar in theme, but not in image or design) designs on either hand. The left hand is more simple, it uses more stones, and was inspired by new age, ICY bling. While my right hand has a more antiquated feel, both in color and the mass amount of nail art beads creating a filigree effect.
Even though i have my BFA in jewelry and metalsmithing I really don't wear a lot of jewelry... So i typically leave it to my nails to bring in that flash... and this manicure delivers!

On my left hand (gold) I used O.P.I. - bling dynasty, 3 coats, and on the right hand I used Love & Beauty - coral, 2-3 coats,with a ring around the nails edge using Kiss - gold glitter striper. I then embellished with gold nail art beads which created filigree and "settings" for my white rhinestone cabochons. I then used 2-3 really thick layers of Seche VITE - fast dry top coat because I'll be busy all day tomorrow with my NYE so I had to do my nails the night before and its important that my nails last the night!

I hope you all have a fantastic NEW YEARS EVE and DAY!!!

Tutorials

Hello all,


Three tutorials are now available for trying out on my TUTORIAL PAGE!

If you try any of these I would love to see images of your results! and I ask that you credit and link back to me!

24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 19

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Another "nouveau" french design mixed with the 1/2 moon, for day 19 of the 24 day challenge! The theme for today was SANTA HATS, and there were 3 elements i wanted to include fur trim, ball tassel and bells (but in this case, gold nail art beads)

The base coat was done using O.P.I. - i'm not really a waitress, 2 coats
The 1/2 moon and french tip were done with 2 coats of O.P.I. - kyoto pearl, next i put the glitter down over the white parts, but because the red is so powerful and the kyoto is so sheer the snow has a pink tint. The glitter I used is a iridescent white micro glitter which catches the light adding specks of greens and pinks. Next I created a window pattern on the red with gold beads for the "bells," finally a heavy coat of Seche VITE - quick dry top coat


Tomorrow is SLEIGH/SLED themed!

To see more SANTA HATS check out these ladies blogs:

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❉ Polish, Oh My! ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ❄ My Wet Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅ The only way is Nails! ❃

Thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 17

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Hello hello hello. 

sorry this is a late post. These are my nails from yesterday, I did these then i painted my moms nails for a christmas party and so I became lazy... SO, NOW...here is day 17 of the 24 day challenge! The theme was TINSEL!
I wanted to keep this simple (again) so i did a nouveau french! I incorporated real tinsel, beads and tinsel like glitter polish!

The holo bar glitter tinsel-like base was done using Love & Beauty - black/silver, 3 coats. The one thing i dislike about Love & Beauty nail polish is the naming issue. It's an issue because they name all their colors the same... i.e. al greens are green all reds are reds. RARELY do they name the actual color like lavender or mint, but they seriously need to be a little more creative, a little more descriptive or at the vary least put a freakin' number! For the sake of better description lets just call it black/ holo tinsel! jeeeze :)

ANYWAYS.... next i put a single layer of Sally Hansen X - in the spotlight (#35) which is a clear nail polish with slightly larger and less tinsel per coat, just to add a little size variation.

For the embellishment I used a single strip of real tinsel (from the little bundle in my hand) on the tips of my nails to make it a "french".  Finally i added silver nail art beads in a windowed arrangement to accentuate the silver strip and give it a little more flare.

i'll be posting todays theme a little later, which is STOCKINGS!

want more TINSEL? check out these ladies blogs:

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❉ Polish, Oh My! ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ❄ My Wet Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅ The only way is Nails! ❃

Thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 14

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A few days ago my parents, my boyfriend and I decorated the christmas tree! As I unwrapped the ornaments I was flooded with memories. Memories of being a kid and LOVING how some said my name, some i made, some that were my grandmothers, and some that have been on the tree for as long as I can remember. It was nice to see the ornaments that i remember from my youth, as well as a few new ones that I decided for todays challenge, with the theme ORNAMENTS I would look at and recreate some of the ornaments from the tree! Now because my nails are not as big as i want, and my design included other elements I couldn't do the really complicated ones, but still the ones chosen are tied to my christmas history.
Below are the ornaments/ decorations I was inspired by, and my ORNAMENT themed nails!

For the base color I used Sally Hansen - spark (#06) which is a really beautiful color. the polish itself it a greenish blue (which can only be noticed if smeared), but appears as a solid micro micro micro glitter iridecent blue to purple effect. Maybe its because this polish is not so new, but it was a one coater! I get tired of using the typical christmas palette so I thought a deep blue purple would make the ornaments and decoration pop out as well as be refreshing to use.


Next for all the fingers I took my Nail Star - silver (#114) and made a 1/2 moon of tinsel/branch for the ornaments to hand on. Then using my Ruby Kissed - french white  I dotted some circles on the silver.
Also after each ornament was finished i filled in the negative space with more dots and snowflake/stars in the same silver. Finally gold nail art beads were placed on top of each ornament to act as a ornament hook.


Starting on the thumb: for the ornament with the bow I used Love & Beauty - gold, then put gold bar glitter on top the O.P.I. because the ornament i was inspired by is a large glass orb with a gold netting around it. For the bow I used turquoise nail art beads to tie in some of the same color of one of the angels. The peppermint swirl ornament was inspired by this really beautiful Waterford Crystal peppermint ornament, and is kind of opal and metallic looking. To capture that shine I used Ruby Kisses - french white  and Kiss - red, and then added micro glitter on top of the red for the shine.


The index and ring finger with the angels were done the same so i'll do them together... So first I used round and (american :) ) football shaped cabochons in magenta, pink and aquamarine, the wings i used Kiss - white striper with Kiss - gold  glitter striper.  For the bottom of the angels and the center between the head and body I used magenta, light pink and light blue nail art beads. These angels were inspired by ornaments my grandmother gave to my mom. They are Swarovski crystal and are colored according to my families birthstone, my mom feb- amethyst, my sister oct - rose quartz and mine and my dads- march - aquamarine. These are my favorite nails because i think they were most successful.


The stars were done similar to the wings, I used A base of Kiss - white striper, Kiss - gold glitter striper then added some yellow micro glitter. Finally for the heard I used Nail Star - silver (#114), then covered it with red micro glitter.  Then 3 thick coats of Seche VITE -  quick dry top coat.


Tomorrows theme is PRESENTS!

For more ORNAMENT themed nails check out these ladies blogs:

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❉ Polish, Oh My! ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ❄ My Wet Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅ The only way is Nails! ❃

Thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 12

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Hey everyone! So i finished these a few hours ago but had some things to do. so here they are now, my HOLLY themed nails.. day 12 of the 24 days of xmas challenge! What I wanted for this challenge, was have a sort wallpaper effect. I used muted red and green and a white to add to the wallpaper feel,  with interchangeable white, red, silver and gold for the holly, and as you can see a gestural as opposed to tight holly print. And decided to add to it even further and making it a patterned/embellished gold tip french. 
I also included a picture of the nail plate i made which i used to figure out which colors to use

The base colors I used were Ruby Kisses - french white, Love & Beauty - mint and American Apparel - coney island. 

The holly on the white nail i used Kiss - gold glitter striper,  and Nail Star - red opaque, On the mint nail I used Nail Star - opaque silver (#114) Nail Star - red, and for the pink i used Nail Star - white 108 and Nail Star - opaque red again. 

Next I added a line of auburn nail art beads, and then filled in the space between the nail art beads to the top of my nail with Kiss - gold glitter striper... Seche Vite

If you'd like to know which colors i used for a specific nail on the holly wheel, then let me know!

Stay tuned for tomorrows nail art themed CHRISTMAS TREES!

To see a tutorial for this design visit the TUTORIAL PAGE.

More boughs of HOLLY nails can be seen HERE:

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❉ Polish, Oh My! ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ❄ My Wet Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅ The only way is Nails! ❃

Thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 6

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I cannot believe it is already day 6 of the 24 day challenge!  Christmas is almost here!
I thought i would get a jump start on this days challenge, so i bring to you my PENGUIN themed nails! For my inspiration I took a look at a book from my childhood, Mr. Poppers Penguins!

I'm pretty exhausted now so i'll just get right to it.

I used Sally Hansen - shell we dance (#160) for the base color. I then made half moons at the tops of my nails using Love & beauty - royal 2 coats. It was a little to bright and I was looking for a softer ore ice like effect so i put 1 coat of O.P.I. - kyoto pearl! it was the most beautiful thing, i almost stopped right there! 

For the penguins and Mr. Popper I used Kiss - white striper, Kiss - black striper, and Nail Star - orange. It was important that Mr. P and the penguins shared the same 3 colors like the book,  although I used orange in place of the red.  I then mad a line at the top of the blue semi circle using Nail Star - metallic blue, which is the same blue i used to illustrate the feathers, as seen on the cover of the book. 

For the Final touches I used the thing i love most and have greatly missed over the last several designs.. NAIL ART BEADS! I placed 20+ on each nail to create a sort of polka dot effect. The beads I used were clear which enhanced the design by reflecting the light as well as the paint beneath. Then finally 2 thick coats of Seche Vite - quick dry top coat to secure the beads. It really just glows! I really had a lot of fun doing this design and i look forward to Day 7 : Gingerbread Men!

To see more penguin inspired nail art check out the following blogs!

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❉ Polish, Oh My! ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ❄ My Wet Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅ The only way is Nails! ❃

Thanx for stopping by :)

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glitter globe

quick polish before bed. inspired by snow globes!

Colors include Sally Hansen complete salon manicure - shell we dance? (#160) for the base color and

Kiss - red striper  for the base of the globe. There are 4 types of glitter including super fine white and small hex white which are used for the snow and globe in the background, and small hex silver and large hex silver glitter for the larger/closer flakes. I also used silver nail art beads to emphasize the half moon which is the base of the snow globe... also because i am just obsessed with these beads!!!

long day!

Just spent all morning driving back from vermont and was in need of a pick me up. I was looking through my stash and realized i still haven't tried my Butter London - Rosie Lee that i picked up weeks ago!!! it's the most amazing pink glitter, seriously delicious looking... thus, the inspiration... cupcakes! this nail design includes pink glittery frosting, multicolor sprinkles all on top of soft spongey cake!

Due to the playful theme, and excessive decoration i thought the layout of the nails should remain on the tamer side. For the base color I used O.P.I. - bubble bath (3 coats), Kiss - white for the dots, Butter London -  Rosie Lee (3-4 coats) and of course, nail art beads (my new obsession!!)  adhered with O.P.I. - top coat.

these nails were super easy to do and other than dry time, which is always longer when using these nail art beads (better safe than sorry) the design does not take a long time to complete.

Now  that i am finished i am going to go look for something sweet to eat!  :)

THANKSGIVING part 2.

feast your eyes on more thanksgiving nail fun!

I went a little crazy with the theme, symbols included are maize, cornucopia (with fimo fruits :-)) and a hand-turkey, and two fingers (pinky and pointer) with random designs.

For the base coat i used O.P.I. -  designer... de better, for the designs i used mixed nail art beads, large glitter circles, and Nail Star pen & brush in yellow, bronze, gold and red to fill the beaded designs.

in case you want to attempt your own just know that doing just one hand took well over an hour, not including dry time!

Hope you all had a happy holiday

:)

THANKSGIVING

Now, i'm really not one for thanksgiving food. turkey makes you sleepy, stuffing is good as long as its meat-less, and potatoes... too starchy... but OMG.. PUMPKIN PIE IS MY JAM! esp. when homemade and fresh out of the oven! I drove up with my boyfriend to my sisters house in VT for this holiday and my sis spent all morning making pie! so until i get to indulge in my favorite turkey day food... i'll just have to settle with PUMPKIN PIE themed nails!!

In order to achieve this dessert design the colors you'll need are Sally Hansen Xtreme - crushed (#20)  for the pumpkin part of the pie (2 coats)

Love and Beauty - gold  for the crust (2 coats), Kiss - bronze striper for the tear drop holes in the crust.

Next you'll need decorative gold bead balls, to embellish the crust, which can be purchased online, and if you haven't used them before (which i hadn't before this) it can be quite tedious. The balls are adhered using top coat and after the design is complete you want to use another layer of top coat to secure the beads.

If you try any thanksgiving designs then SHARE IT!

and I hope you all have a happy holiday!!!