funky foil

super simple manicure, i just wanted something that was sparkly, but i didn't want to just overlap another polish, so i used purple foil.
I recently picked a 12 pack of Martha Stewart Glitter 12 color "vintage Leaf" pack, and like all Stewart products, it looked like candy!
The obvious problem with using a material not intended for nails is that there are complications. For This manicure the problem was that the foil, which has the consistency of irregular confetti did not want to stay flat on my nails, so in order to make this manicure not have a sharp surface i had to apply a ridiculous amount of top coat! Overall i think this manicure is better appreciated at a distance because it really picks up the light, and the purples are so pretty together. However up close you can see the individual pieces of foil and it looks sort of messy.

For the bases i used O.P.I. - funky dunky and the color foil, as i said was from the Martha Stewart "vintage foil" set, is named chariote. I then use 4-6 coats of Seche Vite - quick dry top coat.


I think next time i'll use the foil more sparingly, because removing this was extremely difficult.

Review

Review on Martha Stewart Halloween Glitter/Glue 6pk.

So I bought these glitters actually in August of this past year, and have become obsessed with her glitters ever since!
Now as you probably know her glitters are priced on the higher range of craft glitter, but let me tell you, THEY ARE WORTH IT!

The quality of the glitter is outstanding, and if you love glitter as much as i do her colors are DELICIOUS and her packaging i super clean too!
 This pack of glitter comes in black, silver, red, green, blue and orange, colors which are perfect for the halloween/fall season.
They are super fine and loose so the glitter never gets sticky and clump together.
Perfect for a light dusting as well as creating a super metallic surface that goes on smooth and clean no matter how many layers. The viles of glitter are generous, depending of course how often you glitter, but mine are still half way full after 4 months!

Note: The only problem with using a lot of layers of glitter both loose and polish is that you need to be prepared to scrub harder when removing it!!

One of the most important things about using any sort of embellishment whether it be craft glitter or micro beads is how the colors hold, and Martha Stewart glitters deliver! Some glitters bleed into nail polish or when your at the end of manicure and it bleeds when putting on top coat... that's the worst!
However I have found that Seche Vite - fast dry top coat is less likely to cause bleeding, and O.P.I.- top coat almost always makes poorly dyed embellishments bleed, which can ruin the design!

Now as far as the glue is concerned I haven't used it, but I'm confident it is more than adequate for crafting on paper and such, but obviously not meant for nails.

All in all if you see Martha Stewart in a craft store next fall I highly recommend buying it! you will not be disappointed! This specific 6 pack of colored glitter is seasonal, however there are other color combos offered all through out the year.

You can buy the 6 pack of martha stewart glitters at Michaels, Jo Ann fabric and crafts, and other craft stores, or online HERE

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!

mommicure II

My mom was so excited about the last manicure I gave her, that she had asked me to do another!
Her outfit was black with silver and gray accents, so i wanted them to match! Again, she was so proud, and it was so cute! Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday!

I realized i never include this part, but I ALWAYS use O.P.I.- natural nail strengthener, and O.P.I. - natural base coat before doing any manicure.

For this manicure I used 2 coats of O.P.I. - lucern - tainly look marvelous.
Then I created a pattern that went around the base of each nail and moved towards the top, on her pinky, middle and thumb, with small hexagonal glitter in black and silver. Once I did the first nail it went so quick, but it was incredibly time consuming, placing the glitters one by one.
I then secured it with Seche VITE - quick dry top coat.

24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 21

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My internet connection was knocked out by rain last night, and I'm just now getting it back... so without further delay, here are my REINDEER/RUDOLPH themed nails (day 21 of the 24 days of xmas challenge!)


I took a sort of morbid/humored approach to this design being that I did normal reindeer the day before. I also have set a goal for myself for this challenge; to try and make my nails have as much variety as possible by pushing alternative christmas imagery and typical christmas color palettes. 


As you can see I illustrated 3 reindeer skulls (one of them being Rudolph) and two holly-across-bones (skull and crossbones... get it? lol, maybe?!) 
I decided that a softer, feminine color would detract from the morbid imagery, and that the hint of metallic luster would make it feel less flat.
Unfortunately when the internet went out I decided in the meantime I would paint some presents I am making and ended up getting some acrylic paint stuck to my nails and sort made it a little funky in places  :( but hopefully it isn't too distracting. Enjoy!

For the base color I used Love & Beauty - Lavender 1 coat, and to add a nice metallic shine to it, I added Sinful Colors - out of this world (#842), which is a nice consistent sheer micro micro micro glitter.
I wanted to create my own warm grey, but after putting on my top coat the purple really came through!


For the rest of the design I used acrylic paint, and circular and almond shaped rhinestone cabochons for the holly. I then finished it off with my trusty Seche Vite - quick dry top coat.


Todays theme which I will be posting later today is EL/F/VES so stay tuned!

To see more of RUDOLF and the other REINDEER check out these ladies blogs:

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

Thanx for stopping by :)

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mommicure

Did my moms nails for an xmas party! she never EVER gets designs... and she generally only wears reds and pinks so this was exciting for the both of us.

I used O.P.I. - designer...de better, 2 coats for the base, and then adhered the red and green rhinestone cabochons using 10 Professional Nail Lacquer - perfectly clear (#401), finally a coat of seche VITE - quick dry top coat!
She was so excited, it was awesome! :)

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 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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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 3

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hello! :) Here is my ICICLES themed nail design! I did these nails when i was still up at 3am because i love this challenge, and unfortunately i have been busy bus busy so i've been waiting to post all day! SO, FINALLY here it is... I got my inspiration from ice caves particularly THIS IMAGE. I love the way the icicles look layered with all the different shades of blue! I however avoided the blue palette because I used blue as my primary nail color for yesterdays challenge. 

Starting after the base coat: 3 layers of Sinful - out of this world (#842) for the base and distant icicles (you can only really see it where it's that light grey under the whiter icicles. Next was actually a happy mistake, i kind of made a franken finger! It happened by first putting down a layer of O.P.I. - austin-tacious turquoise, only to decide it really was TOO turquoisey for what i wanted, so I put a layer of O.P.I. - lucern- tainly look marverlous on top. For some reason the turquoise pigment overpowered the steel grey glitter and created this deep grey-green. WEIRD! This was to  make the back shadowy part of the cave. Next I needed to make MORE ICICLES, but not completely cover up the silver section by using Kiss - white striper.  At this point I used my Seche VITE - quick dry top coat because I needed to do some finishing touches that top coat would only cover up. 

If you have been following me thus far you have probably realized that i REALLY like using rhinestones, glitter and such, and luckily i have the PERFECT thing for the holidays (which in order to not wear out i shall try to use sparingly... maybe?!) white powdery snow-like glitter!

I used a light sprinkling on the tip (its kind of hard to see because i don't have a nice camera), and topped off the design with a silver rhinestone on my ring finger and thumb.  If you check out the little oval nail swatch you can see the glitter better!

I FORGOT TO MENTION! I also used individual pieces of silver bar glitter to seperate the silver (sinful colors) and the grey/green, because its nearly impossible to see in these pics! 

Be sure to check out more ICEY nail designs at

 Nails and Stuff, obsessed with glitter, Paint that nail, Red hair and black nail polish, Ruby's Nails, Polish, Oh My! finger painted, My Polish Stash and starting a bit later in the challenge wickless and polished! 

thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 1

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hello hello hello,  i am very excited to be bringing to you my first post of my first challenge!
The December 1st (OMG can't believe December is here already! yikes!) manicure challenge theme is SNOWFALL!  Unfortunately it has been too warm where i am ( i'm talking light sweater- no jacket kind of warm,) which is unusual for this time of year, so we haven't yet had our first WINTER snow! (other than that freak snow storm during the last week of October.)


One of my absolute FAVORITE FAVORITE FAVORITE things about snow is the way it looks on the trees! it's absolutely beautiful! So, because i love, and long for that sight i decided it would be my NAILSPIRATION for challenge day #1.

For the base color I used O.P.I. - kyoto pearl which is absolutely gorgeous! it seriously makes your finger nails look like pearls! (it's hard to tell in these pics though, but if you haven't tried it i recommend it!)

for the shadows of the snow I used O.P.I. - lucern-tainly look marvelous, the branches are done with Kiss - bronze and red wine stripers, and for the snow I used Kiss - white striper. Finally I topped it off with my newly acquired Seche VITE - quick dry top coat, which is awesome!

I hope you enjoy the first installment to this nail challenge!

be sure to check out Nails and Stuff, obsessed with glitter, Paint that nail, Red hair and black nail polish, Ruby's Nails, Polish, Oh My! finger painted and starting a bit later in the challenge wickless and polished! for more festive nail creations!

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!!!

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

:)

a penny for your thoughts

my day was kind of tricky, filled with little inconveniences that amounted to more. its one of those days where you go... i had all the time in the world. (its called procrastination)  today i FINALLY decided to do what i've been putting off and some freak thing comes along, preventing me from doing whatever I have been putting off.
SOOOO... In hopes of altering my luck i decided lucky penny inspired nail art might help counter my misfortunes.

Love and Beauty- "rust"
black and white striper

copper coated

I don't know what it is about Forever 21 nail polish, Love & Beauty but it just works for me. They come in so many colors, luster's, (did i mention this brand is only$2.80 a bottle!!) and even SCENTED nail polish now? where have i been, because this is news to me!? I must have looked like a weirdo in the mall, eager to try the new scented nail polish i whipped it out and took a big sniff... then realized spectators might find sniffing nail polish questionable. btw straight out of the bottle...it still smells like regular old nail polish.
The image your seeing above however is not the scented nail polish but two new colors that i could not wait to try out! my camera broke a few days ago (several posts ago) so my pictures are pretty crappy, but bear with me!
anyways so the two colors your seeing above are
Love & Beauty- "rust" (so awesome on) and Love and Beauty- "mint" (which if you buy this brand you'll realize they recycle names A LOT!) this particular mint had a metallic green sheen to it.
I call these nails; OXIDIZED COPPER, a sort of ode to jewelry.
to get this effect you; 1. put a few layers of rust (i put 3 down because i wanted it to be extra shiney)
2.a layer of mint 3/4 of the way down.
3. a second layer of mint 1/2 way down
4. final layer of mint 1/4 of the tip of the nail.
the mint nail polish is very sheer so it does not require the sponging technique to achieve the desired effect.