Tuesday, January 31, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 30-Inspired by a Tutorial

Sorry I'm a day behind :( Yesterday was way too busy for me to pick a tutorial, execute it, and then blog about it. But I did it today! I searched through my google reader trying to find a tutorial that I liked, but could also be done quickly. Then I found this one from Rebecca Likes Nails. Check out her blog y'all. It's awesome! 
Isn't this cool?! It's like a braid! The more I look at it, the more I like it. Unfortunately I had somewhere to be and couldn't clean up super well. I messed up a couple of the stripes, but it's still pretty cool. And it was so easy!
Colors used: China Glaze Traffic Jam, Ulta Wild Night and Ulta The Jungle Look. I'll have day 31 ready for tomorrow :) I've already decided what to do! Yay!


Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!



Sunday, January 29, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 29-Inspired by the Supernatural

One day I was on Stumbleupon between classes and somehow started stumbling in the oddities section. I stumbled on a website devoted to the supernatural occurrence of spontaneous combustion. It was really interesting. I love reading about weird stuff like that. Anyways, when trying to come up with a supernatural mani, I thought of this.
Doing a person spontaneously combusting was a little too dark for me, so I just drew the flames. I love watching fire. And throwing certain things in the fire will make it change colors. My favorite I've seen so far: Christmas lights. My grandma had some that stopped working so she just threw them in our fire. It turned blue and turquoise and was amazing! Anyways, I really like this mani, even if the flame on my index finger looks like a teepee. I like how the glitter in the yellow kinda looks like sparks in a flame.
Colors used: Sally Hansen Black Platinum (2 coats), Prisma Colors Yellow, China Glaze Peachy Keen, a Wet n Wild bronzy color that isn't labelled, OPI Color So Hot it Berns, OPI Brisbane Bronze. What do  
you think?


Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!


31 Day Challenge: Day 28-Inspired by a Flag

This challenge is so random, but ok. Like most Texans, I really love Texas. A lot. So I decided to recreate our flag since I love it so much. And since it's simple :)

I swatched a bunch of different blues and reds to pick out the perfect colors. Then I asked my dad (who loves Texas and its flags) to choose which ones he thought were best. I painted the index finger with one coat of Pure Ice French Kiss and then free handed a star with Sally Hansen White Lightening. Then I painted the other three nails white. After that dried, I decided it would be a good time to dye the tips of my hair again. Random, right? Anyways, in doing that, my nails got kinda stained blue and green, but I didn't have enough time to redo it so I channeled my inner Tim Gunn and made it work! I then taped my nails and painted two coats of China Glaze Winter Berry. You'll notice I did not use any OPI Texas colors. That's because I think that collection was made by someone that's never been to Texas. Texas is known by so many things like oil, cotton, insane love of football, the Cowboys, a giant Mexican influence that's rich in colors, cattle, the Texas Rangers (not the baseball team), the Alamo. All these things could've been pulled from to inspire a collection. Instead we got a green called Don't Mess with OPI?! And Y'all Come Back, Ya Hear. The phrase is "Y'all come back now ya here?". Come on! Lame. Rant over.

Fun fact: six national flags have flown over Texas (that's where they get the theme park name). They were Spain, France, Mexico, Texas republic (because we were and independent country for a time), Confederate flag and finally U.S. I thought about doing the six flags of Texas, but the Spanish and French ones were very complex and I didn't think I could do them justice. Also, the Confederate flag is kind of controversial, so it's just best to steer clear. Sorry for the long blab about it, but I really do love Texas :)

No finally the pics. They're crappy because my Internet isn't working and I have to post from my phone. Voila!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Pages

Hey everyone! I don't know if you've noticed, but up along the top of my page are permanent pages. That's where I put current giveaways and more recently, coupons! Make sure you check those out regularly. I just updated the coupon page :)

Thursday, January 26, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 26-Inspired by a Pattern

It was kinda hard to find a pattern to be inspired by. I eventually went through my plates and chose this butterfly pattern and some really girly colors to go with it.
This is 3 coats of China Glaze Good Witch? (which applied like a dream!) stamped with Bundle Monster plate BM 205 and Sally Hansen Wined Up. I love this color combination. Wined Up is such a gorgeous color. I was quite surprised by it :)




Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 25-Inspired by Fashion

I'm not really into fashion, but I am obsessed with Project Runway. I saw the second episode of this season last week and saw this dress:
This dress was designed by Mondo and I love him. I really think he should have won his season. And none of Gretchen Wieners!...or whatever her name was. Anyways, when I saw this dress on the runway, I immediately wanted to try the silver and white color combo on my nails. Then I remembered this day of the challenge and filed it away :) I don't really care too much for the dress, but LOVE the colors. This picture doesn't do it justice. 

And then tragedy struck! I can't find my silver polish anywhere :'( So I used my Sally Hansen Color Quick pen in Gold Chrome with fauxnad m64 over 2 coat of Sally Hansen Whirlwind White. Not near as beautiful and icy as I imagined, but still pretty. As soon as I find my silver (or buy a new one) I'll try it again. This kinda remind me of a fancy teacup or something. Meh.


Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 24: Inspired by a Book

For today's mani, I was inspired by ten books! Or one series:
The Princess Diaries! I've watched the movie idk how many times. I love it. Around the 500th time, I noticed it was based on a book series and decided I had to read it. The books are completely different, but I love them both. There are ten books and coincidentally, I have ten fingers! I tried to match the colors as best I could using only untrieds.

It goes from left pinky to right pinky. Colors used: OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston, Sally Hansen Blue Streak, OPI Planks a Lot, OPI Houston We Have a Purple, Revlon Peach Smoothie, China Glaze Sun Worshipper, China Glaze Re-fresh Mint, Finger Paints To-Teally Chic, OPI Big Hair...Big Nails, Prisma Luminous Colors Blue. Stamped with Sally Hansen Whirlwind White and Bundle Monster plate BM 08. It dries faster than the polishes I've been using lately, so I had some issues with transfer.


Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!




Monday, January 23, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 23-Inspired by a Movie

Crappy pics from the Blogger app because I'm not going home for another 7 hours and I don't have my computer :( I'm not exactly sure why I chose this movie, but it's one of my favorites :) The Wedding Singer takes place in 1985 and is about a wedding singer haha. I did the broken heart because in the movie he sings Love Stinks after he's had his heart broken and it's sad, uncomfortable and hilarious. The splatter and color blocking are just 80s looking and the mic because he's a wedding singer. Then the thumb is the initials of the main characters, Robbie Hart and Julia...Stewart. I kinda forgot that was her last name when I painted this haha. I always refer to her as Julia Gulia. Then I added music notes because of her gift to him the song he sings her. I love this, especially the splatter!
Colors used: Icing white, Confetti Black Tie, China Glaze Salsa, China Glaze Make an Entrance, Zoya Mitzi, China Glaze Four Leaf Clover. I also used Bundle Monster plate BM 17. Remember to go check the other ladies' blogs for their takes on the challenge!


Sunday, January 22, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 22 Inspired By a Song

For today's challenge my mom suggested a lot of songs. Really old songs. They didn't really inspire me. And then I wanted to pick a Beatles song. I thought Eleanor Rigby would be super cool, but decided I didn't want to try to paint a face in a jar by the door in nail polish. I decided to go to my iTunes and look at my most played songs. And then one of them really appealed to me...

Firework! Originally by Katy Perry, but the one I listen to all the time is the Glee Project version. Cameron Mitchell was my favorite and I especially love his part in the song. It's one of my go-to jam songs :)

I showed you my right hand first because I think it actually came out better than the left hand. I started with two coats of Sinful Colors What's Your Name for a night sky and then decided it would be a good idea to file my nails. Hence the lack of polish on some tips. I'm really impatient and I just wanted to file my nails and go to bed haha. Said filing also resulted in my weirdly short index nail on the left hand. I got a little too enthusiastic with the file :(

Today after church I added the fireworks with a striping brush. I used Color Club Foil Me Once topped with Color Club Candy Cane, Color Club Perfect Mol-ten topped with Color Club Beyond the Mistletoe, Color Club Hot Like Lava topped with Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink, Wet n Wild The Bold & The Beautiful topped with China Glaze Ultamate Holiday and Color Club Cold Metal topped with Color Club Jingle Jangle.

On the left hand I used the same colors but arranged in different order. I used the striping brush on most of these, except the thumb and ring finger. I used a needle marbling type effect and then went over it with glitter on the striping brush. I decided I liked the brush technique better, but my thumb nail is growing on me.

Side by side. I really love this one. :) And now the song that inspired it!


Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 21-Inspired by a Color


I got home yesterday and guess what was in my mailbox! a England Tristam!!! Finally. I saw it and it's glittering beauty and set it aside hoping I'd get to use it soon. Then I started reorganizing my untried bin and these beautiful blue glitters kept catching my eye. So that's what inspired me.


I decided to try a glitter ombre. The ombre looked much better in the bottles haha. The glitters didn't look so dimensional, so it was easier to see the gradient effect. The middle three all just look a little too similar. P.S. Look at the crazy way I positioned my hands to show all the nails together. It looked much more painful before I cropped it haha. It was just a little uncomfortable.

Colors used: China Glaze Atlantis, Pure Ice Strapless, China Glaze Dorothy Who?, NOPI Kendall on the Katwalk, a England Tristam. Now I must go find a song to inspire a manicure...hmmmm...


Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!

Friday, January 20, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 20-Watermarble

I experimented with watermarble before, but my only successful one was on one nail. The others were...total disasters. I think my problem was that my water was too cold. This one I waited until I got warm water running to fill up my cup. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with this one.

I used OPI Fly, China Glaze Pelican Gray and OPI Did It On 'Em. I really love this color combination. Gray is my favorite color right now, and I especially love it with teal and yellow greens.

My favorite is definitely the middle finger and then the index. The ring finger didn't get any of the blue on it :/ Only three of my fingers could fit in the cup I was using at a time, so I redid the pinky in a little cup. I don't really like the way it swirled in there. 

Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!

31 Day Challenge: Day 19-Galaxy Nails


This was my second attempt at galaxy nails. I loved my first ones a lot. These...not so much. Everyone says "They're so easy! It's impossible to mess up!". And I thought they were completely right the first time. Then I did them again. And they were so cool! Until I went too far. I kept adding and it ruined them :(
I was doing these at night in a poorly lit room, so this is the best picture I got from before all the sponging. I started out with a Love and Beauty polish that I thought was a purple/blue/black multichrome. When I put it on the nail it looked more green. According to the label this color was "Royal". Then I used a Love and Beauty glittery black, topped off with Finger Paints Motley.
Then I sponged with Hard Candy Beetle and Zoya Paz. And it looked SO COOOOL! Then I added Orly Au Champagne. And I covered up all the awesome below it. I tried to get it back by randomly layering all the other stuff back. I got it somewhat acceptable and then added hex glitter stars. I tried using a dotting tool the first time and didn't really care for the stars that way. I liked this method much better.

Polishes used: Love and Beauty Royal, Black, Finger Paints Motley, Hard Candy Beetle, Zoya Paz, Orly Au Champagne, Love and Beauty Silver.

Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 18-Half Moon



Short post because I'm out of town. My family and I went to Dallas to buy stock for our store. One of the first manicures I posted on this blog was a half moon manicure. I actually like them a lot. For this one I decided to use two polishes I bought on Saturday, both from OPI pop star collections :)


I used two coats of OPI Pink Friday and then one of The One That Got Away. Nicki and Katy! I then topped it off with one coat of both Finger Paints Flashy and Motley. This manicure is super girly, but I like is a lot more than I thought I would.

Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 17-Glitter


I love glitter. A lot. I tried several different combinations using as much glitter as possible, but I thought this simple laying looked best.

Apparently I nicked my ring finger :/


This is 2 coats of an Essence I picked up at Ulta (I can't remember the name and don't have it with me :/ ) and then one coat of a holo gold hex glitter I found at Forever 21. Forever 21 had a bunch of cool glitters on Saturday. Look at the pretty rainbow buffet!


Close up of my index finger nails.

Blurry to show holo glitters.
Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!

Monday, January 16, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 16-Tribal Print

For tribal print, I decided to do a tattoo-like pattern. I didn't have brushes small enough to try and free hand a design.
I'm not really a fan of tribal tattoos, or this mani, but I do like the color combination.

I used two coats of OPI Did It On' Em and then stamped with BM 222 and Ulta Dance Teal Dawn. I am LOVING the OPI Nicki Minaj collection. The colors are so pretty!


Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 15-Delicate Prints

I looked through my stamping plates and chose this image from Bundle Monster plate BM204. My family's insult of choice is "delicate flower" so that's kinda what I had on the mind. I chose also chose this delicate pink as my base and thought the purple would contrast nicely while still keep the design girly and delicate.

Polishes used: Finger Paints Brushstroke Blush and Ulta Devious

 I normally hate pink and purple together, but I really really like this combination. It's just so...delicate I guess haha. It makes me feel fancy :)

Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

31 Day Challenge: Day 14-Flowers

This mani is simpler than I ever imagined doing, but I like it a lot! I love white nails and I love the simplicity of the design :)

 These are the polishes I used: Icing mini white, Cosmetic Arts fuchsia, Zoya Dita, Finger Paints Yule Be Merry, Essie unknown, NYC Times Square and Love and Beauty Silver Holo Glitter.

I used various sized dotting tools to make the flowers. I kinda messed up the ring finger, but it still turned out ok. I left the middles white because I could't find a color that contrasted enough. Then I looked at the glitter and thought it would make good flower centers. How do you like it?

Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!