Nails by Carol

It's been a long time!

2015-01-12T13:11:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!
I hope your 2015 is going great. I know I've been gone for a long time and it's not something I'm proud of. Life happens and my obligations have been a lot more demanding but soon, I hope to get back on the blogging world.
Yesterday I uploaded a few pictures of nails I've done over the past months...
Enjoy ♡

Tribal and Gradient (Pictures Only)

2014-02-21T19:17:00.000-08:00

Flowers and Special Guest

2013-08-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

Here kitty, kitty!
One thing I might have not mentioned before is that I am a huge animal lover. Canines, felines, rodents... You name it, I love it. This is Tarzan and here is a little story about him. One afternoon, he was just standing at my door waiting for someone to come out. My brother saw him and started feeding him chicken. He came in and let us pet him and then he took off. Next day, there he was again... We fed him and gave him some milk. He let us pet him again, came into the house and then he left. On a third occasion, same thing happened but this time his eye was almost bleeding. At this point we were sure he was a stray cat and I felt so bad for him; he looked miserable. We fed him again and he left. Two weeks after, my brother saw a cat that had been run over close to one block from our house. We thought it had been Tarzan. About three months after that, guess who showed up? It was Tarzan! This time, he had gained weight, his fur was healthy and shiny, his eyes looked bluer than ever... Just a beautiful cat. He came into the house and this time he did not want to eat or drink anything; he just wanted love.
Well, we didn't take him in because we found out that Tarzan's name is Blue and he is our neighbors' cat! Yup, right next door... Sneaky cat! We still call him Tarzan though and I am really happy he is not a stray cat :)

For my nails, yeah, this is a nail blog after all... I did a French manicure using OPI Fair Dinkum Pinkum as a base and OPI Cha-Ching Cherry for the tips. The details are just black and white acrylic paint.

Meow!

A cutepolish Design - Doodle Flowers

2013-08-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about the nail polish community is that you can try the different manicures you see and then you realize how doable those tutorials and techniques really are. I am not ashamed to share a manicure which I saw on someone's blog or YT tutorial; in fact, I have shared a number of them now. I am pretty sure you know who cutepolish is... If not, well, you should check her out! Here is a manicure I copied from her, I just loved it and I got many compliments on it:

Here is the original video tutorial:

xoxo!

Disney's California Adventure!

2013-07-26T21:55:00.001-07:00

Hello :)
Although I have not told you the horror story of my peeling nails, I did this manicure when they were getting back in shape. I went to Disney's California Adventure the last Friday of June and it was amazing! I hadn't been there in about 5 years and I enjoyed every minute of it - except the long lines for some rides. The picture above is from the end of the World of Color show on water. If you have watched it, I am sure you are just in awe as I am. It is such a show, worth every penny; it even made me cry...
On to the nails... I googled Disney nail art and I just copied this manicure which came up several times. I did not take more pictures because I had a topcoat issue and sheet marks- ugh! but I really liked it. I took the picture before the Pixar parade.

What is your favorite Disney character???

Polishes:
-Red: China Glaze Ruby Pumps
-Black: Finger Paints Black Expressionism
-Yellow: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lightening
-White: acrylic paint
-Dots: essence stamping plate

Review for KK CenterHK: Light Pink 2mm Circular Studs

2013-07-23T22:45:00.000-07:00

Hello :)
I have an exciting post for you guys and girls. I meant to have it ready a couple of weeks ago but it turns out that my nails were dying- I am talking about extreme peeling, chipping and some other horrors that I will get to in a separate post.
KKCenterHK was kind enough to allow me to choose one item for review and I picked their light pink 2mm circular studs. -Thank you very much! (Please be ready to see MANY pictures)

I have seen many studded nails and I have read many reviews. However, here are my first impressions and some info (prior to using the studs):

The ~50 piece package is $4.73
The package arrived in good condition, very well protected with bubble wrap
The studs are very shiny, lightweight and nicely pigmented
The backing is hollow, which turned out to be helpful

Here is the manicure I used to show of the studs:
Polishes: Jenna Hipp The Freshmaker (mint) and Damage Control (pink)

I used the studs like I used any other 3D decoration. I used a non-fast drying top coat as glue and they held up perfectly. They lasted longer on my nails than the polish itself. As you see, I placed them on the nails with the minty green polish because they would create a nice contrast since the studs are light pink. I am impressed on how 3 tiny studs can completely change and improve a plain manicure.

I apologize for these awkward pictures, the purpose is for you to see how they were on my nail, I am not pointing at you, that's rude.

My final thoughts and recommendations:

The 2mm size is perfect for my narrow and curved nails, I am sure they can fit beautifully other nail shapes and lengths.
The studs are not bulky at all yet they give that three-dimensional feel which is quite nice.
The color does not bleed. However, if the topcoat protecting the stud undergoes friction, it is highly likely that the studs will show some wear.
They are easy to use, they are not heavy and they can accessorize any type of manicure.
I love them!

For being so kind and reading my entire post, here is a 10% off bonus courtesy of KKCenterHK for your next purchase:

KKCenterHK Website: http://www.kkcenterhk.com/index.html
Find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kkcenterhkcom

* Product sent for honest-review consideration *

Purple-Blue Gradient and Flowers

2013-07-01T21:46:00.003-07:00

Hello :)

It's Hot in California! That should be a show... If you have watched the weather news, you might have seen that we are sweating like crazy here in the Golden State. Although I enjoy not having to wear boots or long sleeves, I don't like being sweaty and oily all day and night.
Today's manicure came about as a test for my birthday manicure... I liked it a bit, but in my eyes it's not birthday worthy. Maybe I would do the same thing but with reds and oranges. I will keep you updated if I optimize it :)

Chevrons and Glitter and Bows. Oh, my!

2013-06-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!
I'm sorry I have been so MIA but life happens... along with my nails peeling like crazy. I had to file them down and they have stopped peeling but now, I have to grow them out and make sure they are healthy again.
I have seen so many mixed manicures lately, especially from Marta from the blog ChitChatNails.com. I tried to do a skittlette as she called it, but I was just picking random polishes and stamps. Well, here is the end result.
Base (Pink) - Sinful Colors Cream Pink
Holo Glitter - B Touch Multisilver G
Glitter (Pink) - Jordana Magenta Magic
Stamps - Bow m59, Chevrons BM 201

Water Decal Nail Stickers - A Review for BornPrettyStore (Plus Discount Code)

2013-05-21T21:19:00.001-07:00

Hello dear readers!

This manicure that I am showing you in this post is featuring some Water Decals Nail Art Stickers which were provided to me by BornPrettyStore.

There are 12 pieces in this set and it comes with a small nail file. There are directions in the back of the package showing the process of the decal application.

12pcs Cute Design Water Decals Nail Art Stickers Decoration Manicure - 24 patterns

So here is what I came up with:

I know there are written directions in the package as well as on the website; however, this is what I did with the product:

Align the nail with the decal and choose the best size (width) for your nail.
Cut the desired decal - I had to size them down a little because my nail beds are narrow and I had to crop the decals so they would fit my nail.
Dip in water for 10-15 seconds.
Remove the thin, plastic decal from the paper backing and place it on your dry nail - make sure the decal is not soaked in water prior to placing it on your nail.
Once the decal dries on the nail, file the excess off and make sure you have smooth edges. Be careful not to file your nail along with the decal.
Apply a top coat.

I applied 3 decals on my nails and I chose a pink polish to pull the manicure together. Here is a full hand picture:

I zoomed in into my thumbnail so you could appreciate the amount of detail in these kawaii popsicles:

So now the review:

Pros:

There are 12 pieces per package at a very good price ($1.99)
They are easy to use and there is no messy application - NO smell, glue, scraping, waiting time, etc.
BornPrettyStore offers 24 different patterns for these decals; the combinations are very many.

Cons:

I had to manually size the decals to fit my nails (which took a couple of minutes)

Overall, I am very pleased with these decals. I really love this manicure and it has lasted me over 3 days, which is remarkable. I would definitely recommend you to try these for those days when we don't have time for stamping, sponging, and such artsy activities.

The direct link to these decals is here and the store link is here.

And if that's not enough, BPS provided me with a 10% off coupon for my lovely readers, use it at the time of purchase:

http://www.bornprettystore.com

Let me know if you use these decals :)

Thanks for reading!

* Product sent for honest-review consideration *

I Tried...

2013-05-09T20:35:00.000-07:00

Hola amigas!
I have been neglecting my blog, as usual, but I had been busy and stressed out about a few things - good things. I don't want to get into too many details because I don't want to jinx it, but I am extremely happy :D Hmm, just in case, I didn't get engaged, I am not getting married, and I am not pregnant... Just saying!
Moving on to my nails, I have been practicing my free-handed strokes and swirls and all that... It's not my forte. I saw THIS tutorial in the blog It's all about nails by Radi. I did it a bit differently but it is totally her design. It is obvious, I need to practice more!

Rainbow Leopard Print

2013-04-29T17:30:00.002-07:00

Hello there!
I don't think I need to say much about this manicure given that it is not a novelty in the nail polish world. I love animal print and I love rainbows! I just loved this manicure which lasted on me for about 5 days. I got so many compliments on it, I swear, when I don't want people to notice my nails they compliment them the most... Who am I kidding?! I really like it when people compliment my nails :D

Once Upon a Time... March 2013

2013-04-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

Hello! After a few weeks, I am glad to say I am back. March was quite stressful and it flew by... At the beginning of the month I had lost my polish lover spark. I was just uninspired and I did not get the need to polish my nails. I put aside my stamping stuff for a month and I decided to take a step back and let the creativity come back to me. I was dealing with a few more things, but I have a few days off and I finally glad to have some time for me :)

Thank you to all of you who are now following me through bloglovin'. Just in case, click here if you wish to follow me through bloglovin'.

Here is a collection of a few manicures I did this past month:

Jordana Hawaiian Flower and m72

Jordana Island Fuchsia

OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons

As you can see, I didn't do much... By the way, that was my first OPI :) I nearly died when I found it at a local store for $5!!! Yeah, all OPI for $5 and they have a special deal once you buy over 6 polishes :D

Thanks for sticking with me!
xoxo <3 br="">

Overcoming One of My Fears (LOL)

2013-03-01T21:10:00.000-08:00

It's not as dramatic as it sounds, but still... As a polish lover, there are a few things that I don't regularly do, such as water marbles, free-hand designs, etc. but even then, there has been something that almost scares me. Stamping -wait for it- tips. Yes. I have tried this 100 times and failed probably 99 of my attempts. I am not sure what got into me to try to do some tip stamping and I did. Here is my result:

I was pretty happy with the result and although it's not perfect, I think it works. My base polish is Jordana Fairy Dust (which I love!) and it has a crazy gorgeous holo effect in the sunlight. The day I wore this, there was someone driving next to me on a super sunny day, when we got to a red light, he was like "I really like your finger nails!". So random. A lady who I was talking to asked me to show her my nails, she thought they were acrylics...
Overall, my fear for stamping tips is decreasing, slowly, but decreasing.

Happy Valentine's Day! (Cloud Manicure)

2013-02-14T20:57:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and happy Valentine's day!
I hope you are having a nice day in company of your loved ones. I don't have plans for tonight other than getting a phone call from my valentine. You may already know this but every day is just perfect to celebrate love and friendship not just February 14th.
I just got home and I have for you a manicure I did a few days ago. The pink you see is Jordana's Pink Lemonade and it is a bright pink with a nice sheen. The silver is my good old Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Silver Sweep and the black is Jordana Black.
No kidding, I was SCARED of doing a cloud manicure because so many nail bloggers have done a beyond gorgeous job at them and I was afraid to screw up.
Here is proof, I was happy with the result:

Vintage Leopard and Roses (Cajanails' Manicure)

2013-02-05T19:57:00.001-08:00

I have to admit it. Sometimes I want to do my nails and I just don't have good ideas... I look for inspiration in blogs I follow (and get jelly of gorgeous manicures other girls post, haha) and sometimes I go on YouTube. I discovered Cajanails not too long ago and I fell in love with her nail art... I wish I was so good at free hand like her and thousands more! I saw her video titled "Nail Art: Roses and Leopard" and I fell in love with the idea. I am not going to lie, I had seen leopard print and roses a few times, but I guess I was in the mood when I saw her video. I decided to copy her manicure and show you my manicure. Thank you Cajanails for such great nail art!
My nails:

Here is the original video:

Of Life and Lacquer: OPI Euro Centrale Collection & Giveaway

2013-02-04T19:34:00.001-08:00

Hello ladies,
This post is to inform you that Cynthia from Of Life and Lacquer is kindly hosting an OPI Euro Centrale giveaway. In case you have not seen this collection, here is the picture from Cynthia's blog:

For swatches of this collection (and much more good stuff) and the opportunity to enter her giveaway, follow the link at the end.
Thank you Cynthia for this giveaway!

To enter, CLICK HERE
Ends 2/15

Fuchsia Meets Magenta

2013-01-29T23:22:00.001-08:00

Hello there,
Here is a quick and easy lazy glitter mani that I think is very cute. The base is Sation Fan the Flames Fuchsia, which is a jelly fuchsia polish. The glitter I used is Jordana Magenta Magic which is a mixture of different size glitters.
I hope you are doing well and thanks for stopping by!

Jordana 'Ruby Slippers' and Gold Stamp

2013-01-25T19:19:00.001-08:00

Hello :)
And the venting begins...
When I though California was starting to warm up, we started getting more rain... Bummer. Don't get me wrong, I love rainy weather- only if I am staying inside. I feel like it has been raining and it has been raining on me. Although I do not always mention personal stuff here, I have had a tough week. Remember I was excited about getting a volunteering position in a local hospital? I was assigned to a cool post-op department and I was supposed to start training this week. My schedule was conflicting with that so I was placed in another department which I was really excited about... A few hours later, the person in charge called me saying that my position had been given to someone else, WHAT??? I know, it's nuts... Well, I had to just keep calm and carry on. Last night, I was peacefully checking my email when I read that one of my classes was permanently switched to a different day :( I was about to start training for a job at school, I had to switch to a different department at the hospital and then my class schedule got messed up. I was so upset last night, I couldn't even cry. Turns out I had to call my ex-future boss to tell him about this issue and I will not be working there... I should stop now, this is a polish blog and I am feeling depressed again.

So here is a dark wine/red polish from Jordana called Ruby Slippers. It is amazingly rich and opaque with two light coats. It has some hints of fine shimmer and it is a very vampy-girly polish. I used the stamp on plate BM205 and I used Maybelline Color Show Bold Gold to stamp. I left my pinky nail without a stamp because I somewhat regretted not having worn the polish on its own :)

I hope you are all doing well :D

Warm Gradient and Stamping

2013-01-17T21:09:00.001-08:00

Hello there!
Last week I entered a YouTube contest on Creativenailart's channel (HERE) which was sponsored by Bundle Monster. I had delayed the post of this manicure because... I just got a little lazy :( Sorry.
Anyway, the idea behind this warm-colored gradient was to break out of the cold-colored winter manicures... I hope you like it and I will include the video at the end :)

Gradient:
-Yellow: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lightening
-Orange: Kleancolor Mandarin Burst
-Pink: Kleancolor Neon Pink
-Red: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Rapid Red

Glitter:
-Sinful Colors Pearl Harbor

Stamp and Stamping Polish:
-BM203
-Wet n Wild Black Creme

Pebbles and Bows

2013-01-12T21:28:00.001-08:00

Hello :)
If you follow me on Facebook, you know that my computer was at the doctor's just getting a facelift... On Tuesday night, I made a video for a contest hosted by Creativenailart on YouTube and I was able to edit and upload it. Right after, my computer froze and it started making a weird noise... I had to take it to the technician, I mean, doctor and I did so the next morning. It was until yesterday that I got my baby back! It is running perfectly now, I am glad I have someone I trust who can fix these issues :)
On to the nails - I had meant to show the mani for the contest I entered, but I had not had the chance to edit the pictures and what not... I am showing you here a simple and girly manicure which I really liked.
Base: Jordana Soft Pink
Stamps: BM211 and m59
Stamping polishes: Konad White and WnW Black Creme
Glitter: Covergirl Goddess

Gradient and Zebra Print

2013-01-06T21:19:00.003-08:00

Hello!
I was looking through some old posts that I needed to edit and I came across a gradient, glitter, and animal print mani I did on my short nails a while ago. It is one of my favorites and I think I should do a bolder version of this someday soon.
I hope you enjoy it and have a great week!

Yellow - Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow

Purple - Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Lacey Lilac

Glitter - Covergirl Goddess

Stamp - BM223

Week 53 - Happy New Year!!!

2013-01-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

Hello there!
I hope you had a great start of 2013, I also hope that your 2012 had been a good year for everything you had planned. Personally, 2012 was a roller coaster year for me, but I am thankful that it was also the year for me to undertake new beginnings. I hope that 2013 continues to be a good year and that dreams, hopes and goals are accomplished in the following 12 months for all of us.
There is a weird story behind this manicure. I was going to end 2012 with bare nails! Yup, I wasn't feeling like doing my nails but I was randomly on YouTube and I saw JaeMarie2008's latest tutorial (HERE) - I had to do it! I love her tutorials and her nails are always looking fabulous. Thank you Jae for inspiring me to end the year with glitzy nails. At the same time, I think this manicure is a compilation of some of this challenge's manicures - glitter, gradient, dots, metallics...
Have a wonderful 2013!!!

For a synopsis of this challenge, the link is here and make sure you check out the other ladies who also signed up for the challenge :)

Week 52: Christmas Manicure (x2)!

2012-12-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

Hello ladies and gents,
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas full of happiness, joy, family, and good food. It has taken me a while to publish my Christmas manicure, but you know, the holidays just put me in the mood to relax... Well, I have two Christmas manicure. The first one was the one I intended to wear on Christmas but it chipped off so I did a second one...


Base: Zoya MegGlitter: Jordana GemstonesAccent nail: Maybelline Color Show Bold Gold

After my tape Christmas tree, I saw that Sammi The Nailasaurus had done a Christmas manicure (here) and I decided to recreate a candy cane and hex glitter tree...

Candy Cane - Base: Freshcover 369 and Kiss Nail Art WhiteChristmas Tree - Base: WnW White Creme
Glitter: Hex Green and Gold

xoxo,
Carol

Week 51: Red Nails

2012-12-21T23:13:00.001-08:00

If you have been following my blog for a long time, you may know that I love wearing red nail polish. It was in fact a red polish that converted me into a polish hoarder, I mean, lover. For the red nails week, I wore Jordana Holiday Red and I topped it off with Hot Flash from the same brand. On my accent nail, I did a white nail topped with Jordana Lunar Lights and a little holly :)

Week 50: Snowflake Manicure

2012-12-21T23:02:00.000-08:00

As I mention in my Snow post, I love snowflakes; I love snow and winter but I highly dislike being cold. I suffer from cold hands and feet... It is quite painful sometimes. Here is my snowflake manicure along with what I used:
Tips: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Rapid Red
Glitter: Jordana Hot Flash
Stamping plate and polish: m59 and Konad White