Notes and Nails

BACK! With Neon + Neutral Tape Mani

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:06:00 +0000

Hey everyone! So sorry for my absence...wedding planning, traveling for work and just being so busy has been keeping me away.

Today I have a really fun mani featuring two great polishes. I started with Maybelline Express Finish in Brassy, my classic neutral. Then using a tape mani technique painted over it with China Glaze Escaping Reality from their Cirque Du Soleil collection. I peeled the tape off, and voila! I love the neon and neutral trend and this is just one more fun way to spice it up.

Enjoy!
Carolyn xo

Watercolor Deep V Mani with China Glaze, Essie and Chanel Pastels

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 17:04:00 +0000

Hey everyone! So sorry for my absence. The good news: I have lots of fun swatches and nail art looks to share! Today's is a mix of two trends: One that I call 'Deep V' which exposes a small reverse triangle on your nail, and the 'watercolor' trend. To achieve the watercolor look, simply start with a base in a light, pastel shade, and using a sponge, makeup sponge, or even a nail art brush, just dab on a few other pastels. I used China Glaze Tart-y For the Party, Essie Pop Art Pink and Chanel Riva. For the Deep V, I used Maybeline Express Finish in Brassy. Hope you enjoy this look!

Enjoy and have a fun weekend!
Carolyn xo

March Madness Nail Art: KU Interlocking Dots Mani!

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:52:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Some of you may have seen my post on Instagram with this mani but now it's time to share it, with the start of the NCAA Tournament today. I used this tutorial to get it just right! This mani started with Butter London Pillar Box Red and Bluey. It looks complicated but it's actually pretty simple!

Happy March Madness and Rock Chalk!

Carolyn xo

My Take On: China Glaze Hanging in the Balance

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 16:05:00 +0000

Hey everyone! I was really hoping it would feel like Spring by now, but it is still freezing!! Hopefully this color will brighten up your day. China Glaze Hanging in the Balance is an Aqua Creme polish from their Cirque Du Soleil collection. It really only needed one coat, but I used two. It applied really nicely and is such a fun, bright blue!

Happy hump day!
Carolyn xo

St. Patrick's Day Mani with China Glaze Winter Holly

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 20:32:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Time for a St. Patty's Day mani! This time around I used a base coat of Julie G Ornamental, a metallic gold polish. I created polka dots, diagonal stripes and of course, a shamrock using China Glaze Winter Holly from their Holiday 2012 collection. Winter Holly is an amazing green glitter polish with hints of gold and red.

Happy St. Patty's day and stay safe this weekend!
Carolyn

Purple Ombre Mani with OPI INK and China Glaze Tart-Y for the Party

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:07:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Some people may be over the Ombre trend on clothes, hair, nails- everything! But I am still in love with it. I had recently swatched China Glaze Tart-y for the Party from their 2013 Avant Garden collection and figured, why not try and Ombre with this gorgeous Lilac? I grabbed OPI INK, a very dark purple glitter polish and created the ombre look using a makeup sponge. I only got one photo of this so I apologize, but I think it turned out pretty nice!

Enjoy!
Carolyn xo

My Take On: Lancome Ginger Swing

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:53:00 +0000

Hey friends! Happy Monday! Today I have a swatch of my first ever Lancome polish! Ginger Swing is a light gold/champagne colored polish. I used three coats to get full coverage. It applied really well and I would definitely try other Lancome polished after trying out this one! Have you tried many Lancome polishes?

Enjoy!
Carolyn xo

Snow Day Mani! With Butter London Victoriana

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 04:01:00 +0000

Hey guys! Sorry for lack of blogging lately :/. We have had a couple of snow days and my whole schedule has gotten messed up! Although that did give me some extra time for this mani! I used one of my favorite Butter London polishes, Victoriana and then Pure Ice Silver Mercedes for the dots. I used a dotting tool to create the silver dots. This does bring up a good question! My fiance kept saying Victoriana was green, while I think it is a teal/light blue. What do you think?

Carolyn xo

Oscar Inspired Nail Art!

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:05:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Not sure where you are, but I'm having a crazy snow day here in KC and am working from home. Hope you're staying warm and safe if you're in the path of this winter storm. On a lighter note, I have a cute Oscars Inspired mani for you today! I know the tuxedo nail art started with Zooey Deschanel last year, but I never tried it and figured now was the best time! I used Essie Ballet Slippers for the base and Essie Licorice for the black bow tie and buttons. This was really simple and looks fancy!

Enjoy
Carolyn xo

Valentine's Day Nail Art x2!

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:31:00 +0000

Hi friends! Wanted to throw up a quick post with two very simply Valentine's Day Nail art looks! The first features a variety of colors and small hearts on the middle three nails. The second mani is a simple look with small white hearts in the corner.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of my lovely readers!
Carolyn xo

Metallic Valentine's Nail Art with China Glaze Fade Into Hue

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:18:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Today I have another fun Valentine's Day look for you. I wanted to try something a little different than the standard pink and red. I started with China Glaze Fade Into Hue from their Spring 2013 collection. It's such a pretty lavender blue shade! I attempted the nail art using a silver sharpie. I've seen this done before and I figured, looks to good to be true! I was mostly right. I created horizontal stripes and a heart accent nail with the sharpie. Unfortunately the sharpie got a little smeared when I used top coat. I think I might have just put it on too early but I was pretty disappointed. Hope this lends some V-day inspiration though!

Carolyn xo

Valentine's Day Nail Art: Mini Hearts

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:42:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Today I have a super cute look in honor of Valentine's Day this week! I started with a base of Essie Mademoiselle, my go to sheer pink. I then created very small hearts using a nail art brush in Butter London Bluey and in China Glaze Cranberry Splash. I like this look because it doesn't use just red and pink. The blue spices it up a bit!

Enjoy!
Carolyn xo

OPI Ski Teal We Drop with Black Studs

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 03:46:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Today I'm sharing a pretty simple mani. I used one of my favorite winter shades, OPI Ski Teal We Drop. I added on small round black studs to spice it up a bit! I sealed everything with Seche Vite top coat! Not much to it other than that :) Hope you enjoy!

Carolyn xo

My Take On: China Glaze Tranzitions

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 22:05:00 +0000

Hey everyone and Happy Monday! Today I have my take on a weird polish (IMO). I was pumped to try out China Glaze Tranzitions, polishes that change color and texture with top coat. I tried out Duplicityy first, a light teal color. The polish goes on a bit bumpy and not smooth at all. Normally I rely on top coat to help smooth out polish like this, but because of the polish I could do that. I tried out some dot nail art using top coat to show how this polish works. As you can see, the dots are a darker teal, and much shinier. I love the idea of this, but when I tried it, the top coat shriveled up the dots and looked very strange. Has anyone had better luck with this polish?

Carolyn xo

Bobbi Brown + American Apparel Half Moon Mani

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:10:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Today I have a cool half moon mani for you. This is my first Bobbi Brown polish and I have to say I love it! I also have been in need of a color like this after a MAC polish I had broke inside my purse :(. Bobbi Brown Black Pearl is a black creme polish with hints of silver shimmer. I used American Apparel Light Year for the half moon. Light Year, like most heavy glitter polishes, is very thick and hard to apply. This mani took a surprising long time because of it! But it turned our pretty cute, I think!

Carolyn xo

Better Late Than Never- Christmas Sweater Mani

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:05:00 +0000

Hey guys! Today's post is a bit overdue. I did this Christmas Sweater Nail Art a while back and never got around to posting it. I used China Glaze Cranberry Splash for the base, and OPI Alpine Snow for the sweater designs. I think this is such a fun and festive look for winter, even after Christmas is over!

Carolyn xo

My Take On: China Glaze Cranberry Splash

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:24:00 +0000

Hi everyone! Today I'm sharing my review of China Glaze Cranberry Splash from their Holiday 2012 collection. Cranberry Splash is a metallic red, I don't know that I would call it Cranberry though. The application is wonderful and I only needed to use two coats. I love this red and I think it will be my go-to metallic red!

Carolyn xo

Winter Snowflake Mani!

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 04:42:00 +0000

Hi everyone! Tonight I'm sharing this fun winter mani. For the base color, I used half of the Revlon Nail Art French Mix in Sneak Peek. I used the blue half! My review of the color combo is coming soon :). It's a perfect light blue shade and is not sheer at all. For the snowflakes I added China Glaze Glistening Snow. The glitter polish was perfect for these cute snowflakes.

Hope your winter is warmer than mine! :)
Carolyn xo

Music Monday: Justin Timberlake, Rudimental, Blood Orange and more

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:00:00 +0000

Hi friends! Sorry it has been so long! I've been spending a lot of my free time working on wedding planning so it doesn't leave much room for blogging unfortunately. It's been a while since I had a Music Monday post so I figured it was about that time!

1. Feel The Love- Rudimental ft. John Newman
I had only ever heard this song on Sirius XM and I don't know how popular it really is, but I love it. Very catchy and upbeat. Just cheers me up when I hear it!

2. Suit & Tie- Justin Timberlake ft. Jay-Z
This is JT's newest song. I have been waiting FOREVER for new music from him. I am still undecided on this one, but it needed to be featured.

3. Champagne Coast (Clock Opera Remix)- Blood Orange
A friend of mine shared this with me, and I just love it. Great work music.

4. Soul Killing- The Ting Tings
The Ting Tings may be best known for a song in an iPod commercial, but I find I like almost every single song I hear from them. This track from their newest album is killer. (hah, get it).

Enjoy!
Carolyn

My Take On: China Glaze It's A Trap-Eze

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 04:35:00 +0000

Hi friends and Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's Eve! I know I had a busy break but enjoyed some down time too! Today I'm reviewing another polish from the China Glaze Cirque Du Soleil collection- It's A Trap-Eze. This polish is so fun! It's a light grey/ white polish with glitter of different sizes and in all bright colors. I used three very thin coats of this polish. It's a little tough because glitter can be chunky, but it just takes a little more patience!

Carolyn xo

Ombre Glitter Nails: Silver and Grey Edition

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:46:00 +0000

Hi everyone! Today I have quite a festive mani for you. I started out with two coats of Pure Ice 'Kiss Me Here'- a deep grey creme polish. I then started the ombre process using China Glaze Glistening Snow from their Holiday 2012 collection. Glistening Snow is a silver microglitter, but the polish is surprisingly rich with glitter! I used about 3-4 coats to accomplish this ombre look. I still love this trend and will always like it :)

Carolyn xo

My Take On: China Glaze Surreal Appeal

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:58:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Today I have such a fun color to show you from the China Glaze Cirque du Soleil collection. As soon as I got these I had to try this pink- Surreal Appeal! This creme polish is a light pink but that packs a neon punch. I used two coats in these photos. Overall I love this color!!

Carolyn xo

My Take On: e.l.f. Desert Haze

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:03:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Today I'm reviewing one of my first e.l.f. polishes. I snagged these on clearance at Target, and I actually hadn't ever seen them before! I am always a sucker for nude polishes so I had to grab this one. Desert Haze is a light nude, almost grey polish. I used just two coats on this.

Are you a fan of e.l.f. polishes?
Carolyn xo

My Take On: Winter Holly from the China Glaze Holiday 2012 Collection

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 23:08:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Today I'm reviewing an awesome polish from the China Glaze Holiday 2012 Collection- Winter Holly. WH is a deep forest glitter polish with multi-colored microglitter. It applies well, but even my Seche Vite could not keep it super shiny. That did disappoint me. Overall though, it is a beautiful polish and perfect for the holidays!

Carolyn xo

Butter London Bluey with Zoya Jules Polka Dots

noreply@blogger.com (NotesandNails) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 20:13:00 +0000

Hi friends! Back to regular posting now. Today I have a fun mani, using Butter London Bluey- a deep metallic blue, perfect for winter. I added some polka dots using a dotting tool and Zoya Jules- one of my go-to polishes for nail art. I love these colors together and I am VERY into polka dots now that I got a better dotting tool :)

Enjoy!
Carolyn xo