Nailified

1 YEAR BLOG ANNIVERSARY!

2013-07-05T21:30:00.001-04:00

HEY EVERYONE! It's about time I'm back, right? I realized this morning when I woke up that I started this blog exactly 1 YEAR AGO! I have a lot to show for it, but I know I can do so much better this year. This upcoming year will be so much better and I'm kicking it off with a little raffle to celebrate. It's only open to US residents, unfortunately. Hopefully I'll have an international raffle sometime in the future. To those of you still reading, good luck!

-Kaitlyn

Here are the nail polishes up for grabs! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm Still Here, I Promise!

2013-03-20T23:07:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to quickly post that I am still alive and that I have NOT abandoned this blog. Unfortunately, other priorities in my every day life are preceding this blog by an outstanding number. I only have the time to throw on one- coater polishes real quick before I go to bed and then try to maintain that for at least a week. It's nothing exciting or worth sharing, really. I do have enough content and pictures for 4 guest posts, my christmas/ birthday haul post, and I also have so many great ideas brewing in my mind. I just literally don't have the time (Like now! I should be in bed and asleep already.. Haha).

I thought I would have time over spring break, but that turned out to be busier than my normal weekly schedule. I really hope that I'll be able to post SOMETHING before the semester ends in mid- May, but if I can't get to it, please don't be too mad with me.

I really hope you all understand. I love painting my nails and this is killing me deep down inside. I keep thinking of cool things to share with you guys. I have been writing those ideas down, so hopefully you'll see them! (Yes, even the holiday ones).

Stick around. I'll be back <3

Buttons!

2013-01-29T18:39:00.000-05:00

Alright guys. It's been a while. That's partly because I'm quite embarrassed. I have only had time to do one design and it is so bad that it is funny. However, I decided to upload and edit the photo's so that you all can get a good laugh too.

First off, let me point out how LONG my nails have gotten since I've been gone. Holy length! These are the longest they have ever been, and they are probably going to stay this length. I really enjoy having them long. :)

Now on to the amusing part... I decided one day about a month ago that I was going to start a trend. What trend, you may ask? Well, I came up with buttons. I marched over to my nearest craft store and picked up the smallest buttons I could find. They were perfect!....

....Until it came time to attach them to my nails, that is. They were so big and bulky that they looked absolutely ridiculous. I kept hitting them and getting them caught on things around the house. Surprisingly, these things stayed on like I had used super glue or something!

As funny as these turned out, I'll bet this would be super cute with thin and tiny buttons. My search will continue! Unfortunately, these guys didn't even last one day. I took them off that same day because I had an interview the following day. Imagine the looks I would get if I kept those things on.

For this disaster, I used my newly purchased Zoya Kieko. This is only one of the 30 polishes I have bought/ received since Christmas. It is such a beautiful purple. I absolutely love it! Then I used clear polish to attach the buttons (securely) on top.

Oh and good news everyone! That interview I went on turned out very well. It was actually for a job painting little girls' nails for birthday parties at a spa. They just needed a painter and came across my blog thanks to my friend (Shout out to Mandy! You're the best <3). Yeah! So I'm pretty darn excited. There's already a party booked. I have to come up with some simple design to paint fast onto the girls' nails, so I'll probably post the pictures on here to show you guys what I'm brain storming. :)

Blue Half Moons

2013-01-18T22:16:00.000-05:00

Wooo! Nails!!!! Are you guys excited? I sure am!! I finally have a new design out!

I thought I would share with you the last nail design I did for the 31 day challenge that I never got around to putting up. I was able to quickly do this simple half moon design before I because too swamped with studying.

I absolutely love this color combination (Mainly because these are my two favorite colors from my collection).

The method I used for this design was really simple. I started off with 1 coat of Sally Hansen Insta- Dri Co- Bolt Blue. This polish is so brilliant and opaque. It's definitely my go to polish if I don't have time to paint any designs. Anyway, I let that coat fully dry.

I took 10 hole reinforcers and placed them at the base of my nails (where the dark blue part is in the pictures). I painted 2 coats of China Glaze Aquadelic and then quickly removed the hole reinforcer. I only did one nail at a time so that I could get the most precision. Then I put on a topcoat to protect my design and that was it! Super simple.

It's so glad to be back everyone. I think you'll enjoy what I have in store next! I have to finish editing the pictures, but I painted my best friend's nails when she was here over break. (It seems that I painted everyone's but my own nails. Haha). Anyway, those will be up soon. And wait until you guys see my nails now. I haven't really filed them short, minus some maintenance. They're so long that I can't even type. Can't wait!!!!

I Have Returned!

2013-01-14T18:08:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone. Sorry for disappearing like I did. I could give you all a million and one excuses as to why I was gone, but the main one was that I was embarrassed. Why? Well, I was extremely excited to be a part of two very special challenges. It gave me something to look forward to everyday. It all fell apart when finals came around, though. I still stand strongly by my school work. That will ALWAYS come first, no matter what happens, and no matter what I promise on this blog.

By the time I finished all of my exams, I was more than 10 designs behind, and to make things worse, I caught a nasty cold. I gave up on the challenges because it just wasn't worth it. I didn't want to catch up and spit out really bad designs because I was pressured to get them done.

I'm just going to forget about the challenges and focus on what I want to do. I will go back and pick out some of the designs that I was looking forward to doing, but other than that, you will be seeing fresh, new material that I have brainstormed and picked to be decent enough to be featured on my blog. A whole new year will be bringing a whole new direction!

I also have to put a hold on my "man"-icure posts because I didn't even get to see my models over break and I know a few already left for school.

I'm really excited for this year, especially since I got a bunch of cool nail stuff for Christmas and my birthday this year. My next post will be of those items, and then I'll start putting up my nail art again!

In addition to my nail art blog, I also started a new blog called Run Then Play under my blogger name. Running is another hobby of mine and I thought it would be cool to share it with you all. I created this blog because I'm about to start a 3 month work out program to help me get in shape for some upcoming races I am training for in the spring. I needed a place to write down my thoughts and to keep track of my progress (while hopefully receiving some support from you guys!) Anyway, go check it out. Hopefully you will become inspired to go for a run yourselves. :)

Take Two Day 9: Inspired by your location

2012-12-09T23:35:00.003-05:00

For those of you who live around here, you'll know what I'm talking about. For those of you who don't, let me explain. Now for those of you who are nosy, you have probably seen that I live in New Jersey. Naturally when people think of New Jersey, they think of the Jersey Shore. I actually thought about doing this on my nails, but after Hurricane Sandy tore through, I don't think I can. So instead, I decided to do New York City.

Even though I live in New Jersey, I live so much closer to New York City than I do the Jersey Shore, so it would make sense for me to choose NYC.

I'm actually super happy with how this manicure turned out. I just wish the picture captured the way these look in person. The background is slightly darker and the glitter really sparkles. It's so pretty. I even added glitter to the windows of all of the buildings to try and simulate how colorful the NYC skyline is at night. My attempt is quite awful compared to how beautiful it actually is. Just look at this picture I found on Google.

My nails can't even compare to that! If I had days, I could have tried.

If you look, you'll see that I painted 3 of the most well known towers in NYC: The Empire State Building, and the Twin Towers. It's really sad that the twin towers will never be on the NYC sky line. They honestly made it look 20 times better (but that's just my opinion).

For this manicure, I used a lot of nail polishes. For the base, I started off with one coat of Sally Hansen Insta- Dri Co- Bolt Blue. Then I sponged on China Glaze Custom Kicks, Gothic Lolita, Secret Peri-wink-le, and Sinful Colors Aquamarine. I painted the building in Maybelline Color Show Onyx Rush. For the windows in the buildings, the clouds, and NYC, I used Essie Marshmallow. For the heart and the glitter lights in the buildings, I used OPI Goldeneye and The Spy Who Loved Me.

Be sure to add your link below if you are joining in!

12DoC Dec 9: Snowmen

2012-12-09T23:16:00.002-05:00

Well, I got this one done, guys. I only have 1 more final left, so hopefully I'll get caught back up real soon!

So as you can tell, I had a little bit of extra time (I really just needed a break after cramming for today's final). You can tell that I did these real quick. If I had more time, I would have added scarves to them. That would have been adorable.

I absolutely love the colors I used. The background blue is one of my favorites!

I free-handed everything in this design. You can probably tell from the hat. It was kind of hard to see the black when I was painting my nails, especially since I was working at such a fast pace.

For this manicure, I used Sinful Colors Kissy for the base. Then I used Essie Marshmallow for the snowman. For his features, I used Piggy Polish Damsel in This Dress, Zoya Meg, and Maybelline Color Show Onyx Rush.

Be sure to add you link below if you are joining in!

Take Two Day 8: Polka Dots

2012-12-08T23:54:00.002-05:00

If you guys have been following my blog for a while, you know that I LOVE polka dots. Since this was right after the black and white prompt, I super excited to use color for this one. This, of course, means rainbows!

I am extremely happy how this turned out. I originally wanted to do a skittle polka dot manicure, but it didn't turn out the way I wanted.

In order to post this on time, I decided to go simple by starting with a white base and alternating the positions of the different colors on each nail.

This design almost reminds me of those pictures that have the hidden numbers in the dots that indicate if you're color blind or not. I hope you know what I'm talking about... Haha.

Anyway, for this manicure, I used Piggy Polish 6 Impossible Things for the base. Then I used, in the order of the rainbow, OPI The Spy Who Loved Me, China Glaze Riveting, OPI Goldeneye, China Glaze Entourage, China Glaze Custom Kicks, and China Glaze Custom Kicks.

Add your link below if you are joining in!

Take Two Day 7: Black and White

2012-12-07T23:32:00.001-05:00

I did it again. I reserved a post so that I could have the date match up with the day of the challenge. Hey, I like it when things are orderly! Anyway, after a long, long night of doing and redoing my nails, I finally came up with a simple, yet elegant design that I'm really quite fond of. By the time it came time to take pictures, my cuticles were screaming, so I moisturized them as I slept. :P Anyway, I hope you like them as much as I do!

This design kind of reminds me of a Piet Mondrian painting minus the random colors thrown in. I just love how simple it is, and I'm really loving how I mixed up my accent fingers.

As cool as this design is, I'm really glad I don't have to do this again. I don't have a problem with the design at all. I'm just not a fan of ONLY black and white. I love color, so this was really hard for me. My boyfriend will probably like it though, because he can't see colors. I'm awful and tease him all the time for it. Haha.

For this design, I used Maybelline Color Show Onyx Rush and Essie Marshmallow. I'm really surprised at how opaque the white turned out because it's such a sheer white. I'm very happy with it.

Be sure to add your link below if you're joining in!

12DoC Dec 7: Candy Cane

2012-12-07T15:41:00.000-05:00

I was so excited for this challenge! I've always wanted to make candy cane nails because they look like so much fun.

As much as I love free-handing my designs, I really wanted the crisp, clean lines to pop in this design, and they couldn't do that if they were sloppily free-handed on. Anyway, I thought it would be cool to show you guys just how much striping tape I used to get these stripes. It looks like chaos!

Thankfully, it turned out pretty well. I'm so happy with this design! I like it so much that I couldn't bring myself to take it off before work. Because it took me so long to do my left hand, I didn't have time to do my right hand. I had to paint the other pure red so that I don't look like a complete fool when I get to work in 20 minutes.

The only thing I am not extremely happy about is my green color choice I'll admit, it looks super awesome in person. In the pictures, though? It just doesn't mesh with how solid the red is. Oh well. I still like the sparkle it gives off!

For this manicure, I started off with 2 coats of Piggy Polish 6 Impossible Things. Then I placed my striping tape on my fingers and used China Glaze High Roller, Piggy Polish Irish I Was Irish, and Stripe Rite in Silver.

Let me know what you think! Be sure to add your link below if you are joining in.

Take Two Day 6: Animal Print

2012-12-06T21:30:00.000-05:00

I'm back on track! So the deal with last night was that I was preparing for my speech class today. All went well, thankfully!

So for today's animal print, I couldn't decide what to do. I typed "animals" into Google and found this gem. They looked so cool that I had to try and recreate them!

For this manicure, I thought I'd take pictures of everything while I was doing them! The first thing I did was take two hole reinforcers and place them on top of two coats of China Glaze Aquadelic. I took a make up sponge and lightly dabbed on a combination of China Glaze High Roller, China Glaze Seduce Me, and Essie Marshmallow.

Then I removed the reinforcers and added some details with Essie Marshmallow and Maybelline Color Show Onyx Rush. I then took some striping tape and placed them evenly across my nail.

I then used Sinful Colors Aquamarine and Sally Hansen Insta- Dri Co- Bolt Blue for a cool gradient effect. While the nail polish was still wet, I removed the striping tape quickly and precisely.

On the two fingers with the frog eyes, I took some China Glaze Entourage and sponged it onto the outer edges of both nails.

When I was done with that, I took the China Glaze Aquadelic to soften the edges of the gradient stripes. It's hard to see in this picture, but it made a bit of a difference in person.

Then for my thumb, I made four dots using Piggy Polish Damsel in This Dress. I connected the dots and made an arm for the frog. I then made the lines thicker and rounded off all of the edges using a brush.

To add detail to the frog arm, I used China Glaze Seduce Me and Essie Marshmallow.

Overall, I like this manicure, but I'm not very thrilled about it. I just feel like there is a lot going on and they don't go together very well. Maybe you'll like this design better than me!

Be sure to add your link below if you are joining in!

12DoC Dec 5: Holiday Song

2012-12-05T23:40:00.002-05:00

Thankfully, I was able to get this design done before I ran out of time! 11pm is cutting close. Homework comes first, though.

For this design, my inspiration came from the song Silver Bells by Bing Crosby. I remember hearing my mom play this song so often around the holidays when I was a child. This is a classic!

When in doubt, use polka dots! I love how polka dots can spruce up any manicure instantly.

For this manicure, I decided to use nail polishes that I bought, but hadn't gotten around to using yet.

For the base, I used 3 coats of Barry M. Emerald Green which was sent to me by Sammy from The Nailasaurus a few months ago. It's such a pretty green! For the bells, I used Stripe Rite Silver. There wasn't a name on the bottle, unfortunately. For the details on the bells, I used China Glaze Awaken. For the bows, I used OPI Skyfall. And for the polka dots, I used a combination of the last 3 colors.

If you are joining in, add your link below!

Take Two Day 5: Cartoon Theme

2012-12-05T23:27:00.003-05:00

This was such a hard design to come up with. I had so many ideas in mind! All the ones I wanted to do have people with peach colored skin. I don't have peach colored nail polish.. So I was stuck at a stand still. Then I thought of maybe doing Pixar's Minions, but I didn't have the right yellow for it. Finally, I decided that I would do some Domos!

I always picture them saying," Om nom nom." But that's just me... Haha.

Since I had to do these today, I did them really fast. You can tell because the domos look sort of sloppy. To be honest, I really like the sloppy look. Perfection is so overrated!

These guys keep making me laugh. They look so funny! I've always found domos hilarious. They're cute little guys, right?

Unfortunately, these guys didn't want to be photographed. My nails were super shiny for some reason and my camera just wouldn't focus or take clear pictures. Hopefully they turned out alright.

For this design, I started off with China Glaze Mahogany Magic for the base color. Then I used Piggy Polish 6 Impossible Things to paint a large white rectangle where the mouth was going to be. Then I made the eyes, outlined the mouth, and made the teeth with Maybelline Color Show Onyx Rush. Then I took China Glaze High Roller and colored in their mouths.

Add your link to the list below if you are joining in!

Take Two Day 4: Flowers

2012-12-04T19:53:00.000-05:00

Oh boy guys. Today was far from fantastic, and it didn't help that today's challenge scared me slightly. I was always horrible at drawing flowers when I was younger, and then I found out that I had to paint them on my nails?! Well, good news. I figured out a solution!

And that was to make sloppy flowers! Since the thought of doing flowers on every nail scared me, I kept the design to my accent fingers. And you know what? I kind of like it.

With great designs come great consequences. You see that bottle I'm holding in my hands above? That bottle... Oh that damn bottle! It decided to take a diving leap from my bathroom counter today. The best part? The lid was unscrewed because I was in the process of using it.

So picture me with my nails half painted and wet, with fast drying nail polish aaaallll over the floor. I panicked. I ran and got rubbing alcohol and tried my best with one hand to get it all off. I succeeded for the most part.. Watch this be the first post my dad decides to read. Hoo ha. My grandma is going to read this eventually, though. She follows my blog! :) Grandma, this message is for you; Don't tell dad! I cleaned up my mess. I promise! He doesn't need to know!

Anyway, you guys are probably more interested in the technique I used for this. What I did was outline the flower with the dark blue, and then I added white while it was still wet and half mixed/ dragged the nail polish around until it turned the color I wanted. Then I added a bit more pure white in the middle.

For this design, I used China Glaze Aquadelic for the base. I absolutely love this blue. It has to be my favorite nail polish out of my entire collection. Then for the oultine of the flower, I used Sally Hansen Insta- Dry Co- Bolt Blue. Then I used Piggy Polish 6 Impossible Things to mix around and finish off the middle of the flower.

You can find a list of the upcoming prompts here.

Be sure to add your link below if you are joining in!

Take Two Day 3: Inspired by Your Country

2012-12-03T20:38:00.002-05:00

I live in the US, so the first thing I thought of (unfortunately) was hot dogs. Why? For some reason, I have it in my head that people from other countries see us Americans as fatties with Southern accents eating hot dogs. Yeah... I couldn't tell you where I came up with that from. Anyway I wasn't about to paint hot dogs all over my nails. I don't even like them! So I tried to think of something annoying that is trending in my country. Hence, the YOLO nails were born..

For those of you not familiar with this saying, YOLO stands for "You only live once." Some people here in America like using it as an excuse to do stupid things.

The saying "You only live once" has been around for a long time. Only recently has the singer Drake popularized the abbreviation for it in his song The Motto. (This is the clean version). Thus, YOLO was born.

YOLO has been a monster from the beginning. It is an overused abbreviation that gets almost as annoying as the word "swag," but that's another story.

My reason for including the hash-tag on the thumb is because Twitter is (in my opinion) where the saying appears the most.

In order to make my nails as annoying as the saying itself, I used to brightest and most obnoxious colors I own. For the base, I used China Glaze Wicked Style. It is the brightest neon pink I have ever seen, but for some reason it looks coral in the pictures. I like the color coral. I can live with that! And for the #YOLO, I used China Glaze Electric Pineapple. I really wanted to use yellow, but I only own one shimmer yellow nail polish, so I used a pale green instead. And of course, it actually looks yellow in the pictures. I feel like I made some optical illusion with these photos!

You can find a list of the upcoming challenges here.

Be sure to add your link below if you are joining in!

12DoC Dec 2: Christmas Tree

2012-12-03T19:47:00.001-05:00

A day late isn't so bad considering I found out about this challenge a few hours ago, right? Talk about a little too much free time today. Kidding. I still have homework to be done. It'll just be done later.

In order to get this design up in time, I had to brainstorm fast. I found this challenge a few minutes before I had to leave to go to my running club. Talk about a time crunch! So while I was running along earlier, I decided that I really wanted to use some polishes from the OPI James Bond collection that I got a few weeks ago. There is this gorgeous red in there.. Just look at it!

And what color goes better with red than gold? It was a match made in heaven. Since I decided to use these 2 colors, I stayed away from a traditional Christmas tree design and kept it simple. I tried to keep the design clean too, but the loose sparkles in the formula made it look a little sloppy (or it might have been my freehand strokes :P).

I'm pleased with how this turned out, even though my pictures didn't catch how good they look in person. I think my camera freaked out when it saw all that sparkle. Hey, at least I'm not the only one getting excited over sparkles. Haha.

For this design, I started off with one coat of China Glaze Long Kiss. Then I added one layer of OPI The Spy Who Loved Me. I did this because The Spy Who Loved Me was such a bright red on its own and I wanted a deeper red that sparkled. Layering Long Kiss underneath made the perfect shade, no mixing necessary! For the trees and the stars, I used OPI Goldeneye. And for the little dots on top of the trees, I used Piggy Polish Irish I was Irish.

For a list of the upcoming challenges, go here.

Be sure to add your link below if you are joining in!

12 Days of Christmas Challenge

2012-12-03T19:11:00.002-05:00

Call me crazy, but I entered another nail art challenge. I knoow it's going to be difficult with finals coming up next week and everything, but I'll manage. I mean, they aren't called challenges for nothing, right?

Anyway, when I decided to join in on the Take Two challenge, I was a little sad that I would only get to do Christmas nails only once. I was planning on doing a few Christmas nail designs on my own time sometime during the challenge. Then I came across the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge (12DoC) , which I am now using as an excuse to do Christmas nails. Haha. It's perfect! So now I'll be posting 10 nail designs per week all through December... It sounds like so much work now that I typed it out!

The 12DoC challenge was created by Pink & Polished and Over Polished since there weren't any Christmas Challenges going on. I'm so glad they created it. I'm psyched for this challenge! Here are the upcoming challenges:

You'll notice that I missed the 2nd. No fear! I already did it. Now I just have to post it.

Anyway, I hope I'll have everyone's love and support to get through both challenges. Be sure to like my page on Facebook to be sure that you won't miss out on any of the fun!

Take Two Day 2: Flag Nails

2012-12-02T21:49:00.001-05:00

Today, I chose a flag that's not as close to my heart as I would like it to be. For those of you who don't know, I'm a redhead, so you'd think I'm hard core Irish. Well, I am Irish, but my family doesn't celebrate anything to do with the Irish culture. I've been taking it upon myself lately to learn a bit more about their culture and history lately, but I haven't gotten very far yet. I do have an unbelievable craving for Irish soda bread, though. :P

I kept this design real simple. I didn't want to try anything too fancy. I'm really happy with how well it turned out. I was afraid that the colors I chose wouldn't look very well together.

In order to get my lines so straight, I used some of the striping tape that I have. I've had some really bad experiences with scotch tape in the past, so I prefer no to use it. That's the reason why I free hand so many of my designs. I like to pretend that I'm just getting practice making straight lines, but designs look so much prettier with clean, pristine lines.

Now all I have to work on is my spacing! They aren't very even. Well, hey, I tried!

I like to call this design the "Piggy Polish Edition" because I used all Piggy polish. For the base, I started off with Piggy Polish 6 Impossible Things. Then I used my striping tape and put one thick coat of both Piggy Polish Damsel in This Dress and Like Nothing You've Ever Green. I like their names. Piggy Polish always manages to make them witty.

Now, the last picture is a little blooper. I let my nails dry for about 3 hours. When I went to get ready for bed, I flossed my teeth. I guess 3 hours wasn't enough for it to dry properly, because the floss went right through it!

Be sure to add your link if you are joining in!

Take Two Day 1: Inspired by a band

2012-12-01T21:56:00.001-05:00

GUESS WHAT! NAIL PICTURES ARE BACK!!! I'm so excited. You guys have no idea. My software arrived a couple hours ago. I installed it, tried it out, and LOVE it. You might be wondering what exactly I'm talking about.

Well, since my Photoshop Trial expired, I've been looking for new photo editing software. I only tried the free ones and hated them all with a passion. I looked up how much Photoshop was and almost had a heart attack when I saw that it was around $600. No way was I getting that. So I did a little research and came across a Photoshop product that I had never heard of. It's called Photoshop Elements 11. Basically, it has about 90% of Photoshop's functions, but it's sooo much cheaper. It doesn't have all of the fancy extras and it looks different than Photoshop, but it only cost me $50. It's definitely worth it. It has all of the features that I use and it's just as easy to maneuver. I consider this a success! Here's a picture of it:

I'll stop yapping about my software and get to the reason why everyone is here. My nails! :D

Some of you may be wondering who the heck Enter Shikari is, if you can actually read my writing. Haha. Well, they are a band. I promise.

Enter Shikari has recently stolen the spot as my favorite band, and I've been waiting impatiently to do this design. I had to do them justice! I really enjoy doing nails that mean something to me, and these definitely do.

Now before you go and listen to them, let me warn you. They do use some language in their lyrics... In British accents. Yes, they're a fantastically awesome British band. If you ask me what genre they're in, I couldn't tell you. They're a whole bunch mixed together. They're not as popular here in the US as they are in the UK, but they're getting there. I went to their first ever sold out show in NYC. They all went to a bar after to celebrate and hang out with everyone, but I wasn't 21, so I couldn't get in. I was pretty upset, but I'm totally over it now. Right? I'm so clearly over it..

The design I have on my thumb is their logo for their UK tour in 2012 for their recent album release. It's cool, right? I love it.

I'm really happy how well this entire manicure turned out. I didn't spend a terrible amount of time on it, but it seemed to take forever to dry between layers. I REALLY didn't want to smear any of it, so I let the designs dry for at least 20 minutes before I put a quick dry clear coat on. A little paranoid, but hey, IT WORKED.

For this design, I used only a few nail polishes, surprisingly. For the base, I used Maybelline Color Show Onyx Rush. For the glitter, I used Fantasy Makers Once Upon a Time. For the white stripes on my accent fingers and the globe on my thumb, I used China Glaze Oxygen. For the writing on my accent fingers and the upside- down triangle on my thumb, I used China Glaze High Roller. And finally, for the detailing around the globe, I used Piggy Polish 6 Impossible Things.

Here are a couple reference photos I found on Google:

And HERE is a link to one of my favorite songs by them. If you don't like the song, then hopefully you'll like the name of the song.

Add your link if you're joining in!

31 Day Challenge Take 2

2012-11-30T13:32:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while. I just got back from my Thanksgiving holiday on Monday and I've been playing catch up with my school work since then. I have good news though. I found an alternative to my Photoshop trial. The bad news is that it is arriving on Monday. That's 3 days after the 31 Day Challenge starts. :( Well, I'll just paint my nails like everyone else, but I won't post them until my software arrives. A few days isn't so bad, right?

So what is this 31 Day Challenge Take 2 (31DCT2), you say? Well, from those of you following this blog from the start, you're probably confused because I haven't even done the original 31 Day Challenge (31DC). I was planning on doing the 31DC in January because it would be during my winter break, and the beginning of the new semester that starts in the middle of January, which wouldn't be so bad. Then I came across the 31DCT2 in the beginning of November. This challenge fits best if you do it in December, so I decided that I'm going to do the 2 challenges back to back. Yes, that means I'll be doing the challenges all through finals week *shudders.* Let's hope I survive!

Anyway, this updated challenge was created by none other than Nailed It NZ, A girl with some clothes, and From L&P to English Tea! They nicknamed this challenge "Take Two" and it sure sounds like fun! Here is a picture of the list that they created:

The challenge starts tomorrow, so wish me luck! I'll certainly need it since all of my end of the semester assignments are due December 4th... Yikes!

Edit: I just checked tracking on my package and it's supposed to arrive tomorrow!! It can't wait for the Take 2 challenge either. ;)

Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream

2012-11-18T22:03:00.000-05:00

Christmas is in the air, which unfortunate since Thanksgiving isn't even here yet... Anyway, this is a plus for all of you! I was shopping around in my favorite beauty supply store the other day when I saw something that is totally worth sharing.

Ever heard of the store Ulta? Well, they have all of these amazing sets that have, you guessed it, Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream! And even better, they're priced pretty well. When I saw them stacked so nicely on the shelves, I secretly made it my mission to get them all as presents. ;)

The first picture is one pack I bought myself. I needed lip balm anyway, and it was so cheap. They had them in other lip balm flavors like regular beeswax and the pomegranate one, but I hate pomegranate and normal is so boring. I decided to try the acai berry, and I LOVE it. Have you ever smelled acai berry and blueberry juice? It smells just like that. So good!

The next 3 pictures are screen shots I took from the Ulta website. Since I'm getting the rest for Christmas (I hope), I didn't want to wait that long to spread the sales. Now, I could sit here and blab about what is in those sets, but Ulta provided a nice description stating what are in the gift sets. Just click on the pictures to make them bigger so that you can read the writing.

What isn't obvious at first is that the size of Cuticle Cream in those gift sets is .3 oz, where as the regular size is .6 oz. It makes sense since the sets are so cheap, but on the bright side, they fit even better into crammed purses, like mine!

For this last screen shot, it's of the main page on the Ulta website. I just thought I'd point out that Ulta always has a "$3.50 off any $10 purchase." Just use that coupon for any one of these purchases and you're good as gold! I'll give you all a tip before you run out and buy these. Every once in a while, Ulta will issue a 20% off coupon. I did the math one day and found out that you save more with the 20% off coupon when your purchase is MORE than $17.50, and you save more with the $3.50 off when your purchase is LESS than $17.50. Nerd alert.. Haha.

I thought it'd be funny to share with you how I took the picture of the gift set I got. I always take my pictures against the back of my bathroom wall because the best lighting is in there. Since the set was so light (weight wise), I taped it to the wall... Don't judge! I would have held it with my hand, but my nail polish is so severely chipped that it wouldn't have been pretty. Anyway, it worked out well in my opinion. :)

Also, on another note, you may have noticed that the pictures I took do not have my watermark on them. I originally started off with a trial of Adobe Photoshop, and after the 1 month trial was up, I was bad and never exited out of the program so that I could use it again and again. I kept that up for 2 months until my computer shut itself down yesterday for "important updates." I haven't found an alternative that I like yet, so until then, I won't be making any posts with my nails in them. I'll probably end up buying Photoshop, but right now I'm short on cash, so it will take a little bit. I will be participating in a 31 day challenge starting December 1st, so I will make it my goal to have something by then. Maybe I'll steal my boyfriend's laptop when I'm visiting him for Thanksgiving and download a trial on there for the time being. ;) We'll see! Until, then, have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

(I was not paid or asked to promote these products. I simply wanted those who may not be able to afford regularly priced cuticle cream to be aware that these gift sets are available. Ulta stores are located only in the US, but can also be bought online).

Nov 2012: Philip's Caution Tape "Man"icure

2012-11-15T00:09:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! I know it has been a few days, but don't worry! I didn't leave. I've been busy preparing a special treat for you guys. What is that, you may wonder? Well, I'm glad you asked!

Since I started doing nail art and posting it online, I thought it was funny that the word 'man' is in manicure. Is that a coincidence? I like to think not. Then I started wondering if guys actually like getting their nails done, but just don't tell anyone. I've come to the conclusion that very few do. I did, however, find out that there are a handful of guys willing to get their nails done, so long as the evidence is gone before there are any witnesses.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to my once a month special: "MAN"icures! I have rounded up a panel of 5 guys (Hard to believe 5 guys would be willing to do this, right?) who aren't related to me in any way. Now, in order to protect their pride and identities (And let's face it, their egos), I have asked them to pick out aliases. So far, only one has gotten back to me, and he's the one being featured in this post.

Say hello to Philip!!

Now, if you thought doing other girls' nails was challenging, try painting a guy's nails sometime. They ask 20 million questions. "What is that? What are you putting that on my nails? What does that do? Why do you need that? Does it hurt?" etc....

I tried my best to get Philip's nails in decent shape, but those are working hands! Without proper care, there is only so much I can do before the photo shoot. I must say, though, that his nails aren't that bad. Do you see how round his nails are? I didn't do that. I barely brought a nail file near him. They were so perfectly round! I'm so proud :')

In order to keep his dignity in check, I decided to have Philip sport some 'caution tape' across his nails. That's manly, right? I sure hope so, for his sake. Anyway, I kept it real simple. I didn't want to make things real fancy and keep him there for hours. I mean, it was bad enough that I knocked half my bottle of clear all over his hand! I'm such a klutz.. At least he found it funny.

Philip likes Diet Mountain Dew, so I let him hold the can. Actually, I told him to hold it because the nail polish bottle in his hand in the pictures above was so tiny that his hand made it disappear.. A bigger prop was needed.

For this design, I used 2 colors: Maybelline Color Show Onyx Rush and Piggy Polish Lemonade 5¢.

Let me know what you think of this idea! Is it unthinkable? Funny? Appalling? Brilliant? Should I continue this idea in December? I'd love to hear your comments. :)

And a special thanks goes out to Philip for being so cooperative and easy-going with the entire process.

Laser Tape Mani

2012-11-11T18:24:00.000-05:00

Helloooo everyone! Today was such a beautiful day that I am in a fantastic mood, and since I'm in this great mood, I thought I'd share with you all my first attempt at a laser tape manicure. After I finished, I realized that it kind of like a laser rasta manicure, kind of like the picture I found below on Google. I totally wasn't going for that.

The reason why I chose the colors I did was because they're all fall-ish, minus the green. But that's the normal color of leaves, right? So that should do..

Anway, I think these look so cool. They turned out surprisingly well for my first time doing this. I can't get over how awesome they are. This has long since left my fingers, so I keep staring at the pictures.

There wasn't any rhyme or reason for the placement of the tape. I stuck it on where ever I felt like putting it!

For this manicure, I started off by free-handing the 4 colors into even stripes on each nail. I used China Glaze Long Kiss, China Glaze Riveting, Piggy Polish Lemonade 5¢, and Piggy Polish Nothing Like You've Ever Green. Some colors required 2 coats (the green and yellow) while the other didn't (the red and orange).

I let that dry completely, placed some of my striping tapein random directions on my nails, and painted over everything with one nice coat of Maybelline Color Show Onyx Rush., Then, before I even let the nail polish dry a little bit, I quickly and carefully pulled off the tape. Then I swiped on a coat of quick dry clear to finish off the look.

My favorite nail has to be my pinky. Its turn-out is my favorite by far. I think it's the tape going straight across the tip that makes it so much better than the others. What do you think?

Let it Snow Matte Sandwich Manicure

2012-11-07T16:10:00.000-05:00

It's snowing!! Usually that's a good thing, but for New Jersey, this is pretty devastating since we were just hit by a hurricane. Anyway, I'm trying to look on the bright side. I thought I'd set the mood today with a little "frosty" delight.

This is my first ever attempt at a sandwich manicure, and to make it even more exciting, my first time using matte nail polish! You have no idea how excited I was to whip out my "shiny" new matte top coat.

Since I only own one nail polish that has large pieces of glitter in it, I was limited to only that nail polish. The sames goes for my sheer nail polish. So, since my glitter polish was blue, I decided to make it look like I had found a winter wonderland... On my nails!

First, I started off with 2 coats of China Glaze Oxygen. It's a very sheer off-white color that I love using. It's a huge pain in the butt though because it usually takes me 4-5 coats to reach full opacity, which takes a LONG time to dry. So, yeah, I only used 2 coats because I wasn't going for opacity here.

When that dried enough, I put on a generous coat of Revlon Radiant. I didn't glob the glitter on, but I made sure that I had a good amount so that I wouldn't have to do a second coat.

After that dried a bit, I put another coat of the China Glaze Oxygen on top. I made sure this layer was thin so that I could still see the flecks of glitter well. Then to make this look frosty, I topped it off with Hard Candy Matte-ly in Love. And let me tell you, I am in love with it. I was pretty lucky when I got it because it was the LAST ONE IN STOCK! It's a sign that it's meant to be.

For those of you getting hit by snow in the next couple of days, stay dry and be safe!

Autumn Stripes

2012-11-05T17:40:00.000-05:00

Now that November has "fallen" upon us (Haaah. I crack myself up), I've been dying to use some fall colors! I just came out of an October challenge and thought I'd keep the first one simple.

Don't these look so festive?! I just love how well the colors go together.

There wasn't any inspiration behind this design (besides the colors!!). I've just been dying to use all 3 of these colors at once. The only 'challenging' part was figuring out which order to put the colors in.

Even though it looks like it in the pictures, the middle stripe is not gold. I don't even own a regular gold polish yet! It's actually an extremely shimmery bronze. Before I painted the red stripe, I was so afraid that the bronze color would fade into the orange because they are similar tones. Thankfully, it stands out just the prefect amount.

For this manicure, I used all China Glaze polishes in Riveting, Harvest Moon (How appropriate!), and Long Kiss.

Let me know what you think!