Swirl Design with Nail Craze

Why yes!  That is nail art you see.  I haven't been big into nail art lately (or blogging at all actually) and especially with stamping.  It's not my forte, but I finally got my hands on a couple of Nail Craze plates and they make stamping so fun.

The design above is from the Nail Craze plate NC02.  It's the one with the unicorn and pegasus in case you don't know which one I'm talking about.  I have lots of other plates from different makers and this is by far the best one I've used.  The etches are just right so that the design lifts perfectly off the plate and onto the stamper with ease.  It transfers perfectly without any "bald spots" or lifting like I've gotten with many other plates.  The colors I used underneath are Color Club Blue-ming (mint), China Glaze Pool Party (pink), and Color Club Hydrangea Kiss (purple).  I just sponged them on individually if you wondered.  When I was dry I added one coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust and then the swirly stamp over that.  I absolutely love how it turned out and feel like it was the best way for me to ease back into nail art without too much effort.

I'm gonna try to keep this up so keep coming back.  Have a wonderful Sunday!  (:

Fun With a Pastel Gradient

I wasn't really sure what else to title this post since I have a few things going on with this mani, but it is super cute nonetheless.  Check it out!

Yeah so like I said, there is a lot going on here.  lol I wanted to do something fun and different (for me anyway) and I think is not like anything I've ever done.  I started with a white base to make the pastel colors stand out.  Then I started with the chevron nails.  I taped off the pattern using striping tape.  I could have bought some zig-zag craft scissors but that seems too easy.  I like a challenge.  (:  Then I used four different pastel cremes to gradient over the tape.  The lavender is Sinful Colors Sweet Tooth, the blue is Orly Snowcone, the yellow (which is kinda tough to see) is Sinful Colors Unicorn, and the pink is Sinful Colors Soul Mate.  I only needed two layers of sponging to get the colors almost opaque.

The I took the same colors and then Color Club Blue-ming to create gradient polka dots on my pinky and pointer fingers.  Then I topped it all off with my top coat which for some reason wanted to give me lots of bubbles today.  I really love this print and color combo but I just really hope it doesn't look like clown pants or something.  lol  I wanted it to be a little funky and a little whimsical but not ridiculous. 

So how do you all feel about this mani?  You can tell me the truth if you think it looks like clown pants.  lol I asked the boyfriend if it looked like unicorn tears and he said, "No babe!  You know unicorns cry jelly beans."  OMG I laughed to hard.  I thought you all would enjoy that.  (:

Water Marble Wednesday

And I'm back with another Water Marble Wednesday.  I think people are starting to catch on...right?  lol  For some reason this one was a super duper tough.  The colors didn't want to work together and then I was fumbling with everything.  I think I got more polish on my left hand than the actual nails.  It was just a disaster getting it done but it came out pretty good.

I used the starburst design and for most of my nails it worked out.  Yeah I'm look at your middle finger!  The colors I chose were Jesse's Girl Julie G Party Dress which is an orange-y red color.  I used Ulta Blue Streak for the blue (duh), OPI Big Apple Red for the red (duh again) and Color Club Blue-ming for the mint color.  

Just a heads up, I'm most likely going to do this same design next week with different polishes of course because I don't feel like I perfected it.  I like it, but it's not amazing IMO.  I also don't know why I chose a color combo that I absolutely hate.  lol It's just not my day for water marbling.

Have a great Hump Day!

Zoya Neely

Ooh this is such a late post again, but I've been running around all day and swatching polish for the blog.  I even scored a super huge lemming of mine, but more on that later.  *wink*

This is Zoya Neely.  At first I really didn't think I wanted this polish, but with a slight twist of my arm from a friend, I got it.  I am super happy that I did because it's so pretty.  It's not like it's oh-so-gorgeous or whatever, but it's just really pretty and clean.  Sometimes our nails get so gross and stained from all the polish we use, it's nice to just have a few "palate cleansers".

In just two coat, Neely was fully opaque and not streaky or goopy at all.  I'm not sure my photos do it justice, but it's a light mint green (not as blue as it shows).

Sadly I don't think I would have bought this for myself, but I got lucky and Zoya was giving away 200 bottles with a special code and I snagged one.  What do you think?

Mint Mani for Talia Joy

Hey Everyone!  Today is going to be a short post but meaningful.  The inspiration for today's mint manis comes from Talia Joy's last instagram post which was a mint mani using popBeauty Mint Magic.  While I don't have that color, I do have a pretty mint of my own.

First I used two coats of Green With Envy by Maybelline Color Show.  I did a gradient with Julep Oscar and then added some larger gold glitters from Milani Jewel FX Gold and a few white square glitters from OPI Lights of Emerald City.  Also if you notice there is a gold ribbon on my ring finger.  Well, the gold awareness ribbon is for children with cancer.  Seeing as how Talia was only 13 and diagnosed with not one, but two types of cancer I thought it was appropriate to show it.  I don't think it dons on a lot of people that anyone, even children, can become terminally ill.

To show your support for Talia and her family and friends, show off your mani through the inlinkz below or even Instagram and Facebook.  Just use #mintmanisfortaliajoy and #taliaslegacy so they are seen.

Water Marble Wednesday - Blue

This week's Water Marble Wednesday is brought to you by the color BLUE!  I really thought it would be fun to do one the color of water since it happen's in water.  I used four different types of blue but all the polishes are cremes.  I honestly don't think I've ever done one with all cremes before.  It was different.

I started with one coat of the lightest blue which is the periwinkle color and then I started my design.  I just made the bulls eye in the water and then made "stripes" in by pulling the toothpick in opposite directions.  I guess it's more of a chevron type design...I don't really know what to call it.

I did screw up my pinky a bit because I thought I had cleaned up all of the excess polish from the water.  However I didn't see the tiny bit on the other side of my finger so when I took my finger out, there was a huge glob stuck there.  Gross.  lol  I would have redone it, but honestly it was 10pm and I was super sleepy.  Besides, I'm only human so I'm bound to screw up.  I like to think that's why you all keep coming back.  Because of my quirk and honesty about my imperfections.  (:

So don't mind the dirty looking cuticles either.  It's actually just the navy polish I used.  It stained my cuticles just a bit and I could not for the life of me get it cleaned up properly.  Sorry!

WHAT I USED:

Julep Eloise - navy

China Glaze Four Leaf Clover - teal

Color Club Blue-ming - light blue

Color Club Hydrangea Kiss - periwinkle

Now I have to get ready for work so I will talk to you all later.  Have a great Wednesday!

Color Club Blossoming Collection

Happy Easter!  I hope you all had a great day.  I wish I had a reason to do Easter egg decorating and hunts, but I don't.  I don't have kids or younger siblings and my 7 year old niece lives far away.  ): Anyway, whatever you did today, I hope it was enjoyable.

I wanted to do some nail art today but I am so exhausted from waking up at 5 am that I just decided to show you one of my fave collections - Color Club Blossoming.  I have been using these polishes so much lately so just to get it out of my system I'll just show you all of them together.  This is from last Spring by the way...don't judge. (:

From L to R: Lavendarling, Sweet Pea, Hydrangea Kiss, Blue-ming, Blushing Rose, Diamond Drops

First up is Lavendarling.  This is one of my favorite shades of purple and this particular one is flawless.  I used 3 coats and it's self leveling.  It reminds me a lot of a china glaze color that I'm not sure of what the name is...Grape Fizz?  Grape Pop?  Maybe Gothic Lolita?

Sweet Pea is my least favorite of the collection but not for the formula or application.  This rosy, purple-y color is just not one of my favorites.  It's not that it looks bad, it's just blah to me.  This is 2 coats. 

Now that I showed you my least favorite, I can show you my absolute favorite of the collection.  This is 3 coats of Hydrangea Kiss and I love it.  It's a dusty periwinkle blue (I couldn't get the color dead on) and I wear this one more often than all the others.

Ok so this one bugs me a bit.  It's called Blue-ming but it clearly leans more minty and on the green side.  If it leaned more blue and looked a bit like Tiffany's signature color, then I'd be happier with it.  Everytime someone asks me the name of it, I feel like I'm deceiving them.  lol Is that weird?  Anyway this is 3 coats.  This was the only one that was a little patchy and needed more "care".

Here we have Blushing Rose - a soft powder pink creme.  The formula on this one was a little thinner then the others but builds up easily.  This is 3 coats.  I'm not a pink girl but I like this one a lot.

And finally the "odd-ball" of the collection - Diamond Drops.  It is a clear base packed with silver holo shredded glitter.  It takes a little fishing to get the bigger chunks out but they brush on easily and lay nicely on the nail.  I used 2 coats for these swatches and I only had to place a few of the chunks.  

So I called this one an odd-ball because I feel like this collection is so soft and pretty with the pastel shades and delicate, floral names, and then here comes this harsh shredded glitter to top it off.  Yes they work well together, but I don't think it should have been a part of this collection.  Maybe it should have been a pretty colored micro-glitter or a multi-colored bar glittter.  idk Those are just my thoughts.  I still would have bought Diamond Drops and probably worn them together anyway.

Maybelline Color Show Green With Envy

Happy Sunday all!

I'm sure I've mentioned at some point in my blog's life that I was always looking for the perfect mint green polish.  I've been recommended different brands, but I was completely unsatisfied with them all.  They just weren't the right shade.  I wanted a mint green that was a little more green than the others I've tried that had a slight hint of blue.  Then one day, I'm at CVS and I spotted this one. 

I know it's nothing crazy beautiful or some awesome high end brand, but it's the best mint for me.  I love the formula too eventhough I'm not crazy about cremes.  I used 2 easy coats for full opacity, and it's self-leveling.  The only thing I wish it had was a better canvas.  My nails were not in the best shape when I tried this, but whatever.  They'll get better.

D