Zoya Stevie Skittlette

Hey Everyone!  How is your morning going?  I hope you all didn't forget to turn your clocks forward one hour?  I have all mine set to do it automatically so I hope they did or else I'll be in trouble tomorrow when I show up to work an hour late.  lol

Anyway I am so proud of myself because I was able to get so much done yesterday around my apartment and I still had time to go out and run and do a fun skittlette mani for you all.  In case you are all wondering what a skittlette manicure is exactly, I found this definition from So Nailicious.

skit·tle·tte: Not quite a full skittles look, a skittlette manicure is one with at least two different accent nails.  Pick any formation you wish, but for a true skittlette at least two nails need to be the same (the others can all be different) OR two pairs of identical nails and a different nail.

I even had to ask some friends of mine if this mani was a true skittlette.  lol

The base color I chose is two coats of Zoya Stevie.  I just received it in a swap and I love it.  I was going to post just the swatch for you today but I couldn't wait to show you the nail art so I'll save it for another day.  For the nail art I just used Sinful Color Black and Black and Zoya Purity.  For the feather and stripes I just used a striping brush and dipped it straight into the bottles and for the dots, obviously, a dotting too.  This was a super fun and easy mani.  The hard part was really just letting it dry.

I hope you all enjoyed this.  It seems like my friends really love it so get to commenting and tell me what you think!  (:

Zoya Purity

I was a little hesitant to post this one at first because I had some issues with the last white swatch I posted a long time ago.  It was China Glaze White on White and it turns out that my sloppy (and non-watermarked) photo is pretty popular around the internet for some reason.  It was stolen by another blogger claiming it to be her own and also eBay and Etsy sellers in which they photoshopped their nail decals on top of the white nail and then watermarked it with their shop name.  Can you believe I actually had to pull out legal documents on them?  All over a white nails, but it was my white nail so I fought for it.  Now that I have a watermark of my own I'm hoping these will stay safe on my page.

Zoya Purity is the best white polish I think I've ever owned.  I always love to have a white mani when it gets warmer outside.  I think it's like my way of ushering in the new season.  I used two coats of Purity for full opacity.  At first I thought it was a bit streaky, but as it dried it self-leveled which is always a great quality for cremes to have and you probably know how much I hate cremes.  They just never look good unless they self-level because, let's face it, no one is perfect at painting nails.  At least I know I'm not.

So hopefully no one will steal this photo too and I can blog peacefully.  Have a great night!  (:

China Glaze Sand Dolla Make You Holla

So if you are familiar with my blog then you know how much I love textures.  You should also know how much I love white glitter polish.  Well lucky for me this polish is all of those things!

Here I used three coats of China Glaze Sand Dolla Make You Holla and OMG I love it.  It's right up my alley.  It's one of the two I picked up from the new Sea Goddess collection.  It reminds me a lot of Sally Hansen Sugar Fix except with teal, red/pink, and silver glitter.  They both dry semi-matte but there is definite texture in there.  I think it would have been better to layer one coat over a white creme polish but the three coats here aren't thick or goopy and they dried pretty quickly.

Sorry today's post wasn't Super Bowl related like most other blogger's but I absolutely HATE football.  I mean really hate it.  I was on my high school dance team and we had to attend and perform at every football game and I could only hope that every year we failed miserably so we didn't have to go to the playoffs.  Competition season was what I loved, but to get there I had to stick it out through football season.  ugh.  

What about you?  Do you all love or hate football?  Also do you own any of the new China Glaze Sea Goddess polishes?  Let me know in the comments below.  (:

Pink Matte Glitter

So I haven't really been motivated or inspired to do any nail art lately.  I've been in kind of a funk so instead of just doing a solid color polish, I've been slapping on glitter and then moving on.  Here is my recent glitter mani.

I started with two coats of Zoya Micky which you will see swatched on the blog soon.  I used one coat of my black and white glitter Cover Band Sticks 'n' Stones and then one coat of OPI I Snow You Love Me which is the holo cirlces.  I just can't get enough of those holo circles!  When all was finally dry (yes it took a while) I added my Sally Hansen Big Matte top coat and away I went.  I received more compliments on this mani than any others recently.  I think it was just so Bubblegum Barbie and who doesn't love Barbie, right?

So what do you think?  Glitter manis for the win?  Let me know in the comments below! 

Peppermints Anyone?

I don't know about you all but when it comes to the holidays, I become almost addicted to anything peppermint flavored.  I don't even like peppermint the other eleven months of the year.  I especially love anything peppermint white chocolate...mmm!  So of course I had to do peppermint nails, y'all.

I used one coat of Zoya Purity as the white.  After that dried I used Bundle Monster plate bm-213 and Essie Forever Yummy for the design.  Then I added some little green and red rhinestones just to make it even more fun.  I know the stamp didn't transfer completely.  I don't know if it's my stamping technique (or lack thereof) or the stamping plate, but I honestly love this mani and wish I could wear this all the time.  I just think people would look at me nuts if they happened to see them outside of the holiday season.  lol

What do you think?  Let me know in the comments below.

Textured Gradient Tape Mani

Today's nail art was really fun to do.  Eventhough it's messy, it's awesome.  When you sponge a gradient with textured polish, the texture is so much more...textured.  lol I love how much more gritty it gets since the sponge soaks up a lot of the base polish.  Anyway here it is.

I chose this color scheme because it reminds me of Winter and it's getting really cold outside.  I mean Christmas is just around the corner.  So I started with one coat of Zoya Purity for the white.  After that was dry I added the stripes with striping tape and Julie G Sleigh Ride (blue) and Sugar Plum Fairy (purple).  These are by far some of my favorite textured polishes.

So what do you think of this gradient?  Have you tried nail art with textured polish?  Let me know in the comments below.

Neon Grunge

Sorry this post is kinda late but I just got back from my fitness class.  Luckily this mani was already done so I just have to whip of the post.  (:

I was inspired by Sarah of Chalkboard Nails' distressed nail art tutorial, specifically her neon version.  Instead of using a black creme polish over the neons, I used OPI Spotted which has failed me once again.

If you all happened to see a guest post I did for Nail Polish Addiction awhile ago, I briefly explain the technique I used for the "radioactive" mani and how my OPI Spotted was a bust.  I used that same process this time except with neon shades in China Glaze Kiwi Cool-ada (green), China Glaze Creative Fantasy (purple), Color Club Lava Lamp (orange), Sinful Colors Pink (pink), Ulta Blue Streak (blue), and of course a white base - Zoya Purity.  I applied OPI Spotted and I can't say it was a complete fail.  I mean, it did separate but the colors were not as visible as I would have liked so I dipped a cotton swab in acetone and gently removed or smeared some of the black to create that grungy look.

Thanks to Sarah for making a great tutorial eventhough I didn't follow it to a tee.  lol I really enjoy both versions of this mani and I hope you all do too.  Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Textured Splatter w/ Studs

So far this every other day posting schedule is working out to my advantage.  I have more time for other things in my life, I can focus more on my work and then relaxing after work, and the more manis I do, the further they go.  I mean three or four manis can cover a whole week rather than half of one.  When the holidays are over, I will be able to get back to everyday posting for sure.

So I haven't done a splatter mani in awhile but I wanted to do one with a little twist.  I don't think it came as great as it did in my head, but it still looks awesome in my opinion.  Let's see!

For the splatters I used Zoya Purity, Zoya Zuza, and Zoya Dannii.  After that dried I used Zoya Dahlia to create a v-shape on all of my nails and then a full textured accent on my ring finger.  Before the Dahlia dried I added some metallic purple square studs just for fun.  I really love how this turned out.  I think it could have been executed a little cleaner but how clean can a splatter mani possibly be?  lol

Anyway I just love using my textured polishes for nail art rather than just a basic mani.  Have you used your textured polish in any interesting ways?  Let me know in the comments below.  You can also post your textured manis to my Facebook page or tag me on Instagram (@rocknpolish).  And don't forget to hit those "Like" and "Follow" buttons while you're there.  (:

7 Days of Halloween - Day 6

OMG Halloween is tomorrow.  I'm sad I don't get to dress up either.  I have to work and last year they let us dress up (within reason) but this year they said no.  We can't even hand out candy to the kiddos.  Lame!  Anyway I do have a fun sugar skull mani to prepare.

These didn't come out exactly as I'd hoped but they're not bad for being sorta rushed.  I don't remember the colors I used either.  lol Sorry!  I just remember that I wanted to chose fun neon colors for the flowers around the eyes.  The mouths are pretty rough (lol) but I did what I could.  I definitely want to recreate these in the future to really perfect the sugar skull designs and maybe add more detail.  I feel like my nails are too short though.  Wah!

7 Days of Halloween - Day 5

I'm gonna be honest...I hate this mani.  lol Not because it's bad.  I actually like how it came out but because it's a clown...ugh!  Scary!  I tried to make a silly, nice clown rather than a scary one because they really freak me out, man.

I started with two coats of white and then added polka dots using Zoya Pippa - yellow,  China Glaze Kiwi Cool-ada - green, Jesse's Girl Julie G Girl's Night Out - blue, and Essie Forever Yummy - red.  Then I freehanded the clown face which I actually had to do twice.  The first time it was so cute and the lines were perfect and then I applied a quick dry top coat, however the layers were too thick so it didn't dry quick enough and I knocked my nail which smudged it to where it's unrecognizable.  So when that was done I added a cute red bow on my middle finger to represent the clown's bow tie.  And done!

This is definitely a popular costume from when I was a kid.  Eventhough I hate clowns, I was a clown too.  (:

Butterfly Nail Art

Hey!  Remember yesterday when I said I was gonna do some nail art with China Glaze When Stars Collide?  Well here it is.  I really wanted to wait to post this but I got home later than I thought and don't have time to bust out a new mani.  I couldn't bear to NOT post something so here goes...

So there's not much to say about the color since I talked about it yesterday but it is called When Stars Collide by China Glaze.  The butterfly design I just free-handed.  I really thought it would be more difficult.  Like all the times I've seen this mani on Pinterest and other blogs I was like, "there is no way I could ever do that", but I did.  And it was easy.  And I can't wait to do it again.  All I used was a black striper polish and then a dotting tool with white creme.  I did add a gel topcoat and a coat of Seche Vite and it didn't effect the holo particles at all so that was cool too.  Now it's getting late and I have to get prepped for bedtime.  Have a good night!

31DC2013 - Black and White

Today is exciting!  It's been one full week since we started the 31 Day Challenge and it's been pretty simple so far.  The worst is yet to come.  lol Black and white are one's I usually dread because I can never come up with something really great.  They always look too "plain" or geometric and I love color.  I think I nailed this one though.

I decided I wanted to do something kind of grungy looking so I used the watercolor technique.  I started with two even coats of a white creme polish on all my fingers and then two coats of Zoya Storm on my ring finger for an accent.  If you aren't familiar with the watercolor technique I will give you a quick explanation.  Over the white polish I added about 3 randomly placed dots of Storm.  Then I used a thick, fluffy nail art brush (mine is actually meant to be used for acrylics) dipped in polish remover to dab and spread the black dots around.  And really that's it.  You don't brush it on your nail, you just dab it around randomly.  The technique works best with 100% acetone but I use acetone free remover and I really like the effect I get.  If you want it darker, just add more dots of polish.  Easy!

After the remover and polish was dry I added a top coat and placed a cool black square-shaped stud near my cuticle.  I tried to really capture all of the sparkle from Storm but it's a bit difficult.  Basically the holo particles spread all over the white for a shimmery rainbow surprise and it's awesome.  (:

 So that's about it.  I'm actually slaving away at work while all of you read this.  lol But when I get home and tomorrow on my day off, I'll be working on manis for next week's themes.  Are you excited?!

Product Review - Born Pretty Store Water Nail Decals

**I received this product complimentary for testing and review purposes from Born Pretty Store**

Today's product review is for water decals from Born Pretty Store.  I've never used these before this post so I'm excited to show you all something new.  If you don't know what water decals are, they are basically temporary tattoos for your nails.  You know like the ones you used to get out of the quarter machines at the grocery store when you were a kid?  Yeah!  Like that.

BPS sent me a funny cow print.  Some have words like Fashion and Concise (I don't get that one) and the others are just the spots.  The instructions are printed right on the back but in case you can't see it, here they are again.

1. Trim, clean, and polish the fingernails; paint the background color on the fingernails and dry it out.
2. Remove the film of product, cut out the pattern and plunge it into water 10~20 seconds (use warm water in winter).
3. Moisten the fingernails; stick the pattern in position.
4. Sop up the water with a paper towel and blow dry.
5. Apply top coat and blow dry.

And that's it!  It was just that simple.

I chose to paint my nails with two coats of Color Club Lavendarling because who ever saw a purple cow?  I love it!  I cut out the designs I wanted and dipped them in water for only about 5 seconds and then stuck it to my nails.

And voila!  They applied so quickly to my nails I thought they might not stick very well or have some lifting but they didn't.  The design is cute and the color is very opaque.  On my pinky some of the paper backing transferred with the design but I just scraped at it gently and it came right off.  I applied my top coat and that was it.  It took the same about of time, if not less, to apply these decals than when I did regular nail art.  I think for a lazy nail art day, these are great.

BPS also sent me a cutesy little ring.  It has black rhinestones in the shape of a bow and the back is adjustable which I like simply because I wanted to make it a knuckle ring.

Here it is again on my very rarely seen left hand.  It's totally my style and I'm glad it's black and not pink or something.  (:  To purchase your bow ring click HERE. 

Review Wrap-Up
Price: $ - $0.99.  You can't beat that especially if you are purchasing multiple items.  I think BPS has a lot of really great products that are really inexpensive.
Variety: There are tons of these water decals in so many different designs from this silly cow print to skulls or watermelons.  You can view them all HERE.
Quality:  I thought these held up well.  The edges were flush to the nail and didn't peel up and the decals weren't too thin or tough to work with.
Would I Purchase Again: I think I would.  The decals were much easier to put on than I thought and super cute.  If you like them you can purchase yours HERE.  And don't forget to use my Born Pretty Store code DRJ61 to get 10% off your order.  Once 10 orders are placed, BPS will host a giveaway for all of you.  You all want to win free goodies right?!