31DC2013 - Galaxy

This was a mani that I knew I could really rock out and redeem myself for showing you all crap manis for the past few days.  lol  I didn't want it to be the traditional black galaxy or recently popular white, pastel galaxy mani so when Darling Diva Erotic City waltzed into my mailbox, I knew it would be the base.

Erotic City is a purple jelly polish filled with these amazing iridescent deep blue glitters and scattered holo.  I will definitely be swatching it for you all when this challenge is over.  The polishes I used to sponge on my "nebula" were a white creme, Zoya Song for blue, Zoya Malia to add a little brightness, and then popBeauty Aquatic Glitz for a starry look.

Over some of the sponging I dabbed on more of the purple jelly.  I think that little extra layering gave this mani some great depth and interest.  I'm in love with it.  I tried to mattify it and it looked terrible so I put on a glossy top coat and it was done.

So tell me what you think?  Is that a mani you would be recreating?  Have you ever tried a galaxy mani before?  let me know in the comments below.  (:

31DC2013 - Half Moon (or Triangle Moon?)

Does that even make sense?  Triangle Moons?  lol maybe it when you see the actual mani.  It's something that's been seen a thousand times but I don't know if it has a name.

I always think half moon manis look best when they are minimal and classy so I didn't add too much, if anything, to it.  I just started with one coat of Zoya Micky which a bubblegum pink with a tad bit of a pearl finish and then I added two coats of Zoya Tomoka for some sparkle.  Of course I left the half moon open but in a graphic triangle shape.

I really love how simple and sparkly this mani is.  I was so excited to get to use Tomoko for the first time.  It looks so pretty over the pink.

I really want to step it up for the next few challenges and tomorrow's is Galaxy.  I know I'm gonna come up with something amazing for that.

31DC2013 - Glitter

I'm so sad about today's mani.  In my head it looked much better but after execution, it was not so good.  I was just thinking I could layer two amazing glitters and come up with some super cool.

I used three layers of popBeauty Aquatic Glitz which is a clear base full of tiny purple and blue glitters.  Over that I layered one coat of FEVERlacquer I Blame the Fireworks.  IBTF is a silver holographic bar glitter polish.

They just didn't compliment each other very well but I guess you live and you learn, right?

31DC2013 - Tribal

So I've been saying for the past couple days how I don't know how to do this, I don't like that...blah blah blah!  Well this was another that I didn't think would work out since I've only ever done one tribal mani before but THESE. ARE. AMAZING!

I chose to do tribal in the form of Ikat print which I love.  I wanted it to be sort of a Southwestern feel with the colors so I used Sinful Colors Luminary for the sparkly, peachy coral base and Zoya Malia for the purple accent.  I should have probably went with a turquoise but I really liked the color combination like this.

This technique was much easier than I expected and fast.  I used a white creme to sloppily apply the diamond shape to all my nails.  I added random spots over the white with Malia.  Then I took a nail art brush and used super small brushstrokes with black to finish off the Ikat look.  And that was it.

I really, really love this mani and I don't ever want to take it off.  On my opposite hand I did the same mani but with opposite colors.  So a purple base and coral Ikat.  I just love it and can't wait to show it off more.  (:

31DC2013 - Delicate

Ok I'm gonna be honest.  I don't really get it.  lol A delicate print could be soooo many things so I hope this works out.  I'm not entirely happy with it but here we go.  Oh and let's just thank goodness we are halfway through the challenge!!!

I wonder if you have all seen this technique before.  It's called the "pond manicure" and from what I understand it originated HERE AT OLIVE VIEW FASHION.  I am also using the same jelly polish she used...Zoya Frida.  The concept of a pond manicure is to layer some sort of design in between each jelly layer.  Vicki used white at her design color but I used three different greens as well as white.

I chose to do random brushstrokes to sort of resemble blades of grass...idk.  The greens I used were a Nabi grass green nail art pen, Zoya Ivanka for a little shimmer, and China Glaze Four Leaf Clover.

I can't really say much else about it since I really don't like it.  I still feel like I need to show you all my fails.  I'm only human.  But believe you will see this technique again because I love the whole concept and the way it turns out.  Check out THIS POND MANI from Jacki of Adventures in Acetone.  Just gorgeous!

31DC2013 - Flowers

Happy Saturday afternoon!!

I am super excited for today's mani because I didn't think I could pull out a great flower mani, BUT I DID!  I am so in love with how cute and whimsical this looks.

I'll be honest.  I'm terrible at free-handing, well, anything.  lol I wanted to make some realistic looking roses but I don't know how to do that.  So instead I put some little abstract flowers over a polka dot background.  I used Zoya Avery with black polka dots for the background.

After that dried I added random splotches of color using Zoya Malia for the purple, Zoya Micky for the pink and Color Club Blue-ming for the mint color.  Then I used a black striper polish to sort of outline the splotches to make them look more like flower petal folds.

I think this looks like a really fun wallpaper or comforter I would like to have.  I think it's one of my favorite manis from the challenge.  Tell me what you all think in the comments below.

31DC2013 - Animal Print

First of all, good morning!  I NEVER post a mani this early but I have a little time before I have to get ready for work.  Second of all, HAPPY FRIDAY 13TH!  I didn't even realize it until someone mentioned it to me earlier.  I'm obviously not superstitious (or I wouldn't be celebrating) but 13 is my lucky number.  Also I just love the stigma other's put on the day as if the coincidence of the number 13 falling on a Friday will change the course of your day in a negative way.  It makes me laugh.  If I had realized it was today I would have prepared a special Friday the 13th mani for my Facebook page or Instagram, but I didn't.  Maybe later.

Now that I've rambled on about nothing in regards to this mani or this challenge, we can move on.  Today's theme is animal print so I just did a simple Lisa Frank-esque zebra mani.  I free-handed the stripes so no judging.  For the stripes I just used an L.A.Color Art Deco striper polish in black and I used random motions when I applied them.  I could have used a stamp but free-handing is so much more fun and this is a challenge right?

For the base I wanted to do something a little fun and bright (and cliche...lol) so I use one coat of white to make the colors pop then applied one coat of China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard...the neon green.  After that dried I sponged on random spots of pink and neon orange using Orly Oh Cabana Boy and Zoya Paz.  After the stripes were dry I put on a matte top coat I bought at Claire's.  It's kinda weird because it's not exactly matte.  It's definitely not glossy but it's like a wax.  I really dig it but not for a matte finish.  I think it's really interesting.  It also say's anti-chip so we'll see about that.

Have a wonderful day today and don't let some silly number-day of the week combination freak you out.  Celebrate it's rarity and bad rep!  lol

31DC2013 - Stripes

Y'all!  I really don't like striped nails.  lol But I tried to make the best of today's mani and I decided to show you something never before seen on P.G.R&R! before.  A reciprocol gradient striped mani!

I definitely wanted to make it interesting so I used some really gorgeous polishes...one is a metallic and the other is a duo-chrome.  The skinny stripes show the original gradients, teal at the cuticle and purple at the tip.  The teal metallic polish is Sephora by OPI Mermaid to Order.  The purple duo-chrome is NYC Purple Pizzazz Frost.

So for the reciprocal gradient I just used three pieces of striping tape on each nail and then flipped the colors around.  That's really it you guys!

So what do you think?!  Let me know below...yes that rhymed.  lol

31DC2013 - Polka Dots

Hey everyone!  I MADE IT!  If you follow me on Facebook, you'll know why that's so exciting.  Basically I had an overloaded day and I didn't think I would be able to get this post up.  With that said, this will be extremely short wording.  You can just look at the photos and make your own judgement.  (:

My base color is two coats of Orly Oh Cabana Boy.  The purple dots are done with Color Club Lavendarling and then I added a few random glitter dots with Ulta Starstruck.  Yes I used it yesterday but I couldn't get enough.  I also feel like I wanna use it again somewhere in this challenge.  

And that's about it.  I'm so sorry I have to post and run but I have a TV date with my boyfriend to watch Breaking Bad and I have to be up early for work so sleep is a must.  Have a wonderful night and come back tomorrow for my ultra cool striped nails!

31DC2013 - Gradient

OMG this was the worst challenge day for me to complete.  I mean it's just a gradient, but I had the hardest time.  I did a complete mani using a gradient set and it looked like crap.  Then I took it off and did another gradient (same one you're about to see) but it wouldn't cooperate so I took it off and tried again.  All was well from there.  I guess the third time's a charm, right?

This is the mani that gave me so much trouble.  UNNECESSARY!  Anyway I do love how it eventually turned out.  Glitter gradients are always so fun and pretty.  I think this one looks like princess nails.  I used two coats of my favorite pink polish, OPI Sweet Memories.  I don't even like pink and I can't get enough of this one.  IDK man.  It's definitely a jelly which makes it even better and yes it shows the whites of my nails, but if you know me, you know I kinda like that.  It's like cleavage for your nails.  lol

After the pink was dry I dabbed on L.A.Colors Color Craze Sparkling Diamond (which you say layered over my yellow mani) starting at the cuticle and dragging it about half way up the nail.  Then I added Ulta Starstruck which is an amazing silver holo glitter.  It doesn't take much to make an impact.  I only used a light touch though because it's very dense and I didn't want to overwhelm the mani.

Again I love how this mani turned out.  I will definitely be doing it again soon after the challenge is over.  What's your take on glitter gradients?  Let me know in the comments below.