A Teal Surprise

What I have to show you today was such a pleasant surprise!  I didn't have too much direction for a theme this time around but I had seen some amazing blue manis so that is what I used for my inspiration.  So, I went to my untried blue swatch sticks and randomly picked one as a base.  From there I thought: "oooohhhh a semi-nautical stamping theme would be good".  So, I then grabbed a dark blue that I thought would go well and a glitter for the accent nail.  This literally took me 30 seconds to make the decision on these polishes!  I love it when a plan just starts to unfold!

• Sinful Colors Love Nails
• OPI Gone Gonzo!
• American Apparel Passport Blue

I used a black base for this manicure (new for me).  I started with my usual base coat followed by 1 coat of Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris.  Then I added 2 coats of Love Nails.  This is where I was so pleasantly surprised!  My swatch stick shows this as a somewhat sheer BLUE!  When I put my swatch stick down on my photo tent background, I really liked how the blue "popped", so that is why I used a black base.  I just wasn't expecting to get a teal color rather than a blue tone.  

On to the stamping: I was really timid about how it would turn out because of the color swap but I went for it!  OMG!  I love how it turned out!  I used MoYou Sailor Collection - 03 for all of my nails in the Passport Blue.

I used 2 coats of Gone Gonzo! as my glitter accent nail.  Everything has a layer of Seche Vite for added shine and seal.  I'm super pleased with this one!

French Manicure Revisited

I think my last "classic" french manicure was about a year ago.  I enjoy them so much!  I have always thought they were so clean and pretty.  I have been doing my nails since I was in high school and would you believe that I never knew what "pink & white" was until about 3 years ago!  I always wondered why, when I had acrylics done, mine were never very pink, but more of a beige color.  Anyway, a french manicure is the driving force behind my love for nail art.  So, in my desire to see the sun amongst all of these cold, windy and snowy days, I did another french manicure.  They make me happy, what can I say?  I used some old and unused polishes too.

• Wet 'n' Wild Never Been Kissed
• Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau
• UNKOWN PINK (does anybody know what this is?)
• China Glaze Fairy Dust

I started this mani with 2 coats of Take Me To Your Chateau then a layer of Seche Vite.  Once that was dry I did a gradient of the 2 pinks and the white.  Let me just say that this white has ALWAYS been my favorite for french manis.  I'm pretty sure I have had this polish for more than 5 years now.  

I applied the gradient with a make-up sponge as I always do.  This is about 4 passes on the nails.  Once that was dry, I added a coat of the Fairy Dust then another layer of Seche Vite to seal it all in.

I am so in love with this manicure that I am not sure when I will take it off!  I can't stop looking at them.  They look like acrylics!  I love it when people get that look of shock and awe when they ask you who does your nails, only to be followed by "those are your real nails?!".  

Purple Zebras

Nope, this isn't a St. Patty's Day mani!  I did this one last week, but I am still wearing it as of today.  I did this one for last week's GOT mani which had a purple theme.

• China Glaze Devotion
• Sinful Colors Gone Platinum

I started with a base coat then added 2 coats of each polish to the respective nails.  Both of these polishes apply extremely well.  Do you ever use two main polishes and their brushes are completely different?  It's weird.  I digress...  After a layer of Seche Vite, I stamped each nail with the same image using the opposite color.  I used BM-223 for this one.

Another layer of Seche Vite completed this mani. 

This is so simple and it is AWESOME!  I did a little binging this weekend on nail polish - it isn't good to do "no buys"!  Then you binge and it is a bit crazy!  Anyway, while in 3 different Sally's, I had commentary on this mani!  They couldn't believe this was a stamp - I love those little moments!

Husband's Choice: A Touch of Gold

Since I wasn't working with a theme for this manicure, I let my husband have free reign on a design choice.  He loves the stamps so he went to browsing through the catalog for ideas.  I knew I was going to go more neutral in color with this one so I was willing to work with what he picked out.  He was picking out all of these mustache stamps for me.  I pretty much overruled his decision and went with a full image stamp.  He wanted me to note on this blog post that the stamp in this manicure was NOT his choice.  It's OK - I liked it.  :)

• Color Club Turn The Other Chic
• butter LONDON The Full Monty

I used 3 thin coats of the Color Club polish on all of my nails except my ring finger where I used 2 coats then 2 coats of the butter LONDON.

I sealed the polish with one coat of Seche Vite and let that completely dry before stamping.

I used BM-404 on all of my nails (except the ring finger) using The Full Monty.  This polish didn't stamp to its full opacity but it still came out stunning!  My hubby chose the colors (from a limited selection shown) which are all in my untried pile.  The butter LONDON polish was a gift to me (from him) for Christmas this year.  It is part of a 2012 Olympics 3 pack.  He was very proud to bring home butter LONDON to me.  LOL  He tries so hard to support my habit.  I love him for that!

This was pretty hard to capture in photos as it is a very subtle manicure.  I love it and it was nice to wear something so muted for a change.  Not to worry - there will be more color next time.  I love neutral manis and I need to do more of them!

Mardi Gras Inspired

I don't really know much about Mardi Gras, but there are some fun colors associated with it.  I wanted something simple but colorful, so I went with tips.  I used more polish from Mt. Untried:

• Ulta Peach Parfait
• Nicole by OPI Love Song

I started with my usual base coat and then added 3 thin coats of Peach Parfait.  This polish is really pretty!  It applied a little uneven but after 2 coats and a top coat is evened out nicely.  I then added 1 coat of Seche Vite to seal that in. 

I free handed 2 thin coats of Love Song on the tips.  This purple is divine!  I love it as it is more of a blue undertone than red.  It applied easily.  I then added some gold holographic striping tape over the edge of the purple tip to hide any sloppiness.  :)  Once I trimmed the edges of the tape, I topped this with 2 coats of Seche Vite to try and manage the striping tape.

This turned out really lovely and I enjoyed wearing it!  I will say that I am not a fan of striping tape as a part of the nail art.  I love how it looks.  I hate how hard it is to apply and that IT DOESN'T STAY ON!  Is this only a problem for me?  Is there something I am doing wrong?  Is it my body chemistry?  LOL!  It starts to peel off for me within 24 hours and it just makes me sad.  Not that any of this will stop me from continued use of it...:-)

Pink Summer

So....I am far behind!  I did this mani a couple of weeks ago but have been so tired from work that I haven't been inclined to blog.  :(  It makes me sad but so many people go through this.  This one was a happy one though!  I loved every minute of wearing it.

• China Glaze Purple Panic
• Ulta Encore Pink
• Wet n Wild Sugar Coat

I started with 2 coats of Sugar Coat, which is a great nude base and built my gradient from there.

I layered all three polishes onto a make-up sponge and did about 3 layers of color until the color saturation was where I wanted it to be.  I then added a layer of Seche Vite to seal it in. 

I used MoYou Pro 01 to stamp the dots on my pinkie.  I struggle with dots and stamping.  I hate it when they "hollow" out in the center.  I am sure it is my stamping technique and I have yet to master it.  So, I used a dotting tool to make them sharper.  The stamp on my ring finger is Pueen 39.  I used Milani White on the Spot for both nails.

What do you think of the black background?  I think it shows off my skin-tone a little better than the white but I am still deciding.  

Because I am posting this so late, I won't link to the challenges I was trying to participate in for this one.  :(

Side note: I will be doing manicures this month but not as actively as things are getting a bit crazy at work and I need to take some of the pressure off of myself in my private life since there is so much stress over there.