Catching Up: Peach Smoothie

I have another summer manicure that I did and never got to write about for you tonight.  I wanted to do something simple, yet eye-catching for this one so I went with a striping tape mani!

These colors worked fabulously together and I had no problems with application of either.  The biggest, most time-consuming, part of this is dealing with the tape.  I cut 40 pieces to do 4 nails!  Good times!

• Revlon Peach Smoothie
• Pure Ice Coral Reef

I used 2 coats of the Peach Smoothie to get a solid base color.  When that was dry, I added a layer of Seche Vite to harden the polish so it didn't dent when I put the tape on it.

Working one nail at a time, I laid down the tape where I wanted it, then painted 2 coats of Coral Reef on top and removed the strips of tape while the polish was still wet to ensure a crisp line.  Once that was dry, I finished it off with another layer of Seche Vite.

Gift Wrapped Nails

I love pretty packages!  I am not a very good wrapper though.  I actually suck at it.  LOL!  I am very well known for gift bags.  Anyway, I saw a photo on Pinterest that really struck my fancy.  Take a look!  I also took inspiration from a photo on Facebook from another nail art enthusiast (Andrea aka Plasmaspeedo) that showed her Christmas tree with lovely, color coordinated packages underneath (here).  With all of that inspiration check out what I came up with...

Starting with the polish choices:

• Ulta Snow White
• Ulta Pinata-Yada-Yada
• Sinful Colors Tokyo Pearl

I started with 2 coats of the Ulta Snow White.  This was my first time using this polish (in case you didn't already know, I am trying to show all of my polishes some love and affection and use them all in some nail art) and I have to say that I wasn't overly impressed with the coverage.  Even after 2 coats, it wasn't level coverage enough to wear by itself.  Fortunately, I was doing more so I left it as is.  I then added 2 coats of the glitter polish Pinata-Yada-Yada.  This went on much better!  The glitter spread easily and I didn't need to worry too much about coverage as I wanted it to be fairly sparse.  Once that was dry, I added one very thin coat of the Sinful Colors Tokyo Pearl to mattify the glitter a bit, but keep the white look.

I topped all of that off with my trusty Seche Vite and let it thoroughly dry.  Once dry, I began adding the striping tape.  I used a gold color as I just wanted it pretty and not overly Christmas-y.  Once the tape was all in place, I added one little gem to each nail.  I use a cheap clear polish to do this because I go over everything with Seche Vite again - and again.

I just love this!  I have done the majority of my Christmas shopping already, thankfully.  I did pretty much everything online this year.  We don't have a tree up but there is more than enough snow on the ground to make it feel like Christmas.  Oh, and by the way, I had everything gift wrapped from the merchant.  LOL!

December Holiday Party Look

Today, we had our annual holiday gathering at work.  It is only the 10th and we are forcing ourselves into the Christmas spirit.  We had a little lunch and the fun secret Santa gift exchange.  Can you guess what I got?  Yep!  Polish!!!

For my nail look, I sported some green and red!

• Neutral: Sinful Colors Social Ladder
• Green: Ulta Envy
• Red: China Glaze Just Be-Claws

I wanted a half-moon look but needed to leave room for my gem.  I started with 2 coats of Social Ladder.  Using reinforcements, I taped off my half-moon region and alternated the red and green on all of my nails (2 coats each).  

I used the opposite colored gem on each nail and adhered it with a little clear polish.  I topped everything off with a coat of Seche Vite.

This look actually reminds me a little of some gross fruit cake with green and red maraschino cherries.  But, Envy and Just Be-Claws are perfect Christmas colors!

Happy Holidays!!

November Tri-Polish Challenge #3

It is another Pinterest inspired look for today's mani.  LOL!  You can see it here.  I had to break out the tape again for this one - and a dotting tool.

Here is a refresher to what I used:

I'm using these:

• Blue: Sinful Colors Midnight Blue
• Purple: China Glaze Fancy Pants
• Grey: Orly Boho Bonnet

I started with my usual undie polish - Milani White.  I just use one coat to get a light base but I don't worry about great coverage.

I then put 2 coats of either the blue or purple shades on all of my nails.  I then put a layer of Seche Vite on there to help with the taping portion of this look.

Working on one nail at a time, I taped off a triangle shape at the base of the nail and added 2 coats of the grey shade (immediately removing the tape, while the polish is still wet).  Once that was dry, I added two dots of the opposite color and topped it all off with another coat of Seche Vite.

It is super cute and the color saturation of the blue and purple is amazing!  It really looks so luxe!  Today I was complimented on my work and was asked if it was a "gel" polish because it looks bullet proof!

2013 Favorite Color Challenge #1

November is "Favorite Color" themed in The Nail Challenge Collaborative group.  This is really hard to do!  As you know, I am a lover of all polish so to choose 1 is really hard.  I suppose that is the definition of a "challenge" anyway.  I went with purple as I have a lot of purple polishes and they need some love and affection.  I found some inspiration on Pinterest for this look (here) and let me say that it was a technical challenge for me.

In case you are wondering how I swatch my polishes: I use swatch sticks.  I love that I can easily compare polishes and put them together.  Here was my take on the 4-square color block idea:

Polishes used in this manicure:

• Milani White as an undie polish
• Sephora by OPI Sin-cerely Violet
• Sephora by OPI Who's Spinning Tonight?
• Sinful Colors Tempest
• China Glaze Rendezvous With You
• Seche Vite (lots of it)

I put 1 coat of Milani White on my nails followed by 2 coats of Sephora by OPI Sin-cerely Violet, topped with one coat of Seche Vite.  Once dry, I taped off one panel at a time and painted 2 coats of polish then a layer of Seche Vite.  

This was a time consuming manicure and I had some learnings along the way.  No matter how careful I am, I get bleeding under the tape.  I learned to not be afraid to clean it up once the tape has been removed with a little bit of acetone.  Since the Seche Vite layer is there, it comes up pretty easily.

After a LOT of tape, I think it came out pretty darn good for my first attempt.  I hope you like it!

October Tri-Polish Challenge #2

This is my final entry in the October Tri-Polish Challenge as I just didn't have time to complete this one.  That along with the fact that I like this mani so much that I am not taking it off before November.

• China Glaze Glitter Goblin
• Sinful Colors Black On Black
• OPI Call My Cell-ery
• OPI Goin' Ape-ricot!

I started with a 1 coat of Sinful Colors Black On Black on all of my nails except the ring finger.  On that one, I actually left what was there alone (glitter is HARD to remove!) - 3 coats of China Glaze Glitter Goblin.  I even have a coat of Elmer's Glue under there and that stuff is not budging.  Not even a little chip and I have worn it for almost a week now.

I put one coat of Seche Vite on top of the black.  Once that was dry, I started with the taping.  I used 3 strips of striping tape on each nail.  That is tedious work!  I have such difficulty getting the tape exactly where I want it every time.  It is worth it in the end though!

I used 3 coats of each OPI polish over the tape.  I then slowly removed each piece of tape to reveal the black undercoat.  I sealed it all up with another coat of Seche Vite.  I love how it turned out.  It is really amazing what a different base color can do to these types of polishes!

This is perfect for Halloween!

Halloween Nails - Mummies

Today I have an awesome manicure, if I do say so myself.  LOL!  I am so proud of myself for doing this!  I have mentioned numerous time that I am not the most creative person, but this idea came to me while looking at a lot of photos of Mummy Manicures.  Really, my husband challenged me on this one.  I had shown him another mummy manicure I had seen on Pinterest and he said I could come up with something better than that...he didn't like the color scheme of what I had shown him and reminded me to be "factual" on what they look like.  Insert reference to Mumm-Ra from ThunderCats here.  Sometimes, he is just a dork - but I love him.

Let's get to it...

The polish rundown:

• Sinful Colors Black on Black  - 1 coat as a base color
• Sinful Colors Secret Admirer - 1 coat over black for a black shimmer effect
• Sephora by OPI White Blasted - 1 coat for mummy wrappings
• Pure Ice Superstar! - white for eyes
• Wet 'n Wild Red Red - red for eyes
• Seche Vite - top coat

I need to get better at taking photos during the creation phase.  I usually become so consumed with getting it to look right, that I forget.

I started with Sinful Colors Black on Black for a base color (1 coat).  I then put 1 coat of Sinful Colors Secret Admirer on top.  Then a coat of Seche Vite to seal it up.  Once that was VERY dry, I started the taping.  I did each nail individually to make sure I could pay enough attention to what I was doing.  I started with laying a strip of scotch tape down where the eye strip would be.  I then used striping tape to make a few wrap lines.  Once that was down, I used 1 coat of Sephora by OPI White Blasted, to make the "wrap".  I wanted that to look kind of weathered, which is why I chose a crackle polish.  While that was drying (crackle dries very fast!), I pulled the tape up.  The striping tape came up pretty easily.  Here is an interesting tid-bit: the crackle formula makes scotch tape extremely brittle!  It would not pull up easily, but I really liked the effect so I worked at it.

I added white dots for eyes.  Once those were dry, I added red dots on top.  When that was dry, I added the Seche Vite as a top coat.  I always have trouble with bleeding using colors for dots with the Seche Vite, so I made sure they were dry before adding the top coat.

I could not be more pleased with how these turned out!  I'll keep these on for a while to continue to admire them!

Take a look at the other Halloween nails in this challenge:

Pastels 2: Pink

It is time for another pastel manicure.  I love pastels, but I am finding that I don't have enough of them in my collection!  Since I am on a "no-buy" right now, I will have to make do with what I've got.  LOL!

Today I went with pinks.  I had a polish in mind that I wanted to use and a technique that I thought would work out OK.  I knew I wanted to use Revlon Popular in this one and that I was feeling a tape mani.

I used 1 coat of Milani White as my undie polish (as usual).  In case you are wondering why I use this one all of the time: I have 2 bottles of it and I don't especially love it.  It is a good undie polish but requires 2-3 coats for full coverage.  I then put on 2 coats of Wet 'n Wild Tickled Pink and topped with some Seche Vite.  I did my best to let this thoroughly dry before starting the tape portion.

I did ONE NAIL AT A TIME.  I used regular scotch tape for this, but I just made sure to remove most of the stickiness from the tape before applying it to my nail.  I applied 1 coat of Revlon Popular to the tips and quickly removed the tape.  I let that dry as much as possible and added the silver striping tape.  I then put 3 coats of Seche Vite on top of this.  Does that seem like overkill?  I have such an issue with the striping tape edges peeling up that I wanted to be sure it was firmly set.

I am in love with this!  It is just so pretty!  The striping tape makes it look neat & polished!

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to see the other lovely pastel manicures: