Wednesday 28 April 2010

Distressed Much?

This manicure started as one idea and turned out as another and at first I was disappointed, but then I really liked the final result. I love the green from China Glaze, but I get so mad when I take it off and have yellow/green tinted nails when I wear green polishes these days.





I used China Glaze Four Leaf Clover and then used Lemon Fizz for the yellow Konad pattern. I first used the plaid design from plate m60, but didn't like how it turned out. I then put the diamond hatched pattern from plate m57 over it. I topped with one coat Seche Vite.

Better Than Kanye

This manicure reminds me of those sunglasses from the 80's, but my husband was only calling them "Kanye Glasses" while I was sporting the look (which I didn't like).







I used Essie Midnight Cami (blue) for the both the base color and the blue Konad, and China Glaze First Kiss (pink/off white) for the base polish and Sally Hanson White On for the white Konad element. I used Konad plate s6 again and topped with two coats of Seche Vite.

Red Rum

I have several posts to catch up on, so the inspiration for this manicure has long since past my memory. But it's pretty!







I used China Glaze, Seduce Me for the base red and then used Millennium with Konad plate s6. I coated with Seche Vite.

Wednesday 21 April 2010

I'm Seeing Red pics

I had to do two posts with my phone. So complicated when you don't have a computer, but technology is cool!

I'm Seeing Red

So I'm without a computer because my laptop died, and am hoping this post will happen via my iPhone.  

I did a marble, 1 because I like to do it. And 2 because I just got a new dish I will use solely for marbling instead of our kitchen glass dishes (which my husband will be happy about).

It's a double marble, as I call it, because after doing the metallic base marble, I marbled on top of that with the added red stripe layer. It's a fun look if you can do it because then you have opposing directionality in the marble patterns.

I can't post links, but I used the following colors for the base marble: China Glaze "In Awe if Amber" and "Twenty-Four K", Essie "Steel-ing the Scene" and OPI "Brand New Skates"

I then marbled with China Glaze "Twenty-Four K" and "Grape Juice" with Orly "Razzle".

I finished with two coats Seche Vite.

I've added a picture of my marble setup and new tiny marble dish.


Monday 19 April 2010

Fresh Foil

So my last mani lasted a day.  Bummer.  But that just means I have another chance to polish my nails.  I love this "foil" polish from Orly, so I wanted it to take center stage in the manicure.




I used Orly Rage.  I then striped the tips with China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint and Something Sweet.  I topped the manicure with two coats of Seche Vite.

Guest Blogging

I was able to do a guest spot on a blogger's polish blog (Babbling Brooke).  Check out my post here as well as her blog!  

Sunday 18 April 2010

Growing Crazy

I have no idea what this manicure reminds me of--shark teeth, sharp petals, bear claws.....  Either way it was inspired by a truck I saw driving the other day and I thought maybe it might make a good manicure.




I used Orly Passion Fruit for the base pink.  I striped the blue with So Easy Stripe Rite in Blue Metallic and used White for the border.  I coated twice with Seche Vite on top.

Thursday 15 April 2010

Shine On!

I was inspired to make something "Shiny" for today's manicure--so here it is:

I used China Glaze Liquid Leather and So Easy Stripe Rite in White for the starbursts.  I put a piece of glitter in the center and used loose glitter for the sparkle stripes on the nails.  I then followed up with two coats of Seche Vite.

Tuesday 13 April 2010

Stained Glass Remnants

Ok, so this isn't a manicure post, but I thought it was funny.  The stained glass manicure didn't last that long (probably because by the time I added the color it was like it's 7th coat of polish).  But, when it decided to come off, it thought it was so cool, it should remain as tiny pieces of art.  The 8 stained glass nails decided to come off like this:



I could almost save these and use them as fake nails for a future date when I'm too lazy to polish!

Saturday 10 April 2010

Stained Glass (for Ryah)

Ryah dreamed it, I painted it.  I have no idea if it was what was in her dream, but it was what was in my head (and on the Internet).  And thanks to Kari for encouraging the color.

Left hand:


Right hand:


Colors used:

Base pinks was a mix of Orly Passion Fruit as a base and China Glaze Sexy Silhouette sponged on top.  In the stained glass partitions, I painted and then sponged for texture China Glaze Solar Power, Sky High-Top, Frostbite, Four Leaf Clover and Breakin'.  For the Tulip fingers: China Glaze Bahamian Escape for the blue circle, a mix of China Glaze Salsa and Japanese Koi for the Tulip petals and So Easy Stripe Rite Neon Green for the leaves.  Over each finger, I used Orly Rage (a metallic/foil) applied via sponge to give a little bit of light effect for the stained glass.  I then did the firm black outline with So Easy Stripe Rite in Black, and applied two coats of Seche Vite for extra glass shine!

Thursday 8 April 2010

Shattered

I wanted to use this glitter or large confetti pieces in a manicure.  To me, it turned out looking like broken glass.   It' a bit textured because the confetti pieces aren't all flat, but I tried to press them into the polish, and I'm hoping they will stay put because it's kind of an interesting look.







The base color is China Glaze Grape Pop.  The confetti is Art Club Nail Flakes in Iced Silver.  I coated twice with Seche Vite.

Tuesday 6 April 2010

April Showers

Rain has been creeping up here in MN, so this was my homage to the weather.  I have a love/hate relationship with rain, but I currently am fond of it and the fact that it is bringing spring and it washed away the snow.  Buds are on the trees again, things are sprouting in my garden and a things are starting over again.  So although rain can be dark and dreary, I wanted to think about how happy rain can be and the end result was a manicure that I LOVE!!!! 







The base color of the manicure is Essie's Chinchilly and I coated over it with OPI Sonic Bloom to get a green/gray sky effect.  I then sponged China Glaze White On White and Orly's Mirror Mirror for the clouds.  I then used a loose, oblong glitter from Cina (applied with a clear polish from Orly) and topped the manicure with a coat of Seche Vite.  

Saturday 3 April 2010

Happy Easter

I needed to re-polish, so I went the marble route trying to get a look of pastel splash, not so much swirl.  It's as Easter and spring-like as I wanted.
Left Hand:

Right Hand:


The design was marbled with China Glaze Spontaneous, Lemon Fizz, Something Sweet, Four Leaf Clover, and Peachy Keen.  One coat Seche Vite on top.

Thursday 1 April 2010

Pinwheel

This is a manicure that looked way better in my head.  Then, I started with the blue pinwheels first and it just started to clump and I couldn't get another five nails out of it.  So I switched colors.  So left hand blue, right hand purple, one hot mess.



The base color is China Glaze Paper Chasing.  Then I used So Easy Stripe Rite in Magenta and Blue.  Because of the thickness and texture of the glitter polish, I used three coats of Seche Vite to smooth out the mani.