Mermaid's lagoon

Hi,

Today I'll show you a cute sea manicure.

I started with two coats of my mint franken and then I stamped the 'waves' from

m69 Konad plate with Special White. Then I stamped the mermaid from m34 image

plate with Special Black. I finished with a clear top coat.

What do you think?

Embroidery

Hi,

Today I'll show you a cute manicure with m71 image plate.

I started with two coats of Nubar - Belize Coral and then I stamped

the design with special white. Very simple manicure. I finished with a clear top coat.

What do you think?

Hot Pink 80's Marble

Whew! I have successfully caught up on blogging. This is my current manicure and it definitely has an 80's vibe with its black, silver and hot pink color scheme. This idea wasn't my original, it is the result of failed previous water marbling attempts. My colors weren't working properly. These colors did and it stuck. I love it. Good things can come from failure!

Right Hand:

Left Hand:

Flash for Color:

I painted two coats of China Glaze Cheers To You and marbled China Glaze Liquid Leather and Platinum Silver with Orly Passion Fruit. The manicure was finished with one coat of Seche Vite.

Scaly

Two brand new polishes showcased in this manicure. First it's Yara from Zoya's fall 2011 Smoke and Mirrors Collection and second is a new (to me) Special Yellow Stamping Polish from Konad. The pair was marvelous. However, it was a bit to fall for me yet on the color scheme. I still want to hold on to summer as long as I can! My side note is that I painted this while on vacation and I didn't have my camera. So the shot is after several days of wear and you can catch some tip wear in the photos.

I painted three coats of Zoya Yara on my nail and added Bundle Monster plate bm203 with Special Yellow Stamping Polish. Manicure was topped off with one coat of Seche Vite.

Purple Pop Water Marble

It was water marbling time again. I really liked this manicure; the colors really blended together well. There were a few bald spots in the marble where you can see the silver underneath, but I kinda like that.

Right Hand:



Left Hand:



Flash for color:

I put a base coat of China Glaze Cheers To You and marbled Zoya Mira, Gemma and Cynthia. One coat of Seche Vite was used to finish the look..

Sparkle Filigree

Quick, simple, pretty manicure. This was so easy to create and very pretty to look at.

I painted three coats of Zoya Faye and added Bundle Monster plate bm201 with Special Pastel Violet Stamping Polish and topped the manicure with one coat of Seche Vite.

Hot Swirl

I loved this manicure. It was so bright and fun. I purchased some new Konad Special Polishes from OC Nail Art. This pink was perfect and I had to get it.

I painted three coats of Zoya Pippa and added Bundle Monster plate bm210 with Konad Special Stamping Polish in Psyche Pink. I used a top coat of Seche Vite.

Flower Decals

I've been working on my water decal skills and this is my second attempt at something. One things I've learned with decals is that I have to be computer and vector art savvy. One thing I'm not. But I'm learning. However, for these flower designs I found some free vector art on the Internet and made the decals with those. I liked the way the design turned out, but decals are still pretty tricky. So I'm hoping practice makes perfect. But for now, here's the latest:

Base paint



Left hand



Right hand

I painted three coats of China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint and added China Glaze Paper Chasing with Bundle Monster plate bm203. On top I added the flower decals and two coats of Seche Vite.

Retro Blue

Finally getting around to posting this. I very much like this blue and have been having fun with my new Bundle Monster plates.

I painted three coats of China Glaze First Mate and then added Konad plate design m65 on my pinky fingers and on the rest used Bundle Monster Plate bm203 all with Konad special polish in White. I used one coat of Seche Vite for the top coat.

Illamasqua- New Masquara

Hi,

Today I'll show you the new Masquara from the Fall Winter 2011 collection

from Illamasqua. This new defining, lenghtening and dramatising brush design

combined with Masquara's midnight black smudge-proof formula ensures

your lashes last the whole night through.

INGREDIENTS:

AQUA (WATER), COPERNICIA CERIFERA CERA/COPERNICIA CERIFERA (CARNAUBA) WAX, OCTYLDODECANOL, CERA ALBA/BEESWAX, GLYCERYL STEARATE, GLYCERIN, STEARIC ACID, POLYVINYL ALCOHOL, PVP, SORBITAN SESQUIOLEATE, LECITHIN, RICINUS COMMUNIS SEED OIL/RICINUS COMMUNIS (CASTOR) SEED OIL, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, SILICA, TRIETHANOLAMINE, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, RETINYL PALMITATE, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, TETRASODIUM EDTA,SODIUM DEHYDROACETATE, BENZYL ALCOHOL, PHENOXYETHANOL, PROPYLPARABEN, METYLPARABEN [+/- MAY CONTAIN: CI 77499 (IRON OXIDE)]

The shade I have is Raven (Midnight black). Here's how it looks like on the outside:

And here is a close look to its brush. It is very easy to handle, so I applied it fast.

The final look was awesome.

It will be available from 8th September 2011 at Illamasqua.com for £15.00

End of summer SURPRISE GIVEAWAY

Hi,

I'm hosting a special giveaway for you, because you've been here all summer long

and you deserve it. I won't reveal the prize. The person who'll do it is

the winner herself.

The mandatory to enter this giveaway is to be a follower of my blog (old or new, it

really doesn't matter). You also have to give me your email adress, that will surely remain

private, and to tell me what country are you from.

For extra entries, you may:

*blog about this giveaway (+2)

*Like my Facebook page (+2)

*comment one of my non giveaway posts (+1)

*try to guess the prize (+1)

That's all! The giveaway will be opened until Spetember 24th and anyone in the

world can enter. Please fill the form bellow to enter, entries in comments don't count.

Good luck!

[THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED]

Where has August gone?

So sorry readers for not being present enough to post my manicures. I promise to be better this week and deliver my recent manicures. But until then, here's just a taste of what's on my nails currently (full post to come):

EDIT TO ORIGINAL POST:

I'm adding another picture and details on the manicure:

I painted three coats of China Glaze Below Deck and sponged China Glaze DV8 across the middle. I then used Bundle Monster plate bm217 with Konad Special Pastel Violet Stamping Polish and painted one coat of Seche Vite to seal the deal.

Hawaiian nails

Hi,

Today I'll show you a pretty hawaiian manicure done with Konad m29 image plate.

I started with two coats of my peachy franken and then I applied

Illamasqua - Gamma and Konad - Pastel yellow using a sponge.

I stamped the palm trees and the Aloha sign on my ring finger. After that, using

a thin brush I made the birds and heap under the trees. On my ring finger I applied

some fimos and finally I applied a clear top coat.

Emily's Nail Files was my source of inspiration. What do you think?

I created a facebook page!

Here it is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marias-nail-art/198946706834607

It's a bit lonely and empty now, but I hope you'll support me as always

and click the Like button. Also, by liking my page you will subscribe to new

posts and notification on you facebook home page.

Thanks!

Cherry nails TUTORIAL

Hi,

Today I'll show you a cute cherry manicure.

All you need for this is a dotting tool (I have this), a thin brush and some nail polish.

Here's the step by step:

After applying the base color, which for me was a light pink but you can chose any color

that you like (I think that a white, yellow or blue nail polish will suit perfectly), I made

some pairs of dots using Illamasqua Allarm.

Then, I took my Special Green from Konad and applied thin lines above the red dots for

creating the leaves.

I also made some "shiny shadows" with a thinner dotting tool. The nail polish used is

White Matt Dull polish from Born Pretty.

At the end, I applied the Sweet Color top coat.

What do you think?

Crackles again

Hi,

I totally fell in love with my cracke nail polish.

This time, I applied two coats of Jesse's Girl - Julieg and a coat of Zoya - Malia

from the half of the nail. I applied LaROSA - Crackle Shatter over it and

everything was done. Here it is:

Giveaway winners

Sooooooooooo, here's the list:

Congrats girls!

I emailed you all and I'm still waiting for some replies. You will get the prizes asap.

Thank you everyone who entered my contests and who supported me all this time!

I'm really grateful for this and as you know, you will get your reward soon.

Many other future giveaways are waiting you to enter & win them.

LaROSA - Crackle Shatter

Hi,

Today I'll show you a cute crackle manicure.

I applied Catrice - Dirty Berry as a base color. Then I applied my mint franken from

the middle of the nail. On the tips, I applied Jesse's Girl - JulieG.

I used LaROSA- Crackle Shatter for getting the final effect. I noticed that the thicker

I apply the shatter, the big crackles I get. I like this one a lot. You can get it from NaildeRoyale.com
for $4.99. What do you think?

Voting!

I would make a bad politician because I don't like to solicit to gain personal momentum. I am great with people, but I am a horrible salesperson (which is what I think you have to be to be successful in politics). But alas, I will buck up and ask another day for your vote! Click HERE to be redirected to Facebook. Thanks again for your support those who are voting!

Aren't I cute!?!

Simple Pink

I love this color from the Island Escape Collection from China Glaze. So much that I wanted to let the color shine and do something simple. This image from Bundle Monster reminds me of music notes at first glance, but either way I like it.

With Flash:

Florescent Light:

I painted three coats of China Glaze 108 Degrees then added Bundle Monster Image from plate BM-208 with China Glaze Passion. I finished the manicure with one coat of Seche Vite.

Navy manicure

Hi,

Today I'll show you a cute navy manicure.

I started with a white base color and painted over it Illamasqua-Allarm on

my ring finger and Pure Ice-French Kiss on the other nails. I didn't paint the hole

nail with blue or red because I created that half moon section on the top of my nails.

I stamped the dots from m79 image plate using Jolfin-Blanc.

Finally, I applied a clear top coat.

What do you think?

Spirit Animals: Stepping It Up A Notch

Alright, I do know that I have a healthy self-esteem but I don't really like to brag. However, I was so excited with my new venture in nail art, that I was very proud of myself and hope you guys get a charge out of these manicures as much as I do!

As you know from my posts, I have recently entered a nail painting contest (vote for me here). As I was reading through some posts, I came across a manicurist who mentioned water decals that she made herself. Here is her blog, BTW, she has great landscape nails! I had to look into it myself to see if it was easy or hard. After getting some help from the Internet and having some inspiration due to an upcoming girls weekend, I decided to go for it. Water decal paper was a bit difficult to track down, but I found it and am excited to show you the results.

The back story on the following manicures is this: a group of my girlfriends have adopted Spirit Animals that either capture our heart, speak to us in some way and in general create an all over cheesy feeling. So I decided I would treat my friends to a manicure on our weekend getaway and make decals with their Spirit Animal. Here are the results!

Man Of War:

Painted with a base coat of Zoya Sienna and Konad Special Polish in Coral Blue with Konad plate m65.


The Loon:

Painted with three coats of China Glaze Sea Spray and using Konad Special Stamping Polish in Coral Blue and Bundle Monster Plate MB-209.


Bear:

(or as we like to call them dancing bears) Painted with three coats China Glaze Knotty and stamped with Bundle Monster Plate BM-213 with Zoya Areej.

Eagle:

Painted with three coats of Zoya Areej and stamped with Konad Special Stamping Polish in Black and Bundle Monster Plate BM-212.

Racoon:


Painted with three coats of China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise followed by a coat of China Glaze White Cap and stamped with Konad Special Stamping Polish in Black and White with Bundle Monster Plate BM-205 .

Patrick Swayze:

I know he might not speak to you as a Spirit Animal, but he did apparently call to my friend, Erin. Sometimes odd things happen, but he is glorious! Painted with three coats of Zoya Mira and on the ring finger glitter added from LA Splash Cosmetics in Dry Ice and stamped with Konad Special Polish in White and Black using Bundle Monster Plate BM-208

Each manicure was topped of with the special water decal seen and a coat of Seche Vite as the top coat and sealer.