Pink and Black Ruffian Moon French

I saw this design for nail stickers/decals and figured it would be easy enough to do myself.  I liked the results.

I painted a base three coats of Zoya Gilda and added, freehand, Zoya Cynthia.  Seche Vite was my top coat.

String Of Pearls

This manicure was inspired by an upcoming trip to the bead store.  It's one of those manicures that I am surprised that I hadn't done before and really like now that it's on my fingers.  The vision in my mind coming to life on the nail.  That's always gratifying.

I painted three coats of Zoya Jolene for the base pink color.  The pearl beads are made from a mix of China Glaze White On White and Orly Au Champagne and use of a dotting tool.  I added silver detail with China Glaze Icicle.  I painted Seche Vite for the top coat.

Pink! Purple!

....were the words my pretty, lovely, three-year-old niece gave as color suggestions for this manicure.  I love that it looks like girly, birds eggs.  She approved.

I painted three coats of China Glaze Dance Baby and used Bundle Monster plate BM211 with China Glaze Gothic Lolita.  Seche Vite was my top coat.

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.

Pinkspiration!

It's nice to have friends that when you ask, "What should I do to my nails?", they say "I love this scarf.  You should do it in nail form."  And then there was a manicure where inspiration was previously not there before:

I painted three coats China Glaze Something Sweet and then freehand dotted (with dotting tool) the design and added the tip with Ulta Total Eclipse and contrasted the tip with the same pink as the base.  I used one coat of Seche Vite for a top coat.

Groupie

This manicure is inspired by a shirt I bought to go out to a concert tonight.  The manicure is so pretty I can't stop looking at it (hence all the pictures)!  As always, if you are interested to learn how to water marble yourself, check out my tutorial video here or on the right hand embedded link on this page. 

I first painted a base with two coats of China Glaze Something Sweet.  I then marbled with Awaken, Orly Cotton Candy and OPI Sonic Bloom.  I added glitter from LA Splash Cosmetics in Onyx across the center.  I used two coats of Seche Vite to seal the glitter and enhance the shine!

Inverted French Manicure

So I've done variations of the French manicure, the Reverse French manicure and the Ruffian manicure.  This is my "invention" (of course, I can only claim I had the idea in my mind without any influence--not that no one has done this before).

The pink color is China Glaze Sexy Silhouette and the silver tip is Essie Steel-ing The Scene.  I coated twice with Seche Vite top coat.

Strawberry Fest

I'm going to "Strawberry Fest" in Cottage Grove today and had to do the most festive and appropriate nails I could.  I kinda feel a little girlish with these nails--ala strawberry shortcake.  It's cute but now I wish I had a strawberry to pose with (and then promptly eat).

Since Kari was here at my house, we turned hers into festival nails as well--strawberry flowers and their dirt.  She came up with the idea and executed all painting but the flowers.  

My Strawberries:


Kari's Strawberry Flowers (+ dirt):

I first base coated with China Glaze Something Sweet.  The Strawberry is a mix of Salsa on bottom with some Sexy Silhouette as an accent pink/red shimmer.  I dotted Black and Gold Metallic with So Easy Stripe Rite for the seeds and use China Glaze Four Leaf Clover mixed with Hot Green So Easy Stripe Rite.  I used two coats of Seche Vite this time.

Kari actually painted her nails herself and I painted the strawberry flowers.  The base color is China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise and the flowers are a mix of First Kiss for the flower, and Solar Power and Lemon Fizz for the fruit.  The other hand is supposed to represent the dirt these strawberries need to grow and that was In Awe of Amber.  Seche Vite was the top coat.

The Pretty Professional

Normally I get to wear a pretty relaxed style of dress, but today I had an important meeting and wanted to do something pretty yet professional.  I really like it!

I painted China Glaze Millennium for the silver and Something Sweet for the base pink color with Essie Cindy-Rella.  I coated it, finally, with Seche Vite.

I've Been Ruffied

Not to be confused with a roofie or being roofied, I am jumping on the "Ruffian Manicure" bandwagon in my own style, of course.  (here is a cool example.) I had recently participated in Zoya's Polish Exchange and have now purchased--or rather exchanged for my first Zoya polishes.  They are vegan, have many color options and people seem to like them and I thought I would give them a shot.  From where I live, I haven't found them in any stores, so if I want more of their polishes in the future, I will still have to order online.  It is kind of risky since you don't really get to see what the polish looks like in real life.  I tried to find color swatches from others on the Web in order to make my selections.  But so far, I really like the colors I picked and the application/dry time was pretty good.

I used Zoya Jolene for the pink and Charla for the green/blue sparkle.  I painted a coat of Seche Vite on top.

Holiday!

These aren't necessarily my Memorial Day nails, but once they were painted they reminded me of a vacation.  Bright colors and Confetti!

I used a base two coats of China Glaze White On White and then painted China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy from their new Poolside collection.  I added the glitter on top (from Cina).  And then I coated Seche Vite, two coats.

May Day (A Day Late)

I did these nails for May Day and I was sporting them yesterday for the occasion, but haven't had the time to get them posted.  So happy May!  Flowers, start to bloom!

I used as a base color, China Glaze Heli-Yum.  I then striped and topped the flower stems with So Easy Stripe Rite in Aqua Metallic, Ivory Metallic, Purple Metallic, Hot Blue, Blue Glitter, Orange Glitter, Red Glitter.  I topped some flowers with gems and coated with Seche Vite on top.

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.

Girlie Girl

Pink!  Bows!  Spring!  I guess I was feeling whimisical tonight when I created this manicure.  The pink in the photos is pretty washed out, but you get the idea!




The base color is Orly Cotton Candy.  The bows are hand striped in three colors: So Easy Stripe Rite Aqua Metallic and Purple Metallic, and China Glaze Solar Power.  They are coated with Seche Vite.

A Splash of Pink

Pink was the suggestion.  Pink was the result.  And for a relatively easy manicure and pretty on the nails, it was so fussy to capture.  Extreme close ups are all I got to get you the gist.

Natural Sunlight:

Indoor Flourescent:

I painted a base coat with Oh Cabana Boy from Orly and then striped the splashes of various pink hues from Orly (Passion Fruit and Razzle) and China Glaze (High Hopes, Something Sweet, Sexy Silhouette and Shocking Pink.

Follow the Leader

This picture is a bit better at capturing the pink.

This is what popped into my head when I was deciding what to polish tonight.  I really like the finished look on this one (it matched my head design).  This is a freehand design.  I was going to use tape to make more crisp lines, but I would have had to wait too long for the bottom coats to dry, so I decided to freehand the arrows.  The picture, of course, does not do the colors justice.  The contrast is clear in person--jet black and pale pink.  I need to make a light box so I can get better pictures up here, but then I also better taking better care of my cuticles--because they look awful close up.

I used Liquid Leather (black) and Something Sweet (pink) from China Glaze topped with Seche Vite for shine.  

Jersey Shore!

So my friend had a "Jersey Shore" party and I had to do nails that were fitting to the party.  I used fake nails from Fing'rs, then put on outrageous hot pink and some gems.  The length was really annoying and I am glad they only lasted the night.  But they went perfect with the outfit (that I won't show).  Again, I wish neon's photographed better, but I included one that gives you a better idea of the neon color.  As I look now, neither are very good depictions of color...

The pink polish was China Glaze Shocking Pink (Neon).  The gems I bought at Sally Beauty Supply from Winning Nails, but can't find a link to the direct decals so I'll just direct you to Sally's and the closet thing.  

Because this is who I am.

I guess since nails and make up are really the only thing I can really say I'm committed to, my posts are probably going to be more frequently about updates on shades and purchases. I hope you enjoy.

Current polish is a blend for electricity. I'm trying to find ways to photo my nails.



Just bought a new eyeshadow shade with my birthday gift to Sephora (thanks Erin!). The online photos on Urban Decay are weird, so I took my own. Name: Mary Jane. It's a great blue/silver shade that really glows. It's fun.