Happy New Year!

I wish you all a great new year with lots of happiness!

Happy New Year!

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Top Ten Countdown

Since the new year is upon us and soon we will be counting down to 2011, I wanted to do a countdown of my own. I have done so many manicures in the past year+ and sometimes I forget what even I have done! So I thought to refresh my memory and yours, I'd let you know what my favorite manicures are: Each one has a link to the original post in case you want to check back or see how to get the look yourself!

#10: Copycat: Hot Off The Presses! So glad I copied this idea from Orly, it was a lot of fun! This manicure also got a lot of looks and compliments from other people. It's fun to let people know that they could go home and do something very similar and fun on their nails themselves!


#9: Prom 2010 It was clear that shoes were one of my inspiration points during the past year. This manicure was based on a pretty pair of vintage, 80's era shoes. I had a lot of fun sponging the different colors and trying to capture the different sheen and dimension of the shoe fabric. The end result was as good as camouflage.


#8: Christmas Time! This was one of the first Christmas manicures I did. It was a suggestion from a friend that I just ran with. It was so fun to figure out how to decorate my nails as different presents and it was such a fun Christmas manicure.


#7:Don't Forget The Fireworks This manicure is so colorful and wonderful, it really does remind me of fireworks.


#6: Stained Glass (for Ryah) This was one of those manicures I had forgotten I had done. After looking through my posts, I fell in love with this manicure all over again. So Beauty and the Beast. I also really like it when friends or followers give me ideas for manicures (and they turn out)


#5: The Eyes Have It This manicure is creepy, Eye know! I think that's why I love it. What I love about it most is the details in the eyes. I really tried to get the multi-tonal, multi-colored look of eyes, and as far as that coming out in the final product, I think it did.


#4: Double The Marble, Double The Pleasure I love marbling and have recently been hooked on adding dimension to marbling by using a single color plus a clear polish. And this manicure turned out perfectly!


#3: When Polish Isn't Enough--Fabric Manicure I was really happy when this manicure came to life and the idea I had in my head came to life on my nails. In fact, I think it was even better in real life!


#2: Groupie Surprise, Surprise! Another marble makes the list. This manicure was so sweet, so yummy and so sparkly. I truly loved it. Plus it reminds me I went to a Ludacris concert and that was amazing!



#1: Clutch Powers! and Santa's Little Helpers I'm listing two, but counting them as one based on theme. These, of course, are my favorite manicures. I mean, the what other label could I use but "Totally Awesome"? I'd like to come up with a better name for the two-finger, picture technique I used for these manicures, but I haven't found anything clever enough. By far my most detailed and IMHO creative manicure idea to date--all starting with my nephew's obsession with Legos and me trying to figure out how to make a manicure for him. The end result were two crazy, time-consuming manicures with very fun results!

So that's my list, are some of your favorites missing? I have to say it was hard to pick just 10!!!

The Final Countdown

The end of 2010 is upon us and a new year is beginning! I've had fun detailing my manicures this past year and am ready for a fun night and great new year. My last hope for 2010 is that my manicure bling stays through the night.... I'll see you all in the new year!

Overexposed With Flash:

The Sparkle Shot:

I cut rounded pieces of tape to partition my nails and first paint three coats of OPI Extra-Va-Vaganza on the base of my nail and then filled in the tips by free-handing the with Siberian Nights. I then added the gemstones from So Easy and then applied two coats of Seche Vite to lock the gemstones in place and get a nice shine!

New Year's Eve manicure with Incoco and Konad

Hi!
Here's the manicure I'm going to wear this New Year's Eve:

How I did this?

Firstly, I applied some Incoco nail warps. This color is called Copper Rouge.

In a pack like this you will find 14 warps, a nail file, nail polish removal

and of course, instructions.

This is how they look like on nails:

This color is so sparkly, i just love it!

After applying them, I stamped a design from m45 image plate.

Between the 2 lines, I put some silver steel balls.

I top coated with Zoya top coat.

What do you think?

What manicure are you going to wear for New Year's Eve?

You can buy Incoco nail warps from their online store, for $7.99.

If you are from Romania, you can buy the image plates from Konad Nail Romania.

Glowing Tips

So my Elves stayed actually for quite a while without chipping. Of course that could be because the last few days all I've been doing is recuperating from the stomach flu and really have been confined to my couch watching TV. With low energy and low motivation, I needed a simple manicure. Done and done.

I painted two coats of China Glaze Harmony. Then used La Splash Nail Art Glitter in Dry Ice on the tips. Sealed with two coats of Seche Vite to smooth out the roughness (but it's still catching on my knitted blanket).

Christmas manicure: candy canes and bells

Hi!
Here's the last Christmas manicure I'll show you this year.

I applied 2 coats of Flormar M103 white above Zoya base coat and then I stamped the candy canes from m12 Konad image plate.

In the middle of each bow I applied some gold steel balls.

On my thumb I stamped the bells, firstly with yellow. Then I filled in the shade with

yellow and after I stamped the image again with black.

I stamped the Merry Christmas sign with green and finaly applied some red steel balls.

What do you think?

How was your Christmas?

I hope you all had a good time. Thanks for passing by!

Merry Christmas!

Hi!
I just want to wish you all a very merry Christmas!

Hope you will all have a good time this holiday.

Santa's Little Helpers

First off, thank you to my friend Jenny for the idea for this manicure. It is now officially in my "Totally Awesome" category and IMHO even better than the first time I thought of this concept. Check the original two finger manicure HERE if you are interested. I am leaving this year's Christmas manicures with a BANG by giving you one of my best manicures, I think, ever! This was a crazy process that took me about 3.5 hours in design/painting time. But don't worry, I was watching a lot of TV and eating dinner and taking random breaks. But totally worth it! Merry Christmas to all of my readers and I hope you have a safe holiday and enjoy yourselves!

Manicure deets: My elves are modeled after the elves found on THIS website.

I'll start with the general and colors used throughout the manicure. The base color is two coats of China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint. Skin for the elves was done by mixing equal parts China Glaze Classic Camel and OPI Skinny Dip'n In Lake Michigan and White (see link for white detail). The brown straps for the elves clothing is China Glaze Ingrid and the brown body/overalls/hair is Evening Seduction. White detail is Ulta Angel Baby and black detail and outlining is Ulta Black Diamond. The "Merry Christmas" was made with Zoya Sarah and the star is filled in with Orly Luxe. The finished look was coated first with Seche Vite (to prevent bleeding with the matte top coat) and then mattified with Essie Matte About You.

Red Elf Colors: Zoya Sarah for hat, shirt and legs. Rosy cheeks in China Glaze Something Sweet.

Orange/Yellow Elf Colors: Yellow is a mix of China Glaze Solar Power and Essie Hello Yellow (no link, sorry), orange in China Glaze Breakin', Purple shoes and balls China Glaze Spontaneous. (this color was also mixed with white to make the light purple rosy cheeks).

Yellow/Green Striped Elf Colors: Red shoes, hat, pants are Zoya Sarah. Yellow is China Glaze Solar Power and green is a mix of China Glaze Paper Chasing and Emerald Sparkle. Rosy cheeks are Zoya Jolene.

Blue Elf Colors: Light blue color is China Glaze Bahamian Escape, Darker blue is China Glaze Shower Together, socks are China Glaze Entourage with stripes in Emerald Sparkle. Rosy Cheeks are China Glaze Peachy Keen.

And For Your Interest, Here's My Christmas Workshop:

Christmas manicure: Santa Claus is coming to town

Hi

As Christmas is coming soon, I'll show you another themed mani.

The base colors used are Zoya Kelly and a no name glittery top coat.

After I stamped the Santa face from m12 Konad image plate.

Firstly I stamped it using white and then I filled in with white the shade.

After this, I stamped again the Santa face on the same place, using red this time.

The bows are from m59 plate.

I put red rhinestones and small steel balls.

Here's what I got:

So, what do you think?

Thanks for reading!

Cuticle oil

Hi

Today I'll tell you about an OPI cuticle oil stick.

I was very impressed about the results. It really hydratated my cuticles

and they became soft.

It is really easy to apply it, as it has a very nice brush.

The smell also is very fine.

Romanian readers can buy this from DepozitulDeFrumusete.ro

O, Christmas Tree

Only three more days and then it's Christmas! So excited! Today I'm trimming the tree with nail polish. Well, at least the Christmas trees on my nails. I really like the finished look but found that the polishes with all their subtle and overt glitter made the camera unable to take a crisp picture. Just know that my nails are shimmery and shiny! Also, the pictures don't do the red gemstones on top justice; they are bright red and really reflect in the light. I almost feel like it would shine in the dark....light a light bulb!

I wanted to create dimension with the look I envisioned for my nails as Christmas trees (this photo was inspiration). So, first I coated two coats of China Glaze Liquid Leather for a dark base. I then sponged Orly Meet Me Under The Mistletoe just on my tips and the lighter It's Not Rocket Science from my nail bed to the previous sponged color line. I added an extra sponged layer of It's Not Rocket Science Just along the center of my nail for added color and light reflection. I hand painted the gold stripes first with Orly Luxe and on top of that OPI Gift Of Gold. I added red gemstones for the tree topper and finished the manicure with two coats of Seche Vite.

Christmas Splatter

I loved my previous "bloody splatter" so much that I wanted to try it with other questions. I do like the outcome of this manicure, but the metallic colors were not that easy to splatter. The gold worked better than the silver. I think it's because they are denser polishes, they needed more force to spatter than my contraption could handle. But I suppose it's like water marbling, not all colors work the way you want them to. Also, doing this manicure is really messy. I used petroleum jelly on my fingers, but the splatter was so wide spread during the process, I got it all over my hands--and the metallic polish was much harder to clean off than I expected. Oh well, all's well in the manicure world!

I used three coats of the alternating colors China Glaze Watermelon Rind and Zoya Lisa. I splattered China Glaze Cheers To You and Orly Glitz & Glamour. I finished the look with one coat of Seche Vite and one coat of Orly Sec 'n Dry due to the thickness of some of the splatter in order to help it dry faster.

Christmas manicure: Green and red canes

Hi,

Today I'll show you another Christmas manicure I did using m65 image plate
from Konad. My inspiration for this was the Polishology blog. The base colour
I used is Flormar M103. For stamping the design, I used green and red polishes,
 so that they fit the best for the holidays coming.

What do you think?

Christmas Swirl

I wanted to do a marble with some of the seasonal colors I have acquired. I very much like how this turned out. I'm not sure if the pictures depict how well the red pops in the manicure. It's pretty

Right Hand:

Left Hand:

I painted two coats of China Glaze Peace On Earth. The colors I chose to marble with were L8R G8R, Zoya Sarah, Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in Flawless. I alternated between color and clear polish during the marble so I could let the under color show through. I topped the manicure with one coat of Seche Vite.

Christmas manicure: Snowflakes

Hi,

Here are some Konad goodies I got recently:

If you are a romanian reader, you can buy Konad products online, from Konad Nail Romania.

Here you can read more about verifying the original Konad products.

And now, here's a design I made using m59 image plate and the white Konad special polish.

The base color used is Catrice - It Blue My Mind.

Finally I applied some blue rhinestones and top coated with Konad special top coat.

Here are the cute snowflakes:

Thanks for reading!

Leopard nails

Hi,

Today I'll show you other stickers from Nail Rock, with leopard skin.

They have a lot of pretty designs and they are easy to apply.

One pack is enough for 2 manicures, and you have one extra pair of warps, so 12 warps.

What do you think?

You can find more informations about them on their website.

A pack of nail warps costs £6.50