Holiday Lights

I feel better writing this post.  I always have the best intentions to keep you updated, but then fall woefully behind in posting.  But now I got you six new manicures for the holiday season, and if I'm a really good girl, I'll get my Christmas manicure up and out to you as well (course I have to create it yet, but I have some ideas!)  I love the look of this manicure and was worth using most all of my oblong, colored gems.  The hand painting was a bit tedious, but I'm happy with the results.  I really tried hard to capture the fact that even if these lights don't actually plug in and light up, in the right light, they almost look like they do.

I painted three coats of Zoya Harley and then added the gems.  Once dried, I mixed Zoya Edyta and Yara for the strand.  I used Seche Vite as my top coat.

Valentine's Day, Part 2

I meant to post this earlier, but alas, I did not.  I am turning out to be a terrible blogger.  But all I can do is fess up and give you some updates.

Crystal Hearts is made up of China Glaze Icicle and Zoya Sarah, both three coats.  I added the various hearts I had in my gemstone collections.  Seche Vite was my top coat.

Valentine's Marble was made up of a base coat of Orly Au Champagne, three coats.  I used China Glaze Princess Grace and City Siren, with Color Club Peppermint Twist.  I used Seche Vite as a top coat.

Random Rainbow

Again, it's a Sunday night whirlwind of polish postings. I don't know what has been up with me lately and being lazy in posting. I'm really sorry, but I hope you all are assured that posts will come.... Don't worry, my nails aren't naked!!! This is the last color I have to try in the Zoya Intimate Collection. I actually think it's pretty awesome. Gray is apparently "hot" right now, and I am a victim of the trend. I love it. I got this glitter polish at Ulta from a rewards coupon. I like it. The glitter is different shapes and sizes and comes out so randomly.

I painted three coats of Zoya Dove and added a coat of Ulta Salon Formula polish in Pinata-Yada-Yada. I added gemstones to my ring finger and coated with CND Super Shiney.

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!

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.

The Princess and The Pea

I am absolutely in love with this new color from the Orly Cosmic FX collection.  I was almost tempted to just leave it a single color because it didn't need anything extra, but then I thought the gemstone highlight was the perfect touch.  Unfortunately the gemstones only lasted a day, so I replaced them with gold, painted dots (but don't have a pic).   I was able to capture to a pretty decent degree the awesomeness of this polish, so enjoy!

I used It's Not Rocket Science.  Seche Vite was used for the top coat. 

*Unfortunately this is a fall release for Orly and they do not have any official links to this collection since it is not technically released yet.  If I remember, I'll try to add links as they become available.

Five Carat Flower

Today's design was simple (after a failed attempt at a manicure I hated), but the bling on this flower is CRAZY!  Haha!

I painted three coats of China Glaze Emerald Sparkle.  Gems were applied on my ring finger from So Easy.  I used Seche Vite for a top coat.

Manicure......The REMIX!

I had two events this weekend--a birthday party and a wedding. I wanted to do a manicure I could wear to both, but I decided instead to change the look by changing the design. I started with the "tiles" manicure and to change the look to "argyle", I repainted my ring finger and added black tips and a Konad design. It was fun to use the same manicure and change it pretty completely!  

Tiles


Argyle

For "Tiles" I used a base two coats of China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint on bottom and two coats of L8R G8R (a holo nail polish) on top. I added two rows of square gemstones and Seche Vite for the top coat.  

For "Argyle" I added to the above color scheme with China Glaze Liquid Leather to the tips with a glitter polish Golden Enchantment. I used Konad Plate m60 with OPI Golden Rules and another coat of Seche Vite.

Steam Crunk

I was commissioned (again, by Kari--well mostly cuz I asked) to do steam punk.  But it was kind of a hard concept for me on the nails--hence the "crunk".  I wasn't sure if it was quite "punk", so in case it's crunked up, then I was right not to give it an official steam-punk label.  But purple nail polish rules!  Too bad it seems to be the color that chips on me the fastest.  But then again, chipped polish is definitely punk...

I used a base coat purple of China Glaze Grape Pop, I then added a layer on top of Flying Dragon (Which has an awesome, subtle sparkle I hope you can see in the close up).  I used Konad plate s6 with the color Awaken and applied gemstones to each nail.  I coated twice with Seche Vite.

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.

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.  

Wishing for Spring

I've been lacking inspiration and need to add some colors to my collection.  But Kari sent me this link to a design and this was the best I could do to mimic.  It was HARD.  But the exciting part of this manicure is the GEMS!!!  I haven't used them in a while so I was happy to add some bling to the fingers.

Right Hand:

Left Hand:

For the base coat color, I used Essie's Chinchilli.  I then made the flowers with various China Glaze colors: Evening Seduction (brown/burgundy), Salsa (red), Bahamian Escape (blue), Entourage (green) and It's So Easy Stripe-Rite in white.  I coated Seche Vite on top.

What I've been up to:

First off, my nail polish and accessories got a new home that fits them a little better. I've been on a recent purchasing stint and needing to find something that acutally fits my 70+ bottles.

This is a bad photo, but one of my most recent favorites in terms of design:
This one lasted a day. That is the problem with sparkle polishes, but it was pretty cool:

This is my design for Kari. She was glad to have a pointer finger set apart so others would know that, yes, she was pointing at them.

Filling the awkward silence

So I have been thinking I should be picking up the blogging slack since Alison (the supreme blogger) seems to be [justifiably] preoccupied with a baby to entertain us with updates and things to read in our spare time on a daily/regular basis. However, as much and as many blog posts I may think of in my head throughout the day to fill the void, none of them seem to end up in cyber space due to my supreme laziness.

But in effort to try harder at things, I've created a very mini picture show of my recent manicures. In the past few months I have begun to become obsessed with bedazzled, high maintenance, nail art. I do really enjoy it. Here are a few of my recent designs:






And with that, maybe there will be future blog posts coming soon(er than two months).