Glitter and Nail Art: Day 3

Do you know how hard it is covering up even just a tiny bit of today's glitter? It literally pained me to apply any strokes of a different color to Sneeze Breeze, a sick blue glitter from TheHungryAsian. That also may have been from the recent increase in weights during YPump, but let's attribute it to the gorgeous polish shall we? After all, this is Nailed It, not Wailed It.

I thought it appropriate to add roses to Sneeze Breeze. It's Attack of the Cottonwoods out here in Boulder, as day after day, little soft fluffy cotton drifts breeze around town. It's beautiful, especially at night when cars' headlights capture them moving across the surface of the roads, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't constantly pumped full of allergy medicine. Stupid gorgeous nature!

The roses were done with Hot Like Lava (Color Club), White On (Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear), Be My Valentine (Sinful Colors), Green (Color Madric), and a hint of Me First (Sinful Colors). Whew! 

I layered Sneeze Breeze over Swimsuit...Nailed It! (OPI) because I didn't want to waste any of it. They actually appear quite close in color at first glance, but the OPI doesn't pack the neon punch like Sneeze Breeze. I don't know where Kae (TheHungryAsian's shop owner) found the blue glitter used in this, but it's a mind-melter. Is it neon? Is it shimmering? Is there more than one color of blue in there? I wish I had these answers, but alas, my glitter envy stops at buying polishes, not making them.

Glitter and Nail Art: Day 2

DAY 2! I'm pissed about today. Things did not go according to plan, but this will have to suffice as it's getting late and I don't have time to repolish, rephotograph, and repost a new one. It's passable, but definitely not my best work. I blame it on the rattling motorcycle I was riding around earlier. I'm an excellent back seat accessory to a motorcycle, let me tell you.

I love the polish that was used today. It's called Pirate's Booty and it's from Polish Rehab (Facebook and Etsy). Hayley has crafted some great glitter collections since the conception of her store, and I was pleased as pickles to be in the know early on so I could grab the glitters before their popularity took off. It since has, as you can see by the lack of product currently for sale, and for good reason.

It's a bit hard to make out over Hey Sailor (China Glaze), but there are red glitter pieces in addition to the black and gold. Baby squares, big squares, and hexagonal shapes are all found in this polish.

Again, I apologize for the bumpy appearance this manicure is giving off. I used the tape method, but unfortunately, letting the glitter layers dry before adding another doesn't work well with taping. It'll just goo-out on you, and you'll be peeling off a filmy layer of polish with the tape.

Oh well, lesson learned!

Glitter and Nail Art: Day 1

For the next week, I'm going to put together a series of designs that feature some of the absolutely amazing glitters from Etsy I've been accumulating for the past month or so. I'm really excited about it, and I know you will be too.

I didn't want to just do swatches of glitter, so, like today, I'll add some funky nail art to accompany the glitter and make it much more interesting.

Today was inspired by Hey, Nice Nails! awesome design. She has been doing a lot of stuff I am in love with lately, and these bows keep making appearances. The best part is they're incredibly simple to make! I did mine with White On (Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear), Pool Party (China Glaze) and Black Creme (Wet n' Wild). It's so fun!

The featured glitter is from F4 Polish, and it's called Pink Penguin. I'm sure there's some clever joke about what is black, white and pink all over, but I don't have it. It's everything I like in a glitter...and by everything I like I mean it has black or white matte glitter.

Weekend Water Marble

Well...I finally did it. I wasn't sure if I was ready to commit to something so major, but I decided it was time to finally take the plunge. After 24 years, I finally...water marbled.

I used colors from my favorite China Glaze collection, Up and Away: Four Leaf Clover, Happy Go Lucky, and Heli-Yum. It was a pretty easy selection, and they go really well together.

I used cutepolish's tutorial and it worked wonderfully. Her tips about blowing on the surface of the water and the way she twisted her toothpick to pick up the dried polish on the surface of the water were really clever.

I also learned that you need to be careful about where you place your design. I drew designs in different places on the cup, depending on which hand was going to be dipped. Then I wouldn't have to twist my hand into uncomfortable positions to properly dip the nail in the design.

One additional tip I have to offer is to combine the use of tape and Vaseline. I've heard of people using both techniques separately, but I figured...

¿Porque no las dos?

So I taped off my fingers, then, using a cotton swab dipped in Vaseline, I coated the areas of skin that were still exposed like the part under my nail and the two corners of my exposed cuticle near the base of my nail. Worked like a charm!

Cleanup was much simpler than I thought it would be, and I partially contribute that to my color choices. Black water marbling would probably be a royal pain, but yellow, pink, and teal are much easier. I mainly contribute it to the Vaseline-tape combo I used.

I love that endearing little spot on my middle finger. I'll name it Spot.

Optical Chaos

I haven't stamped all my nails in a while! Trying to decide between designs today, I finally decided it was time for some stamping, using the Love at First Lavender I showcased earlier in my review of Sation polishes.

The plate is Red Angel RA-106 and I just used Black Creme from Wet n' Wild for the stamping. My middle finger got a little smudgy, so I apologize for that. Isn't it just optically chaotic though? There's just so much going on, but there's only two colors. Crazy!

Minty Cookie Nails

Are you dieting? Are sweets tempting you to no end? Do you find yourself standing in the sweets aisle at the grocery store just to absorb the joy the sweets once brought you? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this manicure is for you.

These tempting talons feature Mint Chocolate Chip from F4 Polish. If that ice cream colored mint pastel doesn't get your stomach growling, then feast your eyes on Sand Tropez (Essie) and Nomadic Nude (Color Club), decadently topped with lovely chips of Get in the Expresso Lane (OPI). Are you drooling yet?

Please wear responsibly. Nail biting is highly likely under such delicious nail art circumstances.

Absolutely Floral

Ever since Kayla announced that she was doing a nail art contest with a floral theme, I've been trying to decide what type of design to do. Do I want pastel colors? Muted colors? Neons? My inspiration came from an unused make up carrier sitting on the bottom shelf of our closet. I walk by it every day, but it took slamming my toe into it earlier tonight to strike the right chord. No lightbulbs came on, but the throbbing pain in my pinky toe was enough to knock some sense into me and mimic the damn design. Stupid sharp pointy box. You'll see a peak of that behind my nails.

I won't even bother with the colors for this manicure as they're quite extensive and nothing out of the ordinary. Everything is done with nail polish though, no acrylic paints for this one. The sparkle background you may find interesting though. That's Chunky Holo Purple (Kleancolor), though I really could've used any of the Chunky Holos since they all appear exactly the same over black.

Cross your fingers this enough to win me the prize over at Nails by Kayla Shevonne. (I won't be begging for your votes for this one, it's judged by Kayla and her crew of judges.)