Yellow and Green Skittle

Long time no see, again. I went on a two week road trip and just got back yesterday, but I didn't have guest posts lined up like I did last year. I also didn't wear polish for the whole two weeks! I tried putting on these China Glaze nail stickers, but they just were not sticking, and they didn't fit the shape of my cuticle line very well. So the first thing I did was do my nails today! Although these nails I am showing today were from well before I left. Here they are:

I used a whole bunch of brands.

I started off with Lime Crime- Crema De Limon on my fingers, except my pinky. Using just one coat on my index, and two coats on my middle and ring finger.

I used the mini chevron stickers from nailvinyls.com. The colors I used for the chevrons going from the darkest green to the lightest:
OPI- You Are So Outta Lime! (Neon Collection Summer 2014)
OPI- Life Gave Me Lemons (Neon Collection Summer 2014)
China Glaze- Be More Pacific (Off Shore Collection Summer 2014)

I used the same three colors for the gradient as well. Then I topped that off with Sephora Formula X- Mind Blowing.

Lastly, I used I Love Nail Polish- Funshine Smoothie on my pinky (Summer Collection 2014). This polish is much more yellow, but it is showing up more gold in these photos.

Hope you like these. I will be posting my nails I did today either tomorrow or the day after!

Another No sponge Gradient

I decided to try another one of these after my last post because I still had two China Glaze polishes from the same collection that I have not tried.

I couldn't quite decide what glitter to use on top. It looks really good on the pink, not so much the purple. It is Mod Lacquer- Technicolor Noise. One of my favorite glitters! It is a mixture of pink, green, and blue glitters in various shapes and sizes. Get it on Mod Lacquer's Etsy.

The two bases I started out with were both two coats. The purple is Lime Crime- Lavendairy. Seriously, these are some of the best polishes out there. They are a cool pastel, yet almost neon, and all the ones I have tried are nearly one coaters! I did two here just because. And for once they are in stock on Lime Crime's Website! The pink is Zoya- Kitridge (Zoya Tickled Collection Summer 2014). It is just your standard bubble gum pink shade.

The Jellies I used were both from the China Glaze Sunsational Collection from Summer 2013. The pink is China Glaze- Heat Index, and the purple is China Glaze- Are You Jelly? The pink was really easy to work with, but the purple is fairly opaque, so you can actually see my brush strokes on my index and pinky.

All in all I am happy with these. Have you tried the no sponge gradient technique?

4th of July Nails

As promised yesterday, here are my 4th of July nails!

 

Here is what I did last year. This years water marble came out MUCH better.

I used a whole bunch of polishes for this! First, the base I used for every nail is OPI- My Boyfriend Scales Walls (Spiderman Collection 2012). My go to white, not your traditional stark white, but still white enough, and a very good formula.

The glitters:
My index finger is Sally Hansen- Red White & Hue (Color Frenzy Line). I am not too sure if this is limited edition, I just stumbled upon this at Target and had to get it since I don't have a red white and blue polish in a clear base. I know Hard Candy has one too. The formula wasn't the best. I tended to get a lot of the clear base on my brush rather than glitter, so it got a little thick.

My pinky is Polish Me Silly- Razzmatazz (Formally known as Lush Lacquer). This polish is no longer available unfortunately. It is just red and blue medium hex glitters in a clear base.Very easy to work with.

Red and Blue:
Everyone in the nail polish world knows about Sally Hansen- Pacific Blue being changed to an awful formula along with some other loved Xtreme wear polishes. I have heard these polishes are great for water marbling, so I gave it a whirl. I think it came out pretty good. It didn't spread out as easily as the OPI's I used, but it got the job done. It especially got the job done for the stripes on my middle finger since it is so creamy and opaque. I got the striping tape from Nailvinyls, and used various sizes.

The red is a new one to my collection and the nail polish world, which is OPI- Coca-Cola Red (Coca- Cola Collection 2014). This polish is FLAWLESS! I used it on my other hand for the base before applying the Sally Hansen glitter. Super creamy and opaque, and almost a one coater. I think I may have a new favorite red.

I think that covers everything. If you are in the US, have a safe and fun holiday!

Christmas Glitta!

I am finally almost caught up with my blog posts and editing my photos! Today is finally the start of my Christmas nails. I tried doing the same last year, too, and I think I was pretty successful. You can only really pull of red and green glitter around one time of year, and I am of course showcasing the number one red and green glitter of all time today:

Again, another very difficult manicure to photograph. I am wondering if I try to just use one coat of top coat instead of using Gelous first, if the less shinyness will photograph better with these glitters...

Here are some photos more in the shade:

I used mostly China Glaze for this. China Glaze does glitters the best!! More reason they are my favorite brand.

The colors from my thumb to pinky are:  
China Glaze- Ray-diant (Prismatics Collection Spring 2013)
China Glaze- Mistletoe Kisses (Tis The Season To Be Naughty And Nice Collection Winter 2010)
China Glaze- This is Tree-Mendous (Holiglaze Collection Winter 2013)
China Glaze- Winter Holly (Holiday Joy Collection Winter 2012)
Zoya- Chita (Pixiedust Collection Fall 2013)

And last but not least, the glitter used for the gradient is China Glaze- Party Hearty (Tis The Season To Be Naughty And Nice Collection Winter 2010). Unfortunately this polish is kind of hard to get now :(. I used mine a ton, but my nail supply store all of a sudden had like 20 on their shelves and I bought my first ever back up polish! Everyone needs this polish, but fortunately Sinful Colors came out with one this year that looks a lot like it. Theirs is just green and red, but Party Hearty is green, red, and silver in all sizes of hexagonal glitters!

I did a pretty similar look to this last year, I even have a macro shot in there!

A Subtle Glitter Gradient

Let me just start off by saying this was the hardest manicure to photograph. My camera could not handle the sparkle over load! I probably had a useable photo for every 10th picture I took...Here it is:

Pretty shinies....

I am definitely ready for the new winter collections to come out! I started off with two coats of Essie- Beyond Cozy (Winter 2012 Collection). Then I did a subtle gradient with one of the new ULTA polishes that just came out, ULTA- Boogie Nights. It is mostly a bronzy coppery glitter, but has a light mix of slightly chunkier rainbow glitters in it. It reminded me a lot of the China Glaze Prism polishes. It goes perfectly with the champange color of Beyond Cozy!

The way I got the amazing shine and sparkle was by applying a thick coat of Gelous Base Coat, and then adding another coat of a quick dry ultra shiny top coat! It is like shine steroids for your nails!

And here is a photo of how pretty much all of my photos came out, but it does show the shine and sparkle even more!

Spongeless Gradient Nail Art

One of my favorite types of nail art is glitter gradients, but I still haven't mastered sponging normal polishes to a nice gradient. I saw this spongeless gradient using a jelly polish on Chalkboard Nails and knew I had to try it! I even took her advice by topping it with the same glitter:

 

 

It was definitely a success!

I started off with two coats of Color Club- Sunrise Canyon (Fiesta Collection Spring 2013), which is just a standard creme polish. Then doing what Reccca Likes Nails showed in her tutorial, I just used the brush from the bottle of a jelly polish to gradually create the gradient. The jelly I chose was China Glaze- Keepin' It Teal (Sunsational Collection Summer 2013). I added about 4 coats of that total, with the most toward the tips. Lastly, I topped it off with Maybelline Color Show- Clearly Spotted to hide any imperfections.

I must say, it looks uhmayzing! Although it was kind of time consuming compared to doing it all at once using a sponge. I am a little slower doing my nails anyways. It was kind of frustrating to get the technique down, that is what the non photo hand is for! Even after I felt I was done, I didn't like it because it didn't look smooth enough for my taste, but once you add that glitter topper, bam! It all came together!

I will definitely be doing more of these!

Simple Swatch: Candeo Colors + Jelly Bean Nail Art

I have a little bit of nail art for you today. And a huge lemming of mine that has finally been squashed! Here it is:

Sunlight

Shade

Candeo Colors- Jellybean. I have seriously wanted this polish for well over a year. I have a thing for yellow indies mainly because there aren't that many yellows out there in the mainstream world, and they are always the same sunshine yellow, or lemonade shade. This is a "crelly" pale yellow base, jam packed with large blue, pink, and purple hexagnonal glitters, along with micro green and yellow glitters? I am not not sure, but it is such a nice balance, and sooo easy to work with! I used two coats.

Of course I had to do some type of nail art involving jelly beans. I thought a gradient would be nice and eye catching. The yellow base is Lime Crime- Crema De Limon. I have said this before; BEST YELLOW OF ALL TIME. I used two coats, but you could easily get away with one thick coat, especially if your nails are short. Then, using a dotting tool, I used China Glaze- Dance Baby (Electropop Collection Spring 2012) and Anise- Island Lover to make the jelly beans. I just made one dot, and another next to that dot to make a kidney/jelly bean shape!

What do you think? Can you suggest any other yellow indies? I want them all!

Guest Post: Will Paint Nails For Food

Today's guest is Will Paint Nails For Food! I can't remember how I came across her, but I was blown away by her nail art and swatches. She started her blog around the same time as me too, and now she has blossomed into a big shot and has tons of photos on etailers which is awesome! Might I add her name is amazing? Here is what she came up with:



Hi everyone! I'm very excited to be writing this post for Jennifer at Jennibertt's Nails. We've been following each other's blogs for quite some time now and I was really touched that she asked me to do a guest blog post while she's on vacation. Thanks Jennifer!


One of my favourite recent collections is Deborah Lippmann's The Mermaids - four shimmery polishes based on Mermaid's Dream, which came out last year. I was recently able to complete the collection and I've been dying to do some nail art with these polishes.

I saw this gradient over at Polish Police and knew that I wanted to try something similar. I also added some studs from the Born Pretty Store to complement the gradient.

I started with a base of OPI My Vampire is Buff because I thought the Deborah Lippmann polishes would be too sheer on their own. Turns out I was wrong and you can probably skip this step. For the gradient I used Million Dollar Mermaid, Mermaid's Kiss, and Do the Mermaid. I painted the polishes on a makeup sponge in three rows like I wanted the gradient to appear. Then I sponged it on, waited for it to dry, then repeated. I did this about three times for all nails.

I used a dab of top coat to affix the studs and then sealed everything with a thick layer of KBShimmer Clearly On Top.

Overall, I really love how the gradient turned out. The only down side about using these particular polishes is all the glitter - it gets everywhere!! If I were to redo this, I would tape the sides of my nails or use a layer of PVA glue, which I've heard can be used to quicken the final clean up process.



What do you think of this design? If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment, I'll be checking back periodically.

Simple Swatch: W7

I am going to keep this short and sweet. Sorry these photos don't have the best lighting, it is raining in the middle of June!

This is W7- Salt n Pepper

I started off with one coat of Wet n Wild- White Creme, and applied two thin coats of Salt n Pepper. This polish applied wonderfully! Especially considering it is an international "drugstore" brand.

Then I used Wet n Wild- Black Creme and China Glaze- Man Hunt (On Safari Collection 2012) for the dot gradient. I think I went a little dot crazy, but I think it goes well with the W7 and can't wait to get more!

Gradient Using Mod Lacquer

The periwinkle blue shade is Girly Bits- Bachelor's Button. It is the perfect shade of blue, and has a nice subtle linear holographic effect to it! Definitely a unique shade to my collection. I used 2 coats.

Then I topped it off with a gradient. I used Mod Lacquer- 8-Bit Digits. I love this polish so much. It is pretty much just like the floam polishes. I almost compared it to Pinkerbell Floam, but the Mod Lacquer has way more green, and the floam has much more blue. But they consist of pretty much the same color and style of blue, green, and pink matte glitter.

You can get this shade of Mod Lacquer on Etsy. And you can get the Girly Bits shade on Llarowe, Harlow & Co, and from the actual Girly Bits website.

Textured Gradient

I have been wanting to do these for a while since I go two of these three polishes in a swap, but I had little nubbins when I got them, and I am not a fan of gradients on me when my nails are short. They are finally at my favorite length, so here is how it came out:

Sooo pretty!

I started off with two coats of OPI- Pussy Galore (James Bond Girls Collection Spring 2013). I honestly wanted the polish for the name, but I really enjoy the color and formula! It didn't dry nearly as slow as OPI- Jinx which I was really happy about. I don't have a pink quite like it, which is what I go for since I am a hoarder.

Then using the brush from the bottle, I added the first color of the gradient, which was Zoya- Stevie (PIxiedust Collection Summer 2013). It was really hard to do a gradient with this! I almost went for a sponge, but didn't feel like dealing with clean up. I usually use my right hand as my practice hand, and I got the hang of it and finally figured out a good technique to get a smooth gradient. I got as much polish off the brush as possible, painted the very tip, and pushed toward my cuticle. It is kind of hard to explain...

Lastly, I used Julie G- Crushed Candy (Frosted Gum Drops Collection 2013) for the darkest color on the tips. I used the same technique as Stevie, but with much less polish. I really like these Frosted Gum Drop polishes, but I don't feel like they are really a unique "textured" polish. They are more like the gritty China Glaze glitters, kind of like these.

Hope you enjoyed!

Gradient using Hard Candy

I am a little late to the party on these. After these came out in the beginning of the year I was super excited because it is a line of polishes that are very unique, and have an indie feel to them. But then I was like crap, that means I have to go to Walmart. I can not stand Walmart. And of course, my Walmarts stopped carrying Hard Candy! But luckily I went in one last time, and one of them decided to put their display up again. I used two of the three I have so far. Here it is:

Note: These were takin in a bunch of different types of lighting. My camera couldn't handle the sparkles in the sunlight, and over all these were hard to capture.

A very subtle gradient...

I started off with two coats of Hard Candy- Piece of Papaya which is from their "Itsy Glitzy" line. It is a gorgeous orange/red glassfleck shimmer. I was most excited about this line because the shimmers remind me a lot of Zoya's unique use of shimmers and glitter. The formula was the perfect consistency, and I really liked the brush. Then I sponged on Hard Candy- Crush on Lava which is part of the "Crushed Chromes" line. I believe this was a repromote from like a beetle collection or something. It has a similar finish to papaya punch, but it has that amazing duochrome affect! It mainly shifts from a gold to purple, which you can see really well in the bottle.

Overall, I like how it turned out, it just isn't bold enough for me. I need to practice more, these were kind of a pain to do.

Oh and remember my goal for this month was to only use untried polishes? With the exception of using a white I have used, and a polish I haven't wore in a really long time, I wore 39 untried polishes! For just reaching the 500 mark, that is pretty impressive. I wanted to only wear untried indies next, but they are mainly glitters, so that won't allow much nail art which I need to do more of!

Holographic and Glitter Gradient

Today should have been my Polish Days post...I did not have time! I might try to do it tomorrow, we'll see. But I still have an awesome look to share today. I am continuing with the untried polishes this month, and this is probably my favorite glitter gradient I have ever done! Expect to see more holographic polishes with a glitter gradient this month. Here it is:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very picture heavy. It is too awesome, and holographics are so hard to photograph! I also apologize for the tip wear. I worked before being able to take pictures of it.

The holographic shade I used was Glitter Gal- Fuchsia. It applied in 2 easy coats. I am pretty sure Glitter Gal is the first indie brand I ever got. Back when Llarowe was still fairly new and didn't carry nearly as many brands comapred to how many they have now. They were also my first holos. I got three at the same time, and I still haven't worn this and one other! Polish hoarder problems...

Lastly, the glitter I used is Ninja Polish- Girly Floam. Floam polishes are the easiest polishes to do gradients with! Here is the other one I did. I have one other floam I haven't used, so I might be using that soon... I will be very sad to take these off.

Jelly Sandwich + Gradient

My goal for this month is to wear strictly untried polishes, and older polishes I haven't wore in a really long time. So, there might not be as much nail art, more simple swatches. Here is the first:

 

 

I started off with two coats of OPI- Jade Is The New Black. This was one of my first OPI polishes, and I used to wear it a lot. But due to me having a hoarding problem, I haven't wore it in while!

The other two polishes I used are untired.

Then I used Nails Inc- Piccadilly Arcade for the gradient. It is a nice finely milled glitter with some bigger chunks in there, very easy to work with.

Lastly, the jelly I used on top is Zoya- Frida (Gloss Collection 2012). I used two coats. I am really on a Jelly kick right now, and can't wait for more!

Tri Polish Challenge: Day 2

I totally didn't do Day 1 on Tuesday because my water marble failed. I was happy to see that Smashley Sparkles did an amazing one though, and we are using two of the same colors! So, I went a little simple with day 2, and did something you have already seen from me, but I love doing these!

A quick over view of the challenge: Each month there will be three colors chosen, and you have to stick to the three polishes you chose for those color categories for each day. This month is coral, purple, and green, which are like my favorite colors! The days of the challenges are Tuesday and Thursday of the last two weeks of the month.

Another dotticure gradient

I used all China Glaze, the coral is Mimosa's Before Mani's (Avant Garden Collection), the green is Def Defying (Cirque De Soleil) and the purple is Gothic Lolita (Electropop). I think these colors are all very spring appropraite, and I really like how they look together :)

I can't wait to do the next day! Check out all the others ladies amazing creations.

Jelly Sandwitch + Glitter Gradient

I am going to keep this post short and sweet, but at least I have something to show you!

This is my first time doing a glitter gradient starting at my cuticles. It is so much harder than a gradient starting at the tip of the nail! Since the main color is a flakie polish, I just had to try it out with a matte top coat!

 

 

 

You can see the flakies better now. Plus when I took my second set of pictures, the sun decided to come out.

I started off with one coat of HITS- Can Can, which I think is long gone now. I got it from Llarowe when it was on sale. The glitter I used for the gradient is Essie- Stroke of Brilliance from their Luxe Effects line, and is fortunately permanent! Lastly I added Essie Matte About You top coat.

Hope you enjoyed this! I have a class that is ending soon, so hopefully that will alloy more time for nail stuff!