Delight In Nails: July 2012

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Summer Challenge Day 16 - Recreate Your Favorite Manicure!

Day 17 (July 31st) of the Summer Challenge is Recreate Your Favorite Manicure. For this one, I chose Chiro's mani from Day 8 - Beach. This manicure just jumped out at me, and since I have only done 1 water marble ever, and I have never tried anything like this, I just had to give it a go. I just got a new polish called China Glaze Ride The Waves with my last Copious credit, which just came in the mail yesterday (perfect timing!!), and also used Pure Ice Super Star!. For the base, I went with Wet n Wild Lost Love, which took 3 coats (it's very thin). Here it is.

I ending up doing this mani with tape in order to get clean wavy lines. I used a pair of craft scissors to cut the wave, and then added the white. After that dried, I used the same pieces of tape to mask off the area for my water marble. This is only the second time I have done a water marble, and it went pretty well, but it was difficult to clean up the water, so I had to worry about getting smudges. For the water marble, I used China Glaze Ride The Waves, Julep Jessica, and Pure Ice Superstar!. After I finished the water marble, I added the silver using NYC Tribeca Silver. I am pretty happy with how it turned out, except for my middle finger. Oh well, perfection is always hard to achieve. :)

Well, this is the end of the challenge, and I have to say, I am surprised I made it to the end without missing any! It was so awesome to be a part of this challenge with all of these fabulous people, so I want to thank Kaki and Theodora for making it possible for me. I had so much fun and really learned a lot. I'm taking a little break here, because I have a lot on my plate right now, but I will be back this weekend. :)

Thank you so much for looking! A full outline of the challenge can be found here. Please be sure to check out the other participants in this challenge, too!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Summer Challenge Day 15 - Ocean/Sea

Day 15 (July 29th) of the Summer Challenge is Ocean/Sea. There is one thing I have been wanting to do throughout this challenge, and since this is my last chance, I'm going for it. When I think of the ocean, I always think of my favorite childhood...ok I still love it...movie. The Little Mermaid! So I thought, now would be my chance to do some mermaid nails! :) I've been dying to do some mermaid nails for EVER and just never did. So here they are!

So what do you think? I started out with a base of Nubar Reclaim - if you remember I won it in a giveaway, and oh my it's gorgeous!! After that, I did a little gradient using Wet n Wild Caribbean Frost, Nubar Reclaim, and another color I've been dying to try: Kleancolor Starry Meteor! Oh my goodness I just love it! So then, I stamped over it with an image from Mash-39 in Wet n Wild Caribbean Frost. Here are some pictures of the progress, including lovley Nubar Reclaim on its own.

Thank you so much for looking! A full outline of the challenge can be found here. Please be sure to check out the other participants in this challenge, too!

Friday, July 27, 2012

Summer Challenge Day 14 - Swimsuits

Day 14 (July 27th) of the Summer Challenge is Swimsuits. I decided to try to recreate the pattern from my favorite bikini.

So what do you think? I used this lovely chocolate brown from Finger Paints for the background, then used a dotting tool to add Pure Ice Wild Thing, Zoya Lo, this blue I mixed myself (which is really old and you have seen before), and Pure Ice Super Star!.

I'm such a fan of polka dots, I adore this mani...and this bikini!

Thank you so much for looking! A full outline of the challenge can be found here. Please be sure to check out the other participants in this challenge, too!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Summer Challenge Day 13 - Dolphins/Whales or Favorite Water Animal

Day 13 (July 25th) of the Summer Challenge is Dolphins/Whales or Favorite Water Animal. Thank goodness this was toward the end of the challenge because it took me weeks to think of this one! I decided to go with seahorses, because they are always the sea animal that makes me the most excited at the aquarium (mostly because they are just so stinkin cute!). :)

For the background, I used Salon Perfect Blue Raspberry. After that, I painted on my seahorses using NYC Taxi Yellow Creme, Finger Paints chocolate brown, and Avon Gleaming Gold using my new nail art brushes!! My nail art can be so much more detailed now - I am so excited! I added the seaweed along the edges using China Glaze Four Leaf Clover, and used a small dotting tool to add the bubbles using Pure Ice SuperStar!.

Here is Salon Perfect Blue Raspberry by itself. This is a super inexpensive polish I found at Walmart. It's not the best polish ever, but it has amazing shine with no topcoat and they have a lot of really pretty colors.

Thank you so much for looking! A full outline of the challenge can be found here. Please be sure to check out the other participants in this challenge, too!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Summer Challenge Day 12 - Favorite Beach Memory

Day 12 (July 23rd) of the Summer Challenge is Favorite Beach Memory - I actually had to think really hard about this one. I decided to recreate a memory from a beach that I live near. It's not on the ocean, but on a very large lake (Lake Erie) which looks, feels, and behaves a lot like an ocean. It has waves, dunes, and fish. When I was younger, it was a very popular place to be. Back when my husband and I were dating, we went there a lot. But we stopped going because the lakefront has become less well-groomed over the past few years and we have very little time for that sort of thing, anyway.

But, I have to say, there is nothing like sitting on a beach listening to the waves crashing and watching a sunset when your life feels like it is has been turned upside-down. It is so relaxing and soothing. My husband and I have been through some exceptionally tough times over the past few years. It has been very hard. So last year, we returned to the beach, for some much-needed relaxation and peaceful alone-time. We walked up and down the shore, picked up beach glass, and then sat down on a big piece of driftwood and watched the sunset over the lake. It was beautiful, and just what we needed to take our minds off of everything else. I dug around and found a picture from that night, and tried to recreate this pretty lake sunset on my nails.

This is one of my favorite summer memories because it is sad...but hopeful. Life isn't always easy and sometimes the hardest times are the ones that you look back on and see how very special they were. They are always times when you grow and learn, and can reflect upon. This was around the time of our wedding anniversary last year - 9 years and we have been up and down and all around. And all the while our relationship grows. Its hard to believe sometimes that we have been through so much and always stuck together. Well, I hope you like my memory and I didn't make you sad! I just thought I would explain why this particular sunset was so special. :)

So what do you think? I stated out with a new polish I've been wanting to use from Julep called Daphne, then I did the craziest gradient I have ever done with Julep Daphne, Julep Jessica, Revlon First Class, NYC Taxi Yellow Creme and Zoya Arizona. Yeah - all those - in one gradient. Heehee. Then, I painted on the sun and the reflection on the water using a mixture of Pure Ice Super Star!and Zoya Arizona. After that, I used a chocolate brown from Finger Paints to draw the shore. I really like how this one turned out - like I have a little masterpiece on my nails. :)

Here is Julep Daphne all by itself.

Just as an aside, because I try to be honest about my experiences with polishes in my posts, this polish was completely horrid to apply. It was worse than Mandy. It is supposed to be a quick dry polish, and the problem is that it dried too quickly, so quickly that it was horribly streaky and as I tried to paint the second coat, it just dragged off the first coat. It was so thick, I also had a lot of problems with bubbles in it which I do not usually have an issue with. The only thing I like about this polish is the color, which is a bummer because the awful formula means I will probably never wear it...unless I can get it to improve with some thinner. ;) So, there you have it - my brutally honest opinion. Thank goodness I didn't pay for this. I have had some really bad luck with this brand. Anyway, I hope you like this mani - I worked very hard on it just for you!

Thank you so much for looking! A full outline of the challenge can be found here. Please be sure to check out the other participants in this challenge, too!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Summer Challenge Day 11 - Sea Shells

Day 11 (July 21st) of the Summer Challenge is Sea Shells. I had to think long and hard on this one, but I finally settled on doing sand dollars on my nails. I really like sand dollars and was completely fascinated by them when I was a kid, so here they are.

This is essie Go Overboard, a pretty and dark teal. I used Pure Ice Super Star! for the sand dollars and then added the detail in the center with Pure Ice Kiss Me Here.

Here is essie Go Overboard all by itself, so you can see the prettiness. :)

Thank you so much for looking! A full outline of the challenge can be found here. Please be sure to check out the other participants in this challenge, too!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Summer Challenge Day 10 - Tropical Drinks

Day 10 (July 19th) of the Summer Challenge is Tropical Drinks. Somehow I got all mixed up and did my manis out of order...so I am late on this one. Whoops. :) The good news is, I have my sea shells mani done and it is scheduled - so we know that one will be one time. Heehee.

Anyway, I thought this was a fun little theme, but was clueless about how I would actually do tropical drinks on my nails. I knew that I wanted to be really colorful with this one, so I decided to do a drink on each nail with a pretty 'ocean' in the background. :)

This blue background is a color that I mixed a LONG time ago...when I was in highschool. Somehow, it has held up really well, and is still easy to apply. I'm not exactly sure of the colors I used to make it, but I know one of the colors was a pearly white from Wet n Wild...back before they named their colors. It was just a number, but the sticker fell off a long time ago. Anyway, after that, I painted on my tropical drinks. I didn't really paint anything specific. I just picked pretty, summery looking colors and went to town.

I used a lot of colors for this, so I'm listing them out:

Pure Ice Super Star!
NYC Taxi Yellow Creme
essie meet me at sunset
Spoiled Let's Get Sushi
NYC High Line Green
Pure Ice Wild Thing
Misa What A Wonderful Day
Zoya Wednesday
Zoya Lo
my handmade no-name light blue shimmer

Here is my no-name base color all by itself.

Thank you so much for looking! A full outline of the challenge can be found here. Please be sure to check out the other participants in this challenge, too!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Summer Challenge Day 9 - Favorite Summer Memory

Day 9 (July 17th) of the Summer Challenge is Favorite Summer Memory. My favorite summer memory would have to be my wedding day. It was such a special day, I will never forget it as long as I live. Everything was perfect. So, I went with a very basic black and white mani. Here it is.

I painted my nails white using Pure Ice Super Star!, then mattified it using NYC Matte Effect. After that, I stamped on NYC Mulberry Street for a subtle pearl swirl background, and then stamped these floral designs in Pure Ice Black Rage using Konad plate m63, mash-36 & mash-39.

Here is a wedding photo from the happy day. :)

Photograph by Susan Hurlbut

So what do you think?

Thank you so much for looking! A full outline of the challenge can be found here. Please be sure to check out the other participants in this challenge, too!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Summer Challenge Day 8 - Beach

Day 8 (July 15th) of the Summer Challenge is Beach. I was going to do a traditional sunset mani using inspiration from our last vacation...but when looking through my photos, I found one that inspired me to go in a whole different direction. When I think Beach, I think of sand, so I decided to try to make my nails look like a sandy beach with some rocks...I went a little abstract on this one. Here is the result.

I started out with the closest color I have to sand, which is Shu Uemura Coquetttish Brown. Then I decided it wasn't quite right, so I sponged on some gold using Avon Nailwear Pro in Glimmering Gold. After that, I tried to make some 'rocks' using a my dotting tools. For this, I used Pure Ice in Kiss Me Here, Julep Kate, Townley in Mocha Chino, and the brown is from Finger Paints. Here is the photo I used for inspiration.

Here is a picture of Shu Uemura Coquettish Brown by itself.

And here it is after I sponged on the Glimmering Gold from Avon.

Thank you so much for looking! A full outline of the challenge can be found here. Please be sure to check out the other participants in this challenge, too!

Friday, July 13, 2012

Summer Challenge Day 7 - Ice Cream

Day 7 (July 13th) of the Summer Challenge is Ice Cream. I love ice cream. My husband and I can't get enough of it in the summer...but our waistlines can. So, we try to behave and only have ice cream about once (or twice) a month. :) My favorite kind of ice cream is mint chocolate chip, and there are these fabulous ice cream sandwiches at Target that have mint ice cream in them! So, I decided to replicate them on my nails. Here it is!

I used Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet, and then added the chocolate 'sandwich' using this lovely chocolate brown from Finger Paints, which is on loan from my mom who came to my rescue when I realized I didn't have any brown polish (thanks, Mom!). I made the scalloped edges with a dotting tool. After I was finished, I decided that chocolate chips were needed, (because these ice cream sandwiches would be even better with chocolate chips in them!) so I added them using a smaller dotting tool.

Here is Mint Sorbet all by itself.

Here is a picture of the awesome ice cream sandwiches! They are soooo good!

Thank you so much for looking! A full outline of the challenge can be found here. Please be sure to check out the other participants in this challenge, too!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Summer Challenge Day 6 - Favorite Summer Color

Day 6 (July 11th) of the Summer Challenge is Favorite Summer Color. My favorite summer colorS are from the Zoya Beach & Surf collections. I seriously could not pick one. However, the colors I like best are Zoya Wednesday and Zuza. Wednesday reminds me of the ocean. When you are sitting up on a balcony out over the water this dirty blue green is exactly what you see right at the edge where the water is shallow and the sand is mixing in. I love love love this color! Because I could not leave out my other favorite, I did a bit of stamping with pretty Zuza, too. :) Take a look.

I stamped on Zoya Zuza using this circles design from mash-50. I have to say I am quite enamored by this mani. What do you think?

Here is lovely Wednesday all by herself. She's beautiful. :)

Thank you so much for looking! A full outline of the challenge can be found here. Please be sure to check out the other participants in this challenge, too!

Pages

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Friday, July 27, 2012

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Friday, July 20, 2012

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Friday, July 13, 2012

Wednesday, July 11, 2012