Fall Leaves Mani + Tutorial Featuring Barielle Hot Chic Collection

Good morning! It's another Tuesday and I'm telling you, I am already ready for Friday! Today, I have a fall-inspired mani using a few of the Barielle polishes I showed off two weeks ago. This mani uses Barielle Secret Desire for the base. The leaves are hand painted with Barielle Orange U Jealous, and the outline/detail is done with Barielle Harley D.

Now, on to the tutorial!

Step 1: Paint your nails a solid color. In this case, I used Barielle Secret Desire.

Step 2: Draw a pointed oval shape (like a football) using the color you choose for your leaves - I used Barielle Orange U Jealous? here.

Step 3: Paint additional leaf shapes on the nail using the same color. I start with a line, then add the edge shapes to ensure it comes out relatively symmetrical.

Step 4: Carefully outline your leaves using a fine detail brush and your darker color. I used Barielle Harley D here. This is your opportunity to fix any mistakes made in steps 2-3. :)

Step 5: Draw a fine line down the center of each leaf using your detail brush in the same dark color.

Step 6: Add the "veins" for the leaves using the detail brush. I use a very light touch for this to make them lighter than the center vein. It's ok to go so light that you have uneven strokes. It actual makes it look more natural.

Step 7: Add your topcoat and admire your handiwork. ;)

Hooray! I'm starting to enjoy these tutorials! Hopefully I will get better at it over time. I struggle with the whole having to stop and take pictures of every step thing. It's hard to stop and start once the creative juices get flowing! lol

Thank you so much for looking. If you guys are appreciating these tutorials, please let me know. And let me know if there is a particular mani I have done in the past, or any other style you would like me to do a tutorial for! I need the practice, so I will be happy to oblige. :) Have a great week! I'll have another mani for you Friday!

Rainbow Honey September 2015 Mystery Bag

I have my September mystery bag to share with everyone today! It came with more bath and body stuff than nailpolish, so I was a little sad at first, but the chocolate scented soap and the giant bottle of nail oil (giant considering this is the mini bag!) totally made up for it. :D

Two polishes came in this mystery bag. First, is Underwater World. This glitter is in a clear base and full of yellow, white, green and blue stars, tiny green squares and blue hexes, white shards, and blue iridescent shimmer. I painted two coats over Nicole by OPI Pros & Confidence. I added one coat of Out The Door topcoat to smooth it out. The formula of this glitter is awesome. No fishing was required and it painted on very smoothly for having so many glitters in it.

The other polish I received was Just Sugar Coat It! This polish is loaded with iridescent small and medium hexes, small iridescent squares, and loads of iridescent shimmer. This one makes me think of magic. Like a unicorn or something haha.I painted two coats of this one over top of Essie Play Date, then added a coat of Out The Door Topcoat. The formula on this polish was very smooth, too. No fishing was needed to get a variety of the glitters on my nail.

So, there you have it. I tried out the nail oil, too and I just love it. It smells super good. The perfume was a bit too sweet-smelling for me, so I will probably gift it to a friend. Thank you so much for stopping by! I'll be back in a few days with a fall mani, AND a tutorial!
  

52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge - Zig Zag + Dark and Grungy

Oh my goodness, it's the last mani of the 52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge! I can't believe it has been a whole year since it started, and I really can't believe that I managed to finish! I have another challenge coming up with the wonderful Nail Tarts, so things won't be changing much around here. This one is going to be totally awesome, and I am just so excited for it, so stay tuned. For this week's challenge, the prompts are zig zag and dark and grungy. I grew up in the 90s, so grungy is not hard for me lol. Although, I was determined to use and unswatched polish in the manicure, so that added a little bit of a challenge. I'm still trying to get rid of my neverending pile of untried polish!

I wound up using The New Black Elephant Hide for my base. It is from their Safari collection and is a black base filled with gold glitters. After that, I used my Loki's Nail Vinyls to create the zigs (not so much zag here lol), and painted over them using another untried polish, OPI Just Spotted The Lizard. I have had this polish forever and have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it. This seemed lime the perfect chance.

It's a little dark, grunge, AND glam haha. Here is what The New Black Elephant Hide looks like on it's own. I used two coats here with one coat of Out The Door topcoat.

Thank you so much for checking out my very last 52 Week Pick n Mix post. This challenge has been an absolute blast and I really enjoy seeing what my fellow Nail Tarts come up with each week for the prompts! Make sure you check out what everyone did for this week!

An InLinkz Link-up

Julep September 2015 It Girl Box = Purple Heaven

Ok, so you all know I am a sucker for purple. So of course, when there were 3 purple polishes in the September box, I just had to say yes and get it. XD

The box came with 3 polishes and a special add-on. The add-on is called Julep and is their signature color (the color of their marketing materials, such as their boxes, signage, etc.)

Let's take a look! First, we have Delores. This is a purple-leaning-blue holographic polish. I didn't have any sun for the swatches, but it is a scatter holo. It went on in two smooth coats and dried to a satiny finish. The second pic shows what it looked like with topcoat to add some shine.

Next, we have Zoey. This is a cool grey cream polish. The formula was nice and went on it two coats. I added one coat of Out The Door topcoat here.

Then, we have Aubrey. This is a purple frost, which is almost metallic.The formula was pretty good, but its not my favorite finish as I really don't like seeing visible brush strokes. This one will be fun to play with in manis with stamping and sponging, where streakiness doesn't matter. I did two coats here as well with one coat of Out The Door topcoat.

Last, is the add-on, Julep. This is a rich orchid shade of cream polish. The formula was really nice on this one, and it painted on in two smooth coats. I don't think I have a similar purple shade so I'm super happy to add this one to my collection. :)

Thank you so much for looking! I have my very last mani of the 52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge for you this week, so stay tuned. :)

Last Summer Manicure of the Year with Zoya and Ellagee

Good morning and happy Friday! I wanted to share this awesome glitter polish I picked up from Ellagee a while back and the pretty polish from Zoya I wore with it. When I was on vacation, I got the itch about halfway through to do my nails, so I removed my purple smoosh manicure and replaced it with this.

The base is Zoya Oceane (very appropriate for a beach vacation), and the lovely glitter polish I painted over it is Ellagee Rainbow Reef. Rainbow Reef is a gorgeous mix of pastel blue, pink, teal, and purple stars, pastel yellow circle glitters, tiny white circles, small white, orange, and blue hex glitters, and holographic dolphin-shaped glitters. So many glitters! It was jam packed and only required one coat.

I had no lightbox or fancy equipment with me, so I used the sun and of course picked the only overcast day for the photography, but the pictures are color accurate, just not bright.

This is what Zoya Oceane looked like on her own.  I did 2 coats here, and the formula was just perfect.

I took these earlier in the day when the sun was still out haha.
 

Thank you so much for looking! I have a fall mani for you next AND another tutorial!

52 Week Pick n Mix - Waterfall + Violet

Good morning! I did my first waterfall manicure this week and learned pretty quickly that this mani is not for me. My tremors made it pretty much impossible to make a straight, tapered line. :/ That being said, it didn't come out completely awful and I love purple, so I still adored this mani anyway.

I used CoverGirl Glowing Nights Midnight Glow for my base, then added my "waterfall" strokes using Essie Play Date, Zoya Lola, Julep Elisa, and Girly Bits Bird Is The Word. I used a small striping brush, although I found myself wishing I had an even tinier brush.

Here is a quick swatch of Midnight Glow. It is a pretty, deep, shimmery purple. The formula was really nice and went on in two smooth, opaque coats.

Thank you so much for checking out my attempt at a waterfall mani. Make sure you check out what everyone else did for their violet and waterfall manicures!

An InLinkz Link-up

Barielle Hot Chic Fall/Winter 2015 Collection

*press sample

Good morning! Today, I have swatches from Barielle's Fall/Winter 2015 collection: Hot Chic. These colors are all great for fall, and I'm really pleased with the formulas, too.

First, I have Sheer Nonsense. This one got a bit washed out in the photos, but it is a very pale nude. Much closer to cream colored than tan. It went on in two smooth coats and dried to a glossy finish. I added a coat of Out The Door Topcoat for these photos.

Next, is Secret Desire. This color is very accurate. It is a metallic-shimmery purple. This is two coats, with one coat of Out The Door topcoat. The formula was great on this polish as well. This one will be great in some Halloween manis, too. Yay purple!
 

Orange U Jealous is an orange leaning red cream filled with gold shimmer. This formula was great as well, and shown here is two coats, plus a coat of Out The Door topcoat. This one will be making an appearance for Halloween and Thanksgiving manis for sure.
 

Next, is Harley D. This is a dark chocolatey brown with bronze shimmer. I love this dark brown color for fall and winter. I did two coats here plus one coat of Out The Door topcoat. This one's formula was the same as the others.

Last, but not least is Born-2-B Naughty. This is a dark teal cream. It went on in two smooth coats and is pictured with one coat of Out The Door topcoat. This one is not a very original color, but I always love a good teal cream, so I am not complaining. ;)

Get ready to see the guys make an appearance in some fall/winter nail art in the next few weeks and months! :P Thank you so much for stopping to read my blog today. If you loved these colors, you can find them at Barielle.com, where they retail for $8 a piece. Have a happy Sunday!

52 Week Pick n Mix - Most Precious Polish + Stamping Saturday

Good afternoon! I have been super absent since vacation ended, but it is only because I returned to loads of swatching and am struggling to get back into the groove of working (ew working is the worst! lol). Anyway, I am skipping the watercolour bit of this week's prompt and decided to show off my most precious polish instead. This polish is special to me because it was handmade by Missy from Gnarly Gnails for a giveaway that I won a few years ago. Now that she is no longer blogging, it has become even more special to me. She named this polish Orchadia.

It is a pretty raspberry colored jelly filled with various size hex metallic glitters and tiny shimmers. I did two coats here, and one coat of topcoat to smooth it out.

I stamped over it with Konad Special Black using my newest stamping plate: It Girl plate IG 103. This is a brand you can find on Etsy, and is brand new. Her first set of plates were just released at the end of August and I was super excited to get mine as I had pre-ordered it. It is etched very well. I had no issues trying to pick up the image and it transferred over beautifully every time. :D

Thank you so much for checking out my blog today. Please make sure you look at what every one else did for this week's challenge, and for Stamping Saturday!

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

52 Week Pick n Mix - Waterspotting/Marbling + Purple, Red, & Aqua

Saturday, and by now, I'm a little sad because it is the last day of vacation. We leave to go back home Sunday (tomorrow). For this mani, I made another attempt at water marbling. It did not come out so great. I can't seem to do a water marble manicure without any bubbles. It kind of drives me bonkers. If any of you know how to avoid the bubbles, please tell me the secret! :D

So, for this marble, I held myself to the prompt so that I could get away with just one manicure this week. Since I had to schedule all of these posts this week, it means that last week, I crammed 5 or 6 manicures into just 2 days. I'll admit I didn't regret having to remove this one immediately. :P I used Essie Apertif and Where's My Chauffeur?, and OPI Do You Have This Color In Stock-holm?.

Thank you so much for looking today! I'll be home late tomorrow and back to normal posting-wise in no time (I hope)! Make sure you take a look at what everyone else for this week's prompt!

An InLinkz Link-up

Black & Gold Half Stamped Nailart

For this week's stamping challenge, the prompt was "taped off/half stamped nails". This is the last prompt using this CICI&SISI plate for this month's Stamping Plate Challenge. I used Rainbow Honey Costa Dorada for my base, and stamped using Konad Special Black.

I taped off half of my nail diagonally with regular scotch tape. Then, I just stamped the image in black and peeled the tape back off. Easy peasy. :)

Thank you as always for stopping to read and look at my pictures! Have a great week. I'll be back from vacation on 9/7!