Sunday, July 31, 2016

Great Nail Art Ideas - Hippies/Festivals & The Lacquer Ring - Chevrons

Hello! I'm back again. I didn't know if  would be. But I actually really like this mani I did, so of course I wanted to share! The theme for this week's challenges didn't exactly go together, but I made them! Haha! So for 40 Great Nail Art Ideas, our theme was hippes/festivals, so I got this random idea to do feathers. I always see those festival girls wearing feathers. With the theme in my other group being chevrons, I decided to just combine the two. Feathers and chevrons go together, I say!


I used Drip Drop Feather Boa (totally what gave me the idea!) as my base. The swatch will be at the end of this post! I used vinyls from Love,Angeline to do the chevrons using Konad Special White. Then, I made these two feathers by painting Cupcake Berry Good Looking on my Uber Mat, and stamped the feather image from BM-419 on top. It's kind of the opposite of a normal stamping decal because Berry Good Looking was bleeding pigment into my white. This way, it didn't bleed (until I put the topcoat on). It bled way worse the other way, and my white turned a pretty dark shade of pink! I just cut them out carefully after they dried and stuck them on using topcoat.


Here is what Drip Drop Feather Boa looks like on it's own! It is a purple crelly with various shades and sizes of pink, white, black, and purple glitters throughout. There is also a metallic pink micro glitter in there. It painted on very smoothly and took just two coats to be nice and even. Well that is all I have for today. I will be back next week if I do a mani that I like! :D

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Great Nail Art Ideas - Nude + Colour

Good afternoon everyone. I hope you all are having a great weekend! I know I have been MIA for a while, and wanted to let you all know I'm here, but I just wanted a bit of a break from blogging. I have decided to take a step or two back and try to make blogging fun again for myself, because it started to feel an awful lot like work, and it made it very hard to be interested in it. So, my plan is to finish out this current challenge, and then I probably will not do them anymore because the obligation of it kind of sucked the fun out of it for me.

Today, I have some stamping decals that I made, placed over a nude base. The base is Julep Lizzy, which is a pretty good nude for me in the winter, but not so much in the summer. :) I made the decal using MoYou London Pro Collection plate XL-13 and Konad Special Black, then colored in the flowers using Sephora by OPI What a Broad, Barielle Joytini, and OPI Cajun Shrimp.


That's all I've got for you today. I have an insane backlog of manis, because I didn't stop painting my nails and photographing them during my blog break. When I feel like it, I'll share another. :P Also, make sure you check out what everyone else did for this week's prompt. I saw a lot of creativity with this prompt!

Monday, June 20, 2016

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Summer

Hi everyone, hope you are all having a great weekend so far! Today, I have some summery nail art for you using a lovely holo from ILNP, stamping with CICI&SISI and Bundle Monster plates, and some cute waterslide decals from NailedKit.


I started off with two coats of ILNP Music Box, then did stamping using Bundle Monster plate BM-XL25, CICI&SISI plate 04, and Konad Special White. After that, I added these cute whale and sailboat decals I got a while back from NailedKit.


I really like how these came out. They are so cute and fun. Here is a swatch of Music Box. It went on in two smooth coats. The first picture is indoors with artificial light, the second is in full sunlight.


Thank you so much for looking. Make sure you stop by to see all the other summer nails today!

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Rainbow Honey May 2016 Just Nails Mystery Bag

Guys! It's Friday-eve! Yay! I'm so glad the weekend is almost here. Seriously, so glad! Anyway, I have my May Rainbow Honey mystery bag today - I started getting the Just Nails one. I like the bath and body stuff, but don't go through it quickly, so I need to work my way through my current stockpile before I get any more. So, in this mystery bag, I received three full size polishes.

First, I have to show you Ruby Sparkler. It is a gorgeous red full of amazing gold shimmer. I did two coats here, and the formula was great.


This, is Lemon Sparkler. This polish is a creamy lemon yellow filled with iridescent shimmer. This is two coats. It has the same formula as Ruby Sparkler.


This last one is my personal favorite of the three. I love glitter-filled crellies so much. Islands In The Sky is a pale blue crelly with white, purple, and green glitters. It had a great formula as well. This is three thin coats. I wanted layers of glitters. :)


Thank you so much for looking. I'll be back in a couple days with my next mani for the Nail Tarts challenge!

Friday, June 10, 2016

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Mint Green & The Lacquer Ring - Seafoam

Good morning! I am combining prompts today, you guys because I just can't seem to find enough time to blog lately. And I lucked out because the prompts matched enough. Yay! So, seafoam and mint. I feel like they are practically the same color. They are, right??? Anyway, here is what I came up with.


This mint/seafoam camo manicure is all freehand. And...I don't know why the pictures came out so bad, but they did. By the time I had uploaded them to add my watermarks, it was already chipping, so it was too late to retake photos. Hey, sometimes that happens. But seriously, you can tell what's going on here. And it doesn't look bad in the smaller photos. :P I used Hello Kitty Minty, Wet n Wild Tree Hugger, and NYC Tudor City Teal for this. I just drew various blobby shapes. Hey, turns out camo is pretty easy!


Thank you so much for stopping by. Please make sure you check out what my fellow bloggers did for these prompts!

Thursday, June 9, 2016

daniPro Infused Nail Polish

 *Press Sample
Hi everyone, and happy Thursday! It's almost Friday, so yay! Today, I have some polished from a brand that is new to me, called daniPro. I was recently contacted to review this polish, which was created by a doctor who wanted to offer a nailpolish that wasn't full of toxins. Many of the polishes I buy already are 5 free, and this one is too, but it also is infused with Undecyclenic acid, which after a quick google search, I discovered is used as an antifungal. 


"daniPro was originally created to provide a more health conscious manicure or pedicure at the nail salon or even from the comfort of home. It was created by Manhattan Podiatrist, Dr. Gary Evans. A graduate of NYU and the New York College of Podiatric Medicine, Dr. Evans is a board certified podiatrist and surgeon who has been practicing in New York City for over 30 years. Following extensive surgical training, he began his private practice. He specializes in all aspects of podiatry including: podiatric medicine, corrective foot surgery, and sports medicine, and is a pioneer in treating nail fungus. daniPro nail polish is the first and only toxin-free infused nail polish containing the active ingredient Undecylenic Acid."

So, I took these babies for a test drive to see how they stood up, and if I saw any noticeable difference in my nail health after using them. I swatched each one and wore it for about 3 days, so I had them on for 9 days total. The first thing I noticed was that they did not stand up well at all. They were all chipped by day 2, many of them on day one. Now, I am rough on my hands, but no more than any normal person, doing dishes, laundry, taking care of my home, etc. I wasn't doing anything completely crazy. It was actually really hard to keep each one on for three days because the chips were driving me nuts. Now, normally, I only wear a polish for about 1-2 days, so if you don't intend to wear them very long, you have nothing to worry about. Also, there is always the possibility that the base coat I used was the issue. Sometimes certain basecoats don't play well with certain polishes, so we can't rule that out, since I did not receive the daniPro basecoat to try. Looking beyond the chips, this polish formula was decent. It painted on super smooth, but a little uneven. They all felt like the needed at least two coats, and the red and darker pink, had a better formula than the light pink.  The other thing I wanted to address was nail health. I did not notice any difference, however, I take very good care of my nails as a result of this blog, and I have never had any issues with nail fungus, so I don't think this polish being infused with Undecyclenic acid really does anything for me. That being said, you always hear horror stories about nail fungus from salons, so I think this is a super cool idea for salons where there is much more coming and going, and the risk of getting nail fungus is much higher.

So, here we go with the polish. :D The first one I swatched is Forever Girl Perfect Pink. This is a very pale baby pink that looks great as a summer color for toes or fingers. I got a lot of compliments on this one even though it is quite plain. It is just a really great shade - one of those that instantly makes you look sunkissed even though you are most certainly not. :P The formula was nice on this one, but it did require multiple coats to even out. I did three coats here, and one coat of the daniPro Peace Clear Topcover. I should mention here, too, that this topcoat is fast drying. It isn't labeled that way, but it was nearly dry within about 5 minutes, and totally ding proof within about 10. So, it dries about as fast as Seche Vite or Out The Door.



Next, we have My Girl Pure Pink. This is a darker, brighter magenta shade. It's a very classic shade, and had the same great formula. This is two coats with one coat of daniPro topcoat.



And last, but not least is First Kiss Red. This one is another classic color. The formula is super nice on this one, but I had really bad staining (which is super common with reds) despite the fact that I wore my go-to basecoat that usually shields me from anything. This is two coats plus one coat of the daniPro topcoat.



If you'd like to purchase these polishes, you can find them here for $18 a piece. The top coat is $20. I feel like this price is a bit on the high side considering they are just cream polishes. I imagine that it is due to the Undecyclenic acid, but I'm not sure. There are plenty of other 5 free polishes out there for less than half this price, so I feel like the only real need for this would be in a salon setting where fungus is a concern. Thank you so much for stopping by - have a great day!


Undecylenic acidUndecyclenic acid.
Undecylenic acid

Monday, June 6, 2016

April 2016 Julep It Girl Box

Hi everyone. Today, I have some polishes to show that I have had for a while, and had struggled to get swatched and shared on here. It's the Julep Maven It Girl box from April. I had just ordered my usual box, which should have come with 4 polishes, but for some reason, they messed up and sent me a different box. I received face wash and a sponge (which I didn't want), and 3 polishes: red, pink, and white. Really? If I wanted red, pink, and white, that is what I would have ordered. I have enough red, pink, and white to last me a lifetime. I was super upset. So, I took a picture of the box I received and a printscreen of my receipt for what I had actually ordered, and filed a complaint. Their customer service was slow, but once they responded, they were helpful. They sent out the correct box, which I received about a week later, and said I did not need to send the other one back. Um...okay? So, anyway, here is what I ended up with.


Now, I know that this is a pretty good deal to get all this for $19, so I can't complain. I just wish they had gotten it right the first time. I'm kind of afraid to get another month for fear that it will just be wrong and a big hassle again. I don't see collections I like much anymore, so it will be a while before you see another one. I jumped on this one because I don't have many other jelly/sheer polishes like this, and I had originally ordered all colors that I specifically didn't have to give myself more versatility with my nail art. I've skipped the two months since, but I check each month to see if it is something I want. Anyway, on to the polish. I swatched all of these over the white that came with the set. This one is names Brigitte. It is super opaque and I'm showing two coats here. I couldn't get away with one because I kept seeing streaks and unevenness.


Next, we have Ari. This is a sheer magenta pink. It painted on super smoothly, and this is two coats over Brigitte.


Then, we have Brynn. This is a sheer orange. There are also two coats here, and the formula was the same as Ari - super smooth.


Next up, we have Kimball. I had some issues with this one. It looked like it was supposed to be red, but when I painted it over white, it looked more pink than anything. Also, the formula was a little rough. It went on much less smooth and streaked a bit, which resulted in me having to use three coats here. There is still a frustrating amount of patchiness despite that.


Next, we have Delaney. This one was a simlar formula. It was streaky, and I had to do three coats here. There are still very visible streaks in the application that I just couldn't seem to get rid of.


The last polish I have to show is Shanna. This one was the worst of all in terms of formula. I would love to have a nice purple jelly, but this is not it. It was terrible streaky, and it was almost grainy in texture.


I want to try these out over a stamp to see if they work out any better that way. I am also thinking they will gradient well, so I'll probably try that at some point too. Did anyone have better luck with these? I am wondering if there is just something I'm doing wrong here with the application on the last three. Well, anyway, here is the box. Super late, and with added goodies. Let me know what you guys think about these. I can't wait to try them out over stamping, so hopefully I'll get the chance to do that soon. I will share it when I do! Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, June 3, 2016

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Weddings

Woo happy Friday! Guys, I actually have my post done on a Friday for once in my life. :P Yes, it's pretty late on a Friday, but it's Friday darnit. This week's theme is weddings, and I came up with this idea to stamp over top of a sheer polish and then add a french tip. It sounded pretty good in my head...but in practice, not so much. So, I'm sticking with the stamping minus the french tip.


I painted my nails using Sally Hansen She Sells, which is a Pearl Crush polish. It's kind of a weird polish. I feel like it looks odd on it's own, but it makes a good base for this manicure, I think. Here it is on it's own. This is three coats. The large glitters were a bit of a pin, but fishing was not required since there are a ton of them in there. If anything, I felt like I got too many at times and had to put them back in the bottle haha.


Here is what it looked like after my botched french tip. I used some stickers that I got for free somewhere and it shows. They did not work well or make a crisp line like vinyls do. I also should have just chosen a straight line here. The shape of the french tip did not work well with the stamping at all. I'm just a hot mess here.


Anyway, thank you so much for stopping by! Please make sure you take a peek at what everyone else did. There are bound to be some really pretty, delicate manis in there!

Sunday, May 29, 2016

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Hot Pink

Good morning! Hope you are all having a great weekend! Today we all have some hot pink nails to share with you - so many things you can do with a hot pink polish. :) I did some fan brush art. The 3 polishes I used are all very different to me, haha, but you can barely see the difference in the mani.


I used Spoiled Tip Your Waitress, China Glaze Glow With The Flow, and Julep Madison over Pure Ice SuperStar! (white). They blended together well with the fan brush to create a barbie pink mani that is fun for the first official weekend of Summer!


Make sure you take a look at all the other fabulous hot pink manis!

Sunday, May 22, 2016

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Music

Good afternoon! I am a little behind with this post because I was struggling for inspiration. I ended up just going through my nail polish rack of untried colors, trying to find my inspiration there, when I came across this beauty and was immediately inspired.


This is Bear Pawlish Poor Unfortunate Souls. Now you all know I love The Little Mermaid. As soon as I picked up this bottle and saw the title, I started singing the song to myself and realized it was perfect. I decided to paint some poor unfortunate souls on my nails! I used only 4 additional colors for this: Pure Ice Black Rage and Superstar!, Zoya Wednesday, and Sephora by OPI Caught With My Khakis Down.


I'm going to let you in on a little secret that only my hubby and a few of my closest friends know: I have a Disney playlist on Spotify and I blast that thing while I'm sitting in my nail nook painting my nails and sing along loudly. I even listen to it (with headphones) while I am working. It always cheers me up. :P


So there you have it, my music inspired nails. Make sure you check out what everyone else did for this prompt!

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Rainbow Honey April 2016 Mystery Bag

Hello! So it's about a month late, but here is a peek at what I received in the April Rainbow Honey mystery bag. :)


It came with two nailpolishes, La Marguerite Rose and Summer Peach Tea, a lip balm, Summer Peach Tea scented cooling gel, and Summer Peach Tea Scented Topcoat. I swatched both polishes, and the pink is a great pink, but boring in my book. It will make a great base for manis, though. Here is what La Marguerite Rose looks like. The formula is great. It went on super smooth, and this is two coats. It's a bright, barbie pink, with cool undertones.


Summer Peach Tea is a lovely orangey-peach jelly with holo gold and silver glitters all throughout. It's a lovely sparkly color - perfect for summer! This one went on nicely as well. I did three coats here to try to minimize the nail line, but if you paint it over another polish, you really just need one coat.


Thank you so much for taking the time to read and look at my blog today! I'll be back at the end of the week with the next prompt for 40 Great Nail Art Ideas!

Sunday, May 15, 2016

40 Great Nailart Ideas - Neon

Good evening! This week, our theme is neon, so I have a bright neon mani for you today! I started off with a white base for this ones, to make the colors brighter, and used a few colors from the China Glaze neon collection from last year.


I did an axtec pattern over top of stripes of neon using my striping polish from Orly called Jet Black, and my Sally Hansen nailart pen in Black. The colors I used for the background are China Glaze Glow With The Flow, DJ Blue My Mind, Red-y To Rave, and Violet-Vibes. I used Pure Ice SuperStar! underneath to make the colors pop.


Please make sure you visit the other people who posted their neon manis for this week's prompt! There are bound to be tons of ideas in there for some great summer nailart. :) Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, May 7, 2016

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Floral

Hi everyone! Today, I have some floral nailart for you as part of this week's nail art challenge. I decided to go with some stamping and dotting since I am struggling with time management lately. :P


I used Heather's Hues It's Witchcraft for my base. It's a really pretty purple with blue shimmer. I stamped using Mundo de Unas Yellow and Cici&Sisi plate 19, then added dots in the center of each flower using Zoya Kimber, and Pretty & Polished Aquaholic and Appletini.


Here is what It's Witchcraft looks like on it's own. It is quite thin and sheer, so I ended up doing 4 coats for this. I probably could have stopped at 3, but added another coat after I accidentally smushed a nail. :)


Thank you so much for looking at my blog today. Please make sure you check out what all the other ladies did for this week's prompt!

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

March 2016 Rainbow Honey Mystery Bag

You all know I am super behind, but I have lots of polishes I want to show off from the past couple of months. so this is the first of several. :)I always love my mystery bags from Rainbow Honey, and March was no exception.



I received two super cute little soaps, mimosa scented perfume, and a new cuticle balm. I really love both of these polishes so much, and they are both somewhat space-themed, which I always like! The first polish I have to show you is called Outer Space Dust. It is a topper, so I painted it over top of Pure Ice Black Rage. It really does end up looking like outer space on your nails - a galaxy manicure without all the work.


Here is a closeup of the polish in the bottle, so you can see all of the different glitters and shimmer inside.


Next, is Cosmic Microwave Sky. It's a pretty crazy name, for an even prettier polish. ;) It's a blue jelly with cool little iridescent squares and shimmer.


Here is a closeup of this polish in the bottle. There is so much dimension in this one!


Thank you so much for stopping by today. I will be back Friday with a new mani for the Nail Tarts' challenge.