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!

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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!

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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!

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52 Week Pick n Mix - TV

This week's prompt for the 52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge is TV. I decided to do a TV show that my husband and I have been re-watching on Netflix lately: Naruto! My husband and I are not necessarily anime fanatics, however we definitely do like a lot of the anime that's out there and this show is no exception. It's goofy and lighthearted for the most part, but there are some insanely sad episodes, too. I just love it when shows give me "the feels", so this one became a favorite of ours. I was super excited not to be limited by any particular color choice on this one so that I could get in some serious nail art. :)

I used Wet n Wild Tree Hugger for my base, then added my nine-tailed fox, the leaf ninja headband, and the Naruto logo using Zoya Arizona, Essie Meet Me At Sunset, Revlon First Class, Pure Ice Black Rage and SuperStar!, and Julep Dendrie.

 Here is what Wet n Wild Tree Hugger looks like on its own. It is a pale minty cream that paints on nice and smooth. I did two coats here.

Thank you so much for looking. Have a great Friday, and make sure you check out what everyone else did for this week's TV prompt!

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52 Week Pick n Mix - Pale Pink + Tweed

Gah! I'm a day late on this one. I have a vacation coming up in a week (starts Friday and I can't WAIT!). Anyway, I have so much to do in preparation for that, I have not had much time for nailart. I also had the worst time trying to figure out how to do tweed, and was looking through my stamps for a different prompt, and found this one which I thought would work. It's not my best nailart ever, but I'll take it for this prompt!

For my base, I used Crabtree & Evelyn Peony. I stamped using Konad Special White with Bundle Monster BM-706, then went back over top of it with the same stamp using Zoya Lo. It came out sort of like tweed. :P

Here is what Peony looks like on its own. It's actually a really nice and smooth cream polish. I did two coats here and topcoated with Out The Door. I got this polish from my husband's step mom (thanks Karen!).

Thank you so much for looking, as always make sure you check out what the other ladies did for this week's prompt!

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52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge - Tribal + Hot Pink

Good morning! Happy almost-Friday! :D For this week's tribal and hot pink manicure, I decided to do stamping decals. Since tribal prints tend to be very geometric and full of straight lines, I opted for stamping as my tremors make straight lines very nearly impossible. Lately I have been very shaky, so I didn't want to risk the frustration that it would inevitably cause haha. Anyway, I am super happy about this bright tribal mani and my decision to use a stamp. They turned out very well!

I started off with my hot pink base using Zoya Lola. It is a lovely bright pink with a blue shimmer. I used Bundle Monster BM-406 with Konad Special Black for the stamping, then colored in the image using a detail brush with Zoya Tallulah and Konad Special White.

For the first time EVER, I didn't smear my decals when I topcoated them. Yay! Here is what Lola looks like on it's own. She's super pretty. And so bright, my camera almost couldn't handle it! I did two coats here. It has a beautiful formula like most Zoyas. It's so smooth and dried rock hard, which I love in a nailpolish.

Make sure you check out everyone else's tribal/hot pink manicures for this week. There are bound to be some really excellent ones out there knowing these ladies! Thanks for visiting!

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52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge - Neon Tie Dye

Good morning everyone! I'm rushing off to work in a minute, but wanted to get this post up so that you can all see the neon glory. I decided to skip the "fugly" prompt because I have a hard time determining ugliness. I know that sounds weird, but I can think in my head something is ugly, however, I just can't create something ugly on purpose. It always ends up somehow not looking ugly to me anymore. That's a serious ego right there. Bahaha, but really, it's not ego at all. The perfectionist in me creeps out while I'm painting and before I know it, my work doesn't look half bad. I can't make it stop lol.

For this mani, I am combining prompts for two different challenges. I am doing my first week of The Stamping Plate Challenge as well here since the prompt for that is "over a neon base". I love it when challenge prompts align! ;)

I used 6 colors from the China Glaze Electric Nights collection in this manicure. They are Glow With The Flow, Red-y To Rave, Daisy Know My Name?, Treble Maker, DJ Blue My Mind, and Violet-Vibes. I painted the tie dye pattern over a plain white base using small strokes in a spiral pattern. I did one color at a time so that I could paint them on top of eachother to try to achieve the look of colors bleeding together.

After that, I stamped over it using an image from CICI&SISI plate 23 and Konad Special White.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. Make sure you take a peak at what everyone else did for this week's prompts!

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52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge - Tape Mani + Green

Happy Monday! Well, it is for me anyway, I'm on my last day of a four day weekend, so I have to make this day count. My husband and I celebrated our 13 year wedding anniversary yesterday (can you believe it?! I feel soooo old!), and we are making today count too! We're off to brunch in a little bit, and then we are going to cuddle and watch movies the rest of the day, oh and then we are going to the beach for a walk at sunset - that is one of my favorite things to do. I needed the relaxation - I was getting very stressed out at work. Anyway, I have a new mani for you today that I am pretty stoked on. It is one of my better tape manis, in my opinion - ha!

I used all Rainbow Honey polishes for this one (mostly because I was swatching them, and decided this was the perfect green for my base. I'll have the swatches for you by the end of this week. Anyway, the base is Calama, the paler green is Stolen Dance, and the gold is Cuprum Veritas. I used striping tape to make my initial 'V' using Stolen Dance, then once it was dry, I used striping tape to make my thin gold outline as well.

Thank you so much for checking out my post today! I appreciate it very much and love all of you to bits for every view and comment! Please make sure you share the love with my fellow bloggers and take a peek at what they did for this week's challenge, too!

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52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge - Stripes + Pastel

Happy Monday! I'm back to work after a much too short weekend, but I did this girly mani over the weekend for the 52 Week Pick n Mix! I opted to use a newer polish I picked up recently that has a pastel pink crelly base and is loaded with multi-colored glitters. It's one of the more interesting mainstream polishes I have ever seen.

I did three coats here with no undies. It is actually a pretty nice polish and I'm really glad that I found it. :) Check out this macro - it's pretty cool, right?!

I added the stripes using Konad Special White polish and BM-423. It's nothing too crazy, but it looked fun and I liked wearing it while I had it on.

Here is a closeup of my ring finger, so that you can see the fun glitters peaking through the lines. I love stamping over glitters. It always looks do good!

Thank you so much for checking out my blog today! Make sure you take a peek at what everyone else did for this week's prompt!

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52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge - Aqua + Splatter

I'm back this evening with some splatter nail art! I was a bit nervous to try this again, as my last splatter adventure did not go that great. This time, though, I was the queen of the splatter. I owned that straw and made it do my bidding, like the queen that I am! lol

I am so in love with how this came out. I used Wet n Wild Break The Ice for my base, then used the  straw technique to splatter on Zoya Zuza, Julep Donna, and Finger Paints Dragon Lady. Just like that. Haha ok, so it wasn't completely a piece of cake. But, I perfected my straw-blowing technique and it came out quite good.

Here is what Break The Ice looks like on it's own. Warning, it took me 4 coats to get to this opacity. It is extremely thin. It is probably better suited for wearing as a topper, but whatevs. :)

Thank you so much for looking today! I hope you all have a great remainder of the week. I'll be back on Friday!

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52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge - Skittles + Red and Pink

Happy Friday everyone! I am so ready for the weekend, oh my goodness. For this week's challenge, I combined the prompts again. As much as I would love to post every day, it is just not happening for me, so here I am only posting 2-3 times a week. Oh well, it could be worse I suppose. Since I didn't want my mani to look to Valentine's Day-esque, I decided to throw some black in there too. It gave me a reason to play with a glitter I haven't used yet, too!

I started off with Nicole by OPI Be Ama-Zing! for my base. On my pinky, I added two coats of Maybelline Color Show At Heart. It is various sizes and shapes of red and black glitters. The red polish I used, is from the same set: Nicole by OPI Challenge Red-y. I used striping tape for the designs on my middle and ring fingers and the stamp I used on my thumb is from Bundle Monster plate BM-412. I stamped in red, then used Pure Ice Black Rage to dot on little accents. I feel like I haven't quite mastered the skittle. I always feel like mine look awkward...haha.

Here is what Nicole by OPI Be Ama-Zing! looks like on it's own. It's a lovely pink cream with blue undertones, and is very opaque. This is two coats, plus a coat of Seche Vite.

Thank you so much for looking, and have a safe and happy 4th of July! I'll be back Sunday with something new to show off. :)

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52 Week Pick n Mix - Scales + Navy

Good morning and happy hump day! We are already halfway through the work-week, ladies and gents! Yay! Work has been an absolute nightmare for me lately, so nailart is a welcome escape. I'm also back on the whole low carb diet kick again as it seems to be the only thing that works, so I am in need of lots of distraction. This means that I gave myself a nice long time to work on this, and I'm super pleased with how they came out.

I decided to do some stamping decals for this mani, and was stoked that the idea I had in mind actually worked in practice. I just love it when that happens! I started off with a base of The New Black's Navy (it has no name that I can find). This navy is fabulously opaque. I only used one coat - there is a swatch at the bottom of this post. After that, I created a stamp decal using Mash-39 and Julep Harley. Then I painstakingly filled in *almost* every scale using alternating colors in a random pattern. I left some unfilled so that my navy base could show through.

I chose polishes that would all allow my navy base to show through, so I used mostly topper-type polishes (glitters, shimmers, iridescent polishes, etc.). This included Julep Brooke, Fresh Paint Dragon Lady, Butter London Petrol, China Glaze Take a Trek, Wet n Wild Stick it to the Man, and Finger Paints In the Monet.

Here is what The New Black's Navy looks like on it's own. The few bubbles are from my topcoat and not the polish. I guess no amount of Seche Restore can bring this poor baby back. I had to send it to it's polish grave. :(

Thank you so much for stopping by! Here's hoping your weekends all come quickly!

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