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!

An InLinkz Link-up

Barielle ProSina Signature Collection Review & Swatches

 *PR Sample

I am back from my long absence. I have had a whirlwind of events happening in my life recently, but I am trying to get myself back to some kind of normalcy. So, today I have for you two new polishes from Barielle's new ProSina Signature Collection. I had to read up on this to understand what it does, and basically ProSina is a patented type of keratin that can strengthen, condition, and protect your nails. I had to take it off after only a couple days, and I use so many other methods to do all of the same things, so I can't really say whether it works or not, but I'm always willing to give these things a try.The colors were certainly very nice, and the formula was excellent, so they are great polishes in my book.


This first polish is called Ready To Party. It is a dark pink polish that went on in two smooth coats. It dried so shiny, I didn't even need topcoat, so I loved that. I feel like so many of these 5 Free polishes have such a fabulous formulas, I don't know why every company doesn't just go 5 Free! I'm sure it's because of money or something, haha, but either way, I love these polishes. They are perfect.

The other polish I received is called Princess Pink. It contains small and medium metallic hex shaped glitter. I painted it right over Ready To Party in a gradient style. I did the first coat just about 3/4 of the way down the nail, and then added a second coat over just the top 1/3 or so. These two colors look great together. The formula was the same on this one. Perfect.

Here is what the whole thing looks like with matte topcoat. I always love using matte topcoat over top of metallic glitters. Shiny topcoat always reflects back too much light when combined with the metallic glitter. With matte topcoat, you can see the color better. The polishes have actually already released and you can find them here if you are interested.

Thank you so much for reading today. I'll try to get caught up with all of the posts missed during my absence, and I'm super glad that you came back to read even after I've been gone for so long (I know it's only 3 weeks, but that's a lot for me). :) I appreciate you!

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Halloween

For this week's prompt the Crumpet's Nail Tarts are all do Halloween manis! I saw a mani a while back on instagram from @nailsbycambria that I really wanted to try to recreate, so I did. Her nail art had yellow and green eyes, but I wanted red because that seems scarier to me, so I went with an orange and red combination using Barielle Joytini and Revlon Fearless. The rest of the mani was done using Pure Ice Black Rage. Take a look at how it came out!




Here is what the mani looked like before I sponged on my gradient and drew in the eyes. :)

Thank you so much for looking. Make sure you check out what everyone else did for their Halloween manicures!

An InLinkz Link-up

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!

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!

Kawaii Kitty Nailart Tutorial

Hello! I received a lot of love for my kawaii kitty nailart I entered into the Barielle nail art contest. I totally got runner up which is HUGE for me, so thanks to everyone who voted. You are all awesome and I love your faces! :) Anyway, I had received a few requests for a tutorial and I actually photographed the whole process intending to share a tutorial, but these photos took forever for me to edit into a collage. I kept having to put it off in favor of more new nail art posts. But finally, the time has come, and it is here. Take a look.

Ok, so step 1 is easy: paint a big circle toward the tip of your nail on your middle finger (if your nails are shorter, it will be almost centered, but be sure to leave room for those cute giant ears!

Step 2: Add two triangles for the ears - I try to make them "rounded" triangles to look more like cat ears

Step 3: paint a small rectangle below for the kitty's neck

Step 4: Add small rectangles on the index and ring fingers on the edges closest to the kitty's face

Step 5: With a dotting tool, place two dots next to eachother, directly opposite the edge of your rectangle. Then, place a dot on either side, connecting to the kitty's arms...or technically legs.

Step 6: Fill in the empty space between the toes with the same colored polish

Step 7: With black polish and a detail brush, paint a U shape, then draw a line across the top of the U to form the mouth

Step 8: To draw the eyes, draw two Vs, with their opening facing away from the mouth. Then add two straight lines directly between the mouth and sides of the face on both sides. These are the kitty's whiskers.

Step 9: Grab a pale pink polish, and using your smallest dotting tool, make a dot within each "toe" on both of the kitty's paws. Using a larger dotting tool, place one pink dot in the center of each paw to create the pad. Then, use a brush to to paint two pink lines under the eyes, and add a small dab of pink withing the mouth for the tongue.

Step 10: I left this out, but with the polish used for the main parts of the kitty, add a squiggly line to your nail on your little finger for his tail. You will also need to use your black polish to fill in the kitty's mouth. Topcoat those nails, and you are done!

Here is what the final product will look like. Play with color, and please share your manis with me on social media if you try out this tutorial!

Kawaii Kitty Nails for Barielle's Nailart Contest

Good evening! It's late, but I have to share with you these cute kitty nails I did tonight for a contest being held by Barielle. I took tutorial photos too, but don't have enough time to edit all of those now, so I'm just posting the mani itself, plus a swatch of the base color I used. Check this out!

Eeep! I can hardly stand my own handiwork! Seriously, every time I look at these I can't help but burst into a gigglefit over the ridiculousness/cuteness of this nailart. If you like these, I woudl be forever greatful if you VOTE for them over at the contest site!

I started off with Barielle Soul-er Powered for my base. The purple polish used for the cat is Barielle Welcome Ohm, and the pink polish is Barielle Gel-ous Lover. I used a Pure Ice Black Rage for all of the black accents.

This is what Soul-er Powered looks like on it's own. It is a shimmery, golden yellow polish and has a great formula. This is 2 coats shown below.

Thank you so much for looking. I'll edit this tomorrow night with a tutorial, and then I'll be back Friday with a new post!

52 Week Callenge - Swirls + 3 Shades of Red/Orange

Oh my goodness, another Monday. I just want a break already! :D You know, for like 6 months, haha! Ah well, today, I have a water marble for you. I haven't done one in a while, so I decided to give it a whirl again, and this one came out about as good as any other I have done. It kept drying to quickly in the water (probably because of the air conditioning), and I got bubbles as usual. BUT, I like it anyway. :)

I used Revlon Fearless, The New Black orange (it has no name that I can find, and came in their rainbow collection), and Barielle Joytini to create this water marble. I painted my nails white using Pure Ice Superstar! first to make the colors brighter. I don't have much else to say about this mani, haha. I'm a little disappointed in my inability to create nice watermarbles, but I feel like it was partly the air blowing too much and possibly a bad choice of polishes. I weeded out a bunch that didn't spread well, but these ones were drying so fast. I'm not sure if it was the A/C or the polish itself. Oh well.

In my next post, you will see my coworkers nails instead of mine. I did her nails on lunch break and they seriously came out SO awesome. Make sure you check out what everyone else did for this week's prompt, and have a great week!

An InLinkz Link-up

Dragon Skin Manicure with MoYou Pro XL 05

Hi everyone! Today, I have for you another manicure using my MoYou London Pro XL 05 plate. I was having a rough time finding another image on here that I hadn't used before and actually wanted to try. I am not a fan of animal prints, but I am a fan of dragons, and other magical creatures, so I decided to call this reptile look "dragon skin". ;)

I started off with a base of Julep Kendra, then sponged on a shimmery green, Barielle Positive Zen-ergy. After that, I stamped the print over top using Julep Savoy, which is a metallic gold polish.

Here is what Julep Kendra looks like by itself. This is two coats. The formula is nice, and it painted on smooth and dried shiny.

Thank  you so much for looking, and I will be back in a couple days with another mani. :)

Butterfly Manicure for Spring

Good morning! The theme this week in our stamping group is Spring, and, although I know the good weather is right around the corner, the persistent cold around here has been keeping me down. Well, this mani may have just pulled me right out of it because it makes me happy just to look at it! I did some simple stamping in green and then created some butterfly stamping decals to place over top. I really love how these came out!

I started off with two coats of Julep Francis, then stamped this vine pattern using Bundle Monster plate BM-406 and NYC High Line Green. Here is what it looked like before I added my butterflies.

After that, I created decals using PUEEN39 (and removed all of the flowers). I colored in each butterfly using Sally Hansen Purple Craze, Barielle Joytini, and Wet n Wild Dream Poppy. I added white to the back of each one to make the colors brighter. Once they were dry, I placed them on each nail at different angles, then added topcoat.

Hooray for Spring! I'm so excited to finally feel WARM again! Here is a quick swatch of Julep Francis all by itself. I'm slowly working my way through a lot of my untried colors, but it is taking a while. :)

Thank you so much for stopping by to read! Please make sure you take a peek at what everyone else did for their spring manis!

An InLinkz Link-up

52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge - Stained Glass + Pink and Orange

I am combining prompts again this week with a pop art style stained glass manicure that has pink and orange, and bunch of other pretty bright colors in it. I have been desperate for bright colors lately because I am just itching for Spring to finally get here. It is so gray and dreary I just can't stand it! We have had some sunny weather, so I know it's not too far away. I just want to be WARM again! :) So anyway, I created this pop art stained glass manicure using PUEEN36.

I made decals with the image using Konad Special Black, then colored in all of the spaces with Nicole by OPI Be Ama-zing!, OPI Do You Have This Color In Stockholm?, Julep Donna & Francis, Barielle Joytini, and Zoya Pippa.

These took a pretty long time, but most of it was waiting, so you know I was multitasking. I have three stampers now, so I was able to create 3 decals at once, and while I waited for those to dry, I painted my nails white so the colors would pop, then went about cleaning, doing laundry, and whatnot around the house. I went back to them several hours later, applied them, trimmed the edges, and added topcoat. Then, I created my last two decals. I let them dry overnight, and put them on in the morning before work. ;) Oh, and then I had to be REALLY careful all day not to chip them so that I could photograph them when I got home. This is the life of a nail art blogger who has a day job. I think I need to just buy two more stampers so that I can do a whole and of decals at once! ;)

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope you liked my pop art stained glass manicure! Please make sure you check out what everyone else did for this week's prompts.

An InLinkz Link-up

Grandma's Christmas Sweatshirts

The prompt for this week in my stamping group on facebook is Sweater Weather. Since I have no plates that have any cool sweater-y patterns, I decided to do sweatshirts instead. You know those themed embroidered sweatshirts that grandmas and teachers wear? I thought it would be fun to make a cute decal that looks like something that would go on one of those sweatshirts.

I hope you all like my mani for this week. I'm feeling so festive! This is Julep Leah and the bells were painted with Barielle Soul-er Powered and O.P.I. An Affair In Red Square, and the outline was Konad Special Black polish.

Here is what Julep Leah looks like on its own. It is a lovely opaque green with slight shimmer.

Thank you so much for looking. Let's see what the other girls came up with!

An InLinkz Link-up

52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge - 70's

Hello! For this week's challenge, I used some scrapbook paper that I had lying around as my inspiration. It is just brown paper with dots, so I thought it would be an easy manicure. It turned out that it was easy, but it was a bit time consuming because I had to keep waiting for the polish to dry as I added layers of dots. I didn't wait long enough for most of them, because I'm a busy gal, but you really can't tell too much. :P

I started off this manicure with a brown polish from Revlon's Moon Candy Universe nail polish set. After that, I added my dotting using Wet n Wild Wet Cement, Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, Barielle Joytini, Julep Francis, and Pure Ice SuperStar! with various sizes of dotting tools.

Thank you so much for looking. Make sure you look at what everyone else came up with for this week's manicures.

An InLinkz Link-up

52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge - 3 Color Gradient + Pink

Goodness I love gradients! They are just always so pretty! Today I have a purple, pink, and yellow gradient to show off to fulfill both prompts in one manicure. I used COS BAR's no-name purple polish from their Target exclusive two years ago, L.A. Colors Magnetic Force, and Barielle Soul-er Powered. They look even more beautiful together than I imagined. :) After that, I added some stamping using MoYou London's The Pro plate 13 for the hummingbird and flower images with Konad Special Black polish.

Here is the gradient all on it's own. At first, I didn't want to stamp over it, it was so pretty, but I'm happy to say that the stamping only improved upon it. ;)

Here is L.A. Colors Magnetic Force all by itself. It is a coral-leaning, shimmery pink that went on in just two coats.

That's all I have for you today! Later this week I will have some freehand nail art for you if I don't muck it up. Wish me luck!

Here is what everyone else did!

An InLinkz Link-up