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!

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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!

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!

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40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Pastels

Happy Friday! Today, we are all channeling the approaching springtime weather and sporting pastels on our nails. I decided to actually wear some wintry pastels since it is still snowing here. I'm just not ready for florals yet haha. I have this pretty new (to me) polish I picked up around Christmas time from Potion Polish called Snow Day. The maker actually stopped making polish, but you can still purchase what is left of her stock while it lasts. There are some real beauties in the shop, too.

I added some extra zest to this mani by watermarbling over top using clear polish and Julep Margaret. It reminds me of a windy wintry day, which we have had plenty of this year (even though this has probably been our mildest winter ever!).

Snow Day is a beautiful crisp white crelly with blue metallic flakies, blue shimmer, holographic micro glitter, and small pale blue square and hex glitters. It went on in three coats to get full opacity. I don't usually like having to do 3 coats, but for this type of polish (crelly with glitter), I prefer it because you can build up depth with multiple layers of glitters peeping through!

Thank you so much for reading today. I hope you all have a beautiful weekend! Make sure you check out all of the other pastel manis today!

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40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Aqua or Turquoise

Happy Friday! I have a new post today for our Nail Tarts weekly challenge. The prompt this week is aqua or turquoise. I have been getting really into yoga lately, so I thought it would be cute to do a yoga manicure for this one! I bought some Bundle Monster plates a while back with a bunch of yoga images, so I decided to bust them out and play around.

The polishes I used for this manicure were Essie Where's My Chauffeur?, Julep Lissa, and Salon Perfect Blue Raspberry. I started off with the lightest polish for my base, and then painted a stripe in each color down either side. After that, I used a dotting tool to drag the polishes together and create this effect.

The stamping plates used were BM-XL174, and BM-XL175. I used Konad Special White for the stamping.

Thank you so much for looking! Make sure you check out all the other pretty aqua and turquoise manis!

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40 Great Nail Art Ideas - New Year

Hello everyone. When I think of a New Year's mani, I pretty much think of anything with glitter haha. So, I busted out some of my new polishes (yay for Christmas!), and played around until I got this.

To be honest, I just had the idea in my head and went for it, so it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. BUT, there is glitter (lots) and holo, so I am happy. :) I used Bear Pawlish Curiosity for my base. Oh my goodness I am so in love with this polish. It has everything I love - purple, glitter, holo...um well that's it really. :P And that is all it needs! It has so much more depth in person, but my camera just couldn't handle it. It always struggles with purples. The striping is done using Julep Harley mixed with Bear Pawlish The Gift 2015. I wanted my silver to be holo, but don't actually own a silver holo. You can bet that went on my wishlist!!! The circular glitter "balls" are OPI's I Snow You Love Me. This is such a weird polish to me...but it has it's uses. ;)

Here is what Curiosity looks like on it's own. I feel like my photograph doesn't do it justice. It looks more blue in some lights and almost red in other lights because of the shifty glitters packed inside. My camera went with more blue haha.It's a purple jelly jam-packed with so many purple, fuchsia, and holo glitters. It is crazy sparkly - perfect for New Year's Eve!

Thank you so much for stopping by to read my blog today! Make sure you take a look at what everyone else did for this prompt!

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40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Winter

I decided to focus on wintry colors for this mani instead of snowflakes since I just did a snowflake manicure last week. So, I made some decals using CICI&SISI plate 23, and I really love the way they came out.

I started off with Butter London Scouse for my base. It is a lovely blue shimmer that shifts purple. My camera didn't capture the purple, but I promise you, it is there. :) I made my decals using Mundo de Unas Holland Blue, and filled in the little flower/star in the center using Julep Kris. I added Pretty & Polished The Sky Is Falling to the diamond around the center.

Here is what Scouse looks like on its own. It is quite thin, so this is about 3-4 thin coats with 1 coat of Out The Door topcoat.

Make sure you check out every one's winter manicures!

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November 2015 Julep It Girl Box

Hello! So, I took forever to get these swatches up, but I have the November 2015 It Girl box up on my blog finally. I really have not been in the blogging mood lately. I paint my nails, and even take the pics, but then they just sit on my camera for weeks. Whoopsie. Anyway, I have 4 swatches for you from this box.

I did not swatch the shimmer topcoat because I didn't have a chance to wear it on it's own, AND I had a really bad break with a sloppy patch, so sheer polish is NOT happening right now. :)

First up, we have Sonia. This is a metallic blue that dries to a matte finish. It is super opaque, and went on in just one coat. This is without topcoat.

Next, we have Rashida. This one is the same formula as Sonia, but is a soft bronze color. It went on in one smooth coat, and this swatch is with no topcoat.

Next, is Kris. This is a gorgeous shimmery silver. It looks almost flaky, and I struggle to describe it. It has tiny holographic shimmers in it that were really hard to capture. Basically, it's sparkle-central. I did two coats here.

Last, we have Melody. Melody is a glitter topcoat. You have to shake it to get the glitters to even out in the base. This was apparently done on purpose, but it really wasn't anything special to me. It contains tiny holographic glitters, silver shimmer, and multi-colored iridescent glitter. I painted it over white, to show the color variations.

That is all I have today. I will be back Saturday with some wintery nail art for you!

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Geeks

Happy Friday! Today is the 3rd day of the 40 Great Nail Art Ideas Challenge. The theme is geeks, and I am so super thrilled with how my mani came out for this one. As most of you probably already know, I am a giant video game nerd. :D I decided to do a mani for a game that I spent the better part of the year playing in my free time - Dragon Age Inquisition. I decided to use the cover image for my inspiration.

For this mani, I used Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet for my base, then used the follow colors for all of the detail work:

• Sephora by OPI Caught With My Khakis Down
• Julep Francis, Roc Solid, and Shelly
•  Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow
• Pure Ice SuperStar!

I played through this game twice, once in normal mode, then again on hard. Then, my husband bought me the expansion, so I played even more! Haha. Currently, I am playing Elder Scrolls Online, so if any of my fellow nail nerds is also a video game geek who plays too, we should totally play together! ;)

Anyway, even if you don't give a hoot about video games, this is still a pretty sweet dragon, so I'm sure we can all appreciate that! I'm so excited to see what everyone else does for this challenge. Make sure you all check out what they do. There are bound to be a ton of really great manis out there!

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Purple & Gold Stamping

Hi everyone. I did a quick stamping mani for Stamping Saturday. I got some new plates from Bundle Monster recently, so I thought I play a bit with some of the images. I used Butter London Stroppy for my base - my husband picked it out. :) Then, I stamped over top using Julep Sienna and BM-XL174.

It came out pretty nice, although I struggled a bit with my placement. Oh well, I'm putting one of those clear jelly stampers on my Christmas list. Hopefully Santa brings it. ;)

This is what Butter London Stroppy looks like on its own. It's a lovely bright, shimmery purple. I did two coats here and a coat of Out The Door topcoat.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Make sure you check out what everyone else did for their Stamping Saturday manis!

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40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Teal

I'm back this week for the next rendition of 40 Great Nail Art Ideas. This week's theme is teal, so I wanted to show off an idea that is pretty easy to execute for a cool looking teal manicure. I've done this one before, but this time I mixed up the colors. Here is my teal splatter mani!

I used the technique found here. I started off with Julep Donna as my base, which is a deep teal cream. Then, I used the splatter technique to add Sally Hansen Kiwi Bikini, Hello Kitty Minty, and Wet n Wild Black Creme. I kept adding layers until I liked it, and then added topcoat. Easy!

Here is what Donna looks like by herself. This one is a really nice formula and went on in two coats.

Make sure you check out what everyone else did for this week's teal manicures! Thanks for looking!

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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. :)