Dots & Flowers That Glow!

Hello dolls!

Today's post features a mani I did a couple of weeks ago.  I'm trying to get used to using acrylic paints for nail art, but it's been a struggle haha.  I decided to work on my rose skills,,,

 Colors Used: Polish My Life - Birthday Suit, Serum No. 5 - Sky Lights, Acrylic Paints

So I started with my off-white base which was 2 coats.  I then applied 1 coat of Sky Lights, a glow-in-the-dark (GITD) topper.  I then went to work with my paints...

I'm actually really pleased with the way this design came out.  What I like most about scrylic paint is that it doesn't smudge once I've top coated :D

 

 The GITD polish is just amazing.  It literally charged in like 5 seconds to this unbelievably bright blue glow.  I'm in love! 

 I've just gotta keep on practicin' I guess!

I'm really fascinated by GITD polishes.  Serum No. 5 seems to carry the best ones that I've seen, but I'd definitely love to hear other recommendations :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Painting the Roses Red

Hello dolls!

I have a quick post for you this evening (I have to go start dinner for the hubs haha).  I bought a set of cheap acrylic paints at Wal-Mart last week in the hopes of advancing my nail art skills because I feel like it's time for me to challenge myself a little bit more.  I need to step out of my cutesy comfort zone ;)  So, I decided to try a floral design over french tips...

 Colors Used: Daisy Nail Lacquer - White Diamond, Orly - Beverly Hills Plum, Acrylic Paint

I started with a basic french tip (white tips, pink base).  I then took a thin nail art striper and painted black branches.  After the paint set I continued with that same thin striper and painted the green leaves; first with the darker green, then the light.

For the roses, I took out a detail brush and painted dark red blobs.  I tried my hand and definition with red orange and pink.  I top coated and was done.

Ta-da!

I think what I love most about acrylic paint is that it dries incredibly fast!  I can wait to continue my education in actual art hahaha :P  Oh and thank you all for the lovely comments on my bubble mani!  I haven't had a chance to reply but it seriously made my week.  Love to you all!!

Until next time!

Stef <3

Some Floral Inspiration!

Hello dolls!

Today's post is inspired by a blogger who fueled my obsession with nail art, Chalkboard Nails!  I have admired Sarah's work for a long, long time and I've had her "Hawaiian Floral" nail art pinned to my inspiration board for over a year.  I finally got the perfect polishes (in my opinion) to execute the look...

 Colors Used: Polish My Life - Birthday Suit, Drip Drop Nail Paint - Prototype #211, L'Oreal - Jolly Lolly

Original credit for this idea and design goes to Mr. Candiipants who inspired Sarah and thus inspired me :)  I really love the way this turned out!  

       I used a couple of awesome indie polishes in this mani.  The base is an ivory creme from            Polish My Life and it's amazing; 2 even coats of perfection.  The mustard jelly is actually a prototype from Drip Drop Nail Paint that I received when I purchased a grab bag on her site.  I call it Tampico because that's how it looks in the bottle haha.

 After applying my ivory base, I went thru with my jellies and blotted out some petals using the brush from the bottle.  I then took stripers in 2 different shades of green and brushed on some leaves.  Lastly I went back with my ivory polish and a small dotting tool to apply some dots to the center of my flowers.  I top coated and that's it!  It really is much easier than it looks, I promise ;)

Definitely a new favorite!

I'm trying to slowly make the transition from Spring to Summer with my manis.  The last couple of posts were pretty... bright lol.  I'm so close to just doing a neon overhaul!  Maybe it's time for me to resurrect "Neon Week"?

Until next time!

Stef <3

* This product was purchased by me for review.  I received no payment or other compensation for the review of this product.  The opinions stated here are completely my own.  The contents of this review are based on my direct experience with this product.

Everything's Coming Up Roses!

Hello dolls!

Today I have some water decals to share with you :)  I love using water decals when I'm strapped for time or failing miserably with me nail art.  Such was the case a few days ago when I did these hahaha...

 Colors Used: Spellbound Nails - Watermelon Seeds

I bought this set of decals from Daily Charme, an adorable indie brand that I've become quite smitten with!  This is their "Full Coverage Bright Pink Roses".

I paired it with Spellbound's Watermelon Seeds, the perfect creme pink with black glitters mixed in.  This polish is practically a one coater!  The dotted accents were just to pull everything together.  I recently am growing an appreciation for the color pink and I really like the way this mani turned out!

*le sigh*

In case you haven't heard, I am hosting a giveaway for my 2 year blogiversary!  Details can be found in this post.  With that being said, I bid you adieu...

Until next time!

Stef <3

* This product was purchased by me for review.  I received no payment or other compensation for the review of this product.  The opinions stated here are completely my own.  The contents of this review are based on my direct experience with this product.

Lilacs for Easter

Hello dearies!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!  I spent that day singing with friends and eating with family; all is well with the world ;)  I decided to forgo the eggs and bunnies this year and just do a simple scene of a lilac field...

 Colors: Mentality - Elizabeth, Sinful Colors Nail Art - Simple but Fun, Sally Hansen - Green with Envy, China Glaze - What a Pansy

I was inspired but an adorable mani I saw by @just1nail on IG.  I thought it was just the thing I was looking for!  I started with 2 coats of Mentality's Elizabeth, which actually is a stunning shimmery pale-pink that dies to a perfect matte finish.  It's one of my faves!

I then applied 2 shades of green with a striping brush for my grass.  Last, I added some purple dotting for my lilac flowers.  Really simple :)

*Sigh* I just love Spring manicures!

Today acutally marks 2 years of blogging for me (yippee!).  be sure to check back in a couple of hours for a "surprise" *hint hint*...

Until next time!

Stef <3

It Feels Like Spring!

Hello, hello!

It's been a week since my last posting... eep!  I actually decided to take time away from blogging and focus on my family and time with my husband.  It's important to prioritize from time to time right?  Lol, I've also been taking this down time to get my nails back into tip-top shape.  I'm currently rocking shorties, but the feel strong which is far far better than where they were a month ago!  All of this is the reason why I'm pulling some nail art from the vault...

 Colors Used: Revlon - Apricot Nectar (scented)

The weather in Southern California is so gorgeous right now (sorry to all my snow bunnies!) and I just thought this mani is a good reflection of how I'm feelin' ;)

 

 I started with 3 thin coats of Apricot Nectar.  this polish is from Revlon's new-ish line, Parfumerie.  Scented goodness!!  This polish (when dry) smells a lot like a creamy, fruity candy.  I really like it.  I had to use 3 coats because it is ever so streaky, but I didn't mind... it's gorgeous!  I then used some acrylic flowers and beads that I found at Sally's Beauty Supply.  Really simple and pretty :)

 *sigh*

I promise now that the holidays are over I will get back on a more regular posting schedule.  I've got lots of goodies to share with you :D

Until next time!

Stef <3

October Nail Art Society Box

Good morning, dolls!

Today I want to share a new-to-me subscription box that I've signed up for.  It's called Nail Art Society...

 

 Colors Used: Jessica - Black Matte, Love & Beauty - Purple, Zoya - Morgan, Orly - Mayhem Mentality

So, Nail Art Society is designed to send out all of the materials you need to create some pre-designed mani's.  It comes with an instructional card that includes a bio of the nail artist that created that month's design.  Pretty cool right?

My ring finger follows the design pattern for October, but I decided to do some sponging and stickering on my middle finger.  The sticker turned out to be super bumpy and obnoxious, so you only get 2 pic today lol.

 I really love the studs that came in the box.  The matte polish isn't my favorite (not flat enough for me :\).  My biggest issue is that I didn't receive my box until a week into November (even tho I ordered it on the 1st of Oct.).  This was after a SECOND payment got taken out of my account for the month of November.  2 payments and no boxes makes me a cranky lady. 

 I'm hoping to have a more positive experience with this in the future.  A lot of my fellow nail bloggers that I love are on their team of "Expert Nail Artists".

Do any of you receive NAS boxes?  How have your experiences been?

Until next time!

Stef <3

It Might As Well Be Spring

Hello loves!

I decided to do a floral mani a couple of weeks ago because, altho it's Fall, California has not gotten the memo.  It's a shame because this is my favorite time of the year :(  We have been in the mid 70's to high 80's ever since the season started so I figured to heck with it!  Let's do a Spring-time mani!

Colors Used: Julep - Nellie, Color Club - Gingerbread, Daisy Nail Lacquer - White Diamond

I'm not a huge fan of my free-handed flowers, so I decided to use some water decals I had lying around.  I paired it with a Julep polish that I'd received in the mail recently.

2 coats for each base color (technically 3 for my middle finger which had 1 coat of gold base and 2 coats of glitter).  I found the decals while digging thru a bin at my local nail supply store.  All in all a super simple mani!

I think I like it!

Is anybody else experiencing non-Fall weather?  It stinks lol.

Until next time!

Stef <3

It Might As Well Be Spring

Good evening, everybody!

I am so stinkin' tired but I really want to share this cute little mani with you :)  My friend Nini came over yesterday for a "class" in nail art flowers.  She is going on a cruise in june with her mom and sister and would like to be able to do something cute on their nails.  I showed her a couple of examples of some flowers and she shows the five-point-polka-dotty one (aka the hibiscus haha).  I did an example on my own nails and then I just kept going...

 Colors Used: Wet n Wild - Blazed, Sally Hansen - Mellow Yellow, China Glaze - Four Leaf Clover, Love & Beauty - Highlighter Glitter

 I think what I like most about this mani is that I unintentionally made it look like a Hawaiian shirt lol.

I don't really have anything else to expound on with this.  It was an unexpected mani that turned out well so I figured I would share :)  Now... I'm off to paint some St. Patricks Day nails!

Until next time!

Stef <3

Church Mani: Feeling Rosy

Happy Sunday everyone!

I have been absent because of illness, my apologies.  It was one of those weeks where I was sick and feeling unmotivated.  I didn't want to do anything but curl up under a blanket and veg in front of the TV *sigh*.  I did attempt a few mani's while I was on hiatus, tho I'm not really crazy about any of them lol.  I'll be sharing a couple with you this up coming week :)  Onto today's mani!

This mani was inspired by a fan nail of the day that I saw on Julep's blog page (by the by, they shared my Princess Jasmine inspired nails this past week on their Facebook page! *squeals*).  I loved the idea and thought it would be subtle enough for church.

 Colors Used: Julep - Lisa and Hoch, Revlon - Temptress and Tuscan Sun, Wet n Wild - French White Creme, China Glaze - Love Letters

What I like... I think it's cute and fun :)  I've been crazy about grey polishes from the get-go and Lisa is just creamy beautiful-ness (it's practically a one-coater, I'm just a bit of a perfectionist and prefer 2 coats haha)

What I don't like... I need to work on my roses.  They look like something a child would do, definitely not a look I'm striving for lol.  The stripimg is alright. And I don't know what those farbeedoo's are hanging off of my nail but they were driving me crazy!

Overall tho, I am pleased with the way it turned out :)

That's all I have for now.  The next post I'll have for you might qualify as my first "swatching" post.  I dunno... either way it should be interesting!

Until next time!

Stef <3

A Mani of Indecision...

Hello hello and happy Wednesday!  :D  I can't believe the week is already halfway over, yikes!!  With summer quickly approaching I feel that I should let you know... (don't freak out! lol)... I may not have time to post a new mani every day :\  Between working 35+ hours at the summer camp and rehearsing/preparing for auditions like a mad person I will have very very very little free time.  And I do plan on sleeping at some point as well hahaha.  So that may mean 3-4 mani's a week or a couple posts a week that double-up on pics... *sigh* I don't know.  I hope that you will bear with me, it's only for 10 weeks :)  Enough jibber-jabber, on to the mani!

Today's mani is the result of my sheer joy at being able to wear other colors besides pink again lol.  I had bought O.P.I - It Girl before I started Think Pink week and couldn't wait to wear it.  And then, on Friday when I got the Ginger scented polish at Forever 21, I was dying to rock it as well!  I just couldn't decide between the two so I wore them both :D

 Colors Used: O.P.I. - It Girl, Love & Beauty - Nude/Ginger Scented, Love & Beauty - Gold, NYC - High Line Green, Sally Hansen - Green With Envy, Sally Hansen - White On

All I can really Say about this mani is that I'm pleased as punch!  2 coats of each base color I used a dotting tool and striping brush for the flowers and then the gold glitter just kind of tied it all together :)

And last but certainly not least a pic of my nails with the lovely water bottle my honey bought for me (It has a built-in filter in the straw so that I can just fill it with tap water and go. I loves it!!)

I love this mani because it smelled amazing and looked really fun on my hands :)

That's all folks!  Soooooo....

Until next time!

Stef <3

Nail Mail and Rainy Day Mani with... Snails?

Happy Tuesday everybody :)  I have a fun little mani to share with you this morning!  But before we get to that, I wanna talk about mail...

Update:  The forecast now states that it's supposed to rain Wednesday and Thursday... the clouds are taking their time I guess!

Sometimes it's quick and sometimes it's irritatingly slow but, I love receiving things in the mail!  Especially if the mail delivery contains something for my nails haha.  It's like opening a wonderful present that I bought for myself ;)  So here's what I received yesterday afternoon...

 I ordered a new set of nail art brushes and some M.A.S.H tweezers from Amazon, on Friday.  I've just started playing with the brushes and  I'm very pleased.  The tweezers (which I purchased to go along with a thuper duper fun mani, and whose counterpart should be coming in this week) have already come in handy a few times.  I'm a happy lady :)

I also signed up to be a Julep Maven this past week and I these lovely polishes also came in the mail yesterday...

Boho Glam Intro Box Contents:  Meryl (gray creme), Blake (yellow creme) and Julep Facial For Hands Glycolic Hand Scrub.

I saw this in my mail box as I was on my way out the door to go to work.  I almost snatched it up to take with me because I was just so excited!  Instead I just took it in the house and sat around anxious at work, waiting until I could come back home to play :)  But then my quartet had a rehearsal at the house and then we went to dinner and needless to say the only thing I've played with so far is the scrub (which is fantastic!)  I will be using these in a mani at some point in the near future!

Ok, enough about mail / purchases.  Let's get down to the nitty gritty :D

The mani for today was inspired by a train of thought brought on by the weather forecast.  It's supposed to rain here in the Orange County area today and tomorrow and it got me thinking about snails.  Yea, that's right... snails!  I think that snails are adorably cute (Although I refuse to pick them up because they're slimy, I ask my honey to move them if they're in harms way.  I've got problems lol.)!!  I worry about them on rainy days and so I thought, "why not do a snail mani?".  Here it is...

I was pretty sleepy when I did these and it's not as neat and perfect as I would like it to be but... it'll do :P

That's all I've got for this post.  We've reached the end.  There is no more.  So very sorry and sad am I!  I'll be posting again soon, if not later today then probably tomorrow :)

Until next time!

Stef <3