Matchy Matchy Dotticure

Hello lovies!

Happy Friday to you all :)  For today's post I have a dotticure that I did about a week ago.  I had recently broken the corner off of my middle nail and had to do some serious filing (sad day).  To cheer myself up, I decided to paint my nails to match my purse.

I am obsessed with the design on this purse!  I stalked the Fossil store for months hoping for some good fortune (i.e. a sale haha).  I randomly found it marked down significantly at a Ross and snatched it up :D

Colors Used: Julep - Gunta, OPI - The "It" Color and Amazon... Amazoff,  Revlon - Bordeaux, Love & Beauty - Strawberry, Wet n' Wild - Club Havana, Rimmel - Steel Grey

I used a LOT of polishes for this mani.  My poor nail station looked like a storm hit it by the time I finished lol.

 This mani was super simple to create.  I used 2 coats of Gunta as my base and then went thru with a large dotting tool and randomly placed my dots.  I tried to do an even mix of overlapping and open space on each nail. 

It's at times like this (when I really love a design) that I hear Thor's voice in my head... "Another!".

Thankfully my nails tend to recover quickly from trauma (I know... I'm so dramatic lol), so they're back to a presentable length.  I'll have another edition of "Sunday's Are For Swatching" up this weekend :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

I'm Ready for Fall!

Hello lovelies!

I have a quick post for you this evening :)  I made the mistake of going in to Bath & Body Works today and they have all of there new Fall products on display... *sigh*... it was glorious.  So now I am desperately longing for the seasons to change.  I want cool air, changing leaves... I want to wear some boots! 

A big theme with their decor items is squirrels.  I don't know why, but squirrels.  I decided to do some cute acorns (inspired by Lacq Lustre)...

 Colors Used: Love & Beauty - Beige, Acrylic Paints, Mentality - Matte Top Coat

I'm still practicing with acrylic paints and while these didn't turn out as flawlessly as I would have liked, I do think they're pretty cute :P

 I started with my beige base and let it dry (I actually went to work and then when I got home, I continued my nail art-ing haha.  Anybody else ever do that?).  I then used a nail art brush and acrylic paints to paint the acorns.  Lastly, I applied a generous matte top coat (Mentality Polish Matte Topper which is my fave!)...

It's growing on me haha...

I hope you all have had a wonderful week!  I now must dash off...

Until next time!

Stef <3

Forrest at Twilight

Hello dolls!

So, I was sitting around yesterday trying to find some nailspiration and nothing was coming to mind.  I looked outside my window and the clouds were an array of purples, pinks and oranges.  I decided I would do a twilight gradient...

 Colors Used: Revlon Parfumerie - Wild Violets, Love & Beauty - Purple, China Glaze - Peonies & Park Ave, American Apparel - Manila, Black and White Acrylic Paint, Mentality - Matte Top Coat

This is one of those rare times where I'm wearing what I'm posting haha.  I can't stop staring at my hands!

I started with a white base of Sally Hansen White On, just one coat so that it would dry quickly.  I then layered my 4 polished on a make-up sponge and dabbed away.  After I cleaned up that whole mess, I painted some pine trees with black acrylic painy (my nerd of a husband said, "Oh! You painted confiers!").  I dotted the stars with some white acrylic paint.  I topped it all off with Mentality's Matte Top Coat and tada!

Makes me wanna go camping!

I think it's time for a nap, looking at these makes me sleepy.  It could also be the eucalyptus-mint candle that I've got burning haha...

Until next time!

Stef <3

Shine Bright Like a Diamond

 Hello dolls!

Today I decided to brighten things up with some neon!  I kept the polka dot ring finger from my last mani and opted for some free-handed nail art...

 Colors Used: China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy, Love & Beauty - Highlighter Glitter, Daisy Nail Lacquer - White Diamond, Rimmel - Black Satin, Sinful Colors Nail Art - Time Off

I started with 2 coats of Flip Flop Fantasy.  It's one of my favorite polishes in my collection; it's just neon coral loveliness!  A medium sized dotting tool was used for my polka dots...

For the diamond, I used a black striper (Sinful Colors) and just kind of eyeballed my design.  It was much simpler than I thought it would be!  Anybody interested in a tutorial?  The mani was sealed with Duri's Miracote Fast Dry Top Coat.

 

I'm pretty happy with the way thins turned out :)  Here's hoping my nail art mojo sticks around for a little while!

Until next time!

Stef <3

Guest Post at From Polish, with Love!

Hello dah-lings!

There is a guest post by yours truly up at From Polish, with Love!  My fellow blogger and new friend Dani graciously asked if I would be interested in doing a guest post for her and I decided it had to be all class...

Details on the colors/products used and how I achieved this look can be found in the post.  So... go... now... pretty please?  :P

Until next time!

Stef <3

Trending Now - Blue & Gold

Hey dolls!

Today's mani is a simple one.  I was debating on whether or not I should even share it.  But then I ran into 3 other girl's rocking similar mani's on Monday and I thought it was just too bizarre of a coincidence to pass up on lol...

 Colors Used: Kleancolor - Blueberry Drama, Julep - Felicity, Love & Beauty - Gold/Multi

Did I miss some sort of memo that stated blue and gold are in for the season??  Because it totally is!  I've been putting together blue and goldenrod outfits unintentionally for the past couple of weeks.  It's like my subconscious is tuned in to the trending gods or something (haha I kid).   I had 3 girls stop me at work on Monday and show me their blue/gold nails and I was blown away!

This is 2 coats of Blueberry Drama, with 3 coats of the gold glitter over Felicity on my ring finger.  I used my striping brush to freehand the stripes on my middle finger and then I top coated with Color Club Clear.  if you look closely you'll see how the blue bled thru the gold stripes.  I was not pleased...

I think blue polishes and I are going to be great friends this winter ;)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Neon Week - Rainbow Collab

Hello hello!

I'm getting this post in just under the wire haha.  Well, it's the end of my neon week and I'm going out with a bang :D  I participated in Nails Like Lace's Instagram Collab (#collablikerainbows2013) this weekend and naturally I had to make it neon...

 Colors Used: China Glaze - Rose Among Thorns, Celtic Sun and Blue Sparrow, Orly - Mayhem Mentality, Savina - Power Up, Love & Beauty - Purple

As always with neons, I started with a white base.  I then took my handy-dandy striper and started painting away.  There really was no rhyme or reason to my pattern, I just went for it...

The neon polishes I used were half jellies and half cremes.  I wasn't sure the mix was going to look alright, but yea...

This is probably one of my favorite mani's to date haha.

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend :)  I am off to bed now...

Until next time!

Stef <3

Like The Night Sky

Hello, darlings!

Quick post for you today :)  This mani was inspired by a sponging mani I did for my sister in-law and Nailasaurus' tutorial of her pastel galaxy nails (super cool!)...

Colors Used: Sally Hansen - Blue-Away, Love & Beauty - Bright Cobalt and Periwinkle, Daisy Nail Lacquer - White Diamond, China Glaze - Fairy Dust

My hubby told me that it looks like the night sky, hence the posts title.  A friend of mine told me that it made her think of Neverland which I also really loved :)

I started with 2 coats of Blue-Away and then sponged on Cobalt and Periwinkle.  I added one coat of Fairy Dust, followed Nailasaurus' instructions for star bursts and then topcoated.

Altho I feel like the star bursts could use some work, I really like the way this turned out :D

Has anyone tried out some new techniques recently?  I'm looking for a challenge ;)  I hope you all are having a fabulous week!

Until next time!

Stef <3

Step Into Summer - Ice Cream

Hello, hello my lovelies!

Quick post this evening.  I've been M.I.A. because it's been another busy week.  I swear this won't last forever lol.  Onto the mani!

I did another installment of the Step Into Summer Challenge...

 Colors Used: Love & Beauty - Pink Icing, Sinful Colors - Nirvana, Sally Hansen - Butter-fly Stroke and White On, Julep - Denver

It's ice cream!!  I looooove ice cream haha.  And drippy nails are always fun to do :)

 I started with 3 coats for Pink Icing as my base.  This polish is what I like to call an insta-jelly-sandwich.  Easy to apply and super cute without much effort at all.  On lazy days (or days when I'm limited on time), I reach for these kinds of polishes.  Anywhosy, I then applied the drips and sprinles with a combo of dotting tools and a striping brush.  I top coated and was done!

I'm wishing I had this kind of ice cream sundae in front of my face right now.  I'd annihilate it lol

Before I post the links to this challenge below, I thought I would let you all know about "Min Mani's for Talia Joy" happening tomorrow.  Talia was a beautiful 13 yr old girl who lost her battle with cancer this week.  She was a whiz with make-up/nails and in memory of her Nail Polish Wars is encouraging everyone to rock mint mani's tomorrow (Friday, July 19th).  I plan participating and showing the love, I hope you will too :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Tealquoise...?

Good morning, dolls!

It's the weekend!  Hallelujah!!  Haha it's just been one of those weeks I suppose.  I plan to do some therapy shopping with my girl, the fashionista, and I can't wait :D  Seeing as I need to start getting ready, let's get to the mani...

I saw a manicure recently where the girl used teal and turquoise as her pallete and absolutely fell inlove with it.  She did some flower stamping that was adorable, but I decided to take mine in a different direction...

 Colors Used: Color Club - Edie, Love & Beauty - Teal, Julep - Harper, Sally Hansen - White On

I'm really loving stripes right now and I'm finally getting my striping back into shape.  This means you will probably be seeing a lot of stripey nails up on the blog in the near future ;)

So, both my middle and ring fingers got teal polish to start.  This teal from L&B is actually pretty sheer and need 3 thin layer to build opaqueness.  Middle finger was topped with 2 thin coats of Harper, a super compacted opalescent glitter that makes me think of mermaid scales :) My thumb and pinky got 3 coats of Edie.  She's a little bit streaky but such a beauty!  Striping and polka dots were acheived with they're respective tools...

I only have 2 photos for you today because my camera decided to make my hands look like they were on fire.  They were so ridiculously red before editing and after fixing 2 photos, I was done lol.

I hope you all have an absolutely wonderful weekend filled with joy and fun :D

Until next time!

Stef <3

Step Into Summer - 3D

Hi there, lovlies!

I want to apologize for the infrequency of my posts.  Summer is the busiest time for me at work with summer camp.  By the time I get home, the last thing I want to do is paint my nails and post.  Usually I'll just pass out on the couch until my hubby comes and puts me to bed lol.  I have fallen really behind on my summer nail challenge because of it... Ooops!

Today I'm knocking out the "3D" mani...

 Colors Used: Love & Beauty - Strawberry (scented), Rimmel - Black Satin, Essie - Beyond Cozy

Originally I wanted to do a mani with fimo slices.  I have a ton of them, so the sky would be the limit.  But it was swim day at camp and I was afraid of them falling off in the pools and such.  This summer is ruining my life lol...

I opted for studs instead.  I picked these ones up over a month ago while perusing nail stuff at Claire's.  it came in a variety wheel that also includes micro beads, rhinestones and pearls.  Again, because of summer, I haven't gotten a chance to really play with them.

For application, I would topcoat 1 nail, apply the stud(s) and move on the the next nail.  I them applied a 2nd layer of topcoat once all of the studs had set, for extra security.

I think my thumb's my favorite haha :)

Here's hoping I can muster up the energy to do my nails again tonight...

Be sure to check out all of the awesome nail art in the links below.  You're bound to find something that suits your fancy :D

Until next time!

Stef <3

Happy 4th of July!!

Hello there, lovelies!

Happy Independence Day!!  With all of the issues America has, I must say that I'm very thankful for my country and what it has provided me.  I'm thankful for all those that came before me, who fought and died so that America could be free.  It's a pretty awesome thing :)  With that being said... onto the mani!

Last night's post was just an "Oh... I should probably do something with my nails for the 4th" kind of a thing.  After I posted them, I said to myself, "Self!  You can do better!!".  So I did...

 Colors Used: Sinful Colors - Ruby Ruby, Sally Hansen - White On, Love & Beauty - Cobalt, Spellbound Nails - Drink Me

I started with 2 coats of each color as my base (same polishes I used for my last mani).  I then used my striping tool to apply the designs on my thumb and ring-finger.

 I applied Drink Me, an awesome white glitter, to my middle finger and then topped my nails with OPI RapiDry...

Simple, bright and oh-so patriotic!  Leaps and bounds better than last years manicure (yikes!)...

Happy birthday Amurika :D

Until next time!

Stef <3

RW&B Brushstroke Frenchie

Good evening, dolls!

I have a quick post to share with you and then I have to dash off to the kitchen to prep food for tomorrow's 4th of July festivities :D

This mani was inspired by a post I read from Gnarly Gnails this week.  If you are unfamiliar with her blog, she's definitely worth checking out.  Not only do I think she's an awesome person, her nail art is off the chain!!   Anywhosy,  I felt like I'd been living under a rock when I saw her nails.  How had I never seen/though of this technique before??  While I don't think I mastered it (I was falling asleep while painting lol), I do like the way it turned out...

Colors Used: Sinful Colors - Ruby Ruby, Sally Hansen - White On, Love & Beauty - Cobalt, China Glaze - Fairy Dust

First and foremost... I've lost my ability to make clean french tips and that makes me sniffle :(  I know that I'm just out of practice, I need to get my groove back haha.

 

 I think my favorite part is that the tips look distressed, which I always find cool ;)

 I don't have much to add.  You can learn more about this technique and how it's done by checking out Gnarly Gnails' blog.

Until next time!

Stef <3

Band-Aid Mani... I've Got the Blues!

Happy Friday, dearies!

I don't know about y'all, but I was chomping at the bit waiting for work to be over.  Not that this weekend is going to be any less stressful than the past week has been (I'm surprised I haven't had a mental breakdown yet!).

Today's mani is the result of an accident that clumsy me had while using a pair of cuticle clippers.  let me start by saying I NEVER remove my live cuticles!  I only clip bits of dry skin that linger after exfoliating (question: are any of you intereted in a "this is how I prep before polishing" post?).  I was going about my usual routine and slipped in the clippers and... it's not pretty.  I've been wearing a band-aid all week to cover my gaping wound, and I haven't been polishing.  That is until last night when I decided I was tired of looking at my bare nails!

Colors Used: Sally Hansen - Blue-Away, Love & Beauty - Turquoise, China Glaze - Fairy Dust

His name is Martin and he feels my pain.  He understands the trauma that I am experiencing, having to settle for a sub-par manicure... *sigh*.  I know, I know... I could photograph my right hand instead, but those phalanges don't like to pose properly and just end up resembling an evil claw lol.

I plan on going tracking down some adorable bandages to liven up my mani's until I'm all healed haha.  It will be an interesting segment to say the least.  Anybody seen any cute band-aids lately??

Until next time!

Stef <3

A Neutral Skittle

Hello, dolls!

I have another subdued-ish manicure to share with you today.  "Two nude mani's in a row??!!", you say... I promise I'm not a pod person ;)  I've been doing so many bright/crazy mani's recently that I decided I needed a "palette cleanser"...

 Colors Used (L to R): Julep - Ginger, Love & Beauty - Beige, OPI - Goldeneye, Love & Beauty - Ginger, Love & Beauty Nude

Man oh man, I cannot wait to get my light tent!  I'm sooo incredible frustrated with how the lighting in these pics turned out... grrrr...

 Anywhosie, these are all 2 coaters except for Goldeneye.  3 cotas for that  one.  I had seen a mani on Pinterest that used different nudes and a glitter to create a skittle and I loved the idea.  I've tried to figure out who originally did the mani, but the pin leads nowhere and I can't really red the watermark :(  It's a great mani tho hahaha...

I will have my first installment of the May TPC up tomorrow.... that's all of the new news I've got for ya :P

Until next time!

Stef <3