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

A Christmas Eve Inspiration!

Hello my loves!

I can't believe Christmas Eve is finally here... hallelujah!!  This has been by far the busiest season for singing I have ever had and my nails have definitely suffered for it :(  I mentioned last week that I broke a nail on my picture hand and am now down to nubs *sigh*.  It's so hard to be inspired to do nail art when my fingers look and feel like stubs lol.  So I've been occupying myself with other things... like building a new work/nail station (!!!!), but that is for another post ;)  This post is about the ladies who inspired a mani that makes my hands feel pretty again lol...

 Colors Used: Sinful Colors Nail Art - Time Off, Spellbound Nails - Pishsalver (Drink Me)

I was perusing thru my Instagram feed the other day and saw this fabulous mani by @hillarykozuch where she combined black tips with white glitter.  I loved it!  She mentioned in a comment that she was inspired by Cajon De Los Esmaltes and I thought, "Oh, how nice!".  I then went about my merry way...

Last night while racking my brain trying to think of a quick and simple Christmas-y mani I got frustrated and went to Google.  Lo and behold Ms. Cajon's mani popped up!  It was fated that I try this look and I'm so very glad I did.  My nubbies look presentable lol.

Thanks for the inspiration ladies!

I hope you all have a very lovely day!  I'll be back later with some... "shimmer" ;)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Naughty Nails?

Good morning, dolls!

It's been a crazy couple of days for me (and from the sounds of it, it's only going to get crazier)!  It's the reason i have been unable to post... or do my nails... *sigh*.  So , I'm pulling one out of the vault for you today :)

 Colors Used: Sinful Colors - Whipped and Nirvana, OPI - Goldeneye

This is a really basic mani that I ended up loving a lot.  I'm not a huge fan of animal prints in general, but I've made the exception for nail arting because it's pretty cool lol.  This mix of print and "leather" does feel a bit wild/risque to me ;)

I started with Whipped, which is from the SC Leather Luxe collection.  It is my favorite black matte polish... ever.  Loves it so much!  Anywhosy, there's 2 coats of Whipped applied.  For my ring finger, I did 3 coats of Goldeneye over a gold base.  i then used my dotting tool and striping brush to create my print.  The gold stud was an after-thought and it was applied with a dab of nail glue :)

Rawr!

I hope all is well and I'm sending out virtual hugs :D

Until next time!

Stef <3

A Speckled Half-Moon Mani

Good morning, lovies!

I've pulled another one out of the vault today :)  This is a mani I did for my first concert of the season.  I usually balck out my nails for concerts to go with the "concert black theme"  This time I decided to do something a little different (frankly my director couldn't care less what I have on my nails lol)...

 Colors Used:  Icing - Delicously Scrumptious, Sinful Colors - Whipped, Orly - Dazzle

I started with 2 coats of Scrumptious and top coated.  Once it was completely dry, I taped off my nail, leaving only the "moons" exposed...

I then applied 1 coat of Whipped.  I thought the design looked a little incomplete so I decided to free-hand the stripes of Dazzle.  In hind sight I should have taped and painted Dazzle and then taped again for Whipped.  Oh well!  Haha ;)

I really like this look.  I'll definitely be re-creating it in the future :)

So I'm being a little bit sneaky with these vault photos.  Yes, I need to clear out some of my designs and I love sharing them with you.  But it's also providing my the opportunity to grow out my nubs a bit and get them back to the length and shape that I love.  'Cause this just ain't cuttin' it!

Until next time!

Stef <3

Candy Corn Spooks

Good morning, dolls!

I told myself that I should calm down with the Halloween manis for a little bit.  You know, maybe pull some regular nail art from out of my picture vault?  Yea, no.  That didn't happen lol.  Last night I thought to myself, "Candy corn!".  But it's nail art that has been done... a lot.  heck, I did it last year.  So then I figured I could incorporate those colors without actually doing cany corn.  Right?  Right!

 Colors Used: Color Club - Almost Famous, Daisy Nail Lacquer - White Diamond, Rimmel - Black Satin, China Glaze - Toe-tally Textured, Sinful Colors Nail Art - Time Off

I started with my base colors.  3 coats of Almost Famous. 2 coats White Diamond, 2 coats of Black Satin and 2 coatts of Toe-tally Textured (which I bought on clearance specifically so I could use it for Halloween lol).

 

I used the water decals that I received/reviewed for KKCenterHK and placed my ghosts on my ring finger.  Then I took the Sinful Colors striperand added some stitching to my middle finger.  I threw on some top coat and that's all she wrote ;)

Boo!

The most challenging part of this nail art was finding a good yellow to use.  They are notoriously streaky, which is sad because yellow is one of my all time favorite colors.  Almost Famous is a really great yellow polish, but still... it requires 3 thinnish coats before the streaks are covered *sigh*.  Do you have any yellow recommendations?  I'm on the hunt!  Hahaha...

Until next time!

Stef <3

KKCenterHK Halloween Decals

Hello, dearies!

Today I have another Halloween mani to share with you.  I used some water decals that I received from KKCenterHK...

 Colors Used: Sinful Colors - Hazard, Julep - Evie and Trina

I started by sponging on a sunset gradient and then I went to work and the spooky design.

Did you know that there is a difference between water decals and nail tattoos?  I had no clue! Unlike the temporary tattoos that many of us played with as kids, these decals are not sticky on the front, a bit of a surprise for me lol. 

 You wet the back of the paper with water  and rhe decal will slide off.  It's very thin and tears easily, so I recommend using tweezers.  Again, since it's not sticky it is easy to adjust the decals in just the right place.  Once I had the houses and witch in place, I used a black striper polish to free-hand/fill-out the remaining fence and ground area.  I then top coated with Color Club Clear (my current fave).

I really love the way this one turned out!

Name: N.NAIL Halloween Witch/Haunted House/Bat/Broomstick/Ghost

Item #:  NNAIL-WDHHK188

Quantity: 1 Sheet

Cost: $6.39 USD

       

These decals, and others like them, can be found at KKCenterHK's online store! 

I'm really getting into the Halloween spirit this year!  What are some things you lovelies are doing to celebrate Halloween?

Until next time!

Stef <3

* This product was provided to 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.

I Scream, You Scream...

Hello, dearies!

I was going to wait until Monday to start sharing some of the scary/spooky/kooky nail art that I've been working, but I did one last night that I'm just itching to post!  I think I mentioned recently that I'm still struggling with stamping.  It's embarrassing at this point.  Yes, I am a nail artist that can't stamp very well :(  With that being said, I dusted off my nail plates last night to see if there was anything spooky to inspire me and I found...

 Colors Used: kiloX Lacquers - KILO, Sinful Colors - Ruby Ruby, Konad - White

The Scream Mask!  I must confess, I've never seen the movie.  I was a tween when it came out and was always too scared to watch it.  The mask is iconic tho and I immediately knew I had to try it (I used stamping plate SH02)

I'm all excited, finally ready to get this stamping thing right and somehow I managed to stamp the mask crookedly.  I was furious!  I refused to call it a wash tho, so I free-handed the line of his hood to give it some dimension and I thought, "Hmm... that's not half bad...".  I decided to add a little bit of drippy blood and then topped it all with Color Club Clear.   I just want to add, I didn't do this over my previous swatch of KILO lol.  I just decided I wanted to rock it again because it's such and awesome polish!

Yay Halloween!

Have any of you started getting into the spooky spirit yet?  Are you planning a fantastically ghoulish party??  I'm particularly excited for Halloween this year :D

Until next time!

Stef <3

Blue... You've Stolen My Heart!

 Hiya lovelies!

I've got a quick post for you today.  It features a skittle mani that I did using my new fave polish color, blue :D

 Colors Used:  Sinful Colors- Midnight Blue, Orly - Dazzle, Sephora by OPI - Meet Me At The Disco, Kleancolor - Pastel teal, Sally Hansen - Laughie Taffy

You see, what had happened was... I needed an excuse to try out my newest SH Sugar Coat (Laughie Taffy).  I just love textured polishes and I'm trying my best to get one in each color of the rainbow lol.  Well, one thing led to another and I got a little carried away ;)  The cross-stitch is a new technique for me.  I haven't quite mastered it yet by I definitely plan to!  Haha...

Happy Monday!

I took time this weekend to just hang out with my hubby but I haven't forgotten about the Eiffel Tower tut.  I'll work on it tonight when I get home and have it up for you soon :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

SAFS: Mulberry Street & Whipped

Hey dolls!


I've been battling a stomach bug this week and it's left me a little drained.  So this post is going to be short and sweet haha.  Anywhosy, it's that time...

 First up is the "normy"...

 NYC - Mulberry Street

A shimmery champagne polish that  I've had in my collection for quite a while.  It is very sheer, so to speed up the opacity process, I started with 1 coat of a nude polish base and then applied 2 coats of Mulberry Street :)

Retail: $1.99

And now for the good stuff...

 Sinful Colors - Whipped

Whipped is a new polish from SC Leather Luxe collection.  I picked up 3 bottles while out doing domestic shopping this weekend.  I needed a pick me up haha

I'm really loving this polish.  I know a lot of ladies are thinking, "What's the big deal??  Black polishes exist and so do matte toppers."  I was in that same club right along with you.  But this baby is a one coater!  A ONE COATER!!  Which means my nails don't look bulgy/bulbous from mulitple coats of polish.  It also dries incredibly fast.  Overall, this polish is a winner :D

Gah!  I love it!!

Retail: $1.99

Alright ladies, I'm off to do more domestic shtuff haha.

Until next time!

Stef <3

"Hazard"-ous Leopard

Good morning, lovelies!

I want to start by saying hello and welcome to my new followers :)  Yesterday afternoon, while I was at work,  OPI discovered my little blip on the interwebs via Instagram.  Not only was I surprised, I was overwhelmed by the overall response. 100 new followers in an hours time... holy canolli!  So thank you all for making my day!

Today's post is a kind of "palette cleanser" for me.  I needed something clean an simple...

 Colors Used:Sinful Colors - Hazard, Daisy Nail Lacquer - White Diamond, Rimmel - Black Satin

It's been a long time since I've done a leopard print mani.  I know a lot of people feel like it's over done. And while I'm not a huge fan of animal print, I occasionally like to dabble in the wild ;)  This is 2 coats of Hazard.  I used a medium sized dotting tool for the white splotches and my striping brush to create the black "c's".

I think I like it!  Hahaha :)

How do you  feel about animal print mani's?  It is time for them to go?

Until next time!

Stef <3

Let's Go Angels! (again...)

Hello, hello!

It is that time of the year again, when we take the summer camp kiddos to an Angel's game :)  Let me preface by saying I'm really not a fan of baseball.  Never have been.  But growing up in Orange County, my father took me to games all of the time.  I never root for any other team so I guess that makes me a "fan".  But seriously... baseball bores me to tears.

  Colors Used: Sinful Colors - Ruby Ruby, Daisy Nail Lacquer - White Diamond, Sally Hansen - Butter-fly Stroke, Julep - Mystery Blue, America and Fireworks

I decided to go old school with the Angel's "A".  The team has always had some sort of "A" as their logo and when I stumbled upon this image online, I knew I had to do it.  Yes, in answer to your question, it was a pain in the buttocks to do.  That's why my right hand got white polka dots instead lol...

I swear my middle finger nail is a navy blue (very navy).  I recieved it in a Julep Mystery Box last year and it did not have a name.  I just call it Mystery Blue.  I also used both of their 4th of July glitters in this mani.  Fireworks is on my index finger while America is on my thumb and pinky.  This mani is leaps and bounds better than last year's (yikes!).

See the smudgey on my "A"?  Stupid topcoat...

From what I hear, the team isn't doing do hot this season.  I'm sure we'll still have a good time tho *crosses fingers*.  Do any of you have a love for baseball?  Any particular team you root for?

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