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

Almost Presentable Ombre

Helloooooo dahlings!

I didn't schedule a post today because life has been eventful.  I have some down time before work, so I thought I'd share a mani I did last week that's... well, it's alright.  It was really late when I did it and the cleanup was horrible :\  I do like the colors tho...

 Colors Used: Sally Hansen - White On, Love&Beauty - Light Green, Wet n Wild  - Nerd Alert Screech

Soooo yea... I used a makeup sponger to get a smother blend of colors.  I need more practice lol.  I know perfection is pretty much impossible to obtain, but it is something that I strive for.

I guess that's all for now hahaha...

Until next time!

Stef <3

Inspired by Nature

Yellow!

Today's mani is another installment in the Hobby Polish Bloggers challenge.  I wanted to keep it springy but I didn't want to do "May Flowers" so I busted out my fimo canes and this is what I came up with...

 Colors Used: Wet n Wild - Club Havana

Just the one polish used as my base,  I secured the butterflies with a goodly amount of clear polish and I applied the white design with acrylic paint.

I don't know why my camera likes to photograph corals as more orangey than they are in real life.  it's a little bit frustrating.  But I do like the way this mani turned out :)

I've got 2 more manis to do for this challenge and only about a week to do it... eek!  i need to step up my game lol.

Until next time!

Stef <3

Velvety Flowers For Epilepsy Awareness

Good morning, lovelies!

I have another purple mani for Epilepsy Awareness that I would like to share with you :)  On Monday I posted my purple bunting nails that were inspired by a segment Nail Narcotics is doing on her blog to spread the word about epilepsy.  I was so thrilles to get involved!  I thought I would do one more mani to show my support...

 Color Used: Wet n Wild - Fashionista Lisa

I started with 3 coats of Lisa (for full opacity) and then topped it with NYC's Matte Me Crazy topcoat. 

 While the matte polish was still wet I pressed in my dried flowers.  They feel surprisingly secure on my nails, altho I doubt I'll have them on long enough to really find out lol.

I love the velvety  look of this!  And you can never go wrong with dried flowers ;)  I realized after taking the pictures that I missed a couple of spots during clean-up.  Oh well!

If you haven't had a chance, check out Nail Narcotics' blog!  The purple manicures being posted are wonderful and the information invaluable :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Late Night Halloween Nails :D

Good afternoon all :)

In case you missed yesterdays post, I am having another giveaway!  You should go check it out.  And while you're at it, you should go tell a friend ;)

Today's mani was done a couple of nights ago when I couldn't sleep.  My new husband and I are having a very tough time sleeping in the same bed together, he moves around a lot and I like to sprawl out lol.  Needless to say, I've been reluctant to climb into bed :\  So I busted out my polishes and kep myself occupied for an hour haha...

 Colors Used (L to R): Confetti - Lonesome Dove, Revlon - Posh, Wet n Wild - Nerd Alert Screech, O.P.I. - Just Tea-Sing!, Wet n Wild - Straight A Jesse, Sally Hansen - Mellow Yellow, Sally Hansen - White On, Rimmel - Black Satin

Phew!  So many colors!

The Frankenstein and mummy were inspired by pics I saw when I Googled Halloween nail art images.  There were A Lot of them...

Sooo... it's 20 day's 'til Halloween and this may be a little premature, but I think I've outdone myself and I had to post it lol.

I suppose that's all for now :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Getting Into The Spirit :)

Good morning, all :)

After yesterday's post, I decided to get back into the swing of things with a simple Halloween themed mani.  I think it's a good start...

 Colors Used: Wet n Wild - Straight A Jesse, Maybelline Color Show Shredded - Carbon Frost, China Glaze - Fairy Dust

This is the first crackle polish that I've used that I've really been able to get big cracks from... I like it!  in general, I'm not a big fan of crackle polishes.  They're a little to edgy/grungyfor my taste.  I put the Fairy Dust on as an after thought to jazz the mani up a bit.  I think it turned out pretty decently :)

Now, this is post #99.  Which means the next post will have... a GIVEAWAY!!  Yayayayayayayyy!!!  I can't wait to share it with you :D  

Until next time!

Stef <3

Oh Mylanta! I Have Time To Write A Post!!

I finally have a little me time to myself and I'm so excited!  Granted I was unwillingly awoken this morning by pet raucous... *sigh*.  I'll take what I can get! lol...

I have so many mani's I want to create and a few that I've done that I want to share with you.  A lot of my work recently has been lacking in quality, tho.  I think I may be a little out of practice :\  I'm sure I'll bounce back soon enough, right?

Well, for today I'll share a mani I did a couple of weeks ago.  I was inspired by a dress I saw in the baby department at target...

 Colors Used: Wet n Wild  - Nerd Alert Screech, Wet n Wild - Pom Pom Kelly, 

 Wet n Wild - Mellow Yellow, China Glaze - Fairy Dust

 Now let me clarify by saying that this design is in no way, shape or form like the cute little baby dress that I saw... it's just the color scheme that I really fell for.  I was in the mood for a frenchie, but when I finished I thought it looked a bit plain.  I added the Fairy Dust as an after thought and that made it pop.  It's a really hard glitter to capture tho :\

 We all know that pink is NOT one of my favorite colors (do we remember "Think Pink" week? hahaha), but I think the green compliments it well :)

And the final pic... (you can see the fairy dust much better in this one)

One more month of craziness to go.  And then we'll have moved into our new place and we'll be married (37 days!!!).  I'll try to find more time for nails as well... promise!  :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

It Started With An iPod...

Hello, hello, hello!!

I know I've been gone for-ever-and-a-day and I am so very sorry!  Work, rehearsals, singing, wedding planning... I haven't had much of a life for the past 2 weeks, it stinks :\

My poor nails have been neglected and I have been completely uninspired *sniff*.  I was looking through photos on my phone and found a pic of an ipod case I had seen a couple of weeks previously.  It was a very color/fun pattern but simple at the same time, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  Here's a pic of the case...

And here are the pics :)

 Colors: Wet n Wild - Chick Magnet Zack, Wet n Wild - I Need A Refresh-Mint, Sinful Colors - Dream On, O.P.I. - The "It" Color

So there you have it!  It may be a little lack-luster after my brief absence.  I just need to get back into the swing of things.

The next few of weeks are going to be a little hairy.  We are moving in to our first apartment together and we are finally tying the knot :D  My stress level is through the roof with all of the planning *sigh*.  But I should be back to my normail blogging schedule just in time for Fall/Halloween mani's... Yay!

Until next time!

Stef <3

Pretty, Pretty Peacock!

Hello all!  Happy Wednesday and all that good stuff :)

Today's mani is one that I've thought about and planned out for a while.  I have an entire color wheel full of peacock mistakes lol.  I've looked at plenty of pictures, both mani's and actual feathers, and this is my peacock interpretation... (be warned, there are a lot of pics lol)

 I used quite a few colors in this mani, so rather than listing them, I took a picture of them and it will be included at the end of this post :)

 When I was originally thinking this one out, I had planned on doing feathers on every nail.  It seemed a little chaotic when I actually sat and looked at all my feather attempts on the wheel.  So it became an accent nail :)

I layered the dots using 3 different sized dotting tips.

 

 I know I said I was going to cool it on the polka dots but.... I just couldn't help myself!  I think it's exactly what the mani needed ;)

These are all of the colors I used (L to R): Sally Hansen - Golden-I, Wet n Wild - Chick Magnet Zack, Essie - Mojito Madness, Pixel - Pixel Dust, China Glaze - Blue Sparrow (Neon), 

Sinful Colors - Midnight Blue, Love & Beauty - Purple

And the big one...

I'm pretty proud of this mani :)

Things coming up:

• Vote for a tutorial! - I've decided that I'll post some pics of past mani's that seem to be popular and then had you all vote on which one you would like to have a tutorial on.  Maybe the top 3?  What do you think?  Any feedback would be awesome :)
•  100th Post Giveaway! -  This marks post #85, so it's coming up pretty fast.  More details to come soon!
• Another nail haul! - I've been a polish buying fiend recently lol.  I have some more polishes to share and my Julep Maven box for august should be coming soon, woot!  I'll be sharing that as well :)

That's all for now.  I hope you have a marvelous day!

Until next time!

Stef <3

A Short & Sweet Sponging Technique

'Ollo, friends!  My post for today is coming a little later than usual and I apologize.  I got home really late last night from rehearsal and I over slept this morning as a result.  I was going to skip blogging altogether today but I felt compelled by the nail gods to do something new lol.

We've been having gloomy/drizzly weather here for a few days and it's really been dampening my inspiration for nail art.  So I decided to run with it and try a gloomy/drizzly sponging technique...

Colors Used: Julep - Meryl, O.P.I. - Skull & Glossbones, Wet-n-Wild - French White Creme

This mani is pretty simple and fun to do.  With a makeup sponge I layered the colors on my nail, cleaned it up with some acetone and a brush and then I applied 1 coat of SV.  Since the paint was sponged on pretty thin, this mani dried incredibly fast!  I am pleased with the results :)

I hope you all have a lovely day and I can't wait for tomorrows post (eeeeeee!!  :D)

Until next time!

Stef <3 

Let's Play with Some Clay!

Hey there!  It's a beautiful day today and I have a fun mani to share with you,  woohoo!

I recently ordered some fimo canes / clay sticks in the mail and they came in this week.  I didn't metion them or show photos because the packaging was a mess and there was an item missing from my order (I'm a little irritated haha).  But even with the mishaps, I couldn't wait to start playing...

Colors Used:  China Glaze - Love Letters, Wet n' Wild Blazed

This is a pretty girly mani for me to be rockin' but I really like the way it turned out :D  CG's Love Letters is one of my go-to's in my polish collection, it makes my nail beds look healthy and pink w/o looking like I'm trying too hard.  I think it's a beautiful polish!  I also really love coral for this season.  Not orange and not quite pink, it's a great "girl" color for me.

For those who are unfamiliar with fimo sticks, they look like this...

I ordered a pack of 100 pcs (on Amazon) and they ended up sending me 150.  It was a nice surprise but I really want the glass nail files I ordered lol.  This is a small grouping I grabbed at random.

With an exacto blade / knife, you cut thin slices off of the "cane" and apply it to your nails with nail glue.  I've already done four nail art ideas on my color wheel using these sticks, I suspect you'll be seeing a lot of them on my manis in the near future ;)  What do you think?  Have you used these before?  How do they work for you??

Please feel free to leave a comment with any questions (or love <3) you want to send my way!

Until next time!

Stef <3

"It is not slime, it is mucus!"

Happy Friday everyone!  The weekend (for all intensive purposes) is here and I am glad, glad, glad!!

I understand that princess week was last week?  I don't know how I missed that, but it's been bugging me!  So I decided to do a princess mani to make me feel a little bit better lol.  I tossed around a lot of ideas as to which princess to choose (Aurora is my fave, but I hate pink... Alice doesn't really count... etc.), what to do design-wise and which colors to choose.  I decided to go with Tiana :)  She is an incredibly fierce princess and I haven't really seen a lot of nail art for her.  Here 'tis...

 w/o flash...

w/ flash...

 For the colors used I'm going to list them in rainbow order (yellow, blue, green, blue, pink, purple black, white and grey).  Color's Used: Confetti - They Call Me Mellow Yellow, Sally Hansen - Green with Envy, NYC - High Line Green, Love & Beauty - Teal, Confetti - Bayou Blue, E.L.F. - Flirty Fuchsia, Sinful Colors - Dream On, Confetti - Black Tie, Wet n' Wild - French White Creme, O.P.I. - Skull & Glossbones, NYC - Mulberry Street and China Glaze - Fairy Dust.

As you can see, starting at the thumb, I did Mardi Gras beads, a crown, Tiana's dress, a frog and a firefly. I think I covered the basics lol. I really had fun with this mani and I think they're pretty cute :)

I had said in a previous post that I'd have some guest nails to show buuuuuut... so far, the girlies have asked for cupcakes... and cupcakes... and... cupcakes!  I guess I'll just have to do some more mani's on myself.  Drat ;)  Have a safe weekend ladies...

Until next time!

Stef <3