Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Color Club "Fashion Addict"

So I have heard about Color Club's "Fashion Addict" and I was very excited to find it in my local Harmon store the other day. Well I have to say I LOVE it!!!!! I don't want to ever stop looking at it! It is so mesmerizing! (I know there are a lot of !!!'s, but this color deserves them all!) So here are my pictures and honestly if you can find it in a store near you then run and grab it because it is amazing!


I used the flash for this photo to really show the rainbow sparkle, but without the direct light it looks much more subtle as seen in the pictures below.



So the moral of the story is that this polish gives any sparkle addict a much appreciated fix and yet it doesn't scream "I am a twelve year old who loves glitter and unicorns!".

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Water Marbling

So water marbling is something that I have been really interested in trying for a while, but I always thought it seemed a bit involved and never had time to try it. This past weekend it snowed so I had the chance to try it. I am glad I never tried it when I didn't have a ton of time because it is really involved. First, it was a little too cold where I was working so every time I tried to drop the polish onto the surface of the water it would immediately harden before I had a chance to add more color or dip my fingers in. So after a couple of attempts I did actually get the hang of it a bit. I won't post any instructions here because there are a million and a half instructional videos and whatever already on the internet. I will reiterate that the water temp matters! I had to use fairly warm water because the air temp was so cold so it really does matter and I suppose it will vary depending on where you are working. Anyways, I decided to use a base coat of Orly's "Wandering Vine", which is one of my favorite green polishes with drops of Sally Hansen "Green with Envy", Borghese "Mezzanotte Blue", and New York Color "Big Money Frost". Bottom line is that it was not an easy technique and it was very messy since my fingers were coated in nail polish all the way up past my first knuckles, but it is super cool to look at in the end. So drum roll please....here is the pic!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Some dots! :)

Here are just a couple of pictures where I used my dotting tool to create different patterns. 



Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Past polish adventures

So here are some of my past nail pictures. 

Here I used a matte teal from sinful colors "Rise and Shine". I love the color, but as with most matte polish it wore off of the tips very quickly.
I decided to put a clear top coat on the next time and of course it was no longer matte, but I really enjoyed this bright summery color.


In these pictures I was testing out the OPI silver crackle polish over a light blue. The pictures could have turned out better, but you get the idea.

 Many of you may have seen the new Gel Perfect kits in stores and this was my attempt at using the "Moonstone" color. It was definitely not the easiest thing to use and be sure to only use it in a well ventilated space since it smells like you are painting your nails with Krazy Glue. I also decided to go more for doing it quickly than neatly, which made it somewhat difficult to clean up. Removal and clean up were not that awful since I used pure acetone polish remover, but if you don't have your own remover they also sell special remover specific for this polish. It did last me for about 5 days before I got bored of the color and with only one tiny chip that could have been due to my application. Overall if you have the patience to do it yourself and don't mind sticking with one color this kit was good.
In this picture I used Kiss Nail Artist Stencil Kit. I decided to use Sally Hansen's Dorien Grey as a base then I used the silver sparkle polish that came with the stencils for all but my thumb nail. For the thumb I wanted something that would stand out a bit more so I used Orly Hype. I was a somewhat disappointed because when I used my Orly Sec N Dry quick dry topcoat it smeared the pink flower a bit. Other than that this was a cute way to add some design to my nails, but the stencils did rip after a couple of uses so it wasn't fool proof. 
I loved this color so much, but unfortunately, I was really disappointed by it. I used N.Y.C. Quick Dry Color in Canal Street. I loved the bronze shimmer in the medium brown base, but within a day it was chipped beyond recognition! I was so disappointed since I really loved the color and wanted to show it off, but I couldn't stand the idea of showing it to anyone in the condition it was in.
This might be one of my absolute favorite combinations ever. I used Orly Wandering Vine for the base and then I used Essence Colour & Go in Choose Me on top. The end result was a glass flecked deep green that I just couldn't get enough of! I loved the way it caught the light even in darker conditions. I might have to do this combination again and take better pictures to really show it off. 

So these are just a few examples of my earlier experiments in nail polish. Later I will post some of my more interesting experiments. In the meantime enjoy these! :-)

Welcome!

Welcome...all? I know there are numerous nail blogs out there and I don't expect this one to compete, but this is just my way of contributing. First, a little bit about myself. I am a 24 year old woman working as a nanny for an 11 month old little girl. This little girl takes long naps each day leaving me with a bit too much free time on my hands. I also work long hours starting early in the morning so I tend to stay in and relax most nights during the week. All of this leaves me with the need to fill my time and being more the artistic type I have turned to nail polish. I have a 16 quart tub filled with a myriad of different colors and types of polish. I also have my own set of dotting tools and recently I have acquired a stamper, which I am still getting the hang of.

So, here I go beginning this new attempt to create something by putting my designs out there in the world for whoever happens to stumble across this blog. Enjoy your day everyone and I will be putting pictures up as soon as I figure this whole template thing out. :-)