33 Day Challenge: The Animal that turned Abstract

This post ends up combining days 14 and 15. This is because so far, I am not very good at stamping. I can pretty much only successfully do zebra print. But when I did it, it only got on the center of my nail and looked almost the same as my tape mani. I kept trying. I even tried to do cheetah print, but it didn't work. So I gave up.
I used a Kiss zebra print nail sticker on my middle finger. I had been wanting to use Julep Cleopatra as a base for stamping but since it's probably a limited edition color, I didn't want to keep wasting polish.

But I had to go to the doctor and my nails were such an epic mess that I'm not even going to post what happened.
      

So I followed a tutorial and I ended up with my nails accidentally looking like Van Gogh's Starry Night.

The duochrome I used  on my pointer and pinky is a custom made by Emily from Carpe Noctem Cosmetics. I was thinking about Prince's movie Purple Rain. I will reveal the name of the polish later LOL.

On my middle finger is Carribean Crush by Lilypad Lacquer over black, and Azure Dreams. I used Gargantuan Green Grape Matte by OPI to make the dots and more Carribean Crush for the swirls. On my ring finger, I did the same except Azure Dreams and Carribean Crush are flipped.

I have been trying to forever get a duochrome that goes from a dark purple to sky blue, and I guess that is really hard to do. I don't really know how color shifts work because I have never tried to make polish.

I'm really impressed with how this turned out. I think this is one of the best polishes I've gotten yet from Emily and I think it is really cool how the tip of my ring finger with Azure Dreams is so close to the blue that shows up in the bottle of her polish!

When I ended up doing the swirls, they blended into my tips a little. I like how it looks on my middle finger but on the ring, not so much. . . So no, my polish didn't chip, but I wanted to show the duochrome awesomeness from another angle!

Here is one more.. unfortunately from this angle you can see ow my topcoat dragged a little bit on my ring finger. my middle finger again looks so much better!

Under the jump I will reveal the name of my custom, since it might be NSFW. I also have links to the other lovely, talented ladies' abstract manis. :)

33 Day Challenge Day 12- Based on a Pattern in your Home

I have gotten really behind on the 33 day challenge!

This is a mani I did last week, which is based on a pattern in my home. I found some stuff to make posters with and I used a blue one and a white one with hibiscus flowers on it.

I used Kiss Nail Stickers for the flowers.
From pointer to pinky the polishes I used were: Mentality Gumdrop, Enchanted Ice Castle over Revlon Royal, on he middle finger sort of a gradient with Lilypad Lacquer Once upon a Lime and Clover all Over with some Ozotic 902 over Revlon Royal, and Gumdrop on the pointer and thumb.

Here are the other lovely and talented ladies who participated in this challenge:

Literary Lacquers Review, Part 2

Disclaimer: These polishes were sent to me for an honest review.

Today I have 2 more beautiful Literary Lacquers polishes to review!

Also, both of these polishes are both purple. Purple is the color for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so please check out this link for the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

The first mani mainly features Marilla's Amethyst Brooch. It is from the Green Gables collection. It is a beautiful lavender with pink shimmer. The shimmer changes to an orange flash in the sun, but it has been raining and snowing here the past few days so I didn't get to photograph it that way.

I have Mina from the Dracula collection on my accent nail which is a beautiful dark purple glitter. (Note: I used Glitter-a-peel by Nail Pattern Boldness underneath as a basecoat, so that is why there is so much space around my cuticles.)

Unfortunately, I also broke my middle fingernail. I tried to file my pointer fingernail down so it wouldn't look so much drastically longer.

There may be minor tip wear in these images, since I was trying to figure out what to do about the broken nail. Aside from that, this polish wore well for days!

This is a full mani with Mina from the Dracula collection.

Here is a closeup so you can see the lovely, different colored sparkles in Mina.

Here is Amy's Etsy shop. Her 20% off anniversary discount code YAY1YEAR is still active, so take advantage of it while you can!

Liebster Award Nomination!

I was nominated for a Liebster Award by Nemo Nails!

The rules are:
Link back to the blogger who nominated you
Answer the 11 questions given to you by the blogger who nominated you
Nominate 11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers
Go to the blogs you nominated and notify them of your nomination
Give your nominees 11 questions to answer.

My questions were:
1. What's your favorite kind of manicure to make/wear?
I almost always do either alternating colors or skittles manis, because I'm indecisive.
2. When do you like to fit nail art into your schedule?
I'm a night person.
3. We all know that funky nails can draw the eyes of random passers-by. What's your favorite story of a stranger reacting to your nail art?
I don't really have one in particular, but when I have a duo or multichrome on I get asked what color my nails are a lot. When crackles first came out and were really popular, once someone said "That must have taken forever!" and thought that I actually did all the little lines by hand!
4. What other hobbies/interests do you have, other than nail art?
I like reading, drawing (I designed 2 of my 3 tattoos), singing, and gaming (both computer and XBOX).
5. How much time do you typically dedicate to nail art, and how often?
Usually I do my nails at least 2 or 3 times a week. Before I discovered good topcoats, especially if I was working in an office, my nails would chip a lot and so it gave me a chance to start all over. If I was trying something like water marbling, I would definitely say at least an hour at a time.
6. What nail art tool do you use the most?
I really didn't have many fancy tools besides brushes for glitter powder, and I used the little toothpick ends of handheld dental flossers for my water marbling LOL. I hope to change that now.
7. What inspired you to get into nail art?
I have always liked it, since I was a little kid. When I first started going to Sally's I always gravitated toward colors that people thought were "weird", like blue and purple (but now everyone wears them!) I also always wanted to experiment with glitter and things like that.
I remember once in middle school I had used a polish with bar glitter in it, and someone asked me "What is on your nails" and didn't believe it was actually polish, but now it's such a common thing!
8. What is your favorite nail blog to follow?
Gnarly Nails, Potions in Motion, and Fashion Polish Sorry, I couldn't pick just one!
9. Which design (of your own) are you most proud of?
I really like the way my rainbow tribal design turned out. I did get the idea from a tutorial, but it wasn't identical.
Also, this is the first successful sponge gradient I did, and I was really happy about this Mickey Mouse polish I got with the stars and moons in it. I called this my "Fantasia mani."

10. Besides nail art, what else would you like to blog about?
I have a blog where I talk about my life in general. I also was more into making graphics
11. And for fun, if you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
Invisibility- it would be fun to sneak around places, and I could also find things out.

The questions I want to ask are (I might borrow some from above! Sorry, but they are good questions!)
1. How did you come up with the name for your blog?
2. What is your favorite special effect type of nail polish and why?
3. What draws you to certain colors of nail polish?
4. If you had to put an animal on your nails, what would it be?
5. Is there a kind of nail art that you really like, but have been afraid to try?
6. What is the most unique nail art you have ever seen?
7. If you had to name a nail polish, what would you name it and why?
8. What is your favorite nail blog to follow?
9. Do you have any other favorite beauty products that you are passionate about? If so, what?
10. Are there any particular polish makers who always amaze/impress you with their new creations? If so, who?
11.What is the one thing that can always make you happy?

The blogs I am nominating are:
1. Potions in Motion
2. From Lips 2 Tips
3. Casa de Polish
4. Petite & Polish
5. Not Too Polished
6. Night Swatcher
7. Polished to Precision
8. Erhmagerd Polish!
9. A Girl and her Polish
10. Nail Art By Divya
11.The Lazy Lacquerista

Literary Lacquers Review, Part 1

Disclaimer: I was sent these polishes in exchange for an honest review.

I have the opportunity to review some beautiful polishes from Literary Lacquers!

I think that this line of polish is really awesome, because I love to read.

The main color in my mani is Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, from the Literary Licquors collection. It was inspired by Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy. If I ever went to a bar and got a drink this pretty, that would be amazing!

My pointer and pinky have 2 coats and the middle and ring finger have 1 coat.

Then I decided to layer some glitter toppers over Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. In the below pictures, I have 3 coats on my pointer and pinky, and I think these are the most color-accurate. It is a little bit darker than it looks in these pictures in real life. These were taken inside with my bathroom light..

On my middle finger is Bright Spirit, a light cyan/turquoise with white and pastel glitter. From this angle, more of the white came up. It is from the Gift of the Magi collection.

I also used My Secret Garden on my ring finger, which has more of a clear base and pastel rainbow glitters. My Secret Garden is a color that I had previously purchased for myself, and it is from The Good Parts collection. Let's just say that this collection is a celebration of adult fiction (written by females.)

You can purchase Literary Lacquer at Amy's Etsy shop here. Right now she has a special 20% off code, YAY1YEAR to celebrate her 1 year anniversary!

33 Day Challenge Day 11: 3D

For this challenge, we had to use something 3D.

I tried using a fimo stick for the first time! I also finally have a dotting tool, so I used it to put some dots on my pinky to go with the colors in the flowers.

From pointer to pinky I used: Shy Violet by picture polish, Creative Fantasy by China Glaze topped with Freak Out by Models Own, Are you a Good Witch by Liquid Sky Lacquer, and Creative fantasy dotted with Eileen by Julep.

Here is a bonus pic of the thermal before I added the flowers. 

I also got an awesome ring from my friend's etsy shop, A Charming Time, which I thought would go perfectly with this mani. She has a code, CELEBRATE2013 for 20% off your order.

Check out the other awesome ladies who did this challenge!

33 Day Challenge Day 10: Flowers

For this challenge, we had to do flowers.

I got a set of flowers that are supposed to look like dried flowers that you can use on your nails. They are pretty big, so I only used one- and of course I picked the blue one.  The flower was kind of 3D in the middle, so I kind of had to push on it a little bit.

I broke my pinky nail, so I used Orly Nail Defense as a basecoat and I think it caused some cuticle flooding and made my nails take longer to dry. I had to keep redoing my pointer finger.

I think the flash exacerbated this- since these polishes are so shiny and holo, they reflected a lot on my skin


From pointer to pinky I used:
Avant Garde Lacquer Blue, You Wh*re, Different Dimension (Blue) Da Ba Dee, Julep Brit with Seven & Parker Mystic Mafia over it, and Blue, you Wh*re again.

These are with flash: 

 

This was taken in close-up mode so my camera could focus on the glitter in Blue (Da Ba Dee):

Without Flash

By the way, I can't talk about Blue (da ba dee) without mentioning the song!

Check out the other lovely ladies who did this challenge:

33 Day Challenge Day 9: Indian Nails

I tried to post this sooner, but my phone wasn't cooperating with me when I tried to upload these pictures!

Anyway, when I was looking for a design, I found a really cool one by Robin Moses here which she calls a "silver foil mesh" design. I just used it as inspiration mainly, since I don't have a thin enough brush to do it properly.

I also ended up combining it with my good luck manicure for the Enchanted restock today. For some reason I always tend to have good luck when I have somethin green on, too, so I made sure to include some green nail polish in the look.

I did this with base colors (from ring to pinky): Octopus's Garden (over black), Lilypad Lacquer Clover All Over, and Nail Nation 3000 Squeeze me Aqua Man.

Here is a bonus picture, in case anyone is curious to see how my nails look when they are just one color, top to bottom. I did end up changing the ring and pinky later to black for more contrast on the tips

I used a brush to do a silver dividing line, and then on the tips I used: (from ring to pinky:) EP Purple Roses (and I would like to thank a very special friend of mine for going out of her way to help me get this polish), EP Ciao Milano, and Nail Nation 3000 H2-OHHHH. In fact, H2-OHHHH is one of the first colors that came to mind for me because  it's so magical! It has tbe beautiful blue sparkles in the silver shimmer and then you can still see the holo sparkles.

Without flash to show duochrome (ew.. looks like I have old lady hands, and I'm in my 20's!)

This is with flash.

Check out what the other talented ladies did for this challenge!

33 DC Day 8: Chevrons

The Day 8 Challenge was to do Chevrons. I have never done them before, so I used this tutorial.

I wanted to try the really fancy chevrons I've seen people do, but it turned out I would need crafting scissors. . .or a lot more patience and skill than I actually have.

So I used: Pixie Potion by Glittering Elements on my pinky and index finger, on the middle finger I started with Purple People Eater by Lilypad Lacquer, Neon Blue by Nabi, and then Seven Nation Army by Enchanted Polish, and my ring finger is Luscious Larimer by Lilypad Lacquer, the chevron is Purple People Eater, and my tip has Pyxii by Esmaltes de Kelly. I know a lot of people don't like bar glitter but I think it actually looks cute over a pastel color!

Check out what the other talented ladies did for this challenge!

33 Day Challenge Day 7: Oldest Untried

I thought I would have a lot of untried polishes that had been sitting around for ages to choose from, but it turns out that I usually get really excited about my polishes and usually at least swatch them.

But I remembered that I've had Emerald by Nails Inc for awhile.

From ring finger to pinky I used: Fresh cut grass by Colors by Llarowe- on accent nails- Rainbows in Space and Golden Delicious by Lilypad Lacquer (with Emerald by Nails In in the middle.) The pinky is Margaritaville by Liquid Sky Lacquer. It is another thermal that creates a gradient effect on its own.

This picture mainly reflects the green, despite color correction!

I added Raver Girl by Liquid Sky Lacquer to my middle finger to make it look a little more fun. Also, you can see my pinky color getting darker since my hand was getting cold.

Check out what the other talented ladies did for this challenge!

33 Day Challenge Day 6: Texture

The challenge was to use textured nail polish.. and now I see why people hate it so much. I have barely used it before.

From thumb to pinky I used: Zoya Dahlia, a french nail with OPI Can't Let Go & Zoya Stevie (I'm puzzled about why in the picture it looks lke my nail has bald spots when I used 2 coats of Stevie?)

For the gradients I used Dahlia, Can't Let Go, OPI Tiffany Case, and Stevie. On my Pinky is Indigo Illusion by Liquid Sky Lacquer. It is not textured, and it is a thermal holo that creates a gradient on its own depending on the temperature. Since I get cold easily (as you can see by my sweatshirt sleeve which makes an appearance in my pictures today, you will see my free edge turning purple :) )

This picture is with topcoat. I also used Glitter Food by Nail Pattern Boldness to smooth it out- especially on my ring finger!

'

I actually really like the Zoya Dahlia and could see myself doing a full mani with it.

Check out the other ladies who did this challenge!

33DC Day 5: Mexican Nails

I'm still running a day behind, unfortunately!

No, it's not Cinco de Mayo, but we are celebrating Mexican Nails for Crumpet's Nail Art Challenge!

I really looked forward to this challenge. I started out at my university as a Spanish major. I didn't get the chance to study abroad, though..

I decided to try to keep this simple, and not try to do sugar skulls or anything, but it was still harder than I thought it would be.

I kept having issues on my middle fingernail with the colors running or smearing into each other. So I redid that one more times than I would like to admit, and that's why this blog post is being done closer to when I should really be doing Day 6. You're seeing my 2nd set of pictures for this challenge.

From ring finger to pinky I used:
Limelight by Smitten Polish
for the Mexican Flag: Reclaim by Nubar, Angels Sing by Llarowe, Dora the Explorer (aka Cherry Bomb) by Colors by Llarowe)
Angels Sing by Colors by Llarowe with heart gems from the Born Pretty Store
Golden Garnet by Lilypad Lacquer

Check out what the other very awesomely talented ladies did!

33 Day Challenge Day 4: Tribal Nail (fail)

I have never done tribal nails before. I was honestly stumped on what to do, but I found a rainbow tribal nails tutorial here. It is for short nails, so mine turned out differently.. and before I had different glitter polishes on as a base. I tried doing cleanup twice before taking any pictures- so here's a (not so) pro tip:
Don't use anything glittery really close to your nailbeds!

So I used the beautiful Greenhouse by Contrary Polish. I used Angel Kiss by Color Club as a base for my accent nails. Then I used a brush to paint several different colored lines on my nails.

I love how Greenhouse looks in this picture! It is one of those "glowy/lit from within" polishes and it has some copper and gold looking sparkles in it as well.

Here is a more close-up picture of the tribal: (without flash)

(with flash)