Manicure of the Week - Let it Glow

I've been on a single-color manicure kick lately, but I wanted to mix it up ever so slightly today.  Sometimes simple is better, right?

I used Serum No 5 Pure Glow Getter and dry brushed on a little Sally Hansen Disco Ball.  For some reason, it reminds me of a snow globe.

Honestly though, this manicure is best viewed with the lights off.

I think Pure Glow Getter is the priciest polish I've purchased to date but it was absolutely worth it.  I'm officially obsessed with Serum No 5!

Manicure of the Week - For the Horde!

I've been dying to experiment with DIY nail decals and I thought that the release of Warlords of Draenor was a perfect excuse!  After a couple hours of trial and error, I made some decent looking Horde logos.

I still need to work on the decal application - if you look at it closely, you can see that it's a little bubbly.  Overall I'm stoked with how well they turned out, though!

Colors used: Wet n Wild Black Creme, Wet n Wild Everybody Loves Redmond, and China Glaze Ruby Pumps.

Manicure of the Week - Angels in the Jungle

Holographic polish is one of my favorite things, ever, but for some reason I've found my collection to be severely lacking in that category.  I really need to get on that.  Anyway, I decided to make use of one of the holos that I do have and play around with my striping tape.  I tried several different patterns before finally settling on this almost-but-not-quite plaid look.

It's been so dreary here lately that getting a good shot of the holo has been pretty much impossible.

The base color is Sally Hansen Jungle Gem and the holo is Color Club Angel Kiss

Manicure of the Week - Water[color] you thinking?

The past week or two has been all about water for me and J.  Either the weather has either been hot and we've been in the pool or it's been awesome and rainy.  Obviously, this inspired me to have a go at a watercolor manicure.

It didn't turn out quite how I wanted it to, but my dad (!) complimented it, so that says something.  I used all Sally Hansen colors - White On as a base and Ice Tint, Vitamin D-Light, Sea Through, Water Melon, and Grape Jelly as the "watercolors."

Manicure of the Week: All That Glitters Is...Fairy Dust

The weather here has been really rainy and gloomy - which I love.  For some reason, gray skies make me want to use ALL the glitter in the world.  So...

I snapped a cell phone picture because my camera battery died.  I shouldn't have settled - this totally doesn't do it justice.

I used OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby. and topped it with China Glaze Fairy Dust.  Super basic and SUPER sparkly.

Manicure of the Week - Poptastic Moons

Everyone I know seems to be mourning the end of summer.  Personally, I can't WAIT for fall, but there's still a lot of sweaty days left here in Texas so I thought I'd do a summery neon manicure.

I debated putting glitter over it all, but it's so ridiculously bright in person that I decided glitter would be a bit too much.  I used Sally Hansen White On and Color Club Poptastic.

Manicure of the Week - Masked Disco

I've had a super bad case of the blahs lately and I have a tendency to channel my feelings into my manicures.  The obvious choice was black nail polish, but I added a sort of "light at the end of the tunnel" to it as well.

I love how glitter placement manicures look, but I've always been too lazy to try one myself.  I went with the "shove your nail in a pile of glitter and see what sticks" method instead.  It's so sparkly, I can't stop looking at my nails.  It makes me think of a disco ball.

The black is Orly Masked Ceremony.  For my ring finger, I used China Glaze Platinum Silver and then dipped my finger in loose chunky glitter.

Manicure of the [Shark] Week - Dun dun...dun dun....

I've always liked sharks, but after diving with them I've become a bit more obsessed.  Obviously, I love shark week. (Even though this year a lot of Discovery's programming is a little...silly.)

I didn't really have a game plan when I sat down to do my nails, so I just kind of experimented with different things.  I used Zoya Godiva for the beach base LA Colors Wired for the water base. The fin is Sephora by OPI Metro Chic. I used a combination of Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Pool Boy and Zoya Purity for the waves. The water on the "beach" is Pool Boy with several layers of Sally Hansen Ice Tint.  

Manicure of the Week - Subtly Nude

I'm usually of the "bolder = better" midset when it comes to nail polish and nail art.

Since my recent hair makeover was so bold, I was in the mood to try something very subtle when I sat down to do my nails.  I hadn't used my stamping plates in a while, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to bust them out as well.

This is a terrible picture.  They don't look janky in real life.  Promise.

I used I used Zoya Jacqueline for the base and Sally Hansen White On for the stamping.  The plate is #23 from the 2010 Bundle Monster set.

Manicure of the Week - Camo'n Over

I *adore* camo.  I've got camo leggings, pants, shirts, shoes...and so I decided to give camo nails a shot.  I've never drawn or painted camo before, so it was a bit of an experiment.  I wouldn't call it a total fail, but I'll need a bit more practice before being fully happy with it.

I used Zoya Jacqueline for the nude fingers and the base of the camo.  The camo colors are Sally Hansen Grass Slipper, Zoya Gemma, and China Glaze Jolly Holly.

Manicure of the Week - 'Murica Marbles

It's been a loooooooooooong time since I've done a water marble manicure.  I was lacking in July 4th design inspiration, so I thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to give it a go again.

I used Sally Hansen White On, Color Club Love Links, and Essie Avenue Maintain.

Manicure of the Week - Interlocking Is the New Black

I loved All Lacquered Up's neon interlocking dots manicure as soon as I saw it and it's been on my "to-try" list since.  I spent a good part of the weekend on a binge with the new season of Orange is the New Black.  Obviously, the two were fated to mix.

I decided to only do the interlocking part and not any of the other dots.  It was a lot of trial-and-error, but I'm happy with it.  I used Pure Ice Black Rage and Orly Orange Punch.

Manicure of the Week - Jackie Stripes After School

My life has been crazy hectic so I haven't had much time for doing my nails lately.  I kept breaking my nails, but they've finally grown into a more reasonable length so I decided to give some simple nail art a go. 

I used one coat of Zoya Jacqueline, then put striping tape down on my nails and painted over it with Essie After School Boy Blazer.  It's far from perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it overall.

Polka Dot (Egg?) Nails

I was shooting for nails that were Easter Egg inspired, but what I wound up with remind me more of Dino Eggs for some reason.  (Not that that's a bad thing!)

Base coat is Zoya Purity.  I used a dotting tool for the polka dots.  Colors used, top to bottom: Orly Lemonade, Orly Cotton Candy, Orly Gumdrop, Orly Lollipop and Orly Snowcone.

Happy Easter!

Manicure of the Week - Boyfriend did my nails

Sometimes J gets an idea in his head and gets so adorably excited about it that it's impossible to say no to him.  That was the case Monday.

He came home from work and exclaimed "I'm going to paint your nails!"  I asked him if he had something in particular in mind - and he said that it seemed like a good way to pass the time. (We were killing time until the midnight release of GTA V.)  Besides, a few hours earlier I told him that I wanted to do my nails but I had no inspiration.

He started with a base coat of Zoya Purity, then busted out a glitter polish I'd never seen before.  Apparently, he found Nicole by OPI A Rainbow in the S-Kylie on clearance when he picked up milk and decided I needed it.

Blurry proof he painted my nails.

When I went to take a picture of my nails, he yelled "Wait! Wait!" and said that I needed to be holding something.  He then declared that I should hold his hand for my nail picture.  So here you go.

He called this a "Ke$ha manicure."  

I asked if that meant that it looked like glitter threw up all over me. 

"Exactly."

Manicure of the Week

I've had this really awesome nail design stuck in my head for weeks.  This isn't it.  I kind of like what I wound up with, though.

Zoya Purity base with Sally Hansen Wet Cement and Sinful Colors Black on Black dots

[Day-After] Monday Manicure

If you know me at all, you know that I have a nail polish obsession.  Since I've been getting some in sub boxes, I've been trying to avoid buying more polish at drugstores.  That was until I saw this bottle on the Maybelline Color Show endcap in Target.

I hadn't seen the Polka Dots collection before, but I was incredibly taken by it.  I wanted them all, but decided on Pretty in Polka.  

After using it, I'm obsessed.  It kind of looks paint-splatter-y to me.  My hair stylist AND some random lady at the post office both complimented it today. 

Manicure of the Week

I meant to post this for Mani Monday but totally forgot.

Happy 4th of July!