Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Cats and Polka Dots

   I might have mentioned before that I like cats. A lot. When I found this cute pin, I knew I needed to paint it on my own nails!


   I started with a base of Revlon Sure Thing for the polka dot nails. For the black dots I used black acrylic paint and Revlon Colorstay Cardshark for the pink dots. I made all the dots with a medium sized dotter.


   To make the cat I started by making a half circle with white polish. Then I made the ears with my white striper. I made the cat's face with black acrylic paint and my newest thin short striping brush. For the bow I used Cardshark again, and then added a gold caviar bead in the middle.


   I'm getting nearer to finals again, so I might be a little less frequent until that's all over and done with. I'm so excited! I'm getting closer and closer to nail school!

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Flower Doilies

   Last weekend's design is one I have been wanting to make for a long time. I fell in love with this design of the Nailasaurus' quite a while ago.


   I started with a base of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Barracuda. Next I made the cloud-like shape with my striper; I started by making part of a circle and then adding on the large dots with a dotting tool. To make the small dots around the edge, I used a tiny brush. To make the flowers I used thinned out Revlon Colorstay Passionate Pink and Essie Bahama Mama. The leaves were made with thinned out L'Oreal New Money and Studio M On the Field. Then I topped it off with a matte top coat.


   I also made a cute little how-to video! You can watch it on my Instagram (yes, I've finally moved into the modern world and gotten a smartphone!).

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Paradise

   I've had my toes "newly" painted for a few weeks now, I just never got around to taking pictures of them for some reason! They were inspired by this pin form Nina Nailed It. I really like it; it's very summery! I haven't quite figured out the flowers yet, but I'll get there eventually!


   I started with a base of Revlon Colorstay Jungle. Next, much as in the pin, I sketched out the basic shape of everything with a white striper. For the palm fronds, I used a mix of L'Oreal New Money and a small amount of Studio M On the Field over top New Money.
   For the flowers I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow, and OPI Aloha from OPI as the bases. For the insides, I used Nina Ultra Pro Tangerine Dream (over top Mellow Yellow) and L'Oreal He Red My Mind (over top Aloha from OPI).

   Sorry for only the one picture, but the light was being fickle today.

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Small Daisies

   I seem to be on another theme... daisies! This week I painted some cute tiny little daisies all over my nails.


   I started with a base of Essie Bahama Mama. It was hard to get an accurate picture of the color. The second picture is really close to what it looks like in the sun. You can see a more true to color indoor light image here in an older post (the first image). Next, similarly to last week's daisies, I made them petal by petal in the shape of an asterisk *. I made the centers of the flowers with a teeny tiny dot of Bahama Mama. 


   The daisies super tiny and I love it! In my goodie bag from Born Pretty I got an amazing super thin brush. I'll review it more in depth next week, but I think I'm in love!

   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Monday, April 13, 2015

Daisies and Dots

   Last week I was a little lazy... I've been in a bit of a creative slump recently. I really hope I pull out of it soon! So to make up for it, I painted an old Etsy set. Believe it or not, but I'm still trying to paint all of my Etsy sets onto my own nails. I've just gotten really slow at it!


   This design is crazy simple and really easy to recreate. I started with a base of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure. Next, using a white striper, I essentially made an asterisk *. I made each petal individually (it's easier for me that way), but you could certianlly make it however you want! Next I used a small-medium sized dotter to make the yellow centers. I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow. Lastly, I used my smallest dotter to make the white dots inbetween flowers. If you don't have a dotting tool, then a toothpick or small brush would also work!


   You can find the Etsy set here in my shop. It's great for spring! (Shameless plug, I know, but sometimes you have to!)


   I hope you all have a great week!

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Review: Rose Nail Decals

   I received another package from Born Pretty last week! Among other things I got some pretty rose water decals. I forgot to take a picture before I cut them up! I didn't use them all though, so you can kind of get an idea of what they looked like in the package:


  It came with a tiny little nail file. It was really nice to use to file the excess decal off.


   The decals applied really easily and didn't slide around as much as the last decals I reviewed. I really liked that about them, it made it a lot easier to trim off the excess!
   They lasted fairly long, but I ended up taking them off a little sooner than necessary. Two fingers on my right hand was peeling back a little 4 days into it, so I just went ahead and took them off. I don't think that's anything to do with the product though. I think it has more to do with my left hand being a less than great applicator. The decals on my left hand were un-chipped and had very little wear, if any.
   Overall I think they are a great product!


   I absolutely love the design and color on this set! It is so pretty and feminine; very delicate. One of the things I like about decals is that I can have both hands match, and they both look great! I hardly ever show you guys my left hand, and that's for a good reason. I usually paint my left hand to match, but it never looks near as nice. So it's great to have two hands that look nice instead of just one.


   I added a matte topcoat to my nails. It was a pretty design before, but I think the matte coat really made it. In my opinion, anyway!


   I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Friday, April 3, 2015

Palm Trees

   I'm still in my tropical mood! I haven't shown you all my toes yet, but last weekend my fingers were very similar. Last Sunday was Palm Sunday, so I figured palm leaves would be a perfect way to keep my tropical mood alive and match the occasion. Sort of. It really happened kind of by accident! I had already planned to do the palm leaves. I'm not the best with keeping up with dates, so I didn't realize it was Palm Sunday until I had already painted my nails last Wednesday!


   To make this design, I started with a base of Revlon Colorstay Jungle. After that dried, I drew out the palm fronds with my white striper.


   Next I painted over the white with a light green. I used L'Oreal New Money. Next I painted on a bit of Studio M On the Field. I sort of dry brushed it on. I put a tiny bit of On the Field on the brush and spread it around as much as I could until I ran out. This makes it a bit more streaky.


   Hopefully I'll get my toes photographed soon so I can show you all them too!

   I hope you all have a great weekend and Easter!