OMD2 Challenge Day 2- Coral

Day two of the Oh Mon Dieu (part deux) challenge and I am LOVING this mani! The polish I used for the base color- piCture pOlish Ocean- is one of my very favorites! I'm so glad I have it because it fit in perfectly with my coral reef design. Isn't is so dreamy?

Strawberry Ice Cream With Chocolate Sauce and Sprinkles Nails

I discovered this darling manicure on Cutepolish's Youtube channel. I instantly had to do it! I had never tried a drip manicure before and though this would be a fun design for my first attempt.

In the tutorial she uses a matte top coat on the "ice cream" part. I was planning on it too, but completely forgot until I had already applied the "chocolate sauce". Oh well, it still works. I loved how easy this was. It's nice when you find designs that look cool but don't take all night to do.

What I used:
Jenna Hipp Damage Control- pink
Zoya Louise-brown
It's So Easy Stripe Rite in various shades
Sally Hansen Dries Instantly top coat

I lost my bottle of Seche Vite a few days ago. I had been doing my little girl's nails earlier in the day, and then that evening it was gone. *Ummmm.... What the heck?! Literally, AS I WAS WRITING that last sentence, I found it! I had looked for it a billion times!! It's a blooming miracle! "Write it.. and they will come." Haha. :) I really thought it was gone forever. Anyway, I started using my bottle of Dries Instantly that I hadn't tried out yet. I don't think it dries quite as fast as Seche Vite, but it's a good alternative.

What do you think of the manicure? Cute? Too dangerous if you're on a diet?

Nail Polish Society's First Giveaway!

*Edit: This giveaway is now closed.*

The time is finally here for my first giveaway! The Nail Polish Society facebook page has reached 100 likes, and to celebrate I put together an awesome prize! Here are some closer looks at the prize:

Sephora by OPI mini set
I Think I Cayenne, Have You Met Rose, Mary?, Justa' Pinch of Glitter, S-age Is Just a Number

Bobbi Brown Extreme Party Mascara, Clinique Long Last Glosswear in Bonfire,
Clinique set of mini emery boards, cosmetics bag

Three 15 ml Sephora by OPI
Already Famous, I Found a Pot of Gold!, Just a Little Dangerous

Five rolls of striping tape, tweezers

I really wanted to put together a prize that I would want to win! I wish I could give something to each of you as thanks for all the support. Help spread the word, and don't forget to enter to win!

Giveaway Details:

• Starts: Now
• Ends: November 19 at 12:00am EST
• Open Internationally
• Must be at least 18 years old, or with parent's permission
• How to Enter: Earn entries through the Rafflecopter widget. Required entries are email, and Nail Polish Society facebook fans. All other entries are optional. You can tweet about the giveaway once every day for extra entries (make sure to paste the URL in the Rafflecopter widget each time).
• Selecting a Winner: On November 19th, or shortly after, I'll notify the winner (chosen by Rafflecopter) via email. Please remember to add nailpolishsociety@gmail.com to your contacts so it doesn't get lost in your SPAM folder. The winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. I will announce who the winner is once chosen. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

31DC2013 Day 20: Water Marble

Today is the dreaded water marble day. Ug. I think these colors look fantastic. The rest.. didn't turn out so well. I have a number of complaints here. Before we get into that, let's just look at the pretty colors. Oooooo..

Once again, this is another first for me. Typically when I have been trying new techniques, I sort of just jump right in. This time I knew I had to depend on a tutorial to help me out. To prepare, I watched a couple of videos from the Queen of water marbling. Apparently I did not watch enough videos to have a good idea of how to do it.

Once I choose my colors I was pretty dead set on using them together. After not being able to get them to expand well in the water, I just decided to work with them best I could. It was too late at night to be changing the game plan. Some polishes started drying faster than the others. So I have broken gaps especially noticeable on my ring finger.

I'm not happy with how this turned out, but I'm not discouraged. There are way too many successful water marbles out there for me to give up. I want to try again! I need to figure out what polishes work well, and a few other questions I had.
 Even with how sloppy and broken this is, I love that water marbles still always look unique. No one else has one that looks just like this! Want to know my favorite part about this? It was the quickest manicure I've done this whole Challenge!

What I used:
OPI Live and Let Die-deep green
Zoya Bevin- sage
A England Holy Grail-gold

Have you done successful water marbling? What polishes have worked for you?

31DC2013 Day 18: Half Moons

I'm taking it easy today. Nothing ambitious to see here, folks. I had to do today's as simple as possible because I am freaking out about tomorrow's galaxy nails! Earlier I was joking about ulcers, but it wasn't that big of an exaggeration. Two nights ago while working on my glitter manicure I developed a broken blood vessel on my face! The stress is taking its toll. Maybe I need to get in touch with OSHA again..

Anyway, simple is good. I think that's what makes half moon manicures so popular. They are simple, elegant, and have endless possibilities of color combinations. I am really enjoying this color combo!

This is the first time for me doing a half moon manicure. Well, actually, that's a lie. I tried it once before, but that was before I knew what I was doing. This was also the first time I used both of these polishes. Aren't they so pretty?

How to:

I applied two coats of Zoya Robyn all over the nail, then applied top coat to help it dry faster. When it was completely dry I put round paper reinforcers in place above the cuticle. Working one nail at a time, I painted one coat of  Zoya Natty, the darker shade, then immediately removed the reinforcers. After they were drying for a few minutes I finished with a top coat. Viola! I love it when things are easy and they look good! 

What I used:
Zoya Robyn
Zoya Natty
Seche Vite top coat


Come back tomorrow for something much more complex! I'm not promising it will turn out since I've never tried it. We'll have to wait and see!

31 Day Challenge!

I've been looking forward to doing a challenge since I started this blog. I am already feeling the anxiety and hope I'm not totally frazzled by the end. Just being able to keep on schedule and finish it will be a big accomplishment!
I will be participating in a 31 day challenge which is starting September 1st. I won't be posting on Sundays, so I will just try to catch up on Monday with a double post. The challenge is open to whoever wants to participate. Each day there is a new prompt, and you create a manicure according to your interpretation of it. There is a lot of room for creativity, which should produce lots of awesomeness.
If you're inspired to try all or just part of the challenge, I would love to see your photos! Feel free to post them on my facebook page, please :).
Sarah from Chalkboard Nails made this image for the challenge which she is graciously sharing. Go check out her post for this, or another version.

Let's do this!

Tutti Fruitti Polka Dots

This is the first full-out manicure utilizing my dotting tools. They arrived in the mail from Amazon a few weeks ago, and I have been intending to do one of these ever since. In all honesty, I waited this long to do one because I don't like dots as much as I do other designs. It was good though to try it and see if I could do it. More practice will do me good. Anyhow, I think the colors are really cute together.

Compared to my right hand, this one turned out much better. I did the dots on my ring finger last, but forgot that when I put my top coat on. I was going to wait a few more minutes so that it wouldn't smudge. The second I put the brush to my nail I realized my mistake, but there was no going back. I know, the drama I face with nail polish. I bear it all so well. Fortunately, it wasn't that disastrous. 

I think this is the only thing I own with polka dots.

What I used:
Jenna Hipp Damage Control- pink
Sephora by OPI I'm Wired- coral
Out the Door top coat

Do you own anything with polka dots? What do you think the pattern looks best on?

Thanks for reading! Smiley face! Hearts!

Silvery Swoopy Stamping

First things first, you will notice my nails are decidedly shorter here. I have always had super thin nails, so growing them out that long has been quite an accomplishment for me. They were splitting badly and it was time to start fresh. I've been trying my bestest to care for them, and I'm still hoping they'll eventually get a little bit stronger.

Here is my first ever attempt with nail art stamping. If you have seen or done stamping before, don't judge me! If you have no experience with it, doesn't this look awesome?!

 View from a distance.

Close up.

You will notice, especially on my thumb, that the stamp design was too small for my nails. Apparently these fit other people, but mine are too gigantic? I know I'm not the only one that has this problem, so it's confusing why they're not all made bigger. The plate I bought is from Born Pretty and it was only $3, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. (The stamper and scraper together were $2)

Besides the design not being big enough, I think the grooves were also too shallow? It's hard to tell. Maybe it was just me, because some seemed to stamp better than others. There are varying qualities of stamping plates out there from what I've read, but I don't really know where these land in the spectrum.

I followed Sarah's stamping tutorial from Chalkboard Nails. It was really straightforward and easy to follow. Basically you just paint the polish in the design on the plate, scrape off the excess, stamp the plate, then stamp onto your nail!

Despite some of the issue I had here, it was SUPER fun! I am really looking forward to finding some better quality plates, and hopefully ones that fit!

What I used:
a england Sleeping Palace- purple base color (GORGEOUS color, I will have to give you a better look soon)
Sephora by OPI Queen of Everything- silver design
Out The Door Northern Lights Hologram (Silver) top coat
New Curve Design Nail Art Stamp Template M69

Nude and Neon Leopard

I am in love with this manicure! I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to do, even on my right hand. I've never been really big into animal print. I don't think I could pull off wearing leggings with this print (but I know some of you could!). There is something though, in being able to wear it on such a small area as my nails, that has made me a big fan. As soon as I did my zebra mani I knew I had to try leopard next. I especially love that there are endless possibilities for colors.
I had bought an Urban Decay mini set of six colors from Nordstrom Rack a few days before. I wanted to see them on, and thought this design was a perfect way to test them all out!

What I used:
Essie Mamba- nude base
Urban Decay Fishnet- purple
UD Showboat- orange
UD Radium- blue
UD Covet- green
UD Woodstock- pink
UD Perversion- black

What is your favorite kind of animal print? Do you feel like you can actually wear it? Which print should I try next?

Desert Sunset Gradient

This is my first gradient using the sponge method. With my previous gradient seen here, I just brushed the colors straight on the nail trying to blend them together. It was fun experimenting with a new tool.
I was looking for something to incorporate Essie DJ Play That Song because I love it so much and want to use it more often. I felt like the end result looked like a desert sunset in Colorado, with the ambient light turning the red rocks purple. Do you see it too?

As you can see, I had better luck with some of the nails than others. I had a little accident with the middle one and tried to patch it up, so it ended up with the darkest tip. I absolutely love the gradient look. I plan to practice the technique more so I can incorporate it often in future designs!

The tutorial I followed most closely was from Chalkboard Nails and can be found here. It was from her Beauty and the Beach Nail Art which is pure AWESOMENESS! It features a few different techniques, and the sponge gradient part is at the beginning of the video. Eventually I want to try the entire tutorial, but I think I need some more practice first.

What I used:
Essie DJ Play That Song- purple
Essie Madison Ave-hue- bright mauve pink
Essie .....??- Unfortunately I have a number of polishes with their labels missing :(. I have a couple of Label Monsters at home that delight in taking them off. So the color closest to the cuticle is a light pink, with slight peach tones. I wish I could remember the name!

What do you think? Do you love this trend as much as I do?

Bikini So Teeny Ombre

The ombre look was one that was at the top of my to do list. This trend was one of the main inspirations for me to try experimenting with nail art. I love that it's so simple yet has interest to it. I also appreciate that it doesn't take much skill at all to accomplish. Always a bonus, right?

Here is a looksy at my first ombre attempt:

I started with Essie Bikini So Teeny on my middle nail. Next I mixed some of the color with a couple drops of white polish on a palette. I painted that color on my ring finger with a brush from a bottle I had emptied and cleaned out. Then I added a couple more drops of white to the mixture for my pinky, and painted it. Before I started with the darker colors I cleaned off the brush in acetone. I put some more base color on the palette and added some black polish, mixed, and applied to my pointer finger. I repeated the process on last time for my thumb, adding just a little more black. Then I finished it off with topcoat! Ta-da!

If you haven't tried this before but think it looks fun, go try it! My variation is fairly subtle (my husband said he didn't think anyone would notice it), but I still got compliments. More importantly, I really loved it myself.

Important Tips :

1. I made sure to paint each color on both hands before moving on the the next color.

2. If you know anything about painting you probably know that a little black changes the color much quicker than a little bit of white. Well, I'm not a painter. I added WAY too much black to the mixture on my first try. So just go easy with it and add in much smaller amounts.

For my second time I think I'll make it more dramatic to see which I like better. Any suggestions for the color?

Bubble Gum Zebra

I finally got my nail art brushes in the mail!! Oh happy day! So now.. what to do, what to do? I was already wearing Clinique Different Nail Enamel Pinkini, and I thought I could just add to it. I decided to christen my brushes with a zebra print. I was surprised by how easy it was! At least,  it started easy. For some reason by the time I got to my ring and pinky fingers, I started to struggle a little more. Regardless, I was so excited by the result! Obviously there is room for improvement (isn't there always?), but you can still tell it's zebra print, right?

The next day I tried it with a matte top coat. It smeared it a little and shrunk it too, but I liked the finish. I used China Glaze Matte Magic.

I was still in the mood for experimenting, so I added a glitter coat. I struggled with the hex glitter, getting it both on the nail and then in the right place. It ended up pretty goopy. Still, I liked the contrast and the color of the glitter. I wish I was able to photograph it better because it looked better than this. This is Jenna Hipp After Party.

What colors should I use for my next zebra print?

Striping Mani

I finally got my striping tape in the mail yesterday! Dang China, why are you so far away? Seriously it took over three weeks to get here. I've been wanting to play with it for so long now. What to do, what to do? There are so many options but I started simple, since I have no experience with it yet. I went with Essie Mamba and DJ Play That Song.

I did two coats of Mamba and tried to do a thick coat of DJ Play That Song since I had to take off the tape while it was still wet. I guess I should have used more opaque colors? It ended up a little too thick. When I went to bed I thought my mani was dry enough, but when I woke up there were dents all over. Either I used too many coats or I should have stayed up longer. I still loved the color combo. I got a lot of compliments too. They must have not seen it up close. Also I used Seche Viche top coat and really noticed the shrinkage this time, all around the nail.

Right hand:

I was somewhat surprised that my right hand didn't turn out much worse than my left. So that either means that my left-handed skills are greatly improving, or it's sad that I can't even do much better with my right hand. Either way...

I am really looking forward to trying lots more color combinations. Yay! I have hope that my skills will improve each time.

Barielle Swatches

Here is my first attempt at swatching! It was a little more work than I anticipated. So I don't know how much I want to do it in the future. I probably just need more practice. Also, some of the photos didn't come out like I wanted. I'll start off with the worst ones first :).

I had high hopes for Banana Drop and was a little disappointed. The color on the website and even in the bottle itself looks somewhat muted, which is what I hope for. It ended up being brighter than I wanted. It was also really goopy, as light colors tend to go. This took three coats.

Lilac Jelly Bean was also more goopy than I expected, but this only took two coats. I like that it has just a hint of the lilac in a greige color.

Slate of Affairs was hard to photograph because of the blue shimmer in it. The application was easier, I did two coats, and I really like the color. This was the best shot I took indoors.

This is with the flash, it shows the blue shimmer:

In the direct sunlight you can see how much the color changes:

Falling Star is fun. I don't have anything else like it. It is thicker than I expected, but didn't have any big issues with application. On the website it is described as "marine blue with gold glitter". As you can tell it is not gold, rather it is an obvious copper, which their picture even shows pretty true to color.

Soho at Night is a beautiful dark plum creme. It's such a romantic color. As soon as I put it on I wanted to go out on a nice date. Yep, it made me feel like that as I was lounging in my sweatpants watching t.v. reruns. The formula was nice and smooth. I did two coats which looked good in person but looking at the photo maybe I should have used three.

Blue Cotton Candy is another fun color. I think their description of it though is the worst out of the bunch. It's described as "frosted opalescent sea blue". Basically they really couldn't pin it down so they threw in some random adjectives. It's understandable because it does look so different. It has a really dense silver shimmer that makes it looks textured, but it's not at all opalescent. The formula was thick here too. Some of my fingers I only have one coat on, the others I did two just for good measure.

Indirect sunlight:

Direct sunlight:

Hidden Hideaway was another good formula, it was smooth and opaque in two coats. It's a vampy shimmery purple that really shows up in the sunlight.

Daring Dahlia is the one I am least crazy about. It was described as "deep fuchsia with shimmer". So I was pretty disappointed when it turned out to be just regular fuchsia. At least it had the best application out of the whole bunch. Two coats.

Indirect sunlight:

Direct sunlight:

So that was all of them. As tempted as I am to try  more of their polishes, I think I will wait until I see the swatches first.

Again I apologize for the inconsistent and lame photos. I'm still trying to figure out how to use my camera to take pictures of other things besides my kids.