Essie Spring 2018 Collection

*press sample

Hello friends! I am so pleased to share the Essie Spring 2018 collection with you! The collection has a nautical theme and I think the color palette reflects that for the most part. I have a real soft spot for anything nautical so my heart was already in it before I even tried them on. The best part is that the formulas were all fantasic- really smooth, with nice opacity, and I didn't have any issues with application. Let's get right to it..

31DC2016 Day 12: Autumn Rays

Hello again! Do you have a favorite mani from the 31 Day Challenge so far? It's hard for me to choose, but today's is somewhere near the top for me. It is so satisfying to have a plan in mind and then deliver the final product exactly as imagined! That doesn't happen often enough so I have to revel in it when it does. 

Paint All The Nails Presents Dotticures

It's time again for another Paint All The Nails linkup! This time around we chose "dotticures" for our monthly theme. I've had an idea for a specific mani involving dots sitting around for months and months. I spent quite some time trying to think of a design for today, I can't believe it didn't come to me sooner.

31DC2014 Day 12: Stripes and Blue Floral

Today has been busy, busy. So I needed to figure out a mani that was quick and easy, but I still needed it to look good of course! Ever since my dear friend Emily of Very Emily did this fabulous guest post for me, I've been wanting to copy her design. I just love the concept of these stripes over the floral decals. I put my own twist on it and am loving the result.

Stripes Snippet

Like my post from yesterday, today's mani is another one I dug out of my draft folder. You can tell my nails are even shorter here. I'm hoping that I will get things more organized soon so I can spend the time I want writing and editing. Until then, something is better than nothing, right?

What I used:
OPI My Vampire is Buff- cream base color
Sephora by OPI Domestic Goddess- purple
Zoya Bevin- sage green
Barielle Banana Drop- yellow
Sally Hansen Inst-Dri Snappy Sorbet- orange
Seche Vite top coat
striping tape

Hope you all enjoyed! Have a fabulous weekend!

33 Day Challenge Day 12: A Pattern in Your Home

For today's mani I emulated probably the one and only good design in my home. It comes from my Nautica comforter that I have loved since the moment I saw it. The design is simple. It's just colored stripes of varying widths down the middle, with the sides being solid almost-black-blue. It's so colorful, and yet it's not overpowering.

I love bright colors! They make me happy.

I was so pleased how well I matched most of these colors. A few of my polishes were really spot on. For the others I had to mix polishes together. The one polish here that is off is my navy one. It should be a lot darker, but I decided to just keep that one as it.

I started with the navy on my pinky and applied it straight from the bottle. I did the same with the nude next to it. After that I used my long striping brush to apply all the rest of the colors, moving in the same direction towards my thumb. Many of the colors only need on coat which was fortunate. It's a bit of a challenge mixing together colors a second time for another coat, trying to get it the same.

I mixed the polishes together on a paper plate that I've used for a couple other manicures. Apparently the plate was messier than I thought because I ended up with some debris in the polish. Oops. But if you squint you can't even see it!

What I used:
I mixed a few of the colors, so I won't list those. The polishes that are unadulterated are:
OPI Dating a Royal- navy blue
Barry M Lychee- nude
Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams- baby blue
Sephora by OPI It's Totally Karma- lime green
Sephora by OPI Too Too Turq- turquoise
Seche Vite top coat


Now I just need to work on making the rest of my home this pretty. It is far from it. Maybe I should buy less polish and save for a couch?

31DC2013 12: Stripes

I have to say this is one of my favorites so far from the challenge. I love the look of stripes, especially the crisp ones you can achieve from striping tape. I have been waiting to try one of my new polishes, a england Ascalon. It is such a gorgeous silvery-purple holo. Or bet yet, a england describes it as, "Forged by magic and guided by our hero's sainted hand, the steely grey of his spire is alive with a swirling heart of lavender fire." Does that give you a better idea? I paired it with an old favorite, OPI Yes...I Can-Can, which is a vampy plum with a subtle shimmer. I think they compliment each other very well.

If this looks like it took a lot of patience, believe me, it did. I wouldn't say that that it's necessarily difficult, just a pain in the butt. It's still totally worth it because it turned out just how I wanted!

The art deco feel of this design brings me back my first trip to NYC. It was so cool finally visiting the iconic Empire State Building! Good times..

Even more photos..

What I used:
a england Ascalon
OPI Yes...I Can-Can!
Seche Vite top coat

I purchased my striping tape from Amazon. It costs practically nothing. My a england polishes have been purchased through Ninja Polish. I have three of their polishes, but I WANT THEM ALL. Or need, same thing.


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Days of Stripes and Roses

This, right here, made me feel like the bombdiggity. Yes, that is still part of my vocabulary. I am so thrilled that I had a concept in mind and pulled it off! My inspiration was from the bouquet of roses my husband got me (awww). They were red, pink, peach, and yellow, and I wanted to find a way to represent it. Of course doing literal roses would do the trick, and I knew it was something I wanted to try out. I didn't think I had the skills yet, and thought it might end up in a total mess. I was so surprised how well I did (both hands too!), and how much I liked the overall design on my nails.

The tutorial I followed for the roses is from The Nailasaurus. The rose buds themselves were surprisingly easy. It was the leaves that I struggled with more because it had become a little crowded. For the other nails I started with a peach base color. Then I applied the pink stripes with a striping brush from my nail art brush set. My brushes have been so much fun to play with, and they are really cheap from Amazon.

What I used:
OPI A Dozen Rosas- pink stripe
Jenna Hipp Hashtag- peach base
Jenna Hipp Tweet Me- yellow base
Essie Naughty Nautical- green

Roses: American Apparel Downtown LA-red dot, OPI A Dozen Rosas- pink dot, Jenna Hipp Damage Control- pastel pink. For the other shades on the roses I mixed together a few more colors.

So, what do you think? Is it as neat as I think it is? Would you wear this on your nails?