Holo on Holo

The final theme for Nail Art Jan is "silver".

Because I loved how my fully studded thumb looked in my warm studded skittles mani, I decided to play with the look of a completely studded nail again; this time using the silver holographic Harp on It from Color Club, and some silver holo circle studs from Polish Me to Go.

Valentine's Day Heart Quad Print

Today's mani is a collaboration with Anna and Catherine! We used a heart print image as our inspiration for triplet nails.

Mirrored Moon Mani

The theme for Day 28 of #NailArtJan is to match your nails to your outfit.

For my mani, I used Julep Shelly (light blue) and Julep Janae (dark grey) to match the colors in my shirt.

Twinsie Tuesday - Recreate a Manicure Seen on a Celebrity

I have to start off by saying I am currently posting via my phone because my internet is down. So if anything looks off, alignment/layout wise, I'll be on a computer later this week to straight it out! 

This week, the Twinsies recreated manicures seen on celebrities. I went simple and found this mani:

Daily Hues Haul - Live Swatches

I recently purchased seven Daily Hues polishes, an indie brand I have never tried before. So I decided to swatch all seven in one setting.

Change the quality of the video manually to 480 so it won't look so grainy. I wanted to upload it in HD, but my computer was fighting me and my video editor wouldn't cooperate, so 480 is as high as I can get the quality, unfortunately.

Warm Studded Skittles

Today's mani serves three purposes: Day 23 of #TwinkieNailArtChallenge "earth tones", Day 25 of #NailArtJan "studs", and Day 27 of #AmysUntriedJan "fairies". 

Palm Trees (Again) on Nontraditional Metallics

If feels like I've done palm tree nails a billion and a half times (click here to see them all)! Including this mani, I've done 12; and actually 13, I still have one in the vault I've yet to post!

Today's mani is for Day 22 "favorite design" of #NailArtJan, so of course I chose palm trees!

Love, Peace, Sunshine & Polish - Fire Gradient

Day 17 of #NailArtJan is "gradient", so I used Barielle Lemondrops, Wet'n'Wild Grasping at Strawberries, and China Glaze Tip Your Hat, for some fiery tips.

Twinsie Tuesday - Fandom: Elmo

In my house, we worship monsters, mice, and monkeys. Today, the monster part. A monster visiting all the way from Sesame Street, to be exact. 

So I cheated a little for our Twinsie Tuesday "fandom" theme this week, and went with something my daughter loves: Elmo!

Mommy's Mani Monday - Toys: Tetris

For this week's Mommy's Mani Monday "toys" theme, I went with a video game that was one of my favorites to play as a kid.

I used Zoya Imogen as my base, and neon square studs for a game of Tetris on my tips!

Happy Birthday, Amy! (Textured Rays Mani - V2.0)

Happy birthday, Amy!!

I teamed up with a bunch of other Instagram nail girls to honor one of my polish bff's, Amy of @amylovesnewwave, for her birthday! Here's the mani I created:

Blingy Peacock Spread

I may have gone a little over-the-top with this one, but I think it is one of my favorites I've ever done!

Precious Gems - Turquoise & Double Water Spotted Nails

Wednesday was another #NailArtJan challenge "new technique", and Thursday was #AmysUntriedJan "turquoise". I've had the mani finished, but had to take a little break from posting challenge manis for Digital Dozen!

So today I'm back with another double duty design.

The Digit-al Dozen Does Fairy Tales: Alice in Wonderland

I am so sad that today is the last day of my DD premier week! It has been so much fun! I am ready to start brainstorming for February, though!

Today, I did Alice in Wonderland. Last Easter, I did bunnies and covered them in flocking powder to make them fuzzy (see here). I absolutely loved them, and have always wanted an excuse to do them again!

So I give you the white rabbit with his pocket watch, being perpetually late.

The Digit-al Dozen Does Fairy Tales: Colorful Castle

Today's is another Digital Dozen day! And every fairy tale prince/ss needs a castle, right?

On a base of Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet, I used Sinful Colors Endless Blue, OPI Kiss Me I'm Brazilian, and a slew of acrylic paints, to freehand a whimsical, colorful castle fit for any animated royal family.

Purple Holo Comparison

I didn't realize how many purple holo polishes lived at my house until I was sent another one from Gloss48, and then wondered how they all compared to each other.

These are the four I own: Glisten and Glow Newbury Street (which I reviewed yesterday), Color Club Eternal Beauty (full sun swatches here), Born Pretty Holo Polish #6, and Anonymous Lacquer Purple Rainbows (reviewed here).

They are in the same order left to right on my nails: Glisten and Glow Newbury Street on my index, Color Club Eternal Beauty on my middle nail, Born Pretty Holo Polish #6 on my ring finger, and Anonymous Lacquer Purple Rainbows on the pinky.

The Digit-al Dozen Does Fairy Tales: Poisoned Apple

My third DD mani for the week was one of the first that came to mind when I started thinking about what I could do. Initially, I thought doing the poisoned apple from Snow White, while it is being dipped in the poison, and the liquid dripping off of it forms a skull, would look neat! So I took to Google and found these images to use as inspiration:

And the mani:

Glisten & Glow Swatches - Gloss48 Review

I was recently contacted by Gloss48. I've never looked into shopping through them, but I have heard of them. They sell polish and other products from a variety of indie brands.

A little snipit from their website:

At Gloss48, we are constantly exploring the beauty universe, collecting the most exciting and effective must-discover products.  There are tens of thousands of niche/indie/cult beauty brands out there, inventing new skincare technology, fighting frizz, and bucking traditional color cosmetic trends.  These product pioneers craft the next generation of beauty out of personal need, passion, and love.

Finding great niche brands within the crowded beauty market – or the mall – isn’t easy.  In fact, it can be a major headache, and it’s been known to cause wrinkles.  So we do the work for you.  We try it all, but we bring you only the best of the best.  And we’re all about experimentation, so we offer you our featured products, which are often Gloss48 exclusives, at a discounted price. This gives you the chance to discover the products you love most without breaking the bank. Score.

So for review purposes, I was sent three Glisten & Glow polishes: HK Girl topcoat, Newbury Street, and (Yells) NORM! Beginning tomorrow, Gloss48 will be selling Glisten and Glow products, which you'll be able to browse here.

First up, my swatch of Newbury Street.

The Digit-al Dozen Does Fairy Tales: Cinderella's Slipper + Twinsie Tuesday: Inspired by Your Shoes

Today is Day 2 of Digital Dozen week. It is also Twinsie Tuesday. Instead of double posting today, I came up with a mani to fit both themes: The DD Fairy Tales, and this week's TT theme Inspired by Your Shoes. So technically I cheated a little on the Twinsie Tuesday side, but let's get into it, shall we?

Starting on a blue base (no-name color from Flash Mob), I painted Cinderella's glass slipper with watered down white acrylic paint, then sucked the excess liquid up with a dry brush and cotton buds. I used Barielle Orange-U-Excited and a C Nail Art striper in orange to make pumpkins along the tips of my other nails, with OPI Stranger Tides for their stems.

The Digit-al Dozen Does Fairy Tales: Bookshelf

I am super excited to announce my joining The Digit-al Dozen group this week! I've followed many of the group members for years, and am close friends with one, so when Debbie asked me to join her awesome little nail art cult, I was ecstatic to accept!

So from here on out, I'll be posting five days out of the month with a different theme; we post the second full week of each month. My first DD theme is a challenging but fun one: fairy tales!

I went more general with my mani today.

To begin this week of fairy tales, step over to the bookcase of wonderlands, and select your favorite novel.

Three-way Mani Swap - LOVE Tattoo Nails and Peaches Mani

Amy's Untried Jan Day 12 and Nail Art Jan Day 11 both call for recreating another's manicure. So Anna, Catherine, and I decided to do a double mani swap! I recreated a mani from each of them, and they each recreated two manis.

First up, my recreation of Catherine's LOVE tattoo nails.

For my mani, I used Zoya Tasha as a base, with Sally Hansen All Fired Up on the tips.

The Warden Threw a Party in the County Jail

The prison band was there and they began to wail. The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing. You should've heard those knocked out jailbirds sing.

Anyway.... You know what yesterday was, right? Because if not, I don't think we can be friends anymore.

I'll give you a hint: Blue Suede Shoes. No? How about Heartbreak Hotel? Okay, okay! At Nails Like Lace, we are celebrating the birth of the king: Elvis Presley! And in true NLL style - with an Elvis mani!

I've done Elvis nails before, back when I first started this crazy nail art journey, but I've long since deleted them from existence because they were just insulting. Like, I feel I need to go to Graceland, grovel and beg for forgiveness, and apologize directly to Elvis' grave. They were horrific to say the least.

Now I'm not saying today's nails are fantastic by any means! But I did spend a good two hours on this mani, and have years more of practice since my last attempt at artistically honoring the king. So they're a tad more post-worthy. :)

Radioactive Leopard Print

Another challenge I've been participating in is #NailArtJan from @Californails on Instagram. The theme for Day 8 is animal.

I've been loving Formula X Volt (from Day 4) so much, that I just kept it on, and added some leopard spots to it with Sinful Colors Savage (to compliment the blue sparkle in Volt) and a little black acrylic paint.

$2 Manicure: Pink Polish with Snakeskin Wraps

Since I got on that $2 manicure kick using dollar store products, here's another one!

This time, I used a set of Essie nail wraps and a 3-in-1 polish from Sassy + Chic called Cotton Candy; both found at Dollar Tree.

Twinsie Tuesday - Pond Mani

After our December break, the Twinsie Tuesday girls are back!! With the new year, we have welcomed three new Twinsies into the group as well!

Our first theme for the year was to create a mani using the pond technique: You put something, be it a stamp, a freehand painting of some sort, etc., over your base color, then cover that with a sheer jelly polish. You then add the same image/shape/stamp in a different spot, add another coat of the same jelly polish, so on and so forth until you're happy with it. This makes the bottom image less visible, while the topmost image is floating above. 

I went with quick and easy dots for my pond mani. I put down a coat of Barielle First Love, then added a couple rows of dots near my cuticle with Barielle Perry-Keep Winkling. I added another coat of First Love, and more periwinkle dots in the middle. One more coat of First Love, and a final few rows of dots at the tip of my nail.

This ended up looking more like gradient dots, but I really like how it turned out anyway!

Formula X - Volt

This mani is another double duty mani. Day 4's theme of Californails #NailArtJan challenge on Instagram is "sparkles", and Day 6's theme of Amy's Untried Challenge #AmysUntriedJan is "Magic".

Considering the beauty of this polish, in and of itself, is so magical, I think it perfectly qualifies for both challenges!

Mommy's Mani Monday - Movie-inspired

It may be a sin among humanity, but I have not seen the movie Frozen.

I do have some Frozen themed polishes, though, that were gifted to me.

Funky Fingers Anna was sitting in my untrieds, so I decided to use it in a mani for today's Mommy's Mani Monday movie-inspired prompt. I actually ended up really loving the mix of glitters (and that random dash of blue) in this topper!

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

I've had my only Colores de Carol polish for a little while and finally wanted to get around to using it.

I've also been participating in a few challenges. I rarely do, but thought as I might as well, just for fun. One of them is Amy's Untried Challenge. The Day 3 theme is "goals". 

I contemplated this theme for days, and finally figured out what I wanted to do. It's a little bit of a stretch, but here goes....

Lately, I've been trying to go outside my comfort zone when it comes to food. I'm a very picky eater, so I've been reluctantly trying some new recipes. They haven't been horrible, and obviously eating something new hasn't killed me yet, so I really don't know why I am so uptight about trying different stuff. I guess I know what I like, and if I know I like it, what's the point in getting something I'm not sure if I like or not? I know, I know. You won't know if you like something unless you try it. But why? I know I like the other one, so I might as well just stick with it.

Anyway, mint chocolate chip ice cream is one thing I've never eaten. So I thought it could be a representation of my trying new foods.

Whimsical White Roses

Today's post is a three-in-one: two challenges and one mini-review.

The #nailartjan challenge on Instagram's theme for Day 2 is "fresh". The #twinkienailartchallenge for Day 2 is "rainbow". So I stamped fresh white roses over a rainbow glitter. The stamping plate was sent for my review from Born Pretty Store. Whew!

Lacey French Tip Stamped Mani

Today's mani uses Broadway Dark Night and China Glaze Fairy Dust, with Born Pretty Store stamping plate BP-02.

New Years Nails

Happy 2015! 

My celebratory mani consists of OPI My Dogsled is a Hybrid, Do You Have this Color in Stock-holm?, My Voice is a Little Norse, How Great is Your Dane?, and China Glaze Out Like a Light.