christmas nails

hellllllo!

It's Christmas time--so I had to do some festive nails. Some times it is hard for me to do to the traditional red and green holiday nails because it's not really my style, so I did a different color palette of green, gold, & black. I think it still looks holiday-esque…of course Rudolph helps!  Don't be afraid to try something that is maybe a little out of the box because you may like how it comes out…just like this mani!

green-Sephora by OPI I Come In Peas

gold-Sephora by OPI Already Famous

green glitter-OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air

thanksgiving nails

You can never go wrong with a glitter gradient, which is actually what I did for these Thanksgiving nails. In my opinion glitter gradients are actually some of the easiest nail designs to do. I also wanted to add some actually Thanksgiving relevance, so I added feather designs. Feathers aren't actually that hard to do either, they just require a little patience :)

nude- Zoya Farah

red- Zoya Pepper

i'm bacccck

I'm bacccckkkk....

Well I never really went away, at least on purpose anyway. Life got busy and blogging actually became a chore. There was a few solid weeks that I actually forgot I even had a blog. Although that is all good because I was more focused on trying new things and keeping myself busy besides the internet, I decided to try it again. I'm not going to try to make a schedule of when I'm going to blog, it's just going to be when I feel like it. Luckily, despite my lack of blogging, I have been photographing my nails since then, so there is a lot of nail art to catch up on.

This is a more recent mani that I did. The base is Essie Beyond Cozy, which is a GREAT glitter. I can't emphasize that that enough. It is also relatively easy to get off compared to some of those other crazy glitters out there.

base- Essie Beyond Cozy

nail files

Today I'm linking up with the Nail Files!

About three weeks ago I got gels...gasp I know! But they had the most delicious glitter polishes that I had to have on my nails. I left them plain (the light purple/grey with glitter accent) for about a week & then I got bored and painted tribal design on them. I was really impressed with the gels because they lasted 2 weeks without chipping. I decided to take them off when some of the gels started peeling up. I don't think I would get them anytime soon because I switch my nails so much, but they would be great if I was going on vacation or something!

4th of July nails!

I know everyone is probably enjoying the weather and the holiday, so this post will be short and sweet. I love doing 4th of July nails partly because the American flag looks so darn cute in a miniature version. It's also a lot easier than you would think to paint on your nail.

P.S. Zoya is having a sale!! Buy one of their Pixie polishes and get a regular polish free. Coupon code: Liberty

P.S.S Is google reader definitely gone? I still read all my blogs the way I always did on blogger.com

the Nail Files

I have not participated in the the nail filesin quite a few weeks! Not because I haven't been doing my nails, but because I seriously just forget to blog. That being said- this week I remembered. Here are my  nails from the last few weeks. I have been trying some new techniques out & my below nails have been some of my favorites!

cinco de mayo nails

I should really start posting "theme" nails on the Friday before the holiday, event, etc occurs, but that never seems to happen. So instead I will give you my Cinco nails a day week after Cinco de Mayo Weekend. This nail art was not that fun to create because a mustache is a lot harder to paint, especially on a nail! OLE!

Zoya

I'm linking up with The Nail Files

Zoya is quickly becoming my favorite brand of polish. I usually shop online because the beauty stores around here don't have a huge selection of Zoya. I could probably browse their website for hours-I gain way too much enjoyment out of browsing all of their colors. Zoya recently did a 50% off deal (which is awesome), so I got 6 polishes for the price of 3. They do these deals more often than any other nail polish brand I know, which is an added bonus!

L to R: Raven, Kara, Mira, Malia, Neely, Avery

Which ones your favorite?

the nail files

It's Friday, so I'm linking up with The Nail Files!

Okay so I missed posting my nails last week. I don't think that has happened...ever. That just shows how crazy I have been. To be fair I actually got a mani and it was a solid color so there was no fancy designs to show off. Anyway this week I'm making up for it with an awesome ikat design. I have done a similar design before here & it's one of my favorite designs for nails!

the nail files

Today I'm linking up with the Nail Files

I was having trouble getting inspiration for my nails this week. Whenever I can't think of anything I resort to either polka dots or florals...I decided to combine the two. I absolutely love how they came out. When painting flowers I always try to pay attention to the little details. On these roses I tried to make it look like the inside of a rose with the different layers of petals.

nail files

Today I'm linking up with The Nail Files!

Obviously I had to do my nails for St. Patrick's Day. Lucky for me I am very Irish, even if I wasn't I probably still would have done my nails the same way. I did my nails once, but wasn't completely in love with them, so I redid them with a few changes. This means there are two designs for this week....woop woop!!

nail files

Today I'm linking up with The Nail Files!

Grumpy cat. That is what today's nails were inspired by. For those of you who don't know Grumpy Cat here he is

He is just a regular cat, who happens to look grumpy. Pair that with negative life-hating sayings and you have internet stardom. I happen to love Grumpy Cat and his zest for life, so I thought he deserved a place on my nail

base-Zoya Brizia

I'm linking up with the Nail Files

This post is a nail art & review combined into one. I recently purchased Essie Snakeskin magnetic polish with high hopes & here is my review:

You start off my painting each nail with one coat of the polish. It applies like normal polish except a little thicker. For the second coat, do not paint all your nails at the same time. Paint a thick coat on the nail you are working on & right away hover the magnet on top of the cap as close to the nail as you can for 5 seconds. If the magnet touches the nail that's okay, the design will just have a little imperfection in it & use remover to take the nail polish off the magnet. After 5 seconds... beautiful snakeskin nails.... right?

Pros: The colors are super pretty. There isn't a huge selection (6 shades), but they are neutral or jewel tone which totally prevents the snakeskin print from looking tacky. The color is also extremely opaque that if you were to wear it as regular polish you would be fine with only 1 coat.

Cons:  This review is going to make me sound like a negative nancy, but I swear I'm not! Firstly, the polish cost $12.00. I consider that to be really expensive for a nail polish. I don't mind paying that much if the polish lives up to expectations, but this one didn't. The main problem is that nail beds are some what curved (at least mine are) and the magnet is perfectly flat. When you hover the magnet on top of the nail it misses the sides-leaving them plain. If you move the magnet around the whole nail, it messes up the design. It's a lose-lose. You also have to hover the magnet like a half a centimeter above the nail in order for the design to work. Between that and trying to keep an extremely steady hand, this polish was more work than it was worth. 

Although I am happy with the final result-it took many many tries

Fail #1

Fail #2

Finished Product

Have you tried this or any of the magnetic polishes before? Did you have the same problems I did?

nail files

Today I'm linking up with The Nail Files

After I wrote this post about the amazing deal of 3 for $10 Zoya polishes, I made myself another account & ordered 3 more. This was the deal of a lifetime to me! Although it took FOREVER for the polishes to come in, I am so happy with them. All of the Zoya polishes I've tried have had amazing formulas...I may be leaving my Essie behind.

1: Edyta 2: Opal 3: Caitlin 4: Brizia 5: Bevin 6: Purity

Being that all the colors I got were pretty summery besides Edyta, that's what I decided to paint my nails with. I thought the color was so pretty that for nail art all I added was three little dots on my thumb and ring finger

What color is your favorite?

nail files

It's Friday-so that means I'm linking up with the The Nail Files. Check it out!

I recently purchased some striping tape from Ebay that looks like this

I definitely recommend it if you are starting off with nail art because you can create very cool & clean designs without having to have any artistic talent. It is also extremely cheap & by extremely I mean $2 for 10 roles that will last you long time.You can use the actual tape as the design & leave it on your nail or use it as a guideline & peel it off like I did & create stripes. The checkerboard I freehanded & I have to give myself a pat on the back for that one.

light blue- Layla Mermaid

dark blue-China Glaze Up All Night

the nail files

Today I'm linking up with the Nail Files

This was my NYE manicure, when in doubt I resort to the gradient. I had the hardest time thinking of what to do to my nails! I was set on the black to clear gradient and let me tell you it was not easy. I think I may have done nail 5 times-I wish I was exaggerating. What did you put on your nails to celebrate?

**Also I am going to do a giveway for my 100th post or 40 followers-whichever comes first!!

Nail Files

Today I'm linking up with the Nail Files

The other day I was looking on Hautelook.com (great site, check it out) and saw Layla Nail Polishes on sale. I had never heard of Layla polishes, but they looked pretty cool. The one I purchased looked something like this

This is after 4 coats

Unfortunately, I was not as holographic as I had hoped. In the sun you could definitely see it, but any other time it just looked like a really sparkly polish. Another downer was that it chipped REALLY quickly. My manicures usually last about a week, but this was chipping in 2 days. Ah, on to the next one

Of course, I had to do a Christmas Design

the nail files

Today I'm linking up with the Nail Files!

Well I'm glad to say I'm still here on this 21st of December. I was really starting to believe that the world was going to end or something of that nature. I'm happy the world didn't end though because I can enjoy my glitter gradient nails a little bit longer :)

green-OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air

nude-Revlon Colorstay Pale Cashmere

the nail files

Today I'm linking up with the Nail Files!

I hadn't used any of my studs/rhinestones in a while so I decided to do a look that incorporated them. I have never done them over my whole nail, but I really like how they came out... it's definitely a look I might consider for New Years Eve!

base-Ulta Devious

the nail files

Today I'm linking up with The Nail Files!


I really really love how these nails come out. Sometimes, the simpler the better. I have been searching for a perfect dark blue-little did I know TJMaxx would carry it by a brand I have never heard of. Once I painted my nails the blue I decided I wanted to do a half moon, but I didn't have the stickers to make them "perfect", so I decided to just free hand it. The glitter polish is more forgiving than regular nailpolish in terms of lines, but I think these came out pretty darn good if I say so myself. I think they are perfect for the holidays!

base-Bariella Berry Blue

glitter-Nailtini Millionaire