NOTD: O Tannenbaum

Hello again, this time of year is always very busy, so it's a miracle to me that I am managing to get a second post out to you all in December! :) I am loving the Christmas atmosphere, but not so much loving this cold weather and it's damaging affect on my cuticles :'( But on to the manicure! I wanted to do at least one "classic" Christmas mani using red and green and found the perfect two colors to use! But I decided to spice it up a little... enjoy!

So I started with Sally Hansen Divine Wine for all of the red nails, and Essie Going Incognito for my ring fingers. Next, I sponged OPI Bring on the Bling on top of the red. I don't practice my freehand painting very often, so I decided to play around with it on my green nails. This color reminded me of a Christmas tree, so I painted on a branch (using Sally Hansen Forbidden Fudge) and some pine needles (using love & beauty Green). 

Overall a pretty simple and festive manicure! :) I will try to post again before Christmas, but if I don't get the chance to, I want to wish all of my fabulous readers a very Happy Holidays and a happy New Year as well. I will definitely be posting again starting January 1st, as it is my New Year's Resolution for 2012 to complete the 31 Day Nail Challenge that has been floating around since October!! I realize that it will only take 31 days, and not really a whole year, but I am usually not very good at sticking to resolutions, so I thought this one would be fun and a lot more attainable for me. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed today's manicure :)

NOTD: Sophisticated Snowflakes

Woohooo!! I am officially getting into the Christmas spirit right about now! Decorations are going up at my house and Winter Break is just a couple weeks away! :D So this manicure was inspired by the beginning of Winter, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it! :) [This post is pretty picture heavy, so here we go.]

So I started with NOX Twilight Talon for the base color. Then I sponged on some OPI Swimsuit... Nailed It! and then applied some Sally Hansen Ice Queen on top of that. OPI Swimsuit... Nailed It! is one of my favorite blues of all time! I also love Sally Hansen Ice Queen! It has smaller flecks of silver glitter along with larger hexagonal silver and blue glitter pieces suspended in a clear base. <3 To finish up this mani, I sponged silver snowflakes from the BM14 stamping plate!

Here are the stars of this manicure; OPI Swimsuit... Nailed It! and Sally Hansen Ice Queen

And here are a couple close-ups:

Happy beginning of the Christmas season everyone!! Love you all! <3

NOTD: Tiny Turkeys

So it's been a while since I've had the time and energy to post on my blog!! Don't worry though, my nails haven't been naked this whole time ;) I know I'm a couple days late for Thanksgiving nails, but today is the day my mom's half of the family came over to eat and celebrate together. So in honor of Thanksgiving Round 2, I did a quick and easy french tip manicure using Essie Waltz for the tips, and added little tiny turkeys! :)

For these cute little turkeys, I used Sally Hansen Forbidden Fudge for the body, ULTA Red Carpet Red, Essie Going Incognito, Essie Braziliant and ULTA Sun-Sational for the feathers. I also added some legs and a beak with ULTA Sun-Sational. I had so much fun creating these tiny turkeys, I hope you fond them fun as well! enjoy :)

Here are a couple of close-ups of the turkey:

NOTD: Plum out of Sunshine

So the rain finally took over the sky today where I live, but fortunately I had a new, plum nail color to play with from China Glaze to occupy my rainy day! enjoy :)

I started this rainy day project with China Glaze Urban-Night. Then I taped off the sides to make the middle of my nails white using OPI Alpine Snow. After that dried, I lined up the tape with the white sections and stamped on these flowers from stamping plate BM16 with Sephora Perfectly Plum. Then, to finish it up I added the lighter plum outlines with Wet n' Wild Through the Grape Vine! :)

NOTD: Komen Race for the Cure in San Francisco

This morning, the city of San Francisco held their 21st annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure! :) For those who don't know it is a 5K walk/run for which you get sponsors to donate money toward breast cancer research. This is the second year on a row that I have participated with my best friend Kyle <3 and we plan on making this a yearly tradition for a many many more years! So in the spirit of this amazing day, I did a "manicure for the cure" lol. enjoy!

I started this manicure off with a base coat of ULTA Flamingo, then I water marbled with ULTA Flamingo and ULTA Socialite. I added some white ribbons with a nail art pen, and finished it off with some little clear rhinestones :)

NOTD: Never Forget.

As I'm sure you all know, today is the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the Twin Towers at our World Trade Center in New York. It is incredible to think how drastically this country was changed in just about an hour. We will never forget the thousands of lives that were lost that day, and there aren't enough words to express my gratitude for the police officers, fire fighters, and all of the other heroes that made the ultimate sacrifice to try to protect the civilians of the United States that day and those who continue to serve and protect this country to this day, here and abroad. In memory of 9.11.2001, I have done an anniversary manicure that I hope you all enjoy. God bless America! <3 

I started the thumb with Essie Sweet Talker, then painted the Twin Towers with China Glaze Recycle, and added the date, 9.11 with a black nail art pen.

Then on my index finger, I started with Essie Mesmerized and used a dotting tool to create "stars" with OPI Alpine Snow.

The striped fingers started with ULTA Red Carpet Red, then I used tape to create the white stripes with OPI Alpine Snow.

Never Forget.

NOTD: Friendly Flowers

This mani started with OPI Alpine Snow. Then I stamped flowers from the BM 06 stamping disc with Sephora Perfectly Plum, ULTA Blue Streak, and ULTA Coral Chic :) enjoy!

NOTD: Party Rockin'

I'm in the partying mood tonight, so I came up with this snazzy manicure! enjoy :)

This manicure started with NOX Twilight Sugar Plum. Then I sponged Essie Aruba Blue in the middle of the nails, and China Glaze Turn up the Turquoise (Neon) to the tips. After that dried, I stamped the tiger print--in Sinful Colors Black on Black--from stamping disc BM16!

NOTD: Espresso Blues

Wow!! It has been way too long since my last post! A month to be exact! :( My mind took a creative hiatus and while I have been polishing my nails for the duration of this break, I have found none of those manicures worthy of capturing an image of and sharing with the world. :P So please forgive my absence and I assure you, this marks the first day of my getting back up on the nail polish horse so to speak. Enjoy :)

This manicure started with Essie Coat Azure. Then I used Sally Hansen Forbidden Fudge with the stamping plate BM19 for the modern, brown swirled pattern. For a finishing touch, I used a white nail art pen to add some accent dots. I then chose a matte top coat to complete the look... and voila! :)

NOTD: Preppy Plaid

This one starts with OPI Alpine Snow then, I cut scotch tape into strips of different thicknesses and stuck them on my nails horizontally with spaces in between. Then I painted over the tape strips with ULTA Blue Streak, and removed the tape carefully while the blue polish was still wet. After that dried, I did the same thing vertically, but this time, I painted over the tape with ULTA Limelight. :) enjoy!

Also, just as a side note, this is the first tape manicure that I have done that was even remotely successful, so yayy!!! haha And, another side note; I got glow in the dark polish at the county fair last week and I am actually wearing it in this picture on top of the blue and green stripes, but it is virtually clear so it is not visible unless you are in the dark :P

Anyway, that's all! 

Swatches: Del Sol Ruby Slipper

Ok so I got my first Del Sol polish in Maui almost a month ago, but haven't posted about it yet, so here we go haha! This polish changes from clear with silver glitter to red with glitter! :) enjoy!


Again, this is Del Sol Ruby Slipper:

Before I put them in the sun

 After I put them in the sun

 Just as a side anecdote, I did nails for seven girls at a 10th birthday party last week which was tiring but tons of fun! :) No pictures from that event unfortunately, but it was a success and I hope that was a birthday that the birthday girl will never forget! :)

NOTD: God Bless America!

Happy almost Fourth of July everybody!! I decided to go with a patriotic "skittles" type manicure in celebration of Independence Day this year! I hope you all enjoy my festive nails and have fun and safe holiday celebrations tomorrow! :)

Left Hand Break-down:

Thumb: I started with ULTA Red Carpet Red and painted the stripes with OPI Alpine Snow. The blue part of the flag is Essie Mesmerized, with dots made with a white nail art pen.

Index: I started with Essie Aruba Blue then stamped the star pattern from the BM20 stamping disc with Konad white stamping polish.

Middle: I started with a base coat of OPI Alpine Snow, then marbled using that polish along with Essie Mesmerized, NOX Twilight Red Velvet and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear: Celeb City.

Ring: I started with Orly Ruby Passion and layered that with OPI Blue Shatter, then added some silver star rhinestones.

Pinkie: I started with OPI Alpine Snow, then added blue and red dots with blue nail art pens and ULTA Red Carpet Red.

Right Hand Break-down:

Thumb: Shout out to my sister on this one for the brilliant idea to do fireworks! I started with OPI Alpine Snow, and stamped the fireworks from BM02 with ULTA Red Carpet Red and ULTA Blue Streak.

Index: This one is the same as the water marbling on my left middle finger described above.

Middle: This one started with Essie Mesmerized and layered that with OPI Silver Shatter, then added some red star rhinestones.

Ring: This one did not come out exactly as planned haha but I started with OPI Simmer & Shimmer then stamped a swirly star pattern from the BM21 stamping disc with the Konad white stamping polish.

Pinkie: I started with Orly Ruby Passion, then layered with Santee Ocean Blue Goitter.

That's it! :)

............................................................

Now it's time for a little shout out to one of my favorite readers who sent me a picture of her version of Fourth of July nails! I love getting pictures from my readers, and when I like what I see, I'll post it on the blog! So don't be afraid to email your manicure pictures to me: passionforpolish@yahoo.com :)

So here it is! Great job Jenna! :D Thanks for sending this to me!

Sooo Adorable!

Announcement: I was just informed that Crayola makes scented nail polish for little toddlers!! :) Way too cute!

NOTD: Martini Party

So this one was inspired by a t-shirt that I bought for my best friend while I was in Maui, and it's really simple. All it is, is Sinful Colors Black on Black with different colored rhinestones and then Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear: Celeb City for the glasses. :) enjoy!

NOTD: Disney/Pixar's Cars 2

So, as many of you may know, Cars 2 is premiering at midnight tonight (for some of you readers this may already have happened) so in about 11 hours I, along with my sister and two of our friends are headed out to see said premier, and in honor of this event, I painted my sister's and my friends Hayley and Jenna's nails to look like the famed Cars characters Lightning McQueen, Mater "Like TUH-mater...without the TUH", Sally, Ramone, Flo, The King, Chick Hicks, Sheriff, The Sargent, and Doc Hudson. I tried to do this on my own nails, but the right hand was impossible so I put pictures of my sissy's nails up instead of my own. :) enjoy!

right hand

Mater started out with OPI Shim-Merry Chic, then i free hand painted his face with white, black and green nail art pens. I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear: Celeb City and Sally Hansen Forbidden Fudge for the headlights.

Ok so for Lightning McQueen, I started with Sally Hansen Divine Wine then free handed the face using white, teal, black and gold nail art pens.

Next up is Sally. I started sally with Essie Coat Azure, then free handed the face with white, black, gold, and teal pens. The headlights are Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear: Celeb City. 

Ramone started out with Ulta Celebutante, then I free handed the face white, black and teal nail art pens. 

Flo started out with Essie Turquoise & Caicos then i free handed her face with white, black and green nail art pens and used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear: Celeb City for her mouth and head lights.

left hand

The King started with Essie Beach Bum Blu, then i free handed the face with white, black, and bronze nail art pens.

For Chick, I started with ULTA Limelight, then free handed the face with white, black and bronze nail art pens.

The Sheriff started with Sinful Colors Black on Black, then I fre handed the face with white, and teal nail art pens. I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear: Celeb City for the headlights and the grill. I also used ULTA Red Carpet Red for the insignia above the grill.

The Sarge started with Essie Sew Psyched, then free handed the face with white, black and bronze nail art pens.

I started Doc Hudson with Essie Mesmerized, then free handed his face with white, black and teal nail art pens. I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear: Celeb City for the headlights and grill and ULTA Red Carpet Red for the red insignia on the grill.

My sissy and I also made cars cookies (Lightning, Sally and Mater) to celebrate :) and I think they're so darn cute! Just had to share. The original idea for these cookies came from http://family.go.com/disney/pkg-disney-recipes/recipe-1005691-cars-cookies-t/

Aloha!

So I haven't posted in over a week because I was on vacation in Maui all last week! :D It was gorgeous and amazingly fun and I hope to return many times in the future!! I went ziplining, swam with turtles, went to the Maui Ocean Center, went shopping in Lahaina, went to a luau, and got a little bit of a sunburn at Black Rock Beach haha!! Anyway, while I was there, I got a Del Sol Polish that changes color in the sun! :) I will be posting about that hopefully sometime tomorrow. But later today I will be posting a manicure in honor of my going to the midnight premier of Disney Pixar's Cars 2!!! SO pumped for this!! Be looking out for that post! :D

NOTD: Mermaid's Tears

For this mani, I started with OPI Mermaid's Tears then layered OPI Silver Shatter. Then I added some dark blue, light blue, and teal rhinestones on my thumbs and ring fingers to look like bubbles :) enjoy!

 Here is a close-up:

NOTD: Darling Daisies

So this one was inspired by the fact that it is now June and it is still pouring rain where I live (which is highly unusual) and I'm getting fairly pissed off about it! So this manicure reflects what I wish the weather was like :) enjoy!

I started With OPI Planks A Lot (two coats) then free-hand painted the daisies with China Glaze White on White. Just as a side note, I LOVE this new purple polish!!! The formula is great as is the standard for OPI polishes, and there are so many things you can do with this perfect hue of purple! Back to the manicure; the yellow centers are ULTA Sun-Sational and the silver accent dots are Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear: Celeb City!

NOTD: Roll the Dice

Ok so the two photos below are my right, and then my left hand. The white is Essie Waltz, the red is ULTA Red Carpet Red and the black is Sinful Colors Black on Black. Then I added black and clear rhinestones in different arrangements to look like numbers on dice! :) enjoy!