NOTD: Funky Flip Flops (Picture Heavy)

Hello again everybody! Today's manicure was inspired by the fact that I just got the 2012 set of stamping plates from Bundle Monster and wanted to try one out (I chose the flip flops pattern) and by the fact that I wanted to try out this new dry "water marbling" technique I've being hearing/seeing so much of recently. So, without further ado, today's post. enjoy :)

Ok, so for my pointer, middle, and pinky fingers, I started out with two coats of Sally Hansen Ivy League. Then I sponged on Revlon Ocean from the middle to the tip, then Zoya Tallulah at the tips. Then I stamped on the flip flops pattern from stamping plate BM309 with OPI Alpine Snow.

Now for my accent nails (ring fingers and thumbs). I started with one coat of OPI Alpine Snow as a base and let that dry completely. Then I started the dry "water marbling" technique. I put another--relatively thick--coat of OPI Alpine Snow, then while that was still wet I painted diagonal stripes of Sally Hansen Ivy League, Revlon Ocean, and Zoya Tallulah. Then I dragged a toothpick through the wet polish, and voila! I think it turned out pretty cool for my first attempt :) Let me know what you think in the reactions boxes and/or comment section below!

Thanks for stopping by!! <3

Senior Ball Nails 2012

Hello everybody! I am so sorry, I totally forgot to post the Senior Ball manicures that I promised you all. I did custom acrylics for my sister and her friend. We designed the tips to match their dates' garters. I hope you like them! enjoy :)


First, here is a picture of my sister and her ball date:

Ahh!! so cute! :D And just for fun, here's another picture from Saturday night of my sister getting a smooch on the cheek from yours truly ;)

Okay, I guess it's time to give you some nail art. The purple color I used for this manicure is A-England Avalon, and the white (used for stamping) is OPI Alpine Snow. I used the stamping plate m57 for the lace and the flower.

Next up, is my sister's best friend Hayley. First, here's a picture of her with her ball date :)

I love these two! <3 Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of her date's garter that we matched her nails to, but it had white lace, turquoise ribbon, and hot pink flowers :) so cute!! We also neglected to take pictures of Hayley's nails until they were all trying to get out the door to go to their other friend's house to take more pictures haha so these photos aren't the best, but I'll show them to you anyway. 

The turquoise color I used here is Zoya Tallulah. I used the same stamping plate for the lace as I did for my sister's manicure. I used a dotting tool for the little pink flowers with Essie Watermelon, and I added a dot of A-England Merlin to the center of the smaller flower. I also added China Glaze Fairy Dust for a little extra sparkle :). 

And here is a close-up. Granted, it is a little blurry, I apologize, but you get the idea...

Alright! Well that's all for today lovely readers! Thanks so much for stopping by to check out this post! <3

Swatches: Part of the OPI Nicki Minaj Collection

Okay, so I am very excited to be creating this post for you all because, though I know that the OPI Nicki Minaj Collection has been out for quite some time now, I have finally gotten my hands on the four colors from this collection that I was really dying to try out! :) So here you go, this is going to be a pretty long and pretty photo-heavy post, so if you're not interested, I apologize, I will try to put up something more interesting for you all this weekend. But if you were thinking about buying any of these colors, I hope this post is useful in helping you make your decisions! I have for you Metallic 4 Life, Fly, Did It On 'Em, and Pink Friday. enjoy :)

So first off we have Metallic 4 Life. This polish is many different sizes of silver glitter suspended in a black jelly base. In the pictures below, I used two coats of this polish.

However, I think it would have been easier to paint my nails black first, then layer this polish on top.

So I'm not in love with this polish. It's cool and pretty unique, but it was very difficult to work with. If you are not patient with your polish application or you don't have much time to do your manicure, this is not the color for you. Not only do you have to be patient to get an even and opaque finished product, but you also need to work somewhat quickly as the polish gets gluey, clumpy, and thick really fast both on the nail and at the edge of the bottle. As is with many glitter polishes, it chips and peels off easily. :/

Next, we have Fly. Now this color I absolutely ADORE!! I cannot get enough of this beautiful deep, dark, turquoise creme polish! So without further ado, here are several pictures of this polish at different angles and in different lights so you can see this color in all of its glory! :) I used two coats of this color.

Next, we have Did It On 'Em. This polish is a bright, neon, yellow-green. I thought it looked weird with my skin tone at first, but then it kind of grew on me :) I used three coats of this color because this polish had a much thinner formula than most of OPI's polishes.

Last but not least, we have Pink Friday. This polish is a lovely light rosy, salmony, bubblegumy pink creme! :) I used two coats of this color.

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful friday! <3

31 Day Nail Challenge: Day 22 (Inspired by a Song)

Hello again! I spent a lot of time going through all of my music trying to find a song that could inspire a manicure. I decided to take the suggestion of one of my cousins and attack "Yellow Submarine" by The Beatles. I was nervous at first because I am not the best at freehand artwork, but I think this came out pretty cute. Let me know what you think! enjoy :)

Maybe you could listen to the song while you check out the pictures eh? ;)

Here are the colors I used. From left to right: ULTA Blue Streak, ULTA Limelight, ULTA Sun-Sational, China Glaze Urban-Night, Konad light blue stamping polish, China Glaze Turned UP Turquoise (Neon), Essie Brazilliant, Essie Mesmerized, Essie Watermelon and black and white acrylic paints.

I started Essie Mesmerized and freehand painted some ULTA Blue Streak squiggly lines to look like water. Then I painted the silhouettes of all of the fish, the jellyfish and the submarine with white acrylic paint so that the lighter and brighter colors would show (the details would not be as clear if I painted them directly on top of the blue). I used the Konad polish to make bubbles, and the rest of the colors to add some life to my white silhouettes :) Thanks to my cousin Melissa for the great idea!

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: 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/

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: