Don't Be a Flake!

I picked up a couple of the new China Glaze polishes at Sally's the other day and couldn't wait to play!  Here is the look I came up with for Don't Be A Flake.

Other colors used, OPI My Vampire is Buff, Nicole by OPI It Starts with Me, Essie In the cab-ana, Julep Princess Grace and Sally Hansen Black Heart.  All topped with Glisten & Glow HK Girl topcoat.

If you don't already, be sure and follow me on Instagram, sometimes I post mani pics there that don't make it to the blog for whatever reason!

Mardi Gras Nails

My computer is being super slow tonight so this is going to be a quick post since I have to get up far earlier than I want to...
A few different techniques used here for this years Mardi Gras nails.  What do you guys think? Do you do "theme" nails or opt for a more "traditional" look?

Happy Valentines Day

A couple of different looks for you all tonight, hope everyone had a great Valentines Day spent with someone you love.

What has been your favorite look this week?

Sweet Valentine's Nail Art

Something a bit more traditional today when it comes to Valentine's day.  The stamping on my index finger is not as clear as I would have liked but I just didn't have the time to redo it.

Stay tuned to see what else is in store for Valentine's nail art. 

Black and White Damask Nails

**This post contains affiliate links which means if you click those links and make any purchases, I may receive a small percentage at no extra cost to you.**

I am in love with the classy look of damask print.  I have small touches of it allover my "office".  When I ordered the Pueen plates a while back, I didn't even realize this was one of the images!  

Base Color: Zoya Purity
Stamp Color: Zoya Black Swan
Image Plate: Pueen 44

What do you think of this look? Any other color combo suggestions??

Snow Day!!

I had another snow day today!  While I often feel overwhelmed with work, I am very thankful to be working for a company that puts the safety of their employees first.  

Since I had an unexpected day off, I had some time to do my nails and try out some new polish.  I also purchased some stamping plates before Christmas and have not had much of a chance to play with them either so today was the day! 

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud on all except my middle finger.  My bottle seems a bit wattery so I actually used 3-4 thin coats then topped it with Seche Vite.  My middle finger is 3 thin coats of Julep Love from the February box.  I used Pueen plate 35 for the design on my ring finger with nails inc. victoria for the stamp color.  Finally, I added some studs from Born Pretty Store that I painted with victoria so they would blend in with the look.

Let it Snow

This is the last mani I did right before vacation, please ignore the super-dry hands!

Base pink is Essie Figi, accent base is Essence Grey-t to be here. Stamped with Zoya Kimber and Carly.

DIY Pumpkin Decal

Today's challenge post is to follow a tutorial.  I have been wanting to try the stamp method for creating decals for some time as seen here on Messy Mansion.  I used Cult Joshua Tree for the base color with Deborah Lippmann Diamonds and Pearls over the top.

 For the decal I used Bundle Monster plate BM-H11 and black for the outline then infilled with essence Wake Up! and L'Oreal Safari Chic

 Then I messed it all up with the topcoat! I should know better, but I used a topcoat from Ulta and as you can see, it smeared the design everywhere!  Well, at least I know better now!.

33 Day Challenge- Day 18 - 2 Patterns

For today's theme, I did a "double accent nail".  My middle and ring fingers started with a base of Zoya Kristen, then I added some striping tape and painted on Sally Hansen Black Heart and a topcoat.  For all the rest, I used a base of Essie Raise Awareness and once dry stamped with Black Heart and Pueen plate 26.

Absolutely Peacock

Today's challenge theme is "animals".  My most popular pin on Pinterest thus far has been my giraffe nails from my first ever challenge.  I seriously considered doing something similar for this one with a different colors but decided I wanted to do something different and finally settled on a peacock theme.  I started with a base of China Glaze Aqua Baby then layered on OPI Absolutely Alice then topped it with a coat of Seche to help it dry a bit faster.  Once dry, I stamped the peacock image from the original Bundle Monster BM15 plate using Salon Perfect Liquid Gold on my middle finger and used one of the images from the BM-212 plate for all the other fingers.  Then I went back with Zoya Carly and Meg and a dotting tool to add accents to the middle of the main design and the tail feathers on the peacock and topped with a final coat of Seche.

I am so in love with how this turned out!!  Definitely my favorite in this challenge so far and possibly my favorite of all time. 

Happy Independence Day!

Finally have something new to post! Starting to ease into the job a bit more now so hope to be able to pick back up a regular posting schedule soon!  Hope all my U.S. readers have a safe and happy holiday!

Tropical Nails

My nails have suffered as of late as a result of changing jobs which completely altered my schedule (in a good way though!)  Loving the new job, still getting used to the schedule!  Anyway, quick post with some nails from a couple weeks back, hope to get back on track again soon!

Inspired by a Pinterest Find

I have been spending more time on Pinterest lately than I probably should....it is so addictive!  I had stumbled across this pin a while back and thought it was amazing but never had the time to try it out until today!  Credit for this design goes to A Girl and Her Polish, the original post can be seen here, while you are there check out the rest of her super-amazing blog!

 For the base of mine, I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Ion the stamped with Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Black Heart.  Red dots are Nails Inc. Charing Cross. Such a fun design!

Favorite Technique

This one is going to be short and sweet since I'm already so late in the day.  I suppose my favorite technique is stamping because there are so many options.  My new Gals plates came today so this design is from the GA35 plate.

Base: Zoya Storm
Stamp Color: Essie Loophole
Plate: Gals GA35

New 31 DC - Day 29 Inspired by a Blogger

Today's theme is "Inspired by A Blogger"...that is a daunting challenge!  There are so many amazing nail blogs out there that finding one was a very difficult task!  I finally settled on this one by Polish Art Addiction. Leslie is an AMAZING artist, the things that girl can do with nails is crazy!  If you don't follow her blog, you should!  I recreated this look using Zoya Rekah for the red, Purity for the white which I then taped off with various pieces of striping tape and painted over with black.  The lips are from Bundle Monster BM02.  I actually used Orly Grave Mistake to stamp with because it gives a good result, but as you can see still does not cover the black.  I don't wear a lot of red polish but for some reason, I really like the way this turned out!

Inspired by Favorite Color - New 31DC

 Picking a favorite color for this was really an easy decision for me; it had to be pink.  Picking the shade of pink and other details...not so much.  I think I redid this one about four times before I was finally happy with it.  Base color is Cult Nails Devious Nature, accent nail is Butter LONDON Rosie Lee.  I think this is in my top 10 favorites!

What a Hoot!

As you probably already know, today's theme is "stamping".  I have a few sets of stamping plates...several with the plastic still on them that I haven't gotten around to trying out yet...and a new set on the way.  I had a bit of trouble deciding what to use for this one!  I had a few set aside and ended up picking Bundle Monster BM 309.  Then I just had to pick a color "theme"!  I have had L'Oreal The Perfect Trench for a while as well and had not had a chance to use it either and this proved to be a perfect combo!  I started with two coats of it and a coat of Seche to help it dry quick.  I used Revlon Hot for Chocolate, China Glaze Street Racing and Westside Warrior for the stamping colors.  Ring finger design is from plate BM 322.
I have found for me that NYC Grand Central Station works best for a final topcoat after stamping, no smearing my design!

I love how this turned out but it was unbelievably difficult to get a decent picture of for some reason!  Sorry about that! :(

Cheerful in Blue

Today's theme is "cheer yourself up".  I have had a particularly crummy weekend so this was a perfect time for this mani I guess.  When I started trying to think of what might cheer me up though all I could think of was glitter.  I ended up with a very simple mani with just China Glaze Dorothy Who? but what is more cheerful than a perfectly glossy sparkly mani?!

Also, today is my birthday and since I love good cupcakes, I added a small silver cupcake to one nail. :)

Tape Mani

 I wanted to do something much more detailed for today's post but it just didn't work out.  This is going to be a very short post since it is so late in the day.  Base for this one is Zoya Kristen stamped using Cheeky plate CH7 and Julep Helena.  I then taped off the corners and applied Helena to the tips and sealed it all with NYC.

Geometric Nails - New 31DC Day 10

I thought I knew want I wanted to do for this look but as usual changed my mind at the last minute; that has been happening a lot lately!  Base color on this is OPI Siberian Nights, a luscious deep vampy blackened plum that I LOVE.  Then I stamped it with random patterns using China Glaze Emotion.

Can't wait to see what everyone else has done for this challenge, check them out below!