Looking Brighter

Sorry I've been gone for a while guys, just sort of lost my way for a while.  Life was getting complicated and some adjustments had to be made but it seems to be looking brighter now.  I've been able to get back into the swing of things and hopefully will be able to post regularly again which I am excited about!  For today I have a bright look featuring China Glaze Flying Dragon and Aqua Baby. I love the way these two look together!

Added blue tips and matte topcoat.  Which look is your favorite?

St. Paddy's Day Dotticure

Kind of in love with how this one turned out.  This wasn't exactly what I had in my head when jotting down ideas but once I started this is what happened and I am pleased with the result. Base is Zoya Snow White with dots in Starbord from China Glaze and Zoya Jancyn.  These dotting tools are a great way to get starting with dotticures!

**This post contains affiliate links, this means if you order through these links, I may receive a portion of the sale at no additional cost to you. 

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?

Inspired by...a pillow?

Today's theme for the 33 Day Challenge is "a pattern in your home".  I had done something like this before with my trashcan nails, so it wasn't much of a stretch to do it again; this time with throw pillows.  I wasn't able to exactly match all the colors (8!) but I'm still pleased with the results.

First off, here is the pillow.

And the results!

Colors used are: OPI My Vampire is Buff

Essie Mochacino 

China Glaze Mahogany Magic and Desert Sun

Butter London Lady Muck

Julep Susie

Zoya Dree

Sally Hansen  Black heart

33 Day Challenge Day 4: Tribal Nails

Tribal nails are something I haven't attempted in the past, so I was a bit nervous about this one.  I opted for just an accent nail but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Essie: Cute as a Button
China Glaze Aqua Baby
L'Oreal The Perfect Trench
Ulta Celebutante
Sally Hansen Black Heart

Let the Challenge Begin! #33DC

The time is finally upon us for the 2013 Crumpet's Nail Tarts 33 Day Challenge!  I am excited about getting back into the swing of things but also a bit apprehensive, hoping I can keep up!  I always love seeing what everyone else comes up with for the themes as well, that is half the fun.  Please don't forget to check out the links below and see what the other participants come up with!  As always, don't hesitate to leave feedback or ask questions!
 Now on to the nails....
Today's theme is Dots.

I had an image in my head of how this would turn out and while it isn't exactly as I had planned, I was satisfied with it nonetheless.  I hoped the two tone dots would "swirl" a bit more (sort of like the middle on the yellow/green finger) but it didn't exactly turn out that way.
I started with a base of Milani White on the Spot, then moved on to the colors.  On my work space, I dropped a drop of Zoya America and Sinful Colors Big Daddy next to each other (touching) and started with one shade, then the other, then dipped my dotting tool in the middle where the two colors met for the middle dots.  on my middle finger is Julep Catrina and China Glaze Starboard, ring finger is Nails Inc Baker Street and OPI Roadhouse Blues.  On my pinkie I had intended to just use a "violet" shade but Zoya Pinta ended up looking almost black so I went back over with dots of L'Oreal Paparazzi Pleaser a bit offset of the others then topped it all off with a coat of Seche.

Dandelions and Roses

Due to my ever-growing pile of yet-to-be-swatched polish, I'm trying not to buy as much lately as I used to. Meaning, I'm trying not to buy an entire collection as soon as it hits the shelves...so far so good...
With the China Glaze Avant Garden collection, there weren't many that spoke to me.  I have been really drawn to white and nude colors lately, so Dandy Lyin' Around ended up being the only one I bought (at least so far).  Formula wise, this one was a little tough for me to work with, I ended up needing three coats and still had some patchy areas. I still love the delicate white shimmer of this polish though...

  Then I added roses from the BM-323 plate and Zoya Lara.  It ended up being perfectly girly and sweet!

New 31 Day Challenge - Day 27

Today's theme is "inspired by you".  If you have read my "About Me" section then you already know I am a nurse 'in real life' so this one really had to be about that.  I started with a base of L'Oreal Walk on the Beach on all but my middle finger which is Sally Hansen Black Heart.

I drew a bandage on my pinky with China Glaze Dress Me Up and outlined with black acrylic paint, stethoscope on ring finger with black acrylic paint then Zoya Lara.  I also painted the 'RN' with Lara then layered white/pink dots around the edges; index finger is Disney Villains polish in Cruella DeVil.  I added a little pink stud from Born Pretty Store to the stethoscope for the diaphragm.

I can't wait to see what everyone else has come up with for this one!

Inspired by a Game

I had a few different ideas for today's theme.  I had intended to go a different direction with this one but this idea came to me at the last minute and I'm glad I went with it!  We used to spend hours as kids playing Tetris on the original Nintendo and thought it was great so these were sort of nostalgic for me.

Index finger to pinky: L'Oreal Paparazzi Pleaser, OPI Did it on Em, China Glaze Aqua Baby, and Sinful Colors Pull Over.  The little studs I bought quite a while back at Born Pretty Store and hadn't had a chance to use yet.  I painted the color on and then a layer of NYC and applied them with a toothpick while the topcoat was still tacky.

Inspired by Nature

There were a lot of ideas for this theme but in the end it had to be feathers.  I have been meaning to try this anyway and now was a good excuse!  I used China Glaze Kalahari Kiss for the base, topped with NYC and added the feather to my middle finger while the topcoat was still tacky then sealed it with a coat of Seche.

Pink and Brown - New 31 Day Challenge

Pink and brown is one of my favorite color combos so I wanted to try to fit it into this challenge somewhere. Today's theme is "merge or melt" so this seemed like the perfect time to try a pink and brown water marble.  I have done a few in the past with various results.  I have finally determined that for me, room temperature bottled water works best.  Some polish works better or reacts differently than others.  I am going to show you an example that happened sort of by accident.  Revlon Hot for Chocolate has become my "go to" dark brown shade.  It is the perfect chocolate shade and works well for stamping so it was my obvious choice for the brown.  I selected China Glaze Designer Satin and OPI Pink Friday for the pink shades.  I started with a base of Pink Friday and then on to the marble.  I had some trouble with the brown spreading too much but tried it anyway on my middle finger.  On a whim I decided to try Zoya Codie in place of Hot for Chocolate....oh what a difference!  On all the other fingers I used Codie instead and you can see the major difference.  The lines are sharper and the colors "pop" more.  I am in LOVE with how this turned out!!

Color Opposites

I must admit that I had to do a quick Google search to get some ideas for this one. My initial thought was black and white, but we have already done that back on day 1. Then I thought maybe yellow and purple...and I ended up with olive and burgundy; not really sure how! Base is Zoya Dree and then I added some simple dots to the tips with China Glaze Loft-y Ambitions.  Very simple but I am still pleased with how it turned out!

Zoya Dree with China Glaze Loft-y Ambitions

Please be sure and check out the other participants as well, they do some amazing work!

Watercolor Nails

This was a technique I had not yet attempted so I was excited to see how it would turn out.  I have seen some tutorials (on Pinterest I think) that used acetone to thin the polish on the nail.  I did mine a bit differently.  I painted on my base (Essie Marshmallow) and let that dry then added a small drop of a color to the nail.  Then I took a small brush dipped in polish thinner and dabbed it on the wet polish to spread the color and repeated the process with the other nails and other colors (Essie Plumberry and Luxedo and China Glaze Aqua Baby). I am sure I will be trying this with other colors!

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. :)

Splatter Nails Revisited

I have done one other splatter mani in the past which you can find here, it is a very messy process so this time I decided to just do an accent nail.  I used China Glaze Dance Baby as the base color on all nails.  Then using the same technique I used the first time, I applied black, silver, and white to my ring finger.  I actually really like the way this turned out!

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!

Marble Nails

Today's theme is "saran wrap nails".  This is a new technique to me, I had seen it before but hadn't tried it yet.  I started with a base of Sinful Colors Black on Black.  Once it was dry I put some random dots of China Glaze Admire and Cherish.  The tutorials I read said to ball up the plastic and dab it on the nail to remove some of the polish.  I started with that technique but found that if I just pressed the plastic to the nail and peeled it off it worked better for me.  I applied one coat of NYC Grand Central Station as a topcoat.

Then I applied a coat of NYC Matte me Crazy.  I think I like the matte look better for this one, what do ya'll think?

Neutral Ombre

Brown is probably one of my favorite colors overall so it was an easy choice for today's theme.  Colors used  are (from thumb to pinky) Zoya Codie, OPI I Break for Manicures, China Glaze Foie Gras, Orly Faint of Heart, and Essie Sand Tropez.  I am really pleased with how this turned out, I think the colors flow nicely from one to the next.

Don't forget to check out what the other ladies have come up with!