Summer Neon Gradient and Watermarble

I don't know where you guys are but I live in MA and man, it's been a cold spring! I keep waiting and waiting for that warm weather to no avail. But I think we may have finally gotten past the road block!

Summer is finally here and with the warm weather comes neon nail polish. I don't know what it is about neon polish that just makes you feel so summery but I absolutely love it!

I started with a base of Essie Blanc so my colors would really pop. Then I created the gradient using China Glaze Pool Party and Orly Highlighter. When that dried I created the watermarble over it using Essie Blanc and Maybelline Color Show Clear. I top coated them with Essie Good To Go and just because I love mattifying neons I added NYC Matte Me Crazy over everything. LOVE! 

Oh summer how I've missed you so! Please never leave again okay??? 

What's your favorite season?

Thanks loves :) 

Moon spikes

It's moon time!! Again!

I loved my half moon manicure so much from Valentine's Day I just had to do another! This time I grabbed some neons and went to work!

I started with a base of Essie Blanc and waited for it to dry. When it was dry I taped off my nails and added a hole reinforcer sticker to create the moons. Then I sponged over it using China Glaze Pool Party and China Glaze Orange Knockout. I took some white acrylic paint to create the spikes and black acrylic paint for the dots. I sealed everything in with some Poshe top coat and the design was finished.

I love the unconventional look of the spike-y half moons and the black really stands out against the neons! Watch out for some more fun moons on this blog soon to come! ;)

Thanks loves :) 

From the vault: Starburst Watermarble

Eeeeeeek my nails are NEKKID!!!!

I haven't painted my nails in almost a week! The horror right?! Lately I've been working on a project to improve my nail painting area, I bought my very first melmers from Michael's woohoo!! But you know I can't leave well enough alone and I had to Mod Podge the front with some pretty chevron paper and add some pink glitter and then when that was all done I had to completely reorganize my work area! It's still not finished but I'm hoping to put the final touches on tonight so I can finally get back to polishing! Don't worry I'll make sure to post some pictures too ;) 

So for now I had to pull out a manicure I did a while back, I'm surprised I didn't post it because I actually loved this design. I tried out my very first starburst water marble and even though it took me like 3 hours, I'm so happy with the way it turned out :) 

Since this was a while ago and you know I didn't write down what polishes I used I'm going to do my best to remember... if I get it wrong you can't yell at me though!! I started with a base of Azature White and then taped off around my fingers for easy clean up. When that was dry I created my marble using Maybelline Color Show Navy Narcissist, Maybelline Color Show Orange Fix, and Sally Hansen Hard Lemonade. I took the tape off, cleaned up, and added Color Club Snowflakes, a flaky iridescent topper, and put on some Poshe top coat over that to seal in the design. :) 

I think I wore this design for like five days! I really loved how unique it looked and the color combination is one that I don't usually wear. Actually the only reason I used these colors is because they all spread really well in water which made the marbling easier. I had to go through 6 or 7 polished until I finally found these ones :) I believe my original color combination was going to be using the Color Club Halo Hues but they just didn't want to work with me that day! Grrrrrrr ;) 

What do you think? Have you ever tried a starburst water marble? I forget which tutorial I used but there is plenty online so look it up and give it a go! 

Thanks loves :) 

Neon outlines

Neons! And some more neons! 

Because eff-you winter that's why ;) 

Those winter blues keep trying to drag me down but I've been using neon polishes to fight them off and so far I'm succeeding! Neon outlined nails have been on my to-do list for about forever... and I'm not sure if these are a fail or not quite yet so let's see what you guys think :) 

I started with a base of Wet n Wild Black Creme. When that was dry I outlined with OPI Alpine Snow first so the neons would pop. Looking back now I probably should have outlined with some white acrylic paint because it wouldn't have been so thick, ehhh oh well. Then I used China Glaze Pool Party, China Glaze Orange Knockout, Orly Highlighter, and China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard to finish the outlines. I used some Poshe for top coat and the design was finished. 

I really liked the idea of these nails, and I have to say I got quite a few compliments on them but I just wasn't happy with them. I had to do some back painting with the black to get the outlines nice and thin and it just made them too thick right near the edges -_- Not even top coat could smooth it out. *sigh* I suppose I'll just have to be more careful next time. 

What do you guys think? Fail or not?
Thanks loves :) 

Pumpkin gradient-ed claws

Hello pumpkins!

Speaking of pumpkins... Halloween is never complete without at least one pumpkin manicure am I right?! I'm hoping to be able to create one or so more pumpkin manicure before the hallows-eve is upon us ;) 

But let's talk about this one shall we? 

I started off with a base of Wet'n'Wild Black Creme. When that was dry I taped off triangles in the middle of my nail and did one coat of Azature White. Then I sponged a gradient over that using China Glaze Bizarre Blurple and Orange Knockout. I drew the pumpkins on using acrylic paint. A little Poshe top coat and it was finished! 

Look at me getting all creative and stuff with my pictures! ;) 

And here's a bonus 'before' picture right before the pumpkins were painted on :) I love this "claw" look!

What do you think? Do you love Halloween? What's your favorite part??

And don't forget guys my One-Year Birthday Bash Multi-Blogger GIVEAWAY is ending SOON! Make sure you get your entries in!!!! Just click the link above :) 

Thanks loves!

Mish Mash Challenge: Rainbow

Happy Wednesday lovelies!

I'm sure you all know by now that Wednesday means mish mash challenges! Today's theme is rainbow and I was so excited because there's so many different possibilities with this prompt. Unfortunately I was having one of "those" days yesterday, you know, the days where nothing you paint on your nails comes out right, when you can't even paint your nails properly. UGH! I was so frustrated yesterday, I usually do between 3-5 designs on Tuesdays because it is my day off but I only managed to get this design finished before I just gave up    -_-

Well, oh well! At least I got something halfway decent for these :) 

I started with a base of OPI Bubble Bath for a base on all of my nails. Then I painted the drips and chevrons with acrylic paints. I top coated with Poshe and was finally done!

I know I could have executed these so much better, but I am still quite happy with the way they came out. I've been wanting to try rainbow drips for a while now so at least I can check that off my bucket list ;) 

Don't forget to check out what everyone else did for today's rainbow prompt! 

Thanks cupcakes :) 

SPLAT!

Hello cupcakes!

I've got a super fun manicure for you guys today. A little while back I did some nails for the Mish Mash challenge that I'm participating it. The theme was a nail art technique you've never tried before. I decided to try some water spotted nails, and while frustrating, the effect was pretty cool. The design I did for the challenge was turquoise nails... and while I was doing these I came up with a new idea. What about some neon water spotted nails??

I started off with a base of Azature White. When that was dry I taped off my nails and used the water spotted technique that I mentioned in my previous post using China Glaze Pool Party, China Glaze Orange Knockout, China Glaze Sun-Kissed, China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard, and Nina Ultra Pro Blue Blaze. And finally I top coated with Poshe. 

And just because I love it, I mattified the mani with NYC Matte Me Crazy.

I was afraid at first that the colors would get all muddy and blend together but I was so happy to find that they didn't. I love how bright it turned out and surprisingly it really didn't take me too long... probably around an hour and a half from start to finish. 

What do you guys think?

Groooovy man

Hi dolls

I'm back again for some more water marbling torture ;) I see a lot of gorgeous water marble designs using neon rainbow colors and just knew that I needed to try it. I'm glad China Glaze polishes are so good for marbling because almost all of my neon colors are from them! Now let's get this mani done shall we?! ;) 

I started with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. A perfect muted white that I use under all of my neons to really make them pop :) The I used China Glaze Pool Party, Orange Knockout, Orly Highlighter, and Nina Ultra Pro Blue Blaze for the marbling colors and did a flower-ish design on my middle, ring, and thumb. On my index I did two coats of China Glaze Pool Party and on my pinky I did two coats of Orly Highlighter. Seal it it with a great top coat and you're all done! 

UGH! I wish my camera didn't hate neons -_- I tried to color correct these and China Glaze Pool Party just refused to look color accurate! It much more pink and neon then my photos show. But despite my camera having a fit I really loved the way these turned out. They were super bright and have a certain 70's feel to them don't ya think? ;)

Groooovy dude B)

Mish Mash Challenge: Taping

Hi chickies!

It's time for another challenge day in the Mish Mash Challenge hosted by Kimbers Lacquer Korner! Today's theme is taping. I have a very love hate relationship with taping, striping tape to be more specific... I absolutely love the effect it can give but really hate cutting all those stupid little pieces! They always find a way to get stuck all over me -_- But I wanted to do something really cool for this challenge so I sucked it up and cut 2673857489 little pieces of tape.

I'm not sure where this design idea came from, it actually wasn't my first idea but I couldn't quite get that one to work out without swearing profusely! So I just kind of stuck some tape on my nails until I had something I remotely liked ;) 

To start this design I painted all of my nails with two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and then two coats of China Glaze Orange Knockout on top of that. Once my nails were dry (I used some Poshe top coat to speed up drying time ;) ) I put the vertical pieces of tape on my nails. I put one piece horizontally to make the cut off line nice and clean. I painted over the tape with Lime Crime Peaches <3 Cream and pulled the tape off. When that was dry I put the horizontal pieces of tape on and painted over those pieces with the same polish. After I pulled the tape off I did some touch ups with a striping brush, top coated everything with Poshe and I was done! 

I really quite like how the final result looks! It was a little time consuming but I definitely think it was worth it. What do you guys think? Do you use striping tape? Is there an easier way to cut all those pieces because I don't think I can handle the nightmares!! ;) 

Thanks guys and don't forget to check out everyone else's taping nails! I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with :) 

Rainbow gradient love

Hello loves

I've been on a neon kick lately... not sure what it is about summer and neons that just go so well together but hey don't let me question a good thing! I think it's because summer is just so bright and fun, and that's exactly what neons are. I don't think I can wear a neon and not smile because they are just so striking and attention grabbing. I may just wear a neon every day of my life... except that would probably be pretty boring for you guys ;) But I'll most definitely sneak some in every once in a while, like this super bright neon rainbow gradient!

You can't see the whole rainbow in the first picture because I have the red/pink to orange on my thumb so use your imagination! ;) 

To start of these bright babies I did two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. I don't think I can praise this polish enough seriously everyone needs to own this one! :) Then I used two polishes for each finger:

-Thumb: China Glaze Pool Party / China Glaze Orange Knockout

- Pointer: China Glaze Orange Knockout / China Glaze Sun-Kissed

- Middle: China Glaze Sun-Kissed / China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard 

- Ring: China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard / Nina Ultra Pro Blue Blaze

- Pinky: Nina Ultra Pro Blue Blaze / China Glaze Flying Dragon

... Me thinks someone like China Glaze... A LOT ;)

Anyways to do this gradient I paint both colors in vertical lines slightly overlapping on a makeup sponge. Be careful on the order you paint them though because you want the rainbow to be in the right order. I learned this the hard way... apparently I paint my nails with my eyes closed -_- Then I tape around my nails because ain't nobody got time for that clean up mess ;) When they're taped of I lightly dab the sponge on my nails, I go over it 4-5 times on each nail to get a real saturated and seamless gradient. Top it off with a good top coat like Poshe and it will blend the colors even more! 

And because mattifying neons is my favorite thing to do lately I had to sneak at least one of those pictures in here. This is after once coat of NYC Matte Me Crazy, my one and only matte top coat ;) 

Just look at that chalky goodness! Which way do you prefer? I'm a matte girl all the way but I still love me a good shiny and smooth nail. I wish the colors showed up more vibrant though, oh is the woes of photographing neons. My camera refuses to make them the bright and beautiful colors that they are. I tried fixing them up in Photoshop but nothing I did did them any justice so I'm stuck with slightly less bright neon-y-ness. *Sigh*

How do you feel about neons? Yay or no way?

Thanks chickies! 

Smile a little smile

Good morning everyone!

So I'm thinking that this little blog is suffering from the winter blues. Too much cold and dark colors and all that. How about we brighten up this corner of the internet today? I think we all need a little smile so take it from me! :) 

Colors used:
- China Glaze Bend Over Backwards
- China Glaze Sun-Kissed
- L.A Colors striping polish in Black

I actually had a different idea for this mani but that particular stamp didn't want to cooperate with me -_- But whats better then some good old smiley faces? I'm enjoying wearing these a lot because they make me smile every time I look at them! 

In other news, I lost the corner of my middle nail O.O The horror!! I'm trying to avoid filing them down because they are so pretty but I may have to soon. I don't think it's too noticeable do you guys?

So what do you think? Did you smile today? Make sure you pass it on! :) 

Thanks for reading guys!