Festival Of Lights

 Today's theme is "Festival Of Lights" I've been looking forward to this one because I've been wanting to try our the string lights nail art. I wanted it to look like light strung up outside so I started with a white base.

I started with 2 coats of China Glaze 'White On White" the first coat was a bit streaky, but the second coat evened it all out. I wanted to make it look a little more like snow, so....

I added 2 coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri "In A Flash" which gave my nails a bit of a frosty look, which I felt gave it the perfect look.

   

 After I added a quick dry coat to the base, I used a nail art pen to create the black lines which is the "string" part of the lights.

 Then using a dotting tool I added the colors randomly to each nail. At first I thought it looked to crowded, but then I realized that's how it should look :)

 The colors I used are: China Glaze 'Dorothy Who?'

 China Glaze 'Ruby Pumps'

  

 China Glaze 'Running In Circles'

 Wet N Wild '9.0.2.1.Orange'

 and Wet N Wild 'The Gold & The Beautiful"

I really like how it turned out and I next time I'll try and space out the "lights' a little more and see how that turns out.

Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think and don't forget to check out the other ladies below :)

Oh and I have some awesome polishes set aside for my next giveaway (which will be when I reach 600 followers)

Candy Canes

Today's theme is gingerbread and candy canes, I didn't have any stamping plates with gingerbread men so I decided to just do candy cane striped nails. I'm sure a lot of people did it so it's not that original, but I think my colors might make my nails stand out a little from the rest of the crowd.

 

 I started off with 2 coats of  Sally Hansen "Ivory Skull"

 

 I then applied about 5-6 pieces of striping tape on each nail and applied two thin coats of O.P.I. "The Spy Who Loved Me" on my pointer, middle, and pinkie nails. I really like this red because of the beautiful shimmer in the the polish.

 The color is a little off, but you can see the shimmer on the left side of the nail. It's more visible in real life. 

 

 I the used 2 thin coats of one of my favorite greens China Glaze "I'm With The Lifeguard" on my thumb, and ring finger. I switched the direction of the tape on my ring finger, just because. and my right hand is the opposite direction.

 

 I know that it's a little sloppy, but I have excuses lol. I ended up doing this mani last night and nothing wanted to go right. First, my left hand slipped at some point and somehow I broke my ring finger nail (but I guess it is ok because now it's the same length as the rest of my nails.) An odd thing about me is I HATE clipping my nails just because one breaks. So most of the time my nails are all different lengths, but I just can't do it. As of right now all of my nails are somewhat the same length as all the others.

 

 Anyways, I think that the neon green kinda makes my mani a little different then the usual candy cane look.

 

 I hurried to add top coat since it was getting really late and I needed to go to bed so I got a bit of streaking. Not very noticeable from a far lol.

 

 So these are my candy cane nails, which also happens to be one of the things I actually like about the holidays, and each year then come out with even more flavors :)

 

Thanks for reading and check out the other ladies below!!

 

 

 

Snowflakes and Snowfall

So this is the start of a new challenge. I'm looking forward to this one since it's only twice a week instead of every day. It was set up by Crumpet's Nail Tarts, a facebook group that I just recently joined. If you want to join in on the challenge, just request to join the group! I was so excited that I did this mani a couple of days ago :)

 

Here is the schedule for the challenge:

 When I saw snowflakes, I knew exactly what I was going to do.

 

 I started out with 2 coats of O.P.I. "DS Magic" It is a beautiful blue and I found myself staring at my nails because it is very eye catching. I got a few compliment (including from my boss, who's male) on my nails too.

 

 The formula was perfect and it applied great. You can kinda see more of a purple flash on the ring finger, that was from me applying a coat of Max Factor "Fantasy Fire" but I didn't like it so I covered it up.

 

 China Glaze "Make A Spectacle" reminded me of snow, even though it was from the Halloween collection this year. I did 2 coats on my ring fingers for an accent.

 

 

 Then using Sally Hansen Insta-Dri "Silver Sweep" and stamping plates RA-119 and BM-323 I applied pretty pretty snowflakes on my nails. I was so happy that it turned out how I pictured it in my head.

 

 

 I've tried stamping in the past with mixed results, but I finally realized that it's all in the polish you use. I guess the Insta-Dri polishes are great for stamping.

 

Well that's my Snowflake nails. Make sure to check out the other girls nails and thanks for reading!

 

 

Snake Inspired

Today I have mani to how you that I did awhile go. It was inspired by a picture of a snake I found on pintrest. I like how it turned out, and I plan on trying it again soon because I think I can do better.

First off here is my inspiration:

Source: tropicalherping.com via Raeven on Pinterest

 

Such a pretty color combo. Every time I look at this picture I also laugh a little to myself because he (or she) kinda looks like their smiling :) It's all in the eyes lol.

 

I forgot to take a picture of the base color, but It was just a fleshy color. Is fleshy even a word??? Oh, well it is now!

 The base color is Revlon "Bare Bones"

 

 Over that I did 2 (or 3) coats, I can't totally remember, of Nicole by O.PI. "Yellow It's Me" It is a sheer yellow, with and orange shimmer. I think it's really pretty and that says a lot because I really don't care for yellows. I pretty much only got it because I thought it was different than anything I already had.

 

 I think this polish worked great for this design. Almost perfectly :)

 

 Next I used China Glaze "Riveting" (which is one of my favorite polishes) and sponged it on over YIM.

 

 Lastly, I used a a awesome black nail art pen I got at some cheap accessory store at the mall.

 

 The cool thing about this thing is you can take the little plastic cap off and it's a very fine point and you have to squeeze the bottle, or you can take the whole top off and use it as a striper. For $2.00 each I think it was an awesome find. I bought most of the colors they had.

 

 I like how this turned out and I think next time I do it, it will be much better.

 

 I feel like I really captured the coloring of the snake, and it kinda makes me think of a tiger.

 

 Since it was the first time using the nail art pen it took a little getting use to.

All in all I'm happy with how it turned out.

 

Do you think this looks similar to the source picture? What do you think?

 

Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out my 400 follower giveaway!!

Neons In Winter

Before I get into the post I want to do some house cleaning :)

 

First, I want to say congrats to Christine R. for winning my 300 follower giveaway!!!

 

Second, If you haven't entered my 400 follower giveaway yet please enter here

 

Third, If you haven't checked out my blog sale yet please do so... Blog Sale

 

Ok I think that's it... Now on to the mani of the day.

 

I know that it's winter, and neons are not really wintery, but I think you can wear any polish at any time. Neons are always fun :)

 

 I started out with 2 coats of China Glaze "I'm With The Lifeguard" I LOVE this green. It is one of my favorite greens, and one of my favorite polishes. The formula is awesome, the color is beautiful, and it's China Glaze. I don't know why but I think CG is my favorite brand, I have more then any other brand in my collection.

 

 Using tape I taped off half my nail diagonally, and applied 2 coats of China Glaze "Pool Party" This is another awesome polish. I love the color and the formula was great with this one too.

 

 I forgot to press on the tape before applying "Pool Party" which is why the lines are totally crisp, but I still love this combination.

 

 This will brighten up any depressing winter day :)

 

 

 I can never leave good enough alone, so I added a coat of  Color Club "Diamond Drops"

 

This polish was ok, the formula is like any other polish similar with larger "glitter" pieces. There was a little fishing involved, and I couldn't get it smooth enough for my liking. I hate it when little pieces stick up, because I tend to pick at it.

 

 All in all I think this was an awesome mani. I think I may have to do some more neons soon.

 

Well that's it for today. What do you think about wearing colors "out of season"? Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend.