Monday, October 29, 2012

Calling All Lazy Nail Bloggers!!



Have you ever been tempted to join a challenge but said to yourself, "Ugh, posting every day for 30/31 days? I just don't think I could do that!" Well, never fear, The Lazy 15 is here! Starting Nov 2nd we will be starting a challenge that only includes 15 manis and is only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday! If you often feel intimidated by the art of others this will be perfect for you as well because most of us haven't tried at least a few of these! We still welcome the experienced artists as well, the more the merrier!

If you're interested, just grab this inlinkz code and paste it into your blog or you can also wait and grab the inlinkz code on the first challenge day! I really hope you all give it a try and join us, it's going to be a blast!!!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Grey and Magenta Glitter Gradient

 HAPPY FRIDAY!!!! Finally, it's here!! I heart today's mani so much!! I've been wanting to do a glitter gradient for a loooong time and here it is! The base is two coats of China Glaze Concrete Catwalk. On top of that I painted a gradient of G-listen To Your Heart from Sephora by OPI.
 
Now, some of you may be saying, wow, that looks a little thick! It is! The whole time I was putting this on I was saying to myself, "I KNOW there's a better way to do this!" but, for the life of me, I could not remember!! It wasn't until after I was done that I asked my Tweeps for advice and, of course, they came through! You're supposed to sponge the glitter on so that the sponge soaks up most of the clear coat and only glitter is applied to the nail - DUH! Oh well, I still think it looks pretty stinkin' sweet! The other weird thing was that even though it was really thick, this stuff would NOT chip or peel - it was literally like concrete on my fingers!!
Grey and Magenta Glitter Gradient 

Grey and Magenta Glitter GradientGrey and Magenta Glitter Gradient

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Vampy Stampin' Mani

Hello peeps! Gonna keep this short and sweet 'cause I'm running a bit late this morning! The base for this mani is Color Club By Design which I mattified with Givre Magique by Lancome. Then I stamped on top of that with Noir from Lancome using Mash plate 46
Vampy Stampin' Mani


 
Vampy Stampin' Mani
Then I just had to check out the whole thing matte and I like it!! I was then planning on using a shiny topcoat and adding some studs but the baby thought mom had already spent enough time on her nails! By morning it was chipped - boooo! That's what I hate about matte top coats, they chip and dent so easily!!
Vampy Stampin' Mani
That's all for today!!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Tape 'N Dots Fall Mani

Happy Hump Day!!! For those of you that work a M-F this is music to your ears!! We're almost there dolls, just hold on a little longer! After yesterday's mani I decided to keep this one clean and simple. I saw these two polishes next to each other in the display and they go together perfectly!! The green is called The Temptress' Touch and the orange is The Muse's Inspiration, both from L'Oreal. Neither one of these are colors that I would normally wear and I can't say that I'm in love with them but they certainly fit the bill for a Fall mani.
 
I used two coats of The Temptress' Touch then used scotch tape to form the angle and added one thick coat of The Muse's Inspiration. Then I busted out my dotting tools and did dots in alternating colors all the way around the nail. I'm kind of digging how it turned out but I didn't leave it on for long because it's just not my bag, baby!
 
Fall Colors Dotticure

Fall Colors Dotticure
So do you tend to follow the color seasons or do you gravitate towards one or the other? I'm partial to either the super-bright Summer shades or the jewel tones that come with Winter! See you all next time, mwah!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Inspiration Vomit Mani

 So, today's mani didn't end up as I had it pictured in my head! I think it's because I spend too much time looking at a bunch of other sweet nail art that my brain gets filled up with so many fantastic ideas at once and this is what you get...inspiration barf! For vomit I think it looks pretty good!

I really don't have my own aesthetic figured out yet. I gravitate towards really bright, loud colors but the manis I find prettiest are on the soft, subtle side and the two don't mix. I think that's why I've had success with paint splatter and water marble manis!

This beauty is 3 coats ( I think!) of China Glaze Flying Dragon then a pointless stripe of CG Jungle Queen somewhere under that sparkle. Why you ask? That's all part of not having a clear idea of what I wanted to do before I started! First I was going to add a couple studs, then carefully placed loose glitter then that turned into me painting a big glob of top coat on my nail and then dipping it in a big pile of glitter and voila!
China Glaze Flying Dragon glitter maniChina Glaze Flying Dragon glitter mani

China Glaze Flying Dragon glitter mani
It's pretty for vomit though, right? Do you guys ever have troubles with too many ideas? That's why I really like the idea of a challenge. In fact, I like the idea so much that some other awesome bloggers and I will be doing a challenge in November called The Lazy 15. It's named that because we didn't want to do a whole 30/31 day challenge because...well, we're lazy! Also, we're not doing daily posting but on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. You are ALL welcome to join in, we will be setting up an inLinkz for the challenge. The more the merrier, so join us!!!
 
Here's the lineup for the challenge and the dates! Start doing these now so you can get ahead!!
Friday Nov 2nd      1)Tape mani
Monday Nov 5       2) Gradient
Wed Nov 7             3) Dots
Fri Nov 9                4) Water Marble
Mon Nov 12           5) Galaxy Nails
Wed Nov 14           6) Favorite Color
Fri Nov 16              7) Feminine Nails
Mon Nov 19           8) Dessert
Wed Nov 21           9) Disney movies/characters
Fri Nov 23            10) Underwater Creatures inc. Water Mythical Creatures
Mon Nov 26         11) Fireworks/Bonfire night
Wed Nov 28         12) Fairy Tale
Fri Nov 30            13) Guilty Pleasure
Mon Dec 3            14) Where I'm from (a mani inspired by where you live!)
Wed Dec 5            15) Inspired by another blogger's mani
 
If you have questions or want details, ask in the comments or find me on Twitter! :)  

Monday, October 22, 2012

Polish Us Pink Watermarble!

Hello beautiful and lovely readers!! Today is Monday and that means another Breast Cancer Awareness mani! I initially tried to do a fanbrush mani but it ended up looking like bloody mummy fingers! If you're on Instagram you can take a look, I go by Nails4Dummies! So I decided to go with another watermarble since they're so freakin' cool! I started with a base coat of OPI If You Moust You Moust then marbled with China Glaze Strawberry Fields, Under The Boardwalk and Traffic Jam.
 
This marble actually turned out subtler than I was aiming for but I still really like it!
Polish Us Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Watermarble


Polish Us Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Watermarble
And here is something that you've NEVER seen before and may never see again - my LEFT hand!!! The reason I'm showing so much more skin is that I actually prefer the way that this hand turned out. That never happens, especially since I did this one first! So here it is -
Polish Us Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Watermarble
I feel so exposed! Alright, enough weirdness from me, I'll see you crazy cats later!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Floating Butterfly Mani

Hello sweet little muffin tins! Sorry, that's one of the nicknames I call my daughters! Today's mani is my first attempt at freehand nail art. It's not awesome but I hope it's not terrible either! It was inspired by a similar version that you may have seen with a bumblebee but I like flutterbys much better!
 
The base of this bit of loveliness is Sinful Colors Cinderella. It's a gorgeous light blue with a pink shimmer that's even better in person! The colors on the butterfly include Wet 'n Wild Black Creme and Sunny Side Up, Pure Ice Free Spirit and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Frutti Petutie and Good to Grape.

 The butterfly was so cute and delicate in my mind's eye but came out more like a giant bug on my finger! I didn't think it was enough of a fail to warrant never trying again though so beware, you'll be seeing more freehand from me! Hopefully I'll improve a little!
Sinful Colors butterfly mani

Sinful Colors butterfly mani

 

Sinful Colors butterfly mani
 
As you can see, I also added some cute little rhinestones because I couldn't just leave the poor thing alone! So did I fail miserably or is it passable for a first try?