Nail Art January 2016: Day 11

Welcome back!

Today's Prompt: Recreation

White: Essie Blanc
Black: Essie Licorice
Dark Purple: Essie Haute Tub
Red: Essie Shall We Chalet?
Light Red: Essie Altitude Attitude
Blue: Essie Virgin Snow
Pink: Essie Peak Show
Silver: Essie Apres-chic
Yellow: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Sizzlin' Saffron

Every year for my birthday, I do some birthday nails for my birthday. Last year for this challenge, I redid those nails for this prompt as my recreation day. I decided to do that again this year! Last year, I used a Nicole by OPI collection so all of the colors went together. This year, I used the entire Essie Winter Collection to recreate the manicure. I love the way it turned out! They all went together, but were so much fun!

Thanks for reading <3

Nail Art January 2016: Day 04

Welcome back!

Today's Prompt: Sparkles

Pink: Essie Peak Show
Blue: Essie Virgin Snow
Glitter: Essie Luxeffects Frilling Me Softly

For this look, I sponged on the glitter on my whole ring finger nail. On the other nails, I used the small end of the sponge and sponged it on at the tip and slightly up. To make the gradient look a little better, I wiped a decent amount off of the brush, and then lightly brushed it toward my cuticle.

This glitter was also another glitter that my friend gave me for Christmas. It was one of the new Essie polishes that they released as part of their Luxeffects line. I loved it!

Thanks for reading <3

Nail Art January 2016: Day 02

Welcome back!

Today's Prompt: Fresh

This starts my second take at Nail Art January, created by Californails. She created this one last year, and I did it then. I decided to try it again, and try to make it a yearly event, kind of like the 31 Day Challenge that I do in September. No one else is really doing it this year, as far as I know. But I like to complete it so I can see how much I improve over a year!

Nude: Essie Brides to Be
White: Essie Blanc
Glitter: Essie Luxeffects A Cut Above

The first prompt, being fresh, made me think that French tips were the best way to go. I ended up doing an accent glitter nail, too, because it makes it more fun.

This glitter is also special to me, because one of my best friends bought it for me for Christmas, so it was the perfect time to use it! I had been considering buying it, and thinking strongly about it, and then she surprised me by getting it for me when I hadn't even told her I thought about it!

Thanks for reading <3

Christmas 2015: French Tip + Glitter

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Every year on Christmas Eve, we go out to church, and have a nice dinner and exchange presents with my brother and his family. We always dress up for Christmas Eve, so I wanted something that looked nice and formal, so I thought a nice French manicure with an accent glitter nail would be perfect!

Nude: Essie Brides to Be

White: Essence Colour & Go Wild White Ways

Glitter: Sinful Holiday Rebel

I sponged on the glitter, and used French tip guides from Essence to create the look!

Thanks for reading <3

Themed Thursday November: Week 1

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I know this is late, and I did just do them, but I decided to take part in Themed Thursday November! I'm super excited to do this challenge. I miss doing challenges now, because I've done several, and I really love giving myself more ideas and stepping outside of my box! This challenge is hosted by @wondrouslypolished and @thenailartchallenge on Instagram.

Theme: Autumn
Prompt: Leaves

I decided for this one, I would do some stamping! I was kind of stuck on what I wanted to do for leaves, because it is so broad. Then, I went through all of my stamping plates, and I found several cute ideas!

Off-White: OPI My Vampire is Buff
Light Brown: OPI San Tan-tonio
Dark Brown: Essie Little Brown Dress
Red: Essie With the Band
Orange: Essie Color Binge
Green: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri I-rush Luck

Stamping Plates: W113 & W119

Thanks for reading! <3

31 Day Challenge: Day 30

Welcome back!

Prompt: Inspired by a Tutorial

Silver: OPI ColorPaints Silver Canvas
Pink: Essie Brides No Grooms
Black: Essie Licorice

These were inspired by @simplynaillogical on Instagram! She did some with swirls and cat vinyls, but I just choose some swirls! I really liked the pink, black and silver, and I liked how it was sponged on in a different pattern than your typical gradient. It was fun to do, except using those swirl vinyls. Those were difficult to use, and get off of the sheet.

For the style, I made four corner in alternating colors on the sponge, and then sponged it on on top of the silver with the vinyls already down.

Check back tomorrow for the final day of the challenge!

31 Day Challenge: Day 24

Welcome back!

Prompt: Inspired by a book

White: Essie Blanc
Light Green: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Mint Sorbet
Medium Green: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Green With Envy
Dark Green: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Tan Lime
Gray: Essie Blanc + Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Show Steel-er
Tan/Peach: Essie Perennial Chic
Brown: Essie Little Brown Dress

I know, it's late. But I had a good reason! I was traveling today, and the wifi at the airport and on the plane were awful. Plus, I forgot my dark brown polish, which I needed, and it was back here at home, so I had to wait until I was here to finish it up!

I was inspired by the book Matched by Ally Condie. It's the book I'm currently reading, and have been for a while now, but I haven't had a lot of time to read with work and school and moving! Life gets crazy sometimes.

To make the ombre look, I used a latex free sponge and did a gradient on top of white with all of the greens. The details were painted with a new nail art brush from Winstonia store!

Check back tomorrow for more nail art! <3

31 Day Challenge: Day 15

Welcome back!

Prompt: Delicate Print

Light Green: Essie Vibrant Vibes
Dark Green: Essie Melody Maker

Stamping Plate: Winstonia W319

These are going to be short and sweet today! I used the stamping plate and the dark green polish, which is really more teal, to stamp on a design. This is actually my right hand, too, which explains why there is no pointer finger. I painted my left hand, but the stamping looked awful, and I tried something else which made it worse, and my right hand actually looked good...minus the bandage on my finger where I cut my cuticle and couldn't paint it! So I just held it out of the shot.

Say hi to Cindy, because it'll probably be forever before she's seen again!

Check back tomorrow for more nail art! <3

31 Day Challenge: Day 10

Welcome back!

Today's Prompt: Gradient

We are a third of the way done! ...basically. I think of the last day as being so different, and so I just count the thirds as the 10th and 20th, and the half being the 15th!

White: Essie Blanc

Light Pink: Essie Groove is in the Heart

Dark Pink: Essie Coacha' bella

Purple: Essie All Access Pass

I chose three polishes for this today, all of them being from the Neons 2015 collection. I used a latex free cosmetic sponge for the gradient, as always. My only tricks for gradients can probably be found anywhere, but my first "trick" is using a white base coat. I always use white, no matter what color gradient I'm putting down. I feel like the colors show up perfectly true, then, and they blend better. My other trick is to put down a top coat before sponging on, and letting it dry. I use a fast drying top coat, and let it dry for about 10 minutes, and then I will sponge on my colors. When applying, I move from side to side, dabbing up and down, as well as moving up and down on my nail to blend a little better as needed.

Check back tomorrow for more nail art! <3

31 Day Challenge: Day 4

Welcome back!

Today's prompt: Green

White: Essie Blanc
Green: Essie Yespadrilles

I went simple today, and with something I don't do too often. I did a half moon manicure, and I used a new Essie Cashmere Matte Bright for the green. I really liked how it turned out! If the white looked better and shinier, I probably would've left it untopcoated, that way it was matte and shiny. It looked kind of cool that way!

Check back tomorrow for more nail art! <3

31 Day Challenge 2015: Day 1

Welcome back!

It's the first day of the 31 Day Challenge! I'm so excited to take this on again this year, and do even better than last year!

Today's Prompt: Red

Red: Essie Happy Wife, Happy Life
White: Essie Blanc

These were super simple nails to get this challenge started, but I really like the way they turned out! I used a small and large dotting tool for the accent nails on the ring finger and thumb.

Check in tomorrow for a new challenge!

Mani By Annie: French Tips & Glitter Gradient

Welcome back!

Yes, I already posted this design, but my sister loved them so much, she wanted them, too! I did these a couple of weeks ago, but I never got a chance to share them!

Link to the original post can be found here.

Skin Tone: Essie Brides to Be
White: Essie Blanc
Pink: Essie Tying the Knotie
Glitter: Essie Set in Stones



















For the french nails, I used french nail guides from nailvinyls.com. To add the glitter, I used a latex free cosmetic sponge and sponged it on in up and down motions, then used the brush on the polish to fade it a little more.

Thanks for reading <3

Splatters and Stripes

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I tried something new! Again! There are so many designs and ideas out there for nail art, I couldn't possibly try them all. I'm doing my best, though! I thought the splatter would look good with stripes though. Something uniform, something not. And I really like to look of it!

Cream: Essie Wrap Me Up (Cashmere Matte)
Pink: Essie Brides No Grooms

To make the stripes, I used different widths of Straight Nail Vinyls. For the splatter, I followed the millions of tutorials out there, and stuck a straw in my nail polish, then blew it out onto my nail. So Easy! It actually dried fairly quickly, too. I was worried about smudges, but I did it, and topcoated it about 15-20 minutes later with no problem at all.

Thanks for reading <3

Essie Summer Mix & Match

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Today I wanted to share the nails I did using the entire Essie Summer 2015 collection! I have been on an Essie kick lately, and that's all I want to use. I just love the color combinations in their collections, because you can use every shade and it doesn't look like too much.

White: Private Weekend
Green: Chillato
Coral: Peach Side Babe
Red: Sunset Sneaks
Light Blue: Saltwater Happy
Dark Blue: Pret-A-Surfer

I started each nail with a white base. My thumb and index finger were done using the dry brush method. I used all of the light colors for this. The outcome with three colors makes me think of a quilt! This method is so easy, and there is hardly any drying time! If you are looking for a quick manicure, dry brushing is the way to go.


For the middle and pinky fingers, I used mini chevron Nail Vinyls. To alternate colors, I placed the color in between the chevrons using a dotting tool. You can just use the brush, but when it is such a small area, I prefer the dotting tool for more precision.

The ring finger was the plastic bag method, which I just did the other day for the first time! I really liked this method, because it is so easy. It also didn't take anywhere near as long to dry as I expected. The last nail art idea I tried with blobs of polish never dried, and I ended up taking it off and starting over. For this, the plastic brings part of the polish up, which helps it to dry quicker, because there is not as much built up polish left.

Thanks for reading <3

Dry Brush and Polka Dots

Welcome back!

I recreated a manicure I did a little while ago but with a different blue this time! You can find the original here.

Blue: Essie Garden Variety

White: Essie Blanc

Black: Essie Licorice

Thanks for reading <3

Cashmere Matte Nails

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Today I needed some super quick and simple nails. Thankfully, these Essie Cashmere Mattes are the perfect solution! They dry super quick, but they go on so well, too. I wish I would have done the opposite color combination, but I like this one, too.

Nude: Essie All Eyes on Nudes
Black: Essie Spun in Luxe

Ta da! That's all I did. Literally. Painted all nails but my ring finger with the nude, and then the ring finger was my accent that I did in black. I was able to do these right before bed, but there was no worry about dry time, then top coat, then more dry time!

Thanks for reading <3

Spring Dry Brush

Welcome back!

I tried the dry brush method for the first time! I'm so excited for it, and I absolutely loved the result! I have a feeling I'll be turning to this a lot because it is so easy, but looks awesome!

Blue: Essie Garden Variety

White: Essie Blanc

Black: Essie Licorice

This was so easy to do, and I loved it. I can't wait to try it again!

Thanks for reading <3

Pink Mix & Match

Welcome back!

I finally painted my nails again! I took my nail polish off Friday night, and I finally painted these on Tuesday. I went four days without anything on my nails! I was feeling uninspired, but I've started to get some good ideas flowing again, so I'm really excited to try a few things now. I've found that after doing a bunch of challenges, I have trouble coming up with nail art ideas, because I get used to being prompted, so I rely on that to help me.

What I finally settled for was a mix and match in all pink and white. I love the way this turned out. Absolutely love it.

White: Essence Wild White Ways
Pink: Essie Just Stitched
Glitter: Nails, Inc. Westbourne Gardens

It was super easy to do. I used Nail Vinyls to make the chevrons (the regular/medium size), a dotting tool to make the dots on my pointer finger and thumb and then I sponged on the glitter for my ring finger.

Thanks for reading <3

Mix & Match Spring Nails

Welcome back!

Today I wanted to do something fun, so I did a mix and match with some spring colors! The Essie colors are from their spring collection.

Purple: Essie Flowerista

Nude: Essie Picked Perfect

Glitter: OPI Snow Globetrotter

I used a dotting tool for my thumb and pointer, and Nail Vinyls for the chevron nails.

Thanks for reading <3

Essie: Fall 2014

Welcome back!

Again, here I am with the late review. I still like to post them though, because then I can reference for myself and see how I felt about each polish that I tried!

Partner in Crime
Coats: 2
Formula: Cream
Color Family: Brown
This was a beautiful brown polish. It is very dark, so with a shiny top coat, it can be sort of hard to see the brown to it. I mattified it, and loved it that way. I use this polish all the time now when I need a brown for nail art. It is perfect to make anything that needs to be a pure brown. I think it is a little darker than Essie's Little Brown Dress which was what I used to always use for my brown details.

Fall in Line
Coats: 2
Formula: Cream
Color Family: Gray
This was sort of an odd color! I kind of like that in a polish though, because then you know you aren't getting one that you already have one almost identical to. I would probably call it a gray, but it had a lot of green to it. I mattified this one, too, and it was incredible. The formula was great, also, which just makes things better and better.

Take It Outside
Coats: 2
Formula: Cream
Color Family: Beige
The formula on this polish is beautiful. It goes on easily and looks great, too. It is very opaque, which is good. I call this a beige, but there are definitely gray tones to it. I thought this was almost a darker version of Essie's Urban Jungle.

The Perfect Cover Up
Coats: 1
Formula: Cream
Color Family: Blue
Another odd color, really. It was sort of a bluish-greenish gray. Again, I like that though, because then I know I don't have many, if any, close dupes for it! The formula on this was amazing, just like the others have been.

Style Cartel
Coats: 2
Formula: Cream
Color Family: Blue
What I really wanted to put under formula was "amazing." I loved how it was very opaque in one coat, but the second coat just made it darker, like it shows in the bottle. I love polishes like that, because then it is almost like getting two for one! Unfortunately, China Glaze's One Track Mind from their Fall 2014 collection was almost an exact dupe for this. It is a beautiful polish, but China Glaze is cheaper, so I could have skipped out on this one.

Dress to Kilt
Coats: 2
Formula: Cream
Color Family: Red
As the title polish for this collection, it was the perfect deep, fall red. Again, just like all of the others in this collection, the formula was incredible. It goes on amazingly, and it absolutely beautiful. I loved how this was also sort of the pop of color for the collection. All of the other polishes were beautiful, but they were very toned down and cool. This was bright, warm and vibrant.

Overall, these polishes were amazing. This whole collection was a must, and I'm really happy that I purchased all of them. I know that there are plenty of reds and blues, so maybe Style Cartel  and Dress to Kilt could be skipped by some, but they were still great formulas. Other than those two, though, there were very few polishes close to the others. They are unique, and I think it was a perfect collection for fall.

Here are some pictures of the polishes mattified and included in nail art!

Partner in Crime + matte top coat

Fall in Line + matte top coat

Take It Outside under the glitter and on the ring finger

Style Cartel on middle and pinky nails

Dress to Kilt on pinky and pointer & dots on middle

Thanks for reading <3