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

Christmas 2015: Nativity Scene

Welcome back!

These are the nails that I wore on Christmas Day, because they are very important to me. I loved this design when I saw it last year, and knew I wanted to do it this year. I was inspired by @nailstorming on Instagram.

Light Blue: Essie Mint Candy Apple

Medium Blue: Essie I'm Addicted

Dark Blue: Essie Hide & Go Chic

White: Maybelline Color Show Porcelain Party

Black: Maybelline Color Show Onyx Rush

These were fun to do, and I loved doing the gradient for the background of it.

Thanks for reading <3

31 Day Challenge: Day 31

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Prompt: Honor Nails You Love

White: OPI Alpine Snow
Red: OPI Amore at the Grand Canal
Orange: China Glaze Home Sweet House Music
Yellow: Zoya Darcy
Black: Essie Licorice

It's the last day! I can't believe I finished the challenge again this year, and I even finished it on time! I got behind for a few days, but then I got caught back up, and I'm so excited about it. I feel so god about having it done now.

I was completely inspired by @banicured_ on Instagram. I did the gradient, and then hand painted the design on top of that.

Thank you so much for following me throughout this challenge again this year, and I can't wait to try again next year!

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 17

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Prompt: Glitter

Blue: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue-Away
Glitter: Sally Hansen Insta-Ombre Grey-diant

This nail art was super easy! All I did was follow the instructions for the insta-ombre polish. Basically you paint your whole nail with a coat. Then your second coat only covers two-thirds of your nail, and your third coat covers just one-third of your nail. I brushed a little extra on the tip, too, just to make it more dense there and then fade a little better going up.

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

Wet 'n Wild Summer Mix & Match

Welcome back!

Today I wanted to share the nails I painted for the other day! I wanted to finally use some of the Wet 'n Wild summer polishes that I had laying around, so I picked out three of them that went well together and did a sort of mix & match! I've been loving mix & match nails lately, because they are so much fun! I just like how there is something for everybody in them.

Pink: Wet 'n Wild Re: In Carnation
Orange: Wet 'n Wild Sun Settle Down
Yellow: Wet 'n Wild Bee-U-Tiful
White: OPI Alpine Snow

I wasn't crazy about this manicure in general. It was alright, but my least favorite thing was the middle finger. I just didn't care for the lightning bolt with this set of nails. It's not awful, but it could've gone better with something else, for sure.

The pointer finger was sponged on using a latex free cosmetic sponge, and the dot flower was done using some basic dotting tools. For the middle finger lightning bolt, I used the tip of the sponge to try to fade the orange up into not much of the yellow.

Thanks for reading <3

Summer Inspired Gradient and Stamping

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I am determined to get a hang of this stamping! There are so many awesome things you can do with stamping plates, and designs and such. I want to be able to do it all! Plus, I bought a ton of plates, some of which may not get used hardly ever anyway, because they are so specific. I don't want the others to sit unused, too, so I'm doing my best to try stamping, and make it something I can do more easily.

Nude: OPI Do You Take Lei Away?
Pink: OPI Suzi Shops & Island Hops
Purple: OPI Lost My Bikini in Molokini

Mermaid Stamping Plate: W108
Palm Tree Stamping Plate: W106
Floral Stamping Plate: W310

My ring and thumb nails were done in a gradient style using a latex free cosmetic sponge. My stamper is this one from Winstonia, and all plates came from Winstonia as well!

Thanks for reading <3

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

Wedding Nails: French + Glitter Ombre

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Last week I had two weddings to go to, so I decided to do something simple and classy. I went with a french manicure and an accent nail of a glitter ombre.

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

May Weekly Nail Art Challenge: Week 4, May 22

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Theme: Neon
Prompt: Gradient

Today I have my gradient nails that I did for this week! This week, I again used all China Glaze, and the colors were all from the Electric Nights collection.

Green: Treble Maker
Blue: DJ Blue My Mind
Purple: Plur-ple
White: White on White

I started by painting my nails a white base. Then I put down CTRL-ALT-DEL latex barrier by Glisten & Glow around my nail to avoid getting polish on my nail when doing the gradient.

I next painted the colors in order on a latex free sponge, and then sponged it on to my nail. I repeated this process until it was opaque and dark enough and blended well. It was usually perfect in just two coats.

Once I was done with that, I just peeled it off, and cleaned up everything else that was left over!

Thanks for reading <3

#NailArtApr: Day 05

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Today's theme is Easter, since it is Easter after all!

In honor of the holiday and its true meaning, I did some crosses over a sunset.

White: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri OMGhost

Yellow: Color Club Almost Famous

Orange: Studio M Orange Hot

Red: OPI Coca-Cola Red

Black: Salon Perfect Nail Art Striper Black Ink

I decided to write a tutorial for what I did to create there's nails!

1. Paint a base of one coat of white polish. Once dry, top with a quick drying top coat.

2. Tape off the skin around all of the nail. On a latex free makeup sponge, paint half of the area that will cover the nail in yellow. Next paint most of the rest orange, and then just a thin red line at the bottom.

3. Once the top coat is dry, sponge the color onto the nail, dabbing up and down the nail to blend it in. Repeat this one or two more times in order to make it more opaque.

4. With the black striper, paint a small half circle at the bottom of each nail, and then extend a straight vertical line up, and then a short horizontal line through the vertical line to make the cross. I thickened these up to make it look more like the cross. I only drew crosses on three of the nails.

Thanks for reading <3

Pink and Silver with Glitter Gradient

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My mani for today was very simple, but I love it. I used Essie Pink Happy and Set in Stones. Two nails we'd solid pink, and two nails were solid glitter.

For the glitter nails, I have found that I am tired of painting literally 5+ coats on at times, and still having sparse areas. I have seen several people who sponge it on, and I love that method now. I don't think I'll ever go back. It is so much quicker, easier, and it leaves your nail thin, instead of it getting gunked up and thick from having that many coats on it. Plus, I find that it has a faster dry time because of this.

On the accent nail with the glitter gradient, I started by painting a base of Pink Happy. Once that was dry, I started about 1/3 of the way down my nail from my cuticle, and made some strokes with the glitter. This kept it thin and didn't leave a lot of glitter behind, but left some of the smaller piece. Then, I painted some of the glitter on the tip of a makeup sponge, and dabbed it on the very bottom of the nail.

Thanks for reading<3

#NailArtJan Day 17

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The prompt for day 17 was "gradient." I was really excited to do these for some reason. I'm not sure why, because I've done gradients before. I started by applying one coat of white polish, and then a quick dry top coat. I let that dry for a few minutes, and then taped off my finger to help with cleanup in the end.

For my colors, I chose three colors from the China Glaze All Aboard collection. From lightest to darkest, they were All Aboard, Nice Caboose! and Conduct Yourself. These colors worked so nicely together. They blended well, and were opaque enough that I didn't need to do two layers on my nails, which was amazing because it saved a lot of time.

Thanks for reading <3

Halloween Nails 2014: Part 2

Welcome back!

Here are the rest of my Halloween manicures from this year!

These were a twist on the classic and simple french manicure. To create the french manicure, I used the Sally Hansen Diamond Strength French Manicure Pen Kit in Barely There. After that was done, I used the Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Stripers in Orange and Black.

This is a sort of mix 'n match manicure. For the orange, I used China Glaze Stoked to be Soaked from their Off Shore Collection from this summer. The white was Salon Perfect Sugar Cube, and I used the Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Striper in Black for the stripes.

Next up is my spooky Haunted House mani. The base purple is Wet 'n Wild Megalast Trippin' On The Boardwalk. The details were done with Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Stripers in Black and Yellow.

This mani was inspired by a witch. The base is OPI Do You Have This Color in Stock-holm? from the Nordic collection. For the spider webs, I used Kiss Nail Art Stripers in White and Silver Glitter. I put the white down first, and then topped it all with the glitter to make it a little more fun and girly. The hat and cauldron, including the outlines of them, were done with the Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Pens in White, Green, and Black.

My final Halloween manicure was a trick-or-treat candy manicure! The base color is OPI Skating on Thin Ice-land. The candy corn nail was done using Sally Hansen Insta-Dri OMGhost, Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed and Mellow Yellow. I also used OMGhost for the white on my other nails. The words and details on the candy were done using the Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Pens in Orange, Yellow, Blue and Pink.

I'm really happy with my Halloween manicures this year, and I'm happy I got so many done! I had even more ideas, but I guess I'll just have to wait until next year for them!

Thanks for reading <3

31 Day Challenge: Day 24

Welcome back!

Today's theme: inspired by a book!

I was inspired by the cover of Divergent by Veronica Roth.

For these nails, I started with a background using colors similar to the ones on the book. I painted the whole nail with Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Blue It as my base. Then, using the sponge/ombre technique, I blended the blue into black, by applying Blue It, Wet n Wild Wild Shine Blue Moon and Wet n Wild Wild Shine Black Creme to a sponge. These blended together beautifully!

The design/logo on the front of the book was fairly easy to do. I used Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Striper in Yellow and Orange. I started by drawing a circle with a flame inside with yellow. Then, using the orange, I put just a little bit around the edges, wiggling it slightly while doing so to make it look more like flames. Finally, I went back in with yellow to blend the two colors together better, and to wiggle around the whole thing to mimic the flames.

I'm very happy with how these turned out! I love them and don't really want to take them off!

Thanks for reading <3



*All polishes were purchased with my own money.

31 Day Challenge: Day 10

Welcome back!

Today's theme: gradient nails!

For this theme, I used two different shades of pink. I used Orly Toast the Couple, which is the lighter pink, and Pop Beauty Flirty Fuchsia, which is the darker pink. My white base was Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Matte White Pick It Fence, and the glitter topper was China Glaze Travel in Color.

I first put down two coats of the white polish, and let it dry. Once it was dry, I top coated it, then used a sponge to do the gradient and put the two pinks on. Once that had dried, I added the glitter on top of that!

I really liked this mani! I think it turned out well, and was very easy! The most time consuming part was the cleanup, which is the only thing I don't like about doing the sponge application. Also, it was very hard to picture, but that was because of the glitter. Just keep that in mind!

Thanks for reading <3


*All polishes were purchased with my own money. All opinions are my own and truthful.

Fourth of July/Patriotic Nail Art Ideas!

Hey guys! I have been debating whether or not I want to post this, since the Fourth of July has obviously been long gone. I decided I would, because I figured these could be used for Labor Day, or next year around the Fourth! It's been such a busy summer, but I'm really excited to show you guys the festive nails that I've had!

White: OPI Alpine Snow

Blue Texture: Zoya Pixie Dust Sunshine

Red Texture: OPI Liquid Sand I'm a Little Brazil Nuts Over You

Blue: Revlon Parfumerie Moonlit Woods

Red: NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel Red Velvet Rope

White: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Matte White Pick It Fence

Glitter: Sally Hansen Color Frenzy Red, White & Hue

Texture: OPI Liquid Sand Wharf! Wharf! Wharf!

Blue: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Batbano Blue

White: OPI Alpine Snow

Red: OPI Love Athletes in Cleats

Blue: OPI 7th Inning Strrretch

Red: China Glaze Salsa

White: China Glaze White on White

Blue: China Glaze Blue Iguana

Red: China Glaze Salsa

White: China Glaze White on White

Blue: China Glaze Blue Iguana

White: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Matte White Pick It Fence

Red & Black Spots: Maybelline Color Show Wild at Heart

Glitter: Finger Paints Red, White & Hue

Red: Salon Perfect Nail Art Laser Beam

White: Pure Ice Pretty 'n Patriotic

Red: Pure Ice Lady Liberty

Glitter: Pure Ice Sparks Fly

White: Pure Ice Pretty 'n Patriotic

Blue: Pure Ice I Pledge Naillegiance

Glitter: Pure Ice Freedom

And that's it! Those are all of my festive nails! I had a lot more that I wanted to do, but I didn't get around to doing them. Hopefully I'll find time to do a design or two before and for Labor Day.

For more nail pictures, be sure to check out my Instagram here.

Thanks for reading <3

*All opinions are my own and truthful. I purchased all polishes with my own money.