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: Pink-ified Christmas Cheer

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I love red and green together, don't get me wrong. And I especially love them together at Christmas time. But after doing my nails nearly every day and with the same colors every time, I felt like I was running out of polishes to use, and I wanted to do something different. Then when I was looking around on Instagram and Pinterest, I saw several options for pink Christmas nails! These were inspired by @gabbysnailart on Instagram.

White: Essence Wild White Ways

Light Pink: Orly Color Blast Winter Blush

Dark Pink: Orly Color Blast Magical Voice

Silver Glitter: Pure Ice Pure Icicles

The glitter was actually painted on like regular polish here. The tree was done using a tape to create the shape, and then a fan brush and both pinks. The thumb has a snowflake over a gradient, which I did using a sponge. I used nail vinyls to create the lines for the candy cane stripes.

Thanks for reading <3

31 Day Challenge: Day 30

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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 12

Welcome back!

Prompt: Stripes

White: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri OMGhost
Pink: Orly Color Blast Winter Blush
Blue: Orly Color Blast A Happy...Puddle
Silver: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Celeb City

I found a couple of fun colors for this, and thought multicolored stripes would be awesome! I didn't want to do five fingers of stripes, though, so I added some fun flowers and a solid accent nail. I love this color scheme so much! It's fun and girly, and it works for lots of seasons, I think! I love pairing the dark blue with bright pink, and the silver accents, because it works for winter, but I think it could also work for spring, too, especially with the flowers on it!

For the stripes nails, I used a variety of sizes of straight Nail Vinyls, found here. The flowers were done using dotting tools. The pink and blue polish were both a part of the Elsa collection that was in Walgreens around the springtime.

Check back tomorrow for more nail art! <3

31 Day Challenge: Day 11

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Prompt: Polka Dots

Today starts a new category in the 31 Day Challenge! This category/section is "styles." This is probably my favorite section, because of the prompts. It makes me more creative, but gives me enough direction that I'm not lost or stuck. Hopefully after today, you'll be done seeing dots from me for a while! Sorry for all of the dotticures, but moving sucks!

White: China Glaze White On White

Purple: China Glaze Wanderlust

Light Pink: China Glaze Pack Lightly

Dark Pink: China Glaze Pinking Out the Window

I used about three different sized dotting tools for this. They can be found here!

Check back tomorrow for more nail art! <3

31 Day Challenge: Day 10

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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

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

Watermelon Accent Nails

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Watermelons have been everywhere this summer. I feel like everyone has done watermelon nails before, including me about three years ago, but I was so inspired to do them, that I felt I HAD to! I came up with the idea because I really wanted to use this coral colored polish, and when I was trying to find a match for it, I sat the green next to it and that was the first thing I thought of!

I didn't want to do watermelons on every nail, because...well, I didn't. So, I decided to make the watermelon the accent, and stick with single color nails for a couple, and a chevron with those colors as another.

White: Zoya Purity
Coral: Wet 'n Wild Megalast Warm Filter
Green: Wet 'n Wild Megalast Tree Hugger

Black: Salon Perfect Oil Slick

To do the multi-colored chevron, I placed the vinyls down, then used a dotting tool to put the different colors in between each sticker, peeling them off as I went. To make the watermelon, I painted the nail white, then used a French guide Nail Vinyl to block off where I wanted the white. Because of that, the white is thicker than I wanted, but it made it a lot easier, so it was worth it. I then used a dotting tool to create the seeds!

Thanks for reading <3

Essie Summer Mix & Match

Welcome back!

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

Plastic Baggie Nails

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Today I wanted to share some nails that I did the other day using the Essie Resort 2015 collection! I found this collection in my box (yes, box) of untried polishes, and realized I'd never used them! They are all so pretty and cute, so I knew I had to find something to do with them.

To be honest, I had no idea what I was going to do when I sat down with them and began painting. I still had yet to ever attempt something with the "plastic bag" method, so I thought that would be fun to do, but what else? I added the flower accent nail, but still wanted one more nail with something beyond a plain color. When I painted the base, though, I knew what would fit perfectly...the Eiffel Tower!

Light Pink: Essie Time For Me Time
Brown: Essie Cocoa Karma
Purple: Essie Suite Retreat
Pink: Essie Stones 'n Roses
Black: Essie Licorice

I am so happy with how these turned out! I haven't been able to convince myself to take them off, because they are so fun and cute, but so easy, too! For the plastic bag nails, I followed the tutorial by Young Wild and Polished, which can be found here. Basically, all you do is put down big drops of polish, then put a piece of a plastic bag on it and smush it around to blend them all together a little bit. The flowers and Eiffel Tower were done using dotting tools!

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

China Glaze Spring Mix & Match

Welcome back!

I still have some of the China glaze Road Trip collection questions to try out, so I decided to do a mix-and-match with them! I love mixing and matching my nail vinyls with dots and different simple designs. I also like trying to find polishes from the same collection that go really well together. I think these worked great!

White: China Glaze White On White

Pink: China Glaze More To Explore

Blue: China Glaze My Way or the Highway

For the half moon and chevron nails, I used Nail Vinyls. For the dots, I just used my dotting tools in two different sizes.

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

Minimal Stripe & Glitter

Welcome back!

The other day I had a meeting for work, and I didn't want to have any crazy graduation nail art. I can't have just a solid color, so I wanted some simple nail art that would look good still! This is what I came up with.

Pink: Morgan Taylor Ella of a Girl
White: OPI Alpine Snow
Glitter: Essie Rock at the Top

To make the stripes, I painted my nail pink first, and then I used some straight Nail Vinyls and painted white on top of that. I sponged the glitter on, because that was the easiest way to get it on that heavy.

Thanks for reading <3

Mother's Day Nails

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Today I did some nails in honor of Mother's Day!

Pink: Finger Paints Paint Me Happy

White: OPI Alpine Snow

Peach: Essie Brides to Be

All other details are the Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art pens.

Thanks for reading <3

#NailArtApr: Day 08

Welcome back!

I'm sort of late in doing this, considering there is a new prompt for tomorrow, but I got busy this week and I unfortunately did not have much time for nail art.

The prompt for this day was "Fav flower" which is difficult for me! I would probably have to say rose, but I can't do those on the nail very well, AND I'm not sure I have a favorite flower! So, I did my favorite flower...to paint on my nails.

These were done using all Salon Perfect polishes, because I wanted to use some of my new pastel colors from them!

White: Sugar Cube
Pink: Put A Ring On It
Purple: Lilacking Control
Blue: Cold As Ice
Green: Mint Julep
Yellow: Mellow Yellow
Peach: Georgia Peach

This manicure was super easy to do! I just used dotting tools to create all of the flowers on top of a white base! Simple!

Thanks for reading <3

Pink & Gray Mix and Match

Welcome back!

This manicure was 100% inspired by Nailstorming. You can find her on her website or her Youtube channel. She does designs like this a lot and I just really wanted to try it...and I loved it!

Pink: China Glaze Pinking Out the Window
Gray: Zoya Carey
White: Nicole by OPI Yoga Then Yogurt
Glitter: China Glaze Dancing & Prancing

The chevrons were made using Nail Vinyls. I used a dotting tool from Amazon for the polka dots, and the sponging method to apply the glitter.

Thanks for reading <3