See you on Friday!

Hello my Dear Nail Art Lovers.
Tomorrow morning we are leaving for the San Francisco trip - gosh i am so super excited, this is going to be my first time in California. We going to spend where 4 romantic days full of all kind of exciting plans. So as of right now - bags are packed and nails are done.
I am going to post today nail that i have done for the trip, i hope that glitter top coat will help it last for 4 days, and neutral colors will not annoy me.




And here is a picture of my Wonderful and beautiful Kot Marshal - i guess your are so surprised on how big is he now :) He is wonderful, amazing, very loving Kot (Kot means cat in russian, but htis is how we call him around here) and i am goign to miss him so much. My friend is going to coame take care of the kot and dogs 2 times a day while we are gone, so special thanks to her :)
I hoped i can use this cool picture of Marshal as an excuse for not posting much lately.
When my Dad saw this picture he said that it must be called somehting like - "Mmmm... Those owners were delicious..." :D

Also please check out my post that i made earlier this year, with the manicure that i called San Francisco Nails :) I guess i was just inspired by the dream of cisitng Sanfran, and i am so happy that my dream is cumming true.
SAN FRAN NAILS POST

More about → See you on Friday!

1st post + Zebra Nails Tutorial

after a few weeks of contemplating whether to make a nail blog or not, i decided that i wanted a blog. but after a few days of trying to come up with a "clever" blog name, i failed, gave up, and decided to go with a mundane blog title--and now i finally have a nail blog.

im not exactly sure if anyone is going to keep up with my blog, but i know one thing, Natasha is going to see this post. haha hopefully other people will follow my blog?...if not, oh well...

just to add, im an amateur nail art girl. i just do it for fun so, i cant guarantee perfection or the "proper" way of doing things.

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Zebra Nail Tutorial !


here's the look we're going for ^
i had this on for a week and received a lot of compliments. a lot of people also asked me how to do the blend [on the ring finger] so i decided to do a tutorial. plus, Natasha specifically requested a tutorial for this one. haha


these are the polishes i used, from l-r:
Poshe Topcoat, Poshe Treatmeant Basecoat, Sally Hansen Lightening, N.Y.C. Taxi Yellow Creme, Sinful Colors Cream Pink, & L.A. Colors Art Deco Black.

*if you do substitute the colors, i do suggest having a really sheer polish of either colors; for example, the N.Y.C. polish is a really, really, really sheer yellow.

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french tip + zebra stipes


start with a base coat.


using a tip guide, place it where you want the tip.


using either the pink or yellow, paint the tip & then take off the tip guide.


once the tip has dried, using the art deco polish, or any other thin brush w/black polish, start making the stripes. [i, honestly, had to watch a TONNNN of youtube zebra print tutorials in order to get some-what decent at making the stripes. so if you're not that good at making the stripes, it'll be a good idea to watch some tutorials on youtube.] remember to keep in mind: start at the outside-edge of the nail & swipe the brush coming towards the middle-inside of the nail. when swiping the brush, put more pressure on the brush when you're at the outside of the nail and as you come towards the middle of the nail, use less pressure on the brush. and make the stripes squiggly; perfectly straight lines dont look that good.


go on the opposite side of the first stripe & make another stripe. continuously add more stripes on both sides.


try not to bunch the stripes too much so it doesnt look messy. this would be the end product after you apply a topcoat.

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blend + zebra stripes


again, start with a basecoat.


[eek, this is superrrr blurry. sorry!] paint half the nail yellow, using the Sally Hansen Lightening polish.


once the yellow is dried, paint the other half pink.


just before the pink dries, use the N.Y.C. Taxi Yellow Creme polish and paint along the middle line of the yellow and pink. paint horizontally and the pink should start to drag with the yellow. keep painting horizontally, , going back and forth, until it turns orange enough. [if it isnt orange enough, add a little more of the yellow creme to make it lighter.]


once the blend has dried, start doing the stripes.


sorry i didnt take pictures while doing the rest of the stripes, i totally forgot! haha but its basically just like doing the strip on the french-tip except the stripes are going to be all over the nail. here's a tip though, when you come to the yellow-orange & orange-pink blend section, try to put a stripe where the two colors meet to make it look like it really blends. -i hope that made sense, sorry if it didnt!

add a topcoat & you're finished!

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wow, that was a long first post, but its done! if anyone, besides for Natasha, read this...and tries it, please show me =) i'd like to see. and leave me comments/feedback, if its possible. feedback is always appreciated =)

have a good week,
<3KATRINA

More about → 1st post + Zebra Nails Tutorial

Happy Sloth Necklace & A French Manicure

I won the Happy Sloth Necklace from the Steals, Deals and Heels giveaway that I posted in one of my Giveaway Roundups! I love him so much!! This necklace is available from MaryMary Handmade on Etsy. Everything in her shop is unbelievably adorable!!!! Here's a link to her blog as well. Look at this amazing Pinwheel Ring that actually spins!!!
I decided to make some sort of tree nails for my happy sloth. I haven't named him yet. Any suggestions? I tried a couple of different ideas for some tree nails but ended up just going with a simple French Manicure design. I used China Glaze Chocdisiac for the base and Sinful San Francisco for the tips.
Once again entering blog giveaways paid off for me! Have you entered my giveaways yet? Enter here for your chance to win $70 worth of organic skin care products from Melvita or enter here to win your chance at a $70 CSN Stores shopping spree. Both of these end tomorrow night!!!
You can also enter our follower appreciation giveaway. Thanks to everyone who has entered and helped spread the word so far!

Just for the record, no one paid me to do this post. I won the prize fair and square and was so happy with it that I decided to share it with you.

Thanks for reading!
April

More about → Happy Sloth Necklace & A French Manicure

Yay! I Won 3rd Place in Configure1973's Valentine's Day Contest!!

Hey Y'all! Im so sorry this is a terribly late update to the contest I entered for Valentine's day nail art designs. Configure1973 announced the winners in this video. Congratulations to the other winners! Here are links to their youtube pages
2nd place: IHaveACupcake
1st place: Dollface22772

Those two ladies did some really awesome designs! Be sure to check them out! Dollface22772 also has a blog which you can find here.

On a side note, I might be MIA for a week or 2. I have to sort my website out but trust me I have some awesome design ideas in store so stay tuned!

Here's a couple of pictures of the design!

More about → Yay! I Won 3rd Place in Configure1973's Valentine's Day Contest!!

NEON, MIRRORS, 3D AND MORE!

I got this idea from Young Nails again! They are amazing! I am soooo glad I attended the Young Nails class I just wish they had one every week. These acrylic colors are from the Young Nails neon collection and I used polish to paint the tiger stripes!

I stole this idea from a very talented girl I met at a Young Nails art class. Thank you for the inspiration Krizia! I love your ideas!

This is 3d nail art that I created with acrylic. I put the 3d art right on the nail and then covered it with clear acrylic. The nail is smooth to the touch but you can still get the 3d effect. I have to admit I was proud of myself for doing these.


This is snakeskin print done on bright summer colors. I looooovvveee the snakeskin and this awesome client!

This is mirror confetti from Young Nails!

More sparkles nails!

This is some impression nail art. I love how vibrant these colors are!

More about → NEON, MIRRORS, 3D AND MORE!

Zoya Nail Polish- NYFW Fall 2010 recap: JSong

Fashion Designer: JSong
Date: Wednesday, 2/10/2010
Location: 499 Seventh Avenue
Zoya Nail Polish- Official Nail Care Sponsor of the JSong Fall 2010 Show.

 
Product Used: Zoya Remove+, Zoya Anchor Base Coat, Zoya Nail Polish in Suzanne, Zoya Nail Polish in Tasha, Zoya Nail Polish in Jessika, Zoya Nail Polish in Bailey, and  Zoya Armor Top Coat.

Romantic Fantasy is the ideal way to describe JSong’s collection. The motto for their collection was In Nature’s Magical Garden and their clothes definitely represented that. They stuck with the main theme of fashion week this season, layers, but they put their own spin on things. They had layered eyelets the shape of leaves, crochet shawls, and sheer tops with patterns similar to peacock feathers.

Manicurist Jackie Saulsbery prepped each nail with Zoya Remove+ and a basecoat of Anchor. She used Zoya Suzanne, Zoya Tasha, Zoya Jessika, Zoya Bailey and finished with a topcoat of Armor.

Guest included top editors.

More about → Zoya Nail Polish- NYFW Fall 2010 recap: JSong

Nails To Match My New Bag

Yet another reason why I enter giveaways! I won this LRG bag from Highsobiety. I've always loved military inspired fashions and this gorgeous bag is no exception.

Ashley & I still haven't acquired a perfect army green polish which makes us sad in our hearts. I used Ashley's OPI You Don't Know Jacques for the base color. Santee Midtown Haze, Color Club Feel the Beat and Maybelline Khaki Fringe for the stripes. Then I used China Glaze Matte Magic over everything. I LOVE the end result.
I love winning gorgeous things! Enter all three of my current giveaways for your chance to get that little rush of adrenaline and endorphins when you're the winner! There are links to each giveaway on the right side of the blog. Good luck!

Just for the record, no one paid me to do this post. I won the prize fair and square and was so happy with it that I decided to share it with you.

Thanks for reading!
April

More about → Nails To Match My New Bag

China Glaze New Day

I picked this up in our favorite crazy nail polish store (one for me and one for our giveaway). China Glaze New Day is a dusty with a silver cap but I can't find it anywhere on the China Glaze website. Anybody know more about this one? I've been looking for cornflower blues lately so I was immediately drawn to this one when I saw it in the dusty bin. I would call it a cornflower blue frost. The formula was a little difficult and this is three coats.

Have you entered all three of our giveaways yet? Ashley & I worked hard to make the instructions clear and easy to follow. What do you think of the form? We went with this method for a lot of reasons. It protects you email address and it automatically puts each entry into a google spreadsheet that I can sort anyway I wish. This makes finding cheaters much simpler and also greatly simplifies using a random number generator to pick the winner since each entry is already in a numbered spreadsheet.

Anyway, thanks for reading!
April

More about → China Glaze New Day

My Valentine's Day gift from Hubby has FINALLY arrived!!!

Yay! I just got my gift that I purchased on Ebay! A huge set that has 60 pieces of nail art decorations! I also got a couple of extra items to go along with the decorations. I purchased this set from Tamanala's Ebay store.

The set contains 5 different types of decorations with 12 colors of each one! It was a really great price even though I must say her shipping charges are high. When you add the shipping with the extremely low price you basically come out even but I still think it was a good price. The whole set came to about $25 including shipping. Decorations included in the set are glitter dust, steel mini beads, glitter strips, small round glitter and large hexagon glitter.



The other thing I got was a 20 piece set of eyeshadow mineral dust to add to my acrylic to make colored acrylics.


Well Ladies, hope you all enjoy the haul video I've made! And definitely watch out for some more tutorials and experiments! Thanks so much for all of your support and interest. Happy Friday and have an AWESOME weekend!!!

More about → My Valentine's Day gift from Hubby has FINALLY arrived!!!

Zoya Nail Polish- NYFW Fall 2010 recap: Diesel Black and Gold

Fashion Designer: Diesel Black and Gold  
Show Date: Tuesday, 2/16/2010-  2PM
Location: Warehouse, 44^th Street

Zoya Nail Polish- Official Nail Care Sponsor of the Diesel Black and Gold Fall 2010 Show.

Products Used:  Zoya Remove+,  Zoya Anchor Base Coat, Zoya Get Even Ridge Filling Base Coat, Zoya Armor Top Coat, Zoya Hurry Up Speed Dry Drops,  Zoya Renew Polish Rejuvenator, Zoya Nail Polish in Tasha, Zoya Nail Polish in Erin,  Zoya Lemon Dream lotion, and Zoya Germinator.

Diesel Black and Gold’s Fall 2010 show screamed confidence. They stuck with the distressed-faded jeans, but this time they added a more gothic/ western vibe to their looks.  This season had a plethora of black denim to choose from and for the more adventurous type leather. All over the board there was black in denim and leather form, flannels, light blue denim pieces, and clean-tailored suits sprinkled in throughout the collection.

* Image from thecobrasnake

 Manicurist Amber Stores sprayed the models' hands with Zoya Germinator prior to each manicure. She then prepped each nail with Zoya Anchor basecoat as well as with Zoya Get Even. She then polished each nail with a base of  Zoya Nail Polish in Tasha and then a top layer of Zoya Nail Polish in Erin creating a gorgeous nude nail. After polishing she finished with Zoya Anchor topcoat and Zoya Renew. Lastly, for a nice, sweet touch Zoya Lemon Dream lotion was used on all hands.

 

* Images from Style.com

Similar to the collection the location was in a grungy location, a warehouse, but that did not stop people from coming to witness Diesel Black and Gold’s Fall 2010 Show. A huge crowd  showed up including,  Carine Rotifeld (French Vogue), Leigh Lezark,  Actress Amber Heard,  Mickey Boardmen and Kim Haistreiter (Paper),  Mark Hunter (thecobrasnake), and Cory Kennedy.

More about → Zoya Nail Polish- NYFW Fall 2010 recap: Diesel Black and Gold