Milani Blue Flash & Some Nail Art

This is two coats of the super sexy Milani Blue flash. Easy to apply  as long as you wait a few minutes between coats. It dries a bit gritty & with a matte finish so it needed a couple of coats of topcoat but it's well worth it in my opinion. Gorgeous deep teal & sparse black micro glitter!

One of my new favorite books, Among Others by Jo Walton, also happens to have a pretty cover.

 

The next day I add a bit of China Glaze Ruby Pumps. I love this manicure, super hero glitter nails!

Thanks for reading!
April

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Sation Miss McTeal

Sation bottles are oval with thick glass bottoms. The new brushes are great for ladies like me that love wide brushes. The formula on all the ones I've tried is excellent. You can purchase Sation's Big 3 Free polishes at their website. Sation has just released their first limited edition collection, California Gleamin', available now!

Sation McTeal is a fun polish that reminds me of my Crest Mint Toothpaste. Shown here at three coats; it starts out thin and sheer but build to a beautiful color with lots of depth. It looks very green in the sun, but darker & more blue indoors. Another winner from Sation!

Matched my favorite dress!

The next day I finally tried out some striping tape. It's a bit fiddly, but I love the effect!

Thanks for reading!

April

More about → Sation Miss McTeal

Play To The Judge Nail Art Contest (Ends 6/30)

I'm very excited to be hosting my first nail art contest. The theme will be nail art you think I will like. That's it. You can do anything you want but I'd love for you to explore my blog, pinterest, goodreads & facebook accounts so you can get to know me a bit better. I've never posted much personal stuff here on the blog & I tend to stay away from too much interaction on makeup alley & facebook groups (too much drama no matter how hard all of the good folks try to prevent it).

I'd like to get to know you better too. Please feel free to leave to your accounts & blogs in the comments of this post or email them to me at lirpaskoorb@gmail.com If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments or send me an email.

Contest Details

• One entry per person.
• Open internationally!
• 2 winners, one judge's (me) favorite & one picked by Random.org
• Prizes have yet to be determined, but they will be awesome!
• Can be previous nail art or something you did just for this contest.

Click the button below to add your nail art. Entries can be from your blog (make sure it's the specific post, not the home page) or a free picture hosting site (photobucket, flickr, etc.).Ends June 30th at midnight (US Central time. I can't wait to see your entries!

More about → Play To The Judge Nail Art Contest (Ends 6/30)

Color Club Sugarplum Fairy & Quick Nail Art

I won this polish from Whitney of Elemental Styles & I'm finally getting around to posting it. Color Club Sugarplum Fairy is the loudest, craziest polish I've ever used.
Shown here at 3 coats & 2 coats of topcoat. The formula is a bit gloopy but not too difficult to apply as long you wait a bit between coats. It definitely dries gritty but the extra topcoat is worth it for the ridiculous amount of holographic bling you get with this one. I love it & so does Will; he's been sporting it on his toes for about a month!

 

The next day I added some Maybelline Matte Rose for a sort of art deco feel.

Thanks for reading!
April

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Lightning

It's go through old photos day at April's house. Here's another quick post with some forgotten nails. I can't quite remember what I was going for here...
I used Sinful Secret Admirer (one of my all time favorites) for the base & the Painted Nail by Nubar OMG Gorgeous for the lightning.

Thanks for reading!
April

More about → Lightning

Chain Of Hearts Nail Art

Just a quick post with an old manicure that I didn't manage to get any great pictures of even though I really liked it! I used The drop dead gorgeous Zoya Keiko for the base & Zoya Chloe for the flakies inside the heart. Same chain & technique as these nails I did last Christmas.

Thanks for reading!
April

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Abstract Chocolate Covered Strawberries?

These nails were inspired by Christina Rinaldi of Prima Creative. I used different colors & they ended up reminding me of chocolate cover strawberries. This look is super easy & the color combinations are endless, though I must say I quite like this combo!

I used Sation Holiday Pink, Essie Little Brown Dress, & China Glaze Cherish.

Thanks for reading!
April

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Nautical Nails

I used Sation Sporty Kar Red, Sation Snow White, & Pure Ice French Kiss.

1st version

Final version

Thanks for reading!

April

More about → Nautical Nails

Ghostbusters!

Today's manicure was inspired by this great poster. I decided to go with a pure white background though. I used Sation Snow White, Sation Overdressed Party, & Pure Ice French Kiss. Pretty happy with this one!

 

Thanks for reading!
April

More about → Ghostbusters!

Sation Cafe Con Leche & Abstract Flower Accent Nail

Sation bottles are oval with thick glass bottoms. The new brushes are great for ladies like me that love wide brushes. The formula on all the ones I've tried is excellent. You can purchase Sation's Big 3 Free polishes at their website.

Sation Cafe Con Leche is a glossy caramel creme with an great formula that's opaque in 2 coats.

 

The next night i did a quick accent nail using Zoya Gemma, Sation Heather, & N.Y.C. 233.

 

Thanks for reading!
April

More about → Sation Cafe Con Leche & Abstract Flower Accent Nail

Zoya Wednesday & A Fishtail Braid Accent Nail

Zoya Wednesday is gorgeous, a "faded dirty medium turquoise with green undertone and an opaque cream finish." The formula is a bit thick & needs a topcoat to level it out. Shown here at 2 coats Wednesday is a new favorite for sure!

The next day I tried out a tutorial by Taylor of the blog REJOICE for a fishtail braid manicure. Since it looked time consuming I opted for just an accent nail but I strongly discourage doing only one nail unless you have lots of patience to wait for the layers to dry. It's really quite easy to accomplish & would look amazing done on every finger.
I used Zoya Wednesday, Kristi, & Cho. I love this color combination & I can't wait to try the fishtail braid for a full manicure. Thanks for the idea Taylor!

 

Thanks for reading!
April

This polish was sent to me for review. All opinions are my own & were not influenced by Zoya! For more information you can read my disclosure policy.

More about → Zoya Wednesday & A Fishtail Braid Accent Nail

Failed Water Marble Almost Saved

I haven't tried a water marble in along time so I thought I'd give it a shot. I didn't like the way it turned out, not horrible but just not enough of any of the colors. I decided to try & save it by adding more polish by sponging & just using a brush to fill in some areas.
These are all photos of the fixed up version. I used Zoya Tracie for the base & Wet N Wild Teal of Fortune & NYC Molten Metal for the marbling & sponging. Turned out ok in the end.

Thanks for reading!
April

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Zoya Shelby & A Pretty Accent Nail

I didn't think I liked Zoya Shelby at first; it's just SO pink! It grew on me though & I'm definitely keeping it. Shelby is a very cool toned bubblegum pink cream. The formula is very pigmented but a bit thick & streaky. It evened out just fine after 3 coats.

Shade

Full sun

 

I found this amazing image in an old Mechanix Illustrated image

The next day I saw my sister Ashley & she had a new purse that inspired my accent nail. Turns out the Zoya Beach Collection has every color I needed! I used Zoya Arizona & Zoya Lara.

 

Thanks for reading!

April

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Zoya Rory & A Rather Boring Gradient

This is 2 coats of Zoya Rory, a "medium mauve pink with lilac tones, gold and silver reflective metallic shimmer accents, and a foil-like finish." The formula is just like Zoya Edyta & you'll need to wait a few minutes between coats. I"m passing this one to a friend as I just don't like the way it looks with my skin tone.

The next day I was feeling uninspired so I tried one of my favorite easy techniques & applied a quick sponge gradient with Zoya Carly. The results were just kind of blah & I looked for another color to stamp on top but nothing quite worked out. Not a bad manicure, just kind of boring.

Thanks for reading!
April

More about → Zoya Rory & A Rather Boring Gradient