Memorial Day 2012

I have a new camera - yay! I was going to try out a video for this week, but then I caught my husband's head cold, and just didn't have the energy. So a straight photo tutorial today, and perhaps I can get video done next week.

Yesterday was Memorial Day in the US, so I decided a bit of patriotism was in order...

Polishes used: Zoya "Indigo", Sinful Colors "Ruby, Ruby" and a white StripeRite striper polish.

 I started with two coats of "Ruby, Ruby" (before you go commenting on my messy process, please read this - thanks).

 Next, I painted vertical stripes down each nail in white, all flag-like. This really works best with the long, narrow brush in a striper bottle, but you can use a toothpick or a very thin paintbrush too, if you're careful.

 After that, I used two coats of Zoya "Indigo" for the tips, and decided at the last minute to outline them lightly with a silver glitter striper polish.

 Finally, I used one coat of Seche Vite top coat to set white pearl beads into to represent stars on the blue tips. I sealed them with one more coat of topcoat over everything.

After clean-up, all done! This would be great for the 4th of July as well, methinks...

Until next week, happy polishing!

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Wild Stones

The last two weeks my manicures have just not turned out the way I wanted them to, unfortunately. Thankfully, aside from that annoyingly placed break you see on my middle finger and a little tip-pull, this one turned out pretty well. I love, love, love Nubar duochromes!

I used Sally Hanson "Triple Strong" as a base tonight (see below), Nubar's "Wildlife", a green & pink duochrome for my color, large rhinestones from Born Pretty Store for the artwork, and Seche Vite top coat to seal it all up. The rhinestones were complimentary, if I remember correctly (it's been awhile). Everything else was on my dime.

I started with the Triple Strong to try to stabilize that broken nail until it can grow out to where I can comfortably cut it. When you have nails as long as mine, the "quick" under the nail grows out longer than the finger, so I can't just cut the break off at the top of my finger (not without taking a lot of skin too). Triple Strong normally works really well (it's got epoxy in it!)...but tonight before I took photos, something heavy slipped out of my hands and yanked the break apart again. Stupid thing...my own fault for not being more careful.

After the TS, I applied two coats of Wildlife, which you can kind of see some of the color differences in the above non-flash photo. Gorgeous, beautiful polish, IMO. One of my new favorites, and the formula is awesome, as usual.

Just a simple design this week - three stones on each nail, alternating pink and black. I just brushed on a coat of Seche, seated the stones in the tacky polish, and then sealed with another coat of Seche over the top.

Would you believe I didn't realize I'd lost a stone already until I looked at this photo tonight? Must not have gotten that one pushed down all the way...bummer!

Obviously, I've gotten a bit lazy - not wrapping polish over the tips, etc. It's because I've been starting my manicures really late (like 1am). Next week, I'm starting earlier, no matter what, so I have time to do a better job. That's kind of the point, right? ;-)

Until then, happy polishing!

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Pierced Fall Foils

Sorry about the missed post last week. I sorta got sidetracked by way too many evenings out and about. Thankfully, this week should be much more normal.

I've been dying to try this rich brown color - Misa "When U Say My Name" ever since I bought it, and now that fall is around the corner, I couldn't hold back any longer. I decided that gold and copper foil would accent it nicely, then on a whim, decided to pierce my pinky nail just for a little extra glint of gold. The foils I'm using are from Nail Art Delights, and I find it's easier to pull them into little pieces before starting the manicure. I just use a couple of orange sticks...the foil is extremely thin and will go flying with one deep breath (which is what makes it fabulous for nails...).

After I cut and filed my nails, I got my nail drill (also purchased from Nail Art Delights), laid my pinky finger on a flat, hard surface, and started turning the drill back and forth right where I wanted the hole until it went all the way through.

Groovy! I find it's easier to do this without polish, but if you have thinner nails, it might work better with base coat, at least. If you do drill before polishing, remember to keep something handy to poke polish out of the hole with...

Next up, Seche Vite base coat, and two coats of Misa's "When U Call My Name". I love this color...just enough gold in it to shine nicely, but still a very dark, rich color. Yummy!

Then to set the foil, I brushed on a thin layer of top coat, and just sort of piled it on randomly. The foil sticks to the top coat very easily, so it's a pretty quick job. I use an orange stick to wrinkle/de-wrinkle where it seems to work.

You'll notice I still don't have the ring in yet - I put two coats of Seche Vite top coat over these, let them dry, and then when I did clean up in the morning I put the ring through the hole. You'll need at least needle nose pliers for the task, and possibly a small pair of regular pliers too (for closing the jump ring).

And there you have it! I got tons of compliments on these - they were much more shiny than these photos give them credit for.

Because I know someone will wonder - yes, I can type with a ring in my pinky. The trick is to put the hole far enough back that the ring moves freely, but doesn't dangle too far off the nail. It does help if you're already used to longer nails though.

I can't decide whether to go with a matte for next week, a crackle, or a duochrome. I guess it will be a surprise! Until then, happy polishing...

More about → Pierced Fall Foils

Green Holo-Mask

I was in sort of a "green & blue" mood this week, and not all that awake while I did these. Still, I think they turned out kind of fun. I do wish I'd gotten my lines a bit straighter, but...next time. I love, love, love this green duochrome by Nubar - it looks more like a green jelly in normal room light, and then just shines in the sun. :-)

I started with a coat of Seche Vite base, then two coats of Nubar "Reclaim". Very smooth & easy to control.

Then a thick stripe of Avon "Empower", a dark navy jelly that was really the perfect consistency to stay put over the shiny green. One coat was plenty - very opaque.

I had some pink rhinestones just sitting on my tray, so decided to finish up with those. One coat of Seche Vite top coat to stick them in...

And then a couple thin coats to seal. I should have used wiggly eyes - they look like little masked fingers to me. ;-)

Next time I'll be more careful with the lines - no dozing off as I'm trying to finish up...

I have a new Zoya color I want to try next week...sort of a gray with bronze mica, if I recall correctly. Until then, happy polishing!

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Malibu Pearls

The folks at The Painted Nail and The Nail Files were kind enough to send me three bottles of polish to use and review. The polish is made by Nubar, and I have to say, "Malibu Dreams" is probably my favorite hot pink polish ever (and I don't normally care much for hot pink). It has a blueish base, and tons of tiny sparkly glitter that makes it look wet even when dry. Great formula too (as expected from Nubar). So this week I started with two coats of Malibu Dreams (over a coat of Seche Vite base coat):

And then got out my large rhinestones (provided by Born Pretty Store) and pearls for a little "nail-lace" on each (one thick coat of top coat to set them in). The turquoise and pink combo reminded me of someplace warm and sunny and bright like Malibu. I set the big rhinestone first in the center of the nail. Then I placed the little pearls on each side. Super, super easy. If the top coat is wet enough, you can slide the stones around a bit until they're where you want them, so working fast is helpful (but not necessary).

I only did one more thickish coat of top coat (Seche Vite) to seal, because the stones were set pretty well in the first coat. These don't stick up too far, so it shouldn't be an issue. They feel very solid.

Sorry - no video this week. I shot some, but didn't have time to edit it. Next week a Fourth of July design, and I'll have time for video since I have a three-day weekend. :-)

Until then, happy polishing!

More about → Malibu Pearls

Tanzy Citrus & Nail Files

This week's manicure is a bright summer design - I'm hoping if we celebrate the first day of summer properly, the nice weather will stick around awhile. I even have a video for you, although it's a bit blurry right where it counts (good grief - third time is a charm?).  But first, lemme show you the polishes that I received yesterday for review from The Painted Nail via the publicist for Nail Files, a new TV series that starts tonight. They were kind enough to send me a video of the show, and I watched it last night. I thought it was great - it's about a salon owner in Hollywood. Super dramatic, of course, but most reality TV is. In any case, I'll be watching online since it's on the TV Guide channel and I don't have cable. Anyone going to watch with me?

These are the polishes they sent - and the photo does not do these justice. Nubar is the maker, and the colors are just fabulous and sparkly. I'll have a manicure with these for next week.

So...back to the citrus. I started with one coat of Seche Vite base coat, and one coat of Finger Paints "Well-cultured Pearl" to provide an opaque base. Then I layered two coats of Zoya's "Tanzy", which I am completely in love with. It's so sparkly and shimmery - even when it's dry, it looks wet due to all the sparkle. Nail bling!

I set the clay canes in a thickish-coat of Seche Vite top coat, making sure to press the edges down as well as I could. Clay can be kind of rebellious, and tends to curl at the edges sometimes. The nice thing is that even if it sticks up a bit off the nail, the edges are blunt enough on a round cane that they don't get stuck on things often.

Here's the video - apologies for the blur!

And the finished look once more, all cleaned up.

Next week, I've got my sights on that "Malibu Dreams" - the hot pink polish above from The Painted Nail.

Until then, Happy Polishing!

More about → Tanzy Citrus & Nail Files

Wearing O'The Green

It's still Tuesday here. ;-) I'm afraid I don't have a tutorial for you (because I've been a total slacker), but I have three green manicures to share for St. Patrick's Day this week...

All of these designs were done with 1 coat Seche Vite base coat, 2 coats base polish, and the stones set in two coats of Seche Vite top coat. I should buy stock in Seche Vite...

First off, we have my favorite green polish, China Glaze "Emerald Sparkle", tipped with OPI's "Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow" (which looks black, but is really very dark green). I added light green rhinestones to the center for interest. I love this manicure - super simple to do, yet casual/elegant. 

 

Next up, I used a base polish of Rimmel's 60 Second polish in "Camouflage" - a lovely color, but as you can see I had some trouble with tip pull. Gotta remember to wrap the polish at the nail edge, peeps! Then I put a swoop of white diagonally across the nail, and a glittery gold Sinful color as a base for some large and small light green stones. It was really much more subdued than the picture shows - apologies for the flash. 

 And of course this week, it's back to my favorite Emerald Sparkle, with more of the light green rhinestones arranged into shamrocks on three nails each hand. Aside from my thumb (which I tried to make 4-leaf), they turned out nicely, I think.

Larger rhinestones compliments of the Born Pretty Store, and I purchased the smaller stones from Nail Delights. 

Finally, I saw Nail Art Tuesday mentioned in a blog round-up recently, but I can't find the post again. :-( Whoever you are, thanks so much for the mention! I appreciate it. :-) 

Next week, back to tutorials. Until then, Happy Polishing - and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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Catchin' Up

Apologies for disappearing in December - the holidays sort of got away from me. So today I have a couple finished manicures from Christmas and the first week in January to show you, and then next week I'll have a new tutorial to post.

For Christmas this year, I used these cute decals from Born Pretty. Speaking of which, Born Pretty has offered Nail Art Tuesday shoppers 10% off your order when you use code: SQUOVAL15 at checkout.

The fun part about the Christmas mani (aside from those lovely water decals) was that my silver polish was way too thick. It was hard to work with, but it also made a 3-D, almost "fuzzy" line at the tips.

Last week I got some fun new Finger Paints polishes that I can't recall the names of just now (don't worry, you'll see them again). I decided to do a gradient with China Glaze "Tinsel" between the white and purple. I love how it turned out, very "winter whimsical", I think.

So that's what I've been up to polish-wise - next week, China Glaze "Dorthy Who?" and full nail stickers.

Until then - happy polishing!

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Sparkly Ornaments

This week, I needed something to help me get in the mood for Christmas, and I needed a quick design. So I got out these huge rhinestones that the Born Pretty store sent for review. I think they look very much like shiny glass ornaments, don't you?

I started with one of my favorite Christmas glitters, China Glaze "Emerald Sparkle". Two coats over CG base coat makes a nice "tree" layer.

Then I added a thick diagonal stripe in China Glaze "Tinsel", another of my favorite CG polishes. Just one, somewhat thick coat worked fine for setting the stones.

I added three stones to each nail, using red and yellow...

And switched the colors on my index fingers for just a little variety.

Two coats China Glaze quick dry top coat, some clean up, and voila! Sparkly ornaments telling me it's time to get moving on the holiday stuff.

**Edited to add - Born Pretty Store is offering a 10% discount until December 31st, 2010 - use coupon code OPENTENOFF. I may just do that myself, actually. :-)

I'm kind of itching to try a peppermint swirl water marble thing - perhaps I'll do that next week. Until then, happy polishing!

More about → Sparkly Ornaments