Nail Art Inspired By Ashley Goldberg

Quick nail art inspired by this lovely pattern from Ashley Goldberg. You can purchase all sorts of excellent & reasonably priced prints in her Etsy store. I love the blue & orange together!!
I used Zoya Arizona for the base & American Apparel The Valley for the dashes whcih I made using the same flat brush I used in this tutorial.
Check out my nail inspiration Pinterest board for lots of great nail art ideas.

Thanks for reading!
April

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Sation Silver Frost & American Apparel Meteor Shower

I couldn't wait to use American Apparel Meteor Shower again. Meteor Shower is irregular shards of gold foil or mylar in a clear base. I didn't have much trouble with application but you do have to push down the larger pieces to get them to lay flat.
I'm wearing two coats of American Apparel Meteor Shower over 2 coats of Sation Silver Frost in these photos. I followed up with 2 coats of topcoat just to make sure all of the edges were well stuck down. I love the frosty white & gold combination!

Thanks for reading!
April

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Zoya Tru & American Apparel Meteor Shower

I love American Apparel polishes & I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. Meteor Shower is irregular shards of gold foil or mylar in a clear base. I didn't have much trouble with application but you do have to push down the larger pieces to get them to lay flat.
I'm wearing two coats of American Apparel Meteor Shower over 2 coats of Zoya Tru in these photos. I followed up with 2 coats of topcoat just to make sure all of the edges were well stuck down. I love the effect and will be wearing Meteor Shower again soon!

Thanks for reading!
April

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Chain Nails!

I didn't get very good pictures of these nails which is too bad because I really loved them. These stayed on remarkably well for 2 whole days.
I used one coat of American Apparel Hassid. The chains had earlier been cut with a pair of scissors, just a chain from some old necklace. I added some top coat to one nail & then used a pair of tweezers to add a length of chain. Repeat the process on each nail & then add another layer of top coat and finished!

Thanks for reading!
April

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American Apparel Sunset Boulevard & Gold Flash

 I caught my sister Ashley doing her nails recently and snapped some quick pictures. We both love American Apparel polishes!

This is 2 thin coats of American Apparel Sunset Boulevard tipped with American Apparel Gold Flash.

 Thanks for reading!
 April

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Snowman Nail Art

I love how my snowman turned out! I started with a base of American Apparel The Valley. Then I used Revlon Powder Puff for his face.

I later added a coat of Color Club Covered In Diamonds. I think I like the plain version just a bit better.

Here's my inspiration. I found this old light up snowman at the flea market a couple of weekends ago. He's so cute!

Thanks for reading!
April

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American Apparel The Valley & Color Club Covered In Diamonds

This is 2 coats of American Apparel The Valley. I love American Apparel polishes & this one is no exception. Easy application & pretty color.

I added one coat of the lovely but slightly troublesome Color Club Covered In Diamonds. I think it's worth the extra time it takes to apply this unique polish. You just have to work a bit to get the mylar pieces to lay flat. An extra thick topcoat helps out too! Such a pretty winter combination.

Thanks for reading!
April

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Nails inspired By A Gorgeous Book Cover: Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente

"Romantic and blood-streaked, and infused with magic so real you can feel it on your fingertips—Deathless is beautiful." —Cory Doctorow

Do you remember playing outside as a kid and looking for that secret entrance to another world? Maybe near the giant tree with the creepy face in the bark, or the big pink crystal you found in the rock garden. Or maybe if you stare up at the clouds long enough with the just right squint and enough concentration you could find yourself transported to another reality just on the other side of this one.A magical reality both brighter & more wonderful yet darker & more menacing too.
I spent hours doing this sort of thing & reading Deathless somehow reminded me of those hours spent with my own imagination.

For my nails I used American Apparel Poppy & California Trooper as seen here. I added the design with a black Sharpie. It worked pretty well & comes off easily with your polish.

Thanks for reading! I'm not sure how to link to my Goodreads profile, but I'd love to see some of you ladies there too.
April

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American Apparel California Trooper & Poppy

I love American Apparel polishes! I love their nifty rectangle bottles that sit so nicely next to each other, I love their huge range of gorgeous creme shades & I love their formula. I've already used up my bottle of Cotton, & I just picked up a backup of California Trooper. I've gushed about California Trooper before. If I could only have one nail polish this would be it!

For this manicure I used California Trooper & Poppy for my accent nail. It's the basis for some nail art inspired by a book, but it looked so pretty before the nail art that I had to take some pictures. I'll post the nail art & a quick review of the book that inspired it very soon.

Thanks for reading!
April

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American Apparel: Two swatches

A short post for today! I have two American Apparel polishes to share with you guys today. Both of them are green-ish tones. No surprise there! Let's take a look.


Army Jacket is a light pale army green creme. 2 coats


Mac Arthur Park is a murky yellow green creme. 2 coats. This is quite an interesting yellow green. I can't quite explain it, it's a bit mossy, kind of looks dirty. You get the picture.

The applications for these were ok. I had a little problem with Mac Arthur Park, it was a bit thick to work with. Other than that I never really have issues with American Apparel polishes. However, I think these may be the last American Apparel polishes I'll be purchasing. Nothing against the polishes, just something about the company I don't like (and please don't bash me as this is entirely MY opinion). Although, I know a few people who agrees with me.

Well, that's all I have for today!

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American Apparel Neons

Hey lovelies! Today I have neons from American Apparel to share with you. I love neons, and I don't see it much on nails around here, it's either neon pink, or neon orange, never the others. So when I saw these I had to buy them (although I am not a huge fan of American Apparel) Neons are perfect for the summer. Even though summer is coming to a close end, it doesn't hurt to see these neons :)





Neon Yellow is well, a neon yellow creme. lol This was done in 3 coats. It looks like a typical yellow hi-liter, so this is very bright and burns your eyes if you stare at it for too long. The picture is shown with no top coat. Neons tend to dry with a matte finish.





Neon Red is a red neon but looks more orange than red. 2 coats





Neon Orange is a bright light neon orange. 2 coats. I actually like this kind of neon orange than your typical neon orange you see around. It is more yellow-toned.





Neon Green is another we don't see much. This one is crazy blinding. This was 2 coats with a top coat. The color is very intense.





Neon Coral is a a neon orangey coral. 2 coats. I think this lean more towards neon orange, than neon coral. I guess they used coral because there's a neon orange already? lol I don't know.





Neon Purple is a neon purple. It kind of reminds me of Essie's Perky Purple. But I don't own that one so I can't really compare the two. This was 2 coats.



The formula for these were a little thick but nothing too hard to work with. I had trouble applying for some of them. It was a bit uneven and slightly bumpy, but with a top coat it smoothed everything out. Neon Purple had a perfect formula and applied flawlessly. I can't say the same for the rest. The Neon Yellow and Neon Green were hardest to apply, I guess it's because they're super bright but I don't know.



These costs $6 a bottle at www.americanapparel.com I'm also missing a Neon Blue, but it wasn't on the site when I ordered them, I also don't plan on ordering it either.



Well that's all I have for today, what do you think of these neons?

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Nails To Match My Dress

Another new favorite manicure! I love this dress and I wanted my nails to match. I thought about doing all of the colors on each nail but I like this much better. I used American Apparel Cotton, American Apparel Hassid, & Pure Ice French Kiss.


Thanks for reading!
April

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Disney World Nemo Nails

I really wanted to do some nails inspired by my recent vacation but I wasn't quite sure what to do until I saw this post from the incredibly talented Leslie of Nail Polish Art Addiction. I am constantly amazed by her skills and the unique, clever designs she comes up with. Thanks for the idea!

I had the songs from Nemo: The Musical stuck in my head for days. I'm not very skilled with a brush so I just did the clown fish stripes as an accent nail and I love it!

I used American Apparel Poppy (great formula!) as a base and the white polish from my French Tip Dip Kit. I used Tic Tac Black and a skinny nail art brush too.

Thanks for reading!
April

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New American Apparel Colors!

I got a press release in my inbox today that's super exciting. I love the American Apparel polishes that I already have. In fact, California Trooper is my current #1 favorite! Here are all of the manicures that I've done with my American Apparel polishes. The new colors look gorgeous. I'm especially excited about the third and fifth bottles in the picture above.

This is what the company has to say about the new colors.

American Apparel Expands Its Nail Polish Collection with 12 New Colors

LOS ANGELES -- American Apparel (Amex: APP), the vertically integrated clothing manufacturer based in downtown Los Angeles, is announcing the addition of twelve new colors to its successful line of nail polish.

The company's Made in the USA nail lacquer is now available in 48 colors. The 12 new shades take inspiration from simple and straightforward elements of both Angeleno and global culture, reflecting the ubiquitous nature of the T-shirt on which American Apparel built its brand. Echo Park, a new shade of concrete grey, and MacArthur Park, a muted mossy yellow, both reference neighborhoods where the company first opened stores and where many of its employees live. Others, like Trenchcoat and Army Jacket, are nods to iconic garments and their evocative, eponymous tones.

"Nail polish is our favorite category for exploring color. We planned on releasing only six new shades, but we felt so strongly about all of these that we decided to release a full dozen. Its difficult to pick a favorite--they all compliment wardrobes in different ways. We can't wait to see the looks people create with them," said Marsha Brady, a creative director for American Apparel.

American Apparel Nail Lacquer has become one of the company's fastest-moving products. The two previous launches of colors quickly sold out worldwide. The consistency and quality of the polish has been universally noted in the reviews of the product and the company diligently oversaw the production process to ensure this standard again.

American Apparel Nail Lacquer is priced at $6 per bottle and is available in a 3-pack for $15 and 7-pack for $32. It is sold at American Apparel stores worldwide as well as online. The nail polish is DBP, toluene and formaldehyde-free. For a full view of color range, ingredients, swatches and photographs, please visit our online store.

So will you be ordering any of the new colors? Do you have any of the older colors?

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American Apparel California Trooper New #1 Favorite Polish

I think this beats Zoya Gaia as my new all time #1 favorite polish! American Apparel California Trooper is a gorgeous light khaki creme, supposedly the same color as California State Trooper uniforms! This is 2 easily applied coats. Ashley loves this one so much that she wants to get a bottle of her own and a back up bottle!!

Thanks for reading!
April

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American Apparel Cotton Nail Art

 I love this look! I did to match my black & white bikini for an end of the summer pool party about a month and a half ago. You can see my first post about American Apparel Cotton here. I used my beloved smART Nails sticker stencils and American Apparel Hassid for the squares.

Thanks for reading!
April

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American Apparel Butter

This is 3 coats of American Apparel Butter. My favorite yellow! I think I could have gotten away with just 2 coats if I had used a little thinner. It doesn't have the streaky issues that most yellows polishes suffer from. Gorgeous!

Thanks for reading!
April

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More American Apparel Nail Polishes

Greetings all! I just got back from the Sephora at Times Square for the Book of Shadows Vol III. I had fun there, got samples and everybody was so nice and friendly. Line was around the corner, but it moved by pretty fast. I'm glad I bought it!

So today I have more American Apparel nail polishes. These are the newer ones. I received them from my friend as a birthday gift. She knows my love for nail polishes lol

But anyways here are the swatches.


Le Spirit - lavendar creme. 2 coats. My camera make it looks baby blue. Very typical of my dumb camera. Always capturing purples as blues! Grr!!


Green Malibu - greenish turquoise creme. 2 coats. This one stained the beejeezus out of my nails. You'd think it stained green, no it stained yellow. Like piss yellow. Disgusting. Other than that colors nice.


Butter - soft pastel yellow creme. 2 coats. Love it!

Application was decent. Not thick at all, very opaque. Applied pretty smooth I must say.

So that is all I have for today, school starts for me tomorrow. Yes on Sunday. I have Sunday classes from 3:30 - 6:30. SIGH.....

More about → More American Apparel Nail Polishes

American Apparel Hassid

American Apparel Hassid is a black creme polish. Nothing fancy, no sparkles or matte effects. I would never wear this alone but it is an amazing polish if you like to do nail art! Hassid is opaque in one easily applied, quick-drying, thin coat! Woohoo! It also works great with water marbling and Konad! If you haven't found a great black creme, I strongly suggest you try American Apparel Hassid.

Disclosure: I was provided a product sample by American Apparel. This in no way affects my opinions of the product. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.

Thanks for reading!
April

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Latest Water Marble

I love water marbling! It's pretty easy and the results are cool. This is a base of Essie Adore-a-ball, marbled with Essie Mint Candy Apple, American Apparel Hassid & Essence Go Wild. All of these three polishes worked great for marbling!

There are lots of great tutorials around for doing a water marble, so I'll just tell you what I do differently.

I start by grabbing whatever chapstick I have around and putting that around my nails to make cleaning up my skin much easier. I've tried tape, but i thought it was annoying. Vaseline put on with a brush works great too, but the chapstick is the easiest thing I've tried so far.

I use a dish that is large enough for there to be some water surface without any polish. I then dip my finger straight down into the water without polish and bring it face-up under my favorite part of the design. I think most people put their nail face-down into the design, but I find this awkward. It works great for most people, but if you're feeling frustrated with that method, try it this way and see how it goes.

The part I would really like to improve is making designs in the polish after dropping them into the water. Does anyone have favorite links to tutorials?

explodingmary Art Wallet Giveaway! Ends 6/17.
Cream Perfume Company Review & Giveaway! Ends 6/15.

Thanks for reading!
April

P.S. I can't wait for the World Cup!!!!!! Who's the sexiest player this year?

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