Geometric Nail Art

Super easy and fun nails I did a couple of weeks ago. I used Color Club Wild Orchid for the base color. I added a quick dry topcoat and then waited about 15 minutes. Next I used the corner of one of my smARTNails stickers to block off the v shape. You could easily use tape instead of course. I applied one coat of Nina Ultra Pro Salsa and quickly removed the sticker. Last step was adding some dots with my dotting tools using Pure Ice Wild Thing.

I'm usually much more drawn to geometric as opposed to floral patterns. Since this was so easy, I'll be doing variations very soon!

Thanks for reading!
April

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Accidental Eggplant Manicure

I didn't really have a plan for this manicure; I just thought these 2 colors would compliment each other nicely. I used Charlotte Russe Jade & Orly Galaxy Girl, two of my favorite colors. I was hoping that Jade would highlight the gorgeous shimmer in Galaxy Girl. I should have chosen a different way to use them together though. I randomly pulled out a smART Nails sticker stencil and got accidental eggplant nails! Still a pretty color combination.


Thanks for reading!
April

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Mini Divas Star & A New Favorite Nail Art Manicure

This is 3 coats of Mini Divas Star. I found this one at the Dollar Tree. The formula is just okay but I love the results! Beautiful sky blue creme that got me tons of compliments.

I got the idea for this manicure back ion November when I did this one. I used my smARTNails stickers to create a rising sun, half moon manicure. I love it!


Thanks for reading!
April

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Holly Jolly Roger Nails

I was so excited about this idea that I didn't really bother to plan it out. I should have made the holly berries a little smaller and put them more to one side so you can see the leaves better. But I still like it!

Thanks for reading!
April

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Orly It's Not Rocket Science & Spiders (Real & Nail Art)

This is three coats & I might have needed a fourth. Maybe I'll layer it next time. Orly It's Not Rocket Science is definitely a new favorite polish! The first picture is in full sun and the next two in the shade.


This amazing spider set up a web right outside my back door and I had to get some pictures.


I decided to use my smART Nails spider stencils. I used Sation Midtown Haze for the spiders. It's a jelly polish so the sparkle of the base polish shows through. Cool effect!

Thanks for reading!
April

Don't forget to enter my LaVaque & Color Club giveaway!

More about → Orly It's Not Rocket Science & Spiders (Real & Nail Art)

Essie Sew Psyched & An Accent Nail

This is 2 coats of Essie Sew Psyched. The formula was a little thick & it dries much darker than the bottle. It's a dusty, grayish green with subtle shimmer that you can only see in full sunshine. Most of the time it just looks like a creme. It's a fairly unique color and one I definitely like, but I didn't fall head over heels for it like I thought I would.

The next night I used one of my smARTnails sticker stencils for an pretty accent nail. The combination of Essie Sew Psyched and Sinful Vacation Time feels very Art Deco to me.

Thanks for reading!
April

Don't forget to enter my LaVaque & Color Club giveaway!

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Essie In Stitches & smART Nails

This is 3 coats of Essie In Stitches. Nice formula and lovely color! It's a dark & dusty rose creme & I like it so much that I've already worn it twice.

The next day I used some my smART Nails sticker stencils and Zoya Kym. Not my favorite combination, but just fine.


Thanks for reading!
April

More about → Essie In Stitches & smART Nails

Orly Rio Nights & Some Nail Art

This is 3 coats of Orly Rio nights but I think it could have used a fourth coat. The formula is thin and sheer but still easy to work with. Nice, slightly reddish, purple creme color.


I used my beloved smART Nails stickers for this manicure and I really like the results. I used these before in one of my World Cup manicures. They functioned as gears for that one but here they are a fun twist on the half moon mani. I really want to use these on a sky blue background with a bright yellow for the moon so I can make a sunshine manicure. The accent color for this manicure was L.A. Girl Flare Dark Purple.


Thanks for reading!
April

More about → Orly Rio Nights & Some Nail Art

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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Talk Like A Pirate Day Nails

Today is Talk Like A Pirate Day! I love Pirates!
I used one coat of Pure Ice French Kiss (an amazing polish that I'll review soon!) with one coat of Barry M Silver Sea. One coat of Sinful Secret Admirer (another amazing polish!) topped with China Glaze Matte Magic for the Jolly Roger pirate flag. I used my beloved smARTNails sticker stencil & China Glaze Millennium for the skull and crossbones.


Thanks for reading!
April

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Franken Fail, Paintball, Goofy Will & Nail Art!

Will & I played paintball last weekend and it was super fun! I've never been before but I can't wait to go again. I got the prettiest bruise ever on my thigh and Will shot me in the hand. The hand shot was hard enough to blast off some of my nail polish!

I didn't have enough time to completely redo my nails before we went out that night, so I used my smARTnails sticker stencils and China Glaze Ruby Pumps to hide the damage. Someday soon I'll have to use this sticker stencil for making comic book style word bubbles. POW! The base color is my first attempt at frankening a dupe for RBL 360 which is a dusty teal. This one is way too bright!

This next picture is just ridiculous! I was half asleep when we left for paintball and didn't check Will's outfit like I normally do. Believe me it's necessary! We stopped at QuikTrip for gas, I looked up and saw this coming towards the car. That's one of my wife beaters!! Geez Will. You can see more funny Will in this post.


Thanks for reading!
April

More about → Franken Fail, Paintball, Goofy Will & Nail Art!

Essence Everybody's Talking About & Nail Art

I unexpectedly loved Essence Everybody's Talking About! I've already worn it twice because it just seems like a great summer color. I paired it with Essie Mint Candy Apple and one of my beloved smARTnails sticker stencils for this manicure. One of my favorite manicures for some reason!

Thanks for reading!
April

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A Few Zoya Reds From Wicked & Wonderful Fall Collections & Nail Art

Zoya Kym is a lovely rusty red with glass-flecked, gold shimmer. This is 2 easily applied coats. Not my favorite with my skintone but a great color for fall nonetheless.


Next up we have Zoya Stacy. I think this one is gorgeous! This is 2 coats. I tried a french manicure with Zoya Cheryl.



Zoya Kristi is my new favorite red! Flawless, 2 coat application. Perfect red creme, neither to cool or too warm, just perfect! I used Zoya Kelly and my smARTnails stickers too for this manicure.


Here are my overall thoughts on both of Zoya's fall collections, Wicked & Wonderful.

Thanks for reading!
April

All opinions are my own & were not influenced by Zoya! For more information you can read my disclosure policy.

More about → A Few Zoya Reds From Wicked & Wonderful Fall Collections & Nail Art

Charlotte Russe Jade and Some Nail Art

I LOVE this color! I got tons of compliments on it. Easy application, three coats. This is my current favorite mint green. If any of you are still looking for the perfect mint, please check out this amazing post from Little Music Boxes!


This is the first manicure that I did with the fantastic smART Nails sticker stencils that I've been using lately. Not bad for my first try, but I didn't end up liking the color combo as much as I thought I would. I was going for a sort of art deco look. Maybe a coral would have been better than the berry, but I don't actually have any corals!

Thanks for reading!
April

More about → Charlotte Russe Jade and Some Nail Art

World Cup Germany vs Spain

I didn't really care who won yesterday's World Cup match. Both teams are good but I never developed any strong feelings for either team. I had a good idea for German nails so I just went with that. This is my tribute to the German Machine, as people have been calling them during this tournament. I love how this one turned out!

I used American Apparel Hassid as a base for all of my nails except for the flag. I used a Tic Tac Red for that one. The next morning I cut a piece of painter's tape to block off the red stripe and painted the rest of the flag with Hassid and American Apparel Manila. Then I used more of my awesome smART Nails sticker stencils & China Glaze Millennium for all of the chrome machine parts.

I'm actually excited that both Spain & the Netherlands are going through to the finals. I liked all four teams but neither Spain nor Holland have ever won the World Cup. Now we'll have a new World Cup Champion no matter the outcome of Sunday's final!

A couple of my friends have been loyal Spain supporters and they painted their nails for Spain during the quarter finals. Here's Kim's Spain nails with a number 9 for Fernando Torres.

And here's Regan's Spanish flag nails on the left and Kim on the right showing their support for La Furia Rojas. I love this picture! Thanks for letting me steal your photos ladies.


Thanks for reading!
April

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World Cup 2010 "Group of Death" Nail Art

I used my new ManGlaze Matte is Murder for last week's Group of Death games in this year's World Cup. Here's a definition of the term from Wikipedia.

A group of death in a multi-stage tournament is a preliminary group which is unusually competitive, because the number of strong competitors in the group is greater than the number of qualifying places available for the next phase of the tournament. Thus, in the preliminary round, one or more strong competitors in the "group of death" will necessarily be eliminated, who would otherwise have been expected to progress further in the tournament.

Brazil & Portugal made it out this time but Ivory Coast had to go home.

I won all of the ManGlaze polishes recently from Sara of Daily Polish. Thanks again! I used my amazing smARTnails sticker stencils and ManGlaze Hot Mess & Fuggen Ugly for the skulls.

Here's a shot of ManGlaze Matte is Murder before the skulls. It was easy to work with and required three coats.


Thanks for reading!
April

More about → World Cup 2010 "Group of Death" Nail Art