Black & White

I recently had a horrible experience with the Pueen Encore plates. My husband surprised me with a set back in July and I was so excited for them. People were raving about these gorgeous plates. They were beautiful; however, my images would not pick up. I thought it might be user error so I read the reviews on Amazon. It seemed like others were having the same problem. I tried all different types of scrapers, stampers, nail polishes, stamping polishes, pressure and basically everything I could think of but nothing worked. Some images would pick up bits and pieces but some wouldn't pick up anything.

Black & White

Roses

Originally, I wanted to do a delicate vintage rose mani. I don't know what happened. 4 of my 5 fingers are pretty and delicate. But I have this yellow and green index finger that's in your face loud. It's like that game, find the thing that doesn't belong in the group. I like it. It's different, and different is good. 

Pow!

Lemon Jelly

I avoided doing a Jelly Sandwich manicure for a long time. It doesn't seem to look right when I attempt it. I recently saw one I liked so I tried to recreate it. It still looks weird on me. Maybe I'm not doing it right.

Essie Turquoise and Caicos jelly sandwich with lemon accent nails

Polka Dots & Glitter

I saw this mani on Pinterest and saved it so I could recreate it. Here is the original source.

The colors are so adorable together and I love my glittery silver nail. 

Essie : Resort Fling

Knees Up

I've been doing a lot of cute florals lately but it's time do something sexier.

First, let's talk about this gorgeous red. It is Butter London's Knees Up. The color is a sexy metallic red that reminds me a lot of Christmas foil wrapping. The formula is awesome. You could definitely get away with 1 coat. It glides on very nicely. 

2 coats of Butter London Knees Up

Lacy Red

This mani was inspired by my lacy red dress from Mother's Day last year. 

I applied 2 coats of Essie Cocktails And Coconuts to all my nails. I used Nicole O.P.I It Starts With Me to create a metallic french tip. 
I stamped a lacy flower design using Mash plate #43 and China Glaze Snap My Dragon. 

 

China Glaze : Snap My Dragon

Basics FAQ

If you're new to the nail polish world you probably have some questions. 

Here are some tips and tricks that have been compiled for your reading pleasure.

There is one thing that will help almost more than anything else, and that is practice. Everyone’s nails are a slightly different shape, their cuticles grow differently, our chemistry is not the same. No one can tell you more accurately how to perfect your manicure than you, 100 manicures from now. So enjoy the process and know that after the fails there will be a fabulous success.

Purple

A few weeks ago, I bought 3 pretty purple nail polish and I have been dying to try them out. 

Pinky has 3 coats of Essie Sexy Divide with Essie Play Date polka dots.
Ring finger has 3 coats of Essie Play Date with Essie Sexy Divide and O.P.I Liquid Sand Can't Let Go flowers.
Middle and index fingers each have 3 coats of O.P.I Liquid Sand Can't Let Go, no top coat.
Thumb has 3 coats of Essie Sexy Divide with Nicole O.P.I matte top coat.  

O.P.I Liquid Sand : Can't Let Go

Red, Black, and Gold

After I removed my last manicure, which had at least 8 layers of nail polish, I told myself I was done with glitter for this week. So, what do I do? I paint my nails with glitter again. 

Pinky, index, and thumb each have 2 coats of Sinful Colors GoGo Girl. Glitter gradient created with Sinful Colors Paris and Selena Gomez Nicole O.P.I Kissed At Midnight. 
Ring and middle finger each have 2 coats of Zoya Tomoko. Taped off and applied 1 coat of Essie Licorice. 

Sinful Colors : Paris

Gray & Gold Glitter

Found a gorgeous design on Pinterest. I couldn't find the source so I'm not sure who to credit for such a genius idea. 

I applied Loreal Eiffel For You to all my nails. 
The glitter gradient on my ring finger is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Disco Ball, Sinful Colors Paris, and Nicole O.P.I Selena Gomez Kissed At Midnight. 
Gold stripes are striping tape with top coat to seal it in. 

Loreal : Eiffel For You

Christmas Tree

4 new polishes to play with!

Maybelline Color Show Brocades in Emerald Elegance is a gorgeous glitter emerald. 2 coats for opaque color. Really pretty and perfect for my Christmas tree nail art. 
Maybelline Color Show Brocades in Gilded Rose has gold fine glitter with larger pieces of pink glitter. 2 coats for opaque color. 
Revlon Parfumerie in Wintermint is a scented polish. After your polish is dry, it smells like mint candy. It is light green with green glitter. 2-3 coats for opaque color.
Sinful Colors in Gogo Girl is the perfect creamy red. This is my first Sinful Color nail polish and I can't believe how great their formula is. Almost opaque in 1 coat. 

Pinky and thumb has 2 coats of Sinful Colors in Gogo Girl and Maybelline Color Show in Gilded Rose for glittery tips. 
Ring has 2 coats of Sinful Colors in Gogo Girl. Christmas tree is Maybelline Color Show in Emerald Elegance, Maybelline Color Show in Gilded Rose, and Nicole O.P.I in Always A Silver Lining. 
Middle and index has 2 coats of Revlon Parfumerie In Wintermint. 2 dots of Sinful Colors Gogo Girl.  

Christmas Tree Nails

Purple Matte Glossy Tips

This is a super easy manicure. 

I applied 2 coats of Nicole O.P.I Show You Care and 1 coat of Essie Good To Go top coat. This helped my nails dry quicker. After the nails dried, I taped off the tips and applied Nicole O.P.I matte top coat. I removed the tape while nails were still wet. 

I didn't add another top coat with the matte top coat. 

Nicole O.P.I : Show You Care
Nicole O.P.I : Matte Top Coat

Mint & Gold

Picked up Mint Candy Apple from Essie and Kissed At Midnight from Nicole O.P.I Selena Gomez collection on Saturday at CVS.

I applied 2 coats of Mint Candy Apple from Essie. Then dabbed on Disco Ball from Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear and Kissed At Midnight from Nicole O.P.I Selena Gomez collection to achieve a glitter gradient look. 

Mint & Gold

Blue & Silver

I bought some new polish today and could not wait to try it out. 
My Essie First Base base coat has not been doing too well with all the red polish I used recently. My nails are heavily stained. 
For this manicure, I used Orly Bonder, which is part of the new polishes I bought.
Pinky, ring, & thumb has 2 coats of Aruba Blue from Essie. 1 Coat of Essie Good to Go top coat. 1 Coat of Nicole O.P.I matte top coat. 
Pinky tips are Always A Silver Lining from Nicole O.P.I using striping brush (no top coat). 
Ring and thumb's polka dots are Always A Silver Lining from Nicole O.P.I using dotting tool (no top coat).
Middle and index has 3 coats of Always A Silver Lining from Nicole O.P.I. Taped off and applied Aruba Blue from Essie and Nicole O.P.I matte top coat. 

Blue & Silver

Snowflakes... again

The best time to practice nail art is right before you remove your old polish. In this case, I liked it so much I decided to keep it for a little while longer. 
I recently purchased a pack of Winstonia brushes (available at Amazon) and what a difference! 
For colors and info please check my previous post. 

Snowflakes nail art

Candy Cane

Another festive mani! 

Here I applied 2 coats of Berry Sweet from Nicole O.P.I for my pinky, middle, and index fingers.

For my ring finger and thumb I applied 2 coats of Mer-Maid For Each Other from Nicole O.P.I. 

Candy Cane is made with dotting tool using Blanc from Essie. Striped with Berry Sweet from Nicole O.P.I.

candy cane nails

Blues

Picked up 2 new polishes at CVS this weekend. 
I have been looking for a sapphire blue and Aruba Blue by Essie is perfect. 2 coats were enough but I think a 3rd coat would have made it even more opaque. 
This was my first time trying a textured polish. I bought Blue-Berry Sweet On You by Nicole O.P.I from the Gumdrops collection. It feels a little like sandpaper. 2 coats and NO top coat. Top coat will ruin the formula. It went on smoothly and was so easy to apply.
My husband said he really likes Aruba Blue by Essie. 

Essie : Aruba Blue

Polka Dots & Vintage Rose

Polka dots & vintage rose for my sister's nails. Here is a video for the roses I found on YouTube. The polka dots were just randomly placed. 
Ring finger has 2 coats of Am I Making Myself Claire? by Nicole O.P.I. Roses are Megawatt Mauve by Cover Girl Outlast and Madison Ave-Hue & Naughty Nautical by Essie. 
2 coats of Bikini So Teeny by Essie for the rest of her nails. Polka dots are Megawatt Mauve by Cover Girl Outlast and Blanc by Essie. 

Polka Dot & Vintage Roses

Little Mermaid Nails

One of my favorite Disney princess movies is The Little Mermaid. I have been wanting to try this nail art for some time now. Originally I planned to do it during the re-release of the DVD in October. But I got caught up with all the Halloween stuff. I followed this tutorial on YouTube. 
2 coats of Berry Sweet by Nicole O.P.I on my pinky. 
The base coat for my ring and thumb fingers are Bikini So Teeny by Essie. Starfish is a polish I took from my sister from The Face Shop & Mellow Yellow by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear. 
The base coat for my middle finger is Sand Tropez by Essie. Ariel's bikini top is Deep Purple by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear & Laven-dure by Cover Girl Outlast. Her bottom is Naughty Nautical by Essie. 
Pointer finger has 2 coats of Naughty Nautical by Essie and 1 coat of Disco Ball by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear.   

Little Mermaid Nails

Purple Sponging

In my attempt to do purple gradient nails, I ended up with something that looks like a mix between tie dye and who-knows-what. The only saving grace is that the colors are so lovely together. At least the heart on my ring finger is adorable. I followed her gradient tutorial. My nails remind me exactly of my 7 year old's purple tie dye shirt he wore for his Kindergarten ceremony. 
For my base color, I used Am I Making Myself Claire? by Nicole O.P.I. I sponged on Deep Purple by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear. The heart was a tape cut out using It Starts With Me by Nicole O.P.I. 

Coincidence?