Nail Art: Grey Animal Print

Nail Art: Endearing Smearing

Welllllllllllllll I accidentally forgot to topcoat the thumb of my last design and the acrylic paint flaked off. Sure I could have just redone that one nail, but I decided to scrap it all and start again!
For this look I did my usual basecoat followed by two coats of OPI "My Address is Hollywood". I used my dotting tool to add random colors from the OPI Touring America collection and a few white dots here and there.

Nail Art: Still with the DOTZ!

Wellllll I'm trying to let the acrylic grow off my nails so I filed them down and squared 'em off! I achieved this look by putting on my base coat, two coats of OPI "Sparrow me the Drama" from the Pirates collection and a top coat. Then I used my dotting tool and some white acrylic paint to make the dots. I used a small nail art brush and some white acrlic to do the swirls on the thumb and ring finger. Finish it all off with a light pink 2mm Mash stone on each thumb and ring finger and another top coat.

Here it is...my first vid, short review of my stash!

Beauty Without Cruelty

I personally feel that my enjoyment of something should not come at the price of cruelty.  I have included a link to a list of companies that DO and DO NOT test on animals.  These lists are generated and maintained by PETA and while I don't always agree with their extreme tactics, I find this resource useful.  I have made a committment not to purchase products from any of the companies that test on animals.  There are plenty of companies that DO NOT test on animals (OPI, Sally Hansen, Wet n Wild, Revlon, etc) which sell good quality polish and products.  Some companies are not on either list and even though they might say on their website that they don't test on animals, there is no regulation on the validity of those claims.  There is also an app for your iPhone ($2.99 on iTunes) so that you can check out products while you are out and about without memorizing the list.  Again, this is just my opinion and a personal choice that I have made - I recognize that everyone has their own belief system and opinion about this topic.

Polish: Save or Toss?

Recently I was watching one of my fave youtubers, and she had a vid on nail polish thinner and how long you can keep polish before you should throw it away. I've had some of my polishes for 6 or 7 years and they are still good. After watching Simple Little Pleasure's Vid on saving polish, I decided to head to the local beauty supply and grab a bottle. I found some polish thinner for about $3.50 and it contains 4oz. Since you only need a few drops for the average thickened polish, this is so much cheaper than tossing your polish! Luckily, I had a great coupon so I was able to get two bottles of polish thinner for less than the price of one bottle. I tried it on a bottle of polish I had that was getting a little thick and all it took was one drop and the consistency returned to normal. I highly suggest this product as a cost effective way to save your polishes.

Fall Haul: Sinful Colors

So recently I went to my local Walgreens to pick up a prescription and instead of using the drive through I decided to go inside and look at the polish (addicted much?). I'm thrilled that I did because I found the entire display of Sinful Colors polishes on sale for 99 cents each! I'm a tried and true OPI girl, but at $8 a bottle the habit gets pricey quickly! Sinful Colors is normally $1.99 so I couldn't resist a 50% off sale. I picked up all the glitter polishes and some of the more non traditional colors like "Unicorn" which is a lovely pastel yellow. Sinful Colors polishes are a bit thinner than some other brands so they actually work better for sponge painting or layering. I can't wait to try out some of these new colors and post some updated photos!

Nail Art: I Heart Mom!

I decided to do some nail art in honor of my awesome mother!  Since we live so far apart, I wanted a little something to remind me of her.   I decided to print a tiny picture of her and attach it to my ring finger.  I didn't keep this on very long because I used regular paper and even with a lot of top coat it just didn't work.  I'm going to try having it printed on photo paper and see if that helps.

To get this look I applied my OPI basecoat then I applied two coats of OPI A-Taupe the Space Needle to all fingers except the ring fingers.  I then applied OPI Black Onxy on the tips in a chevron type french manicure.  I follwed that with a swipe of white from my Sinful Colors striper "bad chick" and a few dots of OPI Alpine Snow (dotting tool used).  I then put a MASH 2mm clear rhinestone on each center white dot.  For the ring finger I applied OPI basecoat and let it dry.  I then applied a thicker coat of basecoat and while it was still tacky I applied the picture of my mother which I had cut in a shape to fit my fingernail.  I used an orangewood stick to keep pressing down on the picture as it dried.  I covered with a top coat and then applied the 2mm clear MASH rhinestones along the tip.  Finished everything off with top coat.

Nail Art: Grey Dots

I did this look for the Georgia/South Carolina game on Sept 10th, 2011.  Since my uniform as a ticket taker (not a bad weekend gig) is a grey polo - I thought this would be perfect!  To achieve this look I started with my OPI basecoat then applied two coats of OPI French Quarter for your Thoughts.  I used my Osaka dotting tools to apply dots of OPI Alpine Snow and OPI Black Onyx in various sizes.  On the thumbs I added black and crystal 2mm MASH rhinestones and finished it all off with my fave Sally Hanson Anti-Chip fast drying top coat.  GO DAWGZ~~~~

Nail Art: I'm seeing spots!

I decided to have a little fun with the new dotting tools.  The light pink is from the OPI Pirates collection and the maroon is "Malaga Wine" by OPI.  I used a variety of sizes of Osaka dotting tools as well as some 2mm pink rhinestones by Mash.

Nail Art: Dotting Tools

I've been reading a lot about making your own dotting tools so I tried to do some designs with a toothpick, the end of a pencil, and a paperclip.  Needless to say, I wasn't very successful.  I decided to order some real dotting tools online.  I saw a dotting tool in my local beauty supply store for around $12.  It was an acrylic brush on one end and a dotting tool on the other.  That just seems like an outrageous price.  I was able to get a set of five double ended (so a total of 10 different sizes) dotting tools for $6 online.  So far I have been VERY satisfied with the quality and the effect and I hope to use them on next week's design.  The set I purchased  is by Osaka and they have clear acrylic handles with purple swirls inside.  I highly suggest shopping online for supplies as this seems to be the cheapest and best way to find quality items.

Nail Art: Brushes

On a recent trip to the beauty supply store I saw some nail art brushes for around $10 each.  That prompted me to write this entry on brushes!  I've been using some brushes I originally bought in a large pack at walmart for $5.  There are many assorted sizes and I use them with my acrylic craft paints.  I find they work to do the cherry blossoms and other small details on my nail art but they aren't quite the quality I needed for one stroke flowers and more intricate designs.  I recently ordered a nail art brush set on Amazon that had a great price and shining reviews.  I'm looking forward to trying these out and reporting my findings.

Nail Art: Tools of the Trade

I found the greatest thing at my Walgreens today!  Over by the manicure supplies and nail polishes there was a display with a new type of precision tip cotton swab by Q-tips.  I love these!!!  They are perfect for cleaning around the edges of your nails if you are a messy painter like I am!  They come in a box of 170 for around $2.

Nail Art: My First Fimo

After reading nail art blogs and watching countless hours of youtube tutorials I thought it was time to try my first Fimo! I found a package of assorted flowers, leaves and butterflies at a local beauty supply store for around $5.

For this look I used an OPI basecoat followed by two coats of OPI Malaga Wine.  I then added white stripes with the white striper by Sinful Colors called "Bad Chick".  Finally I applied my fimo butterfly on each ring finger using the technique shown here .

Nail Art: Breaking out the Fall Colors - Labor Day 2011

The weather has turned a bit cooler and as I watch the leaves fall all over campus I'm beginning to get that "autumn" feeling.  I wanted to try this look because I had just purchased the OPI Sampler of the "Touring America" collection and I was dying to try the "French Quarter for Your Thoughts". Its a great grey color and I thought it would complement the wine color on my pedicure!

For this look I started out with the OPI French Quarter for Your Thoughts as a base on each nail.  I then did a side swipe with OPI Malaga Wine on every nail except the ring fingers and thumbs.  On the ring fingers and thumbs I created random organic dots with the Malaga Wine as a base for my leopardish type spots.  Using a black nail art striper by Sinful Colors called "Time Off", I traced the border between the two colors and then outlined the spots.  I also added some random black spots between the Malaga wine spots for interest.  I had previously been using an OPI topcoat but I noticed that it tended to smear my designs so I switched to the Sally Hansen Insta Dry (in the red bottle) and I have no more issues with smearing.

Nail Art: Cherry Blossoms TAKE TWO

I decided to try the Cherry Blossom  design again with some changes.  I was in severe need of a fill on my acrylics, but it is still much better than the first try.  This design was inspired by one of my fave youtubers LOVE4NAILS.  Check out her channel!

This time I used OPI Happy Anniversary as my base then I layered side swipes of OPI Stranger Tides and OPI Mermaids Tears.  This time I used a black striper by Sinful Colors called "Time Off"  to create my branches.  I finished by dotting on tiny flowers of pink (Apple Barrel GLOSS 20631 "Pink Blush") and white (Apple Barrel  20503 "White") acrylic craft paint with a liner brush.

Nail Art: first attempt at Cherry Blossoms

So a couple of weeks ago I decided to try a really cute nail design from LOVE4NAILS (one of my favorite youtube nail artists) click to view the vid that inspired me Lets just say....it didn't go so well the first time!

For this I used a regular clear OPI basecoat, then I applied Mermaid's Tears by OPI to the tips.  I then painted the branches and flowers with a liner brush and some black, pink and white acrylic craft paint.  Not my best work, but it was my first and I wore it proudly for a few days!