Slithering...

I'm not sure why, but this reminds me of snakes.

I wanted to use more of the new Shellac colors, so I just put some together randomly...

I used Shellac Base Coat, Sugared Spice, Pretty Poison, Rock Royalty, Top Coat.

My Heart Skips A Beat

Heartbeats...  I was at work and didn't have access to the internet when I did this, so I didn't know what a real EKG looked like - I see that my person is dying/ dead.  If I do it again I'll make them have a normal heartbeat!

I used Shellac Base, Purple Purple, Silver VIP Status, Cream Puff, Gotcha, Top Coat.

He Loves Me... Not

I had to try the new Shellac black, but then it was too dark for me...  so I added color!

I used Shellac Base, Overtly Onyx, Hotski to Tchotchke, Purple Purple, Red Baroness, Top Coat.

Shellac Foil and Dots

Two manis today!

The first is Shellac Midnight Swim with two shades of blue foil.  Easy peasy, but I just had to try the new color!
The second is Shellac Midnight Swim and Hotski to Tchotchke.

Butterfly, Skull, and More Tips

Some tips inspired by magazines:

On the butterfly tip:  OPI Did It On 'Em, A Roll In The Hague, Black Onyx, Alpine Snow, Don't Know... Beets Me, Topcoat.
Biker Girl: OPI A Roll In The Hague, Need Sunglasses?, Don't Know... Beets Me, Black Onyx, Alpine Snow, Topcoat.
Pink Flower: OPI Don't Know... Beets Me, Alpine Snow, Topcoat.
Skull: OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine, Black Onyx, Alpine Snow, Pink Friday, Topcoat.
Kitty: OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui, Alpine Snow, Monsooner Or Later, Black Onyx, Topcoat.
Light Pink Flower: OPI Shorts Story, My Very First Knockwurst, Black Onyx, Topcoat.

Halloween and Moustaches

I don't even remember what day I did these.  It's been so busy!

Both were client requests, and the manicure was actually done by another technician who doesn't do nail art.  She (client) had a picture on her phone that she asked me to replicate.  I changed the spider and bats, and we added the hat.
I used OPI Black Onyx, plus a little gray the client had for her toes, and CND Speedy Top Coat.

I have no idea when moustaches became so cool.  I see them on pinterest, on nails, drawn on skin.  Really, I just don't get it.  But whatever, I still charge for it!  The pedicure is with OPI Need Sunglasses? and then at the last second the client asked if I could do the 'staches.  I didn't have a reference for them, and obviously I haven't been paying enough attention to the trend, but she was very happy with them.  OPI Black Onyx and Top Coat.

Tigers

 Something exciting happened in the world of sports.  I haven't got any idea what it is, but it kept being posted on facebook, and I got requests for Tiger nails.

Top:  Essie Blanc, Mademoiselle, acrylic paint (blue and black), CND Speedy Topcoat.
Bottom:  Shellac Base Coat, Black Pool, Negligee, Top Coat, transfer foil, OPI A Roll In The Hague, Alpine Snow.

Foiled Shellac

I volunteered to be a coworker's hair model for the salon hair book, so she colored me, trimmed it and gave me a cool new style - while I was waiting for the color to process, I did my nails "edgy" to match her theme for the photo shoot.

This is Shellac Red Baroness, with black then silver transfer foil, and Shellac Millionaire.  I love it!  What do you think?

Essie Matte About You

I finally bought a bottle of Matte About You, and got to playing with it straight away.

The first two are OPI Black Onyx with Seche Vite Top Coat and Essie Matte About You drawn on.

Purple is OPI Suzi & The 7 Dusseldorfs, Seche Vite Top Coat, Essie Matte About You.
Dots:  OPI Don't Talk Bach To Me, Essie Matte About You, OPI Unfor-Greta-Bly Blue, Suzi & The 7 Dusseldorfs.
Gray is OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! Ok Fine, Seche Vite Top Coat, Essie Matte About You.

Halloween Art Take Two

I love Halloween, so I tried a bit of nail art early.  One of my favorite clients always gets a fullset of art, so I was trying to think of something to put on her next time (did spiderwebs  with spiders in black over orange last time).

I might do the purple with bats, partly because I don't know what else I would put with the eyes!

Eyes:  OPI Black Onyx, Did It On "Em, Essie Blanc, Seche Vite Top Coat.

Bat:  OPI It's My Year, Black Onyx, Essie Blanc, Seche Vite Top Coat.

Now I'm trying to decide on the best way to display them at the store; I'm getting quite a collection!

Brights!

Bright colorful nail art!

A girl I work with asked for tie-dye and that's what I came up with; I wanted to try some bright lightening style nails, and I wanted to make a puzzle - unfortunately, the red in the center blends with the orange on the right in all my photos.

Tie-Dye:  OPI Fly, Need Sunglasses?, Don't Know, Beets Me, Did It On 'Em, Seche Vite Top Coat.
Lightening: OPI Fly (blue), Don't Know, Beets Me (pink), Need Sunglasses? (yellow), Black Onyx, Orly Dazzle, Seche Vite Top Coat.
Puzzle: OPI Unfor-Greta-Bly Blue, Danke-Shiny Red, Suzi & The 7 Dusseldorfs, Deutsch You Want Me Baby?, Seche Vite Top Coat.

More Girly Art!

Had some free time, so I tried some more girly nails for the bride tomorrow - more conservative.  I started with a French, because in my experience even the wildest brides tend to get French or natural for the wedding.

The bright one is supposed to be a butterfly wing; I saw it on Pinterest but it didn't turn out quite as nice as I remember.

Butterfly:  OPI It's A Girl, Hawaiian Orchid, Black Onyx, Essie Blanc, Seche Vite Top Coat.
Wing:  OPI Pompei Purple, Black Onyx, Essie Blanc, Seche Vite Top Coat.
Poppy French:  Essie Blanc, Mademoiselle  OPI Color So Hot It Berns, Half A Cent-Cherry, Black Onyx, Seche Vite Top Coat.
Purple Flower French: Essie Blanc, Mademoiselle, OPI Honk If You Love OPI, Suzi & The 7 Dusseldorfs, Seche Vite Top Coat.
Music French:  Essie Blanc, Mademoiselle, OPI Black Onyx, Seche Vite Top Coat.

Girly Nails

First up:  a client wanted "lace" over her French manicure to match her homecoming gown.

I used OPI Black Onyx; the remainder of the service was done by another technician so I'm not sure what else was used.


I had some free time later, and was trying to think of conservative art for a bride I'm doing this weekend...  Not sure if she'll like them!

Clearly, I need to start photographing in natural light - it looks so much better that way!

Flowers:  OPI Princesses Rule, A Grape Fit, Suzi and The 7 Dusseldorfs, Seche Vite Top Coat.
Pink & Black:  OPI Pink Friday, Glitzerland (on right), Black Onyx, Lucerne-Tainly Look Marvelous (on left), Seche Vite Top Coat.

Care For Some Vino?

Wine themed nails!  These were all in a magazine I was flipping through, so I thought I'd give them a try.

There actually is a glass around the wine in the second nail, but it's in white, and I couldn't get a visible shot of it on the nude background!


For the French:  OPI, So Many Clowns So Little Time, Kyoto Pearl, Honk If You Love OPI, (glitter and rhinestones) Seche Vite Top Coat.
For the bottle: OPI Heart Throb, Honk If You Love OPI, Got The Blues For Red, Jade Is The New Red, San Tan-Tonio, Black Onyx, Essie Blanc, Seche Vite Top Coat.
For the grapes:  OPI San Tan-Tonio, Jade Is The New Red, Honk If You Love OPI, Got The Blues For Red, Seche Vite Top Coat.
For the glass:  OPI Kyoto Pearl, Jade Is The New Red, Black Onyx, Got The Blues For Red, Honk If You Love OPI, Seche Vite Top Coat.

Halloween Art

Been spending much more time doing art at work recently!  I have a couple Halloween theme nails:

For the French, which doesn't have to be Halloween at all:  OPI Shorts Story, Black Onyx, Seche Vite Top Coat.

For the web:  OPI Black Onyx, Essie Blanc, Seche Vite Top Coat.

Client Toe Nail Art

I had a lovely pedicure client this afternoon ask for art on her toenails.  I asked what she wanted, and she replied "I don't care, but it'd be cool of you could keep it in the fall theme, so black and white" [on her orange base color].  Spider web, I asked her?  "Sure!"

That is OPI Deutsch You Want Me Baby, CND Base and Top Coat, and acrylic paint.

Luckily the spa is decorated with spiders (and witches, ghosts, etc) this month, so I had a reference, or I probably would have drawn the legs out the rear segment instead of the front.  O.o

Back To School!

And now that everyone has been back to school for a few weeks, I finally did some back to school themed nails:

And for whatever reason, I associate grade school with argyle:

For the pencil:  Essie Blanc, OPI Need Sunglasses?, Dulce De Leche, It's Totally Fort Worth It, Pink Friday, Black Onyx, Seche Vite Top Coat.
Ruler French:  OPI Need Sunglasses, Black Onyx, Essie Blanc, Seche Vite Top Coat.
Bus:  OPI No Room For The Blues, Need Sunglasses?, Black Onyx, It's Totally Fort Worth It, Quarter  Of A Cent-Cherry, Essie Blanc, Seche Vite Top Coat.
Crayons: OPI Jade Is The New Black, No Room For The Blues, A Roll In The Hague, Color So Hot It Berns, Pamplona Purple, Black Onyx, Essie Blanc, Seche Vite Top Coat.
Chalkboard: OPI It's My Year, Dulce De Leche, Quarter Of A Cent-Cherry, Suzi Loves Cowboys, Jade Is The New Black, Essie Blanc, Seche Vite Top Coat.
Argyle:  OPI Ski Teal We Drop, No Room For The Blues, Jade Is The New Black, Seche Vite Top Coat.

The Proposal!

No, I'm not getting married.  But I saw some adorable nails in a magazine, and had to do my version:

Fancy date, above.  It's hard to tell, but the little red spot on her belt and over his pocket are rhinestones.  I realized later that her necklace is about as large as her fist would be, but that's the kinda thing girls are supposed to be into, right?

And the shiny ring!  With a necklace as large as hers, the ring probably got laughed at, but I like happily-ever-after, so maybe it came with a kick-ass vacation/honeymoon.

On the Guy:  OPI Black Onyx, Essie Blanc, Seche Vite Top Coat.
On the Girl:  OPI Dulce De Leche, Black Onyx, Kyoto Pearl, Seche Vite Top Coat.
For the Ring:  OPI Cha Ching Cherry, Glitzerland, Seche Vite Top Coat.

Warm and Cool Colors

Warm colored mani for Chalkboard Nails contest!

I actually did the other hand in cool colors, too.

And that one I entered over on Color Club's fb contest.  (Click to vote for me!)


Left hand:
Orly Rubberized Base Coat, OPI The "It" Color, Essie Red Nouveau and Good As Gold, Crayola Orange, Beauty Secrets Top Coat.
Right Hand:
Orly Rubberized Base Coat, Dazzle, Royal Navy, Essie Coat Azure and Bikini So Teeny, Venique Blue Suede Shoes, Beauty Secrets Top Coat.

Fun fact:  both my thumbs were repaired with acrylic - I did my left and it's lasted almost a week!  Hurray for improvement!

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Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.

Fall is almost here!  I mean, it was 80 degrees today, but that's downright chilly compared to the almost-100 degree days we've been having.  And it was cloudy besides, and school started yesterday, so that's like fall...

I finally got a few of OPI's Germany Collection!

I used:  Lippmann Collection Rehydrating Base Coat and On A Clear Day Top Coat, OPI Deutsch You Want Me Baby (base color) and Deutsch You Want Me Baby + Don't Talk Bach To Me mixed equally as the leaf veins.

The Princess Pat Pedicure

New pedicure, using a bunch of rich colors that I love:

All the colors remind me of the "Rigabamboo" camp song I learned as a child.  Red and gold and purple too!

CND Rubberized Base Coat, Stickey Top Coat, OPI An Affair In Red Square, Black Onyx, Orly Pure White Tip, Tokidoki Stellina (gold glitter), Savana (purple glitter).

Graffiti is not about clean lines, pretty colors and beautiful blends. Graffiti is my life's turbulence exploded on a wall.

Graffiti nail!  I stayed after work today to practice doing acrylic, and my model agreed to let me polish her nails however I wanted with the polishes she chose.

They are her polishes, two from China Glaze and three from... a brand I fail to recall, but the bottles were extremely similar to China Glaze.

Sneak Peek - My Nail Space

I hate clutter.  (My roommate's opinion does not count for this post.)  Apart from the side table next to my computer, which is perpetually cluttered, I like everything else neat.  I don't leave laundry on the floor, shoes in the doorway, or makeup on the counter.
So my nail polish collection was getting out of hand, and I wasn't sure what to do!

That's what I was doing for the longest time.  The drawers were arranged by color, with red/pink/purple in one, blue/green in another, and black/white/metallic/neutral in the last.  The red drawer has been overflowing for quite some time, but even before, it was always a cluttered mess.  I bought a pretty wire nail polish rack, but when I got it home I realized that some of my taller bottles - like China Glaze and Venique - wouldn't fit, so I ended up returning it.

I finally bought one of those last week, and when I realized it wouldn't be enough space, I bought the second two days later.  Since I'm licensed, I got them from my local professional beauty supply store, but similar ones are available online.  My lover estimates that I can fit ten more bottles before I'll have to buy another - I've purchased eight in the last 24 hours!  Oh well, I can think of worse addictions!

A throne is only a bench covered in velvet.

I went to Sephora today to buy powder and eyeliner...  I got them, as well as five bottles of nail polish and three eyeshadow palettes.  One of the polishes I bought was new from Ciate - the velvet manicure.  Obviously, I had to try it immediately:

I did my left hand first, and as you can see, wasn't very good at it.  My ring finger is cropped out because it looks that bad!

My right hand was going a little better - I was faster and knew what to expect.

That's my right ring finger; the best in my opinion, and shows the texture with and without the velvet applied.  (I used tape to do the French style.)

A couple comments immediately.  1)It is MUCH darker than I expected.  Here's the box I bought:

2)I was worried about the texture, but I can't stop petting my nails!  Even after washing my hands it feels great!

I was surprised I hadn't heard about it, since I work full time doing nails, do more nails at home, and generally breathe all things nails...  I'll edit this post in a few days to comment on how it wears.  


*Edit*  After a day, (and washing my hair with the velvet on) the velvet stopped showing, and my nails just looked lumpy.  I found velvet fuzz on my face for three days, possibly because I rub my eyes a lot.
I tried it on a coworker with Shellac base and top coat - I did the Shellac base (cured), then two coats of the color -which was very difficult to apply over the gel base- and after it dried, did a Shellac topcoat, sprinkled the velvet on that before double-curing it.  I cleaned the inhibition layer off the top, and the velvet still looked good, but she also complained that the velvet got everywhere.  Even with the gel, her manicure was ruined in two days.  I did end up returning it, but it was fun for a minute! 

Here is the manicure I did on my coworker:

And she also complained that it doesn't photograph very well, but with the Shellac we thought the color was not so dark.

Deborah Lippmann Rehydrating Base Coat, Ciate Velvet Manicure (color shown).

Nails Magazine Butterfly Cover Look

I saw this magazine cover while I was at work:

I thought, "Oh, those are cute!  Let's do that!"  So I did:

I used Lippmann Collection Dehydrating Base Coat, OPI DS Extravagance, Kyoto Pearl, CND Speedey Topcoat.  Butterfly drawn with white acrylic paint.

Starfish On A Beach

I skipped nail art on my last pedi, so this time I went a little brighter than normal.

I used CND Stickey Base Coat and Shiny Top Coat, Essie Coat Azure, OPI The "It" Color, FingerPaints Blank Canvas Cream.

It pulled me like a magnet, jazz did, because it was a way that I could express myself.

I was picking up work supplies the other day, doing very well buying only what I went in to buy, when I reached the counter and saw the last two bottles of magnetic nail polish.
I purchased them both.

I thought the green worked much better than the silver, but that thumb was the most defined so I took a photo of that, too.
The only design options were the curved lines shown; sideways does work, but I thought it looked nicer straight up or down.  At least it's a one-coat polish!  And the colors are both nice, even if I decide to wear them without the magnetic texture,

CND Base and Top Coat, Magneto by Gelish Lacquer in Polar Attraction (green) and Iron Princess (silver).

April Showers Bring May Flowers

I never bothered to topcoat the stamping on my hands from my last post, so they were already starting to chip.  (Also, I work in a nail spa, so it's tough for me to make it last more than a day.)
But then I ran across Kayla's blog and contest, (congrats Kayla!) and I thought it was a perfect excuse to do some real art!  (Even though I work in a nail spa and will ruin them tomorrow.)

CND Sticky Base Coat, Urban Outfitters blue glitter (tips, polish is unnamed), OPI Gone Gonzo, Black Onyx, And This Little Piggy, I Want To Be A-Lone Star, Hawaiian Orchid, The "It" Color, No Room For The Blues, Claire's Flame, Orly Blue Collar.

Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.

Oooh, I know it's been forever!  I have missed my nails!  Since my last post I've moved, changed work locations and doubled my work hours - so it's been busy!
But I was in the drug store, waiting for my daughter to see the doctor, and walked around to get sunscreen, a Mother's Day card, and some odds n ends, when I stumbled upon a nail stamping kit.  It was only $10, so I couldn't resist!

I think they turned out pretty cute!  It took me a few practice tries (on bare nails), and I found the the thicker the polish, the better it stamps.  I found an old Sally Hansen that should have been thrown out ages ago, and it worked great.  Now I have a reason to save my gooey bottles!


CND Base and Top Coat, OPI I Want To Be A-Lone Star (feet), Hawaiian Orchid (hands), Sally Hansen Precious Glow (all stamps).

I like to think of thoughts as living blossoms borne by the human tree.

Two nights ago I decided to go out at the last minute, and I realized I'd just removed my toenail polish!  I can't go out with bare toes (even if my shoes were close-toed), so I quickly whipped on OPI DS Temptation and went without a top coat.

Today, I added cherry blossoms with Honk If You Love OPI and Steady As She Rose.  Orly Rubberized Base Coat and 3-in-1 Top Coat.
(Like the texture on the background?  It's the dashboard of my Lover's car, cos this was another hurried set.)