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?

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.

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.

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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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.

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).

We are the yin and the yang of the creative process.

A (relatively) quick and simple mani.  I tried to make the rainbow zebra last a few more days, but ended up ruining it at work.  :(  I purposely put more white than black because my nails were pretty stained from the rainbow, so I wanted to keep it light(ish) while they grow out a bit.

I used Orly Rubberized Base Coat, 3-in-1 Top Coat, Pointe Blanche, OPI Black Onyx, Save Me.
On my right ring finger you can see where the black smudged onto my topcoat brush and stained a bit...  Also, a lot of bubbles in these last few sets.  My top is getting old and low, so I have to dip several times to cover a nail, which appears to be the issue.  (Yes, I have another, but I feel wasteful if I throw it out too soon!)

Rainbow French

My other sister stopped by and talked me into a manicure - she loved my very favorite French, and decided she wanted a French with five colors.  (I don't ask questions with her, just go with it.)

I used Orly Rubberized Base Coat and 3-in-1 Top Coat, OPI Yodel Me On My Cell, Animal-istic, OPI Ink, Finger Paints Meet Me At The Met, China Glaze Icicle.

Twinkling Glitter and Icicle - French

Hands again!  This is the better French I mentioned in the last post - I just adore these colors together!  I almost did this again for my date, but I buy so much polish I felt like I had to use some new ones.

China Glaze Icicle, Venique Twinkling Glitter, Orly Topcoat.  I don't base coat my French manicures, even at work...  is that bad?

A sea setting us upon the ice has brought us close to danger.

Initially, I planned on this being an icy blue set...  but I think it looks more like a nice beach.  Too bad we got our first real snow this week!

I used OPI Not Like The Movies, Teal The Cows Come Home, China Glaze Blue Year's Eve, and a sparkly blue that doesn't have a name from Urban Outfitters.  CND Base and Top.  A cheap craft store jewel glued on with polish.  I don't like it.

Life is Made Up of Marble and Mud

I apologize for the bad photo quality...  I'm not improving, and I always have someone around to take a photo for me!  My cousin asked me to try the water marbling on her, so if you can see it, here it is!  It's been several weeks (months?) since this happened, so another apology for being busy.

And I know I fail, but I don't remember what I used...  The pink is from OPI.  :(  Better next time!

Here's what I was doing instead:

It's chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream, and a peanut butter cup detail...  I was going to send it to Fred (I wanted to test how mailing a cupcake would go) but I got busy and distracted.  Next time, Fred.

I also made bread for the very first time.  I got the recipe here, and it was so good.  I gave the big loaf to my daughter's teacher right before Thanksgiving, and we tried the little one.  We made another loaf for Christmas, and will surely make more pretty soon!  Next time, my sister suggests we replace some of the liquids with orange juice...

Let Us Dance In The Sun, Wearing Wildflowers In Our Hair...

I know it's been a while.  Let's start with a picture:

And now I'll explain - way back when I started this blog, I was working as a salon receptionist.  That is to say, I was encouraged to have my nails polished, especially by the company's brand.  Then I started doing nails, and it was just impractical to have them polished - removing everyone else's ruined mine every day, but I tried to keep it up for a few months.  I moved to a different nail place, where gloves were permitted, but then got a professional job.  I'm still pretty new there, so I'll wait a bit before painting my hands.  The other women keep theirs light or natural, and while I'm comfortable standing out, I actually like my job and don't want to stand out in a bad way.  ;)
I'll try to keep up on my toes in the mean time.

Orly Base and Top, Hook Up petals, OPI Midnight in Moscow all over, Rue Beaute 146 petals, Finger Paints Sketchy Character and Meet Me at the Met center, Sally Hansen Black Out center

And there was never an apple, in Adam's opinion, that wasn't worth the trouble you got into for eating it.

Earlier this year, I had a birthday.  On that day, my wonderful, amazing, fantastic, awesome partner gave me a MacBook Pro.  (We're not newlyweds, I swear.)  I adore it, almost as much as I adore him.  So I've finally painted the declaration of love.

Orly Base and Top, CO2 Silver Shimmer, index finger (on left) white is Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen, ring finger white is Sally Hansen Pure White Tip.

The pen actually worked pretty well for this...  The silver is thin and dries (and chips) in a way that reminds me of paper.  I did only one coat of it, so they were completely dry by time I drew the apples.  I guess when I have the patience to let my base dry completely, the pens are pretty neat!  You can see that the color doesn't pool as evenly as a regular polish, but mostly I don't have people inspecting my hands.

The Way Money Goes So Fast These Days, They Should Paint Racing Stripes On It!

Last one in a hurry (for now), since my siblings have all gone home.

I bought some new polishes, and wanted to try them.  The color matching in the background is completely coincidental.

What I thought:  Caribbean is thinner than I expected.  Two coats and it was still shearer than I prefer, but the color is nice.  It didn't last any longer than other brands though.  I also bought Coral Bliss, which I liked better.  Pictures eventually, I just had it on my toes.  One complaint - the name of the color is listed nowhere on the bottles.  I know it's a small collection, but I don't want to have to look it up online.
The nail art pens are fun, but it's actually easier for me to draw a smooth line with a brush.  I promise I will try french tips again though.

Base and top, Orly.  Megan Miller Caribbean, CO2 Shimmer Purple, Black Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen.

Remember When Atmospheric Contaminents Were Romantically Called Stardust?

Lyrids Meteor Shower is scheduled for April 21-22 this year, so I did shooting star nails.

I used: MaryKay Perfect Surface Base Coat, Sally Hansen Spark and Aqua Chrome, Beauty Secrets Top Coat.

Tips - Animals and Nature

The last two sets of beauty school tips:

Animals:

You get the flash and no-flash shots, cos I couldn't decide which looked better.  First is pink zebra stripe, suggested by a classmate (but I couldn't do just black n white!), then ladybug print cos my baby is obsessed with them, then a bumblebee, dalmatian, and spiderweb.

Nature:
                                                                                                                                                                     
The first is a sunburst, the second is a flower design after a temporary tattoo I had once, third and fourth are roses, fifth is a sunflower, sixth is the sun on an ocean, seventh is lightening, eighth is a crescent moon and stars.  Still working on the photography thing...
Aren't you glad I did these in sets instead of individuals!?

Tips - Designs

More tips from beauty school:

Random splashes of colors, and I don't remember the polishes.

Starry Skies

Last night when I decided to do nail art and blog about it, I was planning on starting with a spring theme, something with sunshine and palm trees. Then I went to therapy, and (apart from lacking a yellow polish) just wasn't feeling too sunny. I painted my nails black because I was cranky (typically I choose bright colors) and then added silver details to reduce the presence of depression on my hands. That, and my partner was on his way (and made me feel better with a caramel apple and chocolate covered strawberry).





I know they're hard to see... I'll practice my photography skills. Base is Maalouf Provocative on all nails. Ring finger moon, index, thumb, index, middle, pinkie star are Maalouf Glamorous Life.