Nail Art: Polka Dot Birdies

What's this?! Amanda's actually posting something?! I'm just as surprised as you are! Still trying to find the time to keep up with the blog in my new schedule, but I think I'm getting better at it. And I'm learning some neat things at work that I can incorporate into the blog too!

I don't know what it is about me and bird nail art, because this is the second or third time I've done something with birds. I just think the images that I look off of are so cute and they translate really well into nail art. But oh well, because I think it came out pretty well. I only wish I'd used acrylic paints instead of polishes. I didn't want to take the time to mix out the colors in acrylic paint. You'd think after whipping my butt in to shape for a 40 hour week my laziness would be gone....but nope! ^_^

The base of this is Orly Pure Porcelain. It's a good off white color, but the color is a little streaky so I find myself having to use pretty thick coats. Then I just freehanded the birdies and polka dots on with polish :)

Hope you all had a great weekend. The bf and I went to the Black Keys concert in downtown Indy on Friday night, and it was AWESOME. They throw a really great show, so I'd definitely recommend any of you guys that like them to go in the future. :)

Abstract Dots

Hi all! Long time no post!  When I wasn't busy I just could NOT for the life of me think of anything exciting to do to my nails. But I think I'm finally back into the swing of things so hopefully that means more regular posts for you guys. It's weird not having a post up every day or every other day!

The base is Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud (sidenote: These SH CSM bottles are ridiculously hard to hold and get a good picture with....off topic) and the big dots are made with:  white acrylic paint, China Glaze 108 Degrees, China Glaze Entourage and Essie French Affair. I just used a tiny dotting tool and a small nail art brush to do the detail work. The UBER tiny dots are made with the point of a pushpin! I don't have a dotting tool that small ;-)

This design is based off of a background I saw on ShutterStock. That's a great place to look for inspiration if you can't think of what to do, btw :)

Hope everyone's having a fabulous week!

Day 11: Polka Dots (Constellations!)

Hi all! I'm excited to show you guys today's mani!

The theme for today is Polka Dots. Upon looking for inspiration, I started thinking about doing something a little out of the ordinary. When you hear the prompt "Polka Dots," I'm sure you think of something like this, right?

That's what I think of too...but the purpose of this challenge is for me to do things that I wouldn't normally think of!

Originally I thought of doing a sort of connect the dots mani and doing something like you'd see in a children's workbook with the dots and the corresponding numbers. But I didn't think I'd have enough room on each nail to do something like that... so I thought of something similar...

Constellations! I could still do dots that were supposed to represent something, but didn't have to draw parts of the image!

I used a base of Zoya Indigo for the night sky. Indigo is a beautiful navy blue with teeny tiny holographic glitter. The glitter wasn't noticeable enough to represent a night sky though, so what do I do? What else but add some Fairy Dust on top of it! I love Fairy Dust way more than I should...

Here are some pictures of Fairy Dust over Indigo:

Then I used the point of a needle (yes, a needle) to dot on the various constellations. Can you figure out what any of the constellations pictured below are? They are all actual formations!

Constellations from L to R: Orion's Belt, Hercules, Perseus, & Bootes (even though I admit it looks like The Big/Little Dipper

I am loving this constellation mani! And it was so so simple to do! Does this fall under Polka Dots or did I stray too much from the theme? ;)

Robotic Neon Polka Dots

Hello ladies!
 

Today I have something super fun to show you guys. I saw this post by Deniz at Emerald Sparkled a while ago, and LOVED it! I just knew I had to try it.

I started off with two coats of China Glaze Cheers To You from their holiday 2010 collection. This is a perfect metallic silver foil. It applied wonderfully! I don't have many foils but I can live with just this one because it's just that good.

Then I used a dotting tool and made neon polka dots all over. The whole process was really simple but overall I'm really liking how this one looks. It might even stay on longer than two days! ;)

 

What do you all think? It's a little summery but I'm loving it!!

OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys

I started today with a base of this rich chocolate brown - Suzi Loves Cowboys.  I've heard some people say its very sheer and needs multiple coats but I had full coverage with just 2 coats.  It's a 'sorbet' formula which we all refer to as "jelly" but it appears to be more of a creme to me.  It applied and leveled very well and dried relatively fast.  The color is so yummy, its like you dipped your fingers in a Hershey bar.  I did this late last night and really should have just gone to bed, because you can tell I forgot to wrap my tips.

As for the nail art - I had such high hopes for this one but am left so disappointed.  I was inspired for this by a pattern I saw online which turned out to be too complex to translate to the nail.  And obviously I didn't let the dots dry enough before I topcoated it because the polish smeared and made a mess.   ick.  Not liking it at all.  Sparing you a bunch of pics of this FAIL, but posting nevertheless to show you my mistake. The dots are all Sally Hansen Insta - Dri in Blue-Away, Jade Jump, Presto Pink and Rapid Red.

Happy Friday everyone.  Who's looking forward to the weekend?

Minnie Mouse Nails

I wanted to start with a base of a good, rich red so I chose Sally Hansen Salon Manicure in Right Said Red.  I used 2 coats.  Dry time on this is a little slow, be sure to let your coats dry thoroughly in between.  I really liked the look of the matte base for the dots shown in my previous pink polka dot mani so I topped the RSR with 2 coats of China Glaze Matte Magic.  I love how the red looked matti-fied.

After the base color was good and dry, I used a medium sized dotting tool and Pure Ice Superstar to apply the polka dots.  I let that dry overnight, then had Amanda draw in the little black bows with black acrylic paint (she prefers using acrylic paint for detail work as opposed to polish).

I am really loving these.  So cute. 

Now that Amanda is back to hold the fort down I'm jetting off to Boston for the week.  See you on the flip side!

Zoya Lolly and Sally Hansen Pink Blink - Pink Wednesday!

This is my first pink Wednesday post!  I do like pink, but it seems I'm usually doing my nails on Tuesday/Thursday schedule.  Amanda is out of town shenanigating with some of her buds so I'll have to post in her stead.

I used 2 coats of Zoya Lolly for the base.  This is a matte and is a tricky one.  It dries super fast so you have to be speedy on your application and don't try to go over the same spot twice - you'll get drag marks.  Load up your brush with plenty of polish and 3 strokes.  For the dots I used a dotting tool and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Pink Blink.

This mani is SO girly!  Happy Wednesday y'all!