Snowman Nail Art

The third prompt in Challenge Your Nail Art's 12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge is Snowmen.

I'm not going to lie, I feel like I went a little lazy on this prompt, but hey I completed it, and that in itself is a feat!



To start this manicure off, I did two thin coats of ILNP Summer Stargazing, which is pretty funny, because it like the antithesis of winter, but I thought it worked well for this manicure.



After waiting a few minutes for the two coats of Summer Stargazing to dry, I added a stamp of a super cute snowman from my Winstonia W120 plate. I thought it would cute than my free hand.



After adding the stamp, I took out my dotting tool and dotted little snowflakes on the other nails and then took out a nail art brush to add white to my tips, looking like snow on the ground.



I'm not going to lie, wasn't super proud of these nails, but they fulfilled the challenge. Going to try for something more involved for the next prompt. It was hard to get a shot of how lovely the holo is in Summer Stargazing too, the sun came out for all of three minutes while wearing these nails, so I managed to get the above shot when that happened.

And I'll leave you with a cute shot of my cat Patty, who steals my light box every stinking time I take it out for nail shots!



And don't forget to check out the other ladies's nails in this challenge, I'm pretty sure you'll be more wowed by them than me for this prompt! ;-)


   

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Galaxy Nail Art

So all over the internet I've been seeing all these wonderful galaxy nails. Well I had never attempted it, but a few weeks back I was inspired Jessica at Be Happy and Buy Polish's fabulous galaxy nails, I decided it was finally time to give the look a try.

 

I obviously haven't perfected the stars on top of the galaxy, but I actually liked the final product! They were beautiful!

 

I started out with a base of Zoya Storm and then used a makeup sponge to apply ILNP Summer Stargazing, ILNP Bikini Bottoms and Colors by Llarowe Feelings Whoa Whoa Whoa – blue, pink and purple holo polishes.

 

After I finished that I applied China Glaze Fairy Dust, because Fairy Dust All the Things! Fairy Dust makes everything better and covers a multitude of sins. After the Fairy Dust, I attempted to make stars of different sizes, via the white dots, but well, I guess that was a little much. Either way I really liked how these nails turned out.

It's worth it to try new nail art. There is so much inspiration out there, the possibilities are endless! What new technique have you tried lately? Have you tried galaxy nails? Share them with me on my Facebook page!

Blue holographic skittle nails

Well friends, I had just about the worst day ever yesterday. Got rear ended on the way to work, and had back-to-back-to-back-to-back meetings at work. I'm currently feeling a little over extended in life, too many commitments making things rather stressful.

But one thing I like to come back to is this blog, because it deals with the things that make me happy – nails! No matter how hectic my life gets with election season, editorial duties etc. I know I can always look down at my nails and smile.

Today I'm sharing with you some blue skittle nail art I did awhile back. It seemed earlier this year I couldn't get my hands on enough blue holo polishes. I finally realized I had a ton when I put them all side by side (to make sure they weren't dupes) and thought they might make interesting skittle nails!



The polishes I used, from thumb to pinky, Colors by Llarowe Chillin' in Paradise, Color Club Over the Moon, Colors by Llarowe Soccer Mom, Colors by Llarowe Surf My Wave and ILNP Summer Stargazing.



Because I loved all the blue and it made me think of the ocean, I added a wave stamp on top to complete the look. For the stamp I used MoYou London Sailor 03 plate!



All of them had a great holo finish. Soccer Mom was a bit more of a scattered holo and dried a little textured (top coat fixed that pretty quick)! The holo in Surf my Wave, Over the Moon and Chillin' in Paradise were all very similar – linear and vibrant. The finish in Summer Stargazing was a different type of holo, scattered and linear at the same time.



I'm not going to lie, I think Color Club Over the Moon and Colors by Llarowe Chillin' in Paradise were VERY close and if you own one, I can say with confidence, I don't think you need the other. They weren't exact dupes, but pretty similar.

So that's it for my post today. I guess you can say this was apt timing for this manicure, because I'm currently feeling a little blue with how much stuff is going on in my life right now. Overwhelmed! How do you guys deal with stress? I typically paint my nails, when I can fit in a manicure! Something about switching off the really thoughtful side of your brain and just concentrating on art, on a tiny canvas is very relaxing! Don't you think?

KBShimmer In Bare Form dotticure

First off, I'm going to start this post by gushing about KBShimmer's In Bare Form. You guys, I think I've found my perfect most beautiful nude polish. I forever have looked for a nude polish that would work with my neutral skin tone.

Now not only have I found it, it applies and wears like a dream and it is HOLO! This is such a perfect polish and I am so happy to have found it.



Seriously, after you've checked out my nail art click on over to the KBShimmer website and pick up this gem, it's only $8.75 - a steal!



So I did this nail art on a day when I got an awesome nail mail package. I seriously had so many amazing holo polishes in front of me, I didn't know where to start. So when in doubt, use all the polish for nail art!



So the dots, from bottom to top are Dance Legend Blanco, Colors by Llarowe Soccer Mom, Colors by Llarowe Chillin' in Paradise, Colors by Llarowe In Another Dimension, Colors by Llarowe Surf My Wave and ILNP Summer Stargazing.



So what do you think of this manicure? I really liked it and In Bare Form made the most gorgeous backdrop for this ombre type dotticure!

ILNP Summer Stargazing and Fourth of July nail art

Coming to you all a day earlier than I usually post, because of the holiday! First off I'll lead with the nail art, since it's just in time for the Fourth of July. I was inspired by the name of my polish ILNP's Summer Stargazing, thought I would do some stars and stripes in honor of the holiday.



The stars looked great over Summer Stargazing, the stripes were an experiment. I used Zoya Sarah, and I rather liked the subtle look of the stripes. This wasn't a typical in your face flag manicure or a Red White and Blue manicure even. I thought this was unique!



This was my manicure from last year. Typical flag mani. I still liked it though! But look at my cuticles and application!!! I think I've much improved my nail polishing skills for sure!



Now on to the polish review. ILNP Summer Stargazing was a stunner. Bright blue with beautiful holo finish!





Application: This went on perfectly in two thin coats. Similar in consistency to it's sister polish Rehab, which I reviewed yesterday! I topped it with a coat of HK Girl Top Coat, which is also a perfect topper for nail art because it doesn't smear it!

Where to purchase: You can purchase ILNP Summer Stargazing for $10 on the ILNP website!

Holo stripes nail art

I loved this manicure I just did last week so much it skipped the line and I blogged about it as soon as I could. I actually just removed this manicure Sunday morning, I wore it for a whole half week! Which is really unheard of for me!!!



I started the manicure with a layer of OPI Alpine Snow and once it was dry enough, added some thin stripe nail vinyls to create the look.



The polishes I used were, from top to bottom, Colors by Llarowe Chillin' in Paradise, Colors by Llarowe In A Different Dimension, Colors by Llarowe Surf My Wave and ILNP Summer Star Gazing. The sunshine shots of this manicure are just amazing!!!





And as an added bonus and happy accident, I discovered (well it was pointed out to me actually) that my nails totally matched my iPhone case! Guess I really do love those colors.



I really loved this manicure, it was aquatic, without being too overly oceanic (a theme I've been going to a lot lately). The colors looked spectacular when I was at the pool on Saturday. This is definitely the best and most favorite nail art I have done in some time! What do you think? You could really do this with any color scheme, but I loved the blue/green theme as they are my favorite colors!

P.S. I am a part of my online friend The Mercurial Magpie's First Blogaversary and I have included a prize (1 of 30!!!)! So head on over to her site to enter the contest!