12 Days Of Christmas: Day 1

Hello!

So I failed miserably on the Thanksgiving challenge...I did end up doing the last two days, but didn't photograph my nails soon enough and they were horribly chipped.

However, I am excited to announce that we now have FACEBOOK comments!! I tried adding this early on but didn't get the code quite right, but they're working now! I hope more people are able to comment and participate now. :D

This post is a day late, but hopefully I'll be on time for the rest! I'm participating in the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge, hosted by Nicole at Dipped in Lacquer! It's an absolutely fantastic challenge with lots of inspirational days!

Today's theme(well, yesterday's) is only green and red! I fudged a little with this, using a green/gold color and a dark reddish brown color. I adore how they came out though! I went with a matte top coat, but I'm wishing I had left it shiny.

My original design for this theme was plaid, and that's how these started out. I ended up liking the geometric-ness of the overlapping lines and continued with that rather than a plaid. A friend said this looked like presents to him, so I think I've captured some Christmas spirit~!

If you're interested in doing this challenge too, just let me know! If you don't have your own blog I'd be happy to put pictures up for you if you want to share(and even if you don't, I'd love to see them!) or I can get you added to our Challenge group and the link list!!

Go check out all the lovely designs other participating bloggers did! And I'll be back tomorrow with snowflakes!!

College Polished
Peace Love Lacquer
Jenerally Speaking 
Galactic Lacquer 
Nail By Katie
Jilltastic Nail Designs
Seriously Swatched
Makeup and Nails, Not War
Glitter Me This
Nail Polish Anonymous
Dipped In Lacquer
XO, Noelle
Makeup Your Face
Polish Snob
Just Another Polish Addiction
Play Polish
Tes Did It Nails

Thanksgiving Challenge 11/20 and 11/21

Hey everyone! I'm a bit behind...I've been relaxing and just enjoying Thanksgiving break! I also had to cut my nails down last night, so I'm a bit sad about posting pictures :(  Hopefully with my new care regimen( Essie's Grow Stronger base, cuticle care, and better moisturizing) I can have long nails again soon! 

11/20 - Charlie Brown

I did an abstract take on Charlie Brown's trademark shirt! A gold base with round micro black glitters for the strips(and a few hexagonal light gold pieces). 

11/21 - Brown and Orange

Brown/Orange layered acid wash, with a tattoo style lettering. I really loved how these turned out, but my pictures were bad :( I'll be doing something similar to this in the future! (These were done last week, hence the slightly longer nails!)

Go check out all the other awesome designs! There were so many Charlie Brown designs that were especially amazing :) 

Peace Love Lacquer
XO, Noelle
College Polished
PishPosh & Polish
Dipped in Polish
Jenerally Speaking 
Galactic Lacquer 
Tres' Chic Nails 
Charlottes-nails 
Manic Manis
The Life, Time and Lacquers of Lilmoon
Makeup and Nails, Not War
Not Too Polished
Mimi Manicures
Seriously Swatched
Sassy Shelly
Jilltastic Nail Designs

Thanksgiving Challenge Day 1

Hello everyone! Today is the first day of the Thanksgiving Nail Art Challenge!

Today's theme was leaves and I decided to go with metal leafing for my look!

The base color is Essie's Lapiz of Luxury, with gold, silver, and copper leaf placed on top. I was really happy with how these turned out!

Be sure to check out the other blogs participating in this challenge!

Peace Love Lacquer
XO, Noelle
College Polished
PishPosh & Polish
Dipped in Polish
Jenerally Speaking 
Galactic Lacquer 
Tres' Chic Nails 
Charlottes-nails 
Manic Manis
The Life, Time and Lacquers of Lilmoon
Makeup and Nails, Not War
Not Too Polished
Mimi Manicures
Seriously Swatched
Sassy Shelly
Jilltastic Nail Designs

Thanksgiving Nail Art Challenge!

Sorry I've been MIA this week! I got really busy with school and although I did a few designs, I didn't end up liking the way they photographed! I'm planning on doing tons of swatches (and maybe some makeup reviews!) over Thanksgiving break, that way the blog won't be dead during finals week!

However, expect daily postings this week! I'm participating in the Thanksgiving Nail Art Challenge! This challenge was created by Kim from College Polished and I am SUPER excited to see all the designs!

I'll be back tomorrow to post the first day! In the meantime, browse around these other great participating sites!

Peace Love Lacquer
XO, Noelle
College Polished
PishPosh & Polish
Dipped in Polish
Nail By Katie
Jenerally Speaking 
Galactic Lacquer 
Tres' Chic Nails 
Charlottes-nails 
Manic Manis
The Life, Time and Lacquers of Lilmoon
Makeup and Nails, Not War
Not Too Polished
Mimi Manicures
Seriously Swatched
Sassy Shelly
Jilltastic Nail Designs

Mosaics Galore

Hello everyone!

Two nail designs to show you today, one is from the weekend and one I'm currently wearing!

First up we have my weekend mani, cross hatching combined with mosaics in a very winter/autumn combo of navy blue and plums.

Sorry for the chipping on these! I didn't get a chance to photograph them until a full day had passed....got a nasty chip on my index finger :(
Otherwise, I love these nails! I adore the cross hatching so much! I did it by crossing blue lines horizontally and purple lines vertically, with the nude based added back on top going both ways. From a distance it had a fabric look!
I also love the mosaics! Super easy to do and looks so nice on the nail! 

In fact, I loved the mosaics so much, it's my NOTD. Check out my neon mosaics!

These were done over a gray base, which kept the neon more subdued. I started out with purple dividing lines, but it lacked enough contrast so I went over them again with black. These also have a very very subtle green shimmer, since I put my Forever 21 Glow in the Dark polish on top!! 

Expect to see these two designs in the future! 

Thinking of Sunnier Places

As we start November, the weather is still pretty good. However, it's been rainy and cloudy almost everyday this past week. So I think that was driving my selection of beach themed nails!!

I have two to share today!

Glitter nails and mermaid scales! I am in LOVE with this glitter. It's a wonderful aqua iridescent beauty, that goes opaque but changes color in wonderful ways when layered! 

Nails based on waves washing onto a beach! When I was in Korea, I had the chance several times to walk on the beach with my boyfriend! We did the heart with our initials on one of those times! :)

I am surprised at how much I love the ocean and the beach, considering I didn't grow up around it. I saw it for the first time when I was 19! And it was kind of amazing, the first time I went to the beach, because a typhoon was getting ready to blow in the day we left. I got to see a beach go from super sunny and crowded to extremely foreboding and quickly being emptied! 

A couple beach pictures for fun!

Election 2012 Nails!

So today, for the first time, I voted in an election!!

I sported these pretty things doing it!

(There is a bald patch on my pinky from me being impatient when applying glitter, but it's not as bad in real life!)

I hope everyone who could did vote today! I may not agree with everyone's politics, but everyone should exercise the right women, poor, and minorities fought long and hard to get! 

That being said, I am personally very very VERY happy with the outcomes thus far! 

I took this with my cell camera yesterday, but it's my "I VOTED" sticker!! Saving that one for the scrapbook! 

Why Nail Art?

For some, nail art is a career. Others call it a passion, a hobby, stress relief. To me, nail art has become a hobby and my "trademark" accessory.

Blair Waldorf has headbands, I have nail polish. 

Bright Water Marble

Hello! I'm back again with another water marble! After doing my right hand with the peacock inspired marble last night, I had to do something with my left hand!

I went on a shopping trip to Walgreens for more quick-dry topcoat, and couldn't resist picking up some new colors! The red and blue are from Wet n Wild's Megalast Nail Color collection - the blue is "I need a refresh-mint". I'll post the red's name once I get home!

I really love how these nails turned out, especially the thumb and pinky! I used the black rhinestones to cover up an air bubble, but they look so pretty! 

Peacock Watermarble

Now that the Spooky Nights challenge is over, I'm FREEEEE! And what I have I done with this freedom?

Become ensnared by water marbling! An extremely unique looking technique, that produces no two manicures exactly alike, which I had been extremely afraid of before attempting it for the 8 Spooky Night challenge!

BUT NO MORE!

Peacock feather inspired nails, with gold accents!! I LOVE THESE NAILS. Originally I was going to use the teal with a couple duochromes by Sinful Colors I picked up last night(I had to get topcoat, and couldn't resist browsing/buying other polishes!) However, they just didn't work that nicely, and I was inspired by the teal and green/gold(a Korean dupe of Peridot).

I'll have another post up soon, I did my left hand in entirely different colors!

8 Spooky Nights Roundup

Hey! Just wanted to do a roundup of all of my designs for the 8 Spooky Nights Challenge! Click on the dates to see the full post!

Here's the prompt, hosted by Peace Love Lacquer:

10/22 Skulls:

10/23 Vampires:

10/24 Candy:

10/25 Ghosts:

10/26 Witches:

10/29 Spiders:

10/30 Graveyards:

10/31 Only Black and Orange:

Which one is your favorite? I had a great time doing this challenge, so expect to see more in the future!!