Shades of Grey Nail Art

Press Sample

Today I have a pretty simple skittle mani. A skittle mani is one that doesn't have every finger as the same design. I have no idea where the term came from, but I'm going with it. I used all grey tones for this one. I used Rimmel Steel Grey (discontinued), L'Oreal Caution Please from the 50 Shades of Grey collection, and Pure Ice Silver Star which is always a great stamper. I believe the L'Oreal collection came out along with the movie 50 Shades of Grey and not the books.

Early Summer Leaf Gradient

Hello all! Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, so I wanted to create a nail design that reflected the early summer months! I started with three China Glaze colors: Five Rules, Flip Flop Fantasy, and Grass is Lime Greener. I also used plate BP19 from the Born Pretty Store and Pure Ice Superstar. I decided to create a gradient with the China Glaze polishes and stamped over that with a leaf design in white. This was one of those looks that kind of evolved as I created it.

The Polished Bookworms: Nail Art Inspired by Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I have a confession. I didn't read the book for book club this month. The Polished Bookworms read Gone Girl this month, but I actually read it ages ago, so I didn't feel the need to re-read it. I'm rebellious, I know. I thought it was a really great and twisted book. Gillian Flynn is really good at writing really suspenseful, twisted, thrillers. If you like that kind of thing, you need to read her books! I decided to do a mani inspired by broken glass. I don't remember if broken glass was ever in the book, but that is what I think of when I think of this book.

New Years Eve Nail Art

Press Samples Included

Happy New Years Eve! I didn't forget about Work Wear Wednesday, but I wanted to do something more fun. Therefore, Work Wear Wednesday will be back next week! Today, I have a fun and kind of random New Years Eve mani. I feel like I am never any good at NYE manis, but I thought I would try anyway. I always want to put too much glitter and shine, but end up with a mess. This year, I tried to keep it simple.

Work Wear Wednesdays: How to Wear Dark Colors

Are you a fan of dark colors on your nails like me? I have a problem with wearing dark colors all the time, and that translates to nail polish as well. For me, dark colors make me feel more powerful and confident, not goth or emo. I especially love dark colors on my nails when they are short. I thought, what is an easy way to wear dark colors to work? This is what I have to share with you today. This Work Wear Wednesday, I don't have a tutorial for you, but only because it is so simple to do. 

Candy Corn Nail Art

It's candy corn nail art day! I feel like everyone has to do candy corn nail art at least once near Halloween. I actually like candy corn, so this is perfect! I did sort of a non-traditional version. I did a dotticure kind of like I did for this post, but with white, yellow and orange. I started with a base of Sinful Colors Black On Black and then dotted various sizes all in white, I used Pure Ice Superstar. I then went over the ones at the base with Sally Hansen Insta-dri Heat Flash and then the middle dots with Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow. 

Halloween Haze

Halloween is less than a week away! It seems like it came really fast. I am already thinking about the holidays. So, I decided to do some Halloween nail art! I wanted to stamp, but I realized I didn't have any Halloween stamping sets, so I worked with what I had here. I used Orly Goth, Pure Ice Superstar! and Silver Star, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Heat Flash. I also used Born Pretty Store plate D14. I love that plate! If you want to purchase anything from the Born Pretty Store you can use my code: HANDX31 for 10% off!

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 13 Animal Print

As you can see from the title, this post is really late! I just missed this one a while ago and never made it up. I had high hopes of doing something atypical for animal print, but I just ran out of good ideas and just did something simple. I started with a base of Pure Ice Darkside, a deep maroon with gorgeous gold shimmer and stamped leopard print on a portion of my thumb, middle and ring fingers. I also added some stripes and called it good. 

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 7 Black & White

For the daily nail art challenge, today's prompt was black and white! I was really excited about this one because the colors are so simple (not really colors at all). I feel like with the absence of color  I could focus more on the design. I ended up doing a dry marble which has been somewhat difficult for me in the past. I only recently figured out that using a nail art brush is much easier than a toothpick, I don't know why that realization took me so long! The black I used is discontinued: Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro, but the 60 Second line they have now is also great. I used a Pure Ice white. You could use any black and white. I have a ton in my collection and rotate them based on what I am using them for. 

Nail Art: Bridal Inspired Foil Stamping

Have you all heard of the Sally Hansen Color Foil Collection? It has been out for a while, but for one reason or another, I haven't gotten my hands on them until now. I have a nail art look today using Leaden Lilac as a base color. This polish is different from the usual polish where you use a base and top coat. This one specifically states to not use a base or top coat. The polish dries to a very metallic foil looking finish which has a really cool effect. The color is an interesting mix of blue and purple, I would call it more blue than purple. It reminded me of the blue/purple Pure Ice Laven-Dare because I couldn't really tell if it is was more blue leaning or purple leaning. I decided to pair the two for this look. Turns out Laven-Dare stamps really well, so I used my MoYou Tourist Collection Plate 07 for this design.   

Swatch and Review of Pure Ice: Laven-Dare

Happy Friday! I hope you had a great week. I am carrying the trend from my last post and sharing with you another soft shade. Today I have swatches and review of Pure Ice Laven-Dare. I have no idea if this is a new color or not. Wal-Mart is the only place to buy this and the displays at mine are terrible! I'm lucky if the polishes are in the right section. Laven-Dare looks like a slightly dusty lavender. In some lights it seemed to pull a little blue, but it definitely looks lavender in these photos. I used two easy coats for full opacity. 

Nail Art: Chevrons with Street Art and Nail Studs

I have a fun and different (for me) combination to share today! I'm finding that I don't actually own that many glitter polishes, but when I saw the unique Maybelline Color Show Street Art collection, this blue and black glitter combo caught my eye. It is called Nighttime Noise. I wanted to showcase it in this mani. I started with a white base, I used Pure Ice Superstar here and on my pointer and pinky fingers added triangle shaped studs from the Born Pretty Store (use my code: HANDX31 for 10% off). I then used Nail Vinyls and painted Sinful Colors Black on Black on my thumb, middle, and ring fingers. 

Nail Art: Patriotic Nail Designs!

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July!! Independence day kinda snuck up on me there. I love how festive things are for the fourth. BBQs, camping, fireworks and parades are just a few things that always remind me of the fourth of July. For the occasion, I thought I would share some red, white and blue inspired nail art!

Water Marble

Glitter Gradient and Doticure

Simple Flag Design

First up is the water marble design. Water marbling is hard work! I haven't mastered the art yet, but I'm trying. You can find lots of tutorials on YouTube, but it really takes practice. I find that you really have to find thin polishes that separate immediately, if not, it won't work. I use regular tap water, but I try to use colder water. After I water marbled my nails, I just added some contrasting dots. I really love the dotted effect. 

This is what the water marble looks like before you dip your finger.

Next up is a crazy design that uses a couple different techniques and looks great! I painted my nails blue with white accent nails. On the blue ones I added a glitter gradient just using the brush, no special tools. After that, I just added a ton of dots on the white nails.

Last but not least, I have a very simple American Flag design. This was inspired by Miss Jen Fabulous on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaTEKSqPBpk. As you can see, she definitely inspires me!! I just used regular tape to make the stripes, freehand painted the blue and used a dotting tool for the "stars".

These are the colors used for all designs. From left to right: Essie "Head Mistress", NYC "French White Tip" (really clever name...), Pure Ice "Celestial". The red photographed a little strange in some of these photos, but I really love the tone of this red. 

This was really fun for me. I love themed nail art! Well, I love all nail art, but I especially love themed nail art and I love America! I hope you all get to try some patriotic nail art. It is a very small way to show pride in the USA. Thanks for reading!!