Julie G Gradient

I decided I needed a distinctly summery look because it has actually been really hot here in the Pacific Northwest. It was actually 90 degrees today! I went with a design that looks like a tequila sunrise and added some white glitter. I used Julie G Canary Islands, Old San Juan, and Miami Beach. The glitter I used is Sephora Formula X Wham!. 

Euro Gradient

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2016! It seems like the years go by so quickly now, but I guess time flies when you're having fun. My first nail art design of the year is created using all OPI Euro Centrale Collection polishes. It was one of my favorite collections from them and I think they all look great together. I decided to go with a gradient and topped it with glitter. Gradients are so fun and easy and have such a high impact.

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.

Nail Art Spring Gradient

I hope you all have had a great week! Sorry for my extended hiatus, I came down with something pretty serious last week and it kept me down for quite a while. I even left my nails naked! I am still getting over it, but the fever is gone at least. I really hate being sick.

The nails I have to share with you have been sitting in my to blog file since before Easter! I created a springy gradient with three colors from a mini set of Nails Inc polishes. I used Sloane Street, Princess Gate, and Bruton Lane.

Introduction to Work Wear Wednesdays and Tutorial

Guess what day it is?! Move over "hump day" it is now Work Wear Wednesday! I have decided to create a new series called Work Wear Wednesdays! I will be creating nail art that is work appropriate for professional work environments. We all know that our love of nail art can sometimes be a bit too much for the workplace, especially if your employer is particularly strict or if you have clients you want to impress. This series is meant to be a guide to give you ideas on how to execute simple nail art that you can show off at the office without raising any eyebrows. Every workplace is different, so feel free to work off of these designs to make them your own and appropriate for what you do!

Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 10 Gradient

Today the daily challenge theme is gradient. I love gradients and I do them all the time it seems like. I started to think about what I wanted to do for today's look. I thought of all kinds of crazy designs and things I had seen and wanted to try, but I settled on the gradient version of a french manicure. I can't remember where I first saw this design, if I do, I will link it here. I remember the first time I saw it, I thought it looked so soft and feminine. I used a nude color rather than a sheer and traditional white. The nude I used was Rimmel London 60 Seconds in Caramel Cupcake. I think this is my favorite nude at the moment! I also used Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I sponged those on and topped it with Fairy Dust and voila!

Nail Art: Green Dotticure for #fightforlifeandlive

Because of the tragic suicide of Robin Williams, the nail community has decided to band together to create green manicures for mental health awareness. The ribbon for mental health awareness is green, hence the green manis. I think all of us have been touched in some way by someone we love or suffer themselves from depression. It is very tragic that Robin Williams felt he had to take his own life, but I hope that with his passing, others can learn that they are not alone in this battle and that the stigma of mental illnesses needs to be lifted. If you or anyone you know is seeking help and is in crisis visit: Save.org. 

Video Credit: Moderngreen

With that, I would like to share my nails. I meant to post these earlier in the day, but I went on a hike and suddenly, it seems, it is 8pm! I started with a white base and dotted a gradient effect with two sizes of dotting tool. I used Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet, Color Club Wild Cactus and Sinful Colors Calypso. I staggered the dots a little to give more of a gradient effect.

Neon Week Nail Art: Neon Gradient and Rhinestones

Can you believe it is the last day of Neon Week already? It went by so fast for me. I enjoyed creating every neon look this past week and I think I learned a bit as well. Today I have a simple gradient with Color Club Flamingo, Wham! Pow! and Mrs. Robinson. I topped the gradient with China Glaze Fairy Dust and added some rhinestones on my thumb, middle and ring fingers. 

Neon Week Nail Art: Neon Rainbow Flowers

Neon Week is going by very quickly! If you missed day one or two you can see them here: Neon Mist (Day 1) and Monochrome Arrows (Day 2). Day 2 also had a tutorial, so be sure to check that out. For today's look I was inspired by the way that Oh My Gosh Polish did her Rainbow Abstract Dab and I wanted to re-create the underlying color. She is amazing and she posts YouTube videos daily and sometimes more than once daily! She seems like such a sweet lady too. Definitely go check her out. She used a dry brush technique which is one that I love! I ended up with a dry brushed rainbow as a base and then I stamped over it! I used China Glaze White On White to make the neons pop. Then I started with Color Club Warhol at the base of my nail and feathered it out far enough to create an orange blend between it and Orly Glowstick. Then I feathered Glowstick out enough to create a green with it and Color Club Chelsea Girl, and finally feathered that out and blended it with Color Club Mrs. Robinson. All of the Color Clubs are from the old Poptastic Collection. I then stamped with plate D14 from the Born Pretty Store and used Wet N Wild Black Creme.

Nail Art: Pacific Blue Glitter Gradient

So, I wan't sure if I wanted to share this look with you today. I wouldn't call this a successful manicure. I had a difficult time getting the gradient to look right for some reason, probably because I was creating this look for a purpose. Sally Hansen recently changed the formula on a well loved polish called Pacific Blue, but are still marketing the new color/formula as Pacific Blue. From what I gather, it seems similar to Blueberry Blast, which I reviewed a little while ago. I didn't buy the new formula because it seemed so similar. The problem is the new formula takes several coats more and is a much darker shade with shimmer. Regardless, getting rid of a cult classic color just seems wrong to me. I collaborated with a large group of other nail polish fanatics to create this awesome collage! Can you pick mine out?

Nail Art: Memorial Day Poppies

It is Memorial Day. Today is a day when we take the time to honor our fallen soldiers and remember the cost of our freedom. 

I was given a challenge to create a nail art design for Memorial Day without using red, white and blue. I decided to try poppies, since they are supposed to symbolize remembrance. I decided to do a sunset gradient with grey and black poppies (since I couldn't use red). I'm not sure the poppies really look like poppies, but that is what I was going for here. I used Julie G Miami Beach and Old San Juan.

Nail Art: Zoya Tickled and Bubbly Gradient Tape Mani

Press Sample

Oh Zoya, how do you make such fantastic polish? I recently reviewed the Tickled & Bubbly Collections on my blog and was so inspired by the colors I had to do some nail art right away. For this look I started with a base of Jesy from the Bubbly Collection and created a gradient over that with Rocha, Rooney and Kitridge. I used striping tape to create my design. 

Nail Art: Ice and Fire Gradient

In honor of the season premier of Game of Thrones, I have a mani that looks like ice and fire. This was really inspired by someone on instagram and for the life of me, I cannot remember who it is. I will update when I find out. I created a gradient of blue to purple with OPI Yodel Me on My Cell and OPI Suzi and the 7 Dusseldorfs. I layered on top the ever famous Essie Shine of the Times and added some nail studs. Take a look at that flakie goodness:

Nail Art: Gradient and Tape Spring Look

I've really been into spring colors lately! Since my last design, I really wanted to do another gradient look and I had to use spring colors. I love when everything starts blooming after winter and all of the colors start to show. I did another gradient design with a tape design accent. I used China Glaze Mimosas Before Manis for the orange and Color Club Mod in Manhattan for the off white which is actually a Birchbox exclusive. I did the striping tape design over my ring finger and thumb, I saw this design on pinterest which was bookmarked from Wink and Blush. I thought it was a great design, hers is perfect, mine, not so much. Take a look:

Nail Art: Spring Gradient

This is one of those rare instances where I really like what I created. I guess we are our own worst critics, but I always find something about my nails that I usually wish I could have done better. These ones, though, turned out really well! I was proud of how my gradient turned out and the stamping was just dainty enough to not overwhelm the gradient. The blue I used is Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams and the green is an unnamed Sally Hansen. Unnamed. How dare they not put a sticker with a name on it! Seriously, it kind of makes me twitchy when my polish doesn't have a name. I could have sworn I saw the same color elsewhere and it had pear in the name, so if any of you know the name, please let me know!! I also used my beloved MoYou plate from the Tourist Collection.

Nail Art: Gradient Hearts

Valentine's Day is tomorrow! Whether you love it or hate it, you can celebrate it with nail art! I picked a particularly girly look. I created a gradient and added a reverse gradient of hearts over top. I used Color Club Endless, Sally Hansen White On, Sally Hansen Punch Drunk, and OPI Miami Beet. I only used three colors for each gradient, but swapped out White on which I used in the base for Endless which I used for the hearts.

Nail Art: Chinese New Year Nails

Happy Chinese New Year!! Chines New Year was January 31st and yesterday I celebrated with family. This year is the year of the wooden horse. I decided to do some red nails with gold glitter to celebrate the occasion! I used butter LONDON Come to Bed Red and three different glitters: Julep Paris, Sinful Colors All About You and the best Chinese New Year glitter: China Glaze Electrify! I created a glitter gradient from the bast of the nail and went a little overboard!

A Year in Review 2013!

I never got a chance to do a year in review post, so since Chinese New Year is Friday, I figure it isn't too late! I was so grateful that I actually decided to start this blog. I have only been at it since June, but since then, I feel like I have improved my skills and accomplished a lot by getting involved in the nail community (yes, there is a nail community). I wanted to share what ended up being your five favorite posts and what were my five favorite posts from last year. I've posted some photos and short descriptions below.

Your favorites surprised me a little. Some of the things I expected to be really popular just weren't, and some things I posted as somewhat of an afterthought became noticed.

Nail Art: Be Merry Glitter Gradient

Hello! I hope you all are in the midst of a wonderful holiday season! Now that Christmas is over, I miss it already. I want to share a design I created with some polished I got as Christmas presents. The base color is Revlon Pink Chiffon and the glitter is China Glaze Be Merry, Be Bright from their holiday collection.

 

I thought this glitter was a great alternative to the usual green and red colors of the holidays. It reminds me of the kitsch decor that Target came out with for the holidays- bright colors in traditional Christmas designs. It is a nice alternative that I can use year round. The base was a little sheer, it took three coats for this design, but I probably would have done four if I was wearing it alone. One thing I changed in my routine this time was that I topped it all off with Just Ricarda's Glossy Glam, an indie top coat. I heard great things about it and I haven't quite figured out how I like to use it best, but I really love the shine. Maybe I'll post a review of it or a top coat comparison at a later date. Hope you like the design and thanks for reading!

Nail Art: Catching Fire Nails

I feel terrible, I have been neglecting my nail community here. It has been five days since I last posted, can you believe it? Work has been crazy lately, which makes it difficult to publish blog posts. I promise, today's post will be worth the wait. For #nailartnov the theme for Day 22 was "Catching Fire" for the premier of the movie Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I read all the books after I saw the first movie, so, needless to say I was really excited for this challenge. Some of you know, last year China Glaze came out with a Hunger Games collection, two of the polishes I used here to create my Catching Fire look. I used Smoke and Ashes as the base color and the top gradient color. I used Riveting as the orange gradient color. I sponged on the two colors over a layer of Smoke and Ashes and it worked really well. I also finally got my order of nail studs, so I was able to use those for this design!

What do you think? I wore these for the movie, which felt really special. I loved the design, I did notice that the polish chipped really quickly, which was not cool. Maybe I just had too many layers. For those of you who have the China Glaze Hunger Games nail polish and the new Cover Girl Hunger Games nail polish, which collection do you prefer? Do you know of a difference in quality? I love the HG collection from China Glaze. I loved what they did with their collection, I was a little ticked that they weren't doing the polish this go around and haven't picked up any Cover Girl because I was protesting. Let me know if you like it though, I am always a fan of good polish finds! Hope you like this design, I will try not to neglect the blog so much anymore! I am planning a tutorial soon, so stay tuned!