HPB Presents: Halloween Nail Art!

HPB is a group of Hobby Polish Bloggers on Facebook. We decided to team up and do themed manis this month. I have a fun Halloween looks to share. Since it is Halloween, I have a scary movie to go watch, so this will be a quick post. I wanted to share this design with you before the night was over though!

Nail Art: What I Wore for Halloween

I have a very simple look to share today. I wore this for Halloween yesterday! I wanted to do nail art, but I wanted it to be very simple, because I have been really busy in the last few days. I started with  base color of Sinful Colors Starry Night and then painted some pumpkins on my ring and thumb fingers. This was inspired by a video I saw from Christabell Nails on YouTube.  

Work Wear Wednesday: Halloween Edition

Hello! I hope you are having a fantastic week! It is once again Work Wear Wednesday! I feel like these weeks are going by so fast. This week I decided to do a Halloween version of Work Wear Wednesday. I wanted to incorporate Halloween colors without going overboard, so I created a two tone look that I feel is very work appropriate but with a little edge to it. I used A England Lady of the Lake and Sinful Colors Black on Black for this look.

Frankenstein Drips

Today, I have a new to me technique. I have seen drips all over the place, but have never tried them myself. I was trying to think of another Halloween design, and I thought of drips in Frankenstein colors! I started with a base of Maybelline Color Show  Flash of Purple and added drips on Color Club Sunrise Canyon.

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!

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: Halloween Monster Nails

Happy Halloween Readers!! I never was a huge fan of Halloween ever since my mom made me dress up as a fat clown to keep me warm (practical mothers...gotta love them). I of course loved the candy as a kid, but nowadays I really like just relaxing with my husband and picking out scary movies to watch. Maybe watching a scary movie isn't actually relaxing, but it is entertaining! We've been watching American Horror Story on Netflix, which actually seems Halloween themed and scary anyway. I like scary movies, but I don't think I like scary nails.

Today, I have some monster cartoon nails to share with you. Before I saw this next design, I said I was never a fan of characters or cartoon type designs on nails. I am now proven wrong! I saw this Halloween nail tutorial originally on Ipsy, but linked to YouTube. The tutorial is done by I Have A Cupcake and I think it is adorable! I really don't like the look of zombie or bloody nails, but I think this is a cute way to celebrate Halloween without getting too literal on your nails. I just followed the tutorial with some adjustments based on what colors I had in my collection, but I think it turned out pretty similar.

 

So there is a mummy with blood red crazy eyes, a witch, Dracula, Frankenstein and a ghost. What do you think? Scary? No? Didn't think so, but I like the simplicity of the design and the cute factor of the cartoons. I used mostly regular nail polish, but my black nail striper came in handy here. This is a really fun intro to character nail art. If you check out the video be sure to check out I Have A Cupcake's other designs, she has similar little characters for different occasions. Have a fun and safe Halloween!

Swatch and Review of OPI: A Woman's Prague-ative

I have a swatch and review to share with you along with a little nail art at the end, just in time for Halloween! This is actually a swatch and review of a polish I have worn before, I added it to my toes for summer and now it is on my nails for fall! This is OPI A Woman's Prague-ative from the Euro Centrale Collection from Spring 2013. I love the whole collection, I may have most of it now. This one somehow was really special to me because I lived in Prague for a time. This color doesn't remind me of the city at all, but it is gorgeous nonetheless. Check it out:

It reminds me of a somewhat burnt orange, but still looks bright. It is shimmery and it applies pretty well. I have three coats here and I probably could have done a fourth. I would say that this is the biggest drawback to this polish. I really feel like if you need four coats to cover well, you may as well get a different polish. I think this color is really unique though. One color reminds me of this, and that is butter LONDON's Sunbaker, but that is much more rusty. I decided to make it a little more seasonal:

I hate spiders, I don't know why I did this, but I kind of love it for Halloween. I saw a similar design on Facebook somewhere, so I thought I would recreate it. It isn't super spooky but that's how I like it! Hope you enjoy it!