Nail Art: #31DC2014 Day 12 Stripes- Tweed

Today, the daily challenge is stripes. Since fall is coming on, I feel like tweed would be appropriate. I've been wanting to try tweed for a while, so I thought this was a great excuse. I used Sinful Colors Hot Spot as a base, which is a gorgeous dark blue with shimmer and then alternated stripes both horizontally and vertically of Enchanted, Sail La Vie, and Tantalize. I also added some bow studs from the Born Pretty Store. 

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. 

Nail Art: Sideways Moons

Sideways moons? I'm sure you have heard of half moon manis, but sideways moons? I'n not sure is it an appropriate name, but that is what I am going with here. I just thought of these one night and decided to see what they would look like. I started with a base of China Glaze White On White and carefully freehand painted Pelican Gray on the side of the nail in a somewhat curved shape. Then I painted Wet n Wild Black Creme over the grey in a similar arc shape. I then added some acrylic nail studs from the Born Pretty Store (Use code: HANDX31 for 10% off). 

Born Pretty Store 1 of 3: Rose Tuxedo Nails!

Press Sample

So excited to share with you some nail art products! I have been seeing these sweet little nail studs all over the internet and I've been wanting them all! Turns out, a lot of them come from the Born Pretty Store. This is the first of a three part series on Born Pretty Store products. They sent me three items for review and I have broken them up into individual posts. The first item I have to share is black acrylic studs. I decided to use the bows, but it comes with 12 different shapes. They are pretty small but fit in perfect proportion to my nails. I created a tuxedo like nail design but instead of making it solid, I stamped a rose design with my MoYou stamping plate! Applying the studs was really simple, I just applied top coat over the design, placed the stud where I like it and added another layer of top coat over that.

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:

Tutorial: Applying Nail Suds

I just bought a package of silver and gold nail studs from Amazon for a great deal, purchased here. It took a while for them to arrive, and in that time I contemplated how to go about applying nail studs. I heard that you could use top coat or nail glue, but seeing as I don't own nail glue, I wanted to try top coat first. Turns out, it works great. I wanted to share a little tutorial to show new nail stud users like me how I did it. 

 

 1. Supplies: Top Coat, Nail Studs, and Tweezers

2. Start with a base color of your choice, here I am sporting La Moss

3. Apply top coat to the one finger you want to work on first

4. Apply studs in whatever design you like using your tweezers to your wet top coat

5. Add another layer of top coat over your stud design

6. Follow steps 2-5 for the rest of your nails!

So simple, but it adds such a great dramatic effect to your look! I love the way it instantly adds a little edge to your nails. Normally I wouldn't wear as many as I did in the first picture, but I do like a little hardware accent. What do you think? Will you be buying some nail studs in the future?