STAMPING- OPI Chevron for #NAILLINKUP

This is my first Nail Art Ideas Linkup design for the month of March.  I’m excited for the themes we have this month!  Especially AQUA for some reason . 😀

The theme for week 1 is STAMPING so I reached for my new Bundle Monster set!  I finally got the Create Your Own 2013 set that I’ve been lusting after.  I’m so excited to use them all!  For this easy chevron I used plate BM-423.

I’ve never done a traditional chevron using little pieces of zig zaggy tape or anything.  I’ve always felt like if I tried I would screw it up!  Me and tape don’t always get along.  So using a stamping plate instead was the perfect solution for me! I generally have good luck with stamping.

Besides my bundle monster plate, I used three different OPIs for this manicure. I like how the different colors coordinate and clash all at the same time for a cool 80’s vibe.  Here’s what I’m wearing:

♥ Did It On ‘Em ♥ Elephantastic Pink ♥ Haven’t the Foggiest 

Thinking of joining in on the March N.A.I.L. fun?  More info right here- NAILLINKUP.  And don’t forget to check out the other stamping manis >>

Stamping –

L’Oreal Chevron

Hello to all my nail friends out there!  Hope you’re having a fantastic weekend!! The weather has been great in New York and I woke up early today to make the most of it!  I went to step aerobics with mom bright and early today, then we did some shopping.  I had an awesome lunch with my boyfriend- quiche Lorraine and salad that I made with almonds and cranberries- so yummy!  Now that the day is winding down I’m going to plant my butt on the couch and watch some American Horror Story.  Anyone out there seen it?  We just started streaming it on netflix yesterday and we’ve almost finished the whole first season!  We also wanna fit in Cabin in the Woods tonite- it’s a scary movie that I’ve been dying to see and it’s finally available on netflix.  Yes, we are horror junkies!!

Now for my nails!  I borrowed these L’Oréal polishes from my mom.  These are some of her faves that she always reaches for:

walk on the beach ♥ a cream/beige

now you sea me ♥ a nice muted sky blue

spice things up ♥ a warm rose colored adobe

greyt expectations ♥ a greyish mauve/ neutral

I love my mom’s taste in nail polish- she goes for creams, especially greens and blues.  I paint her nails every weekend and I’m always using her polish on her and I got the urge to try them on myself.  She says, “all the polish you have and you wanna borrow mine?”.  Yup, precisely!  These shades go great together and I wanted to try them all out together!  So today I hand painted a chevron-type design with all 4 of these L’Oréal nail colors.  They seem to dry pretty fast, but I’ve noticed that even though the formula is kind of thin- they get a little dry and goopy over time.  I’ve already had to put some thinner into her favorite one called Greyt Expectations because application was getting difficult.  Still, I love these polishes… the shades are gorgeous and they’re relatively easy to find in drug stores near me.  Plus, L’Oréal puts out coupons so we can usually get a good deal Woot!  Have you tried any of their nail colors…what do you think?

Earth-Toned Fishtail Nails

It’s day 12 of the 30 Day Nail Art Challenge and the theme is fishtail braid.  I’m psyched to finally get a chance to try out this nail art technique!  Since I’ve never tried fishtail before I practiced a little bit before jumping in.  The hard part was finding:

• opaque colors that only need one coat
• polishes that had a small(ish) applicator brush since pro-wide brushes didn’t seem to work well for this design
• last but not least, finding coordinating colors!

I used Top Coat It’s tutorial and I practiced with some different polishes until I got the technique down.  Most fishtail designs that I’ve seen use 3 colors and I chose the following:

Charming Charlie ♥ Penny Lane

Sephora by OPI ♥ I Think I Cayenne

Sephora by OPI ♥ S-Age is Just a Number

I also applied 2 topcoats at the end to try to smooth out the overlapping brushstrokes.  The surface still looked kinda uneven to me though.

I like the warm color combo, even though it feels kind of unseasonal for this time of year!  But I really wanted to incorporate my Charming Charlie polish (that’s the darkest shade in my photos).  I’m almost positive this shade is called Penny Lane, but I can’t confirm it since I lost the bottle.  I just used it 15 minutes ago so I have no idea where it could be hiding!  So have any of you been to a Charming Charlie retail store before?  I never heard of this chain until I stumbled upon one of their stores in Florida.  And I was like WOW!  It’s like a Claire’s Boutique for grown-up ladies!  It was jam-packed with affordable necklaces, accessories and even nail polish- so of course I had to buy one.  Penny Lane is a beautiful deep coppery shimmer and I hope you like it in my fishtail braid design!  You can see the other participants’ designs here.