Nail Art Ideas Linkup (NAIL)- Sea Theme

Today is my official last day at work before my vacation!  Yesss!!!  I need a holiday so bad after such a busy summer at work.  As far as my blog goes- I really should’ve planned this better…I could’ve maybe had some nice guest posts lined up while I’m away.  But I’m afraid I’ve been busy and didn’t get a chance to plan too far ahead.  I guess lately I’ve been a blog-as-ya-go kinda girl!  But I still plan to post while I’m away.   They have the internet in Oregon, right? 😀 I don’t think I’ll bring any nail polish with me for my trip … that way I can just buy more while I’m there, naturally.  I really want to hit up an Ulta Store since I don’t have one near my house!

Anyhooo…Let’s check out my manicure today!  Here’s my SEA-THEMED design for the Nail Art ideas Linkup (NAIL).

I made some cute blue waves over a white base coat.  I used a detail brush and 7 different blue polishes.  I planned to make every wave strip a different color- but I really love Orly Sweet Peacock so I used that one twice (that’s the color on my tips)!  The waves were super easy to paint because you don’t have to be perfect… but dang!!! This one took a long time.  I have no idea how long but I feel like I have eye strain and I need to lay down!  hahaha  There are 8 waves on each nail… times 10 nails… we’re talking 80 waves here!  Phew.

I hope to see more SEA designs coming up for August’s NAIL!  If you want to post a pic of your sea-inspired mani you have til August 18th!  Here’s the link:

N.A.I.L. Theme 2 – SEA :

Day 29 of OMD Challenge- Missoni Fashion

Today is FASHION DAY in the OMD Nail Art Challenge!  Warning- I am not a fashionista.  My favorite shoes are Crocs if that gives you any indication of my personal fashion sense!  LOL  But in the OMD spirit I started scouring the web for the latest in fashion trends.  I stumbled upon this slideshow- Best Looks From Pre-Fall 2013 on Harper’s Bazaar.com.  This one Missoni dress caught my eye (source: http://www.harpersbazaar.com) .  If I was thin and/or rich I might wear this one.  What I like most is it’s unexpected combo of blue, black and orange.

I didn’t try to replicate the Missoni design when I was creating this manicure.  Mostly I used the dress for inspiration and loose interpretation :).  This mani was actually pretty easy!  I free-handed the stripes with a detail brush and also made some dots with a dotting tool.  It looked so cool before I put the black dots on too.  I almost wish I stopped there.  But oh well, I’m still really happy with this look!  I like how muted and murky the orange looks against the bright blue!  What do you think of it?

Here’s what I’m wearing…..

Blue ♥ Keks by Butter London (so vivid!)

Orange ♥ Orange Creamsicle by AVON (with a drop of black mixed in to darken it)

Black ♥ NYC Black Lace Creme

29. Inspired by Fashion :

Day 27 of OMD Challenge- Bead Inspired Nails

Day 27 is all about Jewelry!  There are a lot of fun and creative options for this theme!  It’s hard to narrow it down.  But after sifting through my jewelry-making goodies I found these gorgeous marbled beads.  I haven’t made them into a necklace yet… so why not at least ‘wear’ them on my fingernails?!

I wish my teal base color was a little brighter.. but oh well, I work with what I’ve got!  Here’s what I’m wearing:

Teal ♥ NYC Tudor City Teal

Beige ♥ Zoya Pandora

Orange ♥ wet n wild Club Havana

Purple ♥ wet n wild On a Trip

I can’t wait to see the other jewelry-inspired designs for today!  Lotsa bling, I’m sure!
27. Jewellery :

Day 25 of OMD Challenge- Dazed and Confused!

It’s INSPIRED BY A MOVIE day in our nail art challenge!  Have you ever seen Dazed and Confused?  I’ve seen it probably 100 times!!  Last night I pulled out my special edition DVD case to find all kinds of fun stuff inside.  There’s a movie poster in there… and check out this cute insert that looks like a high school notebook with scribbles all over it!  This insert was my inspiration for today’s manicure:

I used ten different polishes for this manicure… but the hardest part was getting the right base color.  I ended up layering a couple different shades and then sponged three different colors over top.  The fade effect is very subtle, but at least it resembles the color of the insert now !  I drew my scribbles on with my Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen and then painted a few multi-colored circles on with dotting tools and a skinny detail brush.  I prefer more cohesive designs on my nails- but still, this mani is funky and fun… and I love that it depicts one of my all-time favorite movies!  What do you think?

Tomorrow is INSPIRED BY YOUR FAVORITE VACATION day!  I dunno about my past vacations…. all I can think about is my upcoming one in August.  I need some time off so bad I can taste it!  Some de-stressing and time with my BFF is definitely in order!  Southwest Airlines- take me away!!

25. Inspired by a Movie :

Batik Galaxy Nails with Moons and Stars

Today’s nails are inspired by the cute hippie curtains that I have hanging on my bedroom windows!  Here’s a pic of them- they’re batik tie dye panel curtains…

I think I did a good job replicating them!  I started with two coats of my L.A. Girl 3D Effects Hologram Nail Polish called Brilliant Blue.  Then I sponged on a bit of a black holo from the same collection called Black Illusion and also some NYC called Black Lace Creme.  The moons were dotted on with a large dotting tool and some white wet n wild polish.  Then I overlapped half of that white dot with a Brilliant Blue dot to make the crescent shape. That was easy!  I made the stars with white polish and my smallest dotting tool.  I was afraid they’d be difficult, but the tiny head of the dotting tool worked really well to shape the five points of the stars.  I added some seche vite topcoat and now I’ve got some awesome galaxy nails!  The only thing that would make them cooler is if the moons and stars glowed in the dark!

Black Roses

The theme of Day 29 of the nail art challenge is ‘inspired by a song’.  The song I have chosen is a reggae song by Barrington Levy called BLACK ROSES.  Here’s the song on youtube.   I love this song!  It’s part of my reggae playlist and iTunes says that I’ve played it 42 times… but I know it has to be way more than that!  I love how he says Oh Ay!  at the end of the verses.  It totally gets stuck in my head!

I used the Konad M53 stamping plate along with my Konad special polish in black.  And my lovely pastel pink polish is my new Wet N Wild Megalast called Sugar Coat.  I got it at Walgreens and made out like a bandit.  I got 5 polishes all for the low price of $7.22 total!  And one of them was an Essie flakie topcoat from the luxeffects collection that was on sale for $2.00!  Thank you Walgreens!    I am enjoying this mani- sometimes it’s nice to go with a simple stamp design.  It’s quick and easy and the color combo came out so delicate and feminine.  Oh Ay!

Studded Underside Mani

Day 28 of the nail art challenge is upon us!  The theme for today is ‘inspired by fashion’.  I’m pulling my inspiration from Christian Louboutin and the trendy ‘Louboutin manicure’.  Last time I did a Louboutin manicure on myself I absolutely loved it!  You can view my louboutin mani here.   That’s when I fell in love with the idea of painting the underside of my nail with a pretty color!  That makes sense when you think about it- especially for ladies with very long nails. We work hard to grow our nails this length- why not show them off?  We make the top all nice and pretty but then the non-painted underside looks so blah?  Well, I don’t think so!!!  This underside mani is dedicated to all the fashionistas out there that want pretty nails from top to bottom!  It’s a 360 degree manicure and I love it!  I haven’t really seen too much of it online so here’s my version of a studded underside mani!

To create this look I did a quick coat of Orly Ridge Filler on top and under my nails.  After that was dry I applied 2 coats of Elephantistic Pink from OPI.  When I painted, I did the underside first… then the top of the nails.  But I don’t think the order really matters, especially if you’re using the same color on top and bottom.  Then I applied a topcoat of seche vite (on top and underneath my nail) and waited for that to dry.  Lastly, I dotted some clear polish and applied black studs from Claire’s Cosmetics.  I’m glad I was able to fit exactly two studs on the underside of each nail so it looks symmetrical.

The idea of painting the underside of my nail is not really new to me.  When I apply nail strengthener as my basecoat- I apply it under the free edge of my nail (the underside) and I also make sure to wrap my tip well.  I do this each time I start a new mani.  I think this is a great way to protect your nails and help them grow nice and long.  If I go through all that then I might as well paint them pink and add studs too, right?  So what do you think of my pink underside mani?