my matte floss pik nails for All You magazine

I was recently featured in the March issue of All You magazine where they  showcased simple nail art made with household items.  In true Craftynail style I designed a dotticure using regular old bobby pins. If you view the slideshow here I am slide #8.  The web article is cool, but the print version of the March issue is what I will cherish.  Craftynail got published!  Here’s a screen shot of the web-version of their Mani Mania article…

Also, when I was reading the print issue I noticed that they have a nail art contest!  They want you to take your own spin on one of the designs from the issue and submit it to their fb.  You can’t find too much about it online other than their fb app, but the magazine says you should copy one of three manis from their march article.    I copied the ombre dental floss nail art design created by NYC nail artist Jin Soon Choi.  She came up with a gorgeous design using a blue cream base, matte over top, then gold polish dabbed on with floss string.  I did my own version but I used a flosspik instead of string.. so I got a slightly different effect.  Here it is!

I’m wearing Sally Hansen Maximum Growth as my basecoat.  Then I applied 2 coats of OPI’s AmazON…AmazOFF.  Then I mattified the teal with Butter London Matte Finish Topcoat.  Wow this butter london works great and dries so fast!  Then I dabbed on some blue/silver AVON polish called Platinum from their Brushed Metals collection.  I dabbed it on using a flosspik.  So basically I brushed some Platinum onto the short piece of floss that’s attached to the pick.  Then I placed the floss strand on my nails and rolled it back and forth so some of the AVON polish would transfer.  No topcoat needed for this design.

I really love how this came out.. the matte effect gives it a little something extra.  I hope you like it too!  It was fun doing a nail art inspired by a famous manicurist.  Have you seen Jin Soon Choi’s website?  She has a load of lovely tutorials that will blow you away.  I love that the majority of them are simple… but the results are stunning.  Here’s her nail art tutorial page: JIN SOON CHOI

Red nail polish from Brijits Digits for #NAILLINKUP

Week one of the February N.A.I.L. Linkup is all about RED.  Well, I have a gorgeous red indie from Brijits Digits Boutique!  This one is called Yowl and it’s a semi-matte.  You may have seen it before when I wore it with topcoat to make it high gloss (here on my facebook page), but this time I’m wearing Yowl in all it’s glorious semi-matteness….

Shown here is three coats of Yowl without topcoat.  It has a semi-matte finish so you can see how silky it is.  I love how the light just skims over the surface of the polish and gives it a softened glow.  It dries fast too!

Yowl would be described as brick or burnt red but it also has a secret shimmer which is so pretty up close….

Now on to the nail art segment of this post 😉 !!  I went for something super simple since I haven’t been groovin’ on complicated nail art lately.  I wanna keep it quick and easy today.  So for this next design I used a black skinny striper polish from L.A. Colors to make little hearts.  I also did some tiny dots on my accent nail which look so 3D & textured against the smooth finish of the polish.

Yowl is such a great polish…. it’s actually part of Brijit’s semi-matte collection.  She has 4 in total listed here-

Yowl

Catcall cool pink with slight blue shimmer

Stone Circle dark blue-ish grey cream

Soft Grey pale grey cream

I’m loving red nails for February!  Are you?

I hope I see more red for the NAIL LINKUP.  Here are the inlinkz…

Red :

Blue Tree Manicure

Today is friday and I don’t have to work <woohoo> so I wanted to play with my new MoYou stamping plate and have some fun !  Plus, I’m going to see the sexy Chris Hemsworth in the new Thor:The Dark World movie soon so I’m in a good mood.  I think a bright bold happy mani is in order!

I’m wearing three coats of Phoebe which is a cool smooth ‘velvet matte’ polish by Zoya.  It has some shimmer in there, but when it’s matte you don’t notice.  I stamped a tree image over top in grey, Zoya Dove.  Then I stamped the tree on top again using a dark blue creme called Jive by Oh My Golly.  I like how the grey stamp underneath gives a neat shadow effect.

Lookit my new MoYou plate that I used for this manicure.  When I ordered it pre-sale (it took a week or two before it shipped) it was called MOTHER NATURE 03 Plate, and that’s how it’s listed online.  But take a look at my plate- it says LANDSCAPE 03 on it.  Hmmmmm….

Weird mistake they made, but I am liking all the cute nature stuff in this plate !

After I stamped the grey and blue tree design then I topcoated it with seche vite.  See how you can see alot of shimmer in my blue base color?  The shimmer was not noticeable when Phoebe was matte, but once I topcoated you can really see tons of shimmer in there!  I can’t decide if I like Zoya Phoebe better matte or shiny….. I took some photos of it matte which I can post later if anyone’s interested.  My camera was like WHOA at how blue it was!

Well, I’m off to go see Thor.  Have a nice weekend everyone! Talk soon!

Day 8 of the OMD Challenge-Matte Floral

Day 8 of the Oh Mon Dieu Rather Awesome Challenge is MATTE.  I love matte on top of nail art!  And today I’ve got a big bright mattified design for you!

I’m wearing a strengthening base coat and then three coats of Salon Perfect Flamingo Flair.  Turns out that this neon has a really crappy formula 😦  Good thing the color is great, or I would just toss this polish aside for good.  It’s thick, chalky and streaky and dries very dull.  The polish was stacked up so thick that I had to apply a coat of seche vite to help the goopiness settle down.  And then I noticed that it was still super dull and flat-looking.  It wasn’t the slightest bit glossy- even with a healthy layer of top coat.  Good thing I’ll be mattifying it soon anyway!

Then I painted some random tropical looking flowers on top using FolkArt acrylic craft paint and topped it with one coat of  MASH Matte Topper.  I can’t compare MASH to other brands since it’s the only one I’ve ever tried, but I love it!  It was cheap, dries fast, and gives a nice effective matte finish on top of my nail art.

Initially I liked the final result- it was really bright and tropical-looking.  And the Flamingo Flair almost seems to glow in the dark in dim lighting.  But otherwise, this mani was sorta a let down.  My Flamingo Flair chipped in less than 14 hrs. And half of those hours I was sleeping!   This was my first bottle of Salon Perfect nail polish… and if this shade is any indication of the quality of their products… then this will be my last!  Once it started chipping I couldn’t wait to get it off!  On the bright side, that means I can start prepping for my day 9 textured design.  See you then!  😀 Oh, and if you’re just hearing about the nail challenge- it’s not too late!  You can still join in!
8. Matte :

Pink Camo!

It’s Father’s Day in the US today !  My dad is the best!  He’s what you’d call a Mr. Fix It.  It’s so comforting to know that if the crap hits the fan – my daddy will be able to fix it it for me!  He’s a woodworker and a real outdoorsman too.  He’s into camping, hunting and all the typical guy stuff.. so I thought it would be fitting to try some camouflage nails for today’s holiday!

I was googling images of camo for like ever… until I decided to just pick up a brush and go for it!  As my dad would say, ‘stop farting around and get to work’.  So that’s what I did and here’s what I came up with!  There’s no planning needed- just pick a few camo colors and start painting some splotches!  I started with a very light pink base color called Kiss the Bride by Orly.  Then I used a detail nail art brush to paint the splotches using China Glaze Dance Baby (medium pink), China Glaze Westside Warrior (dark army green) and Orly Faint of Heart (cream grey).  I also did a gradient accent nail using the same colors and some silver studs.  Lastly, a matte topcoat works well to transform it all into a smooth uniform design.  I love my MASH Matte topcoat!

Have you tried camo nails before?  If not, you might want to give it a go!

Stamped Leopard with a Gradient

Day 11 of the 30 Day Nail Art Challenge is ANIMAL PRINT!  Who doesn’t love animal print?  And what’s the foolproof way to get animal print?  KONAD!  I love my Konad Stamping Kit and plate M57 with leopard print is perfect for today’s theme!

I started with two coats of AVON Nailwear Pro Inspire.  This awesome yellow shade is from a special collection of 3 avon polishes called Zenergy and it curiously reminds me of the The Peter Som Trio for Zoya.  Hmmm?!  Inspire is great because it’s perfectly opaque with two coats which is more than a lot of other yellows can say!  I’m glad I picked this one up- it will be great for nail art.

I waited for my yellow to dry and then I did a gradient using a small piece of a makeup sponge and some Orly Coffee Break.  It looked pretty cool-  I was a little afraid to stamp over top of it in fear that I might mess it up!  Ya see, my nail beds are the EXACT same length as the stamping design on my Konad plates.  That means I have no wiggle room when I’m stamping…. I need to get the placement just right so it covers my nail completely.   I really wish Konad would make their designs bigger!

I finished off the look with some MASH matte topcoat to lock it all in.  Matte topcoats go great with busy designs like this.  It helps diffuse the light so you won’t have a glossy shine to distract from the design. I think it came out great- I love this wild look!  The gradient really helped add some dimension to the leopard print too.  Can’t wait to see what the other bloggers come up with!  Check out this inlinkz link to see the other designs.

Oh speaking of other bloggers… I’d like to mention that I’ve been nominated for the Liebster Award and I really appreciate it so much!  Thank you for supporting my little blog!  I haven’t forgotten- and soon I will type up a proper post to thank the girls who nominated me!  😀  Blog on!

Cutesy Easter Nails

I’m wearing a silly little Easter mani today!  I decorated my nails like easter eggs and then painted a little newborn chick on my accent nail.  I used a matte topcoat too since I’ve been in love with that stuff lately!  Now is it just me… or does my chickee look like he’s scared as he stares at the brown egg I’m holding?  Poor little dude- maybe all the nail polish fumes got to him. 😦
Here’s the list of products I used…

white base ♥ wet n wild wild shine in French White Crème

pink accents ♥ Dance Baby by China Glaze

blue accents ♥ Natural Environ-mint by Sephora by OPI

yellow accents ♥ Yellow Kitty by Sally Hansen

chickadee ♥ Folk Art acrylic paint