Nike nails for #NAILLINKUP

It’s week 1 of January Nail Art Ideas Linkup!  The theme is HEALTH & WELLNESS.  Check me out!

When it comes to being healthy I’m a big proponent of exercise.  If I’m trying to lose weight (and when am I NOT trying? lol) I always amp up my fitness routine.  I know it’s hard to get motivated, but you just have to do it.  I totally agree with Nike- JUST DO IT.  Grab your sneakers and get moving.  For me, group fitness classes are the way to go!  Gyms always schedule their classes, so at the start of the week I tell myself which ones I’m planning on attending… and then I feel accountable.  I said I’m going, so I hafta go!

Check out how my nails match my new nike sneakers….

I love the way my pinky and thumb came out.  I’m totally gonna have to try the dots-over-a-gradient-look again!

Here’s what I’m wearing-

♥ Sally Hansen Maximum Growth – one coat as a basecoat

♥ Liquid Leather by China Glaze – two coats for a black base color

♥ Alpine Snow by OPI – sponged onto the tips for a white gradient

♥ Dream On by Sinful Colors – for the fuchsia nail art accents

N.A.I.L. is running throughout the month of January, so jump in whenever you’d like!

6 – 12 January – Health and Wellness :

Ruffian Manicure

Day 13 of the Nail Challenge is Ruffian !  I freakin love Ruffian manis!    I also love that it makes me wanna speak with a Jamaican accent.  Not sure why… maybe because it reminds me of the word Ragamuffin which makes me think of Reggae music and stuff IDK?  RRRUFFIAN MON! 

This mani was pretty simple- here’s what I did:  I started with a black base of Ebony Hates Chris by wet n wild.  Then I taped my nails off with some french manicure nail guide stickers and applied my contrasting 2nd polish called Sweet Pea Dream by AVON.  I peeled the nail guide stickers off slowly to reveal the ruffian.  A topcoat smoothed it all out and bam-  a sexy ruffian!

Even though the technique is pretty simple- I actually did this mani over the course of two days.  See, I’ll admit that I’m very impatient when it comes to waiting for nails to dry.  When I start painting, I wanna paint all the way through to the end without stopping.  And since I planned to do my ruffian with tape, that means that my black base needs to be completely dry before I apply the nail guide stickers.  The thought of waiting for my black to dry and hoping I don’t mess up my tape job due to still-tacky paint causes me undue stress.  So to avoid all the anxiety and sitting around waiting….I painted my nails black, slapped some quick-drying seche vite on top and called it a day.  I rocked the black nail polish by itself for a day and got some compliments on it so that’s cool!  The next day I applied my nail guide stickers and then painted my 2nd color to finish my ruffian.  This process worked well for me since it eliminated the risk of screwing up my tape job and it allowed me to wear two different manis over the course of two days.  Win, win!

This look is so fresh- it’s like a rebellious french mani!  Classy and wild all at the same time.  I’m in love.

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!

Black n Blue Matte Colorblock

I watch a decent amount of prime-time cable (okay, I watch A LOT of cable) and lately I’ve noticed a definite fashion trend:  almost every leading lady in the last few weeks has worn dark blue and black together!  Personally, I’ve always steered clear of blue and black since the old rule is that ‘navy and black clash’.  But the more I see these two colors together, the more I likey!  This trend inspired me to do a color-block nail design using the following:

♥ one coat of Orly Ridge Filler as a base

♥ two coats of Cynthia Rowley unnamed neon blue polish

♥ a striper brush and Wet n Wild ‘Ebony Hates Chris’ for the black accents

♥ MASH Nails Matte Topcoat – I needed two coats to make it matte since the black Wet n Wild was super-shiny!

Why doesn’t Cynthia name her polishes?  I’ll never understand that!  Well, I’m gonna go ahead and name this neon Shark Week since it’s a vivid dark blue that reminds me of the bottom of the ocean.  The shade really lightens up for the camera so I tried some different lighting conditions to get the blue to stay as true as possible. It’s still way darker in real life… but c’est la vie!

I have heard that Cynthia Rowley nail color is hard to find.  Luckily, I received a three pack set from my lovely sister for Christmas!  In case you’re trying to get your hands on some in the US… I think she found it at Marshall’s Department Store.