Bird cage nails for #NAILLINKUP

Hey ladies!!  Here are my BIRD themed nails for our April Nail Art Ideas Linkup!

It took me around two hrs just to get the pics ready to post.  Ughh- I have been having mega computer problems with the new desktop I bought.  I purposely got windows 7 on it, even though at the time win8 was brand new.  Well, that pc would not connect to the internet.  It was so frustrating!!!  We tried every troubleshooting thing possible, and even shipped the pc back to HP twice, yup, TWICE, and they kept sending it back unfixed.  WTF!  After arguing with them for months we finally got a newer desktop the other day, which works!!!!!!!!!  Holy crap.  The internet. Thank God.  I feel bad, because I know they will probably re-furbish it and sell it to some other poor soul who will never be able to get it connected to the web either.  Regardless, I’m glad that lemon is out of our hands.  But now, I’m having a hell of a time adjusting to windows 8 on the new machine.   Navigation is weird and I hate the whole app thing.  Many programs try to open as apps and the functionality is limited and sucky.  I know what I want to do, but don’t know what to click to make it happen.  I had to watch a damn youtube video the other nite just to figure out how to shut the desktop down!  Hopefully I can get the hang of it.  If you have any windows 8 tips, please let me know!

Back to the nail art….I’m wearing a grey holo as my base color.  It’s called Weng Weng from Bobbie brand- I will have to post swatches soon since it really deserves it’s own 5 minutes of fame.  Then I made some diy birdcage decals using white konad polish and BM-407 stamping plate. I usually make my decals on plastic baggies, but this time I left the stamp right on my MoYou stamper, then colored the white birdcage in with a detail brush and Essie Butler Please.  Then I covered the stamp with seche vite.  It dried pretty quick, then I peeled it off the stamper and applied it to my grey nail.  Awesome.  I will definitely be doing this again.  I feel a tutorial coming on.  Some of my other nails are decorated with some blue rhinestones and one of my favorite glitter toppers- Lights Of Emerald City by OPI.

You should try a bird themed manicure too!  Here are the other nails from the april linkup–

7th – 13th April : Birds

 

The Beauty Buffs- Royal Blue

Have you heard that one of the hot nail colors for spring 2014 is royal blue?

Just because cobalt and royal blues are trending right now that doesn’t mean you need to run out and buy new bottles of polish!  This is a perfect chance for you to ‘shop your stash’ and see what blue beauties you have tucked away in your nail polish collection.

Blue is one of my favorite shades to wear!  I have a bunch- shimmers, navies, pastels, holos.  But I wanted to find one that reminds me of the intense blue hues that I’ve seen on the runways this season.  And I think I found the perfect shade!

Here I’m wearing two coats of  Butler Please from Essie.  This color is actually my very-first-ever bottle of Essie!  It’s intense, eye-catching and is the personification of blue.  It dries sorta matte so you’ll want some topcoat to make it shine.

I went ahead and did simple nail art on top using another color that I notice is on trend this spring- chartreuse.  I think I was in Kohl’s when I realized how hot this color is right now. I looked around and saw tons of this funky yellow/green color dotted throughout the women’s clothing section.  If you’re looking for a great chartreuse you may want to try Sinful Colors Innocent.  I have a few funky greens, but none are as perfect as this one for nail art.  It’s nice and opaque and the formula is great.

Now I’m styling for spring!  You should totally shop your stash for the perfect blue too!

See how the other Beauty Buffs will be wearing royal blue this season >>

Butler Please

I was recently at Sephora hovering around the nail polish display and I discovered the most beautiful blue I’ve ever seen- Illamasqua Cameo.  I tested it out and I fell in love with it, but I could not justify spending $14.00 on one bottle of polish!  Craftynail is way too thrifty for that!  So I hit up the nearest beauty supply store to find myself a cheaper dupe.  I came across Essie Butler Please and I think I paid less than $4.00 for it with my coupon!  After getting home and applying it I realized it’s not at all a dupe for the pricey Illamasqua!  The Essie is much darker and dried to a blotchy semi-matte finish.  The two coats did dry quick though (which is always a bonus)… so then I taped my tips off with painters tape and added some Sephora by OPI topcoat called Only Gold For Me.  Even though the Essie formula was not my fave, there’s nothing that some sparkles and a healthy topcoat of Seche Vite can’t fix!   I really love the regal look of this gold and royal blue together!   Apparently so does my mom- she came over tonight and asked me to paint her nails this color too… so now we are nail twinny twins!