Day 16 of OMD Challenge- GumDrop Halfmoon

Posted in Halfmoon, Julie G, Nails, OMD Challenge, Studs, Textured by Craftynail

Day 16 is dedicated to RUFFIAN or HALFMOON manicures. I went with a halfmoon today. I added some texture- I’m not tired of that trend yet! I LOVE every single one of my textured polishes. Well, on second thought- I wish my Godiva Pixie Dust wasn’t a three-coater, but I digress….

I’m wearing two coats of Orly Faint of Heart which is a grey cream. Then I used some nail guide stickers to tape off my nails. Then I applied two thin coats of Julie G Blueberry Fizz from their Frosted GumDrops collection. What a pretty textured polish- I just love the baby blue shade and glitter! I then added some rhinestone studs since those stickers made a weird chevron indent that was begging to be filled in with some pretties! I like how it came out- the final result kinda reminds me of Cinderella’s dress for some reason. 🙂

In related news- I broke a nail in my office today. Luckily it was on my ‘non-photographic’ hand. Should I just keep that one shorter than the rest until it grows out? I dunno- I’m still staring at it in disbelief! Boohooie! Unfortunately, no one in my life will care (oh wait, except for you Nancy 🙂 ). Can I count on you ladies for support and empathy????

Thanks in advance! xoxo

16. Ruffian/Half-Moon :

16Jun2013

Pink Camo!

Posted in Gradient, Matte, Nail Art, Nails, Studs by Craftynail

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!

12Mar2013

a mani makeover just for me!

Posted in French Manicure, Nail Art, Nails, Neutral, Studs, Zoya by Craftynail

Today I’m wearing one of my new spring polishes from the Zoya Lovely Collection called Jacqueline. I just had to have this polish since it’s my namesake. Jacqueline- that’s me!!

I applied my 3 coats (whenever products say they only needs 2 coats, I always need 3 for some reason) and wore it for 24hrs. The light yellow/nude shade is subtly beautiful… but it was missing something. It just wasn’t quite Jacqueline-esque enough for me! So while watching the season finale of The Bachelor (woot!) I fancied up my manicure and gave it a crafty touch.

On top of Jacqueline I painted on some chevron tips with Orly Faint of Heart. This grey is one of my absolute faves- it looks like smooth wet concrete with the faintest dark specks hidden inside. For a creme grey it’s very unique and the formula is superb. Also, there’s something about yellow and grey together- I just love that combo! I added some metal studs from Claire’s Boutique as a final embellishment to top it off. Et voilà…..

This studded mani is sooo Jacqueline! I hope you like it too!

20Feb2013

Ruffle Nail Art

Posted in China Glaze, Dotting, Matte, Nail Art, Nails, OPI, Orly, Revlon, Ruffle, Tutorial, wet n wild by Craftynail

I’m so excited about this nail art technique called Ruffle Nails! Every nail fanatic needs to try this- it’s easy and has lots of wow factor. All you need to do is grab your favorite polish shades and a dotting tool (or bobby pins) to make some over-lapping rows of dots (it helps to use the largest tool you can find so the dots aren’t too small). If you’d like to see a step-by step tutorial here’s a great one by Chalkboard Nails. Now that I’ve discovered ruffles- I’ve got all these ideas swimming around in my head- neon ruffles, rainbow ruffles, black n white ruffles… I want to try them all!

My first attempt came out much so better than I expected! I casually worked on this design while sitting on the couch and I honestly didn’t try too hard. I figured I’d end up taking it off with polish remover and then give it a real go later. Well, I couldn’t believe how cute my test mani came out so I took some pics! I used some of my favorite green and purple polishes here… and I think the matte topcoat really pulled it together nicely. The variety of colors and the satin finish made my fingertips look like fimo clay! ↓

I went with a cool color combo of blue, pink and grey for my second design. ↓

One thing I like about the ruffle technique is that it’s so easy, you can even do a great job on your ‘other’ hand! I’m right-handed so my left hand nail art usually looks good, and my right-hand comes out how should I say… non-photogenic? LOL. Well, not with ruffles! Try it out for yourself and let me know your results!

♥ Mood struck polish as my base (teal)