China Glaze's It's Alive

Ignore the random pink glitter--it's just a reflection of my shirt. This is an awesome mossy green glitter with hints of gold. It was almost opaque in one coat... but I put on two for good measure! I love unusual colors so this hits the sweet spot. I'm lovin' it!

China Glaze's Ghoulish Glow (Glow in the Dark)

This post makes me laugh because the picture is so ridiculous. I thought when taking this picture in the dark with my new camera that it would give up on picking up the surrounding light and just be a shot of glowing nails... but nope! My camera gave it a nice try and I ended up with this bizarro, nuclear-looking nail shot.

Anyway, China Glaze's Ghoulish Glow is really neat because it transforms your normal nails into glow sticks without really altering your manicure. At most, Ghoulish Glow gives your nails a slightly milky look in normal light. This polish does take some "light charging" where your nails have to pick up the light it's been exposed to in order to actually glow in the dark. Thicker coats give you a more solid patch of "glow" (see: middle finger). This stuff is uber-perfect for Halloween... and dare I say raves?

Swatch: China Glaze's Ruby Pumps

China Glaze's Ruby Pumps is a classy, functional glitter that still has some pizazz. I purchased it at a grocery store and the cashier took about 30 seconds to stop and admire the bottle. From far away, it looks like a regular red color, but up close you notice the glitter (small, evenly distributed pieces... nothing chunky here). Two coats is enough, and if you needed to you could get away with one. Need a color for the holidays? This is it!

Let's Go Halvesies

Left - China Glaze's For Audrey
Right - China Glaze's Below Deck

The Mighty Monarch!

Yellow (China Glaze's Happy Go Lucky) → Orange diagonal gradient (China Glaze's Sun Worshipper) done with a sponge, Flexbrush's water-based black for the stripes, and OPI's Alpine Snow for the dots (applied with the rubber end of a bobby pin).

Mermaid Gradient

OPI's Papua Pink Pearl → China Glaze's Sea Spray

I imagine a mermaid would have nails like these...

Green-Black/Mauve Half-Moons

OPI's Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow (green-based black)
China Glaze's Below Deck (mauve base)

Those hold-punch reinforcement stickers will be your best friend for this!

Kylie's Kabuki Magic Mani

OPI's Alpine Snow (white)
China Glaze's First Mate (navy)

Rainbow Leopard

I saw a rainbow leopard floating around the Tumblr-verse so I decided to give it a go!

White base: OPI's Alpine Snow
Red: CM Nail Art's Red
Yellow: China Glaze's Happy Go Lucky
Green: OPI's Who the Shrek are You?
Blue: OPI's Ogre-The-Top Blue
Purple: China Glaze's Grape Pop
Black: Flexbrush's water-based black

Such a Stud!

China Glaze's Sea Spray

D-I-Wah: Marble Nails

Earlier, the goddesses at WAH Nails posted this to their Tumblr and gears immediately started turning in my brain:

My version:

Here's how to achieve this look:
1) Paint a thickish base coat of OPI's Pamplona Purple on one nail.
2) Dab on some thick, random blobs of China Glaze's First Mate on the nail (while base coat is still wet).
3) Dab on some more random blobs of OPI's Ogre the Top.
4) Take a toothpick and start randomly swirling the paint together on the wet nail.
5) Top coat it!

Two key things:
1) "Random" is the word to live by with this. Don't try to be too uniform because it'll drive you crazy because it's nearly impossible to do.
2) If one color starts overtaking another, add another drop of whatever color is lacking while everything is wet.

Adventures in Sponging

All done with sponges--it looks a little like '90s denim.

Green - OPI's Who the Shrek Are You?
Pink - China Glaze's Something Sweet
Blue - China Glaze's Sea Spray
Orange - China Glaze's Sun Worshipper

White m57 Konad on top

Mauve → Purple Gradient (Sponged)

OPI's Pamplona Purple sponged over China Glaze's Below Deck.

It looks really good in person... not so much in pictures!

Spring Fishnet

So I chopped off my long nails (well, long for me). It was a good run, but I couldn't take it anymore. Here's China Glaze's Sea Spray (Anchors Away collection) with Konad's m57 fishnet pattern using Konad Special White polish.

Newspaper Nails - Version 2 (B&W Comics)

Newspapers seem to be successful in the nail world. My first newspaper mani has continually dominated the top spot in my "Popular Posts" column on the right. Here's a different and more colorful method to get newspaper print on your nails. Also, I'm trying out the rounded nail shape as Nonie Creme (Butter London's nail goddess) has officially declared that square nails are out!

The purple base is China Glaze's Light as Air (2 coats) and I used the comics section instead of an article, so there are images and different fonts.

How-To:

1) Paint your nails any fairly light color and let dry completely

2) Dip your nail in rubbing alcohol so that the whole nail is wet

3) Take a strip of newspaper and place it on your nail

4) Hold for about 30 seconds (longer is better if you can) without moving it

5) Peel off the newspaper

Tips:

-The print will come out backwards, so keep that in mind

-It helps to cut the strip in roughly the shape of your cuticle

You're done! This technique is so easy to do. I can't wait to try it with color comics!

Trend Alert: V-Gap

According to Refinery 29, the V-Gap may just be the newest nail trend.

Here's my attempt using China Glaze's Happy Go Lucky (Up & Away collection) as a base and OPI's Pamplona Purple on top. This color combination looks very sci-fi!

I just freehanded it. I couldn't think of any other way really. I also think this would be easier if you have short nails. That way there's less of a chance for wobbly edges since you won't have as far to go.

Spring Pattern

I want to venture into freehanded patterns, so here's my first attempt:

China Glaze's Seafoam (Anchors Away collection, Spring 2011)

Flexbrush's water-based white

Feathers

I've seen manicures floating around the interwebs using real feathers, but let's be realistic aren't they kind of hard to find for a reasonable price? The only feathers I've really seen around my parts that won't break the bank are ones on birds and those really fluffy marabou ones dyed Easter egg colors. So where did I get these feathers you ask? Well... they were poking out of my down comforter, so I pulled 'em on out!

The base color is China Glaze's Below Deck (2 coats). I would recommend using a clear coat over your base color before you apply any feathers because when I applied a top coat the feather disappeared into the background, hence the missing index finger.

See this post for a much better version of feather nails!

Wonder Woman Mani

First off, welcome new readers! If you can, make sure you follow the blog with Google Friend Connect (follow the arrow on the right side)!

Right now, the beauty world is abuzz with MAC's release of a Wonder Woman themed collection (and yes, I have already ordered one of the lipsticks which I will review when I get it). I decided to do one of my faux-Minx manis and use MAC's Wonder Woman promo images directly on my nails.

Blue nails: China Glaze's First Mate.
White star: Flexbrush's white (water based)
Red/Yellow stars: CM Nail Art

Basically, you print out an image, cut it out to roughly fit your nail and apply it to a wet layer of white polish, then file the excess paper off downward much like you would Incoco strips or Nail Rock Nail Wraps. Super easy! You will need some heavy-duty top coat though. I prefer to use an old, thick Seche Vite. Make sure to seal in all the edges, because as you can see on my thumb, water will get in there if you wash your hands or take a shower and start to bleed the colors together. This can also be bad for your nail so if you notice it happening take it off asap.

All images belong to MAC Cosmetics and DC Comics.

Swatches: ¼ China Glaze's Anchor's Away Collection

From China Glaze's Anchor's Away Collection, here's Sea Spray, First Mate, and Below Deck (with OPI's The One That Got Away and Not Like the Movies with Black Shattter):

(Two coats of each on the mini swatches)

They look more vibrant in the pictures than they are in real life, which is a good thing. They're all kind of dusty and muted yet still really pretty. These were the only ones in the collection that really caught my attention.

Here's a full hand of Below Deck (2 coats). This is a great mauve and I'm glad colors like this are making an appearance this season.

And here's the lovely Sea Spray (2 coats). The best way to describe it is that it's the spring version of China Glaze's For Audrey--it's muted and delicate. There's a very discreet shimmer to it, but it's not shimmery enough to off-put people who prefer cremes.

First Mate (2 coats) is so nautical! It's a proper navy blue. Applying it was a bit tricky because it's ever so slightly runnier than other China Glaze polishes, but it's not so runny that it interferes with the color application. Just prepare for a lot of cleanup afterwards!