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Dr. Martens Floral Inspired

Published on 22 January, 2013, in Black, Essie, Flowers, Inspired by Fashion, Julep, NCLA, OPI, Orly.

So I’ve been obsessing over these Dr. Martens floral shoes for quite some time now. It never occurred to me to do some nails inspired by them until tonight! I love love love floral prints on nails and I really wanted to go for a more realistic print this time around. I must say…this was a bit time consuming, there’s really no trick to this other than hand painting this design! Here’s the shoes these nails were inspired by:

Oh boy…I used quite a bit of colors in this! I needed to make a “What I Used” image regardless so this image is a bit crowded :)

I used Essie Licorice as my base, and really just went on from there using each of these colors.
PS: NCLA Like…Totally Valley Girl is the most perfect and prettiest light pink ever.

One more close up shot:

If you have any questions regarding how I did this feel free to email me – I’d be happy to help!

 
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Abstract Aztec

Published on 20 January, 2013, in Blue, Brown, Essie, Geometric, Nail Art, OPI, Tribal.

Last night I was looking around on shopjeen.com and came across a super cute cell phone case which would make for a great mani. Inspiration can come from many places, especially when you least expect it. I could be shopping and see a pattern on a pillow that I’ll take a picture of or in this case looking at new cell phone cases! My mind is constantly in “nail art” mode so I’m always on the lookout for some new nail art inspiration.

Here’s the cell phone case, the picture links to the case on their website:

To do this mani, I started off painting all my nails except my index finger with Essie Chinchilly, a grey/beige (or as I call it…greige). Once that dries, I grabbed OPI You Don’t Know Jacques! and used my antique nail technique (link takes you to youtube tutorial) to give it the appearance of wood.

For my index finger, I painted a base color of OPI What’s With the Cattitude? and then I was ready to begin the nail art!

I took inspiration from the case and focused on particular sections of it to translate it onto my nails. I used my favorite nail art brush to do this along with Essie Licorice to paint the black designs.

I waited a few minutes, and then applied Seche Vite Top Coat!

 Where do you get your nail art inspiration?

 
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Be My Valentine

Published on 19 January, 2013, in Julep, Nail Art, Pink, Red, Valentine's Day.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner so it’s time for me to start doing some nails! I was cleaning up my nail painting area the other day and I found my striping tape so I was excited to use it. Striping tape is tons of fun to use and is actually pretty simple once you get the hang of it. If you’re a bit nail art challenged when it comes to painting straight lines this is a great way to get the same look! The only downside to it is after a day or too the tape will start lifting at the sides :( Anyways…on to what I used!

As you all may or may not know…I am absolutely obsessed with Julep. I love their monthly nail polish subscription program and they have the best colors! I thought these 3 colors (Ellen, Lauren, and Carrie) worked perfectly together for Valentine’s Day. And if you’re interested in becoming a Julep Maven click here!

To do this mani, I started painting the squares with my nail art brush (the link directs you where to purchase them!). I’ve tried tons…and tons…of different nail art brushes and this one is my favorite by far. The length of the bristles is perfect and makes for easy painting (not to mention a set of 3 is only $2.72 on amazon!). Another tip: put the polish down on foil when painting to keep it from drying out too quickly. Anyways, for this design you don’t need to worry about making super straight lines as you’ll cover it up with the tape in a bit!

Most importantly…let it dry. I know, I know, you want to put the tape on now and finish the design but it makes it so much more difficult if the polish is still wet. When you’re laying down the tape you’ll probably have to lift it up to reposition it, and if the polish is still wet it will mess it up!

I got the striping tape here from amazon.com, you get 10 different colors for $1.60! I cut off 1 inch strips of the striping tape and placed it onto my nail. To trim off the excess tape I used cuticle nippers.

Top coat time!

 What are your thoughts about striping tape?

 
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Matted Stud Nails

Published on 17 January, 2013, in Black, Essie, Julep, Nail Art, Orly, Turquoise, Uncategorized.

I love matte nails. If you’ve never experimented with matte polish before…I definitely think now is the time! Whether you use a matte polish or use a matte top coat the possibilities are endless. With this design I wanted to show you how you can play with matte and regular top coats to give the nails a textured look. There are tons of matte options out there which I’ll list links to at the end of this post!

A couple days ago I got photoshop and I thought a fancy little graphic showing what I used would be extremely helpful! It’s a bit frustrating going to a blog and seeing a list of products someone used, and then having to go google each one because I want to know what it looks like!

I purchased Orly Viridian Vinyl quite some time ago but never got around to using it. This one is a matte polish…so what that means is that it dries matte (unless you put on a top coat then it’s shiny!). These are fun to use and its great that they can be either matte or shiny, but its not as versatile as a matte top coat…

This Julep matte top coat came in my November (? I think?) box. I love matte top coats because you can use it over any polish in your collection and it can instantly make it matte, which makes it very economical. I used this top coat over the black (Essie Licorice) on my index and ring fingers, let that dry, and then used regular top coat (Seche Vite) to paint the designs.

After everything dries I glued on the studs (size 2mm, bornprettystore.com) with super glue. I know I know…that sounds a bit harsh, but I’ve found that its the best option to get them to stay on for a while. You can also get nail glue which works equally as well (I ran out!).

Here’s a couple more pictures!

Here are a few links to some matte top coats:
Julep Matte Top Coat 

Essie Matte About You

SEPHORA by OPI Matte Top Coat

ManGlaze MatteAstrophe

Matte Polish:
Orly Viridian Vinyl 

What do you think of matte polish? Let me know in the comments!

 
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SWATCHES – New Nicole By OPI 2013 Colors

Published on 17 January, 2013, in Nicole by OPI, Reviews.

Just got these gorgeous Nicole by OPI shades! These 4 colors are new to their line for 2013…and I think they are perfect for Valentine’s Day! What I love about these is that they have the same great quality as regular OPI but for a fraction of the cost and they’re sold at more stores (Target, Walmart, CVS, etc.). Read more below to see some close up shots along with the bottles!

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Kate Spade

Published on 12 January, 2013, in Inspired by Fashion, Multicolored, Nail Art, Polka Dots.

The other day while scrolling through Instagram I saw Lucky Magazine (@luckymagazine) post a picture of this Kate Spade wallet…I fell in love! I took a screen shot and saved it for some nail inspiration later on. There are a few different types of bags with different images which you can find here.

I used quite a bit of different colors, if you have a question on a specific color I can let you know!

Have a wonderful weekend. xoxo

 
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Black & White

Published on 9 January, 2013, in Black, Essie, Houndstooth, Nail Art, Polka Dots, Stripes, Uncategorized, White.

BOTH hands making an appearance on the blog today! Lately I’ve been wanting to do an all black and white mani, but decided this one needed a “pop” of color. I love having each nail different…for some people it may be too much but personally I think its fun!

What I Used:
-Essie Blanc
-Essie Licorice
-Essie Where’s My Chauffer?
-Essie Butler Please

PS: I do have tutorials for a couple of these designs: houndstooth & camouflage!

Do you ever do crazy mix & match designs?

 
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SWATCHES – Julep Oprah’s Favorite Things Set

Published on 9 January, 2013, in Julep, Reviews.

I received this awesome amazing beautiful box from Julep for the holidays and I couldn’t wait to swatch them all for you guys! These colors were hand picked by Oprah to be put into this set. Not only does it come with these gorgeous colors, but it comes in a fancy little box as well :) Read more below to see closer up shots of the nails and a bit of info and my thoughts on each color!

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Monochromatic

Published on 7 January, 2013, in Blue, Essie, Gradients, Nail Art, OPI, Turquoise.

Today I was organizing some of my polish and came across this color combo. I thought the 3 colors would make a perfect gradient, and that led to the rest of this mani. Read “more” for colors used and a close up pic!
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REVIEW: Mariah Carey by OPI Collection

Published on 6 January, 2013, in OPI, Reviews.

I bring you…Mariah Carey by OPI for Spring 2013! This collection features 8 shades – 4 “studio shades” and 4 Liquid Sand. At first I was a bit hesitant to try the Liquid Sand, but I love it! It is basically a matte glitter polish, and when it dries it finishes to a sand-like texture. Read on below to see closeup pictures of each color on my nails…

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