Malibu Pearls

The folks at The Painted Nail and The Nail Files were kind enough to send me three bottles of polish to use and review. The polish is made by Nubar, and I have to say, "Malibu Dreams" is probably my favorite hot pink polish ever (and I don't normally care much for hot pink). It has a blueish base, and tons of tiny sparkly glitter that makes it look wet even when dry. Great formula too (as expected from Nubar). So this week I started with two coats of Malibu Dreams (over a coat of Seche Vite base coat):

And then got out my large rhinestones (provided by Born Pretty Store) and pearls for a little "nail-lace" on each (one thick coat of top coat to set them in). The turquoise and pink combo reminded me of someplace warm and sunny and bright like Malibu. I set the big rhinestone first in the center of the nail. Then I placed the little pearls on each side. Super, super easy. If the top coat is wet enough, you can slide the stones around a bit until they're where you want them, so working fast is helpful (but not necessary).

I only did one more thickish coat of top coat (Seche Vite) to seal, because the stones were set pretty well in the first coat. These don't stick up too far, so it shouldn't be an issue. They feel very solid.

Sorry - no video this week. I shot some, but didn't have time to edit it. Next week a Fourth of July design, and I'll have time for video since I have a three-day weekend. :-)

Until then, happy polishing!

Tanzy Citrus & Nail Files

This week's manicure is a bright summer design - I'm hoping if we celebrate the first day of summer properly, the nice weather will stick around awhile. I even have a video for you, although it's a bit blurry right where it counts (good grief - third time is a charm?).  But first, lemme show you the polishes that I received yesterday for review from The Painted Nail via the publicist for Nail Files, a new TV series that starts tonight. They were kind enough to send me a video of the show, and I watched it last night. I thought it was great - it's about a salon owner in Hollywood. Super dramatic, of course, but most reality TV is. In any case, I'll be watching online since it's on the TV Guide channel and I don't have cable. Anyone going to watch with me?

These are the polishes they sent - and the photo does not do these justice. Nubar is the maker, and the colors are just fabulous and sparkly. I'll have a manicure with these for next week.

So...back to the citrus. I started with one coat of Seche Vite base coat, and one coat of Finger Paints "Well-cultured Pearl" to provide an opaque base. Then I layered two coats of Zoya's "Tanzy", which I am completely in love with. It's so sparkly and shimmery - even when it's dry, it looks wet due to all the sparkle. Nail bling!

I set the clay canes in a thickish-coat of Seche Vite top coat, making sure to press the edges down as well as I could. Clay can be kind of rebellious, and tends to curl at the edges sometimes. The nice thing is that even if it sticks up a bit off the nail, the edges are blunt enough on a round cane that they don't get stuck on things often.

Here's the video - apologies for the blur!

And the finished look once more, all cleaned up.

Next week, I've got my sights on that "Malibu Dreams" - the hot pink polish above from The Painted Nail.

Until then, Happy Polishing!

Wearing O'The Green

It's still Tuesday here. ;-) I'm afraid I don't have a tutorial for you (because I've been a total slacker), but I have three green manicures to share for St. Patrick's Day this week...

All of these designs were done with 1 coat Seche Vite base coat, 2 coats base polish, and the stones set in two coats of Seche Vite top coat. I should buy stock in Seche Vite...

First off, we have my favorite green polish, China Glaze "Emerald Sparkle", tipped with OPI's "Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow" (which looks black, but is really very dark green). I added light green rhinestones to the center for interest. I love this manicure - super simple to do, yet casual/elegant. 

 

Next up, I used a base polish of Rimmel's 60 Second polish in "Camouflage" - a lovely color, but as you can see I had some trouble with tip pull. Gotta remember to wrap the polish at the nail edge, peeps! Then I put a swoop of white diagonally across the nail, and a glittery gold Sinful color as a base for some large and small light green stones. It was really much more subdued than the picture shows - apologies for the flash. 

 And of course this week, it's back to my favorite Emerald Sparkle, with more of the light green rhinestones arranged into shamrocks on three nails each hand. Aside from my thumb (which I tried to make 4-leaf), they turned out nicely, I think.

Larger rhinestones compliments of the Born Pretty Store, and I purchased the smaller stones from Nail Delights. 

Finally, I saw Nail Art Tuesday mentioned in a blog round-up recently, but I can't find the post again. :-( Whoever you are, thanks so much for the mention! I appreciate it. :-) 

Next week, back to tutorials. Until then, Happy Polishing - and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Catchin' Up

Apologies for disappearing in December - the holidays sort of got away from me. So today I have a couple finished manicures from Christmas and the first week in January to show you, and then next week I'll have a new tutorial to post.

For Christmas this year, I used these cute decals from Born Pretty. Speaking of which, Born Pretty has offered Nail Art Tuesday shoppers 10% off your order when you use code: SQUOVAL15 at checkout.

The fun part about the Christmas mani (aside from those lovely water decals) was that my silver polish was way too thick. It was hard to work with, but it also made a 3-D, almost "fuzzy" line at the tips.

Last week I got some fun new Finger Paints polishes that I can't recall the names of just now (don't worry, you'll see them again). I decided to do a gradient with China Glaze "Tinsel" between the white and purple. I love how it turned out, very "winter whimsical", I think.

So that's what I've been up to polish-wise - next week, China Glaze "Dorthy Who?" and full nail stickers.

Until then - happy polishing!

Sparkly Ornaments

This week, I needed something to help me get in the mood for Christmas, and I needed a quick design. So I got out these huge rhinestones that the Born Pretty store sent for review. I think they look very much like shiny glass ornaments, don't you?

I started with one of my favorite Christmas glitters, China Glaze "Emerald Sparkle". Two coats over CG base coat makes a nice "tree" layer.

Then I added a thick diagonal stripe in China Glaze "Tinsel", another of my favorite CG polishes. Just one, somewhat thick coat worked fine for setting the stones.

I added three stones to each nail, using red and yellow...

And switched the colors on my index fingers for just a little variety.

Two coats China Glaze quick dry top coat, some clean up, and voila! Sparkly ornaments telling me it's time to get moving on the holiday stuff.

**Edited to add - Born Pretty Store is offering a 10% discount until December 31st, 2010 - use coupon code OPENTENOFF. I may just do that myself, actually. :-)

I'm kind of itching to try a peppermint swirl water marble thing - perhaps I'll do that next week. Until then, happy polishing!

Coppery Fall

Apologies for disappearing, fellow nail art lovers. October kind of got away from me in a big way, and I dropped the ball here. But things are back to normal now, more or less and should be from here on out.  Ready for more nail art? Me too. :-)

Last week after all the Halloween hoopla, I decided a lighter fall manicure was in order. I started off with two coats of Zoya "Penny" over Zoya's Anchor base coat (above). Then I went over the tips with Zoya "Kalima", which is a gorgeous bright orange copper color. I really love these two polishes together...

You know I can't resist bling...so I dug out some yellow rhinestones, and outlined the smile line with them on my thumb, plus added one more to the tip. I decided the smile line was too much, so I just placed one stone in the point of the other nails. All stones were set in one coat Zoya Armor top coat.

Then I sealed it with two more coats of top coat, which you may note bubbled a bit. My top coat is old...I sense a nail supply order in my near future...

And voila! Simple coppery fall nails...super-simple and pretty subtle overall.

Next week, something darker under the last of my yellow rhinestones...until then, thanks for visiting and happy polishing!

Gold X's

I was feeling pretty uninspired about my ultra-short nails last week...and I have a "thing" about dark polish on super-short nails (I don't like it). So I decided this glittery gold color would work for a light fall color. I started with 3 coats of Sinful Colors "All About Me".

Then I put a black dot in the center of each nail, and used that as the central point for a large "X"...was I crossing out my short nails, I wonder?

And as you can see, I decided gold rhinestones would work nicely to give my edgy/rough X's a little flair.

I've been using Avon's nail corrector pen recently to clean up the edges...and unlike most remover pens, it really does work. I'm quite happy with the results.

It's very odd how the flash makes the gold polish look translucent...it really was quite opaque.

Not the prettiest manicure, but I thought it was kind of edgy, and it reflected my short-nail angst at the time. Do your nails reflect your mood?

Next week, a lovely lavender mani with stenciled purple bows for something a little more "girly". Until then, happy polishing!

Revvv It Up

It's been raining for days. I'm not really a happy camper in the rain - gray, cold and wet is just not my thing. So I went with a dark charcoal color for the week, with rainbow mica embedded for those rare moments when the sun peeks out from behind the dark clouds. Naturally I added some rhinestone stickers for a little extra dimension.

I started with 2 coats of Color Club's "Revvvolution" over China Glaze base coat:

You can see all the pretty colors embedded with the flash. These normally aren't visible unless the lights hits the color just perfectly.

Then I took these lovely Cina nail art stickers - basically just rhinestones arranged on adhesive backs:

...and placed them simply on each nail.

Two coats of China Glaze top coat and clean-up, and voila. Very simple dark design that still pops.

With any luck, the rain will stop by next week, and I'll be ready for something brighter again. ;-)

Until then, happy polishing!

Vintage Fishnets

I don't think anything could accurately capture this gorgeous robin's egg blue, but I love it! This week, I needed something super-simple, and I'm quite pleased with the way this turned out. Finished photos are without flash, "in progress" photos are with flash (which is why they look washed out).

I started with two coats of a new Avon color, "Vintage Blue". I got a purple and gray at the same time...love the muted colors!

Then I used my handy-dandy Cina nail art pen (bought it myself - and *need* more...I love these!) to put diagonal stripes over the top for a fishnet look.

And the finished fishnet:

Then for a little extra sparkly goodness, I put light blue rhinestones at each of the main cross-points.

Two coats of Seche Vite to seal, and some clean-up the next morning. I really like how these turned out, kind of sassy and subtle all at once.

I realize my thumbnails are super-short - I broke both of them off below my fingertip weeks ago, and they just finally grew out enough to cut off straight. With any luck, they'll be back to normal length in another couple weeks. Meanwhile, I keep jamming my poor thumbs on things without the nail to protect my pansy-fingers. *eyeroll*

Whatcha got on your tips this week?

Happy polishing!

Red, White and Bling

Apologies for posting late this week - but I wanted to have a patriotic design to share in honor of our July 4th Independence Day celebration here in the states. Not just any red, white and blue though...I decided to get a bit more creative this year. I like 'em. :-)

I started with three coats of China Glaze "Snow Me White" - it took that many coats to get it smooth.

Then I did red stripes in Urban Decay's "Fbomb" - which is both ironic and kind of irreverent, but it was the perfect color, I think.

After that, a thicker stripe of blue straight down the center. Two coats of Zoya's "Kotori", one of my favorite sparkly blues.

Obviously, my edges leave a lot to be desired. To straighten them out and add some definition, I used my silver glitter Art Club striper to line the blue.

But wait, there's more! Finally, I put clear rhinestones down the blue, loosely representative of the stars on our flag. I set them in a coat of Seche Vite topcoat.

Then I added two more light coats of Seche Vite to seal, and cleaned 'em up the next morning. I think they're kind of edgy and fun, and they're definitely different than my normal 4th of July designs.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend - stay safe. Next week, it's all about the green, and stencils!

Until then, Happy Polishing...