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!

All About A Russian Party

I was trying to decide what to do this week, starting really late, and was super-tired. So I opted to try a gradient again, and had moderate results (mostly due to being really tired, I think). The colors I used are OPI's "Russian to a Party", a reddish maroon w/gold shimmer and Sinful Colors "All About You" - a sheer gold glitter.

To start, I layered two coats of RTAP over base coat.

Next I put a thin layer of glitter over 3/4 of each nail starting at the base.

Then another coat of glitter, stopping a half way up the nail:

And finally one more strip just up at the base of the nail.

Two coats of top coat and some clean-up finishes it off nicely. 

I got the glitter too thick in spots...next time I'll be more careful about that. It takes a light touch to get the gradient effect. I may actually try with one of the CND effects polishes next time. 

Born Pretty sent me some free stuff to review, including some fun black crackle polish. So next week, a tutorial on crackle polish - should be very cool, I think. Until then, happy polishing!