Thursday, July 31, 2014

A Floral Dud - Nail Art

Nothing to Disclose

Hello, all! I've got a quick floral nail art look to share with you today. Work and exercising seem to take up all of my time lately so it's nice when I'm able to carve out time for some nail art looks. This is actually a "failed" look that I had originally done for an upcoming guest post (so excited!), and when I took the photos and looked at the overall design, it just wasn't quite what I was hoping for as my guest post mani...but I still think it's a cool look so I figured I'd share it here instead ;)


Wednesday, July 30, 2014

The Beauty Buffs - Nautical/Beach Trend Nail Art

Nothing to Disclose

Hello, all! I'm glad to be back posting after my brief hiatus to celebrate my sister's birthday over the weekend...and what better way to get back into nail art than with another Beauty Buffs week! The ladies and I are attempting the 'Nautical/Beach' theme that has been so popular for so long.

Shockingly, I think this might be my first ever nautical look! I really love nautical looks in my personal life (I have planners, clothing, accessories, etc) that are nautical themed, but for some reason that trend has yet to transition over to my nail art. Today that changes! ;)


Saturday, July 26, 2014

Geometric Gradient Nail Art

Nothing to Disclose

Happy Saturday, all! I have family visiting this weekend (plus it's my younger sister's 21st birthday ~ wish use luck!) so I really wanted to do something bright and fun to get me through the weekend.


Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Guest Post for Popping Nails - Grunge Floral Nail Art

Hello, all! Charlie from Popping Nails asked me a few weeks back if I'd be interested in guest posting for her and since she's so talented and creative, it was a no brainer to say yes! Head over to her blog to read up on my guest post for this grungy sketched floral look and let me know what you think!


Happy Polishing! :)

Ellagee - Doctor Who Collection: Swatches and Review

Press Sample

Hello, all! I've got part of a really great Doctor Who themed collection to share with you tonight! Laura of the indie brand Ellagee has come up with an entire collection inspired by the Doctor...the collection is aptly named "A Good Man" and I just love what she put together.

Monday, July 21, 2014

The Hunt - Mani Monday: Mermaid Tail Nail Art Tutorial

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Hope everyone is surviving their Monday! Here are some happy nails to help you get through the day just in case ;)

I put together this fun mermaid-y look for my friends over on The Hunt! Be sure to head over to the Hunt blog to see my full mermaid tutorial and let me know what you think :)



Happy Polishing! :)

Sunday, July 20, 2014

The Digital Dozen does Countries & Cultures - Day 5: Tuscany Landscape Nail Art

Nothing to Disclose

Whew! I may be slightly late, but I've finally finished another challenge week with my favorite nail ladies of the Digital Dozen! I always forget just how challenging it really is to come up with 5 manis inspired by one theme. This countries and cultures week was tough but I really love what I managed to come up with this week :)

For the final day, I've got a mani inspired by the beautiful Tuscany landscape of Italy! I've had a deep seated love of Italy for as long as I can remember. My grandmother's aunt (my great aunt?) went to Italy when she was in college way back when on a foreign exchange program, and, as these things go, she met an Italian street artist, fell in love, and has been there ever since! I've visited them twice over the years and I have such fond memories of being there!


Friday, July 18, 2014

The Digital Dozen does Countries & Cultures - Day 4: Mayan Logogram Nail Art

Nothing to Disclose

So unless one of my readers happens to be fluent in ancient logograms, I doubt too many people will know what today's nail art represents ;) For day 4 of Digital Dozen Countries & Cultures week, I decided to paint Mayan logograms!


Thursday, July 17, 2014

The Digital Dozen does Countries & Cultures - Day 3: California Coast Nail Art


Hi, all! So as per usual, I'm running late with this challenge. I'm so envious of my fellow Digital Dozen members who always have their posts ready to go each week. Anyway, today I have day 3 of the Countries & Cultures theme week! Since I'm American, I wanted to do a mani inspired by this beautiful country...and what better part of this great United States than the area I grew up?! 

I grew up on the central coast of California, about 30 minutes from the beautiful coast. I have very fond memories of going to the beach with my family, spending the day hiking along the cliffs with the dogs while looking down on the surf. *sigh* such great memories! I especially love going when all the California Poppies (our state flower) and Lupin are in bloom! So, in honor of where I grew up, here is my California coast mani. 

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The Digital Dozen does Countries & Cultures - Day 2: Cherry Blossom Nail Art

Nothing to Disclose

So as you all know, I am the world's BEST procrastinator. I can't get anything done until the last minute and Digital Dozen week is no different. I got home from work and the gym after 9pm and was perplexed on what to do for today and even considered just heading to bed with naked nails. But I decided to stick it out and relied on something I don't often do: brainstorming! When I first started brainstorming for countries & cultures, I wrote down all the continents and noted different countries on said continents that sparked my interest.

One such was Japan, and since I'm' a nature lover, I was immediately drawn to the gorgeous cherry blossoms that they have there.


Monday, July 14, 2014

The Digital Dozen does Countries & Cultures - Day 1: Egyptian Hieroglyphic Nail Art


Holy wow, it has already been another month - I can't believe how fast time is flying! Today marks the start of another Digital Dozen week and this time we are tackling the theme "Counties & Cultures."I decided to focus more on the "cultures" aspect of this theme because I'm a history buff and there are so many amazingly interesting cultures from days past. I decided to start near the beginning of human culture, and represented the ancient Egyptians by painted some hieroglyphics on old papyrus paper! 

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Pattern Love - Black Base Floral


Hello, all! I've had a whirlwind week so far, but I got the urge to do some nail art late last night and decided to run with it. I've had this image by Lab Partners up on my computer screen for a few days because I just loved how the black background looked with the vibrant non-traditional floral colors. Does anyone else leave stuff open for days on their screen? It annoys the crap out of me to have a ton of tabs and windows open so leaving it up forces me to actually get it done so I can close the tab ;) 

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

NAGG - Day 14: Sweets

Nothing to Disclose

Oh man! It's late and I'm sleepy, but I've got the next installment of the Nail-Art-A-Go-Go challenge to share with you all! I'm sure you all have given up on me ever finishing this challenge, but Mireia is really helping motivate me to get back on track. So, today I tackled the 'sweets' theme and painted M&Ms on my fingers ;)


Monday, July 7, 2014

Mani Monday - The Hunt: Pastel Galaxies

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Hope everyone is having the happiest Monday possible...even though Monday's make it hard to be happy ;) But Mani Mondays help make it a little easier to be happy, right? I've put together a tutorial for this pastel galaxy look over on The Hunt's blog so be sure to check it out and let me know what you think or if you've got any questions in the comments here!



Happy Polishing :)





Friday, July 4, 2014

Happy Fourth of July! - American Flag inspired Nail Art


Happy Fourth of July to all my American readers! I'm sure all you non-american folks are getting sick of seeing red, white and blue plastered on everyone's nails, but hey, we get one day a year where it's acceptable, so might as well go all out, right? ;) 

I've got some simple (yet stupidly time consuming!) American Flag inspired nail art for you all today. I can't say my mani is anything groundbreaking in terms of design, but I like how it turned out quite a bit!

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

The Beauty Buffs - Polka Dot Trend: Pointillism Daisies


Good Morning, my lovely readers! It's Wednesday, and that means it's another Beauty Buffs post! The theme I've been dreading is here - polka dots. Why do I dread polka dots, you ask? Well, I don't do polka dots...really ever. Manis incorporating them are few and far between and I have next to zero polka dot items in my day to day life. While I think they're cute, it's just not something I've ever embraced in my person style. Perhaps I should change that? 

So the whole point of the Beauty Buffs is to interpret the theme as we see fit and present our version of it. Perhaps it's a bit of a copout, but I ended up doing a pointillism inspired mani more than a polka dotted mani. But hey! Polka dot...dots make up pointillism...there you go! (Anyone seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding? I feel like the father making connections between Greek words being the root of all words!) For those who don't know, pointillism is the process of using TONS of tiny dots in varying colors and sizes to create an image. Pretty straight forward but pretty awesome looking!

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Pattern Love - Red Leaves


Hi, all! Sorry I've been a bit absent lately. I'm struggling a bit to balance my work life and my personal life. Seems like I'm always at work! I got home late last night but I made myself do some nail art just to keep in the habit of it ;) 

I really wasn't sure what to do for this mani, I just knew I wanted to do SOMETHING. So, I turned to Pinterest and browsed my "Pattern Love" board and chose the first item there, a fabric from Spoonflower.