Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Southwest Print Pictorial

I was asked by a few people on the website Reddit to show how I created one of my last manicures but I didn't have much time to show the steps in nail polish...so I hand drew something really quick to share with them. And I figured I might as well share with you all here! It's a very crude and somewhat messy pictorial, but I wanted to share it here with you all in case you were wondering and wanted to try it yourself. Let me know what you think! :)
Happy Polishing! :)

Wondrously Polished and Lulu*s Necklace Inspired Tutorial!

Hi everyone! I am so sorry for being MIA! I have been really busy this week. I'm up visiting the parental units and I'm having to be social instead of spending hours doing my nails ;) I forgot to share the latest tutorial I put together for Lulu*s! Relaxing makes me scattered brained!! 

My inspiration for this mani was a really funky and cool necklace from Lulu*s. Honestly, I struggled with this one! It may not seem it, but this is a fairly simple design and I stressed like crazy about whether or not it worked with the necklace. Anywho! I'm hoping to have some more stuff for you all soon! I've been slacking D:

Friday, May 24, 2013

Bright Southwest Inspired Print

Happy Friday, Everyone! If you're in the States, what are you all doing for Memorial Day?? Hopefully relaxing and having way too much fun :) I'm up visting my parents for the weekend and get to see my sister as well! Should be a good time :)

While I'm here, I'll be volunteering at an art festival that my Mom helps put together and I really wanted something fun and bright and just out there. I've really loved tribal/aztec/southwestern inspired patterns lately and I decided to go for something similar again since I so loved the last one I did. 

I used 4 different bright colors for this look with a base of My Vampire is Buff because it's just perfect for nail art. I did repeat the same pattern on each nail, but I mixed up the way the colors were laid out and I think that adds some extra interest to these...not that this sort of print doesn't already have a lot going on ;) 

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Orange you glad I didn't paint strawberries?

Alright, so today's theme in the May Nail Art Challenge is supposed to be Strawberries...and I'm really not feeling that...so I'm skipping it! It's my blog, I do what I want! ;)

 When I'm not sure what to do nail art wise, I sort of just dig through my helmer drawers and look for colors that speak to my mood at the time. 

The one that stuck out was Zoya's Arizona and I just so love it! I ended up pairing it with Lime Crime's Milky Ways which has some orange/peach undertones and I think the two really compliment each other well. I got Arizona during the Zoya's Earth Day sale and I bought it on a whim as I was looking for a good orange and I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I do. Don't you love when that happens?? 

Monday, May 20, 2013

Wondrously Polished x Lulu*s Geometric Tribal Tutorial

Happy Monday, all! Hope you made it through the day with no hiccups! I've got another Lulu*s Manicure Monday Tutorial to share with you all! This was inspired by one of their adorable dresses and it's relatively easy to replicate. Be sure to check out the tutorial for it on their blog :)

Here's a little sneak peak at the mani! 
Happy Polishing! :)

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Seven Deadly Sins - Sloth

This week's Seven Deadly Sins theme is Sloth...which is very fitting because I have been incredibly lazy with all things nail art this week. The Sloth phrase fit perfectly with my feelings this week:

(Only if you want) Create a manicure inspired by your laziness...or whatever...I'm so tired...

I'm already a day late for this week's mani and keeping with the spirit of the theme, I was incredibly lazy with my nail art in that I didn't do any nail art ;) 

I did, however, use a really fabulous and pretty polish to make up for it! I actually used an undie for this polish so I did two steps for tonight look! Impressive, right? Anyway, this is Cameo Colours Lacquers The Mother over Zoya's Evvie and I just love this color and the glitter and ugh! It's just so squishy and pretty. The Mother is a teal jelly with square glitter and I'm just obsessed with square glitter lately. I don't feel too badly about not doing nail at because I think these sparkly swatches slightly make up for it ;) 

A green thumb equivalent

We all have those things that we are really great at and other things that we just completely fail to grasp the basics of. I know this can be said about me. For instance, I completely fail when it comes to  making a good meal, keeping plants alive, or not being awkward. On the flip side, I'm REALLY good at making terrible meals, killing plants, and being incredibly awkward! See, you've got to find what you're good at and really stick to it! ;) 

All joking aside, I did not get my mother's cooking or gardening gene (I want it though!). Despite my lack of green thumb in the garden, I have been trying to make up for that by painting flowers on my nails instead - at least their killing only involves acetone and cotton balls instead of any neglect on my part ;) 

So for today I've got another flower manicure to share with you all! I found this wonderful pattern from colourlovers and did my take on it. 

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Clowning Around Birthday Nails!

Hi all! I'm not sure if you'll notice, but I've filed my nails down quite a bit. Tonight I realized that they were the longest they've ever been and I suddenly couldn't live with them anymore. I grabbed my glass file and got to working and then had the strong urge to give myself rounded nails for a change over my normal square shape. 

It feels SO different! I don't know whose hands these are! I think they are growing on me though and I'll live with them for a few days before deciding if I want to go back to my normal shape. I think they make my fingers look narrower? Who knows! 

Anyway, I was craving something fun and bright tonight and I recently adopted Clowning Around by Lush Lacquer and oh my word. It is so beyond fabulous. It has a ton of varying sized neon hex glitter in clear base so you can put it over anything your heart desires. There is absolutely no fishing with this polish ad it is packed full of the neon glitter. I paired this with Zoya's Jacqueline and I am just so in love! It's like a unicorn shook it's majestic mane over my fingers and this magic appeared on them. Or something.

Monday, May 13, 2013

May Nail Art Challenge - Doodles!

Is anyone else living in sweltering heat in the middle of May?? It's been so hot here that I have not felt like doing anything at all. Despite it being after 10pm here, it's still 88 degrees! Yikes! Does not bode well for the coming summer. 

I did get my act together to an extent though and finished the next theme for the May Nail Art Challenge. Doodles! I took this very literal and just went for it. I painted the "paper" background first which I actually really loved just plain! 

Wondrously Polished x Lulu*s Lace Tutorial

Happy Monday, Everyone! I've got another tutorial collaboration with the Lulu*s Blog this week. I was inspired by their latest lookbook, Sunnyside. I really loved one of the lace rompers they had and I couldn't resist recreating it. Be sure to check out the tutorial on the Lulu*s Blog! :)

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Mother's Day Carnations

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful Moms out there! I'm a dog Mama, but I don't know how much that really counts ;) 

I know so many people say this about their own mothers, but really, I have the best Mom in the entire world. She is without a doubt my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, and my rock. She is beautiful and strong,and intelligent  and funny as hell to boot. Seriously proud to call her my mom and I hope that one day I can be half the woman she is. She's fabulous. 

But I digress ;) I wasn't sure which way I wanted to take this mani so I started researching Mother's Day in general. Apparently, in the U.S. it was originally started after the Civil War in an effort to reconnect families that had been divided during the war. One of the main proponents of making Mother's Day a national holiday was Anna Jarvis. Her mother helped establish a "Mother's Friendship Day," but died in 1905 before the celebration became popular. Anna chose the carnation as the flower of Mother's Day because they were her mother's favorite. Later, it became established that white carnations were for mothers who had passed away and red for those still living. 

Look how much we learned! Haha maybe the whole living and dead aspect is a bit morbid, but I decided to roll with the carnation theme and since I am fortunate enough to have my lovely mother around still, I decided to paint red carnations. 

Saturday, May 11, 2013

May Nail Art Challenge - OOTD

The latest theme of the May Nail Art Challenge is OOTD - or Outfit of the Day. I've really enjoyed doing these in the past and this one was no exception. Yesterday was the boyfriend's only day off so we got to grab some awesome Mexican food and I got to bust out my new coral dress! I really love the detail around the collar and I new I'd have to recreate it. 
 I used OPI's My Vampire is Buff as the base color, and used my medium length striper brush to create the coral line work with wet n' wild's Heatwave. This coral has become one of my favorites because it's so bright and fast drying. 

Friday, May 10, 2013

Seven Deadly Sins - Day 3: Greed

Happy Friday evening/Saturday morning to you all! I'm still holding up in regards to the Seven Deadly Sins Challenge and this week's theme was greed. The challenge phrase is what you might expect for one filled with greed: 

Remember, more is more...don't hold yourself back! 

Well, this meant that I pulled every single nail art item I own out of my Helmer and plopped it onto my workspace looking for inspiration. And I struggled to find it! I hate when that happens. I ended up being drawn to a gold themed Essence nail art kit that had some diamond shaped glitter and got to hand placing entirely too much of it over Milani's Black Swift. 

However, once I had done just one finger I thought my brain and hands were going to call it quits. To add to my frustration, I didn't even like how it looked after all that! Grr. I refused to give up on them though so I grabbed my Born Pretty Studs and added a few of those. 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

May Nail Art Challenge - Neon

Obsession has a name and it's Serum No. 5 Day Glow. 

Today is the Neon theme for the May Nail Art Challenge and since I own exactly 2 neon colors, I figured I was going to be short for things to do for this theme. However, the fabulous Amber at Ethereal Nails got me Serum No. 5's Day Glow as part of a nail mail package. It is the perfect neon/bright/magic color in the history of ever. 

This polish dried matte and somewhat textured so I put a top coat on them to give it a bit more consistency. I really love how these look and I really can't stop staring at them. 

Monday, May 6, 2013

Wondrously Polished X Lulu*s Tutorial

Happy Monday, all! 

I got to work with Lulu*s again this week to create another Manicure Monday look! Since it's Spring time I wanted to create a pretty floral look...and I was actually inspired by my new blog background. I'm only slightly obsessed with the new bright colors and the background so I figured, why not recreate it on my fingers?! 

Here's the manicure I did and be sure to check out my guest blog post on the Lulu*s for the how to tutorial for this look :) 
Happy Polishing! 

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Vibrant Aztec Nails

I think one of the best things that can occur while doing any nail art is liking what you're creating the entire way through. Sometimes, I will be indifferent to a look up until I put the top coat and other times I will love it until I put the top coat on. The worst is hating the look the entire way through and instead of changing course, you cross your fingers, hoping that maybe giving it some time and getting used to it will change your mind. But, as I said before, the best kind are the ones you love all the way through. 

And yay! Tonight's mani was just that! I was in love with the color combo immediately and knew I had to create something worthy of them. I got it in my head that I was going to use OPI's My Vampire is Buff as the base, with Julep's Millie and Robin, and Zoya's Maura and Arizona in some type art. I landed on Aztec print because so many of their patterns have bright colors like this. It just felt fitting :) 

I actually ended up trimming down one of my cheap nail art brushes to paint these and I'm really happy with the results my makeshift brush gave. I foresee much more nail art with it! :D

I apologize in advance for how many photos there are! 

Saturday, May 4, 2013

May Nail Art Challenge - Star Wars

May the Fourth be will you, my fellow nail art lovers! Today's Nail Art Challenge theme is Star Wars. For those who didn't know, May 4th has been dubbed Star Wars day since May the 4th sounds very much like May the Force ;) 

I admit I was kind of worrying about doing today's mani - there is so much pressure when it comes to something as well known as Star Wars. Certain images are so well known that recreating them never does them justice. I originally wanted to do something related to the intro scroll scene of all the Star Wars movies, but alas, my nails are not long enough. Instead, I decided to try my hand and their iconic logo, some lightsabers, and a stormtrooper! What do you think? 

Seven Deadly Sins - Day 2: Gluttony

This past week has been crazy busy for me and I haven't been able to do as much nail art as I'd like - hopefully I'll be able to make up for that this weekend! 

So, for today, I have something fun and different than my normal manis. I am progressing with the Seven Deadly Sins Challenge that I started last week with a bunch of fabulous nail art ladies. This week's theme is Gluttony and I chose to go with the following challenge phrase: 

Skip your diet and paint something that makes your stomach growl!

Well, nothing makes my stomach growl more than DONUTS. Yes, they are in fact my favorite and if they are around I have zero self control and can't say no to them. I am definitely a glutton when it comes to them so I figured it was fitting to paint them for today! 

Thursday, May 2, 2013

One Love Lacquers Summer Collection Review

*Products provided in exchange for an honest review. Please see my disclosure policy for more info.* 

So excited to share the latest collection from Victoria over at One Love Lacquers! I was lucky enough to review her first Peter Pan Collection and even luckier still that she asked me to review her new summer looks :) 

I am seriously digging the polishes she's come up with this time. They are the perfect summer colors, with neons, glitter, and shimmer, oh my! My soul has been craving colors like these and I am completely in love with them. I suppose that's why they're "One Love" lacquers ;)

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

May Nail Art Challenge - Flowers

Hello lovelies! I have a super super quick post for you tonight.

I think I said something similar at the start of last month, but holy cow! Can you believe that it's already May! Happy May Day to you all :) I'm doing another monthly nail art challenge for this month and the first theme is flowers again! I love me some flowers. I put these together in about 20 minutes so that's why there isn't too much going on with them. I think I like them? I keep going back and forth on them! 

I used Zoya's Neely (ZOMG AMAZING) as the base color, and the flowers are made up of SOPI's Leotard Optional, and Lime Crime's Milky Ways and Lavendary. What do you think?