Wednesday, July 31, 2013

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 6: Violet Nails

Oh boy, it is late! I'm a few hours past the Tuesday "deadline" for today's challenge, but I think it's worth the wait! I must say, I'm pretty proud of Meghan and I for keeping up with this so far...even if we've been a few hours late with some posts. 3 weeks into this adventure, and I am really enjoying this experience. Meghan is so talented so I doubt anyone can complain about having to look at her work :)

After trying out a completely different design and scratching it around 11 PM (3 hours ago!), a friend of my suggested a violet gradient with lace on top and I knew immediately I was going to do it. I feel like I say that a lot, but there is something that happens when you love a design - it just FEELS right. ;)

Monday, July 29, 2013

Sparkly Tribal Goodness

Hello, my dears! Tonight I've got another post inspired by something I came across on The Hunt! I am kind of obsessed with this site. I saw this fabulous tribal print sequin skirt and new immediately that it was meant to be on my nails. 

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Collaboration with Cocktails & Joints!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous Saturday! The boyfriend, dog and I are having a lazy day and I'm enjoying it...I also got a TON of Zoya nail mail today and oh boy! I am giddy! I can't wait to share some beautiful swatches with you all :) 

Today I have a tutorial post that I put together for a newer site, Cocktailsandjoints.com. I put this together for their Overindulgence Saturday posts and I think it's such a bright and easy look to put together. I love the classic simple dotted flower, but I think I put my own little spin on it as well. Be sure to check out the full tutorial in their article :)
Happy Polishing! :) 

Friday, July 26, 2013

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 5: Blue Nails

So, I have this terrible habit of writing up a big long post that I spend a good amount of time carefully pondering and thinking about, making sure the wording is just right and exactly what I want to say...and then I'll delete it. And I don't know why on earth I do that! Haha today I was trying to write the intro of this post and began talking about how I felt nail art had helped me figure out what I do and don't like when it comes to designs and taste...but when I tried explaining it, I realized I don't have as great a grasp on that as I thought I did! Go figure ;) 

Anyway, the whole point of writing that scratched intro was to express my love of funky and different designs in nail art while attempting to maintain a good taste level that isn't too outrageous and in your face...which is how I am in real life anyway. At the same time, I really do love doing art that pushes me outside of my comfort zone and is sometimes just weird and different. Maybe you all won't agree, but I think tonight's mani is funky and different but still keeps with my style for the most part. 

Now that we've gotten through my long winded ramblings, onto the actual nails! Tonight is the latest in the 31 Day Challenge and it's Blue Nails for tonight. And I'm actually on time today!

I painted weird...fans? triangles? arrow?...in an outward gradient of varying blues. I had originally intended to fill out the entire nail, but I ran out of room and wasn't able to implement that concept. 

Thursday, July 25, 2013

The Hunt for fun new patterns

I've mentioned this before, but I often turn to fabric patterns when I'm lacking inspiration for my nail art. I was recently introduced to a website called "The Hunt," where people can post images of things they can't find on their own, and ask the community to help them hunt it down. It's a really fun and unique concept and I ended up browsing their site for awhile. 

I ended up finding this super chic outfit on the site and became obsessed. I found the actual product and I just love everything about it. I could never in a million years pull of leather pants, but I can't get enough of this look. 

The shirt pattern was so amazing that I decided to give recreating it a go. While the site claims this is a "plaid" pattern, I think it looks more kaleidoscope-esque than anything. I would love to come up with a way to create this look easily, but for today, I ended up hand painting and blending this pattern. 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 4: Green Nails

Evening, everyone! I am so so sorry that I'm posting this a day late! I am still trying to figure out how to manage all my time with my new work schedule. I've got a lot on my plate but fingers crossed I'll have a handle on everyone very soon! 

Yesterday's post was supposed to be Green inspired nails for the next day of the challenge. I really love doing green nails when the fancy strikes me, but I feel like I can never think of anything to do when I HAVE to do green nails. When I'm not sure which direction to go with a mani, I'll often sift through my polishes and see which ones speak to me that day. 

Well, China Glaze's Def Defying was the glaring winner today. I've used this polish many times before, but it's such a fabulous chartreuse-y color that I can never resist it. Seeing this color ended up jogging my memory of one of my sister's old bed comforters. It was black, white, and bright green with a simple yet pretty floral print and I knew immediately I wanted to try that. I love when patterns just speak to me like that! 

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Lulu*s Floral Tutorial

Hello my dears! I've put together another tutorial for the Lulu*s Blog and I love how these turned out! I was inspired by one of their many adorable dresses and these are fairly simple to recreate. I think you could definitely mix and match whatever colors you'd like and these would still be fun. Be sure to check out the blog post about them! :) 

Saturday, July 20, 2013

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 3: Yellow Nails, Wheat Field!

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that it is Friday? Well, now early Saturday, but the feeling of peace and contentment that comes with knowing it is Friday night is still lingering in my soul. 

I had originally had an idea of what I wanted to do for today's challenge, but when I tried it out, I wasn't able to create what was in my mind's eye. Instead, I turned to nature for inspiration! This time of year, all of the hills around my home are yellow and golden with dried grasses and I thought that would be the perfect interpretation of yellow for me. I enjoy painting florals and as it's really only a slight step over to painting wheat, I knew I'd enjoy it. 

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 2: Orange Nails

Oh boy, am I sleepy! This new job is already kicking my butt! Is it Friday yet??

I did manage to get the next theme in the 31 Day Challenge done though! But I must say that I struggled with this one! While I really love burnt orange, especially in polish form, I struggled with coming up with something for this. I literally painted 3 different base colors for 3 different concepts on Sunday night and just couldn't make it happen. I jumped between orange daisies, damask print, and shudder fruits or vegetables. Needless to say, I abandoned my Sunday night attempts.

Fast forward up to tonight - I wasn't able to get started on my nail art as easy as I would have wanted after work so I was starting to worry about getting my work done. I decided to turn to my trusty friend google and search for famous "orange" paintings and came across the work of Mark Rothko. For those who don't know, Rothko is famous for the abstract expressionist style of his simple, yet bold pieces. They really spoke to me and I knew immediately that I wanted to recreate a bunch of his paintings. 

Monday, July 15, 2013

Lulu*s Beach Bonfire Tutorial

Happy Monday! How did everyone's day go? I started my first day at my new job today and so far everyone has been really nice and supportive. Aside from accidentally locking my keys in my car right after I got out of my car at 8 am, it was a pretty good day ;) But boy oh boy! It has been such an emotional roller coaster for me the past few weeks. I feel so emotionally drained and I'm so exhausted! 


Today I have my latest tutorial for the Lulu*s Blog! The theme for this week was Beach Bonfire and to me, bonfires mean sunsets on the beach! I did a simple gradient and added some silhouettes of palm trees to pull this look together. Once again, be sure to check out the Lulu*s blog for my quick how to of a gradient nail :) 

Happy Polishing! :)

Saturday, July 13, 2013

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - Day 1: Red Nails

Hello, all! I am so incredibly sorry that I have been MIA lately! I'm going through some big changes in my personal life and it's taking a lot of my energy. I'm starting a new job on Monday and I'm nervous/excited/scared to begin this new chapter in my life. I'm hoping that starting next week things will be back to normal and I'll be posting with some regularity!

I'm really excited to share that Meghan from Will Paint Nails for Food and I are going to be completing the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge together! I am sure most of you know about Meghan and her awesome swatches, but I always love when she does nail art because holy crapola, she's excellent at it. We're both hoping that completing this challenge together will help us grow even more as nail artists and push us outside of our comfort zone. Always great to have a partner in crime to egg you on ;) 

At the moment, we are planning on posting every Tuesday and Friday instead of completing this in 31 days. As you can see, I have already failed to post on time, but I promise this is the last time that happens! (famous last words, right?)

The first day of the challenge is "Red Nails." While browsing reddit, I came across this guitar beautifully drawn on with a sharpie and knew immediately that I wanted to do something like it. Whether the style on the guitar intended it or not, it reminds me of henna tattoos. Henna also happens to come in red on occasion so I knew this was the style I was going to go for. 

Monday, July 8, 2013

Pool Party at the Lulu*s Blog

Happy Monday, loves! Today I have another tutorial for the Lulu*s blog! This week their theme was "pool party" and we went a bit literal with it to make it look like a pool! This was actually my first attempt at water marbling and I know I have A LOT of room for improvement, but it was awesome to see that I could actually do it if I put my mind to it! I am in no way an expert, but I put together the tutorial based on my experience with creating this look. Be sure to check it out on their blog :) 
 I actually did this twice and wasn't sure which one I liked more...they are both incredibly similar so you  maybe you wouldn't have noticed if I didn't say anything ;) 

Happy Polishing! :)

Friday, July 5, 2013

Polish me to go magical tribal print

If you know your indie polishes, you may have heard of the glow in the dark queen, Polish Me To Go. Unfortunately, everyone knows how awesome her polishes are so there is never enough stock to go around. 

Well, a few weeks back I happened to see a post on Instagram about how there would be a PMTG restock in less than an hour...and I knew it was fate! I HAD to have some of the amazing polishes. So, I stalked the website for a good hour refreshing the page until I finally saw the magical "add to cart" button pop up. So what if I ended up buying the entire Pastel Collection. I'm pretty positive it's the best decision I've ever made. 

Cue me giddily getting home and seeing the box and knowing that there was absolutely no way I couldn't not use every single polish in a mani. I am OBSESSED with these polishes! I don't even know how to handle it. They are all so amazing. 

I ended up creating a tribal look because it's an easier way to incorporate a few different colors. I seriously love how they turned out! 

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Belle of the ball

So I'm actually in Yosemite right now, but I figure I should be a good blogger and schedule some posts for while I'm gone! Sometimes when I'm not feeling up to doing nail art, having a nice and well made indie polish with loads of lovely glitter in it is a great thing to fall back on. 

Belle made my The Hungry Asian is definitely one of those polishes that you can go to with ease. I really love how feminine and simple this polish is. 
 Belle has small pink hex glitter with some copper hex glitter mixed into a sheer milky base. This was about 3 coats to opacity and I'm sure if you layered this over a white first the coats would be reduced. Overall, this is yet another great polish from THA. Great application, little to no fishing for glitter, and an all around great polish. 

Monday, July 1, 2013

4th of July!! :D

Happy July 1st, everyone! Here in the States, that means that the 4th of July is just around the corner! I get to spend the 4th in what I think is one of the most beautiful places on earth, Yosemite National Park! To celebrate, I put together another tutorial for Lulu*s and I really love how they came out. They're simple but still fun. I also couldn't decide how to do my middle finger so I gave you lots of options/ideas ;) Be sure to check out the tutorial to learn how to create this look yourself! 
Happy Polishing! :)