Glitter Tips!

This next nail endeavor I have to share is something that I was really into for about two weeks and then slowly meandered my way back to simple colors that went with everyone as these super cute nails, sadly, did not! So here we go! First is for all of the super girly girls that love all things PINK and sparkly! 

Very easy to do, you really don't even have to clean up your french tips because the glitter does a nice job of blending the edges to make it look like you are pro-level: Asian. :) It helps to have a little bit longer nails, although my nails are really not very long they just look like it because I have pretty long nail beds! Super long nails tend to drive me out of my mind, but this length is manageable!

Colors used were Wet N' Wild Dream Poppy for the tips and Love & Beauty in Gold by Forever 21 for the glitter. SH Insta-Dry top coat was used and I recommend 2 coats to smooth everything out!

These nails are not mine, I did this style on a friends nails and they turned out really nice! We used Suzi Loves Cowboys by OPI on her tips with the same gold sparkles used on the post above as well as a gold line over her tips and that was made with an Art Deco design polish in Gold Rush. SH Insta-Dry top coat. Very easy look that everyone loved! 

My boyfriend called these my "Snow Nails!" when I sent him this photo which I think is pretty accurate! I loved the blue and I got a ton of compliments on these nails! So easy and quick! Colors I used included Sinful Colors in Savage for the tips, Starry Silver Glitter by NYC No. 105A, and SH Insta-Dry Top Coat. 

I think that is about all for now, so I hope you enjoy!

Updates! Christmas Nails!

So, I have been slacking big time on this whole blogging situation BUT I am here with some new stuff to share and discuss! I had a vision driving back to school today about Christmas nails and this surprisingly was pretty much exactly what I saw in my head! This never happens, FYI. Usually what I am imagining is some beautiful, elegant, perfect design that when attempted in reality looks completely awful. So I am proud of this one! The colors I used were Jade is the New Black by OPI, Color So Hot It Berns by OPI, and Tribeca Silver No. 292 by NYC. The silver sparkles were used with the Pop Art silver by Jordana mentioned in a previous post. As always, Sally Hansen Insta-Dry top coat! 

Doing my nails like this was also super cool because it renewed my love for Jade is the New Black! It is such a great green for everyday wear because it doesn't feel like it is that four-year old shade of green that clashes with every outfit you could possibly find. It goes on really nicely, two coats is perfect, and it doesn't have a tendency to chip quickly as long as it is applied with care!

So there we are! Christmas Nails :)

Acrylic Experimentation

I have recently been interesed in doing my own acrylic nails along with friends of mine who wish to have theirs done. The first time I tried it out wasn't a failure but there was a lot of room for improvement. The most difficult part in my opinion is the area around the cuticle. I'm getting better a shaping it into a natural curve but there is still something I am not doing right  I think. If anyone knows any tricks let me know please! I will post some pictures of what I have done so far with this.

Not terrible but not perfect, either!

Just some cute designs I did for a friend on her acrylics! :) Colors used were Revlon 730 Royal, Sinful Colors Black on Black 103, and Jordana 090 White. The silver stripes were done with the Jordana Pop Art Nail Design in 508 Star Designer. Gems were purchased from Walgreens. Top Coat, Sally Hansen InstaDry.

Another one of the first few attempts! Colors: Sinful colors 949 Nirvana and Sally Hansen InstaDry top coat.

So, yeah! Still working on perfecting this technique but it is really fun so if anyone has any tips or tricks let me know! :)

Keep loving nail polish, 'til next time. :)

Cheetah Print: Free-hand.

So this would be my first attempt at Cheetah Print on my nails, this picture sort of sucks but I've got a couple more! I used Essie Sand Tropez as the base, Street Wear Breathless for the golden parts of the cheetah spots, and I lined them with Jordana Black Mark Pop Art nail design with precision brush. I have been using Sally Hansen's InstaDry top coat in the red bottle, and will never switch to another one again. It's perfect, I highly recommend it! I've since done this design on friends nails in a variety of different colors, one of my favorites being a very hot pink base with the same other colors. Each time I do this I love how it turns out. I got more compliments on these nails than with anything else, including the shatter shades before they were ultra-popular. Almost everyone that saw my nails asked me if I was using the Sally Hansen stick on nail polish strips, and were amazed when I said I did it myself.

I'm sorry but in no way does that look as cool! Or as legit! Nail art that is this simplistic is bound to be boring after it's initial wave of popularity.. (Shatter shades provide a great example of this-- yawn.)
Also, I don't believe that trying to center and align this little piece of nail polish (?) on your nail and make it stick is any easier than having a little patience and doing it the old fashioned way!
I watched this video on Youtube that was pretty easy to follow and gave me the results I was looking for when making my cheetah spots. Cheetah Print Nails

I'll keep testing out different colors of this style and put up pictures but it's pretty much whatever you want to do with it! I haven't found any color combos I didn't really like yet. Questions and comments are appreciated! :)

Until Next time,
-Sav

This is where I found the insta dry photo.
http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/sally-hansen-insta-dri-anti-chip-top-coat/ID=prod386085-product?V=G&ext=bng_Bing_Beauty&CAID=22844bf6-68bb-4362-9677-702b649e48ac


This link is where I found the salon manicure strip photos.
http://www.sallyhansen.com/products/nails/nail-color/salon-effects-real-nail-polish-strips

Sinful Colors Pink and Milani Diamond Dazzle

These colors were extremely difficult to photograph.. but I was pretty obsessed with how they turned out! (oh, and my cuticles are super messy--I was on my way out the door and didn't have time to clean em' up!)
I wish that the sinful colors neon pigments would be a little more durable.. seems to me like they chip off way too easily! Maybe that is just neons in general? I don't know! I am impressed with the pink color but what really made it was the glitter! Lately, glitters have been my thing and this one is PERFECT. It is ultra-girly and so sparkly! I got a lot of compliments on these nails and I definitely couldn't stop looking at them in the sunlight :)

Not pictured here is the recently broken nail that has occurred.. I have horribly brittle nails and this morning one of mine got destroyed.. I can't decide whether or not to file the rest down or just try and ignore my sad little middle finger on my right hand!

My camera finally has batteries so I will be more on top of things now :) Til next time!

Random Post-Nicki Minaj

So tonight I was listenin to a couple of new Nicki Minaj songs and watchin the vids for them on Youtube, and as always I was blown away at how HUGE her booty is!! It's seriously pretty amazing if you haven't seen it. But she's still so skinny--not fair, right? well turns out it's fake.. along with her booty implants she received breast implants too. At first I was a little put off, her whole "barbie" slogan took on new meaning to me. As a pretty serious Nicki fan, I was kind of sad that my B.A. rap idol with the mega-booty was not really that at all! (she's still an amazing rapper, til someone proves that wrong I'm gonna keep on lovin her!) Then I started to think about it though, and if I had the money she has... well I might just go for it too. What am I saying, of COURSE I would! We all would, I think. Honestly there is something we all would like to change if we could.. and she looks more gorgeous than ever with the work she's had done, so GO NICKI :)

On an actually related note to my blog, I used my silver shatter tonight over nicole's virtuous violet which looks really cute!! my silver shatter hasn't gotten chunky yet, but I'm seriously concerned that may be an issue with the crackle shades seeing as the black shatter turned into a useless glob after about 5 uses.. I've heard nail polish thinner will take care of that but for the time being I'm just sparingly using the shatters I have! Still no camera batteries, so no pictures yet.. working on it though I promise!

Let me know if you have any opinions on the whole plastic Nicki situation and make sure to check out the song/video super bass, I love it! Her nails are beautiful in it :)

OPI silver shatter

So today I finally got the chance to try out my new OPI silver shatter! Sadly, I don't have a picture for you all yet--It's dark outside so I've gotta wait for a little sunlight! But for the most part, I have only good things to report about this polish! I am almost positive that I like this one more than the Black Shatter. It is less harsh and I love the glitter. I put my silver shatter over a oui bit of red by OPI, which is a rich red color with pink sparkly undertones that are only visible in certain lights.  (I thought it was only respectful to try out the first layering of silver on an OPI shade!). This shatter goes on much smoother than the black, and I like the way it crackles more, too. The cracks are more defined and the flakes are thicker. It doesn't look as streaky as the black did too me, and it is much less "punk rocker." I cannot stop staring at my nails! I think that this shade of shatter would look best over darker colors, because when I saw swatches of it over the Pirates of the Caribbean collection it was hardly visible--although I do love the pirates colors on their own! The color of the silver reminds me a lot of lucerne-tainly look so marvelous by OPI from their swiss collection, which I absolutely adored! Without top coat, the glitter is almost matte, though, so I definitely recommend a very thick shiny top-coat. One thing that I also did not like with the black shatter was that it made my fingernails feel uneven and chunky, so with this shatter I used a much thicker top coat to smooth things over and loved the effect. I used Sally Hansen No Chip Acrylic Top Coat which takes some getting used because of it's almost goopy-ness. But when using shatter or doing nail art a thick clear coat like this is necessary. I'll try to take a photo tomorrow if the weather works out, cross your fingers! And I'll be trying out many different combos of my shatter throughout the week! :) Night to all!