Art Deco Chevrons

This is another manicure inspired by Jane at Nailside!  In fact, I even used very similar colors to her original design.  I had never tried chevrons before, and they were actually easier than I expected.  You can use plain tape, but for this one I used the straight tip guides from one of my french manicure sets.

I started with a base of Zoya Bevin, then did the first chevrons in China Glaze Swing Baby.  I used the same guides and taped off again, then added the final triangle in China Glaze Stone Cold.

After that, I applied a coat of Essie Matte About You.  I think they came out gorgeous!  I am excited to try this design with different colors, it's a pretty easy way to get a cool design.

My First Gradient!

Right now, gradient manicures are THE thing.  I have a ton of them pinned on Pinterest, including this great tutorial from The Nailasaurus.  I have seen people using her technique on multiple blogs I read, and they come out with these gorgeous gradients that I just drool over.

I decided to try one and bought some makeup sponges.  I used a base of China Glaze for Audrey and then mixed it with Wet N Wild Bite the Bullet, a kind of smoky purple, for the gradient effect.  It turned out okay.  I'm not sure if I was not using enough polish, not mixing the colors enough, or not moving the sponge up and down enough, but it did not turn out NEARLY as smooth looking as the other gradients I've seen pictures of.  I may just need to practice more.  It looked pretty cool from a distance, but in the photos you can see the sponginess of it.  I'm going to have to try again soon, and see if I can get it to turn out better.

Have you tried gradient nails yet?  I really want to try a rainbow gradient, so maybe I'll try that next time.  It seems like maybe using more colors could help make it smoother?  We'll see!

Blue Ombre Nails

I've seen lots of photos of ombre manicures. Maybe this isn't a TRUE ombre since I didn't just use different shades of the same color, but I like how it turned out!

The colors I used for this one were Essie Go Overboard, Revlon Chic, Ulta Bam-blue-zled, China Glaze For Audrey, and a light blue Petites polish I picked up specifically for this.

Go Overboard and Chic are two of my favorite polishes in my collection, so it's always nice to get a chance to wear them!

Another Capitol Colours Mani

Today I have another Hunger Games inspired mani using the China Glaze Capitol Colours collection.

First I want to share with you one of my very favorite polishes of all time, Stone Cold.  It is a gorgeous soft charcoal matte, I am totally in love with it.  It's unique and sophisticated and just beautiful.

So pretty, but I wanted something fancy.  I decided to do a french tip and I hadn't tried out Luxe and Lush yet, so I decided to do some flaky glittery tips.

I liked how it turned out, but to be honest I'm not a huge fan of the type of flaky glitter in Luxe and Lush.  It doesn't lie flat, and I don't have a glitter tamer, so even with a coat of Seche Vite over top , it was catching on things.  I think with this type of polish it really needs a couple of topcoats at the least.  It is pretty for sure, but I also just hate removing glitter polishes, especially ones with large chunks.  Oh well, I guess it's worth it for the prettiness!  I hope you like this one, and that you got to enjoy the Hunger Games this weekend if you are a fan like me!

Happy Hunger Games Day!

As this post publishes at it's schedule time of 12 AM, I'll be sitting in a packed theater watching a midnight show of The Hunger Games.  SO EXCITED!  In honor of the occasion and my acquisition of one of the best polishes I've ever seen, here is another Hunger Games mani using the China Glaze Capitol Colours polishes.

I wanted to use Riveting and Stone Cold.  There are some absolutely fabulous Hunger Games manis out there today - check some of them out on my Pinterest nail board!  I was so impressed and would have loved to do something fancy, but I'm just nowhere near as good at freehanding as many of these ladies.  I decided to do a funky french mani, and then I decided to use my zig zag scissors instead of doing a straight line.

After I'd painted them, I put on a coat of Seche Vite to seal it before mattifying.  Here are a few shots of this one shiny.  I didn't love it, honestly I like Stone Cold how it comes out of the bottle with it's soft matte finish. It's one of my favorite polishes ever, and on Monday I'll have a few swatches of it on it's own.

Next I applied a coat of Essie Matte About You to transform it.

I don't love it as much as I'd hoped I would.  Because the Riveting was applied over the darker polish, it is a tiny bit spotty and darker than when it's on it's own.  When it was shiny it wasn't as visible, but after I applied the matte it didn't look as gorgeous as it does on it's own with a matte topcoat.

I'll be wearing this tonight to the movie, but I'm not sure how long I'll keep it on after that!

Have you ever done nails inspired by a book or movie?  Will you be seeing The Hunger Games this weekend?

Wish List

I have tons of polishes I am drooling over at Pinterest and on my Amazon wish list, and they just keep getting fuller.  Right now, these are the ones I would most love to get my hands on.

Image Source: Beautopia

Zoya Ki.  Just look at that gorgeous duochrome color!  It reminds me of those oil puddles on the ground that always look so pretty, or of peacock tones.

Image Source: Chloe's Nails

I've been wanting some magnetic polish for a while, but what I really like about the China Glaze Magnetix is the differently shaped magnets.  Specifically, I am totally in love with the star pattern!  This color is Cling On and I love it.

Deborah Lippman makes some pretty fabulous polishes, and this was one of the first ones I ever laid eyes on.  It's called Across the Universe and it is basically 'my' colors - my very favorite blues.  I don't have many glitter polishes, they're not totally my thing, but every once in a while I see one that I know I'd love.

These are just some dotting tools - it's one thing I don't have that would let me do more fun stuff.  I also want some stamping plates, but don't have any particular ones that I'm really coveting right now.

Image Source: Goose's Glitter

This is another glitter polish.  There are tons of stores on Etsy that seem to have homemade glitter polishes - these people are doing crazy sales because these polishes are so popular.  This one is Oh Yes I Did from Laquistry.  Like I said before, I am not a huge fan of a lot of these polishes that are completely saturated with glitter.  But I really love the color combo in this one, it is a little bit more unique.

Image Source: Let Them Have Polish

This gorgeous one is Fantasy Fire from Max Factor.  I LOVE this color combo because it's unusual, and look at the way the glitter just glows.  It really looks like burning embers.  These sell for around $30-35 on Ebay, so it's not likely I'll add it to my collection any time soon.

Image Source: Let Them Have Polish

This is Get It On 'Em, one of the polishes in OPI's Nicki Minaj collection.  I don't know what it is about this color.  Sometimes I look at it and think it's hideous, but I'm strangely drawn to it, and I think I need to have it.  I think it would look really great under a black crackle, I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to wear it on it's own.

Image Source:  Let Them Have Polish

Honestly, there are tons of Zoya polishes I'd love to own.  They make great, solid colors that are a nice addition to a collection.  We have an Ed Wyse in town and I went for the first time the other day, their selection of OPI and Zoya polishes is insane.  The beautiful teal cream above is Bevin, and the green below is Shawn.  It looks in the photo above like Bevin comes out a little matte, but it's also gorgeous with a shiny top coat.  I love Shawn for it's pure green-ness, one of my favorite colors in nature.

Image Source: Let Them Have Polish

Image Source: Polish Mayhem

I have been interested in matte polishes lately, and Orly Purple Velvet is just one of the ones on my list.

These last three are the ones I want the most, I just drool over them.

Image Source: Scrangie

I have one Holographic polish, it's from the Sally Hansen Magical collection from a few years ago that's been discontinued for a long time.  I REALLY want to add some true holos to my collection, and just look at how absolutely amazing this Gosh silver holo is!  It is amazing.

Image Source: Chloe's Nails

So, this is actually two polishes, but I love the combo so much!  This is a manicure the Chloe did over at Chloe's Nails.  The top coat is the one I want most, it's Teal Scales from Funky Fingers.  Just look at that!  I have never seen a crackle that looked so pretty.  It's layered over China Glaze Flying Dragon, and I just think the combo is to die for.

And this is one of my biggest lemmings right now - the China Glaze Capital Colours collection.  This is the official ad, but these colors are way more amazing when you see them actually on nails.  You can see them all actually swatched over at Vampy Varnish - but be prepared to fall in love with them!  She has a giveaway going for the ENTIRE COLLECTION that ends today, and if I won it... I would be beyond ecstatic!

What's on your wish list?