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?

Classic French With a Twist

Sometimes when there are so many polishes and ideas, it's hard to pick just one!  Last night I found myself wanting something new, but I didn't really feel like doing all the work for a complicated tape mani or water marble.  I took to my Pinterest board and found inspiration from Chloe's Nails (as is often the case!).

Feminine, classic, and so, so pretty!

Base coat is Sinful Colors Bare - it is a gorgeous creamy pink with subtle pearl shimmer.  I saw it in the bottle, and now that I've worn it, it's probably my favorite pink polish in my collection.

The tips are Sinful Colors Black on Black, and a top coat of Seche Vite for that extra shininess.

I am in love with this mani!

Funky Frenches

I like doing funky French manicures.  Here are some of the ones I've done and photographed in the last few months.  Sorry for the poor quality cell phone photos, these are from when I was just posting my nails on Facebook and not much else!

Christmas Mani - Clear base, Sinful Colors Show Me the Way tips with an Ulta After Party topcoat

One of my all time favorites - Ulta Alter Ego with Sally Hansen Chrome Black Pearl tips 

Sinful Colors Black on Black with Essie Matte About You, then a clear topcoat for glossy tips

Another Christmas Mani - Ulta Jaded with Ulta After Party tips

I'm not sure if the tips here were black or a dark gray, then I applied a 

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms South Sea Pearl topcoat

Classic white tips with a Sinful Colors Frenzy topcoat

Sinful Colors Rise and Shine with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Emerald Express

I'm not sure what this pink is, I don't think I have it anymore.  Sinful Colors Black on Black tips

What's your favorite way to do a French tip?

Roman Opulence French

I have been interested in matte nail polishes since I saw a photo of a French manicure with matte black polish and glossy black tips.  I've kept my eye out for matte finishes since they're not available in regular stores all that often.  I have Essie's Matte About You topcoat, but there's just something about a polish that dries matte on it's own that's fun to me.

For today's nailsI used Revlon Ruby Ribbon Matte Suede with China Glaze Swing Baby tips.

Please excuse my messy cuticles, I applied the polish in a funky way, put on the gold first then taped off the tips and put on the red.  I don't usually do tips that way, but this is a pretty deep red and I was a little concerned about staining.  They look nicer from a little further away!

This manicure is really rich looking.  It reminds me of Ancient Rome - grapes, wine, golden wreathes and opulence.  I really like the suede finish, and I love this China Glaze polish.  It's gold, but it leans a little more bronzey than yellow.  

Glitter French

I'll be getting new manis up soon with photos taken with a REAL camera, but in the meantime I'll keep putting up some of my old manis that I've done.  This is one of my recent favorites.  I FINALLY got my nails into the shape I really wanted.  Of course, less than a day after I took this photo, one broke and I had to cut them.  I'm not sure how people maintain square nails without having acrylics.  Part of me thinks sometimes about getting shortish acrylics so I could have that pretty square shape, but I don't know if I want to pay to maintain them.

This French manicure was done with a topcoat of Ulta After Party, a clear base with silver and red sparkles.  I love to do this instead of a plain French.  Lovely and clean, but with a little glitz!