It's Fall Y'all - Leafy Patterns

Though the temperature of Fall isn't my favorite, the colors of Fall collections are pretty major and chic. I was inspired by these, and in particular, a leafy pattern designed by an Etsy creator, Eloise Renouf. I riffed almost entirely literally on her design for today's nail art.

Obviously this design called for plenty of colors. I pulled the following colors (and teased you about it on Instagram earlier here):

• For the pinky: OPI - Black Onyx and Cacee - Whitely
• For the ring finger: OPI - Cement the Deal and essie - Blanc
• For the middle finger: Black Onyx and LVX - Militaire
• For the index finger: OPI - Kiss Me I'm Brazilian and Black Onyx
• For the thumb: OPI - A-Taupe the Space Needle and Blanc

I really love the middle finger the most...which one's your favorite?

Nigiri Nails - Sushi Nail Art

When I was in college, I had my first experience with sushi. The guy I was dating at the time took me to a nice sushi restaurant, and told me he'd take care of the ordering, since I was new to sushi and all.

We had nice conversation, and I indulged in a big bowl of salty edamame. He directed me to put a little wasabi in my soy sauce dish, but after learning from a prank in high school that wasabi is actually nothing like guacamole, I politely declined. I'd been looking forward to trying sushi all day, so when it arrived, I could hardly refrain from eating the whole plate while the waiter explained what each row of sushi was.

I grabbed my first piece, doused it in soy sauce, then I'm sure the color of my face changed from a sun-kissed California glow to a solid wasabi green. My date had ordered us a nice big pile of octopus. If you've never had it...it tastes and has the consistency of an eraser.

Not surprisingly, I didn't try sushi again for a long time. Luckily, my now boyfriend insisted I retry it, and I've been hooked ever since. I'm still not a big fan of octopus though.

In honor of my traumatic experience, I did some sushi nail art!

I painted each little piece freehand, using this pattern I found on Flickr, which according to the Flickr user, is from the book Yoko by Rosemary Wells. I rummaged through my collection to find just the right colors for each piece. Here's a list of them all:

• Zoya - Wednesday
• Misa - Peach Passion
• Sation - Magic Mani Bus
• Sation - You're My Lacquer Charm
• essie - Roarrrrange
• essie - Blanc
• essie - Licorice

Now I'm hungry...

Clients' Nail Files - Grateful Dead for Monica

I don't often share nail art I've done for clients here on the blog, but my client Monica and I were so happy with these little tributes to Grateful Dead album art from Steal Your Face, that I just had to!

Monica wanted the little skulls to last, so we did everything in GelColor by OPI. The pink is Suzi Shops and Island Hops, the red is Big Apple Red, and her blue is OPI...Eurso Euro. The accents of white are Alpine Snow and black is Black Onyx.

All in all, the nail art took about an hour. If it weren't closing time at the salon, I would have done all 10 fingers, but her "peace" fingers worked out beautifully in the time we did have.

If you'd like to get nail art with me, book an appointment with me at St Julien Hotel & Spa in Boulder!

LVX Fall 2015 Collection with Marvelous Marble

I'm not sure if you guys know, but LVX as a brand has no sheer colors. Their formula is all full-coverage...until now! They're branching out of their prudish ways to reveal a little more nudity...of the nail. The Fall 2015 collection offers two shades that are slightly more sheer than any in the past, and I can only see it going off from there.

There are two sheerish shades, and I liked the idea of pairing one of them with gold in particular, and after a Pinterest inspiration binge, I found a pattern I liked a lot (here). Here's what I came up with.

I used a non-LVX shade for the base (I Cannoli Wear OPI from OPI...obviously), but the other three shades are all from the collection I'm reviewing today: Rhone, Militaire, and a line of Monarch.

To get the marble texture, I striped random, squiggly lines of Militaire very lightly. Some of the lines I watered down with a little acetone before and after I applied. It was a lot of back and forth, smudging with acetone and then retracing with fresh polish. Ultimately I think it looks pretty accurate to what marble is, don't you think?

Now let's take a look at the collection.

First, I have to say this is one of the most well put together collections I've seen for fall. All the colors make sense, and they all work well with each other. I've already used all of these colors on clients and they're all thrilled each time. I say I'd have to agree!

LVX - Militaire

Militaire (1-2 coats) covers amazingly well! If I'd applied just a tad bit more carefully, 1 coat would've been plenty. This color does have a militant feel to it...kind of that greyish-green you'd associate with a military or army uniform. Really great creme!

LVX - Monarch

Monarch (3 coats) is a yellow-gold foil that needed a little more than 2 coats for nice even coverage. It gave the marble tips I made the perfect midas accent.

LVX - Rhone

Rhone (2 coats) is the first sorta-sheer in this collection (you can see the free edge of my ring finger a little in this swatch). It's a nude blush creme.

LONDONTOWN - lakur Fall/Winter 2015 Collection with Beautiful Blossoms

Not all of us are eager and excited about new colors like some of the blues and purples coming to light. I am not one of those people. HOWEVER...if you are, then tonight's post might just be perfect for you...or your mom. I've got the newest lakur collection for Fall/Winter 2015, which is a quaint 4-piece collection of very neutral shades.

Ever since getting my new laptop decal (you can see it here), I've been wanting to do a nice simple little floral design. These coordinated shades of red and pink were perfect for the task.

Click to Enlarge

I know there are a lot of floral tutorials out there that look similar to this, but I didn't really follow a tutorial. I just followed the pattern of the decal I mentioned, and really liked the way it turned out! I used 3 of the 4 shades from this collection, as well as another lakur shade called Emerald Tower.

Here's a little info about lakur as a brand. It's a 5-free line, it's vegan, it's cruelty-free, plus some other pros. Mainly, it touts itself as a nourishing, natural ingredient line that will fix your nails while giving you some solid coverage in color. I can't speak for the long-term effects of the polish (I swatch too much to ever properly test that for you all), but I can say the coverage is quite nice. The formula is a little thick, which didn't cause application problems yet, but could be an issue when the bottle starts to run low later on. So weigh your options with this brand - healing properties but potentially difficult application. Keep that in mind while you browse the swatches.

lakur - Lady Luck

Lady Luck (2 coats) is a blood red creme. I swatched this color while watching a scary movie, so maybe that's why I'm associating it with blood. What do you think?

lakur - Mauve Over

Mauve Over (2 coats) really washes me out, which is a bummer because it's a pretty color. I guess muted rosy mauves aren't good on me.

lakur - Murray Me

Murray Me (2 coats) is my favorite from the collection. It's a nude creme with tones of greyish-pink. It's the base of my nail art, as well as the highlight of the flowers. I'm not sure what the "Murray" is referring to. Probably Bill Murray...because...you know...he's a white guy?

lakur - The Full Monty

If Mauve Over washes me out, then The Full Monty (2 coats) really gets lost. I have these yellow undertones in my skin, which The Full Monty has as well. Don't get me wrong, the flesh creme is stunning...but can you tell on my skin?

lakur and the other LONDONTOWN products can all be purchased here. Enjoy!

The products in this post were given for review purposes. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.