Inktober - Gift

I've got 4 more days of Inktober to catch up on, so let me "gift" you with day 28. Since it's not Halloween-time anymore, here's a little sneak peek into a holiday look you could try for winter!

Over a base of Marshmallow (essie), I created some wrapping paper with Toast It Up! (China Glaze) and Snap Happy (essie). I was going to do all of my nails as presents, but I liked the bow accent on just one, so I added the dots to spice it up a little.

Inktober - Chop

One of the most fun and satisfying birthday activities I've ever been a part of was when my friend took me to an axe throwing event. In a small warehouse with a bunch of plywood mounted to the walls with targets painted on, we were allowed to hurl axes of varying sizes at the wall. The first time I threw one, I didn't throw hard enough. The instructor actually asked me to put more weight behind it, and when that axe lands on the target (or anywhere near it), it brings an insane amount of satisfaction. If you live near something like that, TRY IT! I'll take chopping wooden walls over chopping onions any day. So I used that as my inspiration for Inktober day 24.

What axe-man wouldn't wear plaid? I thought it applied nicely to my theme, and added a little axe logo for good measure. The bright red base is Carmen (Zoya), and the logo's background is You're So Vain-illa (OPI). I watered down the black plaid lines by adding top coat to Black Onyx (OPI) and stirring it up until it looked runny. Then I filled in the black checks with solid black. Easy.

Inktober - Roasted

I loved today's prompt, even though it's almost as unspooky to me as "tranquil" was yesterday.

I must have been hungry when inspiration struck for this design, because all I could associate with "roasted" was nuts. So go nuts with me on a little trip to the circus!

Roasted

Of course everything is freehand, and this time I used all Zoya colors. Colors include Snow White, Darcy, Hannah, Spencer, and Louise.

Couture de Minnie courtesy of Beyond Polish

I'm always on the lookout for cheap online retailers to use when buying some expensive polish brands. I covet OPI and regularly find myself yearning after their new collections, but making my way out to the nail supply store can be a nightmare sometimes, and paying full price at a retail store isn't something I want to do.

I was approached by a new online store that offers awesome deals on expensive, brand name polishes for a major discounts. This new store is called Beyond Polish. In addition to offering the pricey OPI polishes for $6.95, they also carry a ton of gel polish lines and other polishes like China Glaze for $3.50 and Essie for $5.95.

The shipping is speedy and everything arrives packaged well, so you know you're investing in your polish and it will all arrive intact.

Beyond Polish sent me the girly Couture de Minnie OPI collection to try out as an introduction to their store. I loved this pink collection, so I made it into florals (using another OPI polish as the base, My Vampire Is Buff).

I used two of the collection's colors for the flowers, A Definite Moust-Have and Chic from Ears to Tail. I think it's a lovely representation of the delicate pinks, don't you?

Here's the rest of the collection.

The first color is Magazine Cover Mouse. It looks gritty because it is. It's textured and sandy and wonderful. This only needed two coats to look like this. It's a fire engine red with gold glit in it.

This sultry and slightly metallic red is called Innie Minnie Mightie Bow. I believe this was three coats to coverage. Very shiny and very grown up. Maybe Minnie wears this on her date night with Mickey. ;)

I love this hot pink, A Definite Moust-Have! It's not neon in the bottle, and not quite as neon as it appears in this swatch, but it does stand out as a wonderful pink creme. This was three coats.

One layer of Minnie's glitter, Minnie Style is shown here over A Definite Moust-Have. Matte white glitter is making its way deeper and deeper into the big name polish scene, and I love it. It's mixed in with metallic magenta pieces. If you want to see it utilized beautifully, I recommend checking out The Illustrated Nail's unique looks! They're to kill for!

This last color, Chic from Ears to Tail, is my favorite. What else can I say about it? It's 3 coats, and it's the perfect Barbie pink. Girls are born into loving this color!

Thank you again to Beyond Polish for sending along these samples to try! I recommend you all peruse the site for any coveted polishes you want for an even more coveted price. They ship domestic as well as internationally, and any orders over $100 are free to ship.

These products were sent to me by Beyond Polish. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Pop, Lock, and Drip It

Pop art, as it turns out, isn't given that genre name because the work usually 'pops' out at you. It's an abbreviation for "popular".

I like my more naive, childhood interpretation though, and took it quite literally here, with these 3D-looking pop art inspired drip nails!

This was fun to do. The base color is My Boyfriend Scales Walls (OPI). Then, I used Snap Happy (Essie), Carribean (Savina), and Almost Famous (Color Club).

If you're following me on Instagram, or you saw the colors in my feed to the right, then you knew what was coming. Is this what you were expecting? It's like the pop artist simply spilled all his paints, ruining the perfect dots underneath in a sort of perfect way.

Blood Red Bandana

A little Southern exposure for you tonight, with some bandanas!

They're not bloody or sweaty, but I was sweating to create the tiny lines, and the blood red is the lovely Snap Happy (Essie). The details were done with Alpine Snow and Black Onyx (OPI).

I had a bandana phase for a little while in elementary school. Unfortunately, living in Southern California, there were some bandana colors we weren't allowed to wear because of their affiliations with gangs. I wish I'd known about nail art back then, because this would've been an awesome way around that rule.

So if you're looking for a little Southern flair, but you're afraid of your school's dress code, try it on your nails. I bet they won't notice.

Cartwright's Blouse

I'm back! And I missed sharing things with all the readers.

For example, did you know that I'm shamefully running out of room for polishes as my collection grows larger and more colorful? Did you also know that I'm looking for a new pad for the summer? That means that my ever-growing collection will soon have a desk to live on, and an area to be stored in.

I've seen so many beautiful polish rooms, and so many great ideas for storage and organization of polish. Do you have a clever solution to your lacque-clutter? Tell me about it, I'd love to hear!

Tonight's look was inspired by an outfit I saw Karen Cartwright wear during a beautiful performance on "Smash" (a television show in the U.S.) Her red skirt had a gold embellished belt, and her blouse was a white silk number with black polka dots. It's almost a literal translation!

The colors I used include Peterhof Palace and Carmen (Zoya), and Alpine Snow and Black Onyx (OPI).

My Paprika Czechbook is Buff

Almost time for bed, and after a wonderful day of extreme scores at the nail supply shops, I had to use my new colors.

I got all 12 colors from the OPI Euro Centrale collection. Tonight, I used three:

• My Vampire is Buff
• Can't Find My Czechbook
• My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours!

Like this almost 3D look? I love it, and I love the collection!

More to come for nail art of Euro Centrale, I'm sure!

Nail Candy Review and Swatches

Can you believe it's almost the end of January already? This year just started! Where is the time going?!

Next month is a lovely month,  and Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I've seen a few Valentine's manicures already, and today I've got another, as well as a review of some new tools you may enjoy.

Nail Candy polishes are new to me. They combine a normal polish brush and a tiny nail art pen into one tool, with two different colors. That's a lot huh? Let me help you understand with some pictures.

Each pen comes with two colors, and the set I'm showing you today is called Love Letter. Pens...love letters...get it?

Each color has the capability of a brush, and the capability of a nail art pen. You can pull apart each pen at its base to get a solid base to stand your pen on.

Though this definitely helps keep the pen balanced, it's tricky to balance because they are such thin bottles.

Here's how the brush looks:

And here's how the nail tip looks:

See how teeny the tip is? That's great! It's smaller than my smallest dotting tool, and I think its size will be ideal for beginners. Whereas a normal striper brush or detail brush requires a steady hand and an unusual grip, these tools are thicker and easier to use, especially for beginners.

The nail tip does have a tendency to clog up, which Nail Candy has thought through very nicely. Attached to each tip (both colors on each pen), they've taped a tiny metal needle that you can use to unclog the tip should it get too stuck up.

I found that as new bottles, the polish was trying to get out before I could squeeze the little plastic bottle to get the polish out. I imagine this is because the bottles were still new, so I just made sure to squeeze a little drop off onto a paper towel first. You don't want to get globs of polish on the tip, as that'll mess up your designs.

The consistency of the polishes were all surprisingly nice! I've heard bad things about nail art pens such as these, where the polishes are just cheap and runny. These were great consistencies and that was pleasantly surprising.

The colors I'm showing didn't have names, but they all came in the set called Love Letter.

This creamy pink was a lovely shade! I used two and a half coats. (I say half because the last was very intentionally thin just to cover up a bald spot or two I'd left behind.)

 

This neon pink has a little bit of blue shimmer in it, and I liked it a lot. This was three coats.

The red is so rich and lovely. I almost want to call it a jelly, and it's so perfect for Valentine's Day. That's three coats.

Finally this is the white color. This was probably the best color for me. Though it had a tendency to get a little streaky due to its shimmer, it was still beautiful. I only needed two coats for this.

I really like these pens, and I highly recommend them if you're trying to get into nail art, but aren't quite comfortable with striping brushes.

Nail Candy sets are all available through their website here. They've got lots of colors, as well as a bling set using some 3D rhinestones! This would be a great gift to bring up for a clueless boyfriend...so start a Valentine's Day list! I hope to try some other colors at some point, and I hope you try some too.

These products were sent to me by Nail Candy. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Born Pretty Store Matte Top Coat Review

Do you have a matte top coat?

Do you want a matte top coat?

Do you know where to find a matte top coat?

Well, here's one from Born Pretty Store you will enjoy! It does exactly what you think...it turns the mani into a matte mani. It's pretty great. Nothing special, but I don't think any matte top coat would be. It works, dries quickly, and you can get it for under $5 (plus 10% off with the code C10X31).

Here's the mani I did with the matte top coat:

And here is the same mani with a shiny top coat:

See the difference? I really like the effect on glitter and shimmers! I used Bending Over Backward from China Glaze as the base, and Set the Stage from Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear.


This product was sent to me by Born Pretty Store. The review is based entirely on my experience with the product and was in no way influenced by anyone.

China Glaze Color Blocking

Inspiration for a manicure can come from the strangest places. You'll never guess where I was inspired for tonight's.

It was actually a commercial that briefly showed a girl riding a bus. Her bus seat had a pattern similar to this:

The colors were close too. I recently organized all my polishes, so I knew I had colors that would perfectly to recreate the bus seat I had seen. Most are from China Glaze, including Exotic Encounters, Igniting Love, Ride the Waves and Desert Sun. The only non-China Glaze is Black Onyx, an OPI.

Now that you know the manicure was based off of a bus seat, you can't seem to get that image out of your head can you? Sorry about that.

Where's the most random place you've seeked out inspiration?

Snap Happy Chauffeur

I have really liked seeing Essie swatches on everyone's blogs. After seeing Where's My Chauffeur over at Pshiiit, I really wanted it.

I saw it on the display shelf along with Snap Happy and knew they needed to be paired together. Corals, reds and oranges all work so perfectly with teals already, but these two were meant to be together. It was pure love when I added Purity (Zoya) to the mix as well.

Kudos Essie...these are amazing!

Vote for Nails

If you're living stateside, I hope you're voting today! Whether you're voting for one of the primary candidates or Rosanne Barr, your vote matters. Pay attention to your state's Amendments as well, and just go vote!

I think it's obvious from today's manicure who my vote's going for!

Colors used are all from OPI: No Room for the Blues, Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It and My Boyfriend Scales Walls.

Happy Plants

You've seen a few ColourLover-inspired designs here before. If you're new, or don't recall, ColourLovers is a fantastic site to browse color palettes and patterns. It's my go-to for inspiration.

Every Tuesday, an email to members is distributed, which they call Happy Huesday. They feature six or so popular patterns in the emails.

Yesterday, I liked one so much I decided to make it into a manicure.

Here's the manicure:

 And here's the pattern it was based on:

Image source: http://www.colourlovers.com/pattern/2958888/happy_plants

It's pretty obvious which part of the pattern is being shown on the manicure, but if I hadn't told you, would you think they were tiny mustaches?

Here are the colors I used: Ancient Jade (ORLY), Load (Illamasqua), Get in the Expresso Lane (OPI), Pull Over (Sinful Colors), and Front Row Flasher (Sation).

Cracked Cuticles

Someone get the bandages. Please!

My cuticles are drying out so much because of winter. It's frightening how out of hand it's gotten. Just look at the awful state they were left in the other night!

Talk about flooded cuticles!

Kidding...obviously. Just another trick in the month of tricks and treats!

This gruesome manicure was done using Skull & Glossbones from OPI and Adventure Red-y from China Glaze.

Tomorrow promises to hold something special as well...but will it be a trick or a treat? What do you think?

Where's Fall?!

Ok, Winter. That was a little rude. I know I said I wasn't excited for Fall, but I wasn't against warming up to it. Now suddenly it's snowing in Boulder?!

Image source: http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1107yr/first_snow_in_boulder_colorado/

I take it all back! I'm excited for Fall! See?! Excited! FALL MANICURE!

Come back Fall...

Colors: A-Taupe the Space Needle (OPI), Recessionista (Essie) and Solar Power (China Glaze).

A Full 'Hand'

I want to start this post out by thanking everyone who nominated and voted for me in the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards! I was not chosen as the Best New Beauty Blog, but a fellow nail blogger, 10 Blank Canvases took that honor home.  Congratulations Jenny! Maybe if I play my cards right, I'll be chosen as Best Established Beauty Blog next time around.

Speaking of cards...check out my mani!

I used some fun colors for this manicure: Rochelle (Shimmer Polish), Strumming My Nails (Sation), Adventure Red-y (China Glaze), Potting Soil (Lacquistry), and Black Onyx (OPI).

My favorite finger would have to be my pretty little pinky. The diamond shapes are amazing. They're right...on point.

This night of bad puns has been brought to you by: Friday.

Webbed Fingers

I don't care who you are, spiders creep you out. If you're not paying attention to your arm, chatting away with your friends or ferociously fingering your phone and you suddenly feel a wisp on your arm, you flinch. Then, when you look down to discover it's an uncomfortably large spider, you freak out. FREAK...the eff...out.

Make you squirm? Here's a much less anxiety-inducing image to put in your mind.

That better? I used Harley (Zoya), Black Onyx and Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It (OPI).

Breathe. The spiders are over.

Trick or treat.