I Heart Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, so I got a head start on design ideas last night in my premier Instagram live video! It was fun, and with the help of a few lovely viewers, I freestyled all 5 fingers with a heart-theme. (Thank you in particular to @terranceburger and @zeeohee, who helped me come up with the thumb design and the name for it.) To make it a little more fun, I invited viewers to join me for a beer. I enjoyed a Liquid Paradise IPA from a Colorado brewery, New Belgium. I also played music from the Spotify "Creamy" playlist for the first half, but due to Copyright issues, I was asked to turn it off if I wanted to continue live streaming.

The full live feed (broken up into two design videos and one "apologies-to-Instagram-for-playing-music" video) will only be available until around 8:00 MST tonight), but for those of you without Instagram, here's the final look!

I used only 3 colors for the look, including Baylor (nail & bone), Love is in My Cards, and My Vampire is Buff (both from OPI). 

I'd love to do a live video again sometime. Any ideas or requests you'd like to see? 

Inktober - Expensive

What is it they say? All that glitter is gold? And isn't gold one of the most valued elements? I paired this "expensive" element with tedious, hand placed glitter on a rich, luxurious blue from lakur called Beau of the City. Inktober day 22 certainly looks "expensive" doesn't it?

Inktober - Whale

I've been having a whale of a time with life lately! Plenty of good concerts, good football, good friends. Unfortunately, it's put me a day behind on Inktober, but I hope you can grant me grace there. Trust me though, all days will be accounted for, albeit a few days late.

Speaking of whales...that's the prompt for day 12..."whale." For some reason, Spongebob Squarepants has come up a lot lately? Random references from random pieces of my life that I can't really understand, but was perfect for this odd day 12 prompt. I used the Bikini Bottom floral designs as part of my whale nail art, and of course, the most striking "whale", an Orca (although they're not technically whales).

Pairing the whale with all these bright colors takes the killer out of its name. The base blue is Sunday Funday (China Glaze), and the flowers are some other China Glaze shades including That's Shore Bright, Highlight of my Summer, I Brake for Colour, "Sun's Up, Top Down", and an essie orange called Roarrrrange.

I have an idea for day 13, which is "guarded," so come back tomorrow to see if it pans out!

Inktober - Flowing

Inktober Day 10! I'm doing so well with this, and it's really igniting some inspiration I needed to restart the blog...thanks Jake Parker!

The theme for day 10 is "flowing" and I was really tempted to do some sort of blood art (remember, it's October), but decided on a water theme instead. So with the help of China Glaze, I put together some blues and painted some water droplets in a gradient of blue!

The colors I used, again, were all China Glaze, including Man Hunt, I Sea the Point, Boho Blues, and Dashboard Dreamer. Don't they go together so nicely?!

Tomorrow is day 11, and I won't get a post up for that day, but get ready for day 12, where I'll be posting both "cruel" and "whale".

I hope you're enjoying these short and sweet posts!

Azature Polish Review and Swatches

Azature, the creators of the most expensive nail polish in the world, have created a more affordable taste of luxury with polishes that each contain a real diamond in every bottle.

Sorry...WHAT?! A diamond...in a polish...for $25?!

I don't really know what else to say about it. To be honest, I thought the whole idea of polish with a diamond in it was a huge waste of money. The cost of the polishes is still outrageous in terms of polish. No one I know would pay $25 for a single bottle of polish. Who cares...they sparkle...can't you get that sparkle in less expensive, diamondless polishes? 

I'm not so sure you can. Even the thin yellow polish that took 5 coats to reach a decent opacity still sparkled higher than most other polish I own or have seen. So I suppose diamonds really do make the difference in sparklability. 

EDIT: I tweeted Azature to clear up my confusion below, and they confirmed: "There is a floating, fully-cut, and faceted black diamond". 

Now let me clear something up...I think. When I first saw these, I assumed that there were crushed up diamonds in the polish, but now that I think about it more, I think there's just a diamond floating around in the polish. This makes more sense, so I apologize for my stupidity. I'm right in my second assumption, right?


I was lucky enough to be sent not one, but two Azature polishes: Azature Canary and Azature Blue.

Azature Canary is a very yellow yellow. It's not masked by anything, and is truly just a bright yellow. Because of this, it's thin, and requires a lot of build up (5 coats here). I didn't really love that about the yellow, especially knowing it's $25 a pop for the bottle and you need to use a lot of it right off the bat. After it's all built up though it's wonderful, as I'm sure you'll agree.

Azature Blue is more wonderful to me. It's royal blue and absolutely beautiful. Each speck of sparkle (whether it's chunks of diamond or just glitter) brings out the blue that much more, and I can't stop adjusting my hands to catch the light and the sparkle. I only needed 2 coats for this polish.

Both polishes look better with a layer of top coat on them since they are slightly textured from the pieces of glitter...or diamond. I'm still not sure. I used Seche Vite, and no visible texture remained. 

For the nail art, I used Azature Blue, essie's Mesmerized and OPI's Don't Pretzel My Buttons to make a fun rope outlining my half moon. Looking at these swatches again though, I'm not sure it needed nail art, because it really does sparkle.

If you have the spare change, or are looking for a gift idea to give to your boyfriends, then consider this. Again, it's an outrageous amount to spend on polish, diamonds or not, but it is unique and may be worth the price.

You can purchase Azature from their online store. 


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

Another Cult Cosmetics Kit...Shiny Double Accent!

I've had an amazing time creating videos on my new YouTube channel!

It's been an experience, trying out the different techniques to create and edit a movie. I'm pretty happy with the results, and I hope you've had a chance to see them. It's been a little awkward listening to my voice playback, but what're you gonna do?

My latest video is a tutorial for one of my most popular looks, the Shiny Double Accent, available at Cult Cosmetics.

Like the other Cult Cosmetics kits, this one includes everything you need to get the look. The gold glitter, the stunning blue, and the easy striping tape is all together.

You can pick up the kit at CultCosmetics.com for 10% off with the code NAILEDIT.

And, for your viewing pleasure, you can listen and watch me design the look for you! Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel too!

Color Society - Color Club Royals

Click the icon to visit the Color Society page.

Color Club is fast becoming a great polish brand for nail art. Repeatedly, I find myself grabbing their bottles for full, rich color in many of my detailed nail art ideas. One of my favorites is their fabulous yellow, Almost Famous. After tonight, I have two more to add to my list.

Here's some nail art to prove it!

The color shown is Bright Night, splattered with little white daisies done with a nail striper from Color Madric. Isn't it so rich?!

For its swatch, I used two coats of Bright Night. It's one of the best blues I own to date, walking the line between being dark, yet bright. It's not for those afraid of bold colors, that's for damn sure!

Its partner in this review is Abyss. It's more blue than a previous teal from Color Society's set of Color Clubs using Wild Cactus, shown here. Again, very rich, and needs only two coats for ultra opacity.

If you're looking for great nail art polishes that'll get you fabulous results without lots of retracing, I recommend diving into some of the Color Club creme polishes, like these two rich beauties.

Thank you again to Color Society for sending out wonderful polishes for bloggers to review. And remember, if you're interested in applying to be part of the Color Society, fill out the application here!

Click the icon to visit the Color Society page.

These products were sent to me by Color Society. 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.

Color Society - Halo Hues

Click the icon to visit the Color Society page.

Installment #2 of the Color Society series, and unfortunately, it doesn't involve the sunlight I wanted. Every chance I've had at sunlight have been thwarted, either by snow, rain, or work. All troublesome when you're trying to bring out the gorgeous holoness of the Color Club Halo Hues!

The Halo Hues shine like diamonds, and reflect a gorgeous rainbow across all your nails. What's more, they apply beautifully and completely in two even, quick-drying coats. It's really the best of all worlds, and they're all readily available!

To honor the diamond look they give, here's some diamond nail art, using my own diamond tutorial.

The base color is Pastel Teal from Kleancolor. The diamonds were created with the first color, Over the Moon. This is a vibrant and beautiful blue. It's not a dark blue, but it's not a faded silver. I love it, it's the perfect mix.

The other color in the society is Beyond. A black holo, with its own charm, but not quite as stunning as Over the Moon. I'd love to see it used as a gradient with a neon pink! It's like oil, with it's blackness and rainbow beauty.

Interested in applying to be part of the Color Society? Fill out the application here to apply!

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

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!

Marquise Stud Review from Born Pretty Store

After a few very blingy guest posts, I needed to get a little blingy myself.

I used the marquise studs from Born Pretty Store to bling out this manicure.

These shapes are larger than most of the studs I own already, and with my littler nails, I'm more limited to what I can do. I love them though, and the fact that three little studs can outline the shape of my cuticle perfectly and create a perfect design.

The base color is Road House Blues from OPI.

You can pick up a pack of studs like these from Born Pretty Store here for just under $6. Due to their odd shape and larger size, I recommend gluing them down rather than using just a topcoat to hold them.

If you place an order, use a 10% off code to deduct some more from your purchase: C10X31

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

Megabright Megapixels

Have you ever heard of Jindie Nails? There's some awesome glitter in this Etsy store, and I picked up a rather large shipment a while ago.

One of the colors I liked most from the pictures in the store was a polish called Megapixels.

I thought I'd pixelate the look further by zooming in on the pixels as accent nails.

The colors I used include Megapixels from Jindie Nails of course, Hanging in the Balance (China Glaze), Sunshine and Pink Flip-Flops (Barielle).

Reminds me of sitting right up next to the TV just so I could look at the tiny squares that were forming the magical images on the TV.

Man it feels good to be doing nail art again!

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?

Born Pretty Store 3-Size Rhinestone Wheel Review

There's good bling, and there's bad bling.

This...

Rhinestones shown with Mesmerized (Essie)

...is good bling.

This...

Source: http://www.dumbdrops.com/he-just-looks-stupid-with-all-that-bling/

...is bad bling.

You can get the good bling I'm showing you here, in three different sizes, for under $5, from Born Pretty. You can get a wheel of bling.

Wheel...of...rhinestones! (Thanks Vanna White.)

Each of the three sizes has four compartments in the wheel. It's a bit difficult to see the size differences between the three in the blue mani up top, so I did another for comparison.

Rhinestones shown over gradient of Stirring Silver and Prairie Fairy (Sation)

Which mani do you prefer with the rhinestones?

I loved this wheel of rhinestones. The three sizes were all manageable, but varied enough that I didn't feel like I actually just got two sizes.

The rhinestones are easy to adhere, and you don't need glue. Nail glue will  help them last longer if you're going for longevity, but a layer of topcoat as a sticky base, then another as a topcoat over the rhinestones and polish works just as well. (I personally recommend using Seche Vite fast dry topcoat, as it's thicker and lays well over the rhinestones.)

The easiest way to put them on is to use a toothpick with a little bit of tacky topcoat on the tip to pick up each rhinestone. The Nailasaurus shows you just how to do this using glequins, but the technique is the same.

To avoid getting bubbles around the rhinestones, try not to apply too many layers of topcoat. 

You can get your own wheel of rhinestones from Born Pretty for just under $4. If you're new to Born Pretty, you'll be excited to hear that shipping is FREE...

...It gets better though! You can take an additional 10% off your entire order by using my coupon code, C10X31. 

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

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.

Runway Stamp

After I stamped these nails, I realized how well the pattern would have gone with the Tadashi Shoji nail art competition. I'm still really glad I did my design freehand though, but this would have been a fantastic stamp alternative.

You can still vote for my entry here! I'd love your support!

With the winter weather whipping the windows and calling all chills, my nails have been both dry, brittle, and uninspired. Luckily I recently received my plates from Cheeky. If you've been thinking of getting some plates, get these! You can get three jumbo plates, including plate C, which I used in this design, for $19.99 here. Apparently there's also a steal of a deal on a 6-jumbo-plate set for $39.99. Uh...what?! That's unheard of! And these plates honestly rock. The designs are HUGE, and the only thing you'll be complaining about is the fact that your stamper is probably too small for them. Seriously...dang.

Don't you love the blue I used? It's Essie's Aruba Blue. The stamp is Silver Sweep (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri).

Inverted Dots

Polish disorganization is a terrible thing. Bottles get shoved in awkward places, and they get lost in the shuffle of glitter and bottle sizing. I'm suffering from this malady right now and it's unbelievably frustrating. My visits to Micheal's aren't paying off, and I keep coming up without Melmers, as much as I'm dying for one. We don't have the space for a Helmer, so a Melmer would do just fine.

One good thing did come from this unorganized mess though. I rediscovered the cuties from Lime Crime, and paired Crema de Limon, the yellow from the collection, with Calypso Breeze (ORLY). Nothin' fancy, just some interesting dots.

Shoving such beautiful bottles into a plastic container beneath the entertainment center is a far cry from the beautiful polish rooms of girls like Cristina and Caitlin. So if anyone sees a Melmer at their local Micheal's, let's talk.

Happy Little Clouds

I got sunshine on a cloudy day...

And cloudy it has been. The ongoing anti-Fall protest continues with a sunny bright manicure. It's a little something but nothing too fancy or special. I've got some major projects to amp up for, so I'm savoring these days of simple nail art in the meantime.

There's only three colors and a dotting tool involved tonight. Once in a Blue Mousse (Lime Crime), My Boyfriend Scales Walls (OPI) and The "It" Color (OPI).

Shiny Double Accent

I feel like I'm somehow rooting for a football team that's playing with these nails.

Then again, I also just feel happy because there's so much shiny to the whole manicure. Shiiiny!

I may cause a fire if I dance around...

Source: http://www.gifbin.com/983103

You're being blinded by I'm Not Lion and Man Hunt. Pretty huh?

Rock a Frog

The inspiration tornado swept over the Nailed It Hub (aka my brain) all night tonight. In its wake it left nothing but bottles and bottles of polish strewn all over the counter and design ideas floating away in the speedy winds. I had one idea after the other, but nothing seemed to make it past my fingertips. So again, I turn to glitter.

That's one part Rock-a-Guy Blue (Sation) and one part Froggy Pond (Naild'it Unique Polish).

Sorry glitter-haters, tonight's just not an artsy night. I blame Fall.