Matte-ful Botanical

If I could poll the clients I work with to learn which collections from OPI they like the most, the popular vote (and electoral college vote) would wholeheartedly agree that it's been OPI's Fall collection every time since I've been working as a nail technician. So, to pay homage to past Fall collections and to scratch the itch to continue to make beautiful nail art posts, here's a fall botanical scene for you to enjoy.

All but the rusty orange (It's a Piazza Cake) are from the Washington D.C. fall collection back in 2016. The yellow is Never a Dulles Moment, the raspberry is OPI by Popular Vote, and the army green is Suzi - The First Lady of Nails. 

Don't those seem fitting as we come to the end of day 4 of the presidential election? 

All the botanical illustrations were hand painted over a blob of My Vampire is Buff (also OPI) with Black Hole (from INM). I topped it all with OPI's Matte Top Coat as well. (Has anyone else really been vibing with the matte top coats? It all started for me when I did a friend's nails back in September for Halloween.)

Julia Dreams Floral Poppy

I can't even begin to talk about what has happened in the last few months for me, but I'll spare those personal details. Of course, we are all experiencing the global pandemic that is COVID-19, and for many of us in the beauty profession, that means we're out of work. I've temporarily been furloughed until the all clear is given that I can safely work on my clients again. That means a lot of time at home. A LOT. And while it's been nice to fill that time with projects here and there, it's also been filled with a lot of snacking and admittedly, drinking. So, to help curb that vice and keep this blog full of material, I've committed to posting more nail art, starting with today.

The colors I used for today's look are mainly from OPI: My Boyfriend Scales Walls and Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It. The black accent is Black Hole from INM. You'll recall from my Inktober 2019 posts that its become my favorite black for nail art.

Julia Dreams Floral Poppy

The design I snagged from a floral pattern originally designed by Julia Dreams. She has some excellent repeating patterns, and since today was so nice and sunny, I thought this was a nice cheerful Spring look.

Also be sure to check out my Instagram. I recorded a video of me doing one of the fingers. The original video is just over 10 minutes, so that gives you an idea of how long my designs tend to take me.

Stay safe, and stay home everyone! The better we are about containing the spread, the quicker we'll be able to be with the people we love. #StayHome

Anna Bond Florals

The Inspiration

Anna Bond is the creator of some unbelievably beautiful florals that have been inspiring nail artists for years. Her creations can be seen on almost anything a print adorns, as she is the co-founder for Rifle Paper Co. I've been following her work for years, and today's nail art was inspired by this design recently shared on her Instagram. I happily spent a few hours just freestyling each finger based on that design, and here's the result!

Freehand Anna Bond Florals

The Color Palette

As you can imagine, this look called on a lot of different colors. After rifling through lots of Melmer drawers, I wound up with these colors for my Anna Bond floral look:

OPI: Alpine Snow, Black Onyx, Never a Dulles Moment
Misa: Shoot the Chute
Zoya: Wyatt, Danielle, Sawyer, Sage/Satin (this was the base), Sonja, Arbor, Presley, Laurel, Kieko

Of course, everything is freehand.

Thank you for inspiring me Mrs. Bond!

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!

Client Nail Files

If you didn't know, I work at a 4-star nail salon in Colorado. Ever since joining the team there, blogging has taken a backseat. It's tough to come home from long shifts, sometimes ending past 8:00pm, and find the energy and content to blog.

Nonetheless, nail art is still a huge passion of mine. Most days, my clients don't ask for nail art (Boulder isn't a city known for its colorful, wild fashion), but on the days that they do, I get so excited!

I'd like to share some nail art that clients and I have done together with you now! Check out the collection below, each design with its own story.

OPI California Dreaming Collection Poppies in Infinite Shine

California's where I grew up. It was a small town in South East California, but it shaped me as a person, and I'm glad that's where I grew up. California is a colorful state from all angles, so OPI's California Dreaming collection is unsurprisingly full of bright shades! This summer collection boasts lots of pinks, corals and reds. Growing up in California, I associate the bright orange California poppy with the state, so after seeing Santa Monica Beach Peach, I knew the nail art I wanted to do.

A Poppy of Color

A Poppy of Color

I call this nail art "A Poppy of Color" and it's all drawn freehand! Apparently California poppies are popular tattoo designs, so I used tattoo sketches as inspiration and guidance for the nail art. But it was all truly inspired by the color, so let's see the swatches on their own.

Each of the swatches below is in the OPI line called Infinite Shine, which is a hybrid polish that's not a lacquer, but not a gel. Though you don't need a light to dry the polish like a gel, it wears longer and dries more quickly, unlike like a lacquer. So it's a hybrid polish. The line definitely lasts longer than a regular polish, and it definitely dries more quickly.

OPI - Barking Up the Wrong Sequoia

Barking Up the Wrong Sequoia (2 coats) is a sandy pink creme shade. It's a beautiful semi-nude that covers nicely but still feels feminine like some of the sheers.

OPI - Don't Take Yosemite for Granite

Don't Take Yosemite for Granite (2 coats) is a dark purple-d slate grey chrome with glints of rainbow shimmer - it's more unique than it initially appears in the bottle. Plus it has the best name, hands down. OPI must've hired more dads, because the dad jokes are out of control!

OPI - Excuse Me, Big Sur!

Excuse Me, Big Sur! (2 coats) is a muted, fleshy pink creme. It's the color of my skin when I'm healing from a sunburn.

OPI - Feeling Frisco

Feeling Frisco (2 coats) is a light, skin-toned beige creme. I've been wearing it on my toes, and it beautifully tans my feet in an optical illusion.

OPI - GPS I Love You

GPS I Love You (2 coats) is a bright hot pink creme, very similar to an OPI classic, Strawberry Margarita. In fact, I've held the colors up next to one another, and couldn't find a difference.

OPI - Malibu Pier Pressure

Malibu Pier Pressure (2 coats) is a hot bubblegum pink creme.

OPI - Me, Myselfie & I

Me, Myselfie & I (2 coats) is a bright orange-coral, soft creme, though it's not a harsh bright.

OPI - Santa Monica Beach Peach

Santa Monica Beach Peach (3 coats) is a tangerine peel, bright poppy orange creme. However, it is a little patchy, so I needed 3 coats for this effect.

OPI - Sweet Carmel Sunday

Sweet Carmel Sunday (2 coats) is a bronze chrome with great, full coverage.

OPI - This is Not Whine Country

This is Not Whine Country (2 coats) is a very royal magenta jelly. It's meant to show the nail underneath, so I didn't layer more than 2 coats to give it the effect it wanted.

OPI - Time for a Napa

Time for a Napa (2 coats) is a light coral creme polish. It's beautifully warm.

OPI - To the Mouse House We Go!

To the Mouse House We Go! (2 coats) is the last color - a semi-sheer orange-red jelly. I like to see reds in jellies, because it's not so harsh, freshening the whole idea of a "classic red".

California Dreaming is a summer collection, but since the colors are so versatile and classic, they can be worn any time of the year. I see this collection becoming OPI staples for years to come!

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.

Taking it to the Matte with LVX Spring & Summer 2017

Today let's take it to the matte! I've got a full review of another summer collection, this time from LVX. The way LVX chooses the colors is by going to all the runways for the season and scoping out the trends in color, so what you may typically think of as a "summer" or "spring" collection might not be what you see with LVX. Nonetheless, I was inspired by the colors they chose to make some matte floral nail art for you all today.

I literally used every single color for this freehand floral design! The pinks played perfectly into one another to give my flowers lots of dimension, and the combination of teal and purple is beautiful. The dark green accents the leaves really well too. To make it matte, I used my OPI matte top coat but the swatches were all done with a shiny top coat. Let's look!

LVX - Argonne

Argonne (2 coats) is a smooth, mossy sage creme...almost as smooth as a sage leaf actually is.

LVX - Camellia

Camellia (2 coats) is an exact dupe of Pepto-Bismol, and just about as smooth.

LVX - Coquillage

Coquillage (3 coats) is a light pastel off-pink white shade. I needed another coat than I normally do to get a smooth coverage though.

LVX - Reine

Reine (3 coats) is a little bit more of a crelly (creme-jelly) than a creme. It's a beautiful, neonish-purple, but it needs a top coat. It's stunning when it's full-shine!

LVX - Schiaparelli

Schiaparelli (2 coats) is a hot, warm pink creme. Simple as that.

LVX - Seychelle

Seychelle (2 coats) is a light pastel robin's egg creme. It's a bit chalky unfortunately, but that led to me deciding to make my design matte, and I think that was a good one.

Each of the colors is still available through LVX's site here (listed alphabetically). Though LVX is a luxury line, I've always said it's worth its money.

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.

EDC 2016 Nails

A close group of friends and I annually go to one, if not THE, biggest music events in North America, called The Electric Daisy Carnival. EDC brings the world's most talented DJs together in an event you can't even begin to wrap your head around. To get an idea, check out Under the Electric Sky, a documentary on the event.

We partake in the Las Vegas event (the main one), and to see how the community EDC creates can foster such happy people and good music is pretty amazing. If you ever have the chance to go, and enjoy dance music, do it!

In the past, I dressed up in some pretty ridiculous costumes, but that's tamed down a bit as I've gotten older. What I lacked this year in costume though, I made up for in nail art, as you can see by my EDC nails!

Left Hand

Right Hand

I dug deep into my massive polish collection to get the right effect for each nail. I used a lot of colors from ORLY's PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) collection, and the glitters on my thumbs were both Color Club minis (British Invasion and Neon Static).

The owl on my left hand's middle finger is the symbol for EDC. Each year, the stages represent him in a different way, but that particular design I did based on a sticker that came with the tickets. The daisy reference is also pretty obvious on both hands, although my right hand didn't get as much detail. I'm not fully ambidextrous.

If you have any questions about the techniques used for these looks, feel free to comment below!

LVX Summer 2016 Collection with Lemon Saffron Seasoning & New Nail Art Brushes

My little office space now lives in the 3rd story, with a window opening out into the tree tops. Squirrels bounce around, birds flit by, and I'm reminded of why I love summer. The heat can't beat the joy, so let's milk the last part of summer for all it's worth.

Lemon Saffron Nail Art & New Brushes

The LVX Summer 2016 collection features 6 colors that completely represent the good vibes of summer. I've already used LVX for lemon nail art in the past, but I was struck by another pretty lemon pattern that I thought went well with some of these colors, so here's LVX in lemon, part two!

These baby lemons were probably about as easy as raising an actual baby, with tweezers. And I still didn't get the level of detail I wanted. I'm really excited about the brushes I used for the designs though. If you're a nail artist, you've probably amassed at least 43 brushes for detailing your designs. I've got another 3 you need to add - the Winstonia Berry Wine brushes.

The bristles on these 3 brushes are very thin, which makes detailing easy and controllable. You don't even need to trim them, as the shortest one is the perfect length.

I've already used mine, so it doesn't look as thin as the freshly unpackaged ones, but trust me, you need it, especially if it's only $5.95!

LVX Summer 2016 Swatches

LVX - Saffron

Now, I know you all know how big of a fan of yellow I am. My blog's been yellow for years, and every post that includes a yellow raves about it, but Saffron (2 coats) was a tricky beast, even though it ultimately produced a gorgeous mani. In fact, truth time - I used my blog's name to cover up some of the messy yellow cleanup that failed on my ring finger in the nail art shot. See it? If you get any of this shade on your skin, you'll be stained a bit until a few hand washes sloughs off those stained layers of skin. The taxi yellow also has a bad formula, almost like an old polish that's dried out and has become thick and gloppy.

LVX - Bon Bon

Bon Bon (2 coats) is a baby bubblegum pink with a normal, controllable formula.

LVX - Coquelicot

Argh this is so frustrating! The two colors I was most excited about, Saffron and Coquelicot (2 coats) have awful formulas. This bright orange-red creme couldn't smooth out well no matter how quickly or slowly I moved.

LVX - La Mer

La Mer (2 coats) was a pleasure of a formula, and an interesting color too! It's a dark but bold tealy blue. You can see that even in the nail art up above, it works well and doesn't show colors beneath.

LVX - Lush

Lush (2 coats) is a lovely sage creme polish with the formula I expect from LVX - easy to apply and covers easily in two coats.

LVX - Serene

Serene (2 coats) is a sky blueish-periwinkle creme with another easy formula.

I want to recommend the whole collection to buy, but I'm so frustrated with the awful formula of Saffron and Coquelicot that I simply can't. So pick and choose what you like from the collection here, but do NOT miss the Berry Wine brushes from Winstonia here!

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.

Snow White Gets a Manicure - LVX Spring 2016 Swatches & Review

A Little Love

I want to start this post with something a little serious. I want to thank those of you following me on my blog here. Not my Facebook, not my Twitter, and not my Instagram, which is going to soon make things so that my posts are less likely to be seen. But those of you that read this, are getting all the details first hand, and quite frankly, this is where the juiciest stuff happens. (Read below for my unabridged thoughts on this collection.) So once again, thank you!

Snow White Gets a Manicure

I've decided to label tonight's nail art as "Snow White Gets a Manicure". Why? Well the colors of the LVX Spring 2016 collection spoke inspiration to me that included feminine details like my little birdie in the cage and itty bitty florals. Obviously Snow White got a little hood and added some gold bling, but other than that, she kept it pretty aligned with her morals.

I tried to pose a picture with a little bird sitting on my fingers, but birds don't flock to me like they do in the movies. I've tried...more than once.

LVX Spring 2016 Swatches

I liked this collection, because depending on which colors you pair with which other colors from the collection, you get an entirely different feel. If you put Fleur, Blush, Aria and Azure beside one another, it feels bright and happy. If you put Icon, Aria, and Azure beside one another, it's more serene and coastal. 

LVX - Aria

Aria (2 coats) is the color of sage before it's deliciously fried up in sweet sweet butter. It's about as creamy too.

LVX - Azure

Maybe I'm taking crazy pills, but I feel like LVX really missed a great naming opportunity with Azure (2 coats). Personally, I think it should be called...Blue Steel.

 

Source

Zoya Transitional 2016 Collection with Whispers

The Whispers collection from Zoya, available now and here, is a nice option for those ready to give up their winter shades for spring, but aren't quite ready to go full blown pastel. This transitional collection features 6 soft, muted shades, with color that gets you in the mood for more sun and flowers!

I liked the idea of spring bloom, so here's a cute little floral look on one of the Whispers shades, Lake.

Whispering Petals

I also used Ireland for the stems and leaves, and mixed a non-Whispers Zoya color, Arizona, with white to get the petals of the flowers. I also used it for the detail colors on the flowers.

Now let's transition into the swatches. ;)

Whispers Swatches

All the Whispers colors are solid cremes. There's no pearlescense, shimmer, or metallics, just simple flat cremes. 

Zoya - Cala

Cala (2 coats) is a nude creme with yellow undertones. Some polishes in Whispers are difficult to work with, but Cala applies really well and has perfect coverage.

Zoya - Lake

Lake (2 coats) is a dusty, pale blue creme. Like Cala, it applies easily and lays smoothly on the nail. 

Zoya - Eastyn

Eastyn (2 coats) is a dark grayish-lavender creme. This is the first polish I swatched from the collection that had a thick formula. It still evens out nicely with top coat, but applying it isn't the smoothest.

LVX Winter Resort 2016 Swatches and Floral in the Folds Nail Art

I've swatched LVX plenty of times here at Nailed It, but one thing I always like about their collections is their willingness to go outside the boundaries of what you expect to see in a seasonal collection. Yes, winter is usually dark reds and silver. But did you know it's also teal? The Winter Resort 2016 LVX line stretches those tired color muscles for winter into something unique and original.

I was inspired by this collection's soft, vintage shades to create "Floral in the Folds". These tiny little rosebuds were done with Bordeaux on a base of Lait.

Floral in the Folds

I'd love to recreate this delicate look using different shades for wedding nails!

LVX Winter Resort 2016 Swatches

Like all LVX collections, Winter Resort 2016 comes with six colors. Five out of the six are luscious, easy-to-apply cremes that cover in two coats. The last is a unique metallic that's already running low in the salon. Let's start with Saint.

LVX - Saint

I've dubbed Saint (2 coats) as a "gray-ple" taupe creme. It's very soft and subtle against my pale winter skin, but it doesn't wash me out.

LVX - Lait

Lait (2-3 coats) can be difficult to apply because it can look a little patchy due to it's slightly sheer formula. I'm happy to take on the challenge for this perfectly off-white, tinged nude creme. If you can't get the right coverage at 2 coats, you just need one more thin one.

LVX - Malbec

If you Google "malbec", you'll likely get image results for a dark red win. Alongside it, you may also see this LVX shade similarly named Malbec (2 coats). I would describe it more as a dark mulberry shade. What separates it from the wine could also be the flecks of holographic sparkle that turn it into a metallic polish. How great would wine be if it also included rainbow sparkles? Basic bitches would buy that up in a heartbeat (me included).