Extra Christmas

My name's Katy and this morning I listened to Christmas music. It just felt right in the moment, and I harbor no shame about it! Halloween had it's time to shine, and now Christmas is on my mind, especially after getting the Shine Bright collection from OPI! So with a little push from OPI, I made this look featuring colors from the collection and Swarovski Crystalpixie exclusive shades that came with the colors. 

I used all 4 of the Swarovski shades: Crystal Shimmer, Copper, Rose Gold, and Chrome.

All the gels used for this look are from the Shine Bright Collection, including:

• Multi-Dimensional Diva
• Dressed to the Wines
• Snowfalling for You
• Gingerbread Man Can
• This Gold Sleighs Me
• Twilight Tones
• Optical Nailusion 

I also used Alpine Snow (OPI) beneath Optical Nailusion for the base of the 3 middle fingers to punch up the contrast, and then some of the outline details were done with Kokoist gels Bluey White and Maxi Black. (They're amazing for detailing!)

Bunny Day Egg Nail Art

Happy Bunny Day everyone! If you're in lockdown with a Nintendo Switch, then you've probably bit the bullet and bought Animal Crossing: New Horizon. And if you've done that, then you know exactly where the inspiration for these Easter nails came from. It was no small task, and required a LOT of colors, which I've listed below in no particular order. Happy Bunny Day!

Bunny Day Eggs

Here's a list of the colors I used, some of which needed to be combined to get the right color.

OPI Colors:

• Show Us Your Tips!
• Mermaid's Tears
• Sailing & Nailing
• I'm Sooo Swamped!
• What's the Double Scoop?
• Sorry I'm Fizzy Today
• Life Gave Me Lemons
• No Room for the Blues

China Glaze Colors

• Life Preserver
• Stoked to Be Soaked
• Sun's Up Top Down

Other Colors:

• Milky Ways, Crema de Limon, and Lavendairy (Lime Crime), Sky (piCture pOlish), Load (Illamasqua), Danielle (Zoya)

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? 

I Love Winter Nails

Are you looking for a good winter nail look that doesn't involve red and green? I've got the perfect compromise...but only if you live in a snowy environment. If you're enjoying 70 degree days in Florida, then you're on your own, and none of us feel sorry for you.

Here's my cutesy "I Love Winter" nails!

I got the patterns from this vector set created by Creative Market user, InnaMoreva. How cute are they?!

Here are the colors I used for this look:

• China Glaze - Dandy Lyin' Around
• China Glaze - Feel the Breeze
• Duri Cosmetics - Lady in White
• essie - Licorice
• Zoya - Lillian 

I hope everyone's enjoying winter!

That's a Hell of A Lot of Holiday!

First order of business tonight - the giveaway for 10 copies of Pretty Hands & Sweet Feet officially ended yesterday, and all the winners have been emailed. Check your inboxes to see if you're one of the lucky 10!

Second order of business is what you actually care about. Remember when I said I was going into full-blown holiday mode? I may have gone a little too far with these bad boys.

I was feeling freakin' festive as I geared up for our spa's holiday party, and I wanted to showcase my nail art to some potential new clients. So I bummed around Instagram a bit, and came across some pretty great inspiration. First, a really great idea from @nailsbycambria for a holiday French. I didn't just want to do a French though, so I did a skittles mani with some candy cane stripes and a nod to ugly sweater season. The result is what I like to call "A Hell of A Lot of Holiday".

A Hell of A Lot of Holiday

I used a bunch of OPI polishes. I honestly pick OPI for a lot of my manicures because it's the top drawer in my stack of Melmers. Maybe I should rearrange drawers to switch it up. The colors used were Jade is the New Black, I Theodora You, Love is In My Cards (which is a new holiday color I'll be sharing swatches of shortly), and then I also used essie's Blanc.

What holiday designs are inspiring you lately?

Lil' Baby Reindeer

Boulder ushered in some sticky snow tonight, so I'm switching gears from my one Fall post (sorry, I've been busy) to full blown winter.

How cute and perfect is this lil' baby reindeer for the inaugural event! The pattern was drawn by Instagram illustrator, Zoe Ingram. Initially I tried to do the pattern she did, in which the reindeer repeats, but I can't find a detailing brush small enough for that. That's fine though, because after all, there is only ONE red-nosed reindeer.

For the base, I used OPI Can't Find My Czechbook. His lil' body is Duri Lady In White, and details on his face were done with Black Onyx and Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It, both from OPI.

I'm excited for winter designs, but I want to go outside the box of what you normally see on Christmas nail art wheels. Anything unusual you'd like to see?

Holly Jolly Mistletoe Mani Tutorial for Divine Caroline

After you try today's holiday tutorial, see if your creations can score you some holiday kisses if you hold your hand above your boyfriends head. I tried it on mine...it totally works!

I came up with a fool proof way to get perfect mistletoe leaves every time. It's easier than you'd think!

This is another Divine Caroline collaboration, so head over to that post here for all the details on this fun Christmas nail tutorial!

Tutorial for Divine Caroline: Mad-About-Plaid Christmas Nails

Perfect plaid nails are easier than you think, with today's Divine Caroline tutorial! We call this, "Mad About Plaid", and they're perfect for ripping open wrapping paper and stuffing tasty holiday delights down your throat!

The full tutorial is available over at Divine Caroline here, so pop over for more plaid!

Sweater Nail Art Tutorial for Divine Caroline

I don't know about the rest of the country, but here in Boulder we've been absolutely spoiled by fabulous weather. We're into November and we still haven't had a snow! *Knock on wood*

That doesn't mean the temperatures aren't dropping and the ski resorts aren't starting to open. And with fireplaces being stoked all over the neighborhood, so too are women pulling out their cozy cable knits to boldly bundle up.

How'd you like to recreate that creative cable knit on your nails? Today's tutorial for Divine Caroline allows just that. The illusion of 3D knit is even easy for the novice nail artist to recreate.

Click here to visit Divine Caroline for the full tutorial! 

Holiday Nail Designs

Here's my 2014 holiday nail menu, ripe with some pretty easy designs for holiday inspiration. My personal favorite is probably the plaid, but it's hard to decide.

Which is your favorite?

Holographic Holidays: Belle of the Ball Drop

New Year's Eve is one of the nights I always look forward to all year long. Everyone's celebrating, everyone's happy, and it's a good excuse to get dolled up.

Tonight, the last day of Holographic Holidays, I dolled up my nails quite a bit. What an appropriate way to celebrate this shining week...with the most ridiculous mani I've done so far this week.

I give you....New Years Disco Ball!

For this, I used Blue Heaven (Color Club) and black matte hexagonal glequins. It's just too much glitter to deal with, but you better believe I left this one on as long as I could.

It's been a 'holo' of a week, but I'm glad I got to share these manicures with you!

If you haven't already, go check out Lindsey's New Year's Eve festive fingers at Neverland Nail Blog. Thank you for doing this with me Lindsey! It's been a blast!

Holographic Holidays: Sweet Treats

The taste of peppermint isn't nearly as appetizing as the design of it, wouldn't you agree?

Here's a 'spin' on the classic pinwheel design of peppermints, using Halo-graphic (Color Club) and Toni (Zoya).

You can get in on the holographic sweetness too, by adding your design to the InLinkz tool below. (To add the tool to your own blog, go here.)

Be sure to check out the sweet treats brewing at Neverland Nail Blog by the masterful nail-chef Lindsey!

Holographic Holidays: Merry Madness

There are so many grumpy Christmas characters. There's the old standbys like Scrooge and The Grinch.

One of the less remembered but certainly no less memorable characters is The Old Man, from A Christmas Story. The loveable father that tries so hard but fails so often. From the clunky furnace to the flat tire, he just can't seem to catch a Christmas break.

This post has spoilers to that movie, so if you want to see it unspoiled, do not continue reading.

Bad luck and stupid decisions plagues this holiday classic from 1983, and I've gotten a few of those classic moments into nail art, beginning on my thumb with one of the most memorable parts of the film.

One of Ralphie's (the main character) friends, Flick, is double-dog dared to stick his tongue to a flagpole. He swears it won't stick, calling the whole idea stupid. Lo and behold, his tongue gets lodged to the flagpole upon contact, and his entire class watches on as the fire department and practically the entire town shows up to free him. Poor Flick.

The holographic color used for Flick's follies was Harp On It (Color Club). In addition, I used Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It, Jade is the New Black, Get in the Expresso Lane, and Sparrow Me the Drama from OPI, Movie Star from Essence, and Farah from Zoya. The base for each of my nails and all the black details were done with Purity (Zoya) and Black Onyx (OPI), respectively.

Ralphie's family is nothing short of hilarious. Even his strange relatives that never make an onscreen appearance have their moments. One such moment is when his Aunt Clara sends him an adorably terrible pair of bunny pajamas. Pink bunny pajamas, with little bunnies on each feet, staring up at him with their beady eyes. I had to immortalize that awful moment. Poor Ralphie.

The holographic color used for the bunny blunder is Electra Magenta from China Glaze. The other colors include Shelby and Farah (Zoya) and Desert Sun (China Glaze).

Swearing in Ralphie's family is a huge no-no, especially the F word. And no...it's not fudge. Dropping the F-bomb will land you a bar of soap in your mouth. And not Lux, Ralphie's personal favorite, but Lifebuoy, which left no piquant after-dinner flavor. Poor Ralphie. And poor Schwartz.

The holographic color used for the Lifebuoy soap is Halo-graphic (Color Club). The letters are written in Purr-fect Plum (China Glaze).

Now this next nail certainly isn't bad. It may be the only moment during the whole movie The Old Man is happy. After receiving a letter promising him a major award, he fantasizes about what it could be. Perhaps a bowling alley. When a "fra-geel-eh" box arrives and he pries it open, the look on his face is priceless. Perhaps more priceless is his dear wife's reaction when the prize is pulled out. The prize? A sexy lamp in the shape of a woman's leg, complete with black pumps and fishnet tights. The glow of electric sex was too alluring for me not to use for this challenge!

The holographic color used for the leg is Mega Bite (China Glaze). The shade is Solar Power, also from China Glaze.

Wrapping up the hand is the pièce de résistance. The one thing Ralphie dreams about throughout the whole movie. A Red Rider BB Gun. Well technically I'm showing you what happens after he gets it. Too excited to contain himself after finding his last present behind the tree, he dashes outside in his PJs to test the gun, and promptly knocks himself on his ass, losing his glasses in the shock. Blind as a bat, he goes searching for the missing spectacles, and is greeted instead by an unmistakeable crunch. His glasses lay shattered on the ground. Poor Ralphie. (Don't worry, an icicle acts as the scapegoat and he gets off clean.)

The holographic color used for this nail is Harp On It again, and the rims are done with Get in the Expresso Lane (OPI).

I absolutely loved this movie, and almost chose it as my Holiday Tradition post, but it seemed so fitting for the Merry Madness day.

What other kinds of madness give you the holiday willies? See Lindsey's at Neverland Nail Blog, and feel free to add your own using the InLinkz tool below. You can get the code to share it with your readers here.

Holographic Holidays: Holiday Traditions

I suppose this post could also double as the Sweet Treats day post, but this is more of a tradition in my heart.

Everyone has something they always look forward to on Christmas. Whether it's a check from Grandma or a Christmas dinner, the white elephant gift or scones for breakfast, there's always something.

For me, it's got to be the chocolate oranges. Solid, milk chocolate shaped like an orange, that you're supposed to eat by whacking it as hard as you can against your counter, so it splinters into 'slices' of chocolate, like slices of an orange. There's a hint of orange in the chocolate, but by far the best part is the whacking part. The wrapper even says "Whack and Unwrap!"

The wrapper is a shiny orange metallic, and it comes in a distinguishable blue box. The brand is Terry's, though my little thumb didn't allow room for the S. Oops!

The holographic color I chose is Coral Glam (Layla). The orange slices were done using two OPI colors, A-Taupe the Space Needle and Get in the Expresso Lane. The blue on my thumb is Mesmerized (Essie) and I just used Purity (Zoya) for the lettering.

This day's one of my favorites because I love to read about all your favorite holiday traditions. Make sure to read more about Lindsey's holiday tradition over at Neverland Nail Blog!

You can add your own traditions using the InLinkz tool below and embed the code into your own blog using this link.

Holographic Holidays: Christmas Song

 Everybody pauses and stares at me

These two teeth are gone as you can see 

I don't know just who to blame for this catastrophe! 

But my one wish on Christmas Eve is as plain as it can be!

All I want for Christmas 

is my two front teeth, 

my two front teeth, 

see my two front teeth!

Gee, if I could only 

have my two front teeth, 

then I could wish you 

"Merry Christmas."

It seems so long since I could say, 

"Sister Susie sitting on a thistle!" 

Gosh oh gee, how happy I'd be, 

if I could only whistle (thhhh, thhhh)

All I want for Christmas

is my two front teeth, 

my two front teeth, 

see my two front teeth.

Gee, if I could only 

have my two front teeth, 

then I could wish you 

"Merry Christmas!"

Have you ever heard "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth"? I remember singing that during our elementary school plays. I loved it because I had some interesting dental problems as a kid, with two big ole' front teeth I couldn't wait to lose! Unfortunately, my teeth also made me require braces, so I mixed these two childhood memories together for the Christmas Song day.

The holographic color I chose to use was Harp On It (Color Club).  The base for the 'teeth' is Marshmallow (Essie), and the base for the 'gaps' is Black Onyx (OPI). I also used that for the braces details. The bands on the braces were done with Hey Sailor (China Glaze) and Just In Lime! (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri). 

Don't forget to see Neverland Nail Blog's Lindsey's post for day 1 of the Holographic Holidays challenge, and please feel free to add your own using the InLinkz tool below!

You can also embed the code in your own entry by following this link.

Holographic Holidays Challenge Week Coming Soon!

T'was two weeks before Christmas, when all through the blog

Something thrilling was coming, explained in this monologue!

This great time of year hosts sparkle and bling

But there is something even better that makes us sing…

Why not combine the two things we love most?

Holo polish and nail art, they both deserve a toast!

Neverland Nail Blog and I have creatively conspired

A holo nail art series, and more participants are desired!

We want YOU to join in on all of the cheer
It’s all in good fun, you’ve got nothing to fear!

Now Layla! Now Color Club! Now Jade and HITS!
On Glitter Gal! On China Glaze, and all the brands I forgets!

Let me exclaim now, as long rhymes are hard to write….
Happy Holographic Holidays to all, and to all a good night!

During the week of December 17 - December 21, Lindsey from Neverland Nail Blog and I have organized a holographic nail art challenge. There won't be any prizes or winners, it's just a fun challenge to celebrate the joy of the holidays and the holographics! We're so excited to do this...almost as excited as I was to read Lindsey's uber-creative poem.

We've chosen five holiday themes to guide each day of the challenge. Here's some more information about each day.

• December 17: Christmas Songs - Deck your nails with tunes so jolly, fa la la la laaaa, la la la laaaa!
• December 18: Holiday Traditions - We all have them! Tell the world how your family and friends uniquely celebrates with a special-to-you mani.
• December 19: Merry Madness - It's the most wonderful chaotic time of the year. Get those Grinch-like feelings out with a mani Scrooge would be proud of. Bah humbug!
• December 20: Sweet Treats - Has the Sugar Plum Fairy visited you yet? Make visions of Christmas cookies and candies dance on your nails!
• December 21: Belle of the Ball Drop - Prepare for a fabulous New Year with some seriously blingy nails. Make them sparkle and shine like Times Square!

When the week starts, Lindsey and I will both provide InLinkz codes you can post on your blog if you'd like to participate. To make the challenge extra fun for everyone to enjoy, here are a few guidelines:

• This nail art challenge requires the use of the daily themes as well as holographic polish in some way.
• We will be posting for 5 days straight, December 17-21.
• If you add your blog link to the daily photo collection using InLinkz, please have the courtesy to add the collection to your post, as well.
• The Inlinkz collections will be open for a full 48 hours.
• Interpret the themes however you like...don't be afraid to get creative!

We both can't wait to see what you all come up with, so shake off that fresh snow and get cozy to the idea of some seriously sparkly nails! 

A big thanks to Lindsey for all the work she's put into this challenge already. I'm beyond excited to see what she comes up with. If you've never been to Neverland Nail Blog, I highly recommend checking it out for some of the cutest manicures out there.

Sneak Peek Santa

I have an exciting couple of swatches for you tomorrow, but I feel bad holding out on my favorite part of the post. Sometimes I just can't contain the fun, so here's a sneak peek at tomorrow's goodies!

Stay tuned!