Inktober - Guarded

The prompt for Inktober day 13 is "guarded." My mind went to "chains" or "jail" or something similarly literal. Then I thought about another definition of "guard," and how fierce some animals can be to guard their herds or families, or in the case of my inspiration, their hive.

Bees will literally die to guard their queen...no hesitation! They are born with their roles, and they fiercely follow that to their deaths. So here's my tribute to the bees. May we all find someone as strong as them one day!

The pretty yellow base is Never a Dulles Moment (OPI), and the honeycomb pattern is done with Silly Daffodils (Misa). I pulled gold hexagonal glitter from my bottle of Rich in Opportunities (Sation) as well.

Would you rock a yellow manicure like this?

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.

Born Pretty Store Dazzling Starry Foils Review

What's more entertaining than two puppies chasing each other around the backyard, frolicking in the dry summer grass and nipping at each others knees and tails?

Nothing. Nothing is more entertaining than that.

BUT! There is something shiny on the blog tonight from Born Pretty Store.

It's called "Dazzling Starry Foil", and it's...well...dazzling. It comes in a long continuous strip of really thin delicate foil that transitions from fuchsia to a hot orange-red. It comes in lots of varieties of colors, but that's the color I was sent for review.

If you know your color wheel, then you know that purple and yellow complement each other, and since this was leaning more on hot purple, I paired it with the yellow Happy Go Lucky (China Glaze). It seemed a little bare like that, so I added stripes. Now it feels kind of Andy Warhol/Betsey Johnson. Neat right?

The foil is really simple to use, but it took some practice to get it right. The technique best used is to paint your color and design on and seal it with a layer of top coat. Let that dry fully. Then, add another layer of topcoat, and when it's about 80% dry, grab your foil. Press it firmly onto your tacky top coat, and rub it with a pretty good amount of pressure. This will transfer the foil onto your nail in random splotches. I don't know of a way to create uniform patches yet. It's also important that when you do this, you have the colorful side up, facing you.

This role can be purchased for $2.99 from Born Pretty Store here. Get 10% off that order with my coupon code C10X31.

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

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.

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.

Limes for Cinco de Drinko

What a fun day! Drinks, delicious Mexican food, hilarious conversations, and more delicious drinks!

A classic drink...Coronas with lime!

My little limes are done with Mint Ice Cream Cone (Barielle), Def Defying (China Glaze) and Green (Color Madric). The base is the jellylicious Abbacadazzle (Sation).

I hope your 'holiday' was as celebratory and fun as mine!

Summer Vegas Nails

This weekend was a whirlwind. I spent it in the warm summer Vegas sun with good friends. Knowing I would be in my bikini all weekend, I wanted some super bright summer nails.

I snapped an Instagram picture before the chlorinated pools destroyed most of the look.

I used Funky Yellow (Kleancolor) and Jackie Oh! (Color Club) on top of My Boyfriend Scales Walls (OPI). Then I striped with a black striping polish.

Now I just have to track down the sandman, I'm sure he's mad at me for this weekend's lack of sleep!

Budding Spring

Ah Spring! You're supposed to be here. There are supposed to be buds forming on the trees. But so far, it's just gotten a little colder since the official start of you. Maybe you're confused, and you need a little reminder of what you're supposed to be all about.

The bright greens of the baby buds, and the little petals forming at the tips of the leaves is what it's really all about. So take a lesson from China Glaze, with a Lemon Fizz and Electric Pineapple gradient for Budding Romance to blossom on.

It's ok Spring, we're not mad, we're just a little disappointed. You can do better next time!

Lemon Concrete

This geometric design was done using Malibu Green (American Apparel), Lemon Fizz (China Glaze) and Concrete Grey (Kleancolor).

This quick post was brought to you by: Life, Always There.

I really wish I could be posting every night, but there's a lot going on behind the scenes that requires special attention and deadlines have to be met, so unfortunately, the routine post schedule will suffer. Trust me though, it's all exciting stuff I will share with you all soon.

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!

Color Wheel Collision

Tonight I was going to put together some swatches of one of the two glitter polish swatches I owe you and their creators, but time slipped away more quickly than anticipated. Those are coming soon though, and trust me, you'll be excited! Halloween and fall colored glitters...hell yes!

In the meantime, here's a really fun manicure that everyone can do. It's so easy and so striking. I love this. Ingenious in its simplicity!

To begin, I painted my pinkie, index finger and thumb with Happy Go Lucky (China Glaze). I painted my ring finger with Lavendairy (Lime Crime) and my middle finger with Keiko (Zoya). Then, I added some thicker striping tape over the yellow on the pinkies and index fingers in two evenly spaced lines. Then, it was just a matter of filling in the empty spaces with Lavendairy, Keiko, and Grape Pop (China Glaze).

How fun and easy is this? Try it yourself with some contrasting colors on the color wheel. Orange and blue, red and green. Or mix it up entirely!

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.

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).

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).

Cab Outta Hell

I once rode in a man's taxi who told us, on our 45 minute ride back to our hotel, about his crazy adventures. He had been held up multiple times, once even being completely stripped of his cash cab, leaving him not only broke, but stranded.

You can only imagine what I and my fellow passengers were thinking while listening to his terrifying tales.

"Are we actually going to make it back to the hotel?"

"I really should've practiced dialing 911 with my hands behind my back last week."

We made it back just fine, and actually tipped him quite well. Possibly to deter him from visiting the hotel room after his rounds.

I dedicate this manicure to him, and I'm calling it Cab Outta Hell.

The yellow is my favorite yellovely, The "It" Color (OPI). I used striping tape to keep the diagonal lines straight, and a now-steady left hand and a striping brush for the vertical lines and rectangles. Challenge yourself for a week with your non-dominant hand. You'll pick it up quicker than you think.

Literal Polka Dots

I couldn't get the idea of a neon yellow gradient out of my head all day. It's something I just felt I needed to do as soon as possible. So, I picked two of my all time favorite colors: Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (China Glaze) and My Boyfriend Scales Walls (OPI). I know I know, that damn greyish white has made several appearances recently (here, here, here and here), but it really deserves the spotlight. It's a perfect color.

I love the way it looks under the neon yellow. Neon yellow and grey go very well together somehow. Look at the Parsons school of design workroom this season on Project Runway:

Source: http://blogs.fidm.com/projectrunway/episodes/

I wanted to add something, but since I had done polka dots last night, I wanted to do something different, but keep it round.

The solution?

Literal polka dots...with rhinestones.

The trigger finger idea came about only because my supply of black rhinestones wouldn't have been enough to cover all 10 fingers. A nifty solution for the thrifty.

Striped Skittle Gradient

The colors used for this manicure were plentiful. 15 different bottles from several different brands, with the common denominator, Lime Crime. You get the best of two worlds: skittles and gradients. Cheating at gradients with stripes is something I've wanted to try recently, and this one was pretty great! It probably took longer than a regular gradient since I did both hands and the non-dom is less than perfect and steady, but like I said, the best of two worlds. The best!

I'll happily edit this post with each polish color if you're interested, but for now, let's just bask in the polish bath I've set up. What a magical place!

Red Touches Yellow, You're a Dead Fellow

Sometimes you just need glitter. I just needed glitter today. Some really bright glitter. Luckily, Trelly's MISC Polish answered that call with not one, but two glitters.

Reminiscent of Connect the Dots, these two glitters contain different shapes, sizes and colors. Bars, hexagons and itty bitties are in these two polishes, called Love Always Shines and Sunset Boat Ride.

Love Always Shines is the yellow glitter, shown here layered over Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It (OPI). It's not quite a gold glitter, just a metallic yellow, which is beautiful. Sunset Boat Ride is the red glitter, layered over The "It" Color (OPI).

These inspired colors were both welcome additions to my collection, and their creator, Cassie is a true sweetheart. She mislabeled my Etsy order as shipped before they had actually shipped, and then contacted me not only to alert me of the tiny mistake, but also to offer a coupon code for future purchases. I was so pleased and really surprised! It would have only been a two day discrepancy I would have never noticed, but her honesty was touching and inspirational, especially in the face of bad behavior seen in nail world lately.

Global Dance Nails

I'll be at the Global Dance Festival all day today at Red Rocks. Here's a link with info. I'm beyond excited to be in such a beautiful venue, listening to some amazing DJs like Wolfgang Gartner and Above and Beyond. It's going to be unreal!

I had to do some bright nails, so I chose a gradient using two Color Clubs Jackie OH! (I think) and Almost Famous. I got a set of 7 colors from Ross, and they never come with names, so I may be wrong about Jackie OH!.

That gorgeous black and white glitter mix on top is a new addition to the collection from Black Cat Lacquer called Static Age.

I hope everyone has an awesome night! Keep up with my day's adventures on Instagram (follow blognailedit) if you're interested in what's going on!

Batmanicure

EDIT 07/20: Please take a moment of silence to pay respects to those lost in the shooting that took place in Aurora (~30 miles away from Boulder) last night during one of the premieres. A man entered a theater and released a tear gas canister into the auditorium, then began shooting. As of this morning, 12 have been reported dead and many others have been left injured. Read more at MSNBC. If you would like to offer donations to those affected, please visit the American Red Cross Mile High Chapter to offer aid in light of this disaster.

My thoughts are with those families today.

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Na na na na na na na na, na na na na na na na na, na na na na na na na na NAILED IT!

If you've been living under a rock or for some odd reason don't like movies, then you're unaware of what this post may be about. Let me enlighten you.

Tonight in select theaters there will be midnight showings of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises.

It's going to be action packed, thrill-seeking, Anne-Hathaway-in-a-cat-suit-awesome! So I couldn't not do a Batmanicure.

I can't contain myself. I originally felt some excitement for the movie, but wasn't overwhelmed with anticipation, but now I'm itching to get in that theater.

Though the Batmanicure isn't really with the theme of The Dark Knight Rises (he doesn't really sport the bright yellow of his predecessors), I couldn't say no to a yellow. This one's Need Sunglasses? (OPI). Each little Batman symbol was done freehand with my favorite striping brush, Black, from Color Madric.

Just for fun here's quite possibly the best promo I've seen for The Dark Knight Rises.

Source: http://rorydean.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/the-dark-knight-2011-blu-ray/