purple

I love purple and glitter!  I will admit it and own up to it.  Some halo tips and a jelly glitter accent nail.

Nothing fancy but still fun in the sunshine.

OPI - A Grape Fit!
China Glaze - Techno

skull

A skull with a red bow, how cute.  The skull is just a sticker so it is easy to apply.  Then an accent nail of red glitter.  Done.  A girly skull look.  Not much else to say about this paint job.

OPI - Gettin' Miss Piggy With It
Sinful Colors - Toyko Pearl

girly

So, Valentine's Day my be done and gone, but I am still inspired by the girly/pink paint jobs.  Nothing fancy about this paint job, just a quick stamp and a glitter tip.  I like the bow stamp.  It is a lot easier than the 3D kind you can glue on your nails.  This one won't catch on anything.

OPI - Koala Berry
Nicole - Haley Good Looking...
C&E - Peony

Frozen

I finally saw "Frozen".  I am glad I did see it on the big screen, it was beautiful. It totally inspired this paint job (in the most minimalist way possible).  I might have to break out the stamps to see if there is a snowflake or two, but I tend to go with the KISS* paint jobs.  So a frosty blue with a silver/blue glitter accent nail, presto - a "Frozen" paint job.

Nicole - Stand By Your Manny
Sinful Colors - Ice Dream

*KISS stands for Keep It Simple Stupid

valentine's nails (again)

A friend has been trying to get me to paint her nails for a couple of weeks.  Things, life and work kept getting in the way.  But Valentine's morning finally worked.  So we had to do a Valentine's Day paint job.  It is odd painting someone else's nails after painting my own for so long.  It's so much easier to bend your own fingers and hand to make the painting/stamping/dotting easier.

The best part of doing this paint job was right in the middle, while she was waiting for the base polish to dry before starting the stamping, her fiance surprised her with a dozen roses and chocolate covered strawberries.  It was super cute and all the old ladies in the coffee shop across the courtyard came out to 'ahh' and 'so sweet'.

I don't remember which stamping plates and polishes I ended up using.  I put all pinks and a few red/purples in a box with a bunch of stamps/glitter/tools.  It all got mixed around before I got home.  I do know that all three colors are OPI and the white is Sally Hansen.  The plates are all from one Cheeky collection.

night sky

Quick simple paint job.  Black jelly polish and a silver accent nail.  Done and done.  With the silver accent nail, it really makes the silver glitter in the jelly polish pop and not seem as dark.  I also didn't do a base color under the jelly polish, just two coats of jelly.  It helps keep it light.

Nicole - Luke of the Draw
Sally Hansen - Celeb City

party hat

This pink multicolor glitter jelly polish is one that I got but have never been really happy with.  It was in one of those bins 4 for $12 (or something like that) and it was cheaper to get 4 rather than 3.  It's an odd color.  The pink jelly base is sort of a muddy blue pink.  The glitter is both small and large hex.  It might not be a great NAIL polish but it is great for marking keys.

Urban Outfitters - Lollipop
LA Girl - Flash Freeze

grey

I love this OPI color (I Have A Herring Problem).  It is so subtle and mellow with a great micro glitter.  It's a warm grey that goes with both silver and gold.  And it goes on like a dream, I used two coats in the paint job above.  But three coats makes it rich and creamy.

Add a single confetti glitter accent nail and it is a look.  Easy and quick.  I will admit that most of my paint jobs of late are on the quick & easy side.  There is something about cold dry weather that makes me shy away from extra drying agents (acetone, nail polish, etc) on my hands.  Once summer rolls around I will bust out the stamping plates again.

OPI - I Have A Herring Problem
Urban Outfitters - Scorcher

Side note - I'm having issues with coming up with titles for the everyday paint jobs.  There is no theme to this type of paint job but the post needs a title.  Any suggestions would be great.  For now I will stick to the straight forward and rather obvious.

pink halo

Sometimes the halo polish needs to be more than the accent nail.  I love this halo polish, it has tons of different colors in it but the pink really stands out.  So, a couple of coats on the non-accent nails and a solid hot pink middle finger.  I know this paint job is going to be hard to remove but it is worth it.

The pink nail does not come across in this photo.  Think a mix between the two pink Mr. Sketch pens.  Plus it has a subtle light pink glitter to it, so it works with the halo nails.

Nicole - A Like-Haley Story
Urban Outfitters - Afterhours

snow

This paint job was inspired by the cold winter mornings we have had recently.  It's not quite cold enough that things actually freeze, but there is definitely frost everywhere.  As annoying as frost it, it can be very beautiful on a soccer field or a leafy tree.  This paint job is very subtle, and therefore very hard to capture in a photo.  The base color is a very mellow frosty/pearl white.  The accent (and a bit on the other nail's tips) is just my standard glitter.  No base color under the glitter because I didn't want a very strong paint job.  I am very happy with the end result, subtle yet elegant.

Wet & Wild - Hallucinate
essie - Room With A View

party time

Nothing fancy.  Usually my hands match (sometimes the accent nail is on a different nail on each hand) but not this time.  I changed it up with two different color accent nails, one color on each hand.  Again nothing fancy but really fun.  I picked two solid colors that are also in the micro glitter in the main polish color.

OPI - Koala Berry
MAC - Everything That Glitters
China Glaze - Turned Up Turquoise

black & red

Nothing fancy, but very Queen of Hearts without the hearts.  The 'dots' are rhinestones.  The jelly glitter is a great polish that packs a ton of glitter.  The red is a classic red.  The only downside is it is OPI pre-3-free so it is a bit on the smelly side.  Why do I still have it and use it?  I love the color and the new formula of the same color isn't quite the same.

OPI - Malaga Wine
Spoiled - Ants In My Pants
Sinful Colors - Black on Black

pink smudge

I don't really know what to call this paint job.  It is sort of a marble effect.  But also smudge-y, feather-y, cotton candy-ish.

I saw a q-tip paint job on another blog and thought it looked great.  I was trying to do that here (circles with the plastic part of a -tip) but it did not work.  So I made the best of the situation and flipped the q-tip around.  I dabbed the cotton fluff part in the polish and then dabbed on the nail.  First with a dark pink then with a light jelly glitter pink.  It's kind of funky but I like it.  Plus, it is easy & quick.  So many different color combinations.  The second lighter polish would be great with a halo glitter.  It would add some pop but not take over.

Sinful Colors - Easy Going
Sally Hansen - Strawberry Icing, Fuchsia Power

purple & gold

This is an odd purple for me.  It is much more of a warm purple (red undertones) than I normally use.  But it really works with gold.  Add some gold glitter to the tips and a full gold nail, presto - complete look.  Nothing fancy and very easy.

OPI - GoldenEye, Suzi & the 7 Dusseldorfs

purple

Grey polish might be the trend this fall, but I do love a light purple polish.  I have a bunch of purple polishes.  I will do some grey paint jobs, but for now, I'll stick with purple.

This style of paint job I have done tons of times before.  It is quick and easy.  Apply your color base (1-3 coats depending on the polish coverage).  Let dry a bit.  Apply the glitter jelly polish in a line right at the tip of the nail.  Then brush from the middle of the nail down to fan out the jelly polish.  Apply a top coat & let dry.  Easy.

OPI - You're Such A BudaPest
Sinful Colors - Ice Dream

matte purple

I have found a new favorite - matte top coat over glitter polish!  Sounds odd I know.  But there is something about taking away the overall shine that lets the glitter shine bright.  Nothing fancy about this paint job, just a glitter gradient tip.  But top it with the matte finish and it becomes really subtle and fun.

The only real difference with this paint job is a matte top coat is not quick drying, not at all.

OPI - You're Such A BudaPest, Polka.com

simple

A simple paint job that is impossible to photograph.  This polish (not the glitter halo polish) does not photograph at all.  I tried all different lights and three different cameras.  Nada!

It does look great in the photos though.  It is one of those colors that changes when viewed from different angles.  Then, to make it even more confusing, it looks totally different on than it does in the bottle.  But I do like it.  Then add a full halo and halo gradient nail and BAM, simple paint job.

Sinful Colors - Let Me Go
Urban Outfitters - Afterhours

pretty pretty princess

Princess nails.  Maybe not a real modern princess but these are sparkly and on the pink side.  Plus the base color is Princesses Rule!.

A very easy paint job.  Just a base coat (or three) on the non accent nail.  Then toss on some pink halo polish on the accent nail and a bit on the tips.

Tons and tons of glitter!!  But micro glitter so it shines in all lights.  I realize I do this look a lot (glitter tips) but I really like it.  It works with almost any color polish.  It is also great for a thinner polish because the glitter tips help hid the nail tip.

OPI - Princesses Rule!
Urban Outfitters - After Hours

halloween swirl

I have always wanted to try a water marble but the mess and daunting clean up have kept me away.  Enter the toothpick!  It doesn't have the clean grandness of a perfect water marble but it does have a fun swirl and marble.

It is very easy and rather fun.  It just takes a little bit longer to dry.  But I would rather wait an extra 5-10 minutes of dry time vs dousing my cuticles in acetone to remove the overage.

So how was this done?  Just lay down the base coat (clear) and let dry.  Figure out which colors you want to use (I used four - two orange and two black) and open all of them so they are easy to access.  One finger at a time -  paint the base coat with any of the four polishes. Quickly drop a couple of drops of polish on the nail of the different colors (1 drop of each, at least two colors).  The more colors, the smaller the drops.  The smaller the nail, the smaller the drops.  Quickly use a toothpick and swirl the polish around.  The polish will be on the thicker side so it needs to dry a bit before even applying the top coat.

I am so happy the way this turned out.  I am definitely going to be trying this method again with some other colors.

OPI - Deutch You Want Me Baby?
Sinful Colors - Courtney Orange, Secret Admirer, Black on Black

fall gradient

It's fall!!  I have to sweep my deck everyday because of all the leafs.  It feels like midnight when it is only 8pm (I miss sunshine).  Time to bust out the fall colors.

Another quick glitter gradient.  A deep orange (burnt umber-ish) with a bronze/gold glitter on the tips.  Nothing fancy.  It looked a little odd when I first applied it.  The orange just does not work my skin tone.  But the gold really helps tone it down.

OPI - Deutsch You Want Me Baby?
Sinful Colors - All About You