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

little blue bird

I based this paint job off the little blue bird vinyl decal.  Nothing fancy, just add a polka dot nail.  Easy and quick.  Very preppy.  I didn't let the pearl polish dry long enough under the vinyl decal so it is peeling up a bit at the edges (I have curved nails).  The top coat helped hold it down a bit, but I just need to take my time when doing certain paint jobs.

Nicole - Stand By Your Manny
Essie - Room with a View
Sinful Colors - Rain Storm
Sally Hansen - White On

elephants

The elephants are some of the water decals I order a long time ago.  I wasn't that happy with them, especially since I got the awesome vinyl decals right after.  But, these elephant water decals I have been wanting to use for a while.  So I picked out two different colors (there are five colors) and matched them with a basic red polish.  I love the blue elephant but the red elephant turned out a lot more pink than I was hoping.

OPI - Malaga Wine
Essie - Room With A View

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

confetti

Confetti!!  A super easy quick paint job.  Just a pearl white base color, and then lots of dots of different colors.  It works because all the dot color's are in the same family, not too bright, not too dark and the same thickness.  Very quick and fun.  Something about all the different colors and the randomness of the dots makes it work without being too much.

Wet & Wild - I Need A Refresh-Mint, On A Trip
Sinful Colors - Tokyo Pearl, Innocent
Sally Hansen - Mellow Yellow, Fuchsia Power, Sun Kissed

skull

I have been wanting to use these skull nail stickers for a while.  I didn't want a super dark paint job (black nails) so I went with red.  It makes the skull look so girly with the matching bow.

There is nothing fancy or complicated about this paint job but it still fun.  If I were to do this paint job again I would go with a black background for the skull nail.  I didn't bring a black in my mountain kit.  A black base would really make the skull pop.

Sinful Colors - Tokyo Pearl
Nicole - Basking in Gloria

april polish days - 7 deadly sins

7 deadly sins!!  Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride.  I don't know why this theme is so great, but it is.  I knew I wanted to go with greed (a sin of excess, hoarding of objects) and use a bunch of studs, rhinestones and pearls.

My pinky is so greedy for treasures it is spilling over to my ring finger.
*more after the jump*

black & white disco

I was flipping through my nail swatches for inspiration for this paint job when I opened my glitter swatch box.  I wanted to do something with glitter but I wasn't feeling any sort of color.  Odd sounding I know.  So I pulled a silver halo, black jelly with silver glitters, and one that is aptly named Techno.

*more photos after the jump*

wedding dress

One of my good friends is getting married this fall and she asked if I wanted to go along when she went dress shopping.  Of course I said yes.  But since I am such a dork, I did a wedding dress inspired paint job.

I started with a semi-nude base color.  It has a bit more cream in it than a standard nude polish.  I then stamped with a glitter/pearl cream.  But after looking closely, the stamping did not pop.  So I re-stamped with a straight white pearl polish.  It looks great.  The first stamp added a bit of glitter but the second stamp really pops.

I then did a string of pearls on my ring fingers, much like the back button closures of lots of bridal dresses.  Overall, another simple paint job but perfect for the occasion.

Essie - Hi Maintenance
OPI - Princesses Rule
Sinful Colors - Tokyo Pearl
plate - Cheeky CH44

spring

I know it isn't technically spring yet but the cherry trees are in full blossom at the park across the street from my house.  I can see them from my living room and they just look like spring.  All the rest of the trees are still in winter mode so these blossoms are a refreshing site.  But the more I look at this paint job the more it reminds me of Valentine's candy hearts.

I went with pastels with a matte top coat.  Why a matte finish?  Because the fog has been coming in and even though the day was glorious and sunny, the fog calms everything down.  It is still bright out but there is a muted quality to everything.  Plus, when the paint job gets a little stale in a day or two, I can spruce it up with a normal top coat.

Sinful Colors - Unicorn (yellow), Easy Going (pink)
Sally Hansen - Air (blue), Mint Sorbet (green/teal)
OPI - Do You Lilac It? (purple)

Is it too soon to do a spring themed paint job?  What inspires you to use matte top coat?

holiday challenge: deck the halls

The third holiday challenge day is 'Deck the Halls'.  It is pretty hard for me to say 'deck the halls' without also saying 'with bells of holly'.  I don't even know what the means.  What is a bell of holly?  Is it the holly term for a cluster of the holly berries?  So bells of holly were going to be my main theme of this paint job.

 When this time of year rolls around and the holiday parties start, there is always mistletoe.  I might avoid it at all costs.  It is sort of like an awkward adult version of spin the bottle in which spiked egg nog comes into play. 

holiday challenge: let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Second day of the holiday challenge is one of my favorite - Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow.  I immediately knew the general direction I wanted to go with the paint job as soon as the challenge was released.

For me, snow is white, pearl, and light blue.  I did have a moment or two were the idea of yellow snow crossed my mind.  But then Ron Bergandy reminded me to 'You stay classy".

Each and every nail is different.  It took a lot of planning.  Maybe it did just because I am a bit of a dork.

december challenge: bling

So, I signed up for a monthly challenge and this is my first month with this challenge.  I was super excited when I found out the theme - BLING!!

When I think of bling I think of stones.  Not stone like you find in a field, but gem stones (diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc).  And when I think of that sort of bling I think of Tiffany's.  I am lucky enough to live close to a city with a Tiffany's store.  It is rare that I walk past without going in and looking.  I do own some Tiffany's jewlery but it is all from the upstairs department (aka where there are few stones and the ones that are there are about the size of a grain of salt). 

I wanted to do a ring paint job.  To many rhinestones on all the nails I think would loose the look for me.  So I came up with two different 'rings'.

holiday challenge: rocking around the christmas tree

My first nail art challenge!!  It is a Holiday challenge, being December and all.  The first day is 'Rocking Around the Christmas Tree'.  Well, I sort of went all out and took this title very literally.  One hand is a tree -

The other hand has all the wonderful presents -

french dots

Someone bought this Estee Lauder polish and didn't like it so they gave it to me.  It is so pretty in the bottle but such an odd color when on my nails.  It is sort of apricot brown pearl.  It might look great under a gold glitter polish or as a base under a stamp job.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!  Yes, it is a couple of days early but I am going to the fair today so I thought I would do up my nails for the upcoming holiday.  All nails except the pinkies are just a basic red color that works with my skin tone**.  Since I am still new to this fancy nail art stuff, I don't have a white yet.  The closest I could come was a pearl white color.  The only problem with that color was it was very transparent so I had to do a couple of coats.  The many multiple coats actually worked perfectly on the pinky because I smooshed the rhinestones into it while still very tacky.  Since I don't wear a lot of red clothes. this was a great way to get into the 4th spirit without changing everything.

Essie - A List, Room With A View


**It is crazy how many red polishes are out there.  They might all look the same from far away, but it is crazy how they 'change' when you actually put them on your nails.  I have one red in particular that looks great on my toes but doesn't work on my fingers at all.

Did you do anything special with your nails for the 4th?