*Nothing to Disclose*

     The Holiday manicures continue today on the blog. This time I'm bringing you a look that takes minimal effort but a bit of patience. Sound familiar? It's almost the exact opening line I used for my last fluid nail art look. The difference is, this time it's even easier to create the look! And all it takes is a few colors of nail polish, a nail art mat and time.

     Doesn't it look neat? I just love how this turned out and it was so so simple to do! I used 4 different polishes from Sinful Colors It's a Wrap (gold) Under 18 (red) Whipped Frosting (white) and HD Nails (green) to create this look. 

    Now for the easy part of the manicure. All I did was place random drops of each polish on my mat. I'd recommend using one of the mini mats for this technique simply because it's easier to work with than the full sized ones. Make sure the drop are close enough to run together, making sure to cover approximately a 2-inch by2-inch area. You may need to cover more area if your nails are really long. If you don't get the entire area covered with polish don't worry, a few bare spots can be fixed in the next step. 

     After you're satisfied with the polish drops, all that's left is to pick up your mat and fold it in half twice. Once horizontally and once vertically. This step helps fill in any blank spots you might have and, smooshes the polish together to create a really cool marble effect. Plus it's much easier than tilting the mat back and forth. Now comes the tough part, waiting for the design to dry so you can move on to the next step. 

     I allowed the polish to dry for about 2 hours, this time around I skipped the step of applying topcoat before peeling the polish off my mat. This helped cut down on dry time and made it easier to cut out nail sized pieces.  

     After you've cut your decals down to the right sizes all that's left is to apply them to the nail. I used a base of Orly Bonder and let it dry to a tacky state but not fully dry before placing my decal on the nail. After that, all I had left to do was a little cleanup and to add a layer of top coat. My go-to is Girl on the Run by Pure Ice but any top coat will work. 

      Have you tried the fluid nail art look yet? What do you think about this technique vs the other technique I used to get the same effect? I hope you've enjoyed this post, thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing! 

     

*Press Sample*

     Hey everyone. I've got a new nail art look to share with you today featuring some returning favorites from Literary Lacquers. These polishes returned to the shop on October 19th along with the newly released Faulkner Duo. Since they are returning shades I decided to skip the swatches (for now) and try my hand at making some decals using the dry brush technique.

     While I will admit this isn't the best way to showcase all of the polishes it was something fun for me to do and I wanted to share that with all of you. Plus it gave me the chance to use my mini nail art mat from Uber Chic.

*Nothing to Disclose*

     Now that the Thanksgiving dinners and Black Friday shopping hustle and bustle are over it's time to get back to my regular blogging. Until I start my Christmas posts that is. And while there is no snow on the ground and the sun has popped back out you could say I'm not exactly in the Christmas spirit yet. That's why today I'm bringing you a look that leans more towards an autumn feeling featuring the Bohemian Dreams Collection from Julie G. 

     The Bohemian Dreams collection consists of 6 polishes, all gorgeous muted creme shades. The colors are Aria, Eden, Faith, Harmony, Henna and, Karma. The collection was released this summer but I felt the colors lend themselves better towards fall especially with how dark they look in a watermarble.

     

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     Happy Monday everyone, wow where did the weekend go? I don't know about you but I was so busy it feels like I blinked and my weekend was gone. On a positive note, I was able to get my 2 new helmers built and my collection organized. My collection was starting to get out of control and I had bottles in little totes and covering my desk. Now everything is in its place and I feel like I can start focusing more on nail art instead of just swatching.  Afterall nail art is the reason I started this blog in the first place. Which brings me to today's post. I realized it's been over a month since I've shared any nail art with you, May 10th be exact when I shared my pink roses look.  This time I'm sharing some decals I created using Z Plate Image plates from Mundo De Unos.


     This look went a little bit outside of my comfort zone with the color pallet and I found that I really like it. Maybe I've been playing it a little too safe all these years and need to venture outside the box more often.... hmmm that's something to think about.

     To create the decals I used the reverse stamping technique and pulled out my Simply Neat Miracle Mat and image plate Abstractos 4 using Hit the Bottle polish Absinthe. A shimmery green polish that reminds me of summer.

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     I thought it might be fun to kick off the weekend with a nail art look on the blog. After all, I got into nail blogging because of nail art, not just swatching. I've titled today's look the Queen of Heart but probably not for the reasons you might think. First off, there isn't a single heart to be found, but the colors are what inspired the name. Black, red and white always brings to mind the unforgettable  cartoon character from Alice in wonderland to me. They are bold and striking together which makes an impact and classics to me. Plus, as you can tell from the theme of my blog I'm quite fond of the color combination. 

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     Have you even be perusing Pinterest and stumbled across a pin that made you want to whip out your nail art supplies right then are there? Well, that's exactly what happened to me when I can across this pin. I loved the vintage look and feel of this manicure and the muted color scheme. Sadly it was the late hours of the night and my nail art would have to wait.  But as I lay there in bed supposed to be sleeping my brain just kept coming back to the manicure I was thinking of completely inspired by that pin. 

     I lay there for over an hour working out my color scheme, which plate I might want to use, and I knew that sleep would be impossible. Until I wrote my idea down that is. Which is exactly what I did. I ran to my desk, grabbed a pen and paper and jotted down the rough ideas I had, went back to bed and instantly fell asleep knowing my idea was safe from being lost to the hidden corners of my mom brain.  So what was this important manicure idea that caused my a restless night? Let's take a look

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     It's time once again for the monthly link up brought to you by the Facebook group Hobby Polish Bloggers. This month's theme is spring! Now I know there are a lot of options to choose from and I could have done any number of things for this prompt but I just cant pass up an opportunity to do a floral manicure.  Now there isn't a whole lot to say about this manicure so this post is going to be short and sweet. Just what we need on a Friday right? 

*Nothing to Disclose*

       I wanted to end this weekly dedication to 4th if July nail art with a bang. And what better way to do that than with Fireworks! Sadly this ended up as my least favorite manicure of the bunch and that's mainly due to the issues I had while creating it. 

     Let me tell you if something could go wrong it did, right down to me spilling my first bottle of nail polish all over my floor. Of course, it had to be a blue bottle of polish. Thankfully it was hardwood and not carpet so the sugar trick worked for cleaning it up, but I had to race upstairs with wet polish on my hands to get the sugar and that ended up looking like a comedy routine. I'm happy to report that the bottle didn't break and nothing ended up stained. But let's get to the manicure, shall we...

*Nothing to Disclose*

     On Monday I showed you my failed attempt at making my own decal and the feedback and suggestions I got was so great that I decided to try it again. I figured the Hobby Polish Bloggers May link up would be the perfect time since the theme is May Flowers.

     Now this is not my original idea but I loved the look and knew I needed to try it myself. The original manicure was done by  Nailartstampingmania. <----( click here for the original post.)  Here is my version.

     What a difference the top coat makes! What I once thought was a difficult technique is now so easy! I can see myself doing this over and over again. Of course I'll need to pick up a few more stampers so the process goes a bit quicker. But man o man am I impressed with my results. Now as much as I want you all to sit here and admire my work, it's time to check out what everyone else has come up with. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

*Nothing to Disclose*

     On Monday I showed you my failed attempt at making my own decal and the feedback and suggestions I got were so great that I decided to try it again. I figured the Hobby Polish Bloggers May link up would be a perfect time since the theme is May Flowers.

     Now, this is not my original idea but I loved the look and knew I needed to try it myself. The original manicure was done by  Nailartstampingmania. <----( click here for the original post.)  Here is my version.

     What a difference the top coat makes! What I once thought was a difficult technique is now so easy! I can see myself doing this over and over again. Of course, I'll need to pick up a few more stampers so the process goes a bit quicker. But man o man am I impressed with my results. Now as much as I want you all to sit here and admire my work, it's time to check out what everyone else has come up with. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

*Nothing to Disclose*

     How was everyone's weekend? Mine was busy busy and busy with some fun thrown in but now it's time for me to get back into the work week mindset. Today I have a pretty nail polish and a personal mani fail to share with you. Let's start off with the good stuff, shall we?

     Radiant in Orchid was released by Smokey Mountain Lacquers last year and I ordered it right away, but like a lot of the polishes I purchase it ended up in my helmer and forgotten. Until now that is. Radiant in Orchid is a dusty lilac creme that I thought would be perfect for this time of year. Especially since my lilac bushes are just starting to bloom and fragrance the air as I walk to and from my house. 

     The application was slightly tricky but that might have been because my bottle is over a year old and I didn't exactly mix it up really well after sitting for so long. This polish is sheer with the first coat and was prone to dragging when doing multiple strokes.  I was able to achieve full opacity after 3 thin coats. 

 As for my accent nail, well that's where the failure comes in for this post. I tried making my own nail decal for the first time and ran into a little trouble. I stamped the flip-flop image onto my stamper using Bundle Monster Plate BM-309 and Finger Paints Black Expressionism, filled in a few places with some striping polishes, added a top coat and waited for it to dry.

     While my decal was drying I painted 1 coat of Finger Paints Paper Mache on my ring finger and when it was tacky I added my decal. The only problem was my decal felt really stiff and didn't want to curve onto my nail. I thought a layer of wet top coat would help, but nope I was wrong.  The top coat made my base color mushy and it smeared over the sides of my finger when I pressed my decal on. 

     It was a fun mess to deal with let me tell you, and a little disheartening to be honest. I'm not sure if I let the decal dry too long or if it was the top cost I used. I haven't given up on this technique yet, but I'm not jumping at the bit to try it again soon. If you have any tips or tricks I'm all ears. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

*Nothing to disclose*

     Does anyone have a case of the Mondays? I had a very uneventful weekend but I'm still not ready to start the work week. I thought Id start out this week of posts with a polish I gave a sneak peek at on my page last week. Absecon was released by Philly Loves Lacquer as part of the Summer Down the Shore collection. Each polish in this collection held a special memory for Esther. Absecon is based off the Absecon Lighthouse in New Jersey.  Here's a little bit about this collection in her own words. 

     Absecon is a light icy blue with a hint of grey crelly polish with subtle linear holo that reaches full opacity in 3 coats.

    Application is easy and smooth with the first coat applying quite sheer. When I say smooth application I mean smooth application. I had absolutely no streaking which is impressive for such a sheer polish. 

  

     The holo effect in Absecon is not as strong as most holos but you can get a quick glimpse of the  flame effect in the right lighting. Unfortunately it decided to hide during the photo session and I wasn't able to capture it on film.

     And of course because I can't seem to wear just plain polish anymore I had to add an accent nail. If you've followed me for any amount of time you know I love floral manicures and I had the perfect item here to complete my look. 

     

      I picked these water decals up at Claire's a few years ago and they worked out perfectly. They add a little something to the manicure but still allow you to see all the sparkle. What do you think? 

     Absecon is still available for purchase if you'd like to add this beauty to your collection. You can pick up a bottle for $12 here. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

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     Monday brings us to the 8th day of the 12 Days of Christmas Nail Art challenge, with the theme being Christmas Ornaments. This year I went a totally different direction than last year's ornament theme with some water decals from Born Pretty Store. I would have loved to try my hand at free hand ornaments but my nails are kind of short right now and I didn't think I would have enough space to paint them.

     For this manicure, I started out with one coat of Milani White on the Spot as a base for my gradient. I then sponged on Sinful Colors Sugar Rush and Sally Hansen Silver Sweep to create my gradient. When that dried I added a quick coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust for added Sparkle. Christmas Ornaments have to sparkle after all!



*Nothing to Disclose*

     Welcome to Friday and the third day of the Christmas Nail art Challenge. Today's theme is Snowmen.  For last year's snowman theme I did a traditional manicure and this time around I wanted to shake things up. Unfortunately, I was really stretched for time so while this isn't your typical snowman manicure, it didn't exactly test my nail art skills either.



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     Raise your hand if you want to see some nail art today! Did I get anybody to raise their hand? You'll have to let me know in the comments if you did. Today I have for you a manicure featuring another technique I've been wanting to try for a while now. The Newspaper nail.

     I actually found a kit from The New Black on clearance at TJ Maxx that was meant for this exact technique. Of course, I snatched it up because I'm all about making nail art easier.





*Gift*

   
     Today I have a beautiful polish from Darling Diva to share with you. Soubrette is a deep purple linear holo polish with flashes of teal, blue, purple, pink and yellow. Soubrette is part of the super multi-chrome holo collection and is available for sale on Big Cartel.