Gingerbread Men Nail Art Stamping Manicure

Two nail looks in one day, you guys are so lucky! For this look I wanted to play with some of the many Christmas designs on my nail plates. This little gingerbread man comes from BM222 (I just cleaned off the excess design that surrounds him to just get the gingerbread man, and then stamped him twice. The color I used is the Sonia Kashuk brown from my earlier manicure. The candy cane in the middle of the two gingerbread men are from a set of plates I got from Born Pretty Store. This stamp was also used on my Candy Cane Nails from a couple of weeks ago.  I used the Konad Red stamping polish for them.

I think this is a really cute design, and is a great example of how to use multiple images and changing the images that come with the plates can be used to compose a "scene"  Hope you are liking this huge influx of Christmas designs this week!

Snowman Nails

Happy Friday!  Anyone have snow where they live?  If so, you might enjoy these cute snowman nails!

This look started with a couple of coats of OPI's Road House Blues.  Then I stamped the cute little snowmen from a stamp I got from Born Pretty Store.  The snowman on his own was cute, but didn't feel like enough, so I pulled out my dotting tool and dotted in some snow falling and some snow on the ground.  Then the look seemed a little too white, so I dotted in some Zoya Ivanka for the scarf to add a little color.

Halloween Week Day Three: Creepy Skull Nails

Ok, so Monday, we had cute sparkly skulls, and today I'm going with creepy scary blood splattered skull nails! *insert evil laugh here*

The blood splatter effect was achieved by using red stamping polish with konad M70 stamp on white nails. The skull design is from a Nail Art Stamp set from Born Pretty. I added the red to the eyes using my dotting tool to make the skull even more creepy!

Hope you like this look!  Let me know what you think.

Dotting Tool-torial

After a week of inspiration, I think you are probably ready for a wrap up, and some more ideas for what to do with your dotting tool.

First, if you don't have a dotting tool yet, might I recommend this set from Born Pretty Store:

This set has different sizes, which can be used to create even more designs.  Here are some other designs you can make with your dotting tools:

A heart is just two dots side by side and then dragged together to a point.  Cherries are similar, we just put two dots side by side and then using an alternate color, you can use your tool to draw the stems.  Using three dots, you can make a little mickey mouse, or teddy bear.  Dotting tool is also great for making eyes.  With the tool set above, you can use the big end of the tool for the white of the eye, and then the small end for the little black pupils. 

For even more dotting tool inspiration, check out some of my favorite manicures from the past:

Hope you've enjoyed this week of dotting tool nails.  I hope you've gotten some inspiration and courage to try a dotting tool out if you haven't gotten one yet, or maybe try some new designs with the one you have! 

Pink Leopard Nail Art

Dotting tools aren't just for creating nail art, they are also great for embellishing stamping. I love to use mine to apply rhinestones and add some color to stamped designs. Case in point: today's pink Wednesday manicure!

I started this manicure with Zoya Raven.  Then stamped the leopard print (Konad M57) with a white stamping polish.  Then, using my dotting tool, I filled in the holes of the leopard print with Zoya Mod Matte Lolly.

Don't have a dotting tool yet?  Here's the set I have from Born Pretty Store.

Cheery Cherry Nail Art

Next step with using our dotting tool, is creating art with it! On the manicure today, I decided to use my dotting tool to create some cute cherries! I actually got the idea for this manicure from a YouTube video by CutePolish. Creating cherries with your dotting tool is really easy. You just need two red dots next to each other, and then you can use your dotting tool to draw three little lines for the stem and leaf. I couldn't decide if I liked the white "shine dots" on my cherries or not, so I did one hand with each ;)

Base color for this manicure was a Sally Hansen Whirlwind White. The red in the cherries is Zoya Sookie, and the green is Four Leaf Clover by China Glaze.

Don't have a dotting tool yet?  Here is the set I use all the time from Born Pretty Store.

Dolphin Nails

These nails would be perfect for a vacation.  They remind me of all the times I just sat on the beach watching the dolphins jump in the air. 

Base color is Zoya Yummy.  Tips are China Glaze Dorothy Who? Stamping was done with the Hello Kitty plate from Born Pretty using Zoya Ibiza.

What are your vacation plans this year?  I know I can't wait to hit the beach in August.  Have you done any great beach themed manicures lately?  I'd love to see them!  Just share the link in the comments!

Gorgeous Glitter Gradient!

You guys, I am OBSESSED with the new line of gradient sets from Born Pretty Store.  I just got the purple one in the mail and tried it out, and it is SO PRETTY!  So, Born Pretty sells a set of three polishes that perfectly blend with one another to build a gorgeous gradient effect on your nails.  Here is the purple one I got:

I first heard about this product from a YouTube tutorial by Born Pretty Store, which you should check out here.  The way the product works is you start with a base coat of the first color all over your nail.

 This was two coats of the first color.

Then I applied the second color to two-thirds of my nail.

Then I added the last color the the top one-third of my nail, and then tried desperately to capture the effect.  I hope these pictures are doing this product justice.

I loved the final outcome!

So, in conclusion, this kit is super fun, is easy to apply and you get an AWESOME gradient effect.  I definitely liked using this over the typical sponge gradient technique.  Even cooler is that they have the set in two other color schemes: Green and Pink!  The only con to this product is that it is definitely a pure glitter, which means removal SUCKED, but that's the price we pay for hot glittery nails, right girls?

Here are the links to the products if you want to check them out:

• Purple Gradient Color Shimmer Nail Polish Glitter Nail Art
• Pink Gradient Color Shimmer Nail Polish Glitter Nail Art
• Green Gradient Color Shimmer Nail Polish Glitter Nail Art

This product was sent to me for review, but the opinions are mine and not influenced in any way.

Dotted Pink

Happy Pink Wednesday, lovelies! I love the layered dotting effect I've seen around the blogosphere lately, so I decided to try it out for my pink wednesday mani this week.

The base color is Wet N' Wild Black and the dots are from all my favorite Zoya pinks: Portia, Lo, Flora, Dana, and Areej. I used my dotting tool from Born Pretty Store to make all the dots, which you can get right here.  Hope you are having a lovely pink Wednesday!