Glitter Rainbow Gradient Zoya Nail Art

Zoya makes the prettiest glitter polishes! When faced with these four gorgeous glitters I just couldn't choose one, I have done a skittle look with these before, so today I decided to do a gradient look instead! I went with The Beauty Department's gradient technique of painting all the colors on the sponge at once. I had to apply the gradient a couple of times to get the dark hue I was looking for.

Here is the tools I used (from left to right) cosmetic sponge for gradient, Zoya Alegra, Zoya Mimi, Zoya Charla, and Zoya Apple.

Check out the other rainbow gradient look and a tutorial

Gorgeous Pink Gradient

Inspired by the gorgeous azaleas in bloom outside, I decided to do a pretty pink manicure. I started with China Glaze Strawberry Fields as my base and then sponged Zoya Rica on the tips.

Is it too early for Christmas Nails?

If it is then let's call these Redskins nails! Because that is actually what I initially was thinking about when I did this mani. See, coming from the D.C. area I was raised a die-hard Redskins fan! Trust me, its one of the most depressing teams to be a die-hard fan of! So, to show my Redskins spirit, I wanted to create a burgundy and gold nail look, and when it was done it looked really Christmasy, so I held off showing it to you until now.

I started this look with China Glaze Sugar Plum, which I think was in CG's holiday collection last year.

Then I did some gold glitter sponging on my tips and moons.  I can never decide which look I like better.  The gold glitter I used was a combination of Sinful Colors Paris and Milani Jewel FX in Gold.

So, if it is too early for Christmas nails, pretend these are Redskins nails, and if you aren't Redskins fans, then pretend these are Christmas nails! :D

Happy Thanksgiving to anyone celebrating tomorrow!  Anyone know of any good Black Friday nail deals?  If so, please share! 

Also, don't forget about my two giveaways going on right now:  Free Jewelry Giveaway and China Glaze Let It Snow Giveaway

Gray Sparkly Matte Nails

What is it about Sparkly Matte nails that is just sooo hot? I pin looks like this all the time on Pinterest, so I thought it was about time that I tried it myself. I started with a base coat of Zoya Kelly. I LOVE THIS COLOR! It is srsly one of my favorite Zoyas.

On top of Kelly, I sponged this glitter from NYC called Starry Silver Glitter just on my tips to give it a bit of a gradient look.

And then of course, I took this look to the next level with a matte topcoat. Mine is by hard candy, but any of the others will do just as good.

Want to know why I haven't been posting as much lately?  Its because I fall in love with looks like this and wear them for days on end.  So stinking cute.

Crazy Animal Print Nails

Confession time: I have a very crazy pair of pajamas! And every time I wear these, I think omg I have to do a nail look inspired by these jammies! Here is the inspiration fabric:

And here are my nails:

This look was achieved by started with a white base.  I then sponged a light purple, a light pink, dark pink, and dark purple to create the gradient look.  Then, I used a black striper to draw the zebra stripes and the leopard spots. 

So, what do you think?  Did I match my inspiration well?  What weird things have inspired your nails lately?  Let me know in the comments!

Getting ready for fall with Zoya Envy and Edyta

Zoya Envy is such a gorgeous dark green! Perfect for fall and comes off as black with a green tint in some lights. Here is a swatch:

I decided its perfect match is Zoya Edyta, which is pretty much Envy with a ton of gold sparkles. SO I took my Envy and sponged the tips with Edyta to create a cute gradient effect.

These two are just a match made in heaven!  I love them both.  This manicure is definitely getting me in the fall spirit! As much as I love the summer brights, there is something soooo fun about the dark vampy hues for fall! :)

Femme Fatale Tour Nails

Last night was one of the best nights ever!!!!  I got to see two of the fiercest bitches around perform in the most epic concert of all time!!!!!  (aka Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj in the Femme Fatale tour)  We had awesome seats, and of course I had to do my nails up right for the night!  Here's some pics from the show:

To match my nails to the fierceness of these two lovelies, I turned to Pinterest for some inspiration, and found this:

Fierce right?  Here is my interpretation:

I started my nails with a base of Zoya Charisma and then sponged the tips with a sparkly black from Forever 21's Love and Polish brand.  Seen previously here.  I loved this look, but for some reason my tips have chipped badly!  I'm in need of a new manicure STAT!

Been to any great concerts lately?  If you get a chance to catch Brit Brit on the Femme Fatale tour, DO IT!!!!!  It was amazing! 

Rainbow Gradient Nails + Tutorial

I really should've just declared this week Rainbow Week!  Can you tell that I am indecisive, and that instead of picking one color, I just pick multiples! :P  Today I not only have an adorable manicure for you, but a tutorial for how to do it!

Let me know what you think about the tutorial, and if you give it a try.  Any other tutorials you'd like to see from me?  Let me know in the comments! :)

Gradient Zebra Print

Does anyone remember the gorgeous gradient zebra design from the Bundle Monster Contest awhile back?  I LOVED it.  It was definitely one of my favorites in the competition.  And recently, I found out who made it (the lovely Rebecca), and that she posted a tutorial on how she did it!  I couldn't wait to try this out!  I decided to do mine using some STUNNING pastels from Zoya:

From left to right we have Flora, Malia and Yummy.
Now, I didn't have a chance to take a picture of just the gradient, which was probably a good thing, because trust me, it didn't look that good on its own.  I have to practice this technique more.  I think I'm just a little too heavy handed to get a subtle gradient.  I used Flora as a base coat and then sponged on Malia on the top two-thirds of the nail, and then Yummy on the top one-third.  Then I stamped the full zebra image from BM 223 on top with Konad black polish.  Here is the final result:

I really love this look!  I definitely encourage you to try it out!  Sad thing about this manicure: the very next day I did some gardening without gloves, and ruined it!  So, please forgive the little chip on my middle finger.  The other hand looked even worse!  Lesson learned: ALWAYS wear gloves when gardening!

Thanks to Rebecca Likes Nails for posting the tutorial!  I think there are so many different designs you can do with a gradient base and then a full stamp over top.

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.

Purple Holo Gradient

I love purple!  It is my favorite color!  I must have every shade of purple imaginable in nail polish, so a gradient combining some of my favorite purples was inevitable!  I started with a new purple I just got at Target.  Sonia Kashuk's Violetta:

 Then I sponged a dark purple sparkle - China Glaze C-C-Courage.  This blended so well with Violetta, I didn't photograph it thinking it would show up well.  Then I added Milani 3D Holographic Hi Res at the top, and that's when the magic happened!

It's so pretty!  I love it.  I tried adding some star embellishments from Dollar Nail Art to this, but it looked AWFUL!  Lately, I feel like I just don't know well enough to leave a good thing alone.  Last night, I just put a simple color on with no stamping because I just had no creative juices flowing.  I hope you'll still like my blog if I just post solid colors sometimes, and not always art.