Weekly Nail Blog Round Up Week 5

Some really great nail designs this week.  Check 'em out!

Stacie went Rockabilly http://kawaiinailart.blogspot.com/2011/04/rockabilly-nails.html over at Kawaii Nail Art

The Nail Addict created some beautiful butterfly nails which look like damask silk http://thenailaddict.blogspot.com/2011/04/you-give-me-butterflies.html

Claire at Top Twenty Nails road tested some CDN Shellac http://toptwentynails.blogspot.com/2011/04/shellacs-rock-royalty-great-purple-long.html

Sharon mixed 2 blues to create a gorgeous effect http://polishinfatuated.blogspot.com/2011/04/beautiful-squishy-jelly.html

Linda was inspired by tokidoki and Sanrio http://wuliaonails.blogspot.com/2011/04/tokidoki-for-sanrio.html

Emily decorated her nails perfectly for Easter http://emilysnailfiles.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-manicure.html

Grace showed her patriotic side with these cool Britannia nails http://ooooohpretty.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-royal-wedding-nails.html

Gradient or Holo? Jen went for both http://moondancerjen.blogspot.com/2011/04/purple-holo-gradient.html

Lena stamped with bundle monster on Essie Bermuda shorts http://thestudentsguidetonailpolish.blogspot.com/2011/04/essie-bermuda-shorts-preview.html

If you would like to be involved in future round ups contact Stacie at http://kawaiinailart.blogspot.com

NOTD: Zoya Ibiza

Real simple mani for you today.  Base coat is Zoya Ibiza, and the stamp is BM12 with Sally Hansen Silver Sweep then I topped it off with a light blue rhinestone.  Sometimes its nice to do just do something pretty even if it has been done a million times before and just not have to use any creativity.

Good news, lovelies!  One week from today is my bday!  And to celebrate I'm hosting my very first giveaway!  I've got some gorgeous goodies in store for you!  I'm also going to have some birthday themed nails all next week to celebrate!  YAY!

OPI Peru-B-Ruby Two Ways

For Pink Wednesday I picked OPI's Peru-B-Ruby and Zoya's Alegra.  When looking at my collection I noticed that Alegra is the same tone as Peru-B-Ruby, but a sparkly version, so I wanted to do something with the two of them, and when experimenting, I ended up with a different manicure on each hand.  On my left hand I went with a funky french:

The tips are OPI Peru-B-Ruby and then I added the designs with a striper brush and my dotting tool.  I really love designs like this, but I'm definitely not a pro at this point.  Here is the other manicure I did with the two colors.  I was hoping Alegra would be a little sheerer so I could do the tips in Peru-B-Ruby and then layer Alegra over it.  Then it just kind of blended...

Oh well, you win some, you lose some.  Hope everyone is having a lovely pink wednesday!

My Easter Nails

I'm super behind on posting my nails, but that's not because I haven't been painting them!  Here are the two different manicures I did for Easter:

I call this one grown up Easter eggs.  I did pastel skittles with Zoya Portia, Caitlin, and Gemma, plus Revlon Lily and a light blue from Cosmetic Arts with no name.  Then I stamped the lacy top using a bundle monster plate.

I got my idea for this next Easter mani from Meliney on Youtube.  The base color is Zoya Robyn.  All the work is hand-painted. 

Its been pretty busy around here.  I have so many blogs to catch up on!  The reason why its so busy?  Lucky got a new friend over the weekend!

His name is José, he is a 9-month old chihuahua and him and Lucky have been have been having so much fun together!

So we're all adjusting to this new addition, which means my nail painting and blogging time has been a little sparse lately.

Weekly Blog Roundup

Claire gave us a right royal review http://toptwentynails.blogspot.com/2011/04/kate-will-nails-inc-limited-edition.html

Grace has gone psychedelic with her 60's inspired nail design http://ooooohpretty.blogspot.com/2011/04/hairspray-part-two.html

Dawn showed us how to have some fun http://thenailaddict.blogspot.com/2011/04/just-for-fun.html

Nicole funked up her French http://nicnacksnails.blogspot.com/2011/04/funky-french.html

Emily had a diet coke break http://emilysnailfiles.blogspot.com/2011/04/diet-coke-inspired.html

Linda was inspired by Despicable Me http://wuliaonails.blogspot.com/2011/04/despicable-easter-art.html

If you would like to be involved in future round ups contact Stacie at http://kawaiinailart.blogspot.com

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. 

Nail Art Contests

No new nails today :(  I worked hard last night on a really cute Disney Inspired manicure to enter in Confessions of a Polishaholic's Disney Nail Art Contest, but I can't post about it until all the entries have been received and voting is open, so look out for that soon!  And, if you haven't heard of this contest yet, get on it!  Entries need to be in by May 1st!

While you've got your creative juices flowing, don't forget that Color Club has a nail art contest going on on their Facebook page.

And, don't forget to vote for my Fimo Flower Nails in Bundle Monster's contest.  Winners are announced on Thursday!  Good Luck to everyone who has entered!

Blue and White Ceramic Inspired Nails

As I mentioned in my "Whip My Nails" post, I'm currently working my way through the FABULOUS Robin Moses nail art tutorials on YouTube.  As soon as I saw this one, I just knew I had to try it!

 I LOVE this style of ceramics.  My grandmother has a gorgeous collection of them, so I've always had fond memories of them.  And if I was going to try this design, I had to do it before my nails broke.  I knew a breakage was coming soon and while my nails were the perfect length, I had to take advantage of it. I started by painting the tips white and then went to town with this all hand-painted design.  The color I used here is Zoya Breezi.

 Left hand.  It was a little harder on this hand, plus I had some nubbins to deal with, which didn't give much room to get details on.

I'm so proud of this design.  I think this is my favorite manicure to date!  I just love Robin for giving me and all of her followers the confidence to try to tackle such detailed work!  If you haven't checked her out yet, please do!  I'm really looking forward to trying more of her designs, and creating some of my own in the future!  Do you have a favorite Robin Moses tutorial you think I should try?  Let me know in the comments!

Also, don't expect any more frenchies any time soon.  As predicted, I broke about 3 nails this weekend.  Oh, and because I loved this manicure so much, I left it on for like 3 days, which is rare for me, which means I might not have enough designs to do 5 days of manicures this week, which is my goal.  I'll try though! 

Weekly Nail Blog Roundup

Three posts in one day!  You ladies are so lucky!

Grace is staying on trend rocking the colour block  http://ooooohpretty.blogspot.com/2011/04/rock-colour-block.html

TheNailAddict used China Glaze for this cute spring manicure  http://thenailaddict.blogspot.com/2011/04/china-glaze-starboard-and-china-glaze.html

Here is LingLing's classy twist on an old favourite http://wuliaonails.blogspot.com/2011/04/elegant-and-classy-twist-on-old.html

Stacie went wild http://kawaiinailart.blogspot.com and got a tumblr account and posted a Kate Middleton Engagement Ring inspired manicure! http://kawaiinailart.tumblr.com/

Sharon was feeling beautiful in blue http://polishinfatuated.blogspot.com/2011/04/who-blue-this-pretty-over.html

Trisha broke a heart or 2 http://ibeatpolish.blogspot.com/2011/04/broken-hearted-stripes.html

Nicole shredded it http://nicnacksnails.blogspot.com/2011/04/shredded-tape-mani.html

Jen played with her new bundle monster plates to make this Spring dream manicure http://moondancerjen.blogspot.com/2011/04/spring-dream-manicure.html

Check out Claire’s paw print French tutorial http://toptwentynails.blogspot.com/2011/04/paw-print-tutorial-using-opi-lacquers.html

Have a great weekend!  Don't neglect Bundle Monster voting over the weekend!  I've added all the info for mine on my sidebar.  Thanks to everyone who has voted!  I really really appreciate it!  Thumbs up to you!

Flip Flop Friday: Tiger Toes

I'm not gonna lie to you, my toes are not super cute.  In fact, my mom compares them to the feet on the Flinstones.  Sweet, right?  But, this week my pedicure is sooooo cute, I just had to share this design with you. 

I call it Tiger Toes.  I painted the base using Zoya Austine and using some new nail art brushes, I free-handed some black lines to make the tiger stripes. What do you think?  Would you rock it?  Feel free to call me Tiger Toes from now on :D

Chic City Nails

After that princess manicure earlier this week I was really craving a more grown up manicure.  I was going into DC for the night to have dinner with a friend, so I wanted a chic city feel to my nails.  I'm so glad I did!  I got so many compliments on this manicure!  I guess people aren't used to seeing the ruffian style.  I started out with dollar store black as a base and then I put french tip guides towards the base of my nail and painted on Revlon Top Speed's Stormy color.  This color is new to my collection, and I'm so glad I got it.  It is really cute and has great coverage.

Man, I wish this was a better picture.  Its not doing this manicure justice.  This is my first time doing the ruffian style manicure, and I just love it!  This color combo is great, but I think Stormy would also look great with a dark purple underneath too.  Ever get tired of all the nail art and want "grown-up" nails? 

Vote For Me in the Bundle Monster Contest

Hey Lovelies!

Just wanted to let you know that I entered my Fimo Flowers manicure in the Bundle Monster Facebook Contest.  And I would love you forever if you would give me the thumbs up only if you think I truly deserve  thumbs up!

I'm on page 4 under Jeannette Modic.  You can vote once a day!  If you'd like my vote, leave your link in the comments.

Also, I will give you extra bonus wet kisses if you also vote for my future sister-in-law, Beverly.  She just started a blog called Bevy Nails.  She and I do our nails together once a week and it has brought me so much joy to share this hobby with her.  She is getting really good with gradient nails and water marbles, and she could definitely use the new Bundle Monster plates to get her started with stamping.  Here's her Orbital Blue design:

Ok, I've whored myself out enough for one day!  Love you guys! Thanks so much!  XOXO

Going Nautical!

Been seeing a lot of nautical nails lately, and now that I have my Bundle Monster plates and this hot new blue, it was time for me to jump on the bandwagon. I started this manicure with China Glaze Frostbite.  This is such a HOT blue.  It is soooo electric and fierce!  I love the color.  Not a huge fan of China Glaze's formula though.  It feels like it takes FOREVER to dry and set, which means I am constantly getting smudges on my nails, which I HATE!  I probably redid my second finger 5 times through this manicure.  I just kept messing it up!  I had this same problem with Shower Together when I put it on my toes a few weeks ago.  UGH!  I think I'm just used to Zoya and how fast and smooth it dries.  I just never have a problem with their formula, they've totally spoiled me.

 After putting on my base I stamped the anchor from BM08 in white, and I was just going to leave it like that, but it felt boring to me.  So, I decided to use my dotting tool and put in some light blue dots.

What do you think? Are you feeling the nautical theme lately, or are you totally over it?  I'm definitely feeling it, especially on Emily's Naughti-Cool Nails this week!  Girl's got skillz! 

Spring Dream Manicure

Once I got my Bundle Monster Plates, I wanted to do a manicure that uses as many images as I could!  LOL.  So, I started off with a white base using Zoya Christina (from the LTHP giveaway!) Then I created a spring scene with flowers and butterflies.  Here is a detail shot of my thumb:

I started my stamping with a flower design from plate BM11 stamped with Zoya Dana.  Then I stamped the butterfly from plate BM04 with Zoya Pinta, and the butterflies on plate BM05 using Zoya Breezi and Areej.  To top it off, I dotted the center of the flowers using Sally Hansen Lightning and used a green striper from the dollar store to put in the grass.  And because this wasn't enough!  I added a rhinestone to the butterfly.  Here's a couple of shots of all the nails:

What do you think?  I'm definitely getting into the spring spirit after doing this manicure :)

Pretty Pretty Princess

Happy Pink Wednesday!  Sorry I didn't post yesterday, I do have another manicure coming up later this afternoon to make up for it.  Exciting news!  I got my Bundle Monster Plates in the mail last week!  I'm totally late to the game, I know, but better late than never, right?  The image I was most excited about in the Bundle Monster set was the princess crown, so what better manicure on a Wednesday, since on Wednesdays We Wear Pink, than a pretty pretty princess pink manicure?

I started my manicure with a new neon pink I got over the weekend by Cosmetic Arts (the same company that produces Color Club)  I got this color plus 2 others for $1.99 each at Ross.

Also while out this weekend I got a nail art brush set, and I wanted to try it out.  So, I used that to write out Princess on my nails, and then stamped my thumb and the other hand:

Left Hand

Right Hand

The stamps I used were from BM08 and BM02.  I also topped it all off China Glaze Fairy Dust because princesses love sparkles! Comment question of the day for my fellow princesses: Who is your favorite Disney Princess?  Mine has always been Sleeping Beauty!  

Yazmeen + Faye = BFFs

Not sure how I feel about the final outcome of this manicure, which is a shame because I love the color combination.  I started out with Zoya Yasmeen:

Then I added Faye to the tips.

 

Then, I added stars trailing down using Faye.  This manicure shined so beautifully in the sun, I had to post that as the final shot.

 

What do you think? I'm wishing I would've stopped at the french, and maybe done a different angle on the french.  Oh well, I can always try again!  That's the fun with polish, right? :)

I Whip My Nails Back and Forth!

I'm working my way through the fabulous Robin Moses nail art tutorials on Youtube, and the other day I came across this one:

And I thought it was SO HOT!  I love the "Whip my hair" song too.  So, with that playing in the background, I went after making my own version.  Here are my tools:

 

Sally Hansen Lightning and Lickety Split Lime, Zoya Breezi, Dollar Store Black, Zoya Areej (making her 3rd appearance this week - I'm in love)

I started off with these skittles.  Then went in with black to cut in some triangles in a different position on each nail.  Then, with my striper (won in the LTHP giveaway) I outlined my triangles and did a criss cross design on my ring finger.  Then I laid down some SV and added some accent rhinestones to match the color of each nail.  Here's the final product:

 Left Hand

Right Hand

This manicure was soooooooooooooo fun!  I hope I did Robin justice!  What do you think?  Hope everyone has a fabulous hair-whipping weekend! 

xoxo,

Jen

Weekly Nail Blog Roundup

Grace made a great tutorial video on how to use a konad and have these fantastic nails

Emily watched put a twist on the usual nautical manicure. Watch out for the sharks!

Stacie went all a flutter

Sharon dragged her way to a perfect manicure

Jen played with fimo this week and came up with this awesome design

Nicole is pretty in pink with this Fauxnad design

Dawn kept the doctor away with this fantastic apple design

Lovin Nails used China Glaze Four Leaf Clover for a gorgeous accent nail manicure

Claire was rocking with this cool shellac tutorial


And as a little bonus we love this tutorial by the lovely Leanne at do not refreeze

If you would like to be included in future round ups please visit here