Hot Pink Tips/Zebra

I LOVED these! This is another one of those manis that I did almost a year ago so I can't remember the color of the pink. Sorry about that. Wow, my brain just started working again, and I JUST remembered it IS Sinful Colors Creme Pink. Probably part of the reason I suddenly remembered this was because I reorganized all my pink polishes yesterday... which reminds me. I have every polish I own swatched already, so I think I may have "Swatchfest 2012"! Stay tuned...

What I Used:

Base Color:China Glaze-Snow

I THINK The tips are: Sinful Colors-Creme Pink

Glitter on tips: Pure Ice-Spitfire

Stamping:

Color: Sinful Colors-Black on Black

Plate:M57

52 Week Challenge:(I hate) Valentines Day

Single or not, I hate the crap out of Valentines day. I'm not super girly, or mushy, or one to like expensive jewelry or roses (ok, maybe some black ones), never been one for PDA, and stuffed animals make me want to puke. Call me cynical or jaded. For me just spending time with the person you love maybe getting some good food is all I need.
So, I did somewhat of an anti-Valentines day mani. Still complete with the classic red color scheme but with a hit of badass.

This was a lot of fun to do! It been a while since I freehanded leopard spots, and the heart & crossbones was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be.

 Making that red color was an adventure in layering on it's own!

• 1 coat Sinful Colors-Under 18
• 1 coat China Glaze-Riveter Rouge
• 2 coats Finger Paints- Flashy

I think it was worth it though, because using all those colors and textures gave the color a great depth, in my opinion. 

I tried my best to moisturize my cuticles, but Winter can't be stopped.

 Also I usually don't wear red, so it was a fun change of pace, that I am really enjoying.

 I hope you guys enjoyed it! :)

Venturing into Gels and Acrylics!

Truth be told, I wrote this up months ago, so you can see my level of procrastination. hah

Oh hey guys!! I'm back(ish). Life's been crazy, and I've been quite uninspired in all artistic aspects of my life, including nails. Also my nails have been breaking like crazy and are nubs, hence why I decided to try the whole acrylic tips thing. From what I've read the soak off gels, are the least damaging to the nails as well. Hopefully when they grow out a little I can ditch the tips and just stick with some gel, so these babies don't keep breaking on me.

Here's the results of  my first attempt at venturing into soak gels with acrylic tips. I think it came out decent, but I have a long way to go!

• Acrylic tips
• IBD Dehydrate 
• IBD Clear gel
• IBD Builder gel
• ECO Soak Off Gel Color in Bare Foot Pink (2 coats I believe)
• Clear gel mixed with some AC Moore glitter, trying to make it as flat as possible
• Another thin coat of Clear 
• For the leopard spots just a no name Hot Topic polish and some black stripping polish 
• Topped it all off with a coat of the IBD UV Top Coat. I found you can use regular polish on top of the gels, with the UV Top Coat, and it lasts pretty much as long as the nails last, with maybe just a little cracking of the polish. 

My thoughts:
Truth be told these were a little thick, but after a few days I got used to them. The glitter on in the tips is a little messy.

I used the IBD Soak Off Gel System, (bought it here, http://www.8ty8beauty.com/uv-gels/uv-gels.htm, as I've said before, I love these guys!) for these. It's a great starter kit for gels!

Red Light, Green Light, 1-2-3.

I don't if you guys can tell, but I kinda love animal prints. hah Here's some more, I was inspired again by WAH NAILS. They really are great for inspiration when you have no idea what do to.

Green: Color Club The Lime Starts Here

Red: China Glaze Heli-yum

Stamp: Konad M w/Sinful Colors Black on Black

To do the green spots over the red I first did a dot of white polish, then the green on top

I loved these so much, but sadly this was before I realized that my Seche Vite was the reason for my nail polish peeling off, and they all came off within 24 hours. :( 

On an awesome note though, due to cleaning up some stuff in preparation for the hurricane that never happened, I found my stash of acrylic paint! I will definitely be trying some new crazy nail art with that asap!

Pink (Tiger) Wednesday, and a Gelish Question.

Rawr!

heh

 I loves me some tiger (..or is it zebra?? ehh... let's just call it animal print)! 

Did a gradient with Finger Paints Outta Sight Orange and added Sinful Colors Creme Pink to the tips really messily and on an angle, it was pretty haphazard really, but I wanted it like that so it would look more like a gradient. Then topped it all with WnW Kaleidoscope, which IMHO blends the gradient and makes it a look smoother.

Still loving the new Bundle Monster plates, and I cannot wait till Fall so I can use the awesome Halloween ones! And by Fall I mean September. hah Needless to say I LOVE Halloween! I love Fall in general, but Halloween... yeah it's my favorite holiday.

I used Sinful Colors Black on Black with BM 2?? (this plate is currently MIA, and I may cry) *Edit:Just found it, along with about 20 other plates!!! This just made my day! Finally cleaning pays off!*

So my Gelish question is this.. I'm thinking I may buy this starter kit from Sally's seeing as how I would love to have my manis last 21(ish) days rather than 2 tops. The UV lamps they have there look pretty shit. I mean battery operated, really?! Anyone have any advice on where to find a decently prices UV lamp, or even on the Gelish system in general?? 

Thank you guys in advance for any help, you're all awesome! :)

Beautiful Freakin' Day = Holo OD!

It's finally super beautiful out here, and not cloudy or grossly humid, so I'm breaking out some holo!
I just got Rated Holographic last weekend at my favorite dusty store, and I had to try it out. I also received the new Bundle Monster plates, so I also had to try out my favorites from the set. Which of course was skulls and tiger (??) stripes. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out, minus a small screw up stamping the skull.

Rawr!

I'm loving these new BM plates!.. even if I only stamped half the skull -_-

Yay! Look at all the holo-ness in these bad boys! 

I only have these two in the Kaleidoscope collection, and I have to say I am semi let down by Rated Holographic". It's definitely way more of a scattered holo, and you need a lot of direct light to really see any of the holo effect. Whereas He's Going In Circles, is beautiful! I can even see some of the linear holo effects in dim interior lighting. Meh, I guess it happens sometimes...

Ohhh Sidenote- I've been using Nail Tek 2 to try and strengthen and grow out my nail, cause they are breaking like bitches all the time lately! I've read some good reviews, and am really hoping this works. I'll keep you all informed...

What I Used:
Colors: China Glaze He's Going In Circles
            China Glaze Rated Holographic
Stamps: BM-223 (Stripes), Sinful Colors Black on Black
              BM-225 (skulls), Konad Special Polish White