I included a few more pictures just so you could see how amazing the shine and multi-colored sparkle of the holographic glitter in I Herd That. Just beautiful!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Yet another French tip
All those interview manicures we did over the last few months on V's nails were worth it - she started her new job this week! She wanted to start her first day with nails that were professional, but pretty. A French tip is always on track. We started with a single coat of China Glaze Fast Track and added tips in Orly Buried Alive. Then I used China Glaze I Herd That to draw a line between the base color and the tips, as well as draw a few subtle arcs.
I included a few more pictures just so you could see how amazing the shine and multi-colored sparkle of the holographic glitter in I Herd That. Just beautiful!
I included a few more pictures just so you could see how amazing the shine and multi-colored sparkle of the holographic glitter in I Herd That. Just beautiful!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Dotted French Tip - Week #2 fill-in
Good Monday, nail art enthusiasts! I will freely admit I'm being a baaad challenge member and totally skipping this week's theme. Why? I don't care for cupcakes. Seriously. I have absolutely no love for the cutesy that is cupcakes on nails. I can appreciate kawaii, but I am not a cute person. If you are, then by all means, head over to Jenna Froggy's Year's Challenge page and check out everybody else's cupcakes, but here on my hobby blog, you're getting anything that drops into Ro's weird little mind. Just not cupcakes. ;)
Instead, I'm going to make up one of the weeks I didn't do, because I came into this challenge a few weeks late. So I present to you, week #2: french tip! (Yay! I hardly ever do french tips, but I figure if I'm going to do it, might as well use it for a fill-in!)
I started with a base of two coats of Finger Paints Don't Make a Scene, then I added french tips in Orly Buried Alive. I really love this color - the rich red and gold shimmers are just beautiful. It really does bring to mind a freshly turned top soil (though you'll never see this lovely color of dirt in my front yard!)
I used China Glaze I'm Not Lion from the On Safari collection to line the separation between the base and tip colors, which allowed me to cover over those not-quite-perfect spots! Then I used a dotting tool to put dots of Don't Make a Scene on the brown tips, and I used China Glaze Prey Tell for the dots on the tan base. I tried just using Buried Alive, but the added contrast of a third color really helped the dots to pop out. Onto the DMaS dots on the tip, I added slightly smaller dots of Prey Tell, and then finally even smaller dots of I'm Not Lion. The Prey Tell dots on the base just got a smaller dot of I'm Not Lion on them.
I've gotten some surprisingly enthusiastic comments on these from my co-workers, and one of the male professors happened to come by while I was showing them, and he asked if I did them myself or went somewhere to get them done! I can't think of a better compliment than people thinking that a professional did my nail art. Well, I did have one better compliment, when a salon manager asked if I was certified (or licensed, or whatever it's called), because she'd been looking for someone to do nail art at her salon! Anyone who knows me in person would have been rolling on the floor laughing at the question. I am not, not, NOT a people person. I would have a nervous breakdown if I had to work in a service environment constantly, let alone having to touch strangers constantly. ::shudder:: No, I'll keep this at hobby level, thanks, and stick to my own nails or my very close friends.
Instead, I'm going to make up one of the weeks I didn't do, because I came into this challenge a few weeks late. So I present to you, week #2: french tip! (Yay! I hardly ever do french tips, but I figure if I'm going to do it, might as well use it for a fill-in!)
I started with a base of two coats of Finger Paints Don't Make a Scene, then I added french tips in Orly Buried Alive. I really love this color - the rich red and gold shimmers are just beautiful. It really does bring to mind a freshly turned top soil (though you'll never see this lovely color of dirt in my front yard!)
I used China Glaze I'm Not Lion from the On Safari collection to line the separation between the base and tip colors, which allowed me to cover over those not-quite-perfect spots! Then I used a dotting tool to put dots of Don't Make a Scene on the brown tips, and I used China Glaze Prey Tell for the dots on the tan base. I tried just using Buried Alive, but the added contrast of a third color really helped the dots to pop out. Onto the DMaS dots on the tip, I added slightly smaller dots of Prey Tell, and then finally even smaller dots of I'm Not Lion. The Prey Tell dots on the base just got a smaller dot of I'm Not Lion on them.
I've gotten some surprisingly enthusiastic comments on these from my co-workers, and one of the male professors happened to come by while I was showing them, and he asked if I did them myself or went somewhere to get them done! I can't think of a better compliment than people thinking that a professional did my nail art. Well, I did have one better compliment, when a salon manager asked if I was certified (or licensed, or whatever it's called), because she'd been looking for someone to do nail art at her salon! Anyone who knows me in person would have been rolling on the floor laughing at the question. I am not, not, NOT a people person. I would have a nervous breakdown if I had to work in a service environment constantly, let alone having to touch strangers constantly. ::shudder:: No, I'll keep this at hobby level, thanks, and stick to my own nails or my very close friends.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Glittered Glass
Isn't that pretty?! I'm really happy with this manicure! I have a hard time creating light, summery manis, because I love fall colors. I have to specifically tell myself to purchase light colored polishes, because they're never what catches my eye or calls to me or makes me go, "Ooooh pretty!"
There are ten polishes on here, not counting base and top coat, but please don't ask me to tell you which is which! I started with two coats of China Glaze Innocence for a base color (and I did leave it open in spots) and then used a detail brush to draw random swooshes in the following polishes: China Glaze Dress Me Up, Sunset Sail, Agent Lavender, Reggae to Riches, and Sex on the Beach, along with Avon Ruby Slipper, an unnamed pink shimmery mini from Lisa Frank, and I topped a few of the swooshes with Zoya Chloe. Then I used China Glaze I'm Not Lion to outline all the different colors as well as outline a frame around the whole nail.
Mr. IJAH said that it looks like I used the pattern from a 1960's shirt, which I'm totally okay with, even if he meant it as an insulting tease. (We pick on each other that way allll the time. :)
On a side note, I love that I've only had a single nail break in months, even though I've run out of the Haken Nail Magic strengthener base coat that I used to get them to grow like this, and that nubbin on my right-hand middle finger broke off when the damage from the previous base coat finally grew out to the end of my nail bed. I'll be buying another bottle of the strengthening base coat when I can (my Sally's was out of it when I was last there), but in the meantime I'm using their regular Nail Hardener base coat (the pink one) and it's certainly not hurting my nails.
I just loved the pretty, sparkly, swirly nature of this manicure, and I couldn't narrow my choices of pictures down to just a few, so I'll at least put a cut-tag before spamming you with pictures. Feel free to click-through for sparkly goodness! :)
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Week 34: Bling!
Good morning hobby lovers! This week in the Year's Challenge is BLING! I keep wanting to do a manicure with rhinestones, but I never seem to get around to it. I can't help but be intimidated by the gorgeous rhinestone art manicures I have pinned from Sarah ❤'s Pretty Little Things, but sometimes you just have to muddle through!
You think that's enough bling? My co-workers all thought so. :) I started with two coats of China Glaze Man Hunt, from the new On Safari collection. I then did french tips in a V-pattern with my new favorite glitter, Wonder Beauty Diamond Dust. Then there was a layer of Gelous, followed by lots and lots of picking up rhinestones and bullion beads with the pointy tip of an orange stick. A final layer of Gelous to seal it all, and voila! I'm all blinged up!
Seriously, though, this is one of my favorite manicures lately. It came out exactly as I had envisioned when I worked up the design on my nail wheel, and that's something I really can't say very often. Be sure to go over to JennaFroggy's page to see who else is participating in the Year's Challenge! There's lots of gorgeous nail art to oooh! and aaah! over just waiting for your click!
You think that's enough bling? My co-workers all thought so. :) I started with two coats of China Glaze Man Hunt, from the new On Safari collection. I then did french tips in a V-pattern with my new favorite glitter, Wonder Beauty Diamond Dust. Then there was a layer of Gelous, followed by lots and lots of picking up rhinestones and bullion beads with the pointy tip of an orange stick. A final layer of Gelous to seal it all, and voila! I'm all blinged up!
Seriously, though, this is one of my favorite manicures lately. It came out exactly as I had envisioned when I worked up the design on my nail wheel, and that's something I really can't say very often. Be sure to go over to JennaFroggy's page to see who else is participating in the Year's Challenge! There's lots of gorgeous nail art to oooh! and aaah! over just waiting for your click!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Lazy Luster
What is a nail artist to do with their fingernails, when they don't feel like making an effort? Pull out your newest glitter, of course, and make a gradient! :)
Please pardon the lack of clean-up. As the post title declares - I was being lazy! I started with two coats of China Glaze Jungle Queen, from the new On Safari collection. I've seen some awesome swatches of this polish showing a beautiful subtle shimmer, but alas, I did not see this shimmer myself on my nails. You actually can see hints of it in some of my pictures, especially this next one, but I didn't see it with my eyes!
After my nails were Pretty In Purple (since I'm definitely not a pink person!), I added a gradient of my newest glitter, Diamond Dust from Wonder Beauty Products. There could be no other name for this polish than Diamond Dust, because that's exactly what it looks like: thousands of tiny little diamond particles dusted across my nails! Don't you just love that gorgeous sunlight twinkle on my index finger in the picture above?! This is one of those manicures that I keep having to stop typing from time to time and just wiggle my fingers to watch the sparkle. :)
I used a very simple technique to make this gradient - I wiped most of the polish off the brush, and then put a very fine dry layer from about 2/3 back to the tip. Then I repeated it, with slightly more polish on my brush, from about midway on the nail, and finally I added a solid layer of polish on the final tip, from about 1/3 of the way back on my nail. Made for quite a bump on the tips of my nails, but it only took a single layer of Seche Vite to smooth out the surface. But as you can see here, there is a fair bit more polish on the ends of some of my nails! Although, to be fair, it looks huge in this picture, but it hardly feels like a bump at all when I run my fingers across it.
What do you do with your nails when you're feeling lazy? Leave them naked, paint with a single color, or just a simple art effect like this one?
Please pardon the lack of clean-up. As the post title declares - I was being lazy! I started with two coats of China Glaze Jungle Queen, from the new On Safari collection. I've seen some awesome swatches of this polish showing a beautiful subtle shimmer, but alas, I did not see this shimmer myself on my nails. You actually can see hints of it in some of my pictures, especially this next one, but I didn't see it with my eyes!
After my nails were Pretty In Purple (since I'm definitely not a pink person!), I added a gradient of my newest glitter, Diamond Dust from Wonder Beauty Products. There could be no other name for this polish than Diamond Dust, because that's exactly what it looks like: thousands of tiny little diamond particles dusted across my nails! Don't you just love that gorgeous sunlight twinkle on my index finger in the picture above?! This is one of those manicures that I keep having to stop typing from time to time and just wiggle my fingers to watch the sparkle. :)
I used a very simple technique to make this gradient - I wiped most of the polish off the brush, and then put a very fine dry layer from about 2/3 back to the tip. Then I repeated it, with slightly more polish on my brush, from about midway on the nail, and finally I added a solid layer of polish on the final tip, from about 1/3 of the way back on my nail. Made for quite a bump on the tips of my nails, but it only took a single layer of Seche Vite to smooth out the surface. But as you can see here, there is a fair bit more polish on the ends of some of my nails! Although, to be fair, it looks huge in this picture, but it hardly feels like a bump at all when I run my fingers across it.
What do you do with your nails when you're feeling lazy? Leave them naked, paint with a single color, or just a simple art effect like this one?
Friday, August 17, 2012
Chunky Copper Chops
I'm sure most of you who share my hobby are aware of Copious and their habit of semi-regularly offering free credits to members (and, of course, if you haven't tried them out, click here to get a $10 credit for signing up!) I managed to catch the latest $10-credit being offered to existing members, and snagged two KleanColor polishes: Military Green and Chunky Copper. The day they came in the mail, I was so enamored of them, I had to use them right away.
Aren't those gorgeous?! I started with a base color of the Military Green, and covered the thumb and ring fingers with two coats of Chunky Copper. This glitter has two different colors of large hexes, gold and copper, as well as lots and lots of medium and small copper hexes. (If any of the smaller hexes are gold rather than copper, I can't see them.) I'm not sure why the same two coats came out with such a different amount of glitter on my thumb versus my ring finger, though I suspect I was spreading the same amount of glitter out on the larger surface area on the thumb, since this difference in density held true for my other hand as well.
I added a slanted french tip in China Glaze Exotic Encounters, added a stripe in Avon Lucky Penny, and then outlined the stripe in China Glaze Prey Tell. I also used dotting tools in three sizes to layer dots of Prey Tell, Exotic Encounters, and then topped with Lucky Penny. It doesn't show up as well in the pictures, but Lucky Penny is almost exactly the same color as the copper hexes in Chunky Copper.
Look at these pictures out in the sunlight - that Chunky Copper is practically on fire and you can see it actually reflecting the sunlight onto my middle finger!
Almost every one of my co-workers who oohed and aahed over this manicure had to run their finger over my ring fingernail because the glitter was so three dimensional! Even though in reality, it actually laid pretty flat, and two coats of Seche Vite on top means the surface of my nail is almost completely smooth, but even with that, the way the light shines on the copper hexes makes them look like they're curling upward. I don't know what makes them look that way, but it's very eye-catching!
Aren't those gorgeous?! I started with a base color of the Military Green, and covered the thumb and ring fingers with two coats of Chunky Copper. This glitter has two different colors of large hexes, gold and copper, as well as lots and lots of medium and small copper hexes. (If any of the smaller hexes are gold rather than copper, I can't see them.) I'm not sure why the same two coats came out with such a different amount of glitter on my thumb versus my ring finger, though I suspect I was spreading the same amount of glitter out on the larger surface area on the thumb, since this difference in density held true for my other hand as well.
I added a slanted french tip in China Glaze Exotic Encounters, added a stripe in Avon Lucky Penny, and then outlined the stripe in China Glaze Prey Tell. I also used dotting tools in three sizes to layer dots of Prey Tell, Exotic Encounters, and then topped with Lucky Penny. It doesn't show up as well in the pictures, but Lucky Penny is almost exactly the same color as the copper hexes in Chunky Copper.
Look at these pictures out in the sunlight - that Chunky Copper is practically on fire and you can see it actually reflecting the sunlight onto my middle finger!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Show Some School Spirit!
It's that time of year on college campuses across America - the horde is descending upon us! Otherwise known as the students returning, of course. :) In fact, my oldest daughter is moving in to her very own dorm room at University of Kentucky this week. We did, however, have some fun-spirited arguments while she was visiting me this summer, regarding her chosen institution of higher learning versus the one I work at. Heh...
But on to the nails! It was Orientation Day for new students in V's department this week, and all the staff were encouraged to wear red to show off our school pride. (Cardinal Red is the University of Arkansas school color, after all!) So, in the same spirit, we decided to show off her school spirit on her nails!
Please forgive the quality of the pictures today - it is a very busy time at work for us, and the sun refused to cooperate to shine upon her nails when we were taking them, so we resorted to flash. Neither picture is quite color-accurate, as the reality is somewhere in between the two.
We started with a base of China Glaze Adventure Red-y from our newly acquired On Safari Collection. We added french tips in NYC Broadway Burgundy Frost (and a full nail coverage on the ring finger for accent), and then drew a line between the two in Milani Whitest White. I thought about drawing some sort of design on the accent finger...but then I decided that writing UA would go best with the rest of the manicure. Not that I'm all that good at printing letters in nail polish...yet!
But on to the nails! It was Orientation Day for new students in V's department this week, and all the staff were encouraged to wear red to show off our school pride. (Cardinal Red is the University of Arkansas school color, after all!) So, in the same spirit, we decided to show off her school spirit on her nails!
Please forgive the quality of the pictures today - it is a very busy time at work for us, and the sun refused to cooperate to shine upon her nails when we were taking them, so we resorted to flash. Neither picture is quite color-accurate, as the reality is somewhere in between the two.
We started with a base of China Glaze Adventure Red-y from our newly acquired On Safari Collection. We added french tips in NYC Broadway Burgundy Frost (and a full nail coverage on the ring finger for accent), and then drew a line between the two in Milani Whitest White. I thought about drawing some sort of design on the accent finger...but then I decided that writing UA would go best with the rest of the manicure. Not that I'm all that good at printing letters in nail polish...yet!
As usual, red is a bitc-a to clean up, leaving cuticles to look like they're inflamed for some reason, but thankfully it's far less noticeable in real life. Go Hogs!
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