Purple Art Glass

Hi Everyone!! I hope y'all are having a wonderful weekend.  We are having a nice, quiet weekend at home.  But I do have a new design for you, and can I just say I am in love!!!  I was in an antique store the other day and fell in love with this art glass vase.  It was purple and sparkled!! What was there not to love?  Other than the price that is.  So since I can't buy the vase, at least I can wear the design on my nails! 

I Used:
Orly- Decoded (gray)
Wet-n-Wild- Buffy the Violet Slayer
NYC- Lavender Cupcake
Rimmel- Wild Orchid
Orly- Charged Up
Orly- Ingenue

I started with two coats of Orly's Decoded, a pretty dark gray from their Electronica collection.  When that was dry, I used a medium (about 1/2 inch) stripping brush (see my tip on brushes) for the stripes.  Just make random stripes of different lengths and widths along your nails.  Make sure you don't completely cover your base color.  If you don't want to use purple but still get the same effect, you need to use a combination of creme, shimmer and glitter polishes.  This will give your design depth and make it look more like glass.  There are endless combinations.  (They had the same vase if multiple colors!)  Don't forget your top coat.  I used two coats to help give this design a smooth, glassy appearance.

I hope y'all have fun with this design.  I would love to see some of your interpretations!   Post them in the comments below.  Happy Polishing!!

P.S.  The glitter polish is Orly's Ingenue.  It's an unbelievable color!  Purple duochrome with an extreme gold shift.  Love it!!

Left Hand:

Right Hand:

Fall Water Marble (& Tutorial)

Today is September 27th.  We are five days into fall and here in the south that means...football and weather in the 80's.  Which makes me happy  I love football and hate the cold.  (I admire all y'all who live up north!)  But in honor of fall, I decided to do a water marble. 

And I love how it turned out.  I wasn't expecting the red to be so prominent, but it reminds me of the leaves changing colors.  This is a little longer post and has more pictures than normal, but I wanted to cover every step.  It's not hard to do water marbles, and the effects are incredible.  Here is a step-by-step tutorial (I will post a video as soon as possible):

I used:
Purified Water
Scotch Tape
Toothpicks
Small glass bowl
Spoiled- Designated Driver (yellow)
Sinful Colors- Cloud 9 (orange)
Ulta- Red Carpet Red
Orly- Buried Alive (brown)
(Base & Top Coat)

I started by painting my nails with one coat of Sinful Color's Cloud 9.  Once that was completely dry, I taped my fingers to make clean up easier.  Take two pieces of scotch tape.  Place one piece around the bottom of your nail and the second piece on the sides of your nail going over the tip of your finger.

Next you need something to dip your fingers into.  I have a small glass bowl about 4 inches wide and 3 inches deep that I use only for water marbles.  Don't use something you may want to eat out of again.  Fill the bowl with room temperature purified water.

A quick note about polishes and water marble:  every type of polish (creme, glitter, etc.) works, but not all polishes work.  Huh?? It doesn't matter what type it is, how much it costs, or what brand it is, some work and some don't.  One Orly creme may work and the next Orly creme won't.  You'll just have to experiment with your polishes to see which ones will spread in the water. 

Now it's time to build your bullseye:

Make sure all the tops to your polish are open.  The polish dries very quickly and you have to work fast.  Hold the brush about 1/2 an inch above the water and let one drop fall.  It should spread across the surface of the water.  Repeat with all of your colors, two to three times each, to build the bullseye.

Once you're happy with it, take a toothpick and draw a design.  I start on the outside (be careful of the outer 2-3 rings, they may be dry), and lightly draw the toothpick towards the center.  If you repeat this several times, it will look like a flower.  Then I start in the center and drag outwards.  I like every nail to look different, so I change how I do that each time.

Find the area you like best, and with your nail parallel to the water slowly dip your nail in. 

While your nail is still under the surface, use a toothpick to remove the polish left on the surface.  Then slowly remove your nail from the water.  Wait a minute of two before removing the tape.  Clean around your nail with polish remover and remember to use a top coat.

I hope y'all enjoy this autumn water marble.  As always, let me know if you have any questions.

Happy Polishing!!!

Right Hand:

Left Hand:

Dotting Tools

Good Morning Everyone!  Ok, late morning...I am not a morning person.  No one in my family likes mornings actually.  So 11:00 am is still morning for me.

I 'm still wearing my rhinestones and black matte design, so today I have a tip for you on making your own dotting tools.  Just click on the Tip page! 

Hope y'all have a fabulous day! Happy Polishing and Dotting!!

Sparkle and Matte

As you may have gathered, I LOVE GLITTER!! Matte is not my favorite finish, but I've found I do like the effect, especially if I can combine it with sparkle!  I've fallen in love with this manicure.  It's so simple and elegant.

I used:

China Glaze- Liquid Leather

NYC- Matte Me Crazy

Rhinestones- Crystazzi - SS6

Start with two coats of the China Glaze Liquid Leather.  Once dry, paint one coat of the NYC Matte Me Crazy.  The matte finish will show almost immediately.  When the matte is almost dry, just tacky, it's time to add the rhinestones.  Using the matte top coat, put a dot of polish, about the same size as the stone, where you want it.  In this manicure, I put them along the french tip line.  Then place the rhinestone on the drop and gently press down.  Continue for each finger.  Usually you would put a top coat over the rhinestones when done, but in this case it would ruin the effect.  By setting them down in the dot of polish, that will hold them just as well. (The pictures were taken 24 hours after I did the manicure and it still looks great.)  When you're done, if you see the matte polish leaking out, just apply another coat of the matte top coat to that half of the nail and it will disappear.

I absolutely LOVE how this manicure turned out.  As I'm typing this my fingers are glittering like crazy!  The only sad thing is that it was really hard to get a good photograph.  I promise this manicure is a show stopper!  And as always, if you have any questions, leave a comment or send me an email (glitteryfingers@gmail.com) I love this mani and I hope you do too!  Happy Polishing!!

Update:  It's day3 and I still have my rhinestones!

 

Outside:

Review: Lava, Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Collection

Lava was the polish from this collection I was looking most forward to, and I'm not disappointed.  It's just as pretty on the nails as it is in the bottle.

It's a gold and orange duochrome with an orange shimmer.  As it plays in the light, you can also see hints of pink and red.  The formula is much better than Plume (see the review of Plume here) .  Although it's still thicker than I like, it doesn't need to be thinned.  It goes on smoothly with no visible brush strokes.  It was pretty in two coats, but requires three to be opaque.

This is a pretty polish and a perfect color for fall.  Happy Polishing!

Review: Plume, Sally Hansen Lustre Shine

For the last two months, I've been watching and waiting, very impatiently, for two collections:  Sally Hansen's Lustre Shine and Orly's Fired Up.  Yesterday I found Sally Hansen's collection.  Rite Aid has them for $7.99, and they were buy one get one half off. Yea! So with my budget, I bought two, Plume (on left) and Lava (on right). 

Plume is a green and gold duochrome, but there are so many other flashes of color.  Along with the green and gold, there's blue, bronze, copper and about 3 shades of green.  Sadly the pictures don't do this polish justice.

As for the overall effect, I really like it.  It's extremely reflective and catches the light in any situation.  But there were a few things that disappointed me.  My biggest complaint is the consistency.  The polish is really thick.  I really should have thinned it out (see how here).  It actually seemed to get thicker as I went.  It also takes a bit longer to dry, even with a fast drying top coat.  But the good news is after the top coat was applied, the brush strokes disappeared.

For me, Plume is a winner!  Look for my next review: Lava!  Happy Polishing!

Foil Method

Hi Everyone!  I don't have a new design today, but I have added a new tip to the tip page.  I really like the butterflies so I'm keeping them on for a while.  The new tip:  the foil method.  It is a guaranteed, no stress, painless way of removing glitter polish.  I promise.  I hope you all have a wonderful, colorful day!  Happy Polishing!!!

Butterflies!

I know that butterflies are more Spring than end of Summer, but the Monarch Butterfly's colors remind me of fall and that's why I picked butterflies for today's manicure.  And to be honest with you, I'm not ready to let go of summer.  Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to finally have football back (Go Bucs!!!), but I'm not ready to stop wearing shorts.  They're just so comfy! 

Here's the tutorial for the butterflies.  You can make these with any color you want.

I used:
China Glaze- Liquid Leather
China Glaze- White on White
Finger Paints- Vermilion $ Painting
Finger Paints- Prints & Printsess
Wet-n-Wild- 9.0.2.1. Orange
Pro-FX Quick Dry High Gloss Top Coat
Dotting Tool
Liner Brush
Detail Brush
Make-up Sponges (cut up)

I started with two coats of Finger Paint's Prints & Printsess.  It's a light peach with a pretty peach shimmer to it.  Next I sponged Finger Paint's Vermilion $ Painting on the top portion of my nail in a diagonal gradient.  That polish is a dark orange/red with a gold shimmer.  Once that was dry I sponged Wet-n-Wild's 9.0.2.1.Orange along the middle.  I love this polish, it has a gold micro glitter.  This is to help give the wing a more multi-dimensional look.  For the sponges, I use ones from the dollar store.  Just cut them into irregular shapes.  Also, wet them and they will expand to give you a better effect.

Then in the corner of your nail, paint a semi-circle.  Using a liner brush (a brush with long, thin bristles) or liner polish, make lines from the semi-circle out to the edge of your nail.

Connect the lines with a curved line.  Color in the space between the curved line and your skin with black polish.  Using a dotting tool (or toothpick), make random white dots in the black area.  Finish with a top coat.  I hope you enjoy this design! Happy Polishing!!

Left hand:

Right hand:

Neon for a Gray Monday

Happy Monday Everyone!!  Ok, in reality, I'm not a Monday or morning person.  In fact, I rebel on Mondays by absolutely refusing to wear make-up.  Well, most of the time.  Unless I have to get out of the car. The only time I leave the house on Mondays is to drop my daughter off at dance.  So if I don't have to get out of the car....no make-up. 

Since it is a dreary, cold for the south, gray kind of Monday, I decided we need a bright neon design today. 

I used:
Sinful Colors- Summer Peach
China Glaze- White on White
Pro FX- Quick Dry High Gloss Top Coat
Dotting Tool

Start this manicure with two coats of white polish.  Once that is dry, using the brush that came with the neon polish, start in one corner of your nail and using a waving motion, paint a diagonal wave.  Then using your smallest dotting tool (or a pin), make dots following the shape of the line.  I hope this brightens your Monday!

Happy Polishing!

Sinful Colors: Heavy Metal

I love Sinful Colors.  They have colorful polishes, they usually work well in water marbles, they are easy to find, and they are only $1.99 a bottle!  When I was in the drug store the other day (looking for new polishes), I saw Heavy Metal.  I'm not sure if it's new or not, but this is the first time I've seen it.  Otherwise, I would already own it!

Heavy Metal is a metallic silver polish that was opaque in two coats.  It goes on very smooth with no obvious brush strokes.  It has a very metallic finish with a silver shimmer that almost looks like glitter.  In this case, I think a picture (or two) speak a thousand words.  I love that is a very bright silver.  This is definitely my new favorite silver! 

Happy Polishing!

Rhinestones and Dots

Ok y'all.  Something has happened to me that I (and my family and friends) thought was impossible...I over rhinestoned something!  Almost everything I own glitters.  If I can get it to hold still long enough, it's getting bedazzled!  The words "tacky" and "understated" do not exist in my vocabulary.  Until my first attempt at this manicure.  At the end of this post I'll put this first attempt that I, the sparkle lover, didn't like.

I did however, love my finished manicure.  I hope you do too!

I used:
Sinful Colors- Heavy Metal
Orly- Charged Up
NYC- Lavender Cupcake
Wet-n-Wild- Tickled Pink
China Glaze- 108 Degrees
Pro-FX Quick Dry High Gloss Top Coat
Purple Rhinestones (3mm)
Medium Dotting Tool

Here are the supplies:

And my inspiration:

To start this manicure, paint two coats of silver (Sinful Colors Heavy Metal) polish for a base color.  Once that is completely dry, use a medium size dotter (or a toothpick) to create the lines of dots.  Start in the middle of your nail with the darkest color (Orly's Charged Up) and dot a diagonal line in the middle of your nail.  Then going out from that line, dot the colors in order of their shades, darkest to lightest. (On my nails, that is NYC Lavender Cupcake, China Glaze 108 Degrees and Wet-n-Wild Tickled Pink.)

For the accent nails, place a small dot of top coat on your nail where you want the rhinestone.  Place the rhinestones in a vertical line.  Once you've completed the rhinestone line, dot the rest of the nail to match the rest of your manicure.

Remember to put a top coat on all your nails, including over the rhinestones, and you're done!  As always, I would love to hear your comments or questions.  Happy Polishing!!

And...the first attempt, lol:

Fowl Play, I Think I Love You

Earlier this year, I can't remember when, like my mother always said, "I've slept since then and can't remember," I noticed that Orly had added some new polishes to their permanent collection.  Two especially caught my eye, Androgynie and Fowl Play.  They both looked so different and unique and of course, they sparkled!  I bought Androgynie first because it looked like outer space in a bottle.  I was so excited.  I got home, put it on and ... didn't like it.  That's another story (and now I do like it), but that's why it took me so long to buy Fowl Play.

I finally bought Fowl Play last week and...I like it.  It's a dark purple jelly that was pretty in two coats and opaque in three.  It did seem a bit thick so I added polish thinner (under the tips tab) to it and that helped a lot.

Fowl Play is full of glitter.  Officially it has blue and silver micro-giltter and green/gold duochrome flakies.  But because of its jelly consistency, there are flashes of red and copper too.

Even though it looks the best in the sun and in person, I still love it indoors.  After all, it's purple AND it glitters....what else could I want??  Happy Polishing!

Neon Gradient / Ombre

Here's one of my favorite gradients I have done.  The tutorial for gradient or ombre nails is here.  So sorry, but I only have one picture of this design.  Happy Polishing!

I used:

Zoya- Charisma
China Glaze- Purple Panic
Wet-n-Wild- Kaleidoscope

Holographic Polish

I love, love, love holographic nail polish and this is one of my absolute favorites:

Layla- Black Flash

Isn't it gorgeous?  Out of all of Layla's holographic polish, this is my favorite.  I loved it so much I was willing to pay $15.00 for a bottle of it.  That's a lot to me, and my hubby LOL.

This polish comes with a special file, which I did not buy.  Granted it was only $2.00, but that would buy another bottle of polish!  The bottle also says it is only for natural nails, and that's not true.  For either natural or acrylic nails, use a ridge filler base coat.  You may have to use two coats to get your nails smooth, but that is all you need to do to get the desired effect.  Even a good top coat would work for your base.  Enjoy and Happy Polishing!!