Spring Flowers

Hey Y'all!!  So as you may know, I'm not much of a pastel, flower kind of gal.  But occasionally, I am.  That's what happened today.  I saw a painting and was inspired to try this Spring Flower mani.

I Used:
KBShimmer:  Shore Thing, a medium minty green crème
Color Club:  Disco's Not Dead, butter yellow crème
Color Club:  Wicker Park, pinkish lilac crème
Finger Paints:  Sea Temptress, textured white polish with teal flakies
Liner Brush

I started this mani with two coats of KBShimmer, a pretty pastel mint crème that was a dream to use.  Then using Color Club Disco's Not Dead and Wicker Park, I painted splotches in random areas of my nails.  Then I made my mistake.  I ramdomly topped some of the splotches with Finger Paints Sea Temptress.  If you recreate this, do not use a textured polish.  Seriously.  It's really hard to paint a straight line over a textured polish!  And the flakies didn't even show up!

Then I used a basic black polish (sorry, I forgot which) and a fine liner brush to paint the petals.  The petals were basically parentheses.  And in some of the flowers, I painted little dots for the seeds.  Then just top everything with a top coat.

Other than the bad lines over the flakies, I really liked this design.  I hope you do too!

Happy Polishing!!

Dogwood Trees and Flowers

Hey Y'all!  TGIF!!  How is the weather where you are?  It seems nuts in most of the USA.  We had upper 70's, low 80's last week and this entire week has been cold, windy and rain.  Lots of rain.  I'm over it.  I'm ready for the heat.  And the rain isn't supposed to stop until Tuesday :(  And of course, I have a ton of running around to do today and tomorrow.  My blogger buddies and I have a swap this weekend and I have to go get the last few things for my person.  But I adore and love her, so she's worth facing the cold and rain!

But since it is "technically" Spring, and I am in Georgia, the Dogwoods are in full bloom and that is what I have for you today:

I Used:
Sinful Colors:  Love Nails, a medium, bright blue shimmer
Orly:  Frosting, a white with gold shimmer
Orly:  Rapture, a chocolate brown crème
Dotting Tool
Fine Liner Brush

In case you haven't seen a Dogwood tree before, I snapped this one when the teen and I stopped for lunch:

They are EVERYWHERE here!  Seriously.  They grow wild.  I have a strong love/hate relationship with them.  They are gorgeous for about two weeks a year.  The rest of the year, they are a weird yellow green color.  And I'm allergic to them.  But my girl wanted me to do Dogwood nails so I did.  I like how these turned out, but I think next time I will make more of the flowers (more white dots).  But still, I did like them.  Remember, you don't need a dotting tool or brush to do this design.  You can use a toothpick.

I hope you enjoyed today's mani.  Have a wonderful weekend!  Happy Polishing!!

Spring Plastic Wrap

Hey Y'all!  How was your weekend?  Let me live vicariously through you, cause I didn't do anything but sleep.  The weather was so messed up here, freezing cold, thunder storms, now it's sunny.  I just hibernated waiting for it to all pass.  I'm so done with the cold.  So despite the 20 degree weather, I decided to do a Spring mani for you.

Today's mani is a Spring design using plastic wrap:

I Used:
China Glaze:  Five Rules, a soft barely there gray crème
Sinful Colors: Pink Smart, a pastel pink crème
China Glaze:  My Way Or The Highway, a turquoise crème
Plastic Wrap

This is one of my favorite types of manis to do because I think you get such a great effect for such a little amount of effort.  I started with two coats of China Glaze Five Rules, a soft, light gray crème.  Once that dried completely, I put a couple of drops of China Glaze My Way Or The Highway on to a piece of paper.  Then using regular plastic wrap, scrunch the wrap up and dab into the polish.  Be sure to dab it on to a piece of paper first to get off any excess polish.  Then just dab it onto your nails.

Then I repeated the process with Sinful Colors Pink Smart, a soft pastel pink crème.  Then just top off your design with a top coat! 

I hope you enjoyed today's design!  Happy Polishing!!

The First Mani of Spring

Hey Y'all!  So, it's theoretically Spring here in the south...  This is such a "fun" time of year, lol.  Today is supposed to be a warm 73 degrees, tomorrow 79...and Saturday is supposed to be 56.  Have I mentioned how much I hate the cold recently?  So despite the overcast and rainy day today, it is supposed to be warm and it is officially Spring, so I have a Spring mani for you today:

I Used:
Sinful Colors: Yellow Out There, a bright yellow jelly with small holographic bar glitter
Finger Paints:  Aloha Lei, an orange glass fleck shimmer
Make Up Sponge

I started by using Sinful Colors Yellow Out There on my pinky and middle fingers and on my thumb.  Yellow Out There is a bright, pretty jelly polish with very small holographic bar glitter.  The pictures show three coats with top coat.  This was a pretty typical jelly polish in that even after 3 coats, there is still a very visible nail line.  I can't wait to try this in a jelly sandwich!  And why I love the holographic bar glitter, I wish there was more!

Next I painted my index and ring finger with Finger Paints Aloha Lei, a bright orange glass fleck shimmer.  I loved this color!  Pictures show two coats with top coat.  I was a bit disappointed in the wear time.  I had to wait until the next day to take the pictures in the sun and as you can see, I already have some wear.  On my middle finger, I used a make up sponge to sponge on a gradient.

While I'm not loving all the weather changes, I do love this mani!

I hope y'all are enjoying Spring where you are, without snow!  Have a fabulous day and Happy Polishing!!

Another Spring Pedicure

Hey Y'all!!  Oh. My. Goodness!!!  I've missed y'all!!  The last five days have been a whirl wind of tons of going and no sleeping!  The teen was in "Cinderella", five shows in three days.  On Monday we got up at 4:45am and got home at 7:45pm!  I'm too old for this!  But she was beautiful, if I say so myself :)   Basically, we weren't home for five straight days. 

I do have a pot or you today!! It's the third pedicure from my Atlanta Parent Magazine article:

I Used:
Wet-n-Wild- Temptation (bright salmon crème)
Wet-n-Wild Mega Rocks- Stick It To The Man (medium blue and holographic glitters in a clear base)
Maybelline Triple Shine- Sparks Fly (various sizes of light blue and silver glitter in a clear base)

So I wanted this to be a glitter gradient, but it didn't quite work that way, but I still like the outcome.  I started with two coats of Wet-n-Wild Temptation.  Then, using the brush that came with the polish, I painted Wet-n-Wild Stick It To The Man on the top half of my toe nails.  I really love this color, but the glitter was just too sparse to make a gradient.  So I went back over it with Maybelline Sparks Fly.

I hope y'all enjoyed today's pedicure!!  Happy Polishing!!

Spring / Summer Pedicure

Hey Y'all!!  Well, at least today started off better than yesterday!  If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you know we had a tree come down and with it, a power line that landed on my van.  Thankfully we are all ok, and everything is cleaned up.

For today, I have one of the pedicures used in the Atlanta Parents article:

I Used:
Orly- Flawless Flush (soft lilac with silver shimmer)
Finger Paints- First Edition (dark purple neon)
Pink and Yellow Rhinestones
Make Up Sponge

To start this pedicure, I used two coats of Orly Flawless Flush. Once that was dry, I took a make up sponge, and after cutting it down and wetting it, I painted very thin stripes of Orly Flawless Flush and Finger Paints First Edition, cause, you know, toe nails are little.  Then just dab on.  It took two coats  Top coat is next.  When applying the top coat to the big toe, sink the rhinestones down into the top coat.  I used five pink rhinestones and one yellow to make the flower.

I hope y'all enjoy today's design.  I now have to rush and get the teen ready for dress rehearsal!  Have a fabulous day and Happy Polishing!!

Pink Dot Gradient

Hey Y'all!!  TGIF!!!  I hope y'all have had a great week!  Have you entered the Coupons.com Givaway yet??

So I have another Spring mani for you, a Pink Dot Gradient:

I Used:
OPI- Taupe-Less Beach (light taupe crème)
China Glaze- Wish On A Starfish (light pink with gold shimmer textured polish)
OPI- Hey Baby (bright pink crème)
OPI- Flashbulb Fuchsia (bright fuchsia with silver shimmer)
Dotting Tools

I started with two coats of OPI Taupe-less Beach.  Then using a couple of different sized dotting tools, start making the dots.

Starting at the cuticle, your going to make a "C" shape with the dots.  The polishes I used, from lightest to darkest, are China Glaze Wish On A Starfish, OPI Hey Baby, and OPI Flashbulb Fuchsia.

Have a fabulous Friday!!  Happy Polishing!!

Spring Reciprocal Gradient Tutorial

Hey Y'all!!  Happy last day of Winter!!  Finally!!  So, I've decided to continue my rebellion against
Winter with another Hurry Up Spring nail art design!  This may seem complicated as there are a few more steps than normal, but it doesn't take long and is so worth it!  So here is my Spring Reciprocal Gradient:

I Used:
China Glaze- White on White (white crème)
Sinful Colors- Unicorn (pale yellow crème)
Sinful Colors-Cream Soda (pastel peach crème)
Sinful Colors- Cotton Candy (pastel pink crème)
Sinful Colors- Mad About Hue (lilac crème)
Make Up Sponges
Scotch Tape

Start this Spring mani with two coats of white, I used China Glaze White on White.  I started with a white base coat to make sure the colors pop.

Next, paint thin lines of nail polish on a damp make up sponge.  Make sure that the lines are about the same length as your nails.  The order of colors is:  yellow, peach, pink and purple:

I made the yellow and peach a little thicker since the colors are so light.  Then dab the colors on your nails.  Remember to move the sponge around a little to make sure the colors blend.  This will require two coats, but they dry fast.

Once that has dried, place scotch tape on both sides of your nails making a vertical stripe.  I painted the stripe white, again to make sure the colors show.  Then repeat the sponging going the opposite way:

This takes two coats too.  Immediately remove the tape after the second coat.  Top your design with top coat and you're done!

I hope y'all enjoyed today's nail art!  Have a fabulous day and Happy Polishing!!