Neon Studded Half Moon

Hey Y'all!!  Happy Friday!!  Thank goodness!  Although I have a busy weekend planned.  I have to get the girl child some new pointe shoes, which for us is an all day event.  The nearest place is over 65 miles away and I have to drive through a super busy metropolitan city.  And then come home and clean house because I'll have a house full of teenage girls for most of next week.  Although when they are all here, I just hide in my bedroom and read and paint my nails.  For anyone who has young children, when they reach teenage years, if you throw enough food and soda at them, they pretty much leave you alone, lol!

Anyway, for today I have a simple Neon Studded Half Moon mani for you:

I Used:
Salon Perfect- Flamingo Flair (neon peach crème)
Sally Hansen- I Love Nail Art Studs (black studs)

I started with two coats of Salon Perfect Flamingo Flair,a gorgeous peach neon crème.  The formula was a little streaky, but evened out after just two coats.  I loved the color!  So fresh and bright, I think this works great for Spring and Summer!

Once your base coat has dried, start adding top coat, working with only one nail at a time.  While the top coat is still wet, place your studs (that sounds naughty, but it's not.  Really, I mean it).  You can place them in a semi-circle or choose to do a more geometric shape like I did here.

I hope y'all enjoyed today's mani and that y'all have a fabulous weekend!  Do you have any plans?

Happy Polishing!!

Neon Dots

Hey Y'all!!  Ok, so yesterday stunk.  Seriously.  So I'm going to pretend it didn't happen and just start over today.  Today is going to be a good day!  Hear me Universe??  No crap today, ok?  LOL

So I know that it's still "technically"  Spring, but here in the southern corner of the US, it's summer.  That's why I have a fun Neon Dotticure for you today:

I Used:
Orly:  Tropical Pop (neon peach crème)
Orly- Saturated (dark purple neon crème)
Orly- Hot Tropics (dark magenta neon with a gold micro shimmer)
Dotting Tool

I started with painting three fingers with Orly Tropical Pop, a fun neon orangy-peach color.  Then I painted my ring finger with Orly Saturated, a deep purple neon...you know I loved this color!  And finally, I painted my middle finger with Orly Hot Tropics. This color is hot!  It's a dark magenta neon with gold micro glitter giving it such a gorgeous shimmer.

Then using the same colors, I started dotting away skipping the base color for that nail.  I used a large and small dotting tool, but you could use a toothpick and a ball point pen instead.  I dotted just one half of my nail.  I think the key to dotting is to overlap some of the dots.  It gives it a more random look.

I hope you enjoyed today's post.  And I really hope you have a fabulous day!  No more bad days for us!

Happy Polishing!!

 

Pastel Gradient

Hey Y'all!!  Have you ever had one of those days that no matter how hard you try you just can't get anything accomplished?  If yes, then welcome to my Wednesday! The teen spent the night at  a friend's house so I thought, yay, I'll get a ton done!  Nope.  Didn't get one thing done.  Started a bunch of stuff, but didn't finish the first thing.  Except this post.  Which is going up late.  Dang.

Oh well.  I do have a fun twist on gradient nails for you today, a four colored square gradient:

I Used:
Sinful Colors- Snow Me White (white crème)
Sinful Colors- Unicorn (pastel yellow crème)
Sinful Colors- Cream Soda (pastel peach crème)
China Glaze- At Vase Value (pastel mint crème)
China Glaze- Lotus Begin (pastel lilac crème)
Make Up Sponge

I started with two coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White to help the pastels show up more.  Then, after wetting and wringing out a cheap make up sponge (from the dollar store), I painted the pastels in a square pattern on the sponge:

Then I just sponged them on to the nails in an up and down motion.  It took three coats to get the colors to where I wanted them.

Don't forget to top with top coat.

Hope y'all enjoyed today's post!  I'm going to give up on doing anything useful for the day and veg in front of the tv!  Happy Polishing!!

Born Pretty Store Review: Arabesque Water Decals

Press Sample

Hey Y'all!!  I'm so excited about today's review, I'm going to get right to it! Today I have Born Pretty Store Arabesque Water Decals.  This is a rather large sheet that comes with gold and black curly-q designs:

And they are absolutely gorgeous on the nail!  First up, the black:

And now the gold:

Aren't these beautiful??  I can't tell you may compliments I received on these!  And they are so easy to apply.  Here is my other hand:

To apply, simply paint your nails and let them dry completely (the polishes used are listed at the bottom of this post).  Then cut out the design you wish and dip in water for about 10 seconds.  Remove the decal from the plastic backing and place on your nail.  As long as the decal is wet, it is very easy to move around so you don't have to worry about getting it exactly right the first time.  I do suggest using tweezers to place them.  Once the decal is where you want it, gently pat dry.  It only takes a couple of seconds to dry.  Then just top with top coat.  Any excess or any on your skin is easily removed with acetone.

It took all but about an inch of each color to do a full mani, so if you like them, I suggest ordering more than one!

Not only are they gorgeous on, they lasted a long time!  I wore each design for 6 days!  And the best part?  These can be yours!  Easily!  They are $4.99 a sheet, but with the code NE5J61, you can get a 10% discount!!!  And free shipping world wide!!

Just CLICK HERE TO ORDER!!!  And don't forget the discount code:  NE5J61 

The polishes I used are:  Studio M- Volt of Light (yellow neon with a subtle blue shimmer) and Orly Saturated (dark purple neon)

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

Memorial Day Manicure Stars, Stripes & Water Marble

Hey Y'all!!  Happy Saturday!!  I hope y'all are having a great weekend!!  Here in my corner of the south, we're taking it easy this weekend.  I think it' going to be a movie marathon weekend :)

And of course it's Memorial Day Weekend here in the states, where we remember all those who gave their lives for our country.  So, along with the Salon Perfect challenge, which was red, white and blue, I wanted to do a manicure honoring everyone who has ever served in our military.  I came up with a red and white water marble along with hand painted stars:

I Used:
Sinful Colors- Snow Me White (white crème)
Orly- Unlawful (red crème)
Pure Ice- French Kiss (blue crème)
White Acrylic Paint
Fine Detail Brush

I started this mani off by painting 4 of my nails on each hand with Sinful Colors Snow Me White,  The last two nails I painted with Pure Ice French Kiss.  I also painted half of two nails with the French Kiss.  Then I water marbled 3 1/2 nails on each hand with Sinful Colors Snow Me White and Orly Unlawful.

The stars were hand painted using a fine detail brush and white acrylic paint.  For the how I did the stars, I turned to my idol, Robin Moses!  You can watch her tutorial by clicking here.  Basically the directions are to paint an A and give it arms.  Then just connect the arms and legs.  Easy Peasy!  I don't think I did to bad for a first try.  And I was able to do both hands :)

I hope you enjoyed today's mani!  And I hope you have a fabulous, fun and safe Memorial Day weekend!  Happy Polishing!

Studded Mint & Gold Half Moons

Press Sample

Hey Y'all!!  Happy Friday!!  Anyone have plans for the holiday weekend (here in the US it's Memorial Day)?  We only have plans to do nothing!  We've gone for 4 straight weeks, so we plan to be complete couch potatoes this weekend.  Plus the hubby has to work today and Friday.  But it will be so nice to sleep in!

For today I have an elegant twist on the Half Moon, Studded Mint & Gold Half Moons:

I Used:
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri- Mint Sprint (dark mint/turquoise crème)
Sally Hansen I Love Nail Art Stud Kit- gold studs

Preen.me sent me a bunch of fun and fabulous Sally Hansen products to try (and you will see them all in up coming posts)!  And this design leaped out to me the second I saw the products!  I think this is such a modern and elegant take on half moons and is a whole lot easier to do!

Start with two coats of Sally Hansen Insti-Dri in Mint Spring.  Loved this polish!  It was a dream!  And to be honest, you can get away with just one coat.  I can't...I just have to do two.  I just do.  Plus I think the mani last longer with two coats, but that is just my opinion.

The gold studs are part of the Sally Hansen I Love Nail Art stud kit.  It comes with gold studs, and black and white rhinestones and a rubber tipped stick to help with placing them.  This is such a fabulous kit!  And it contains a lot of studs.  After completing this many you could barely tell I used any of them! 

For the next step, you need to work with one nail at a time.  Paint a pretty thick coat of top coat then working quickly, place the studs.  I chose to place them in a more triangular shape...makes me think of art deco, which I love.  Once all the studs are placed, apply another coat of top coat to secure your look!

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

Tahitian Sunset (or Peach/Orange Gradient)

Hey Y'all!!  I've missed y'all so much!!  I told you things were insane, and they have been!  The end of the year is always so busy, but this year seemed even busier than normal.  And if all that wasn't enough, I thought I would enter a nail art competition.  Ah, stress.  And even though I'm losing the competition, I at least have a bunch of nail art designs coming up for you!  And if you follow me on Instagram, you can see all the designs :)

For today I have what I'm calling Tahitian Sunset because it reminds me of Tahiti:

I Used:
Sinful Colors- Hot Chili (dark rusty orange with micro holographic glitters)
Sinful Colors- Coral Riff (bright coral with subtle blue shimmer)
Sinful Colors- Anchors Away (yellow creme with strong orange undertones)
Make Up Sponge

Y'all know how I do gradients (and if you don't, just click gradient under the labels in the left hand column), so I'll skip the directions.

These Sinful Colors all came from their Simmer Down collection.  I can not tell you how much I love this collection!!  All the colors remind me of sultry, tropical nights!  And all the formulas worked beautifully!

I hope y'all have a fabulous day!!  Happy Polishing!!