O Christmas Tree

 I had originally intended to decorate these little trees with tons of ornaments using all sorts of nail gems. However, I ended up liking it so much nice and subdued, I scrapped the gaudy ornament idea completely. Plus, this actually stood up to a busy week of holiday antics!

 I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Go Gold. I am so in love with this polish. It's one of their new Satin Glam line, and it surpassed my expectations. It actually looks more champagne than gold once it dries to that semi-matte finish.

 The trees were done by taping off a triangle using striping tape, then filling that space in with Zoya Chita, which is a lovely green textured polish. I then painted on the garland using a small brush and more textured polish, Finger Paints Midas Touch and Icing Sand Dollar. I then added silver stars with a little nail glue.

Merry Christmas!

Colors Used:

Sally Hansen Go Gold

 Zoya Chita

 Finger Paints Midas Touch

Icing Sand Dollar

Snowflake Season

 Holographic snowflake nails! These didn't turn out all that well, but at least it was an excuse to hypnotize myself with holographic polish once again!

 I started out with Color Club Harp On It, which of course is more rainbow prism-tastic in person. It was overcast, so I couldn't even take outside pictures to get better evidence of the effect. Next, I used China Glaze So Blue Without You across my tips. I love foil polishes and the fact that they tend to be perfect one-coaters. Next, I added a large section of China Glaze Blue Bells Ring. That has to be one of my favorite blues of all time. Love!

 I then used a KISS striper to freehand some snowflakes onto my nails. Unfortunately I think my striper polish is getting a little thick for the job, and the snowflakes look a little blobby. From a distance, they're not too bad... Still, snowflakes are fun!

Colors Used:

Color Club Harp On It

 China Glaze So Blue Without You

 China Glaze Blue Bells Ring

KISS striper White

Caroling Bells

I know many people complain about Christmas music everywhere this time of the year, but I absolutely love it.  It never fails to raise my spirits. My original inspiration for these nails came from starting out listening to Carol of the Bells, followed by Christmas Bells. Obviously, my playlist shuffle dictated that bells needed to involved somewhere!

 To begin, I used two coats of Revlon Calla Lily, which is a sheer white with a gold shimmer. I knew I didn't want the extreme contrast a pure white base would bring, and it's been a while since I've played with closer to nude nail color. Once that had set, I stamped on a musical note pattern from Pueen, plate 47, using Wet n Wild Black Creme. The musical bars on this gave me a little trouble, as they didn't want to pick up and transfer as easily as some. To be fair, they are REALLY THIN lines.

 Next, I freehanded my tips in China Glaze Just Be-Claws and Sinful Colors Pine Away. I refined the edge with a KISS white nail art striper. I then added holly leaves in Revlon Emerald City. The bells were done using CQ Honey for the base color, Revlon Espresso for the details and shading, more of the KISS striper for the highlights, and OPI Oy-Another Polish Joke for the golden shimmer.

Colors Used:

Revlon Calla Lily

Wet n Wild Black Creme

 China Glaze Just Be-Claws

Sinful Colors Pine Away

KISS Nail Art White

 Revlon Emerald City

 CQ Honey

 Revlon Espresso

OPI Oy-Another Polish Joke

Gingerbread Houses

 Decorated gingerbread houses are so cute! One of these days I'm going to break down and buy a kit to make one. It's just one of those things I never did growing up, but I figure I have to at least give it one try. Anywho! That of course doesn't stop me from decorating nails!

 I debated between going for a dark brown or a taupe base for the gingerbread itself. I decided on darker brown for added contrast, and I'm glad I did. I used a base color of Sephora by OPI Dating the Drummer. Next, I dotted in the rooftops with NYC Pinstripe White, then used smaller tools to add little details to each house. I decided to do a variety of different designs, rather than one uniform design.

 I then used China Glaze Just Be-Claws, JulieG Under Mistletoe, and OPI Oy - Another Polish Joke for additional details. It makes for an interesting effect, since some of the color doesn't pop out fully until light hits it.

Colors Used:

Sephora by OPI Dating the Drummer

 NYC Pinstripe White

 China Glaze Just Be-Claws

 JulieG Under Mistletoe

 OPI Oy - Another Polish Joke

Candy Canes

 Candy cane stripes! This was a fun abuse of striping tape. I was rushing it a little bit, but I think it still came out okay.

 I began with two coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White and allowed that to dry completely. Then, I applied strips of striping tape for the design. For the red I used Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar, which is still one of my favorite red polishes. For the green I used Sinful Colors Pine Away. It's such a perfect Christmas green!

  I started out coloring the red sections with the bottle brush and using a narrower brush for the thin green stripes, but that ended up looking inconsistent. I actually had better success wiping the green bottle brush in the bottle neck to narrow it, then using that narrower profile to paint in the thin stripe.

Colors Used:

Sinful Colors Snow Me White

 Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar

 Sinful Colors Pine Away

Presents with Fuzzy Ribbon

Tried to add a twist to wrapping paper/present nails by using some fuzzy flocking powder for the ribbons! It at least turned out...interesting? I was at least having way too much fun with stamping designs in my attempt to make everything look like wrapping paper.

 I started with Sinful Colors New Wave on my index, middle, and pinky, and China Glaze White on White on my thumb and ring fingers. I then stamped with a variety of different designs, trying to make them appear like wrapping paper. I used China Glaze Blue Bells Ring for the blue designs, and Revlon Magnetize for the silver. Blue Bells Ring is amazing for stamping! The stamps were from a variety of Pueen plates, numbers 17, 26, 32, 38, 48, and 49.

 I added a topcoat and gave the pattern designs plenty of time to dry completely. Then, I used a striping brush and some fresh polish to add lines for the ribbon. While that was still wet, I sprinkled on flocking powder in gray and blue, then brushed off the excess. As a little decorative touch, I added light blue and gold swarovski crystals with a touch of nail glue.

 Colors Used:

Sinful Colors New Wave

China Glaze White on White

China Glaze Blue Bells Ring

Revlon Magnetize

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Yesterday's nails got me in a painterly mood! I decided it was time to go festive with some Rudolph nails. I probably could make this easier by using acrylic paint instead of polish, but it's a fun challenge to try to get the right colors.

 I began with two coats of ORLY Mirror Mirror. I then sponged on a loose layer of China Glaze White on White to add some snow, along with freehanding some teeny snowflakes in the sky. Next. I loosely blocked in Rudolph with Color Mates Mudd. I blended in some highlights with OPI Call me Gwen-ever, to give him that slightly ruddier tone. I used more White on White for his chest and eye, and Wet n Wild Black Creme for his eye and horn. His nose was done using Nicole by OPI Kourt is Red-i for a Pedi, along with a highlight of more Call me Gwen-ever.

 For Clarice I started with OPI A-Taupe the Space Needle, then tried to get her to the right color using Sally Hansen Stocking Nude, some Color Mates Mudd, and China Glaze White on White. Her bow was done with more Kourt is Red-i for a Pedi.

As a final touch, I decided to do a tree on my thumb. The tree itself was painted with more White on White, then garland was added with Wet n Wild Metallica and OPI Oy-Another Polish Joke (had to do silver and gold to keep with the movie, of course!). Ornaments were added using Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar and Sinful Colors Pine Away.

Colors Used:

ORLY Mirror Mirror

China Glaze White on White

  Color Mates Mudd

 OPI Call me Gwen-ever

 Wet n Wild Black Creme

Nicole by OPI Kourt is Red-i for a Pedi

 OPI A-Taupe the Space Needle

Sally Hansen Stocking Nude

 Wet n Wild Metallica

 OPI Oy-Another Polish Joke

 Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar

Sinful Colors Pine Away

Aquarium Fishies

 Itty bitty fishies! Garnet of The Nail Rainbow challenged me to do something based on her new little little danio fish. I decided to do an aquarium painting on my thumb, middle, and ring nails, then do a stylized representation of the fishes on my index and ring. Not the most successful nail art I've ever done, but I think it's fun!

 I started out by painting my thumb, middle, and ring fingers with a coat of SpaRitual Undercurrent. After that dried completely, I sponged a gradient onto my blue nails with some Sinful Colors Fly Away. Next, I added the aquarium sand using Sally Hansen Stocking Nude, dotted with some China Glaze White on White for some texture. I used Pure Ice Free Spirit to add some aquarium plants, and Sally Hansen Forbidden Fudge to add a log to my middle nail.

For the little fishies, I used a small brush, some Sinful Colors Island Coral, and Maybelline Pacific Blues. The blue fish is harder to see in the photos, but in person he's visible. For the fins, I used Sally Hansen Lite. I then added some little bubbles with China Glaze White on White.

 On my index and pinky I used one coat of Sally Hansen Lite, which is a thin shimmery yellow. When that was dry, I blocked off a triangle on the base of each nail, then painted my pinky with Sinful Colors Island Coral and my index with Maybelline Pacific Blues. I then added one layer of Icing Falling for You, which is a shimmery pink/gold. To add some scale effect, I used Sally Hansen Lite and stamping plate PUEEN25 with a little diamond pattern. I didn't have a good fish scale stamp, but it still works as is.

I did try with freehanding in the little yellow stripes the danios have, but it looked too busy so I reverted to just scales.

Colors Used:

SpaRitual Undercurrent

Sinful Colors Fly Away

Sally Hansen Stocking Nude

China Glaze White on White

Pure Ice Free Spirit

Sally Hansen Forbidden Fudge

Sinful Colors Island Coral

Maybelline Pacific Blues

Sally Hansen Lite

Icing Falling for You

PUEEN25

Water Spots and Holos

 My first attempt at water spotting! I'm going to have to try this again, it was a lot of fun. Then again, I like water marbling, and this isn't much different. I want to try some black over bright colors sometime, but this week I was in the mood for playing with some holographic polish. Now I just have to avoid hypnotizing myself and spending all day watching my nails sparkle with rainbows!

 The base color is Zoya Dream. I love this polish. I just picked it up at the store last week, and I couldn't wait to see what it was like. It's a beautiful blue jelly with many scattered holographic flecks. I decided to pair it with a linear holo, Color Club Over The Moon. However, I couldn't bear to cover all of the original Dream, so I left my index and ring nail alone.

 Holographic polish seems to work just fine and dandy for water spotting. It's an interesting effect! However, I felt it was still lacking a little something. I added half moons in black using Wet n wild Black Lace Creme, then traced the border in a silver KISS nail art striper and added a little gem.

 And lastly, some photos with flash, to get some of that shiny shiny holographic effect!

 Colors Used:

Zoya Dream

 Color Club Over The Moon

 Wet n wild Black Lace Creme

KISS Nail Art Silver

Thanksgiving Cornucopia

 Thanksgiving cornucopia! I debated just doing leaves for my holiday nails, but then decided that a cornucopia seemed a tad more festive.

 

I started with a base of one coat of Essie Spinning Again, which is a lovely burnt umber color. I then covered that in one coat of OPI A Woman's Prague-ative, which is one of my favorite polishes. It's just such a complex orange! Next, I used Sally Hansen Forbidden Fudge and a sponge to create a gradient on each nail.

 I then used a small brush and Revlon Espresso to create the shape of the cornucopia on my nail. I like starting from the darker color when painting detailed figures.  I used quite a few polishes when painting the fruits and vegetables: ORLY Red Flare, OPI Call Me Gwen-ever, Sinful Colors Anchors Away, SpaRitual Enlightened Soul, Sally Hansen Stocking Nude, and Pure Ice Free Spirit.

 I then used a thin metal tool to add thin lines of OPI Oy-Another Polish Joke! to each nail. Various different leaf shapes were painted on using some of the same polishes used in the cornucopia. I took photos before and after adding topcoat, to demonstrate how the polishes blend a little and some of the brush stroke effect disappears.

 Colors Used:

Essie Spinning Again

OPI A Woman's Prague-ative

Sally Hansen Forbidden Fudge

Revlon Espresso

ORLY Red Flare

OPI Call Me Gwen-ever

Sinful Colors Anchors Away

SpaRitual Enlightened Soul

Sally Hansen Stocking Nude

Pure Ice Free Spirit

OPI Oy-Another Polish Joke!

Exploding TARDIS

 Woohoo, of course I had to do something for the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary! I thought about just doing the TARDIS and all of the sonic screwdrivers, but then I was inspired by the Van Gogh 'Exploding TARDIS.' Kind of an odd choice for an anniversary design, I know, but it's at least Doctor Who themed! I'll probably come back to the sonic screwdriver idea later, because more Doctor Who nails are not a bad thing!

 

 I started with a base of Revlon Beguile, which is a dark shimmery navy blue. I wanted to add more depth than just painting over the top of a flat creme black or navy, and it does show a little! Once that was dry, I used a teeny brush and began painting the TARDIS. Lines were done in Wet n Wild Black Creme, and the TARDIS itself was painted in SpaRitual Undercurrent and Wet n Wild Listening to Blue Reed.

 For the fiery explosions, I used Color Club Almost Famous, with a touch of Milani Orange Graph. China Glaze White on White was used sparingly in the explosion, as well as for the TARDIS windows and light.

Colors Used:

Revlon Beguile

Wet n Wild Black Creme

SpaRitual Undercurrent

Wet n Wild Listening to Blue Reed

Color Club Almost Famous

Milani Orange Graph

China Glaze White on White