Animal Tracks

 My friend asked me to try some animal track nails, so I had to give it a try! I thought at first about doing random scattered prints on a solid creme base, but then got the idea to try replicating a cracked, dry lake bed effect. I think it looks unique!

 I started with a base of OPI Did you Ear About Van Gogh? as it is a great cool nude. Next, I used a porous sponge to add touches of Sephora by OPI I Only Shop Vintage, which is a shimmery sandy brown. I then very lightly added speckles of Sephora by OPI Dating the Drummer, a dark reddish-brown.

 After I was satisfied with my 'dirt' color, I painted cracks using Sephora by OPI Happy Earth Day to Me. Animal tracks were then added with a small brush first with Happy Earth Day, followed by lightening them a little with Sephora by OPI Metro Chic. I decided to a wide variety of prints, including canine, feline, bird, deer, and bear.

I then wanted to give the prints an embossed 'impression' look. I mixed Did you Ear About Van Gogh with a little NYC Pinstripe White to make a very light brown color. I used that and my needlepoint tool to add light highlights near the cracks and around each print. I then added a touch of Sinful Colors Black on Black to the tops of each print, to complete the embossed effect.

Colors Used:

OPI Did you Ear About Van Gogh?

Sephora by OPI I Only Shop Vintage

Sephora by OPI Dating the Drummer

Sephora by OPI Happy Earth Day to Me

Sephora by OPI Metro Chic

NYC Pinstripe White

Sinful Colors Black on Black

Festive Fourth!

 I wanted to try something a bit different this year for the Fourth, and these...sorta kinda came out how I envisioned? Photos certainly highlight their faults, but in person I love 'em!

 I started by laying down two layers of China Glaze Eyes Like Sapphires on all nails except my middle nail. For that I used China Glaze White on White. I added a curved white section to my index and ring nails with the same white, and then let all of that dry.

I sponged on a touch of Nicole by OPI I Sea You And Raise You to the base and tips of the striped flag sections to give it a bit more depth. The red stripes were done with a striping brush and ORLY Red Flare topped with Revlon Spidey Sense for a bit more sparkle.

 Next, I used the KISS Silver nail art striper to add a little silver detail to the outside of the stripes, followed by loosely painting in various sized stars along the tips of those three nails. Because they clearly weren't bold enough, I dragged out the nails studs and glitter. I used silver studs on the outside corner of both thumb and pinkie, and plastic diamond star studs on my index and ring nails. I also used star shaped glitter on my thumb and pinkie, as they were looking lonely.

Now I'm all set for fireworks!

 Colors Used:

China Glaze Eyes Like Sapphires

China Glaze White on White

 Nicole by OPI I Sea You And Raise You

ORLY Red Flare

Revlon Spidey Sense 

KISS Silver nail art

Vintage Flowers

 I decided to try my hand at a pretty vintage pattern that caught my eye, and it was a moderate success. I even managed to dust off some pinks and put them to use!

 I began with a base of Nicole by OPI Others Pale by Kim-parison. Next, I drew in the border using a thin brush and Sephora by OPI Neutral Beauty, a light honey brown. I followed that by doting along the lines with Sephora by OPI Happy Earth Day, a dark brown. I thought about making the pattern a standard size, but decided to just fit it to each nail separately. That way, it doesn't get randomly cut at strange points.

 I started the flowers by using Seche Delicate, a soft pink, to make four dots clustered together on each nail. I then added the darker petal details with a thin brush and OPI Dark Red, followed by a few touches of China Glaze White on White.

The leaves were made using Sinful Colors Garden Party with highlights of Color Club Twiggie. I was in a bit of a hurry so I rushed the leaves, but it really didn't turn out too badly! I do rather like how the colors look together.

Colors Used:

Nicole by OPI Others Pale by Kim-parison

Sephora by OPI Neutral Beauty

Sephora by OPI Happy Earth Day

Seche Delicate

OPI Dark Red

China Glaze White on White

Sinful Colors Garden Party

Color Club Twiggie

Three Little Kittens

 Time for some cute kittens! I decided to go all out and paint the cover to one of my childhood favorites, The Three Little Kittens.

 I started with a layer of Morgan Taylor Ahead of the Game over a coat of OPI Alpine Snow, since I didn't feel like doing three coats of yellow to get it bright. However, this yellow was surprisingly easy to work with!  My index and pinkie nails were then painted with Morgan Taylor Varsity Jacket Blues. I then started with the white cat on my middle nail. Her fur is OPI Alpine Snow, shaded with a combo of Varsity Jacket Blues and very watered down China Glaze Liquid Leather. Her dress was done with OPI Where Did Suzi's Man Go? and Sinful Colors Feel the Vibe. 

 The black cat was colored with more Liquid Leather tipped with Alpine Snow, and her dress was done in the slightly darker Morgan Taylor Doo Wop, shaded with watered down Sephora by OPI Metro Chic and with heart-shaped dots of the same color. Ears on all three cats were done using Where Did Suzi's Man Go mixed with Alpine Snow to make an orangey-pinky color.

The wash bucket between the white and black cats is a combination of Metro Chic and Sephora by OPI Happy Earth Day, filled with bubbles in Alpine Snow and Varsity Jacket Blues. 

The tabby cat is a mix of Doo Wop, subtle touches of watered down Where Did Suzi's Man Go, Metro Chic, and Sephora by OPI Happy Earth Day. He wears a shirt of SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality and pants of Liquid Leather.

On my index and pinkie nails, I used striping tape to cordon off a section, then filled it with Ahead of the Game. I then added mittens using Flower Good Bud-Dy, OPI Where Did Suzi's Man Go, and Spa Ritual Dreams Becoming Reality.

Colors Used:

Morgan Taylor Ahead of the Game

OPI Alpine Snow

Morgan Taylor Varsity Jacket Blues

OPI Where Did Suzi's Man Go?

Sinful Colors Feel the Vibe

Morgan Taylor Doo Wop

SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality

Flower Good Bud-Dy

Sephora by OPI Metro Chic

Sephora by OPI Happy Earth Day

China Glaze Liquid Leather

Layered Print

 This was an interesting result of an attempt to match a complex print on one of my favorite shirts. I didn't match it perfectly, but I love the effect of all of the layered stamping! I used half a dozen different shades of teal with as many stamping designs as I thought would work together. It was fun!

 I began with two coats of Color Club Blue-ming. I then stamped on a faux-crackle pattern (Pueen 45) in the slightly lighter China Glaze At Vase Value. Next, I added a light heart-chain pattern (Pueen 27) using L'Oreal Not a Cloud In Sight. 

 A lacy ribbon stamp was next (BM-321) using Sally Hansen New Wave Blue. The stamp has a curved 'V' of lace, so I applied it in random directions on random nails. I followed that with a more tightly packed vine-floral design (BM 312) and OPI Amazon...Amazoff. I only used sections of what was on the stamper, and spread pieces throughout each nail. Next, I added a leafy design (BM-312) using Nicole by OPI Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam. Finally, I decided to punch it up with some itty bitty flowers in Sinful Colors Black on Black.

Colors Used:

Color Club Blue-ming

China Glaze At Vase Value

L'Oreal Not a Cloud In Sight

Sally Hansen New Wave Blue

OPI Amazon...Amazoff

OPI Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam

Sinful Colors Black on Black

Pueen 27,45

Bundle Monster 321, 312

Crackled Ombre

 I decided to go to my spreadsheet of polish for inspiration, and utilize the first polish I had listed as still untried. That turned out to be a crackle polish! For an interesting effect, I did a horizontal ombre under it and mirrored the gradient with teardrop studs. I love it!

 The ombre was created using SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality on my thumb, Nicole by OPI I Sea You and Raise You on my index, Sally Hansen Blue-ming Fast on my middle, Julep Bess on my ring, and Tea Beauty Mint Leaf on my pinkie.

 The crackle polish is Sally Hansen Star Burst, a black crackle with a generous mix of silver glitter. I was a bit worried that it was going to be a bit too goopy to work, but it cracked easily once applied. I really like the effect when paired with the changing shades of blue.  As a last touch, I used three colors of teardrop studs to mirror the ombre.

Colors Used:

SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality

Nicole by OPI I Sea You and Raise You

Sally Hansen Blue-ming Fast

Julep Bess

Tea Beauty Mint Leaf 

Sally Hansen Star Burst

Rainbow Waves

I really have started to enjoy messing around with nail foil. I've gotten better at working out the wrinkles, and now I think I've even found a combo that works so that the top coat doesn't wrinkle or cloud the shiny design.

 I just received a whole variety of awesome nail foil from Dollar Nail Art, and I really couldn't wait to use it! As soon as I opened the box, I started prepping for these nails.

 I decided to start first with this lovely bright silver holographic "wave" design. It proved frustratingly hard to capture the bright holographic flair in my lightbox, but keep scrolling for some bright colors at the end of this post!

Next, I decided to stamp a boxy design from Bundle Monster plate 322 using Wet n Wild Black Creme. I like that it breaks up the silver while still letting plenty of the holographic goodness show through. To compliment that design, I added matte black diamond glitter (also from Dollar Nail Art) to my thumb, middle, and pinkie nails.

Click to see photos taken outside!

Blaze of Glory

This is the beautiful and amazing Blaze by Daily Hues Lacquer. It is amazing duochrome bronze/copper linear holo. I took so many photos trying to catch the beauty of this color!



Blaze was easy to work with, and these photos show three coats, though it was passable with just two. The formula was on the thicker side, but not unmanageable.

The shift from soft bronze/gold to reddish copper is fairly subtle, but definitely present. The amount of holographic flair is rather amazing, without really dulling the color. Normally I can barely capture holographic sparkle in my lightbox, so I'm amazed it was bright enough to show up in these first photos!

This is going to definitely be a image-spam post, so please click through to see more photos!

Tequila Sunrise

 The prompt for the Weekly Challenge for the Nail Polish Queens this week was 'cocktais'. I am completely in the dark about cocktails; all I know is that they're colorful, alcoholic, and I love playing with the umbrellas. So I turned to a friend and she suggested Tequila Sunrise!

 I began with OPI Samoan Sand as an undercoat, to try to cut down on how much buildup a thin yellow jelly would need. I then started layering on Sinful Colors Yellow Out There, which is a sunny yellow jelly with scattered holographic bar glitter. It's a subtle effect, but it does really shine in sunlight!

Next, I used Sinful Colors Curry Up on my tips. It's a light melon orange jelly filled with red glitter and silver bar glitter. However, it was nowhere near dark enough to make a meaningful gradient. I added the sheer tint OPI Amberrassed across most of the nail, followed by a generous pass of Sally Hansen Vitamin D-Light. Next, I used a bit of a darker red tint with OPI Be Magentale with Me and Sally Hansen Jell-ous? before finally adding a touch of OPI Don't Violet Me Down. The violet was sheer enough that it did a wonderful job deepening the color without turning everything purple.

 And lastly, I remembered that I had cheap little dollar store FIMO fruits, so I added those along with little red gems to represent cherries.

Colors Used:

Sinful Colors Yellow Out There

Sinful Colors Curry Up

OPI Amberrassed

Sally Hansen Vitamin D-Light

OPI Be Magentale with Me

Sally Hansen Jell-ous?

OPI Don't Violet Me Down

Galactic Stars

 I was in a bit of a creative rut and couldn't figure out what I wanted to do for nail art. So I decided to fall back on redoing one of my favorite things ever, galaxy nails! Can't go wrong with that!

 I began with one coat of Sinful Colors Black on Black, followed by Claire's Bright Lights Big City. This polish is AMAZING. It's an incredibly flashy scattered holo microglitter in a black base. I tried catching some of the holo goodness in these photos, but it's so hard to get on camera! In any case, this was a magic polish to use as a backdrop to galaxy nails. It gives everything a wonderful depth!

 Next, I proceeded to use a makeup sponge to dab on first China Glaze White on White, then Sinful Colors Mint Tropics, followed by Sinful Colors Fly Away, and finally SpaRitual Shoot for the Stars. I love how quick galaxy nails can come together!

Lastly, I dotted on small points of White on White, then added a few twinkling stars for good measure.

 Trying to get a better shot of all of the holo sparkletastic goodness!

 And again, with some bottle shots of Bright Lights, Big City

 Colors Used:

Sinful Colors Black on Black

Claire's Bright Lights Big City

Sinful Colors Mint Tropics

Sinful Colors Fly Away

SpaRitual Shoot for the Stars

China Glaze White on White

Transitions

 I've taken my first steps into the indie polish realm after seeing all of the amazingness that is out there. It probably helps that I'm in love with both linear holo polish and thermal polish, two things that indie brands seem to be doing extraordinarily well.
I recently purchased two thermal polishes from Daily Hues Lacquer, and they are amazing! These are my first thermal jellies, and I am in love with how responsive they are to temperature change compared to cremes. Even in summer, if I touched something cool the tips of my nails would stay purple for a long time! I love the effect of going from bright blue when warm to deep purple when cool.

These are Daily Hues Nelle (solid jelly) and Daily Hues Priya. (Jelly with glitter). I loved the color so much, I couldn't decide between them! Priya has an amazing amount and variety of glitter, and after a proper bottle shake it wasn't difficult to get the glitter out.

Being jellies, these did take four to five coats to cover my nail line. Extra layers just helped with the depth of the jelly sandwich for Priya, though!

 Just because I wanted some extra thermal fun, I stamped a design from Pueen plate 46 using Dance Legend Termo Trio No.1. Because the stamping transferred such a thin layer, it changed incredibly fast and was hard to capture on camera. However, it went from appearing dark blue, to lavender, to light sky blue as it warmed.

 Keep reading for more photo overload!