White Reaching Blossoms

I was inspired by @mdollasnails to create a design with a blue-to-purple gradient covered by white flowers. The original design featured large but few flowers and green leaves. I did not have a similar stamp, so I decided to repurpose a cherry blossom stamp and turn it around. I also decided that since the sun appears to have returned to the sky, that my white polish should be glow in the dark. The end result is a slightly muddier white, but it GLOWS and that makes me unreasonably happy.

Colors:

~ Blue (base): Makeup Selective – 105
~ Blue: Zoya – Yummy
~ Periwinkle: Nails Inc – Regents Place
~ Purple: OPI – I Manicure for Beads
~ Flakies: Picture Polish – Festival
~ GITD white: Serum No 5 – Pure Glow Getter
~ Stamp: Whats Up Nails – B017

Now of course, I waited until 15 minutes AFTER walking the dog to remember to take a photo of my nails glowing, so it isn’t as bright and crisp as I would have liked. Sorry!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I got to end last night by seeing a car run into a power line pole, break, place tension on the next door pole, and that pole to catch on fire. Firemen, policemen, and the power company were on site until around 2am when they fixed everything back up after the lights went out around 6pm. It was an excited evening!

Painted Eggs

Happy Easter! I wanted eggs. Painted colorful eggs. The last time I used this stamp, I had a minimal of 5 colors on EACH EGG and it was far too busy. So this time I decided to just do two colors per egg and pair them across the color wheel, and I like the results much better. It is legible! And only took 1.5 hours instead of 3 hours to paint. I got the idea of sticking to two colors per egg from @polish.maven, and I am glad I went with that. Maybe for next years annual coloring-of-this-stamp I will vary it slightly more?

Colors:

~ Green linear holo: Serum No 5 – Jaded
~ Green scattered holo: ORLY – Sparkling Garbage
~ Black: Sinful Colors – Black on Black
~ Pink: Zoya – Tobey
~ Orange: Formula X – Incandescent
~ Yellow: Zoya – Darcy
~ Teal: Emily de Molly – Glee Ridden
~ Blue: Makeup Selective – 105
~ Purple: Zoya – Abby
~ Stamps: Whats Up Nails – B017

Happy easter this weekend to those that celebrate! Hopefully I will keep on top of editing my nail art and will have some more posts next week, we shall see. Enjoy!

Rainbow Springtime

I WANT COLORS. And I may have gone overboard with them. Also the pink I used was overwhelming, oops! Still overall fun to create and to wear. Of course the addition of a baby chick and a bunny helped! The design was inspired by @melonnailart, although hers was much cuter than mine ended up being, because she stuck with pastel and I decided I needed more vivid colors.

Colors:

~ Pink: Zoya – Sandy
~ Orange: EdM – LE 197
~ Yellow: Zoya – Darcy
~ Green: Zoya – Tilda
~ Blue: Zoya – Yummy
~ Purple: L’oreal – Royalty Reinvented
~ Shimmer: Sally Hansen – Platinum
~ Black: Sinful Colors – Black on Black
~ White: Sinful Colors – Snow me White
~ Stamp: Whats up Nails – B017

I am always a bit torn when posting easter nails: I am jewish, and my husband is orthodox (greek) christian. So, I don’t celebrate easter, and he celebrates it on a different day than most people! I usually post during typical easter rather than orthodox easter anyway. Oh well, enjoy!

Winter Stars and Snowflakes

I love this base for winter nail art! I just looks like a snowstorm, but with subtle glints of color and glitter. With the snowflake stamping I still thought these nails looked a hair dull, so I went and added purple dots. Do they match? No. Did it add color? Absolutely!

Colors:

~ Grey flakie: Different Dimension – Come One, Come All
~ White: Sinful Colors – Snow me White
~ Purple: Station – Happy Wine-y People
~ Stamps: BP – 185, Nicole Diary – 120

This year I am going to try to avoid adding off-colored dots when they don’t make sense (of course, if I can pretend they make sense then everything will have additional dots). So far so good, but we are only two weeks into the new year…

Snowy Dusk

This came out super cute! The animals are too big for the trees (which is what you get when you mix stamping plates) but I think the idea is there. I also successfully double stamped the white snow under the black tree silhouettes, so I am quite happy!

Colors:

~ White: Sinful Colors – Snow me White
~ Light periwinkle: Nails Inc – Regents Place
~ Dark periwinkle: Zoya – Danielle
~ Black: Maybelline – Onyx Rush
~ White glitter: Emily de Molly – Pale Landscape
~ Stamps: Moyra – Picturesque 106, BM – XL472, Nicole Diary – 122, EDM – 07

This week is going to be entirely winter manicures, at which point I apparently run out of snowy scenes painted last year! So who knows what comes after that… Enjoy!

Gingerbread Fantasy

I really wanted to make some elaborate gingerbread nails, to celebrate one of my favorite snacks over the holidays (and the only holiday treat that I am good at baking…despite being Jewish, even the latkes fall to my husband to make)! I was inspired by @nbnailart to create these absolutely fantastic nails, and I have to say I am pleased with how they came out! They are 100% freehand and took a little over two hours to complete.

Colors:

~ Blue: Makeup Selective – 105
~ White: Sinful Colors – Snow me White
~ Black: Maybelline – Onyx Rush
~ Pink: Zoya – Sandy
~ Red: Zoya – Sooki
~ Orange: Zoya – Thandie
~ Yellow: OPI – Never a Dulles Moment
~ Green: Zoya – Tilda
~ Dark green: Zoya – Hunter
~ Purple: OPI – I Manicure for Beads
~ Light brown: Zoya – Flynn
~ Brown: Zoya – Dea
~ White glitter: Emily de Molly – Pale Landscape

I hope you all had a wonderful (and gingerbread) filled holiday! I can’t promise that there will be any post on Wednesday because I will be driving most of the day tomorrow to get home from my in-laws, but hopefully my New Years post ends up completed shortly! Enjoy!

Glowing Christmas Lights

This is the second time I have done glow-in-the-dark Christmas lights, but the last time I made the individual lights glow, and this time I made the whole nail glow! These were a lot of fun to put together, and made me smile in the dark. Just a win all around! And I think the green shifty shimmer added an extra dazzle factor 🙂

Colors:
~ White GITD: Serum No 5 – Pure Glow Getter

~ Green shimmer: Ethereal – Rainforest
~ Black: Maybelline – Onyx Rush
~ White: Sinful Colors – Snow me White
~ Neon red: Emily de Moly – LE 199
~ Neon orange: Emily de Molly – LE 197
~ Neon yellow: Emily de Molly – LE 196
~ Neon green: KBShimmer – Race Against Slime
~ Blue: Zoya – Ling
~ Purple: OPI – I Manicure for Beads

Look at that awesome glow! I charged these in the sun, and the white was bright enough that you could see the color of the overlaying lights in the dark 🙂

Only one more Christmas post this year, coming (hopefully) on Christmas Day! Hope you enjoyed and that you either have some fun colorful lights up or see them around town. Enjoy!

Purple Pastel Christmas

Why? I do not know. The nails that inspired these were in pink, so I figured I had leeway to do whatever color I wanted. I found the silver-purple mega glitter in my collection (that I don’t think I have touched in over a year) and felt bad about not using it, so I centered this manicure around it. Sadly, I think I would have done better picking a more neutral/grey-toned glitter! But it certainly is shiny. This also may be the most stamping plates I have used in a single manicure in 6 months at least!

Colors:

~ Purple: Zoya – Abby
~ White: Sinful Colors – Snow me White
~ Glitter: Powder Perfect – Microcosm
~ Stamps: Hit the Bottle – Material World 01, Moyra – 60 Cuts, BP – 185, Nicole Diary – 120

Unfortunately I failed to take any sunlight photos of these nails, and I did not like the contrast between the purple and the glitter…so they were removed within 2 days. Sorry for the single photo post!

Snowman Expression

These came out very cute! I am not sure if I ended up liking the decision to add scarves to their necks at the end, but otherwise I am happy. This design was inspired by @nbnailart, only her’s are cuter and her nails are shorter. Overall I may try this again if I ever end up with very short nails during the winter!

Colors:

~ White: Sinful Colors – Snow me White
~ Black: Maybelline – Onyx Rush

~ Orange: Julie G – Tangerine Dream
~ Purple: Alpha Beauty – 68
~ Blue: Makeup Selective – 105

It is interesting that I almost never think to matte my nails unless I see a design I want to mimic that is itself matted… but almost all winter nail art looks better matte! Oy vey. I will have to think on this, and decide how much matte top coat I want to invest in this year.

Purple Mittens

I have had this manicure by @Alice_nailart_wonderland saved for almost two years, and I decided it was time to buckle up and paint it. Mostly, I did not want the headache of removing the textured polish at the end! And while that was, indeed, painful…it was worth it. This manicure came out very cute! My husband thinks I should have spelled the word “love” with the string connecting the mittens, so if anyone else wants to make this design there is a suggestion!

Colors:

~ White: Sinful Colors – Snow me White
~ Grey: Zoya – Dove
~ Dark grey: WOW – #333
~ Silver: Revlon – Metallic
~ Silver textured: OPI – Its Frosty Outside
~ Purple: OPI – I Manicure for Beads
~ Purple holo: Milani – Hi-Res

And this is also my formal introduction to winter-themed nail art posts. I don’t have all that many of them, so for a few weeks you guys get more random filler, and then on to cold season nail art and Hanukkah and Christmas nails!

Dripping Roses

I hand-painted these nails with limited supplies while on vacation at the beach. As a result, the colors are not exactly what I would have chosen had I had my whole collection with me, but it came out alright despite that! I am quite proud of my roses.

Colors:

~ Grey flakie: Polished for Days – Grey Opal
~ Pink: Zoya – Tobey
~ Orange: Zoya – Thandie
~ Yellow: Zoya – Darcy
~ Purple: My Mood – Dazzling
~ Green: Zoya – Tilda

I realize it isn’t flower season, but since I do regular nail designs (as well as seasonal nail designs) at all times of the year, I never have enough fully-fall (or winter, spring, or summer) nails to keep it appropriate. So, random flowers! And some more fun random stuff up until closer to Thanksgiving next week. Enjoy!

Purple Paisley Gradient

Whenever I leave the country, I search out new nail polish brands to take home and play with (like the green polish from Scotland I posted on Wednesday). This time, I think I have found a winner! At the pharmacies in Ireland there is a brand called My Mood, and all the polishes are named loosely after emotions. The bottles are a bit clunky (broad cylinders) but the colors are amazing! So I bought 2 of them, and I loved them so much that when my sister went to Ireland 3 months later for her honeymoon, she brought me back 4 more bottles due to me raving about the colors, pigmentation, and ease of application. For today’s art, I used one of these new polishes with a simple paisley gradient and some dots over the top.

This is two coats of Dazzling by My Mood. I had to use slightly thicker coats to only require two, however, the polish was an absolute dream to work with. It is a beautiful blue-leaning medium purple. It has a wide-ended brush, which are not usually my favorite, but this applied so well I do not care. Would recommend! Strongly!

Colors:

~ Purple: My Mood – Dazzling
~ Purple stamping: Pueen – Charmed Lilac
~ Black: Pueen – Black Jack
~ Silver holo: Color Club – Harp On It
~ Stamp: Hit the Bottle – Material World 01

I think I have already used 25% of this polish. I love the color, I love the application, and I love the pigment. In case that wasn’t clear from me gushing about it earlier in this post :-p. I don’t know when I will be back in Ireland, so I may need to figure out how to follow up with this brands new releases from the USA. Absolutely amazing for polish available in a drug store!

Double Crazy Gradient

What better way to play with stamping polish then by stamping a gradient in one set of colors, and topping it with a gradient of a different set of colors? Especially if the stamp is absolutely bonkers. Voila!

Colors:
~ White: Sinful Colors – Snow me White
~ Yellow: Pueen – Bright Yellow
~ Pink: Pueen – Neon Pink
~ Purple: Pueen – Charmed Lilac
~ Teal: Pueen – Mermaid Green
~ Red: Pueen – So Red
~ Stamp: B Loves Plates – B03 mind blown

I had held off on buying bona fide stamping polish for years. I have been painting nails with nail art for approximately 13 years at this point (oh wow) and this is the first time I have intentionally purchased a stamping polish set. I have to say, it has been nail-changing. Gradients now take 5 minutes to create (although if I am not careful with my latex barrier they take 30 minutes to clean up due to the degree of pigment in the polish). Stamps that I could not previously use due to poor etching are now usable. Its great. If you are on the fence, I strongly recommend buying dedicated stamping polish, and Pueen makes good ones (these were purchased by me, I just like them)!

Gradient of Dots

When I made this design I did not love it. Too many colors in slightly different intensity families. However, my husband, my friends, and both my sisters really liked it. Go figure!

Colors:

~ Holo: ILNP – Fired Up
~ Pink: Zoya – Tobey
~ Orange: Zoya – Thandie
~ Yellow: Zoya – Darcy
~ Green: Zoya – Tilda
~ Teal: My Mood – Happy
~ Purple: My Mood – Dazzling

I think I need to acknowledge that sometimes I will not be happy with what I paint, even if to others it looks great. This goes for both color combinations and overall composition, both of which I think I did not execute well here. Oh well! At least its colorful?

Stitched Ghost

This came out so cute! I took the idea from @nailsbycolette and just used a different base color for my designs. I like that it is a weird modified french tip but still incorporates the spirit of Halloween, and that her take on ghosts were adorable! I spent a long time trying to recreate a cute-yet-appropriate looking ghost. I think I got it. Although my ghost has a slight weight problem.

Colors:
~ Grey sparkle: Emily de Molly – Shadow on the Moon
~ White: Sinful Colors – Snow me White
~ Light grey: Formula X – Delightful
~ Grey: WOW – #333

You can’t really see, but my thumb has both a bigger sheet ghost and a smaller baby sheet ghost. Score one for me! Maybe I should have broken my years-long rule and posted my thumbnail as well, just this once. Hope you enjoyed 🙂

Vampy Pumpkin Fail

The inspiration for this manicure, looked awesome. Dark, with leaves and cobwebs, and some cool pumpkins…and I cannot show it to you because I have lost the link! I think it came from Pinterest, which means I am never ever finding it again (if this looks like your nail design from halloweens past let me know and I will give you credit, sorry!). I will say I had success with the pumpkins (I even got some highlights and low-lights!) but the rest of this was an abysmal failure. My grey was too bright, so I ended up adding a sheer black jelly to darken the top but it just looked messy. My cobwebs were stamps, and thus not etherial enough to capture what I was going for. And my leaves…no. My husband told me it looked like I made “dirty baseballs” and I totally see where he was coming from. To add insult to injury, I was working in and out of liquid nitrogen while I was wearing these and shattered a nail due to cold. Bad Eva!

Colors:

~ Purple-grey holo: ILNP – Long Walks
~ Red: OPI – Visions of Love
~ White: Sinful Colors – Snow me White
~ Black: Maybelline – Black to Black
~ Dark orange: Essie – Playing Koi
~ Orange: Zoya – Thandie
~ Light orange: Zoya – Cole
~ Green: Zoya – Tilda
~ Stamps: UC – Lovely Leaves 2, Born Pretty – Halloween L002, BM – XL472

So really this is just a fail all around. I cannot find the inspiration photo to credit the original (amazing) artist, and my own rendition is frightening, and not in an intentional way. Whoops. Live and learn!

Bright Holo Webs

This was a joint inspiration from @yagala for the webs-from-the-cuticle and @urbannailart for teal webs over an orange-to-purple gradient. I need to stop trying to freehand spiderwebs, it never comes out right. I want to do these again (maybe…now) and just put webs on all the nails over a full-nail radical gradient. Which I loved. The vibrant fall colors with the teal were incredible.

Colors:
~ Yellow holo: ILNP – Sunshine Smoothie
~ Orange holo: Emily de Molly – Scorched Earth
~ Red holo: A England – Rosebower
~ Purple holo: ILNP – Crown of Thistles
~ Purple metallic: Revlon – Wild Violets
~ Teal: Petites Color Fever – Figi
~ Stamp: Born Pretty – Halloween L004

Hilariously/sadly, I appear to have forgotten to take photos of these nails with my camera? So I only have sunlight/iphone photos. Whoops! The yellow base color was more visible indoors than in the sun, but I will live. Enjoy!

Creepy Eye Rings

Dear Eva, what were you thinking? Why did you do this? Why did you keep adding dots and make it weird? This looks like possessed evil eye atomic rings and I am freaking myself out. I think I liked it at the time? But in retrospect, no. Given that I painted these in early spring, it is no surprise that I had no idea what to do with them…but now Halloween is just around the corner! And they are rather perfect for ‘spooky season.’

Colors:
~ Purple flakie: Polished for Days – From the Land of Oz
~ White: Sinful Colors – Snow me White
~ Teal: Emily de Molly – Glee Ridden
~ Purple: L’oreal – Paparazzi Pleaser
~ Stamp: Hit the Bottle – Material World 01

I do love when weird accidental wtfs turn into something perfect for a completely different time of year. Voila! Hope you enjoyed. Also, the base color for this manicure looks really similar to what I posted on Monday? Go figure.

Sunset Gradient Verticies

For my birthday, I received a dress that I had wanted for months, which looks like an excellent flow-y sunset (if you are confused, check out the dress here). It didn’t fit as well as I hoped, but the colors were nonetheless excellent. Which means, of course, that I had to make a matching set of nails!

Colors:
~ Neon orange: Emily de Molly – LE 197
~ Neon red: Emily de Molly – LE 199
~ Dark red: KBShimmer – Chia-huahua
~ Purple: Zoya – Monica
~ Blue: Zoya – Ryan
~ Dark blue: Pueen – Royal Blue
~ Black: Pueen – Black Jack
~ Stamp: Moyra – 32 Nature

If anyone has suggestions on how to make thicker-than-expected pleats sit well I would be glad to hear it! The colors are so lovely but it makes me look…large. Anyway, enjoy the nails!

Glowing Teal Intricacies

This was a great idea that was poorly executed. I started with a great base and a great stamp….and it got lost in the colors I used. Oops! I will need to repeat this using colors that do not that blend with my base polish! Of course I had to add dots to rescue it, and I don’t think that worked either. Oh well, I did try?

Colors:
~ Glowing teal/purple: BKL – Doomicorn
~ Teal stamping: Pueen – Mermaid Green
~ Purple stamping: Pueen – Charming Lilac
~ Teal glitter: Emily de Molly – Sea of Lies
~ Stamps: EdM – 06

I am going to put this one down as almost-a-success (but a failure nonetheless). Live and learn! Hope you enjoyed some part of this anyway.