Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Here's lookin' at you!

I love this simple little Halloween look!
I wore nails like this last year and, with so little time, it was impossible to resist this quick nail art again.  I originally saw this inspiration on Pinterest last year.  I love simple nail art like this that really anyone can pull off!


*1 coat Yello-Out
*2 coats Essence Jacob's Protection
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out
*Sinful Colors Snow Me White
*1 coat Out the Door

Jacob's Protection is from the Essence Twilight line that came out earlier this year.  I haven't read or watch the series, but the colors were really great.  This is a black base with dense, medium blue shimmer throughout.  The first photo is a little out of focus and really shows off the shimmer on my index finger.  It's a really pretty polish!  I just used a dotting tool to dab on white and then black over the dark base.  Easy!

Candy Corny?





This was the first Halloween mani I did this Halloween.  I am a sucker for Candy Corn.  I love it.  I was crushed to hear that it is the most hated Halloween treat (and I totally don't think that's true).  I wanted to do a Candy Corn mani without going overboard or taking too much time.  The result was...well, it was.






*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Hardener
*2 coats Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow
*Cover Girl Boundless Color Candy Corn
*Wet 'n' Wild French White Creme
*Zoya Myrta
*1 coat Out the Door Northern Lights
*1 coat Out the Door

Ignore the tip wear--it took me a couple of days to snap some photos and it's the lease noticeable here.  I wanted to use the candy corn accent with a French.  My oranges are rather thin, so I used Myrta for the tips over my natural nails.  This is a gorgeous, burnt orange with a sparkling foil finish.  Unfortunately, it kind of clashes with the candy corn.  I was disappointed in the color coordination here.  I liked my accent and I liked my French, but together they didn't quite work liked I had hoped.
Have you ever had that happen--colors just not quite working that you had high hopes for?

May the treats be ever in your favor!

I've been swamped with studying, class, internship work and work-work lately, so prepare yourself for a little avalanche of posts here!
This is my most recent one, a Halloween mani that chipped so it had to go.  To be honest, I wanted to do a few, so I wasn't TOO sad to take it off...


*1 coat Yello=Out
*3 coats China Glaze Harvest Moon
*3 coats China Glaze Riveting
*3 coats Sonoma Nail Art Sincerest Pumpkin Patch
*Zoya Yara
*1 coat Out the Door


The China Glaze Capitol Colors were/are phenomenal.  Plain and simple.  Tons of them lend themselves to fall art, and I used two of them for this main.  Harvest Moon is a gorgeous, warm coppery-brown with a sparkling foil finish.  I used this on my thumb, index, and pinkie fingers.


I used Riveting for my pumpkin accent with Harvest Moon for the lines and a little bit of Yara for the grass and stem.  I adore Riveting.  I won't waste your time here, but you can click on the tag to see me sing its praises again and again.  This orange just glows!
Finally, I used Sincerest Pumpkin Patch for a second accent.  I love Sonoma Nail Art polish!  Not only do the polishes come from very near to my hometown, but they are amazing!  They combos are so rad and the polish is wonderful quality.  I haven't used this one in a year and didn't need any thinner like I usually do with indies.  I like it a little better with a base, like Yara, but I didn't think that through before I started painting, so I just layered the beauty on!  I love this polish and the Peanuts--it just makes me smile every time I look at it!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

33DC: Chevrons

Last week I really wasn't very inspired by the challenges, nor did I have time to do more than a simple polish.  Last night, as I read and tried to do ANYTHING but homework, I gave chevrons a try.  I've been dying to try this mani that I found on Pinterest and traced back to Selena at Pink U Rock.  I, like many of you, debated whether or not zig-zags were considered chevrons.  I took the technical road and decided not, so I tweaked the mani a bit, but love it!


*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*2 coats Sinful Colors Cream Pink
*2 coats Butter London Fairy Cake
*2 coats Sinful Colors Snow Me White
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out
*1 coat Out the Door


I love Cream Pink and couldn't find it for a while last night.  I know Sinful Colors are cheap, so it wasn't a big deal, but I had had my heart set on it.  I'm glad it surfaced (which is sort of a miracle in my room right now).  I used 2 coats for coverage, though long nails probably need 3.  I love that, even though it has "cream" in its name, it has a really subtle golden shimmer to it that you can see in the first picture.
Fairy Cake is an awesome gold-ish holo glitter that I used for my ring finger accent.  I love how this looks with the pink!  I used Snow Me White as a base for my chevrons and used striping tape to make the v's.  Then I used Black out over the top and peeled off the tape.
This color combo is so stunning that I am sad to see it go tomorrow!  I have to meet with my internship contact for school and don't really feel like this is appropriate, but I'm sure I'll give it another go or try a variation very soon because I can't take my eyes off of it!  Do you have any color combos that just steal the show like this?  Share!  Share!