Sweet Holo-ween

I'm a little late, but I grew to love the nails I had for Halloween and really think that it's never the wrong time for some candy corn!

* 1 coat Gelous base
* 2 coats Sinful Colors Snow Me White
* Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed
* Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Butter-fly Stroke
* 1 coat INM Northern Lights
* 1 coat Out the Door

This looks is inspired by one I saw in a pin on Pinterest and tracked to Smashley Sparkles 2012 Halloween mani.  Hers has more of a fine, gradient look to it that I had planned to do, but once I realized my dots were too big, I improvised. 

I used Butter-fly Stroke, a good, opaque yellow for the tip.  I dotted over/below it with Sun Kissed and then went back to make a little more overlap between the colors.  I wasn't crazy about the look at first--I think because the base is white, instead of having white dots, so it felt uneven--so I added glitter, of course!  A thin coat of holo sparkles and a shiny topper and I called it a night!

As I looked at these on Halloween (and each day since) I came to like them more and more!  I had such a clear image in my head of what I was imitating that I didn't see how fun these turned out until I got a little distance.

Have you had a look grow on you over time that you came to love?  What made you come around to it?

Stormy Halloween

Two posts in one week?  Who is this girl?
Well, be prepared, because I might even have a 3rd up my sleeve...

Tonight's is a very simple mani but I am LOVING it!  I got some chips in my last one so I made a late in the evening decision to switch it out last night, so I needed something quick.

*1 coat Gelous base
*2 coats Zoya Story
*2 coats Cover Girl Boundless Color Candy Corn (accent)
*1 coat Sinful Colors UFO (accent)
*1 coat Out the Door

Sometimes, simple is best.  Zoya hit a home run with their Ornate collection--I never get tired of the scattered holos!  Storm is a black base with scattered silver micro holo.  I used 2 very thin coats
Cover Girl's Boundless Color collection was awesome and I still have a few bottles.  Candy Corn is one of them, a soft, creamy orange that covered okay enough in 2 coats.  There was still some visible nail line and a 3rd would have eliminated that, but I opted for some iridescent sparkle with a coat of Sinful Colors UFO--an orange-tinted sheer base with your standard mix of hex and micro glitter.  I added a little black rhinestone and called it a day with a top coat.
I loved looking at this one today and was glad to see it fared much better in an office than manis did in retail--stones are intact and tips are unchipped!  I think I'm going to enjoy manis much more now that they last!

What's your favorite go-to mani?  What simple look never fails you?

Halloween left-overs

I know, I know, you're thinking about Thanksgiving left-overs and I'm sounding a little out of it.  Well, I am a little out of it.  Between interning, class, and work, my time has dwindled.  With it, my li'l blog has been neglected.  Actually, my nails have too.  I haven't done too many interesting looks and often simply polish one simple color to keep them covered and neat.
But, here are 2 Halloween looks that I did enjoy, but did not get up.

 *1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Hardener

*2 coats Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Green With Envy

*Zoya Storm

*Zoya Aurora 

*1 coat Out the Door

Polka dots--easy!  I wanted witchy colors, and loved the holo sparkle contrast of the Zoyas on the cream finish of Green With Envy.

 

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Hardener

*3 coats China Glaze Some Like it Haute

*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out

*Cover Girl Boundless Color Candy Corn

*3 coats Spoiled Vitamin C

*3 coats China Glaze I Herd That

*1 coat Out the Door

I tried to somewhat recreate a Christmas mani that I loved from last year, pattern-wise.  This didn't turn out as I really envisioned, but I love the glittery polishes, so I can't really complain.  As you an see, the orange Vitamin C is incredibly sheer (I really only did 3 coats of the others because I did one coat for each every time I added one), so if you love that orange shimmer, consider a base coat.

So, here's my out of season Halloween looks!

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?

New 31DC: Flakies

I didn't think too much about today's challenge because I like flakie glitter and have an amazing untried.  So, I wore a simple swatch of Cult Nails' Seductive today:

*1 coat Yello-Out
*1 coat Maybelline Plum Paradise
*1 coats Cult Nails Seduction
*1 coat Out The Door

 

I wish that I had planned better for Seduction. I used a thin base without realizing how sheer the tint of this is. In the future, I'll build my base much cleaner and better. This polish is packed with red to green duochrome flakes with scattered blue ones too. I did a horrible job of getting the color shift to show, but know that this is a-mazing! I bought it when it became pretty clear that Clairvoyant will never come back, and I think I'm okay with that. I'm dying to see this over something with more contrast, like black...

After I got home with chips in my nails, I reconsidered my flakies. Today is my best friend's birthday! She is amazing and, even though she is really not into nail polish, she stops by here to see what I'm up to. She's on the other side of the country and I miss her so much, so I wanted to do a special mani for her today. AND, I even worked in some flakies!

 

*1 coat Yello-Out
*2 coats Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau (pinkie and index)
*2 coats Julep Dendrie (middle and thumb(
*2 coats Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out (ring)
*2 coats Finger Paints Motley (all but ring)
*Sinful Colors Snow Me White
*Cover Girl Candy Corn
*1 coat Out The Door

I decided to use Finger Paints Motley as my flakie.  I layered it over Take Me To Your Chateau and Dendrie to look icy.  I alternated those two because I just couldn't decide which look I liked better.  Both a clean, cream finishes.  Take Me is a pale sky blue, which has streaked a bit each time I used it, but definitely not enough to ditch it!  Dendrie is a pale, warm gray (is that possible?) that also covered really easily in 2 coats.  There were not really any streaking issues with this. 
I used 2 coats of Motley to amp up the flakes.  It's funny that, in these photos, the green really shows in the flakes because in real life, the blue is much more dominant.  My middle nail (gray base) is the easiest to see both colors on--blue down the center and green on the sides.

I used Black Out for my penguin (bestie's favorite animal!), with Snow Me White brushed on for the tummy.  I dotted on the eyes and used Candy Corn to dot on the feet and beak.  I'm pretty proud of how these little guys turned out!  I'm definitely going to use them again sometime--they were pretty easy and super cute! 
So those are my flakie nails--both the ones I wore and the ones I painted tonight to celebrate an amazing girl!  Do you like to paint your nails in honor of others?  I love looking down and seeing something that reminds me of people I love! 

Frosty

I'm deep into the Christmas spirit now!  I picked out a tree tonight and got it decorated.  The only room I haven't Christmas-fied yet is my bathroom, but that will come tomorrow night--I needed to take a rest to take in the holiday goodness!  So, I lost a rhinestone and figured it was time to try another Christmas mani.  This is another one I found on Pinterest and then followed back to a favorite blog of mine, Top Coat It!

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*2 coats Julep Kate
*1 coat Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Disco Ball
*Cover Girl Candy Corn
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out
*1 coat Out The Door

I used 2 coats of Julep Kate for my white base.  I love that it is not "white out" white and has a little bit of a shimmery finish to it.  The almost-cream finish softens the white just a bit and I've come to really love it.

Over Kate, because I really don't feel like my nails are polished without a little sparkle, I used one coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Disco Ball.  This is pretty, though not really original.  It's your typical iridescent glitter that doesn't take away from the base but adds a little extra special to a mani.  I figured ice and snow sparkle, right? 

For the noses I used Cover Girl Candy Corn.  I loved their Boundless Color line and was so sad to see it go.  This orange is a favorite of mine, a little dusty in a perfect cream finish. Of course, I dotted on the face with my trusty Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out.  I sealed up the whole thing with a thick coat of Out the Door.
I am really pleased with how these little guys turned out!  I usually find a way to botch even simple dots. but these are pretty clean.  I think I went extra slow knowing how obvious smudges would come out.  My mom got really into snowmen at Christmas a few years back, so I really hope she likes these!  I think they are such a fun, easy winter/holiday design that I might have to try them again post-Christmas.  Have you done a snowman mani yet this year?  Do you have another design I should try?  Do tell!