Crumpet's 31DC: Tranquility

I'm a bit behind with this prompt, ironically, because I was relaxing.  On Friday I just didn't feel like doing anything after work, so polishing waited.
I thought through so many calming and soft colors, but pretty quickly realized what I wanted to do for this prompt.
I'm from a small town in wine and redwood country.  I now live in a big city on the beautiful Pacific.  There are a lot of things I love about San Diego, but a lot of things that I've grown tired of.  When I go home, there is quiet.  There is stillness.  There are old, towering redwoods. 
There are stars.
I miss dark skies full of stars.  They make me feel calm.

*1 coat Gelous base
*2 coats Zoya Song
*2 coats Zoya Dream (accent)
*1 coat Wet 'n' Wild Kaleidoscope
*Cover Girl Boundless Color White Knight
*1 coat Out the Door

I did a simple "starry" sky with Song on most nails, a pretty, shimmery navy blue that is much darker in person than my photos.  I did a thick coat of Kaleidoscope, a favorite silver holo glitter, on top for "stars."  Then, on my accent, I used Dream, an almost perfect match to Song except that it's full of scatter micro holo glitter.  On top, I dotted on the big dipper, which I always look for when I'm home.  I sealed it all with a shiny top and fell in love.
As Switchfoot says, "When I look at the stars, I feel like myself..."

What do you find calming to see on your nails?

One last Christmas look...

Oh man, life can really get in the way of plans sometimes, you know?
I had this mani, which I LOVED, and another one that I had been waiting a long time to do, to show for Christmas.  But then I had to pack and fly home and a week had gone by before it started chipping and I hadn't snapped a picture. 
Then I was SO ready to start the new 31 day challenge.  But it had to wait until I got back from vacation.  Which was when I promptly came down with the flu.  Ugh.
So, there have been a couple of manis that didn't make it to my camera, but I'm fever-free and ready to start postin'!
So, this is a Christmas mani I originally saw on The Swatching Sprite (I'm so sad she's stopped posting--I loved this blog!) and had been dying to try.  Except for some pesky topcoat smearage, I LOVED how these turned out!

*1 coat Gelous base
*2 coats Cover Girl White Night
*1 coat Zoya Ginessa
*Revlon Posh
*Zoya America
*1 coat Out the Door

I loved these polka dots!  Ginessa is a gorgeous white shimmer that, for opacity, is best layered over a white cream, and it's such a pretty base!  I fought every instinct and let the red, green, and white cream dots stand alone.  I like the lighter tone of America and Posh together.  I even liked the design of the dots (which I am so excited to do again and again for different holidays/color combos!).  I even waited a full 15 minutes but it still dragged the red :(  In real life, it was totally not as noticeable. 

Any tips for keeping a topcoat from dragging colors below?  Please share!

Christmas Stripes

It seems I took too much time away from nail art this year because the simplest things have given me a heckuva time lately!
I saw this pin, which is from Work Play Polish, in a guest post from Kellie Gonzo.  You following me?  The main point is, it's adorable and I wanted to give it a try!

*1 coat Gelous base
*2 coats China Glaze Winter Holly
*2 coats OPI Danke-shiny Red
*2 coats Cover Girl Boundless Color White Night
*Zoya Logan
*Salon Perfect Champagne Toast
*2 coats Out the Door

I've never been able to paint straight lines, so I pulled out my striping tape for the accent.  They were lined up beautifully, spaced perfectly.  Then, I painted with Logan and pulled the tape up...and was too slow.  Most of the stripes came up with it.  I had to freehand the stripes back on, which worked MUCH better on my left hand than my right (not that you've had that happen).  Hearts are a really easy accent to add, but again, I'm pretty basic in my skills, so I added a red rhinestone instead.
I used the always wonderful Danke-Shiny red, smooth, shimmery, and rich.  I wanted a little more sparkle, so I added Champagne This went went well with Winter Holly, a dense, dark green and holo gold glitter that dries very gritty but covers well.  This picture REALLY doesn't do it justice--it's gorgeous!
This original design is so adorable and luckily something I can try again with any color combo.  Overall, this wasn't horrible, just not as neat as I hoped.

Do you have any tips on painting crisp, straight lines?  Do tell!

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?

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?

The emblem of the land I love

This is another 4th of July manicure inspired by a pin I found.  Now, I don't want to really brag, but I find some awesome stuff on Pinterest (which is made by people much more talented than I am.  It may be the many hours that get lost once I log on that lead to these finds...) and you are more than welcome to check out my boards here: http://pinterest.com/missyjean415.  I always want to attribute the manis I find and the pin linked to an Olympic compilation and the photo linked to this instagram: ohtammm.  I really liked the look, even though it moved me outside of my accent comfort zone!

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*2 coats Loreal Queen of Hearts (thumb & pinkie)
*2 coats Zoya Song (ring and middle)
*1 coat Spoiled Daddy's Credit Card (index)
*3 coats Revlon Splendor (index)
*Cover Girl White Night
*1 coat Out the Door

I am really comfortable with an accent on my ring finger, but this changed everything up!  It's not really a skittle because not every nail is different, but I'm not really used to this kind of design.  My thumb and pinkie are red and white stripes.  I'm going to have to order some striping tape because I have no clue where my roll went and scotch tape is not ideal for small stripes like this.  I tried a different red, a brighter one than my last, that I've had forever and really don't use.  It's a nice one, though, with a subtle gold-leaning shimmer to it. 

Song was out still, so I used it for my blue base.  I knew I didn't have any silver glitter that I could build to full-coverage, so I used a sheer base of shimmery silver and added holo glitter on top.  I'm really annoyed with my impatience and forgetfulness.  These looked cleaner before I put on my top coat and used too many strokes, causing streaks all over the place.  In real life it's really hard to tell, but these pictures are a good reminder to be patient!  These stripes are a bit funky, but I'm loving the dots and silver!  Luckily, I still have at least one more mani I want to try for the 4th, so I'll change these stripes out soon. 
Do you have any great tips to keep top coats from streaking art?  Do tell!

Coming back

Well hello and my apologies!  I have kind of dropped off the face of the earth, both here and in other areas of my life.  I know that no one expects anything of me, but you have been such wonderful readers and so supportive that I feel like at least a small explanation is in order.
Since the end of January I have really been battling depression.  There is not a whole lot that inspires or excites me lately.  On top of that, we lost my grandmother to a sad, difficult end.  Life has just been overwhelming and I haven't felt compelled to polish much, let alone post about it.  What I tell myself has just been "me" time is really retreating, though, and not all that healthy, so I'm trying to come back.  Fake it 'til you make it, right?  Right.  I'm hoping this will help me feel more like me.
That being said, I'm starting off super unoriginal and recreating an awesome mani that Amber posted over at the highly-addictive and awesome Amber did it!  My coloring is slightly different, but I couldn't resist the perfect summer mani she rocked!

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
*China Glaze Pool Party
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out
*Cover Girl White Night
*1 coat Hoof Lacquer
*1 coat Out the Door

 

I buffed my nails (now that the staining has grown out!) and opted to go nude for the French.  I was tempted to use a nude colored polish, but let my natural nails be the base instead.  I taped off the tips with Scotch tape and used Pool Party for the tips.  On my left hand I freehanded a second coat after removing the tape, but wasn't as confident for my right.  This is a little sheer and needs a couple of coats for the whole nail.  As a neon, it dries to a semi-matte finish, which I like to shine up with a top coat.  With that shiny top coat, though, they looked about the same.

On my accent, I used a dotting tool for the black and white dots, and then the opposite on top.  The one thing that Amber did and I wish I had more successfully copied was the size difference in the dots.  I was worried about making the larger ones too big, but they came out a little too close in size to tell a difference.  Either way, I love the neon pink with the black/white contrast!

I don't often end up doing a French, but I really like how this looks!  I have tons of funky French mains pinned, so I'll have to keep them coming.  This was a fun, easy, cute mani for me and I'm hoping to dive back into this little hobby.  Thank you, for coming back and for having patience with me. 

New 31DC: Tape

Now, tape is something I feel much more at home with.  I have gotten better at using it for clean lines (when I rally my patience) and like the help it give.  My big problem was settling on a design using tape.  As I browsed through my nail board on Pinterest I remembered this look from My Vanity Basics that I fell in love with and had to make my tape mani.

*1 coat Yello-Out
*2 coats Zoya Storm
*Cover Girl Boundless Color City Lights
*Wet 'n Wild Stars & Stripes and Icing Written In The Stars
*1 coat Hoof Lacquer
*1 Coat Out The Door

I used Storm for the first time after admiring it in the bottle for so long. A-mazing! I used 2 easy coats of this for my night sky. The black is loaded with tiny silver holo particles. My only regret is that this takes away from the star tails in the photos, but in real life it's perfection!

City Lights is a fine silver holo in a clear base (sorry, I forgot to snap a picture).  This bad boy dates back to high school!  I had to work pretty hard to open it and then dumped quite a bit of thinner.  Voila!  I used Scotch tape to tape off the edges of my star trails and then striping tape inside.  When I do this again (not "if," because it's amazing and I am dying knowing it has to come off tomorrow) I think I'll lay down the two pieces of striping tape first, then the edges to make sure that I have enough space for my little wedges.  Other than that, these are just as awesome as I hoped they would be!

I used a paint brush to scoop out a star for each nail, using the silver ones from Stars & Stripes for all but my ring finger.  Because I couldn't figure out which stars I liked best, I used a little blue one from Written In The Stars on my ring finger.  These little glitters were perfect (though if I ever get start rhinestones I can't wait to try them!) and are holo too!  This is just one awesome, glittery holo-fest.  LOVE it!  What do you think--is there such a thing as too much holo?  I think my feelings are clear...

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!

31DC: Inspired by a movie

I am a movie hoarder.  I have far too many DVDs.  My Netflix queue is a mile long.  I love movies!  This challenge became super overwhelming for me because my mind went in a million directions.  I tried to narrow it down to Halloween movies.  That is a much more narrow category because I am also a movie wimp.  I don't do horror.  I still have nightmares about Gremlins (yeah, the ones that the Family Channel shows). 
I love Tim Burton's work.  I love his aesthetic but, more importantly, I love the vulnerability and brokenness of his characters.  They are intensely human, weird, lonely, and remarkable.  My aunt is a really big fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas.  I haven't watched this in years, but it did kind of creep me out the last time (I may or may not have been in college..."wimp" is an understatement).  It fit the theme and I really love her, so I wanted to do something with her in mind.  Here are my Nightmare nails:

 Like yesterday, I used a lot of polishes to do this art, so I'll save you the list and get to each one!

Nothing screams "Burton!" like the iconic curling hilltop, set against the glowing moon.  It is everything quirky and striking about him.  I used Color Club Almost Famous as my background and my Color Club art striper in Black Hologram for the hill itself.

 

Jack!  Mr. Skellington himself has the creepy warmth that you find in Burton films.  You can't help but love his dreaming and enthusiasm!  (I realized, after the fact, that I made this really high up on my nail.  Jack looks a little fat here.  Sorry buddy!)  I used my trusty Sally Hansen Black Out and a small paint brush for his features and Sinful Colors Snow Me White.

 

 

Sally!  Who knew a creepy patchwork doll could actually be so cute and lovable!  I tried to get a patchwork nail to capture this.  I know there is so much more detail in her dress, but it's impossible to think of the movie and not picture this!  I used Zoya Tru, Zoya Yara, Cover Girl Candy Corn and Ulta Smoke Screen for the patches, lined with Black Out.

 

Oogie Boogie.  This is where the movie started to lose me (and by that I mean I started to freak out a little)...But, he's a key part of the story.  I used Zoya Yara again (I love this shimmery olive green!) and my Black Holo striper for the stitching.  Moving on to something happier...

Zero!  Who doesn't love Zero?  Everyone needs a dog, even Jack.  I used Color Club Wild Orchid (gorgeous!) as the background and painted his nose on with Snow Me White (with a little China Glaze Make A Spectacle on top--the only untried today) and Candy Corn and Spoiled Vitamin C for his jack-o-lantern nose.

 

 So there is my little Halloween Town!  Is this a favorite movie of yours?  What are your thoughts on the genius of Tim Burton (no pressure--I'm not biased!).  Do you like painting your nails for others so that you think of them when you look down?  I love it!