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?

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?

State love

This mani is a little late--things are getting a bit crazy getting ready to go back to school!  But I'm trying to make it an excited crazy, not a scared-that-it's-been-too-long-since-I-graduated crazy.  The only time of year I can tolerate my current retail job is really back to school.  I love the new college freshmen moving in and getting excited for their new lives.  I like talking with the parents and answering questions.  I like being excited for them.
So, with two major residential colleges moving in, we are busy!  But I did decide to show a little excitement with some school nails.  San Diego State moved in first, last weekend, and these were my Aztec nails.

*1 coat Yello-Out
*2 coats OPI Danke-shiny Red
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out
*1 coat Northern Lights
*1 coat Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots
*1 coat Out the Door

I used Danke-shiny and Black Out for the SDSU colors.  I have fallen a little in love with Polka Dots, so I added that black and white glitter as my accent.  After taping off the tips and adding the black, I used a coat of Northern Lights to soften the lines just a bit.  I maybe should have stopped with just the black cream and the shimmery red, but when it comes to glitter, I really don't know when enough is enough!
These actually held up pretty well and got some compliments from customers happy to see a little school spirit.  My parents are both proud Aztecs and, while I may have chosen the college on the hill instead, I love getting to tell all the new freshman that I have State blood in me!

Mardi Gras!

One of my dearest friends has made New Orleans her home.  She graciously let me come visit a while back and I fell a little in love with the city.  I had decided to give myself a little rest and time when it came to my nails, and God decided it wasn't enough.  I had planned a couple of other Valentine manis for the past few days, but I got a nasty little cut right along my cuticle that I did not think would mix well with acetone...so, they'll come later (it's always the season for hearts and pink!) and today I'm showing a little Fat Tuesday love! 

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*2 coats Cult Nails Flushed
*3 coats Julep Jennifer
*1 coat OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Golden-I and Purple Pizzazz
*Zoya Logan
*1 coat Out the Door Northern Lights

Last year I did something similar to this, but  with a ton more layers and pretty much the same effect.  I'm getting more efficient!  I used Flushed as my purple base.  This is really similar to the beloved Fantasy Fire, but not a dupe.  This is a lighter purple, not quite a lavender, that is packed with a magenta shimmer.  You can really see it in the first picture and on my pinkie in the last.  I love this color--it's just gorgeous when you see it in the sun.  If you don't have this one, it is well worth getting!

I added a thin coat of Fresh Frog of Bel Air over the top.  This is a small green glitter in a clear base with scattered silver hex pieces.  On my accent I used Jennifer, which is a pale peach that is a pretty good nude for me.  It is sheer and a cream, and I was sure I would hate it when I saw it in my box, but I've come to love it.  I used Logan, Golden-I and Purple Pizzazz to dot on some bead strands because Mardi Gras NEEDS beads!

I finished everything off with a coat of Northern Lights, a micro scattered holo glitter in an Out The Door top coat.  In real life, it shows up much more, but you can see it flashing in my pinkie.  I almost chose a clear top coat because these are busy nails, but there's no such thing as "too much" when it comes to Mardi Gras!  I'm excited to see these out in the sun tomorrow.  I need to decided on a Valentine mani or two, though, which is proving hard--there are way too many ideas I want to try out!  Anyway, enjoy a little indulgence today!

31DC: Stripes

I'm keeping the Halloween vibe going with my striped nails.  As I worked on this, I had a minor nail art crisis: I could NOT find any Scotch tape!  I looked everywhere I could think of and could not find anything but heavy-duty packaging tape!  Now I know where my masking tape, painter's tape, and 2 rolls of Scotch tape are, but then...well, it was a bit ugly.  I used some more of my old nail guides for French manicures, which have a bit of an adhesive issue, so the lines aren't super clean, but they served their purpose.  Today only has 1 untried.

 

*1 coat Yello-Out base
*2 coats Color Club Almost Famous
*Sinful Colors Snow Me White
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed
*1 coat Out the Door Northern Lights (silver)

 

The lines on my white tips are not as clean as I would like.  Maybe this is the one I will do again at the end, with good tape :)  I decided to make Almost Famous the base color because it was the one that needed more than one coat.    It's really saturated for a yellow, but I still wanted two coats to eliminate streaks.  Then, I taped off the tips and painted a pretty thick coat of Snow Me White on the tips.  Especially for the price, I love this white!  It's also really saturated and I've found it is opaque and covers most colors really well.  Lastly, I taped off my nail bed, with the tip free, and painted a stripe of Sun Kissed through the middle of my nails.  All 3 of these have a clean, smooth cream finish to them.

 

I saw Northern Lights online and had planned to order it because I love my Out the Door top coat.  Then, last weekend when I was browsing Sally's clearance, I saw that they had it in stock and decided to pick up a bottle.  There is micro silver holo glitter in the top coat.  It settles on the bottom of the bottle, so you shake it up before using it each time.  You can see that the glitter is really sparse, which sometimes is all I want.  It adds just a little extra to the mani, with the great finish of Out the Door!

Aside from the messy lines, which were slightly out of my control, I really love this one!  I'm not into spooky and scary Halloween, really, but I love sweet Halloween!  Candy corn has been one of my favorite candies as long as I can remember, and it screams "FALL!"  Are you rocking any sweets manicures this month?