Mmm, watermelon!

Here's a tasty manicure perfect for summer! I was inspired to try these after seeing a lot of different versions on Pinterest. My version came out a little messier than I would've liked, but it gave me a few ideas on how to clean it up for next time! This is going to be kind of a tutorial version since I remembered to take pictures at each step!

Step one: base coat! This would make a nice Christmas manicure, too. I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Red Carpet and Zoya Holly, one coat each. 

Zigzags

Can I hire someone to come up with titles for me? I seriously think that's the hardest part of blogging. Actually posting regularly being a close second, of course. Anyway this might be my favorite of the summer so far, though it's a bit on the darker side for the summer. What you're looking at today is a blue purple gradient beneath a stamped silver zigzag pattern from my MASH stamping plates.

The left hand! Which one of these is not like the other...?

Okay! For the gradient I used four different colors, two blues and two purples. The darker purple is Essie Sexy Divide, one of my absolute favorite polishes. The lighter shimmery purple is Sinful Colors Purple Diamond. The next is Sinful Colors Love Nails, a translucent turquoise. Finally, we have Sinful Colors Midnight Blue, an equally gorgeous marbled royal blue.

The infamous right hand! Which actually turned out just fine.

I stamped the zigzag pattern using Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Celeb City, and I loved the way it made the manicure brighter. I was originally going to stamp in black, but I'm glad I chose otherwise. Thanks for reading!

Creatures of the Sea!

Hi, everyone! This is a fun mani I did during school and the pictures somehow ended up on my computer but not on the blog, so here they are now! My roommate suggested the octopus (because they're just so adorable!)

Does anyone else get weird blanket/sheet mark creases on their nails? This happens to me frequently. 

Sand, Summer, and...Starfish!

So this was just a quick manicure I did, not to wear out, but I was just experimenting with gradients a bit.

I started with one coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Golden-I as my 'sand.' You can see the tips of my nails showing through on this picture, so if you're using this polish by itself, I would recommend two coats for full coverage. On this manicure it won't matter so much because that's where we'll be adding some ocean! 

Baa, baa, black sheep...

...have you any wool? (Long post and lots of pictures below!) By the way, like me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thepolishedbean :)

Pinky finger was my favorite but hard to see in this pic! But there's a better one below!

Okay, so I should've posted this last week but my roomies and I have been in this I DON'T WANNA [do work or anything really] mood for a while, so productivity has been very low recently. Hopefully this is a change towards more productivity! Haha...

Flamin' Nails

I think there used to be this appetizer at Chili's called Bloomin' Onion or something...yeah, I'm not good at titles. But this manicure is pretty cool! Err, hot!

The right hand! (In case you couldn't tell...?)

I used image or stamp plates with this awesome flame design to complete this look. I started with a base coat of NYC Taxi Yellow Creme. Then I created a gradient, using a makeup sponge to apply Sinful Colors Cloud 9 (an sheer orange shimmer) and just a dab of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Red Carpet on the tips of my nails. For the ring fingers, I used a base of NYC Cashmere Creme and built the gradient with Sinful Colors Love Nails and Midnight Blue. I also added a dab of Sally Hansen Extreme Wear Golden-I and White Out here and there to the red and blue nails respectively.

The left hand! I like this one better, what do you think?

Next I used a flame design on my MASH plate to apply flames to each nail, using Red Carpet and Midnight Blue. Lastly, I finished with a top coat. (Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Invisible) I really wanna get myself some Seche Vite, but I just bought a few bottles of the Sally Hansen clear coat (they were on sale at Target!). By 'just,' I mean, of course, a couple months ago...

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Like my Facebook page, please! :)

Frozen Inspired Elsa and Anna Nail Art

For the first time in forever, I've had time to do my nails! And my roommate's nails! (Inspired by Disney's Frozen)

Frozen-inspired nail art! 

I was actually planning on putting snowflakes on my nails, but when it came down to it (I made some decals using the plastic bag/decal method but wasn't completely satisfied) I decided to go with a more whimsical approach. All in all, I think it came out great (so sparkly!) and then of course, proceeded to do something similar for my roommate.

Nintendo Love

Sosososo apparently it's year of the Luigi! Yeah, I don't know either. Click on the Luigi if you want to figure it out for me.

Anyway, what better way to celebrate Nintendo than some Luigi nails? Yes, yes? I love the Mario Bros. franchise. Love the games. Mario Kart? Yes. Old school Mario? Yes. Super Mario? Yes. Yoshi? Definitely. Daisy? Kicks @$$.

Anyway...above is the finished product, and below I'll share a few work in progress shots. 

Colorful Trees with Birds

This was such a fun manicure and probably my favorite of the summer! I got the idea for this manicure here. Check it out! Lots of pictures here so don't forget to click the read more button!

I made a few changes to the look as compared to the link above. Instead of a gradient across all ten nails, I did the gradient the same across each hand.

The polishes used in this manicure from pinky finger to thumb are: Sinful Colors: Purple Diamond (light purple), Essie: Sexy Divide (dark purple), NYC: Cashmere Creme (light blue), Sinful Colors: Love Nails (medium blue), Zoya: Holly (dark green), Sally Hansen: Ivy League (light green), Sally Hansen: Golden-I, Zoya: Penny (bronze-y orange), NYC: Burgundy Broadway Creme (red), and Sally Hansen: Posh Plum. For the birds and branches, I used Sinful Colors: Rich in Heart (dark brown).

Minions Galore!

Ba-na-na! 

Minions! Have you seen Despicable Me 2? This was my manicure when I went to see it! I thought the movie was pretty cute, though not as good as the first one. 

Below is a work in progress picture. I did a lot of layering work on this. (By layering I mean: paint a coat, let it dry, paint another coat, let it dry...kind of tedious.) I also did these nails outdoors, which caused some of my polishes to dry fast (which is nice for the base coats, but makes it difficult to do finer details). 

The polishes used are: Zoya: Darcy (yellow), Rocky (blue), Storm (sparkly black); Sally Hansen: White Out, Black Out, and a combination of the white and black to make grey. 

Minions-to-be

Not my cleanest manicure, but definitely one of the most fun to create. There are lots of different minion manicures online, so if you like what you see, search for more! 

Thanks for reading! Next time, colorful trees! 

Po-ta-to-nahhhh...

Apples and Earthworms

An apple a day keeps the doctor away! 

Not my hands again, this is a mani for my friend who likes books. (Are you a bookworm?) I did a light tip gradient with Sally Hansen: Golden-I and stamped the worms with Sally Hansen: Ivy League. The apples on the thumbs and ring fingers are free-handed. For the body of the apples I used NYC: Broadway Burgundy Frost. The stem, leaf, and shiny spot are Zoya: Holly, Sinful Colors: Rich in Heart, and Sally Hansen: White Out, respectively. 

The apple on this ring finger came out the best, in my opinion. 

This was such a fun manicure! I loved this design, and it lasted a long time. I usually don't wear my manicures longer than 5-7 days, but I think this one lasted for a good two weeks with normal tip wear. 

Thanks for reading! See you next time! 

ALL the nail polish!

Here's a conglomeration of the manicures I've done for others this summer! None of these hands are mine, but the nail art is! I'll try to be brief in the descriptions. Lotsa pictures, make sure you click the "read more" button! 

This first mani is made using a base color and adding several different colored dots using a bobby pin. You can also use dotting tools of different sizes, but I'm cheap and make do with bobby pins, haha. The second picture below is the same style with slightly different colors (and a different person's hand). I also added an accent nail of contrasting color on the second manicure. Have you seen my original design?

Experimenting with Matte Polish

Brown and blue gradient for today!

To create this look, I used a makeup sponge to apply Sinful Colors: Rich in Heart (brown) and Love Nails (blue) as a gradient. I then used NYC: Matte Me Crazy to matte-ify the nail polish. Lastly, I added dots of clear polish (Sally Hansen: Invisible) as decorations on the outer edges of the nails. 

The second picture was taken using flash, so it's a little funky looking, but I think the dots are a little more visible. Matte Me Crazy is the cheapest matte top coat I've seen (I think it was under $5) and though the matte isn't extreme, it still does a pretty good job of flattening the color. I've also heard/read than adding cornstarch to a clear polish (or any other polish of your choice) can mimic the matte effect! 

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for some birds and...mushrooms? in the next few posts.

Zoya: Anastasia

Hello! I'm back from my short trip. Actually I'm back from recovering from my trip, haha. Just a quick manicure today.

This is Anastasia by Zoya. I used two coats in this manicure, three coats would be best for a fully opaque look. This is a really interesting color because it looks so pretty but once I put in on my nails I start doubting myself...and I end up taking it off because it doesn't quite look right on my nails. Maybe I have the wrong skin tone for this color? But the holographic sparkles in this polish are delightful. Perhaps someday I'll figure out how to wear this particular color...

The second photo is my attempt at color correcting; the actual color of this polish is closer to mauve and purple, though in the bright sunlight it looks more reddish brown. This second picture should look a bit more purple-y than the previous, but on my computer screen for some reason it looks really really similar....(need a level up in skill on photoshop!)

That's all for now! Back to regularly scheduled posting (hopefully). See you next time!

Seeing Stars

Where I'll be for the next weekish, I'll be able to see the night sky pretty clearly! In the meantime, enjoy this starry manicure.

Tada! Made with my new image plates from Mash! I used plate numbers 29 (yellow stars) and 49 (purple stars). The purple polish is Sexy Divide by Essie and the yellow polish is Darcy by Zoya. Have I mentioned how much I love this purple?

Below is my other hand.

I usually don't show my right hand, because it's usually not as nicely done as my left (solution: become ambidextrous). This time, I think the stamping showed up more opaque on my right hand than my left. I also did a better job with the clear coat, so there's less streaking. 

This last picture is a work in progress shot.

I really like stars! I've been itching to try out a star mani for a long time, and I'm really happy with how this one turned out. Thanks for reading! I'll be without my computer for a while, but you can expect a new post by Sunday. See you next time!

Stripes and a Turtle

Happy Wednesday!

Today I have some tape manicure pictures! Much to my surprise, I loved this manicure (even though there's no blue or glitter). The design on my ring finger is a turtle stamped using a makeup sponge. Much like how you might apply polish to the makeup sponge to make a gradient, I applied green on the sponge in the shape of a turtle. It didn't come out quite as bright as I would've liked, but I loved the design. 

The polishes I used were Sinful Colors: Rich in Heart (brown), Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear: Golden-I, and Zoya: Holly (such a pretty green, great for the holidays). I used the brown as a base. Leaving one tape per nail, I painted over with gold. On the third coat, I placed three tapes, two for the gold stripes, and one more to protect the brown stripe. 

Below is a work in progress picture. 

Turtlesssss....I wish the new image plates I got recently had turtles. And a bigger dolphin image. Anyway, thanks for reading! See you next time!

Geometric French Tips

Hello, everyone! A nice, simple design today.

I believe I've said before that I'm not too fond of french manicures, so here's thinking outside the box a little. This manicure uses Sinful Colors: Love Nails (blue) and Zoya: Penny (orange). I was originally hoping to use Sinful Colors: Rich in Heart (brown) instead of Penny, but it was a bit too dark. I was trying to achieve a third color in the overlapped area, and though I didn't quite get the look I envisioned, I was satisfied with how this manicure turned out.

I used nail striping tape (though for this, any tape would probably work fine) to block off the two colors and sealed with a top coat for a shiny finish. What do you think? Should I try different colors next time? I'm itching to try a manicure using those white hole protectors for papers that you out in binders...feel free to leave suggestions in the comments below or on my Facebook page!

Thanks for reading. See you next time!

Totoro Inspired Nail Art

Have you heard of Totoro? Or Hayao Miyazaki? If you haven't, go look them up, because you're missing out! Just some quick pictures today.

Totoro and the little soot gremlins! The base color for this manicure is Zoya: Rocky. (Such a nice summery blue!) The black and white are both from YH Beja Nail Design. I got a set last Christmas with twelve different colored polishes with fine striping brushes as well as a fine tube that you can use to squeeze polish out of the bottle. It's really cool! I haven't worked with it much yet, but I've been practicing. 

So I finished this manicure at the beginning of summer and then i went to Macy's and saw this bag...

...and couldn't help snapping a picture because the colors were so similar! Too bad it's way out of my price range...

Thanks for reading, and see you next time! 

Iron Man Inspired Water Marble and Art

I'm back with a water marble today! 

Okay, so I admit it, the water marble is the same one from here. But I also improved on execution! Look at my pointer and middle fingers! So pretty :) (If you can't tell, I really liked how this turned out.) The polishes I used for the water marble on my pointer, middle, and pinky fingers are all the same as the ones used in my Hunger Games water marble, so check that out if you haven't already! I'll just go over the Iron Man designs on my ring and thumb.

I made this manicure in early May for the Iron Man 3 Premier. I based the thumb design on the 2nd core that Tony Stark makes (as opposed to the original circle shape) and the ring finger design on the iron man helmet. I don't have brushes (sadface!) but I do have nail striping tape which I used to block off thin lines on the face and the triangle outline. For the triangle, I started with the inner triangle and then added a white border afterwards.

Polishes used for the triangle: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear: White On, NYC: Cashmere Creme, and Zoya: Maisie. Polishes used for Iron Man face: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear: White On and Black Out.

Below I'm holding this adorable Iron Man mini clay figure that my good friend made. Isn't it cute? If you look closely you can also see I have a bit of tip wear on the edges of my nail because this photo was taken several days after the first. The whole manicure held up for a long time. I usually take off my polish before it has a chance to chip (so I can try out a new manicure) but from what I remember, this one stayed near perfect for at least 8 days. 

Thanks for reading! Has anyone else seen any good movies recently? I've seen a whole bunch this summer so far...I'm actually going to a movie tonight, too! Next time:

Mind Your Own Beeswax!

Busy bees...(oh look I came up with a decent title!)

This picture was taken with flash, and I'm sad to say it's the only picture I have of this manicure. But I've been taking better pictures recently! I promise.

This manicure was made using striping tape. I started with a base of NYC: Taxi Yellow Creme, added tape, painted over with Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear: Black Out, then removed the tape. Finished with a top coat of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear: Invisible.

On different screens, the yellow may appear closer to white. On my phone it's a very bright yellow, whereas on my computer it's more pale in comparison. In person, this manicure also appeared as black and white stripes from far away...I have a brighter yellow now, so the next time I try this manicure, it'll hopefully be a little bit more obvious. I also have a cool bee design on my new stamping plates which would also go well with this manicure! Looking forward to trying it sometime in the future.

Thanks for reading! See you next time!