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!

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:

Tiger Stripes

Tiger stripes, version three! See more tiger-inspired designs here and here.

So this is definitely my favorite tiger stripes design so far. I used nail striping tape with a base of Zoya: Penny and painted over with Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear: Black Out. Finished with a top coat for extra shiny. 

Though I am fond of the hand painted stripes, this look is so clean and sleek. Which look do you prefer?

Also, if you haven't noticed, check out the follow and subscribe buttons on the sidebar! 

Work in progress

Thanks for reading! Next time, Valentine's Day art (from 5 months ago, hahahahahaha).

Tiger Stripes Inspired

Hi, I'm back! Sorry for the lack of punctuality and posts for the past week. 

Here's another water marble! If you haven't looked at the title, it's inspired by tiger stripes. I used a base of Sinful Colors: Cloud 9 over Sinful Colors: Snow Me White. For the marbling, I used Cloud 9 with Sinful Colors Black on Black. Yay for school spirit! I'm not quite sure why the marble on my thumb looks more mixed...but I like both the clearer look and the mixed look. Which do you think is better? Comment below!

Thanks for reading! Check back often, I may do a special post to make up for last week! Next time: more glitter.

School Pride

I've got two manicures to show you today!

So my school's mascot is the tiger (which means I have an extremely bright set of orange clothes now). What better way to show off some school spirit than with nail art?

This manicure was my first attempt at a french manicure. I have to admit, french manicures had never really interested me, but I decided to give it a try. I freehanded the orange using Sinful Colors: Cloud 9 and used a paint brush to freehand the wave designs with black acrylic paint. Pretty nice, for a first attempt!

I used Cloud 9 again as a base color for this manicure. Again with black acrylic, I freehanded the tiger stripes and Chinese character on my thumb. I used a bobby pin to do the paw prints. And if I remember correctly, the character is for harmony (someone correct me if I'm wrong!). I'm not really sure since I was just looking for something to fill up my thumbnail. ;)

Tiger stripes are kind of a staple for me. After a year of experimenting, I have four or five different ways to do them now...let me know if you have any ideas for tiger-related manicures! 

Thanks for reading! Next time, glitter!

Hunger Games Inspired Water Marble

Hey, it's my first *real* post!

I did this water marbling technique for the premier of the Hunger Games movie in March, 2012. If you want to know more about marbling, try searching "water marble nail art" on youtube for ideas and tutorials (my favorites are by simplelittlepleasues). 

For this manicure, I used Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Extreme Wear: Celeb City (silver) as a base and both Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Extreme Wear: Red Carpet (an opaque, marbled red) with Sinful Colors: Cloud 9 (a sheer, shimmery orange) for the marbling. This is one of my favorites, because the polishes I used for this were so reliable, I've done this water marble several times since! I've also used gold polish as a base (also Sally Hansen) and found it works just as well as the silver. 

Here's just a single nail from a later manicure (not painted at the same time as the first picture). I really loved how I got more of the flower pattern on this one. Trial and error! 

I'll probably be going through the pictures I have from last year in chronological order, so stay tuned for more! In the mean time, feel free to comment below with anything you'd like to see! Next time: floral. Thanks for reading!