31DC2014: Day 29

Today's theme is Inspired by the Supernatural, AKA (for me) it is inspired by the wonderful and amazing and beautiful Supernatural TV show. I've done SPN nails 2/3 years so far in the challenge and today will make it 3/4, and these are definitely the best so far.

The new season starts next week and I am already giddy with anticipation. I decided to go for a design that is definitely appropriate for what's to come in the next season.

Dean Winchester, a man marked by both heaven and hell. 

If you're not a Supernatural fan, you may not recognize the symbols. The hand print is the mark left by Castiel on Dean's chest, and the other symbol is the Mark of Cain. I wanted to make it look like they were drawn in blood, and I think I did a really good job! I'm especially impressed with the hand.
I accented the symbols with some blood smears, you know, for effect. Ha!
I decided not to add topcoat because I liked the texture of the brush strokes and splatters.

The nude base is (surprise) OPI - Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?
The blood red is Color Club - Killer Curves. 

OMG I'm totally geeking out over these. Please tell me you are too!!!

Now take a walk down memory lane and check out my previous day 29 designs:

• 2013: Supernatural Shirt
• 2012: Goosebumps
• 2011: Supernatural Title Screen

31DC2014: Day 28

As you can tell, we have now reached the point in the challenge where I am doing buzzer-beater nail designs every night at 11:30. Haha! I have a lot of homework this week so I haven't really had much time for nails. Just three more to go now though!!

Today's theme is Inspired by a Flag which is kinda dumb but here we are. I have seen this cute design going around and I decided to do it myself!

Bunting flags. The cutest flags!

This manicure started with a base of OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls, a lovely off-white.
I used three Color Club pastels from the Paris In Love collection for the flags:
Color Club - La Petite Mint-sieur (mint)
Color Club - Je T'aime (pink)
Color Club - Holy Chic! (purple)
I did the outlines with black acrylic paint.

Let me take this time to say that the name of the mint one is messed up because if we're talking about a monsieur as the mint-pun suggests, that would be a masculine French word, meaning it would be "le petit" and not the feminine version "la petite." That's your French lesson for today, friends.

I think these turned out super cute! Even despite the rushing. How about you?

Now take a walk down memory lane and check out my previous day 28 designs:

• 2013: TOMS
• 2012: Germany
• 2011: Republic of Newfoundland

31DC2014: Day 20

Hi. I can't watermarble. Bye.

We are only getting one picture of this failure. Man... I tried so hard. I just don't have the energy to try another manicure because I'm not feeling the best and this bummed me out enough already!
I used Color Club - Edie & Color Club - Mrs. Robinson over a white base. I glittered one nail with Shimmer Polish - Linna to save myself from having to do another nail.

How typical that this fail comes after my two best manis of the challenge (and probably ever.)
I would now like to call upon a Supernatural reference to sum up my feelings for today:

Now take a walk down memory lane and check out my previous day 20 designs:

• 2013: Neon Marble
• 2012: Pastel Marble
• 2011: Mauve Marble

31DC2014: Day 16

OMG, so I just realized that I totally forgot to do my nails for today. All day I was thinking "Oh yeah, I got those done, I'll just go post them when I am done my homework."
WRONG, I was thinking of the theme for tomorrow. So I just had to slap something on my nails and get pics and hurry it all together! I had a design in mind but had to tone it down a little for the last minute version.

The theme for today is Tribal/Geometric. (And not glitter. Which I thought until just now.)

I threw on my favorite pink polish, Color Club - Peppermint Twist.
The image is from Bundle Monster plate BM-402 and I stamped with Konad White.
I added a little bit of glitter detail with Color Club - Sexy Siren.

Originally I wanted more glitter detail added (and I was gonna try the whole thing freehand) but that being said, I am still pretty pleased with these! I think they're cute.

What do you think of my last-minute-mani?! OMG, now I need to de-stress. Haha! Thankfully I know for sure I have tomorrow's done... Heh.

Now take a walk down memory lane and check out my previous day 16 designs:

• 2013: Sponged 'n Stamped Tribal
• 2012: Pastel Tribal
• 2011: Gray 'n Yellow 'n Red Tribal

31DC2014: Day 3

Day three is yellow! There is only one yellow polish that I am a fan of and I've used it the past two years... And right now is no exception. Yep, doin' it.

For this year's challenge, I decided to kinda pay homage to two of my favorite designs from past challenges and do another fruity pattern! (Check out my apples and bananas, too.)

Tada! Pop-art pineapple print!
I am loving this manicure and I'm super stoked about it.

Here's what I used:
Color Club - Almost Famous (yellow)
OPI - My Vampire is Buff (nude)
Color Club - Not Just For Kelly (green)
OPI - You Don't Know Jacques! (brown)

I didn't realize until after but I used the same base color as last year too! Haha.
I used a small paint brush to paint the details, and at first I wasn't happy with how it was turning out because it wasn't very neat, but once I kept going, I really liked the way it looked! It makes it more pop art where it isn't perfect and it's more cartoony. Into it!

Pineapple upside down print. Ha!

Do you guys like my perfectly polished pineapple print?  How about that alliteration?

Now take a walk down memory lane and check out my previous Day 3 designs:

• 2013: Warhol Bananas
• 2012: Dots 'n Sticks 'n Stones
• 2011: Yucky Yellow Goop

copycat polka dots

Sometimes my bestie Chalkboard Nails will post a mani and I'm like "BRB doing it now." That happened recently when she posted these awesome jelly gradient polka dot nails!
I hunted for a dupe for the blue she used, pulled out the same purple, and away I went!

I love how it turned out! And it's ridiculously easy to do gradients with jelly polishes. You just keep layering it to build color towards the tip. Once you add topcoat, it's practically seamless. I've previously done it a whole bunch of times including here with a little tutorial, and here and also here.

The blue base is Color Club - Bright Night.
The purple jelly is the appropriately named China Glaze - Are You Jelly?
My go-to white for stuff like this is Color Club - French Tip. 

My stupid camera is giving me mad grief lately and I couldn't get it to really take a warm enough photo (and I don't have Photoshop on this computer) but the above photo from my iPhone shows the colors much more accurately! The jewel tones really go great together and the polka dot pop makes it even better.

Do you often see a picture of a manicure and feel the intense burning desire to create it instantly? Let me know which manicures had you running to grab your polishes and start a masterpiece!

Color Club - Halo-Graphic

Hola! Here's a quick swatch of a suuuuuper holo polish I wore recently.

Color Club - Halo-Graphic
This stunner is from the first Halo Hues collection. It's a light pink that covers in 2 coats and dries ultra fast, like most holos. I didn't find that topcoat altered the appearance.  

Such mesmerizing. Many rainbows. Wow.

WHY don't I wear my holos more often?! Jeez.

31DC2013 - day 29

Need I tell you how excited I am that after today there are only two days left of this 31 Day Challenge? Haha! Don't get me wrong, I love doing the challenge, it just came around at a bad time for me... Heh. I need some relaxation time, my nails included!

Today's theme is Inspired By The Supernatural and most people may think of ghosts or aliens but I think of my very favorite television show, Supernatural, which premieres its new season next week! I am so stoked.
Of course I'm doing nails inspired by the show again... But in a somewhat different way.

Inspired by a Supernatural shirt! (Okay, I don't think the shirt is actually licensed to have anything to do with the show, but it says Supernatural, it has skulls, and studs, I had to have it, duh.)

I used rhinestones to emulate the patterns of big and small studs on the sleeves, and using some tape I added black triangles with some gray shading at the tip. I think it matches the shirt wonderfully!

When I thought of this idea, I was wondering if I would have the right color for the job.
I looked to my nail table, and BAM, Color Club - In Theory was already out and waiting for me.
It was polish-fate!

I used Color Club - Where's The Soiree? for the black and some Zoya - Dove with a sponge for the smoky shading.

The stones were from Cheeky Beauty.

Do you guys like these Supernatural (kinda) nails? I love how they look!
Any more Supernatural lovers in the house? Hope so! Wonder what's gonna happen in the new season... Yay!

31DC2013 - day 25

Day 25 is Inspired By Fashion and I've got 25 minutes to write this post before midnight!

I work in a clothing store so I am always surrounded by cool clothes with nice patterns, and I chose one of my favorite Volcom shirts to mimic.

Tada! (Sorry for the little bits of black residue I could NOT get off and did not have time to get off.)

Because I needed something easy, I decided to go with a stamping image from Mash, plate Mash-42.
The base color is Color Club - Bright Night from the Kaleidoscope Collection and I stamped with Konad black special polish.
I also used Color Club topcoat from my Kaleidoscope set because it was nearby and I smeared my stamping a little. But my Seche Vite has been annoying me lately so whatevs.

But wait... I guess this kinda applies more to tomorrow's theme of Inspired by a Pattern, doesn't it? Oh well, this is a shirt!!!

Working in a clothing store where you like all the clothes is HARD. Good thing there's an employee discount!

I finished the post with 15 minutes to spare... Phew!

31DC2013 - day 9

Hey guys! Today's 31 Day Challenge theme is Rainbow.

Not sure if I am loving these nails but they're alright. Probably could have done something more fun if I had more time to think about it!

To create these nails I started with a base of OPI - Skull & Glossbones, an old fave.
I did the dots using a dotting tool and all the colors in the Color Club Pride Collection.

 Dunno what else to say today. Not in a talky mood. Better nails tomorrow!

31DC2013 - day 7

Today's theme for the 31 Day Challenge is Black and White.


I'm not really sure how I landed on my personal theme for this one... But here it is.

You may not know but I moonlight as a straight-up thug. HA.
Perhaps you have seen my Instagram photo of me in a 2pac shirt...

I got these new (temporary) tattoos that you put on your knuckles and I am so in love with them, I had to do a manicure mimicking the style.
Honestly I wanna wear these tattoos every day because I love the style but hey, I need to keep my hands tattoo-free because you know, I might need a real job some day.
And what is even more great about these is that each set comes with 10 different sets of words so you can keep changing it up.
They are from Tattly.com and this is not a sponsored post or anything, I just wanna spread the luvvvvvv. I'm gonna spend a lot of money there soon. Damn. Love it.

My white polish of choice is Color Club - French Tip and I did the letters with black acrylic paint.

Now where else on my body shall I put these gangsta tattoos for my birthday party tonight... ;)

31DC2013 - day 3

Here is Day 3 of the 31 Day Challenge - Yellow!

I had these nails done with plenty of time however actually posting them slipped away from me... Just one hour to spare and here I am!

I am SO SO SO happy with my yellow nails! I think they are perfect!
I always love doing Andy Warhol inspired nails and maybe I should have saved this for the inspired-by-art day, but hey, I wanted bananas NOW.

My friend Hayley of Here Comes The Sun was the big reason why I wanted to do these so bad. She made them look so cute, I couldn't resist. Check out her version here.

As per usual, I used my preferred yellow polish for this manicure, Color Club - Almost Famous.
The nude base of the banana nails is OPI - My Vampire Is Buff, one of my fave nudes.
And the black was done with acrylic paint. (My first time using it for nail art!)

I wish I could wear this manicure for longer but alas I must create something green!
Off to put on my thinking cap...

Cheeky Week - Day 4: Anchors Away

The image I am going to show you in today's Cheeky Summer Collection stamping post is one of the main reasons I wanted the set!

Aren't these anchors the cutest? And totally on-trend. I could wear these all the time, it's such a fun image.

The image is from plate CH-36 and I stamped using a polish from Color Club's Foiled collection, a dark blue called Hot Metal (lol old swatches.) The base color is Essie's In The Cab-ana.
I love tone-on-tone stamping! And the metallic anchors on the creme base stand out.

Check out all the Cheeky products on cheeky-beauty.com (with free worldwide shipping!) and be sure to keep up with them on Facebook!

Press Sample

my little minions

A few weeks ago, my friend and I decided to go see Despicable Me 2. And obviously I had to do some minion nails for the occasion.

Everyone and their mother has done these nails by now... But they are always ridiculously cute. (Despicably cute?)

I chose to do a one-eyed minion and a two-eyed minion.

It may seem like a difficult design for less experienced nail artists, but they are surprisingly easy to do if you just break it down into shapes!
You start with a yellow base, and add a blue french tip. Small blue lines and black dots complete the overalls. Make a black line for the goggle-strap, and a silver circle with a smaller white circle inside it and a black dot inside that for the eye. Go crazy with the mouth!

And remember, every minion is different and also a little crazy - so they don't have to be perfect!

I used all Color Club polishes for the minions:
Color Club - Almost Famous (yellow)
Color Club - Bright Night (blue)
Color Club - Where's The Soiree? (black)
Color Club - White Tip (white...duh)
Color Club - Wild Orchid (silver)
Color Club - Blushing Rose (pink)

The color on my other nails is piCture pOlish - Marine.

Have you guys ever done minion nails? Let me see your minions!

I have to say though, I didn't think the second movie was as funny as the first. Oh well!

I'll leave you with my favorite quote from the first movie:

Color Club Kaleidoscope Collection

Heeeeeey everyone! Exciting post today, a brand new collection from Color Club!

This is the new summer collection, Kaleidoscope. I found this set at Winners for just $9.99! It was just released so I was really surprised to find it there already! Score.
There are some seriously awesome polishes in this set, so scroll on for the swatches!

Color Club - Evolution
This is a nice & bright sky blue creme. The formula is not amazing but not bad. Three coats. I think it is a bit more vibrant than other similar blues I have.

Color Club - In Theory
This is a great orange/peach/coral shade. I did two coats for my swatch, which was opaque in person, but the photos show streaks. The formula was nice, super glossy! This is just the right shade of orange for me, I think.

Color Club - Endless
My Hello Kitty pajama pants made it into the first shot... Hehe. I thought it was cute. This is a nice light pink creme, nothing original about it, but it's cute and the formula is nice - 2 coats, super glossy.

Color Club - Abyss
Hot damn, I love this one! A gorgeous, rich, blue-toned green. The formula is great too, super pigmented, and needs just two thin coats. It does dry a little flat, so you'll want topcoat with this one. I love it! A+.

Color Club - Bright Night
Another big winner! This is blue polish perfection. Super pigmented, great formula, covers in two thin coats. It is a touch less vibrant than it appears in the photos. This one also dries a bit flat so adding topcoat would make it really shine.
I wore this for 24 hours, without basecoat, and had absolutely NO staining! Didn't even stain my skin upon removal. Doesn't get better than that.

Color Club - Pearl-spective (over Bright Night)
This is a great shimmery topcoat. It's got large shimmer particles that flash pink, and in some lights it flashes orange and green. It was really hard to capture, but the pink shimmer is really strong. It looks so good over the blue, and it would probably look great over anything!

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Overall, I am totally impressed with this collection from Color Club! If you spot this collection, definitely pick it up! You won't be disappointed.
The blue and green are fantastic, the shimmer is gorgeous, and the other cremes are lovely too. No complaints!