31 Day Challenge - Day 1: Red

So here we are. Day 1. For my red nails, I decided to try a technique that I haven't ever used before, Saran Wrap Nails. I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out, since I've never tried it before, and oftentimes that leads to disaster. However, this turned out exactly how I was hoping it would!

I started with one of my all time favorite fall nail polishes, Sephora by OPI I'm With Brad.

This came in the Glimmer Wonderland set I got for Christmas last year, but I'm pretty sure it's part of the permanent line. 

This is a gorgeous black with super fine red shimmer in it. It looks almost brown, which is the one nail polish color I'm not quite a fan of, but the red shimmer stands out in direct sunlight. The formula is great. It's opaque in two coats, and it glides on smoothly.

Here's a bottle shot, in which you can see the red shimmer more easily:

After that was completely dry, I added a coat of Sephora by OPI Sample Sale (another mini from the Christmas set-- a perfect Christmassy red color), and before that dried, I dabbed little balls of saran wrap over top. I love this effect. I think it looks like velvet. It's still pretty dark, because the base color shows through, but the red shimmer is much stronger, and it doesn't look as brown. I probably could have achieved the same effect with a black base, tbh, but I liked the idea of using only red polishes, since that is the theme that I was going for. 

I think it gives my nails sort of an interesting duochrome-y effect. I love it!

Polishes used: 1 coat Revlon Colorstay Base Coat

2 coats SOPI I'm With Brad

1 coat Sally Hansen Insta-dry Topcoat (to speed up drying time)

1 coat SOPI Sample Sale & saran wrap effect

1 coat Sally Hansen Insta-dry Topcoat

Once this wears off in a few days, I'll be doing orange nails!

Stay tuned..

xx

So I guess I'm doing this

So. I've been wanting to do this challenge for months now, and I've just gotten out of surgery, so I've just been sitting around reading and watching movies, and so I figured, why not?

I'm doing the 31 day nail art challenge!

Here are the prompts, in case you're unfamiliar with this challenge:

Since I don't change my polish every day like other nail polish bloggers, this will probably end up being more like the 31 week nail art challenge. I've already done day 1, and I'll post it tomorrow.

Revlon Scandalous

This is quite possibly one of my favorite nail polishes ever. Notorious for being an exact dupe of Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance, Revlon's Scandalous is a black jelly base with tiny purple glitters, and large hex purple glitters.

Look at that! Look how freaking gorgeous it is!! Ahh, I love it. (I just thought that in a british accent. Oh I've been watching way too much Doctor Who)

The last time I wore this, if I recall correctly, I wore it on its own and it required 3-4 coats for opacity, and there was still a bit of VNL, so this time, I layered it over one coat of OPI's Black Onyx, just for insurance. IT'S SO PRETTY. I can't stop staring at my nails.

As usual, I used one coat of Revlon's Colorstay Base Coat, and then I applied one coat of OPI's Black Onyx, followed by two coats of Revlon's Scandalous, and one coat of Sally Hansen Insta Dry Topcoat.

Here are some more pictures.
Enjoy!
xx

Glitter Gradient! ft. Butter London

So after the Butter London BOGO sale at Ulta last week, I absolutely had to use one of my new nail polishes. I picked up Tart with a Heart, a clear base with gold and holographic glitter, and Lovely Jubbly, a clear base with finely milled purple, blue, pink, and silver glitter. After looking through some Butter London tags on Instagram, I decided to do a glitter gradient using Tart with a Heart, and my only pale pink, SOPI Dear Diary.

I used:

1 coat Revlon Colorstay Base Coat

2 coats SOPI Dear Diary

a thin coat of TWAH, halfway up the nail, another thin coat a third up the nail, and another coat just on the tips

Sally Hansen Instadry Topcoat

Sorry for the short post, but I have to go eat dinner! 

xx

One Direction Nails

So my friend Haley came over the other day, and she challenged me to create One Direction inspired nails.

I based the designs off of what the guys wore during their Up All Night concert.

It's... yeah, it's not bad. But it could definitely be a LOT better. I'm super bad at freehanding nail art, and it turned out kinda messy. I'm also really bad at making thin, straight lines. Oh well. On to the picturesssssssss 

Base colors:

Thumb, middle, ring finger: Orly White Out

Pointer finger: Sephora by OPI Sample Sale

Pinkie: NYC Skin Tight Denim Creme (#115A) - I used a paper hole reinforcer for the half moon-- to make a collar shape.

Details: 

Pinkie: Orly Instant Artist Striper in Crisp White

Ring finger: SOPI Sample Sale and NYC Skin Tight Denim Creme, freehanded with an old liquid eyeliner brush

Middle finger: bowtie in SOPI Sample sale, jacket in SOPI Break A Leg-Warmer, details drawn with a black Sharpie

Pointer finger: Cardigan with SOPI Break a Leg-Warmer, collar drawn with a black Sharpie

Thumb: freehanded with NYC Skin Tight Denim Creme

As per usual, I used Revlon Colorstay Base Coat, and Sally Hansen Instadry Topcoat. 

Even though it didn't turn out the way I had hoped, it still looks kinda cute. 

What do you guys think?

Messy Lines

So,  if you know me in real life, you know that my favorite band is called R5. Yeah okay, I'm not going to give you their backstory, but this is a manicure that I did because I wanted to do something incorporating all of their favorite colors, but I'm not a fan of having a different color on every finger. I added the sixth color to balance out the colors, or it would look too green. There are five band members, and they're mostly all siblings, and they have one other sibling who isn't in the band. Anyway, I used all six of their favorite colors in this manicure, over a base coat of white, and freehanded the band's logo in silver on my ring finger.

I freehanded all the stripes with an old liquid eyeliner brush that I use as a nail art brush, but it's pretty crappy and doesn't work that well, so it didn't turn out that great. I kinda still like this, but I think it would look even cooler with a matte topcoat. I don't have one (yet) though, so I had to leave it shiny.

It's super messy and uneven looking, but I kinda like it. I was thinking of doing some complicated thing with scotch tape, to make the lines more precise, but I just thought, yolo (Oh god I hate myself) and freehanded them. I think its kinda cute.

Anyway. Here are some pictures. Enjoy <3

Two coats of Orly White Out over Revlon Colorstay Basecoat

Colors used:

Dark Green: a franken that I made by mixing together Sinful Colors Lucky Green, OPI Black Onyx, and a little bit of clear

Lime Green: China Glaze Paper Chasing

Blue: Sephora by OPI Natural Environ-mint

Yellow: Sally Hansen Lightening

Pink: Sephora by OPI Access 24/7

Red: Sephora by OPI Sample Sale

Hope you liked it!