Falling Leaf Nails

It was a foggy, cloudy Saturday here this past weekend. My son took a spill on his scooter and was nursing quite the fat lip, so he asked to watch a movie. Once Hocus Pocus started playing, I knew I was ready for some fall nails. I decided to do a mixed mani (different patterns on each nail). So I came up with this:

Essie "Well Structured" with Wet n Wild "Glamorous Gold" glitter on my pinky and Thumb

Ultra Pro Nail "Big Spender" on my ring fingers. I used a black nail art brush to make a tree and then used both the small and large sides of my dotting tool to make falling trees. I used 3 colors to make the "leaves".

Sinful "Courtney Orange" on my middle finger.

Essie "Well Structured" with China Glaze "Tarnished Gold" crackle polish on my pointer finger.

Well Structured is one of my favorite fall colors. It reminds me of rich leather, like the color of an expensive handbag.

China Glaze Sun Worshiper

One of my favorite Beauty Bloggers, Amarixe, did an awesome ombre nail tutorial on her YouTube page last week. It peaked my interest, because I had 2 out of the 3 colors (Sun Worshiper and Flip Flop Fantasy) she used and another that I liked a little better than the hot pink she used (I used China Glaze Pool Party). I was really excited because she used a color that I've had for a while and have never really known what to do with it.

China Glaze Sun Worshiper. It's a gorgeous yellowy, neon orange that is stunning in the bottle but a little sheer on the nail. I'm not a huge orange fan so I've loved it but never used it. She used it over a layer of white and then faded to a coral color into a neon pink. SO GORGEOUS.

I tried it first like Amarixe did with really great results. It's an awesome tutorial for any color of ombre nail. I liked it so well that I actually did it for 2 manicures in a row and then decided to use Sun Worshiper on it's own.

I don't like it as well as I did on the ombre nails, mainly because it's very sheer on it's own. It does need a lighter base underneath to really make it pop. I had to do 5 thin coats to get it to show like this which means it will probably peel within a day or two. But it is a gorgous color and great against a tan. I will keep trying this color in different ways to get it to work the best, so far I like it in small increments such as an accent nail or in an ombre look.

Nail Of The Day

I found some Essie polishes at TJ Maxx last week for $3.99. I grabbed this deep charcoal grey called "Power Clutch" as soon as I saw it. I was going through my polish collection and thought I could make this gloomy but beautiful color a little more summery by adding a bright neon accent nail. I chose China Glaze "Celtic Sun".

I love yellow and gray together and was really pleased with the way this came out. Fun twist on the neon and neutral trend.

Nail Of The Day

NEON CITRINE.

This nail polish is a pain in my a$$!! It's hard to get it evenly applied and it's even harder to photograph to show the color correctly. But let me tell you, it is so worth it.

I talked about this before in my post on Neon Nail Polishes. It's China Glaze Celtic Sun. I used it with white underneath on my toes, but this time I just used a clear basecoat. This took 5 thin coats of CS to get it even and neon. I used a citrine/green glitter on my ring fingers from Sinful and topped it with Seche Vite top coat.

It's so bright but suprisingly flattering. I find it makes my hands look tan without the dreaded red lobster hands that a lot of yellows can make.

What do you think? Would you wear a neon this bright?

Neon Nail Polishes

Neons are everywhere right now. I have a lot of neon pinks, corals, tangerine shades but have been on the hunt for a neon citrine nail polish for a while. When I was at Sally's the other night for my mermaid hair dye I saw the China Glaze shade Celtic Sun. HOLY MOLY. It's like highlighter yellow. So cool. I got it mainly for my toes. I put a coat of white nail polish down first, then did 3 coats of Celtic Sun and topped it with Seche Vite. IT'S SO BRIGHT. I didn't take a picture because, who wants to see someone else's toes, right? But trust me, it's awesome. This one is a little streakier than I normally like and I don't think it would be as bright without the white basecoat. But for a funky pedicure, it's definitely worth it.



photo courtesy of SallyBeauty.com

I also grabbed this teeny bottle of Sally Girl Type A. It looks deeper online than it is in real life, it's a neon fuchsia/purple shade. Nothing deep or dark about it. They had these up by the register and it was such a pretty color I just had to grab it. I used this on my toes after my Celtic Sun pedi. These little nail polishes are suprisingly nice. It only took 2 coats, went on easily and stayed for a decent amount of time with Seche Vite as a topcoat. The only thing I don't like is the handle on the brush is so little it can be a little messy on the application, but a quick cleanup with a brush and some remover cleaned it up nicely.



photo courtesy of SallyBeauty.com

 I also picked up another bottle of my all time favorite neon shade, China Glaze Shocking Pink. Again, looks darker online than it is in real life. This is electric highlighter pink on. Dries matte/satin so I always use Seche Vite on top. The downside to this polish is that it isn't long lasting on my fingers, it will basically come off my nail all in one peice after a few days, but it lasts much longer on my toes and makes feet look super tan.



photo courtesy of SallyBeauty.com

 

Mermaid Hues

Not sure if it's the warmer weather, but I am obsessed with turquoise lately. The two main areas are my nails...and shockingly my hair. I have been wanting a fun, peekaboo streak in my hair for a long time and was wavering between pink and turquoise. I feel like pink is done, it's a little too girlie for me so turquoise was just a good choice with my blonde hair and my personality. It's SO PRETTY. I can't stop staring at it. I used Beyond the Zone's Color Jamz in Tripped up Turquoise.


photo courtesy of SallyBeauty.com

First, I decided where I wanted it and how large of a section. As far as placement, I chose to do it behind the top of my ear. That way you can't see the roots when the bleach grows out and it appears more like a "peekaboo" strand than just a giant chunk of smurf hair. Then I bleached the hair using 40 vol. It took about 30 minutes to get the white blonde I wanted. I rinsed and blow dried it and then used gloves (IT STAINS EVERYTHING) and applied a thick coat to the entire strand. I placed it in a ziplock baggie, zipped it up and used a clip to secure the baggie to my head, ensuring it wouldn't bleed onto my blonde hair or on my face. I left it on for about an hour, applying heat from the blow dryer every 10 minutes or so to keep the strand warm and set the color. Rinsed in COLD water (no shampoo)and viola...Mermaid Streak! I didn't wash my hair the next day, I allowed 24 hours for the color to set before shampooing. Also, this stuff smells SO GOOD. There is no chemical stink with it at all, it's DEEP teal in the bottle and shimmery. It's pretty even in the bottle. I love it. It's semi permanent so it will totally fade, but this one bottle has enough product for weekly touchups, enough to get me and my Mermaid Streak through the summer.

The next thing I'm turquoise obsessed with is a nail polish from China Glaze called Turned Up Turquoise. It's literally a NEON turquoise, so saturated, has a nice shimmer to it and is opaque in only 2 coats. As with all neons, it dries matte/satin so I used Seche Vite to pop the gloss. The picture doesn't do it justice, I couldn't capture just how vivid this color is. It's not just bright, it's multifaceted and just so pretty and unique.



photo courtesy of SallyBeauty.com





Favorite Spring/Summer Nail Polishes

I admit it...I am a nail polish freak. I change my polish about every 3 days, chipping or not. I refile, buff, shape and paint them pretty consistently. In the spring and summer I gravitate towards bright, cheery colors that compliment a tan or give the illusion of sun kissed skin. Here are 5 of my favorite Spring/Summer Nail Polishes.

Always finished with Seche Vite Top coat, shown left.

China Glaze-"For Audrey". The perfect tiffany shade of blue, a flattering creamy robins egg blue. Opaque in 2 coats, long lasting and a fun and unexpected color.

China Glaze-"Spontaneous". This is a creamy purple, there is nothing pastel about this color. It's straight up purple. Lovely shade, different than other purples I've seen. Has the China Glaze quality I love and is long lasting.

Essie-"Mod Square". I'd describe this as a barbie pink. Cream formula, this one does take a good 3 coats to be completely opaque. It doesn't last quite as long as the China Glaze ones, but this color is one of my absolute favorites..

NARS-"Orgasm". Come on now, you know I love this one. Pinky, a ripe peach with golden shimmer. This lasts forever on my nails, is so flattering and bright without being obnoxious. Great polish.

Orly-"Passionfruit". This is riiiiiight on the verge of being neon. It's a bright orangey raspberry color, nice brush, dries quickly and is SO pretty with a tan. A go-to summer color for sure.

What are some of your favorite shades for summer?

Song of the Day: Alone With You-Jake Owen

Nail Of The Day

Fun spring mani. China Glaze "Spontaneous" with Essie "Shine of the Times" on my ring fingers. Seche Vite top coat. I really like the China Glaze nail polishes, they are good quality and this color was opaque in 2 coats. I love that! I really like how Shine of the Times looks over it, this flakie top coat can appear reddish or green depending on the light, but on top of the purple it looks like a sunset, it's beautiful!

Song of the Day: Time To Pretend-MGMT

Review: Nail Of The Day

Happy Monday! We had a nice family weekend this past weekend. Sunday involved lots of loafing, tv and removing my St. Patty's day manicure.

I decided on China Glaze "Pink Voltage" and then Nicole by OPI "Follow Me On Glitter". I really love the idea of the Nicole one, it's a dark charcoal grey with sparse multi colored flecks. But...once painted on the nail, the colors become practically invisible leaving just a grey nail with silver sparkles. Which makes it not worth the $8/bottle in my opinion.

Pink Voltage is awesome. Seriously, HOT PINK. But it does take 3 coats to become opaque. This color tends to dry a little matte, almost like a satin finish so I top it off with Seche Vite top coat.

Excuse the photo quality...I was lazy and used my Iphone.




Song of the Day: Awake My Soul-Mumford and Sons