I'm alive!

Sorry to be M.I.A. for almost a MONTH!! I'm back to catch you up on some nail art and what's been going on in my life..

I landed a job at an amazing salon and spa in town, I'm still training but am so excited to start taking my own clients in the next few weeks. I'm more than thrilled about this oppurtunity, I've been out of the salon environment for almost 2 years, and I'm so ready to dive back in and get to use my creative side at work! I'll be wearing Shellac so that my manis will stay on while I work, so sadly I won't be able to blog as much, unless I'm using photos from the vault or nail wheel art.

Now on to some nail photos!

Tried out a new watermark for this one, the rest of the photos aren't even edited or watermarked because I'm way too lazy. I used CND Blackjack and OPI Alpine Snow and a dotting tool for this look.

CND Blackjack and an unknown China Glaze with gold studs from Aerial.

Another look with larger studs.

One of my favorite shades ever, China Glaze Peachy Keen, to match my outfit for one of my best friend's weddings.



The shoes.



Some bottle shots from organizing my stash.



A spring-inspired manicure. I used China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint, and stamped with CND Blackjack.

Hope you enjoyed this post and that I can come back with some more photos soon!

Last Friday Night

Today I have one pic, a short and sweet post of the mattified version of the mani I did last week:

The same mani, just updated with one coat of Matte About You :)

Hope you're all having a great Monday!



Spacy Layers

I have a simple layered mani to show you today:

I wish it had photographed a little truer to real life, but oh well! I used 2 coats of CND-Brilliant White for the base, and 2 coats of OPI-Last Friday Night to layer over it. 1 layer of SV for the top coat.

I really liked the soft jelly look this mani had, and I will probably experiment with a matte top coat on it tomorrow!

What do you guys suggest to layer Last Friday Night over?



Leopard Paws

Finally, a little nail art! It's been awhile :( Today, I have a simple leopard print design in classic colors to share with you:

Try to ignore the paint stains on my pinky, I worked on painting the 2nd bedroom in our house the day I wore these nails!

The nubby right hand :)

I used China Glaze-Fast Track as the base, a gorgeous shimmery gold-beige from the new Hunger Games collection (Who else is psyched for the premiere?!). I did the spots with a dotting tool and OPI-Over the Taupe, and the outlines with a nail art brush and CND-Blackjack. I finished the look with one coat of SV.

I loved this mani and wore it for almost a week, which is uncommon for me.

What is your favorite color combo for a leopard mani??



Van Gogh!

Sorry I've been a bit M.I.A. lately!! My boyfriend and I have been remodeling our home for about a year now, and are FINALLY in the last stages of everything.. With all the painting, cleaning, etc. I have been neglecting my poor little nails and the blog as well! I'm queing up a few posts today, and when we're all moved in, I'll have so much more time to dedicate to this hobby of mine!

On to the nails.. Today's post is a quick swatch of a shade from the new OPI Holland collection, Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh:

I've heard great things about this formula on other blogs, but you really have to use this polish yourself to realize the true amazing-ness that it is! So smooth, and perfectly opaque in 2 easy swatches. Not only is the formula great, but this polish turned out to be an almost-exact dupe of my favorite nude ever, Ulta-Set the Nude. Set the Nude is gorgeous, but the formula is a thick, streaky mess and hard to clean up. I'm definitely going to buy a back up of Van Gogh, and if you're a nude fan, you need this polish!

What were your favorites from the Holland collection?

Pastel Zebra

This is yesterday's mani revamped with some (sloppy) stamping:

Although the stamping could use some improvement, I really love the way this turned out! I used CND-Asphalt for the stamping.

What is your favorite gradient/stamping combo to work with?



Pedal Faster Suzi!

Today's post is a swatch of the polish I just had to have from OPI's new Holland collection. Sadly, I was a little dissapointed that the shade didn't look so great with my skin tone but oh well, it's still a beautiful polish!

It was a bit streaky, but other than that covered beautifully in 3 coats.

This last pic looks like a magnetic polish or something, but it's just shadows reflecting off the window I was photographing next to.

What do you think of this shade??



Tie Dye Sponge!

Today's post definitely reminded me of tie-dye, and has me yearning for Spring/Summer even more!

I can't wait to wear tank tops and flip flops and drive with the windows down!

I started with a base of 2 coats of OPI-Planks a Lot, and then sponged on Color Club-Take Me To Your Chateau. I got more of the tie-dyed effect when I put on the top coat and made sure to drag through the sponged area. I used CND-Speedy Top Coat.

Any one have any cool tutorials I can check out for more tie-dye effects?



Orange Layers

Because I loved the glitter sandwich I created here so much, I went out to buy OPI's Ya'll Come Back Ya Hear just to make a twin mani in orange!

I love the way it turned out, but I think I still prefer the pink version!

One coat of OPI-Nail Envy, 2 coats of Y'all, 1 coat of China Glaze-Snowglobe, 1 coat OPI-Servin' up Sparkle, 1 coat of Y'all and FINALLYYYY, one coat of CND Speedy Top Coat.

What do you think? Any jelly polishes you reccomend??



Tulips Re-vamped

Today is Sunday's mani with a little extra sparkle.

I painted on some OPI-Excuse Moi! to the tips of the ring finger as an accent.

What do you like to do with a day old mani to spice it up a little?



Mini-Haul Post!

Today I have pics from the mini-haul I picked up last week.

OPI-Yall Come Back Ya Hear?

And older polish but one I've wanted for a while, so I can make some more jelly sandwiches!

OPI-Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?

A gorgeous nude with an even greater formula. This can finally replace my Ulta-Set the Nude, which is one of my favorite shades ever but has a nasty clumpy formula.

Mini-Red Lights Ahead...Where? from the OPI Holland Collection

Mini-Pedal Faster Suzi! from the OPI Holland Collection

Can't wait to use this gorgeous, soft, shimmery pink!

Mini-Kiss Me On My Tulips! from OPI Holland

(Already in love with this one)

Mini-I Have a Herring Problem from OPI Holland.

I don't know if I will ever use this other than to swatch, I'm not fond of the dusty blues.

CND-Asphalt.

A beautiful deep grey that can be a careful one-coater. I think this will be great for stamping!

OPI-Last Friday Night

Of course my glitter-obsessed soul had to have this polish in my collection!

Do you own any of these beauties, what's your opinion on them?

Kiss Me On My Tulips!

I always say I'm not a big fan of pink, but I come back again and again with these amazing pink polishes that I fall in love with!

Today I have one from the new OPI Holland Collection, Kiss Me On My Tulips!

It's a gorgeous bright pink creme, the formula was so easy to work with and cleanup was a dream.

I used one coat OPI-Nail Envy, 2 coats of Tulips, and 1 coat of CND Speedy Dry top coat.

What are your favorites from the new Holland collection???



Guest Post for ChitChat Nails!

Head on over to Chit Chat Nails to see the guest post I did for the lovely Marta!! :)

Here is a little preview:



V-Day Stamps

Today I have my one and only Valentine's Day mani to show you:

I used 2 coats of OPI-Pink Friday followed by 2 coats of CND-Red Sparkle. Then Sally Hansen-Whirlwind White and CND-Blackjack for the stamps.

I wish I had more time for some cutesy V-Day manis this year but I have been too busy and stressed out with all the other crap I have going on right now :( Hopefully I will have tons of St. Patty's Day manis to show you, as green is my favorite color!

Hope you all have a great Valentine's!!



Princess-y Nails

For some reason I HAD to have pink nails yesterday. That rarely happens but I did a little experimenting and came up with a pink mani I really liked.

I have been swooning over Marta's swatches of Kim-Pletely in Love and since I don't have that exact shade, my inspiration for this mani came from the gorgeous pink polish. I used 1 coat of OPI-Pink Friday, then 2 coats of China Glaze-Go Go Pink which is very sheer and lightened up the base a bit. Then one coat of OPI-Servin' up Sparkle and SV for some shine. I loved the way it turned out, a very soft pink but the holo sparkles added a little bit of fun to the mani.

What do you think of this look, and what is your go-to pink polish??



Rainbow Connection

Sorry for the delay of posts this week! My car was totaled recently so I have been extremely stressed with applying for a loan and searching for a new car. I finally found a beautiful Jeep Liberty and if all goes well I will be going to pick it up tomorrow (so excited)! That also means I will have much more time to photograph and blog now :)

Here are the nails I wore last week, needless to say I was in love and wish I could wear these every day, but they are such a hassle to remove, even with the foil method. I also wish I had some sunlight to photograph the true amazingness of these beauties!

This photo doesn't even begin to peek into the sparkly awesomeness that this manicure was IRL. I might have to wear it again for my 21st birthday on Tuesday!

I used 1 coat OPI-Nail Envy followed by 1 coat of CND-Blackjack and 3 coats of OPI-Animal Connection. Then 1 coat of SV.

A random picture of my natural nails.

And a bottle shot of the beautiful Rainbow Connection!

Hope you all have a great Super Bowl Sunday!



OPI Fly and sloppy stampin'!

It's been hectic for the past few days so I've been slacking on my posts, sorry! Today's mani was one of my favorites to date, and once I can learn to perfect my stamping I will definitely try this one out again.

First, a swatch of OPI-Fly. I'm so in love with this color, and I definitely need a full size bottle instead of the mini that I have. It photographed too brightly, IRL it is a deeper teal and so gorgeous!

1 coat Nail Envy, 2 coats OPI-Fly, 1 coat SV. EASY CLEANUP!!!

I added some stamping and loved the tribal look combined with this color. I had a lot of trouble with this stamp so I'm only showing you my shorter right hand instead of my beautiful long left hand because the stamp was so messed up.

Any suggestions on how to master stamps like this, that need to be aligned just right?

What's on your nails right NOW?!