Super Colorful Winter Blues Busting Manicure!

I have something colorful and funky to share with you today. I was planning on doing something for Valentine's Day, but realized I had never tried "Palm Breezy" by Sinful Colors and it was calling my name! I don't regret it. By itself it is lovely, and I apologize for not having a swatch of it by itself.

I am just very happy to have such wonderful colors on my fingers. It makes dreary Washington winters more tolerable.

I was very disappointed that my nail art tape started to peel up on the ends, which I also talked about in my Red Valentine's Day Manicure w/Engagement Stone post. After I finished the tape I had to pick up the baby and play with him until bedtime, and the tape peeled a bit. Nail glue can fix that, but I've found that the nail glue can also damage my nails. So I just dealt with it. Please try to picture it with perfect tape!

I could have added a small yellow rhinestone to my pinky finger, but the Hello Kitty kit that I used didn't have any. 

This manicure was totally random, but I wish I had something to wear with it and somewhere to go to rock it!

Yep, the life of a stay-at-home mom...always dreaming...

Let me know what you think of this manicure in the comment section below. I'd love to hear from you!

Super Sexy SinfulColors...Sugar Sugar.

This is one of my all time favorite red colors EVAR. I can't stop looking at my hands. Seriously, for such an affordable brand, this polish has exceeded my expectations. SinfulColors run about $2 per bottle. The formula is great, making for a smooth application and easy touch ups if you make a goof or two. I thought the dry time was perfect, making it possible for this busy mom of a baby to easily apply two coats for perfection. Although I am totally into nail art right now, I refuse to put anything on top of this color. It makes such a beautiful statement on it's own.

Enough talk, here's SinfulColors' Sugar Sugar...

This is one of those colors that screams "Date night!" or "Where's my negligee?"

It's the perfect color for Valentines Day.

So what I'm saying is don't miss out on this color!

Let me know what you think about this color in the comment section. I would love to hear what you think about it.

31 Day Challenge, Day 6 "Half and Half...Metallic Leopard and Zebra Print

This turned out SO BEAUTIFUL! I can't believe I actually pulled this off in the first try. Wow. This is most definitely my favorite manicure since I started this nail art project less than a month ago.

I watched a few YouTube videos to get the hang of the lines and spots. You really don't know what you're doing until you dive into it, though.

Here's the finished product. What do you think?

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I'm looking forward to doing this with many different colors in the future!

31 Day Challenge, Day 3 "Water Spotting" Hot Pink = Summertime in Winter! (with instructions)

Here's my experience...

At first water spotting was pure hell! It took me about three hours to figure it out (with breaks because the baby was awake for part of the time...so more like six hours!) I tried using using two kinds of body spray and one hair shine spray to see what kind of product made the best "spots" in the top color. Your best bet? Rubbing alcohol. I just emptied out a small spray bottle and filled it with rubbing alcohol.

I practiced on my non-dominant hand with a pearly magenta base color. I tried five different top colors on five different fingers. I actually tried about 15-20 polishes, but some didn't spread on the water or the colors were not bold enough. I learned that the more contrast the better.

So I decided to try a white base. Yes, I cleaned up the edges with a make-up brush and acetone.

Then I got lucky and tried a really fun color, which is Pink Cream by Sinful Colors. It has a little bit of a pearl effect which looked pretty on top of he water.

I finally found the perfect materials and colors, and once that was done I thoroughly enjoyed the water spotting technique! I added a rhinestone to my ring finger (which I've come to realize is sort of my signature), slapped on a fast drying top coat and was very pleased with this vibrant manicure!

Here's the colors and some additional products I used to make things go a little smoother:

Base color - Sinful colors - Snow Me White
Top color - Sinful colors - Pink Cream
Base coat - Sally Hansen double duty base and top coat
Top coat - Sally Hansen Insta-Dri
Filtered water
Small bowl
Orange manicure stick
Isopropyl alcohol
Small spray bottle
Petroleum jelly
Wide paint brush
Baby wipes
Acetone
Elf make-up brush
Clear rhinestone
Nail glue

The Process

1. Use a small bowl, not too wide, and fill it with room temperature filtered water
2. Choose your colors and make sure your top color spreads on the water
3. Paint the petroleum jelly around your nail, up your front and back of finger and under your nail if you have long nails
3. Drop your top color into the water and watch it spread. I used about 6-8 drops per finger.
4. Hold the spray bottle back a bit, spray on top of the polish, watch the little bubbles form
5. Choose the spot that you like best, and dip your finger in at a 45 degree angle, nail facing down, keep finger in the water.
6. Blow on the nail polish floating in the bowl to dry it, then clean it out of the bowl with the orange manicure stick.
7. Once all the nail polish is removed from the water, pull your finger out.
8. Use baby wipe to clean up the nail polish and petroleum jelly that is on your finger.
9. Repeat these steps on all fingers.
10. Use a stiff (eye liner/shadow) make-up brush dipped in acetone to clean up and remaining polish on your cuticles or fingers.
11. Apply any appliques you may want to use.
12. Apply top coat.


That's how I did it and it worked great.

There it is, and now I kinda wish I was at the beach sipping on a fruity drink...and the kids were with a babysitter. A girl can dream, right?

I hope you enjoy, and if you have any questions about this manicure shoot me a comment down below. I'd love to hear from you!

A Colorful Christmas Glittercure

It's Christmas day and the presents have all been unwrapped, the hard work is done and the time to relax again has come! The house is still colorful and bright with ornaments and lights. I watched my children open their presents that were wrapped in beautiful, brightly colored wrapping paper...and I was inspired! After all, I'm a true glitter girl, through and through.

It was time to replace my green and red dotticure, and the glitter was calling.

This is why... Just look at how pretty these are!

For this manicure I used a light, pearly purple and a glitter polish that I bought recently, but hadn't used yet. They seemed like the perfect pair.

Please excuse the mess around my cuticles. That can always be cleaned up later. Once the base color was on I had to decide what to do...glitter gradient from the top or at the tips? I had never done one from the top, and this was the perfect opportunity.

I think it turned out quite lovely! I added three light mauve rhinestones to each ring finger just to doll up this look a bit.

I'm looking forward to going out shopping with my ladies tomorrow at the mall and rocking my Christmas present inspired nails that can easily be a New Year's Eve look as well. (but we all know I'll get inspired again before then)

Materials Used:

Base color - Sinful Colors "Purple Diamond"
Glitter polish - Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - "Grape Shifter"
Base coat - Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top coat - Sally Hansen Insta-Dri
6 light mauve rhinestones from a holiday gift set from Walmart


I hope you enjoy this sparkly delight, and if you do, leave me a comment down below. I'd love to hear from you!

Green and Red Dot Manicure for Christmas!

It's the last day of the "12 days of Christmas" challenge, and I am far behind since I just joined yesterday! The prompts are just so much fun, though, so I am cramming in as many as I can in one day. This is my "Red and Green" entry.

I'm just learning how to use the dotting tools, and seriously rushing to get everything done before the baby needs me to pick him up.

A couple of my dots smeared a little, but I think it still turned out very pretty!

Here's the materials I used:

Base color - Sinful Colors "Innocent"
Dot color - Sinful Colors "Ruby Ruby"
Dotting tool - Cina brand
Tiny red rhinestones (from Walmart)
Base coat - Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top Coat - Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

I just thought this shot was pretty and 'Christmasy", so I had to include it in this post!

I had a lot of fun doing this design. It's simple, but makes a big impact. I can't wait to try more intricate designs with the dotting tools!

If you like this design or have any questions, shoot me a comment down below! I'd love to hear from you.

Romantic Winter Snowflake

Since this design was done earlier this month, at the very beginning of my new nail art obsession, I have decided that I need to take better quality pictures of my designs. So from now on I will use my camera, not my cell phone, to document each new design.

This design is pretty simple. I just wanted something romantic and wintery. I used some blue, iridescent, diamond shaped loose glitter to create a simple snowflake, and added a tiny dot of silver glitter polish in the center. Then topped it off with a top coat.

In hindsight, I would have opted for an iridescent glitter polish for the center dot instead.

Lessons learned!

Materials used:

Sinful Colors - Cinderella
Decals - blue, iridescent, diamond shaped loose glitter (from the Dollar Tree)
Pure Ice - Dazzle Me
Top coat - Sally Hansen Insta-dri

I hope you enjoy! I'll have more new posts coming soon with better pictures!