Valentine's Day Mani 2014

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I hope every one of you have a wonderful day!! Wether it be with you special someone, or just a group of friends, have fun today!! I have another mani for you all, as I said I would in my last post. This is sort of a mix and match pink and glitter mani!!

They are so simple yet I could stare at them all day!! The pink is two coats of Sinful Colors Boom Boom. On my ring finger I have two coats of Salon Perfect Diamond Dust topped with one coat of OPI Which Is Witch. I also used Which Is Witch for the glitter gradient. The little diamond studs are from Winstonia Store.

Every time these catch the sun, the holo glitters just go crazy! What do you think of this mani? Thanks for stopping by! I hope you all have a fantastic heart day!

XOXO
Rachel

Gobble Gobble! - Thanksgiving nails

Hello everyone!!

It has been a long time, but I'm back!

Today I have a Thanksgiving manicure for you all!! I really wanted to get a head start on the holiday manis! I had an image in my head and it transferred nicely onto my nails!! Success!

I have ever really been one to do holiday nails, but hey there is always room for change! I used plenty of polishes, so lets jump into it!

Pinkie and thumb- Zoya Tomoko
Index and middle- Zoya Louise
Turkey- Revlon Revlon Red
             Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow and Sun Kissed
             OPI Alpine Snow
             Wet N' Wild Black Creme
             Zoya Louise

I can't wait to keep working on more themed manicures! Thank you so much for sticking with me, even when nails go on the back burner for a little while! It means a lot to me!!

XOXO,
Rachel

Snake Skin Stamp

Hey everyone!

I haven't blogged in FOREVER! Nails have fallen by the wayside lately. I am going to try my best to get back into it! I got the urge to do my nails again the other day and I went for something new and ambitious! I decided to pull out my Winstonia Store stamping plates!

Snakeskin!! I love the way that they turned out!!

On my thumb, pointer, and pinkie I started with a base of Essie School of Hard Rocks. Then on my middle and ring I used a base of OPI Number One Nemesis. Then I stamped with the Winstonia Store plate W101, withe the reverse color. If that makes sense?.?.? :p

I love these two colors together! I think they work together and are perfect for the fall season! What do you think about these?

Thanks for stopping by!

Xoxo
Rachel

Gummy Green

Hey everyone!!

I feel so out of the loop! I haven't blogged in i think over a week!! I miss it! Like I mentioned in previous posts, I have had some computer issues. It ultimately came down to getting a new computer. With that being said, I have been computer-less for a little while! But I am back now and so ready to get back into blogging! Today I have this really cool mix and match mani to show you all! This was completely inspired by @mrslochness on Instagram, who I absolutely love!

I absolutely love the way these colors look together! For the pointer and middle finger I used Hard Candy Gummy Green. Then for the thumb and the ringer finger I used Zoya Pixie Dust in Dahlia. And lastly for the pinkie, I used OPI Gargantuan Green Grape.

Zoya Dahlia is the first Pixie Dust that I have tried and I absolutely love it!! It is so easy to apply!

Thanks for stopping by!

Nautical Mani!

Hey everyone!

I have seen about 651234 different variations of nautical nails on Pinterest, Instagram, and floating around the web! I decided I would give them a go! I saw this mani from @yesnails on Instagram and I knew that I wanted to do my nautical mani kind of like hers!!

Yay I love them!! Colors used:
 OPI Alpine Snow and I Saw... You Saw... We Saw... Warsaw ( I hate that name >.<)
Sinful Colors Cotton Candy
Julie G Metallic Heels

For the Anchor I used a small striping brush and for the stripes I used striping tape and a small brush.

I really like the way these turned out! How would you do your nautical mani? Thanks for stopping by!!

Gradient Bubble Nails for International Nail Art Day!

Hello everyone!

Today is International Nail Art Day or #INAD!! This is a day where all nail art lovers can come together and create awesome nail art together!! To find out more info, check out the INAD Instagram and Twitter!

For today's nail art I decided to try something I'd never tried before, bubble nails!! I absolutely love the way these turned out for a first time! I wanted to mix it up a little bit.. so I did a gradient with the bubbles!!

It looks so cool, right! I started with a base of OPI Alpine Snow and then used acrylic paint for the bubbles. To find out how to do this, go check out Trendy Polish's tutorial on YouTube!

Did you participate in #INAD? Would you wear this mani? Thanks for stopping by!!

Geometric Skittlette

Hey everyone!

I really have been wanting to expand on the amount of nail art that I do! Right now I'm sticking to simple things, but at least I'm trying something! Today I have a really awesome mani for you all! I decided to try a skittlette, of which Marta from Chit Chat Nails created and is known for!

I love the way the geometric nails came out! They could use some work, but it looks pretty good for a first try! On my thumb and pointer I have 3 coats of Essie Where's My Chauffeur? On my middle and ring fingers I started with a base of OPI Alpine Snow and then using a small striping brush to make the triangles, I used Essie Where's My Chauffeur?, Sinful Colors Sugar n' Spice, and Wet n' Wild Black Creme. Then for my pinkie I started with a base of Pure Ice Beware and topped it with OPI Which is Witch? 

What do you think of this mani? Would you wear it? Thanks for reading!!

Vampy mix n' match! Inspired by @craypolish on Instagram!

Hey everyone!

So today I something really awesome to show you! I saw this mani from @craypolish on Instagram and I just fell in love! I had to recreate it!

I love the way this looks! For the base I used 3 coats of OPI Glints of Glinda. On my pointer and pinkie I have 1 coat of Love, Angeline Poisoned Love, which can be purchased here! On my thumb and ring fingers I have 3 coats of OPI Liquid Sand in What Wizardy is This? For the stamp I used Bundle Monster plate BM01 and Wet n' Wild Black Creme.

What do you guys think of this mix and match mani? Do you like the color scheme? How would you recreate this?

Thanks for reading!

Funky French!

Hey everyone!

Today I have a fun french manicure for you all! French tips aren't really my thing, but I thought I would give it a shot! I decided to do a striped french!

I decided to use some beachy props! I thought they were theme fitting!

For this look I used the colors:
Revlon Dreamy
OPI I Saw... U Saw... We Saw... Warsaw
China Glaze Aquadelic
China Glaze Hanging in the Balance
Sally Hansen Breezy Blue

I taped off the tip of my nail and used a small detail brush to make the stripes.

I'm extremely happy with the way these came out! I might have to try something similar with a different color scheme!
Here is an artsy pic for ya! I really like this!

Thanks for reading!

Blue Swirly Stamps!

Hey everyone!

Today I have another stamping attempt to show you guys! I really loved this design, BEFORE i put top coat on it!! Oh the smudgery.. :p I should have taken pictures pre top coat.. oh well!

I love this! I started with a base of Sinful Colors Sugar Rush. Then I stamped using Bundle Monster plate BM19. I randomly dropped a little bit of Sally Hansen Blue Me Away and OPI I saw... U saw... We saw... Warsaw onto the image, scraped away the excess polish, and picked up the random design! The Bundle Monster 1st generation plates are too small for my thumb.. so I didn't get the whole image onto my nail.

I think that this reminds me of a fake watermarble! It looks so cool! What do you think about it? Thanks for stopping by and reading!

Lolli Pop Lolli Pop!

Hello everyone!

I rarely ever stamp, and I have two full sets of plates. I decided that it was about time to start stamping and get better at it! I own the first generation Bundle Monster plates, and the first generation Winstonia plates. I was looking through my Bundle Monster set and found an image that I wanted to use!

I absolutely love the Sugar Rush collection by Sinful Colors, and the stamp went perfectly with the three polishes that I used!

LOLLIPOPS!! I loved the lollipop image from Bundle Monster from plate BM02! The three colors I used from the Sinful Colors Sugar Rush collection are Sweet Tooth, Cotton Candy, and Sugar Rush. For the accent nail I started with a base of OPI Alpine Snow and randomly stamped the lollipop image all over my nail with the three Sinful Colors. Then I stamped just the big lollipop on my other three fingers.

Thanks for stopping by and reading! I hope you guys liked this!

Nail Care Series! Part 3- Base Coats

Hello everyone! Today I have part three of my nail care series for you all!

Base coats! These little guys are essential, but there are ups and downs to some of them! Keep reading to find out what I think of these base coats!

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Base Coat

As we all know, Sally Hansen makes about fifty-thousand different base and topcoats. The Hard as Nails base coat is the one I ended up with! I actually really like this base coat. In fact, I have two! This base helps prevent splitting, chipping, and cracking. It also hardens your nails, which is one thing that I really like about this product. Sometimes my nails feel quite thin and brittle, so I slap a coat or two on my nails, and they immediately feel stronger. This product can also be used as a top coat, but I prefer to just use it as a base. I have nothing but good to say about this base coat! This product can be purchased at your local Walmart, or online.

Duri Rejuvacote

Two words. Duri. Rejuvacote. I absolutely love this product! A couple months back, some ladies on Instagram had been raving about it, so I thought I would give it a shot! The Duri Cosmetics website says that Rejuvacote will heal and cure your split, cracked and acrylic eaten nails. In a matter of weeks you will enjoy the look and feel of strong, vital, natural nails. I use this before every mani that I do. Although this product looks pink in the bottle, it dries clear after application. This product can also be used as a top coat, but like I said about the previous product, I like to use this one as a base. You can buy this product at Walmart or online for about 15 dollars. Even though it might be a little steep, it is worth every penny!

Essie Grow Stronger

Whenever I first started to take base coats seriously, this is what I used. I love this base! It's like most base coats, strengthening, damage repair and prevention, the usual. I used this until it got gloopy and I couldn't get any product on my brush because it was almost completely empty. As you can see in the bottle, it looks a little milky. The milkiness of this product does transfer onto the nail, but the opacity isn't as strong. I would definitely recommend this product to someone! This can be purchased at Walgreens, CVS, most drugstores, and online. 

OPI Nail Envy

OPI has about 7 or 8 different versions of Nail Envy, but when I purchased this, I just picked up the original version. I love this product, and after about two or three weeks of using this, I could tell a difference in the health of my nails. Like seriously. I had tried various nail treatments, and this product started to make a difference. Just like Grow Stronger, I used this baby up! I literally did everything I could to get the last little bit of product out! Again I say, I would recommend this product to anyone. If you don't like shiny nails, then try the matte version! Go get you some!! This does retail kinda pricey, but you get the bang for your buck! This can be purchased at select salons, Ulta, and online.

Essie All In One 

This was one of the many nail treatments I tried while trying to get my nails healthy. All In One can be a base or top coat, and is a strengthener. I personally have had a bad experience with this product. I used it as a base, and I noticed that every time I used it, my polish would chip faster than normal. This also made my nails worse. My nails were pretty bad, and then they worsened. I was like nooooo!!! I still continued to use it, to see if it was the kind of thing that got worse before it got better, but no, that wasn't the case. Feel free to try this out for yourself, because not everyone has the same results. This can be purchased at drugstores and online.

Another base that I like to use, is PVA glue, a.k.a Elmer's Glue. This is excellent to use under glitter polishes. Remember when you were a kid and you put glue on your hands just so you could peel it off when it dried? Well the same effect happens here. Use a thin base of glue, then use polish and topcoat. Use a cuticle pusher to get under the glue and it pops right off! Click here for an awesome tutorial at Wacky Laki! This method doesn't have to be used for just glitter, it will work with regular polish too! 

Thank you so much for reading this! Stay tuned for next week's part of the series! I'll be talking about my favorite top coats! I hope you enjoyed this post!