Author: Shannon Rae

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31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 19: Galaxy Nails.

 

I love the look of galaxy nails. Plus they’re fun to do. It’s been a while since I’ve done one, so I was excited to give it another try.

galaxy galaxy2

 

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Mary Kay Nail Lacquer in Blue Knight — dark background.
  • Color Institute in gold (no official name on it.)
  • Color Institute sparkles (no official name on it.)
  • Revlon in I’m Electro.
  • Revlon in Spidey Sense.
  • Revlon in Orchid.
  • Pure Ice in Get in Line.
  • Pure Ice in Over You.
  • Salley Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat

These didn’t turn out exactly like I imagined in my head, but I think it’s because the polishes I used were very pigmented, and I was a little too heavy-handed. I wanted to use metallic polishes, because I’ve never tried using them for galaxy nail art before. Never the less, I loved the sparkle that it give my galaxies! And even though I wasn’t sure if they looked a lot like the galaxies I wanted them to, but I did get lots of compliments which always makes me feel proud of the manicures I’ve done.

What do you think of galaxy nail art?

And what to you think of my attempt at metallic galaxies?

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The 31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 18: Half Moons.

So I didn’t go exactly with the prompt for Day 18 of the challenge. After a long day at work, I kind ran out of time to do a traditional half moon manicure, so I kind of went the reverse, and revisited the ruffian manicure (which I’ve also seen referred to as a reverse moon manicure).

I’ve done a lot of typical moon manicures in my day — it was one of the first nail art techniques I tried, aside from polka dots. But I’ve yet to perfect the technique for the ruffian manicure, so that was another reason why I wanted to give it another try. Even though I’ve watched all the tutorials, I still can’t comprehend how people can get their lines so perfect!

reversemoonmanicure

reversemoonmanicure2

For this manicure, the polishes that I used were:

  • Essence Color & G0 in That’s What I Mint!
  • China Glaze in Flying Dragon
  • Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat
  • LA Girl Quick Dry Top Coat.

For a second attempt, these aren’t bad. As you can see, I missed a spot on my pinky finger when I was going through with Flying Dragon, which I didn’t notice until I took pictures. I still haven’t perfected the technique, but with practice it’s getting a little easier.

I really do love how the ruffian manicure looks–it’s a little something different from your typical moon manicure. And it’s a great way to play with different color combinations–you can color block, or choose complimentary colors. I really love the contrast of Flying Dragon and That’s What I Mint!

 

=)

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A peek into my stash.

I thought I would take another pause and show off to you guys I’m current (growing) stash. I’ve only been growing this stash for the last 2 years — I still have a huge stash in a box somewhere at my parent’s from when I moved a couple years ago, but no one knows where it is. I had to go out recently and pick up bigger storage drawers because the ones I had were just not working for me.

drawer

My five drawer system. None of my drawers have been filled up… yet.

basetopcoat

Drawer #1: My base coats, and top coats. I seem to collect A LOT of base coats (just trying to find the best one for me.) Right now I’m using Nail Envy and Witchcraft hardener, along with Nutra Nail Growth formula (it’s not a base coat–you apply it to your nails and let it soak in.)

minis

Drawer #2: My mini polishes and my nail art stripers.

CG

Drawer #3: China Glaze, Maybelline, Color Institue, and Revlon and some other polishes thrown in there.

OPI

Drawer #4: We’ve got OPI, Nicole by OPI, Quo by Orly, Color Club, LA Girl, Essie, Icing, Sally Hansen, and some Joe Fresh Polishes.

ardene

Drawer #5: My ACO polishes (which, like I said, I have A LOT of), Essence, and Sinful Colors.

Because I basically had to start over I don’t really have a lot of polishes (I had around 200 before)… I counted, and my stash only clocks in at 262 total, which is less than I actually expected. I asked my boyfriend to guess and he guessed around 400, so I guess that just means I have room to buy more!

So how do you keep your polishes organized? By color, or brand, or both?

 

 

 

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31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 17: Glitter

I went with a simple manicure for today’s prompt. I really, really wanted to try out China Glaze’s Sand Dollar Make You Holla which I picked up a couple weeks back, and haven’t yet had a chance to wear.

glitter

Sand Dollar Make You Holla(isn’t that just the most amazing name ever!) is an off white–almost pale pink–base with teeny tiny rainbow glitters through out. It’s a textured polish, which China Glaze released from their Sea Goddess collection. And it is beautiful. I’ve seen other nail bloggers compare its finish to icing, and I have to agree. Even though the application is quite sheer, it does build quite nicely. This was three  applications, and they went on super flawlessly.

I really love this color. It’s so different from any other texture polish I’ve picked up, and I’m glad I have it in my stash. I’m also thinking it would be perfect to use for a cupcake manicure, as it already looks like icing!

Also you’ll notice I’ve featured the Timmie’s a lot lately. They just came out with a cinnamon bun latte for a limited time, and they’re right up the street so the boyfriend always gets me one in the mornings. I seriously love anything cinnamon, and these latte’s are starting to become an addiction.

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31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 16: Tribal Print.

Aztec and Tribal prints were a big trend last summer in nail art. I seriously dig anything Tribal print. I bought the sweetest aztec print pants that I have a feeling I will be wearing A LOT this summer. So when it came to Day 16, I was super excited to come up with something tribal on my nails. There was no reason to this manicure–I really just started drawing lines and outlines and dots, and came up with this:

tribalprint2

tribalprint

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Sinful Colors in Be Happy
  • Essence Color & GO in Let’s get Lost
  • Color Club Art Club in Paisley Paradise.
  • Stripe Rite Striping polish in Black.
  • Stripe Rite Striping Polish in White.
  • Sally Hansen Diamond Flash top coat.

God I love tribal print. I also love the blues and purples used in this manicure. I really like how it turned out, even though I had no plan going into this. Sometimes the most random manicures turn out to be my favorite!

Also check out this adorable mug that the boyfriend gave me for Easter. My first thought? I totally have to do this as nail art!