My first sucessful chevron moons!

I have a really, really exciting manicure to share with you all today.

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As I’ve mentioned before, I love a good chevron, but I’ve never been very good with creating chevrons with tape as something always seems to go wrong. However I found a foolproof way to create chevron moons, and I’m a very happy girl. I also documented the process so I could share with you my easy tutorial on how to create these chevrons if you–like myself–have trouble getting tape manicures to work the way you want. =)

Continue reading “My first sucessful chevron moons!”

More gradient fun!

The other day my friend Jenn came over, and let me do her nails. We had talked about it in advance, and she told me she wanted me to create something “professional but fun”. In the end we decided to go with a gradient. I haven’t done a lot of manicures and nail art on other people–with the exception of my roommate. But it was really fun to do, and she really liked them so I was glad.

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For this manicure, I used Rimmel’s Reggae Splash as my base color, and China Glaze Thataway as my tip color. They two really compliment each other, I think–and Thataway has a very subtle shimmer in it which gives it a little extra something. I’m really glad she liked them, because I really love how they turned out. It was a little weird doing someone else’s nails, if only because her nail beds are so tiny! But I think this was definitely a nail art success.

Waterfall nails.

As I teased yesterday, I wanted to create some fun nail art using Peek a Blue as my base color. Last Summer, I remember seeing waterfall nail art everywhere. I haven’t done a waterfall nail in a while, so I decided Peek a Blue would be the perfect base color for my nail art.

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The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Sinful Colors Be Happy & Icing Peek a Blue — my base color.
  • ACO by Ardene Blue Tide.
  • Nicole by OPI What’s the Mitch-uation.
  • The Color Workshop unnamed shimmery blue.
  • ACO by Ardene Midnight Stars.
  • QUO by Orly unknown mini blue polish.
  • Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat.
  • Icing’s It’s a Matte World matte top coat.

I feel like it turned out pretty well, even though it’s far from perfect. Next time I would definitely paint my waterfall lines slightly longer. Also I don’t know what I was thinking adding Midnight Stars–I totally forgot it’s a clear base with glitter so it looks a little misplace on the nail. But besides those little problems, I do love them. And the adding Matte top coat just pulled everything so perfectly together. I love the smooth finish it gives the whole look. =)

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So what do you think of this attempt at Waterfall nails? I know the trend was super popular last year, and it’s not featured as much on nail blogs as it once was, but I’m still a big fan.

Back to Bright.

One slightly subdued manicure, and I’m already back to the bright colors. I just can’t escape them. The calender says it’s almost Summer–even if the weather won’t agree–and my mind instantly craves anything bright.

Today’s mani came as a result of having no idea what I wanted to wear on my nails. After spending 20 minutes going through my stash, plagued with indecision, I finally decided on China Glaze’s Metro Pollen-tin from the Spring collection, with ACO by Ardene in Hot Tamale on my pinky. Originally I was just going to do a simple polka dot accent nail, but as you can see once I started with the dots…. I just couldn’t stop! They even spread to my thumb!

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Unfortunately I used way too many polishes on my accent nails to remember them off the top of my head. However, the main polishes I used were China Glaze’s Metro Pollen-tin and ACO by Ardene Hot Tamale which has to be one of my favorite pinky-corals. In person, it is much more neon but still manages to apply in two slightly thick coats. It was my go-to color last Summer, and I have a feeling this Summer will be no different.

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So many colors!

Pretty in Pink gradient.

Sometimes I like my manicures complicated, and sometimes I just want something simple on my nails. These would definitely fall on the more simple end of the spectrum. After a couple days of super bright and colorful nails, I really wanted to rock a somewhat softer manicure. After browsing pinterest for an hour or so, I decided on a gradient as I haven’t done a (successful) one in a while. With my nails so short right now, I find it a lot harder to create gradient, if only because I don’t have the room to move around on my nails. But even though these are a very, very subtle gradient, I do love how they turned out. With my best friend’s wedding come up shortly, I’m going to need to figure out something to do–as I’m guessing super bright and colorful neon nails won’t work with her wedding plans haha.

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For this manicure the polishes I used were:

  • ACO by Ardene in Bridezilla — pale ivorny//off white base color.
  • Essence Love Letters Collection Rosy in Love — pales pink of the gradient.
  • ACO by Ardene in Kiss by a Rose — darkest pink of the gradient.
  • QUO by Orly in Sugar Cookie — pale glitter on each nail.
  • Sally Hansen Diamond Flash top coat.

Oh man, I wish you could see the beauty that is Sugar Cookie, but sadly my camera just didn’t want to capture it. It was part of the Quo by Orly holiday mini-collection that my boyfriend got me for Christmas, and I’ve yet to find a manicure to pair it with. It’s really sheer, so it’s unfortunately impossible to wear on it’s own (it would take about 15 coats to get it opaque), but I love the look of it. So pretty!

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