April Showers bring May Floral Nails.

First off I just want to thank everyone that has been liking and commenting on my posts. It’s so exciting to know people like what I’ve been sharing! Nail art makes me happy, and it’s awesome being able to meet others who feel the same way. =)

Being as it’s now officially May, I was feeling a Spring floral for my nails. Floral print is one of my favorite prints to wear–whether it’s on my nails, or a dress. I was going for a kind of carnation look, which is a floral print I’ve never tried before. I don’t think they look exactly like carnations, but they do look like flowers so that’s all that matters!

floral

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • ACO by Ardene in Bridezilla — my base color.
  • ACO by Ardene in Ardene’s Secret –flower pedals.
  • ACO by Ardene in Secret Rendezvous –flower pedals.
  • Essie in We’re in this Together –flower pedals & polka dots between the flowers (though they are really light so didn’t show up as well.)
  • Sinful Colors in Strapped — outer color of the leaves.
  • ACO by Ardene in Green Peace –inner color of the leaves.
  • LA Girl Quick Dry Top Coat.

I absolutely love how these turned out. So pretty, and spring like. Unfortunately, I ran out of my trusty Sally Hansen Diamond flash, and I think my bottle of LA Girl Top Coat is old, because I made it not even an hour into work before these started to chip. And not just chip, but the whole nail polish just peeled off.

chipped chipped2

Definitely not as pretty. =( And considering how much work I put into these, I was considerably unimpressed.

But! I got a new top coat, and quick drying drops to try out, so my next manicure will be featuring those. I’ve never used quick dry drops before, so I’m excited to see if they work. I almost always paint my nails the night before–usually before I head to bed–so I need something that will keep my nails from smudging or getting sheet marks. So hopefully these will work out for me. I don’t know if anything can top my Diamond Flash though–I’m going to have to start hoarding bottles of it, so I never run out!

So what’s your favorite floral print to recreate on your nails?

Crazy for Dots.

My brand new dotting tool set I ordered last month finally arrived last week, and I couldn’t be more excited. I already had a single dotting tool that I bought at Shoppers last year (Essence brand) but it’s had better days. Plus, I only had the one size so it restricted my dot options to two sizes.

dottingtool

I scored these beauties on Amazon.ca for $1.96. (I also scored some new small detail brushes as well, which haven’t arrived yet.)

It took a while for them to arrive, but once they did I couldn’t wait to try they out! I just needed to figure out what was the first design I wanted to do! It was getting a little late when I started these, so I figure I a funky dotticure was the perfect solution.

dots

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Cherimoya nail polish in Dulce de Leche (from the “Make You Melt” Petite collection.) — base color.
  • Essie in The Lace is On — Dark purple dots.
  • Garage brand nail polish — the light pink dots. (No name on this one.)
  • LA Girl Quick Dry Top Coat.

Even though it’s a simple mani, I really like how it turned out on the nail. I really am crazy for dots.

The only disappointment was a I banged my finger in the morning getting ready for the gym, and broke the nail on my pointer finger so I had to file down the rest of my nails so they were all the same length (and go through work with a slight chip to the polish all day). Then I ended up hitting my hand at work, breaking the edge of my thumb nail! So my nails are super short again. I’m a sad girl.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 20: Water Marble.

Okay, so I can’t water marble.

I can’t do it. I don’t know how people can create such beautiful water marble manicures, but I am not one of them. However, I didn’t want to not have anything to show for day 20–except a whole bunch of failure–so I looked up “water marble without water” in google, and what did it lead me to? A dry “water marble” technique. Score! So it’s not your typical water marbled nails, but it was something I could actually accomplish so I figured that was better than nothing!

(If you’re interested, I used this youtube tutorial by cutepolish.)

drywatermarble

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Revlon polish in Minted–mint green polish.
  • China Glaze in What a Pansy!–purple polish.
  • OPI in My Boyfriend Scales Walls–white polish.
  • ACO by Ardene in Sea of Beauty–baby blue polish.
  • ACO by Ardene in Kiss from a Rose–pink polish.
  • Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat.

Even though I couldn’t do a proper water marble, I LOVE these. They spring color combination pops on the nail, and I just love the swirls. Even though I only did it on two accent nails for this manicure, I think it would love amazing all on my nails, and I will definitely be trying it again so I can play with it more (and with more color combinations).

 

 

 

Also, I’ve been thinking about this challenge, and I have to admit I’ve started to feel a little confined by it. I started it so I would have inspiration, but lately I feel like it’s restricting the manicures I want to do. There is SO much inspiration out there, and so many manicures I really want to try! I still want to finish the challenge, and not be a quitter, but I think I will be spreading it out with some other manicure ideas. Especially as my brand new dotting tool set just arrived, and I’ve yet to be able to really play with it, and it’s begging me to do some awesome floral nail art!

 

31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 15: Delicate Print

Easter kind of slowed me down on the nail art challenge. But I’m back at it and making sure I keep going, and don’t give up even though I’m finding my nail art skills being a little more tested with each new design.

For Day 15, the prompt was a delicate print. I had to kind of rack my brain on what I was going to do. In the end, I decided on a lace-like print. When I started, I wasn’t sure what to do but I just kept going until my nails resembled something of a lace print, even though I’ve never tried to do a lace print before.

delicateprint

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Bourjois Paris Nail Polish in 1995 Grains de beauté –pale pink base of my nails.
  • Stripe Rite Striping Brush in white — The design near my nail tips, and the polka dot design.
  • Sally Hansen Diamond Flash top coat.

I really like how these turned out. They are very girlie. Also the pale pink color is perfect for spring! My mother gave me a collection of these Bourjois polishes for my birthday, all in pink, and the colors are so beautiful.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 14: Floral.

floralnailart

A few weeks ago, I picked up the new OPI sheer tints minis that have been floating around on nail art blogs. I was super excited when I found them, and so there was no question I needed them. The only thing I wasn’t sure was what I should use them for! After some serious consideration I realized they would be perfect for a water-color floral print for day 14 of the challenge.

floral

floral2

floral3

For this manicure, the polishes that I used were:

  • Revlon Nail Polish in Minted — the mint green polish on my thumb, pointed and middle finger.
  • China Glaze’s White on White — white base color on my ring and pinky finger, and dots on my mint base color on other fingers.
  • OPI Sheer Tints in Be Magentale With Me — pink-ish colored flowers.
  • OPI Sheer Tints in I Can Teal you Like Me — blue-ish colored flowers.
  • OPI Sheer Tints in Don’t Violet Me Down — Purple-ish colored flowers.
  • Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat.

These turned out so perfect. The OPI sheer tints are a little weird to work with, because they dry quickly on the nail art brush. I also found myself having to grab more polish more often than when drawing with regular polish. However the outcome is gorgeous. I’m such a fan of floral print in general, and this manicure just screams spring to me. It makes me want to wear pretty floral dresses, and flats, and not have to worry about freezing to death. Hopefully the weather starts to agree soon. Summer is my favorite season, and I’ve been longing to break out my maxi dresses again. Every time I walk past my closet I see them hanging there… and I just want to wear them SO bad.

So what’s your favorite go-to nail art for Spring?