Today I have for you the second part of my stash posts. After this, I’ll only have one more drawer of my five to photograph. Even though it’s been a bit of work taking pictures of everything, and writing them down, I’m really glad that I have. Now, whenever I’m feeling nail art, I’ll know exactly what polishes I have to work with!
And now onto the polishes…
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.
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. =)
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.
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.
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!
Nail Art Fail.
The other night, I painted my nails with an old favorite — Hard Candy’s Piece of Papaya.
Such a pretty polish, and so sparkly. Since we’re finally getting Spring now in Nova Scotia, I’ve been embracing the sunshine with polishes that shine better in it.
I painted these before bed. When I woke up in the morning I had an idea for some cool nail art. Unfortunately, I decided to paint them about ten minutes before I had to leave for work. It was a bad idea. I should have just left my nails as they were because–even with my quick dry top coat, and drying drops–I didn’t have enough time for them to dry before I had to leave. And that’s where the nail art fail happened.
This picture is from right after I painted them. I used Revlon’s I’m Electro for the Blue, and Quo by Orly in Purple Passion (which I got from my boyfriend in the Quo by Orly Holiday Mini pack.)
Hadn’t even left yet, and already bumped them and got dents. Also because I was short on time I was just going to wait until I got to work for clean up. I didn’t even have time to take it off because I now had about two minutes before I had to leave. So I hoped for the best.
By the time I got to work they were just a full on hot mess. =( I had to go through my day with gashes like this in my nails & both my thumbs had half the polish just peel off. So depressing because I liked the color blocking look of them.
Have you ever had a major nail art fail? I think I’ve learned my lesson about painting my nails without adequate time for them to dry before I have to do anything. Now I know why I paint them before bed. =(
31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 3: Yellow Nails.
For my third day of the 31 day nail art challenge, I went with simple nails. I love nail art, but sometimes I do have to go with something quick, if only because I don’t have the time to get super complex (or I run out of time). For this manicure, I used Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in “Mellow Yellow”.
I kind of love this yellow. I’m usually more of a fan of softer yellows, but I like the brightness of “Mellow Yellow“. I’ve read online about the formula being touchy, and the application for me was a little streaky. This is three coats, and I found I had to wait for the previous ones to dry before adding another. Thankfully, adding my top coat seemed to balance everything out and I didn’t have any bald spots.
Everything was topped with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash top coat, and two layers of Quo by Orly Matte sparkle finish top coat in pink.
Coffee & Nail Polish 