Category: Sparkles

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Out of this world Galaxy Nails–with a bonus tutorial!

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After being inspired by two of my fellow nail art girlies on Instagram (mymintnails and banulovesnailpolish) the other day, I was in the mood for Galaxy nails. The last time I did them was in April during the early weeks of this blog, and I hadn’t tried them since so it felt like a good time.

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The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • OPI Who Are You Calling Bossy?!?
  • Unnamed Blue Joe Fresh Metallic Polish I got as part of their holiday collection this season.
  • LA Splash Heiress.
  • LA Splash Glitz & Berry.
  • LA Splash Maroon.
  • Quo by ORLY Trashy Glam.
  • ACO by Ardene Showtime.
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust.
  • Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat.

I’m seriously so happy with how my galaxies turned out. I’ve done galaxy nails a couple of times now, and always get frustrated by the fact I don’t find they look very Space-y. However thanks to using ACO by Ardene’s Showtime for glitter placement (the stars) and China Glaze’s Fairy Dust I managed to create my very own galaxies on my nails.

And I thought since I’m trying to create more tutorials I would share my steps for creating this manicure. I know everyone has their own way of creating galaxy nails, these are just the steps I took for the above manicure.

 

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  1. Paint all nails black (OPI Who Are You Calling Bossy?!?) and apply quick dry top coat.
  2. While that is drying, applying OPI Glitter Off Base Coat around cuticle area. I do this to keep the sponging I do when creating gradients and other like manicures off my fingers and minimize clean up.
  3. Sponge on first colour (the unnamed Blue Joe Fresh polish with shimmer.) Depending on how sheer the polish is, you may have to sponge a couple times to be able to see the polish.
  4. Continue sponging using a variety of other colours. I try to keep my sponging in a line so you get that galaxy look. I also will apply some polishes thicker than others, or just sponge small spots so that it’s not too heavy handed.
  5. Using a dotting tool, place stars in random places on nail. (ACO by Ardene Showtime.) I also used some of the bigger glitters in Showtime for along the sponging.
  6. Apply a coat (or two) of Fairy Dust over everything. Then, after a couple minutes apply your top coat to seal everything in. Once that’s dry, you’ll be able to peel off your protective layer around your cuticles, and clean up what you might have missed around your cuticles.

And tada! You now possess galaxies on your finger tips. Galaxies are one of the easiest nail art designs you can probably do because they can be done with pretty much any polish, at any level, in whatever style you want! And the plus side is–it’s almost impossible to screw them up.

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In case you’re interested, my ring is courtesy of Kristalized_Designs on Instagram (who also happens to be my sister!) She designed two gorgeous midi-rings for me, and is going to be designing a little something special for an upcoming giveaway I’m going to be holding. She’s in the process of getting her Etsy page up and going, but you should definitely check out her page for a sneak peak at her designs. Everything is hand made and one of a kind (there is even a picture of her making the above ring.)

 

So what do you think of these galaxy nails?

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Silver Stamped Snowflakes.

 

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Last month, I made my first ever Born Pretty Store purchase, after dawdling about the idea for a while. I was in awe over all their options for stamping plates. I’m totally in awe of all the stamping I’ve seen around. I haven’t stamped in a while–almost a year! So I decided to order some fun plates with images I could never create freehand. One of my favorite plates I ordered was a collection of sweater-style winter prints. So when they arrived the other day, I knew I had to use them–immediately!

I stamped these nails at 7am, before having to get ready for work so they’re not perfect. But for my first time stamping in a long while, I’m really proud of how I did.

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The polishes I used for this manicure:

  • China Glaze Frostbite (applied over undies of China Glaze I Sea the Point)
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Celeb City — stamping.
  • ACO by Ardene Style Icon –gorgeous chunky silver and holo glitter.
  • Born Pretty Stamping Plate ID #6457 (Lace Snowflake Pattern).
  • Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.

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This is about as close to a Christmas Manicure as I’ve gotten so far this year, but I really love this sweater print. I’m already collecting a whole bunch of designs in my head I want to do for Christmas this year, so I have a feeling once December hits, there will be a lot of Christmas/Holiday manicures to share. There are also a few I did last year that I’m really itching to recreate and see how things have improved.

What Christmas manicures are you itching to do?

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Happy Halloween Nails! part two–Blood Dripping Nails.

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Is there anything more Halloween-y to wear on your nails than dripping blood? I was feeling another Halloween manicure the other day, and decided I should give the blood drip manicure a try. I decided to go with a very simple base color (Essence Color and Go Dare it Nude! with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust over top) before adding my dripping blood to the tips of my nails. I did the dripping blood using ACO by Ardene Strawberry Fields, and dragged it down my nails using a dotting tool. Everything was topped with Essie Good to Go Quick Dry Top Coat.

And BAM! An awesomely creepy manicure, perfect for Halloween festivities.

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I’m loving seeing all these different Halloween manicures popping up on Instagram and Pinterest. I move the end of this week (Halloween in fact) but I’m hoping to have a couple more Halloween themed manicures to share before the week is over. =)

 

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Glitter Gradient featuring Essie’s The Girls are Out.

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Oh wow, we were having some seriously warm weather last week–a full Summer flashback even though it’s now September. I felt like doing something a little brighter on my nails, so decided to go with a glitter gradient as not only are they fairly easy, they’re also quick (but totally gorgeous.)

 

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Essie The Girls are Out.
  • Color Institute unnamed gold polish.
  • Color Institute unnamed gold glitter polish.
  • Quo by ORLY Gold Rush Sparkle.
  • Nutra Nail Quick Dry Top Coat.

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Check out the holo bar glitter in Quo by ORLY Gold Rush Sparkle! Holy Moly–it’s another one of the mini polishes the boyfriend got me last Christmas as part of the holiday pack, and I’m still discovering how pretty these polishes are! I’m not usually a fan of bar glitters, but in Gold Rush Sparkle they’re more of an accent than front and center so I definitely love.

 

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So what do you think of this glitter gradient?

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Rose-y bridesmaid nails.

 

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So my sister came over the other day for me to do her nails for a wedding she is in this weekend. She was telling me how all the other bridesmaids had gotten their nails professionally done, and she was bummed because she just couldn’t afford to do that. I didn’t want her to feel left out, so I told her she should come over because I wanted to make them pretty for her! =) So while the boyfriend distracted my nephew, I got her to sit down, and came up with some gorgeous nails for her to rock. She told me the wedding colors were rose pink, white, and black so I brain stormed for a while and figured that roses would be the most perfect bridesmaid nails. =)

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The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Icing Beach Barbie — thumb and middle finger.
  • Bourjois Cendres de Roses — pointer and pinky fingers base color (and roses).
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Grey Area — pointer and pinky fingers polka dots.
  • OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls — ring finger base color.
  • Bourjois Le Rouge fidele — roses.
  • Bourjois Mais Oui! — roses.
  • Mariposa shimmery pink — roses.
  • ACO by Ardene Green Peace — leaves.
  • ACO by Ardene Techno Green — leaves
  • LA Colors Palm Tree — leaves.
  • Seche Vite Quick Dry top coat.

 

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I thought the end result turned out really pretty. It just so happened I had a dusty rose pink (Bourjois Cendres de Roses) that perfectly matched the pink in the wedding colors! I went with dark grey polka dots, instead of black, just because I thought it would be a little more subtle–and would compliment the rose color. My sister was really excited for her nails, which made me so happy. =) I also lent her my Icing Beach Barbie so she could paint her toes sparkly to match, since they have opened toe shoes. So she’ll look pretty from head to toe. =)

 

So what do you think of this rose and polka dot manicure? Do you ever do other people’s nails? I’m still not 100% used to doing them, but it is fun playing around on someone else–even if she has the tiniest little nails compared to my own.