Neutral Snowflake Nail Art with Zoya Kennedy

I told you I was going to have some nail art with these snowflake stamping plates coming up! I wore this design for a long time and absolutely loved it. I like to mix in up in the winter and wear neutrals to balance out all the dark shades I wear and Zoya Kennedy is my all time favorite neutral.

I started with two easy coats of Kennedy and used China Glaze I'd Melt for You and Konad Special White polish to stamp snowflakes from Born Pretty plates QA57 and QA58. I did large snowflakes on my thumb and ring nails and topped them off with a silver rhinestone. Definitely give this look a try if you're looking for a work-appropriate winter mani!

TDOCNAS 2014: Day 8: Silver Sideways Snowflake French

Good morning! We're going a little less festive and a little more wintery for today's nail design. I love the snowflake stamping plate that I got from Born Pretty Store so much that I've been using it all the time! You'll definitely be seeing more nail art with it after the Twelve Days of Christmas series is over.

I started out with two coats of OPI Don't Burst My Bubble (my favorite sheer pink ever). I used hole reinforcers to block off part of my nail and painted China Glaze I'd Melt for You to create the sideways french shape. I stamped the snowflakes using Born Pretty plates QA57 and QA58 and Konad special white stamping and finished the look off with silver rhinestones in the center of each snowflake.

I can't believe in a week it will be Christmas Eve! I can't wait!

TDOCNAS 2014: Day 4: Fair Isle Snowflake Pattern Nail Art

Every year since I can remember, my mom has either made or bought special Christmas pajamas that my siblings and I got to open on Christmas Eve. When I moved out, Joe and I decided to keep the tradition and he got me these awesome gray and white fair isle fleece pajama bottoms from Old Navy last year. I was thrilled to find a matching pattern on one of my new stamping plates!

I started with a base of two coats of Zoya Carey and then stamped over that using one of the patterns from stamping plate QA57 and Konad special white polish. I can't even tell you how many times I had to re-stamp these because I couldn't get them straight! It was so frustrating but they turned out okay in the end.

Do you do the Christmas Eve pajama tradition with your family? I love it!

TDOCNAS 2014: Day 3: Red & Green Snowflake Gradient Nail Art

Hello hello and happy Friday! I'm so excited that it's almost the weekend! I've got a lot of relaxing and crocheting to do the next few days. ;) Anyway, for today's nail art I decided I wanted to try some stamped snowflakes over a gradient. I debated a bit on the colors for the gradient but ultimately went with red and green to keep it festive instead of just wintery. I'll probably do some winter gradient snowflakes at some point, so don't fret.

I used Zoya Evvie, Hunter and China Glaze Jolly Holly for the green gradient, although Hunter doesn't show up that well as the middle color. I used OPI Coca Cola Red and China Glaze Tip Your Hat and Cranberry Splash for the red gradient. Once those were all done and dry, I stamped over each gradient using snowflakes from Born Pretty plates QA57 and QA58 and Konad special white stamping polish.  I'm pretty happy with how they turned out but I wish the three colors in the gradients would have stood out more. I just don't have that many shade options in green and red!

TDOCNAS 2014: Day 2: Candy Cane Nail Art

I did candy cane nails two or three years ago and remember being so disappointed in how they turned out, so I decided to revisit them this year! I'm happy to say that I'm much more pleased with how these turned out! I decided to stamp them instead of trying to use tape and I'm way, way happier with them.

I used China Glaze With Love as my base color and stamped over it using a wavy stripe pattern from Bundle Monster plate BM-207 and Konad Special White polish. I topped everything with a coat of Zoya Sparkle Gloss and KBShimmer Clearly on Top and called it a day! I'm always surprised at how vividly the Konad white polish stamps over colors, but I guess that's what it was made for.

Are you all decorated for the holidays? We have our annual ugly sweater party coming up next weekend so I've been decorating for a while trying to get the house perfect!

Game of Thrones Targaryen Dragons Nail Art

Okay, so I know I said I didn't have time for nail art because I was too busy catching up on swatches, but I got this idea in my head last week and absolutely had to sit down and do it right away before I lost the inspiration. If you didn't know, I'm a huge Game of Thrones fan (books and TV show) and I couldn't resist doing some nail art based on Daenerys's dragons.

Viserion is a cream-colored dragon with golden horns and accents. For this design, I started out with a base of OPI My Vampire's Buff and sponged OPI Going My Way or Norway randomly over the base. I used Zoya Ziv and Bundle Monster plate 215 to stamp the dragon scale image over the base and top it with a coat of KBShimmer Clearly on Top. I wanted to see what the designs looked like matte as well, so the second photo shows a coat of Essie Matte About You over the design.

Drogon is a black dragon with blood red horns; his egg had swirls of scarlet on the black scales. I started out here with a base of A England Dorian Grey and sponged OPI German-icure over it. I used just a regular black polish to stamp the scale pattern over the base. I definitely prefer this one shiny, but I like the appearance of texture that the matte look has.

Rhaegal is the third and last dragon; his coloring is green and bronze. I started off with Zoya Hunter as my base here and sponged Zoya Edyta. I originally stamped the dragon scales with China Glaze Jolly Holly, but you could barely see them, so I stamped again with China Glaze Argo and I'm happier with the result. I think I like these better matte.

Please tell me that I'm not the only one who is going through Game of Thrones withdrawal!? I finished all the books so far and we are all caught up on the series so I guess my only options are to rewatch and reread until April (??) when the show comes back. But let's talk in the meantime... Who is your favorite character? Any word on when the next book will be out?

Tropical Zebra Ombré Nail Art featuring OPI Brazil Collection Shades

I'm giving you guys a little break from the florals for today! ;) I had the OPI Brazil collection sitting on my desk and all these colors looked so beautiful together that I knew I had to do an ombré with them.

 

I used OPI I Just Can't Cope-acabana, Where Did Suzi's Man-go?, Toucan Do It If You Try, Live.Love.Carnival, and Kiss Me I'm Brazilian for the ombré. I'll have the review of these polishes coming soon, but I'll tell you now that I'm in LOVE with these colors! Especially all together like this.

I thought about doing another floral stamp over this but decided to mix it up and go for zebra print instead. I love how they turned out! This would be the perfect mani to accent a margarita on a beach vacation. ;)

The products in this post were provided for my honest review.

Coral Floral Stamping Nail Art

Hey everybody! Are you totally sick of floral stamping yet? Me too kinda... but I can't stop myself. This is the mani that I actually wore for Easter yesterday.

I started out with a base of two coats of Nicole by OPI My Sol Shines Brighter and then picked a random floral pattern and stamped it over each nail in white. I picked the glitters out of OPI I Snow You Love Me and placed them in the center of some of the flowers.

Seriously though, are you over the floral designs or could you stand to see more? I need to know! ;)

Teal Floral Gradient Stamping Nail Art

Good morning! I had another desire for gradient nails, but this time I decided to do the gradient under the stamping instead of as the stamping. I still stuck with a floral pattern though since I'm so smitten that it's spring!

For the gradient base, I used Essie Go Overboard, OPI Taylor Blue, and KBShimmer A Touch of Glass. I applied two coats of A Touch of Glass and then sponged the other colors over it to create the gradient. Once that was dry, I stamped the flower design over it using Gals plate GA11 and Konad white stamping polish.   

I really almost left it like this. It was so beautiful without the stamping and I worried that stamping over the gradient would ruin it, but I'm happy with how the design turned out. Gradients are my favorite! 

Springtime Floral Gradient Stamping Nail Art

Good morning everyone! I finally had the desire to do some nail art recently and once I sat down to do it, I actually had a really hard time deciding on what exactly to do. It sure helps to have the book around to thumb through for inspiration! I decided on a neutral base with pink/purple gradient stamping and a floral pattern.

The base I chose is OPI My Vampire is Buff, one of my most favorite neutrals. I used Zoya Reagan, OPI Antibleak, and OPI Miss You-niverse to create a stamping gradient by painting a line of each shade and dragging the scraper across the stamping plate in the same direction as I painted the lines. I'm usually not into flowers and floral patterns but I really love this! How do you feel about florals? Fun or granny-style?

Stamped Jewel-Toned Snowflake Nail Art

Good morning everyone! Sorry for the little hiatus! Things have been busy around here and I haven't had much time to swatch or anything lately, but I wore this nail art for a while after Christmas and thought I would share. I used OPI Anti-Bleak and China Glaze Queen B for the base colors and applied a coat of Zoya Sparkle Gloss over it. I gathered up all my stamping plates with snowflakes on them and stamped snowflakes on each nail with the white Konad stamping polish. I love this combo, but my next snowflake mani will be over a neutral color!

TDOCNAS: Day 5: Navy Snowflake French Manicure

Good morning! I hope you all had a great weekend! Today's nail design is a classy french manicure using shades of blue. The base color is Zoya Natty and I used two coats. I waited for it to dry completely before I applied hole reinforcement stickers and used China Glaze Midnight Mission to create the french tips. Once that was all done, I used Konad white polish to stamp snowflakes on my middle nail. I finished it off with one coat of KBShimmer Clearly on Top.

What do you think? I love these elegant french-type of designs!

TDOCNAS: Day 2: Buffalo Plaid Nail Art

Even though my house has been decorated for two weeks now, I'm so excited that it's finally an "acceptable" time to be in the holiday spirit! I've fallen in love with buffalo plaid this season and seriously can't get enough! My pups both have matching buffalo plaid collars and I scored a buffalo plaid scarf for $10 at Forever 21 a few weeks ago! The lovely red and black plaid reminds me of winter and the holidays, so I thought it would be fitting for this series.

I started out with a base of two coats of China Glaze With Love, a lovely warm red. I used MASH plate Mash-50 and a black stamping polish to stamp the plaid pattern over each nail. I think I've finally gotten the hang of stamping straight!

Do you love plaid?? I can't get enough!

Happy Thanksgiving Feather Gradient Nail Art!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful day and eat tons of delicious food! I'll be at my parents' house all day doing just that. ;) I love me a good gradient and this autumn-inspired one has me drooling almost as much as the thought of pumpkin pie!

To create the gradient, I dug through my collection and found a light tan, a burnt orange, a red, and a darker berry red (I'm so sorry I don't remember exactly which ones I used!). I painted all my nails with the light tan and then painted stripes of each color onto a sponge and sponged them onto my nails. Once that was all dry, I stamped a feather image onto each nail with white polish and finished with top coat.

What are you wearing on your nails for Thanksgiving? Are you going Black Friday shopping? I hope everyone stays warm and safe out there, I know how nuts it can get!

Happy Halloween w/ Black Spider Web Half Moon Nail Art

Happy Halloween everyone! I'm not really celebrating this year but you know I can't resist a good reason for some nail art and candy! Halloween used to be my favorite time of the year for nail art since it was the only time I was allowed to be bold and wear black nail polish! :P

I started this look off with two coats of Nicole by OPI Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary, a nice bright orange shade. Once the orange base was dry, I used black polish to stamp a spider web near the cuticle of each nail. I let that dry completely and then applied hole reinforcement stickers over each nail to create the half moon shade with black polish. I topped it all off with a coat of KBShimmer Clearly on Top (my fav topcoat).

I hope you like them! Have a spooky day!

Happy 4th of July Nail Art

After finishing up the 500 nail art designs for the book, I can't believe that I still had the desire to do my nails for the 4th of July, but I did! Things should be getting back to normal around here very soon and I hope you're as happy as I am about that!

So anyway, I was originally planning on doing a totally different design on each nail, but decided that I wanted them to be a bit more unified. I decided on stars and stripes for the ring and middle nails and a glitter gradient for the pinky and index nails. The white is Milani White on the Spot, red is Zoya Sooki (which photographed more orange than it looks in real life), and blue is China Glaze First Mate. The glitter for the gradient is Shimmer Nichole.

For my thumbs, I decided to do a red, white, and blue gradient with Shimmer Alice on top. The white got overwhelmed by the red and blue, but I still think it turned out pretty good.

I'll be spending my 4th of July with my family on my grandparents' property, enjoying delicious food, sun bathing, and watching our own personal fireworks show! Do you have any exciting plans for the day? 

Sephora Disney Jasmine Compact Mirror Review & Nail Art!

Hey guys! Since my Sephora Cinderella compact-inspired nail art went over so well, I decided to create some with it's Jasmine-themed predecessor too! The compact, like the Cinderella one, is a fantastic product. 

It comes packaged in a magenta and gold box with a plastic front that allows you to view the compact inside. Perhaps one of my favorite parts of the packaging though is the bar codes on the back of the boxes. This one is shaped like the Sultan's palace in Agrabah, but each product has a different shape as it's bar code.

When you take the compact out of it's package and open it up, you'll see the two mirrors: one is magnified and one is regular. The top mirror has the quote "shut your eyes and take a chance" written in gold along it's bottom edge.

But the top is the most beautiful and intricate part of the compact. A gold filigree that culminates in two genie lamps in the center are placed over a pink and purple rendition of the city of Agrabah from the movie. The pops of turquoise enamel are the perfect accents.

For my nails, I used a base of Zoya Lara and sponged and stamped over that with Zoya Areej. I used Zoya Ziv to hand paint the gold design on top.

Here is the design with a matte top coat applied over it. Which way do you prefer the design? I think I like it better glossy!

Unfortunately, this compact sold out pretty quickly in stores and online. If you are willing to pay for it though, you can still find it on eBay and possibly Amazon. While I know that plenty of people bought these mirrors with the intention of actually using them, I have mine tucked away safely in it's box on display in my nail polish room. You know I must collect (err... hoard) anything Disney!

The products in this post were provided for my honest review.

MASH Stamping Plate & Matte Polish Review

Happy Friday everyone! I have a review of some products that were sent to me by MASH for you guys today. I got a set of their stamping plates and some matte polish. You can find the stamping plates at this link and the matte polish here.

The first stamping mani I did was with China Glaze Harvest Moon over Zoya Jacqueline. I'm not the best at centering the full nail stamps, but the designs did stamp pretty well regardless. I also like shimmer of Harvest Moon for the stamp instead of a solid, plain color.

This second mani turned out okay, but not great. I had a bit of a problem with this image bleeding out at the edges, even though I tried not to press too hard when I stamped it. This is China Glaze 2NITE stamped over Milani Rapid Orchid.

Last but not least, this is one coat of the MASH Matte Polish over Black Cat Lacquer She's In Parties. This isn't the most mattifying top coat out there, but it does work very well! I love it over glitter like this!

Do any of you guys own these plates or the matte top coat? I am such a big fan of stamping; it's such a great way to create really complex looking nail art in a short amount of time. Are you going to pick either of these products up?

These products were provided by the company for my honest review.

Sephora Disney Cinderella Compact Mirror Review & Nail Art!

Good evening everyone! If you've been following me on any of my social media accounts, you probably know that I've been going crazy trying to find this mirror and I finally did! The mirror and its packaging are so beautiful that I knew I had to do some nail art inspired by it!

The mirror is gorgeous! It's hard to tell from the photos, but the center piece is actually covered in beveled plastic that mimics the facts of a gem.

When you open up the compact, you'll see the quote "time for you moment" is etched onto the top mirror. One mirror in here is a normal mirror and the other is magnified.

This is the nail art that this gorgeous compact inspired me to do! I worked off of the designs on the packaging to create this look. I started out with three coats of Sally Hansen Barracuda as my base and then stamped a floral pattern from Gals plate GA33 with SH Please Sea Me over that.

Next, I stamped a scroll pattern from Gals plate GA44 with Zoya Ziv on the bottom edges of my nails. I finished the look off with a flower image from MASH plate m21 in SH Jungle Gem and a dot of Ziv.

I'm so in love with this compact and these nails! I can't wait to collect all the other mirrors from Sephora! Are any of you guys going crazy over the Sephora Disney Princess collections?

Disney Princess Nail Art Series: Rapunzel

I have more Disney Princess nail art today! Yay!! :) Today's princess is Rapunzel from the movie Tangled. I'm not picking these princesses in any particular order, I'm just going with which ones inspire me at the time and Tangled has become one of my favorite movies as of late!

I started out with three coats of China Glaze Lemon Fizz on my pinky, middle, and index nails. I stamped those with Zoya Ziv to represent Rapunzel's hair. On my thumb, I painted Zoya Mira and then stamped a swirly design with Zoya Suri and painted the sun symbol with acrylic paint.

On my ring nail, I decided to recreate the front of Rapunzel's dress, starting with Essie Nice is Nice as the light purple. I stamped over that with Zoya Julie for the subtle flower pattern of her dress, then painted China Glaze Tart-y for the Party for the middle part. Once that was all dry, I very carefully dotted some eyelets and painted the ribbon of the corset with Zoya Kennedy.

Have you seen Tangled? Did I nail it? No pun intended! :P