Christmas inspiration!

Hey everyone (=

With Christmas coming right around the corner I decided to make a few Christmas inspired samples of nail art!

I made a bunch but only three turned out nicely enough for me to share so im going to show you and discuss the lucky three.

First is a Christmas tree design I free handed (can’t you tell?!) on a base coat of a mini polish from five below from a set scented and colored after Laffy Taffy Candy!  It smells just like you would expect artificial banana nail polish would smell, haha.  It dries slightly metallic even though it’s a crème in the bottle.  All of the colors in that set dry metallic, which was quite a surprise because I bought them because I love crèmes!  I used  Funky Fingers “peacocky” and Sinful Colors “HD Nails” (a Christmas-y green) for the tree.  For the garland I used Art Club “Malmsy” and for the ornaments I used random colors from my collection. I used an unnamed brown (cherry cola scented!) for the trunk and sealed with a coat of Sally Hansen “Confetti” and Insta-dri top coat.

I found using an unfolded paper clip is the perfect size to make the intricate little dots for the ornaments.  Since the end isn’t rounded, it doesn’t hold too much polish and leaves just the perfect amount!  This design was super easy to do because trees are naturally irregular and you can’t really mess up that (=

The next design I did was a simple, very understated fauxnad design of a white bell (I am out of the Konad special polish so youll have to forgive it not showing up 100% opaque!) on top of a base coat of Funky Fingers “peacocky”.  I used some gold glitter nail art brush to add an extra sparkle on the bell and sealed with a coat of Sally Hansen “Confetti” and Insta-dri top coat.  Very simple, not too showy but I hadn’t seen any Christmas bell nails lately so I figured it was worth creating!

My last and favorite was actually supposed to be a candy cane but I messed up and ended up making it into a red French tipped design instead.  I used the V design in Dark Red Art Club nail art over a base coat of L. A. Girl “white French” and finished up with a green star rhinestone for that added Christmas sparkle.  I didn’t use any tape on this one but if I was doing a full set I certainly would need guides. 

Hope you enjoy them & happy approaching holidays!!
(All images are clickable!)

mint apple refresher (=

Hello ladies (= as mentioned in a previous post, I have some extra time on my hands so I hope I can update and post as well as view, read and share with all of you!  It is official though: got all my grades back and I have my associates degree, should be arriving in February!

This next NOTW (Nail of the week!) has been one of my favorites because it didn’t start out as a NOTW, more like a NOTD.  But I have continually added onto it so much that its actually lasting a long time but each new addition gives it a little bit of a refresher so a) it looks fresh and b) I don’t get bored of it!

The layering goes as follows;

Sinful colors: Mint apple

ORLY: liquid vinyl

Art Club: Black

Art Club: Silver Glitter

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top coat

China Glaze: Matte magic

It started out with two layers of mint apple, and then I added one more for total opacity.  I am out of basecoat and haven’t had the thought cross my mind to purchase any new ones, so I didn’t use one, lol.  I then sealed it with one coat of the Sally Hansen topcoat.

It wasn’t until the next day that I added the flowers on the thumb and ring finger with a little bit of sparkle.  Being the awful disorganized mess of a person I can be, I actually misplaced the fauxnad plate I used so I don’t even know which number it is! M24!  I used the Art Club polish for it though, the thick formula works great with konad and fauxnad!  Two days later I decided to give another try on a French tip.  (My favorite concept yet worst execution! Love the classic look but haven’t been able to get it down just right.. until now!)

I used this tape that I bought for Christmas presents from Five Below for a dollar xD  I will definitely be investing in some French manicure strips because this tape is a double edged sword. 

Pros:

leaves the CLEANEST lines I’ve done yet

perfect amount of sticky that doesn’t pull off base coats

Cons:

Is 100% clear and VERY hard to place straight.

Not meant for nail care so leaves the tiniest little gaps on the edges (that I fixed with Art Club)

I loved the final look!

A day or two later, I decided to mattify my mani and loved it even more!  I am not sure WHAT caused this problem, but about half and hour after applying Matte Magic, the edges of my nails were really white, looked like a bad case of dry cuticles.  They still are and I don’t know how to get rid of it )=  My cuticles were just oiled and lotioned before I took these pictures, so I don’t think it was the actual dryness of my cuticles.  I really don’t know what caused this chemical reaction!  Anyways, the final product;

thanks for viewing (= i love to hear comments and feedback so let me know what you think!
(ALL images are clickable!)