Thanksgiving Manicure--Art Deco

The holidays are that time of year when we see family more and want to look our best. Whether your upcoming holiday festivities are casual or formal, I have a few nail art ideas to help you plan that Thanksgiving Manicure!

I channeled my inner glamour to create a subtly stunning manicure. I chose none other than Art Deco as an inspiration. Art Deco has been very present in designs over the past year so it seemed like the perfect inspiration.

This is the most formal Thanksgiving manicure I created. You could easily change up the colors to match or compliment a party dress. And with a little striping tape, this was a breeze.

*Later I added a black rhinestone to my pinkie and index finger near the cuticle, unfortunately I forgot to take a picture*

Polishes Used: Barielle Gold Digger, OPI Spark de Triomphe, and Zoya Edyta

Festive, Glittery Manicure...

Hello, lovelies! Today I have a very random manicure. It was nearly a "playing with polish" post, but it's really just layering. Because I did not know how to share this post, it has sat in my "edited" folder for quite some time, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to be shared.

Today seems like the perfect opportunity to share a glittery manicure. This weekend my husband graduates from medical school, so there is a lot to celebrate! Cue glittery manicure...

Polishes used: Diamond Cosmetics Don't Teal My Heart Away, China Glaze Champagne Bubbles, OPI Spark de Triomphe

Playing With Polish--Ugly Tribal/Easter Egg

Okay, so I had this great idea that I would create a pastel tribal pattern on my pinkish manicure. Little did I know how positively hilarious this would turn out! See for yourself...

This was definitely a "miss" in my book. The manicure which was supposed to be a pastel tribal, ended up looking like an ugly Easter egg! Oh well, here is to next time! *cheers*

OPI So So Skullicious

I was blessed enough to win the So-So-Skullicious mini collection from Noelle at XO, Noelle when she did her "My Favorite Things" Giveaway.  She is such a doll and sent me a plethora of new goodies to try:)

Amongst them was the fun sugar skull inspired collection.  Now I must preface this by saying that while I love OPI full size bottles, formula, and brushes (generally) I am usually less than impressed by their minis.  On top of that there was a yellow in the collection, a color notorious for being a pain to work with.  However, this mini collection surpasses my expectations.  The polishes were not a nightmare to work with due to the teeny brushes, the formula was self leveling, and the yellow was pretty stress-free as far as application goes! See for yourself...

Left to right, Hi, Pumpkin!, A-Rose from the Dead, Mourning Glory, and Candlelight.

The Verdict:
All were 2 coats, except Candlelight which was 3 just to be safe. These had excellent pigmentation.  While these might be the most friendly OPI minis I have used to date, they aren't really that original.  Mourning Glory was just a straight, plain old black.  And these were all cream polishes.  In the end I enjoyed them and they made a fun Halloween-ish skittle manicure.  I would only suggest this collection if you have nothing like it, or if you're in love with the sugar skull decals included.

Time Warp Challenge--Day 8

This is sadly the final day of the "Let's Do the Time Warp" Challenge.  I think this was my favorite challenge ever.  It was so much fun and everyone participating was so encouraging.  Thank you to all of you for making this so wonderful.  And a special THANK YOU to Lindsay from Neverland Nail Blog for hosting and creating this challenge.

Today's challenge is... 

Let's do the TIME WARP again!

This challenge was basically to recreate a manicure of another participant.  This was such a difficult challenge.  The manicures were all so amazing and well executed that I was intimidated to recreate any of them.  However, when I saw the manicure created for Day 4 (Lights, Camera, Action!) by The Polished Squirrel I new that this was the one I wanted to attempt.  Stephanie was inspired by the classic fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  Here is her incredible manicure & a bit of the story if you're unfamiliar with it.

The version I grew up with was slightly different from the one Stephanie recounts.  The book I remember is this one:

I always loved the story, but the illustrations in this particular book were to die for.  They were so stunning.  The story I remember is different from the one Stephanie told in that the soldier in her story was a gardener in the above tale AND in the one above the princesses were under a curse.  To solve the mystery, the gardener was given a magical golden flower to put into his lapel that made him invisible unlike the cloak of the soldier.  Due to these differences, I changed the manicure ever so slightly to include the flower instead of the cloak.  Below are the trees of the silver, gold, and diamond forests with the magical flower on my pinkie.

 I adore this manicure.  Thank you so much Stephanie from the Polished Squirrel for your inspiration and your beautiful manicure.  I could never do it justice!

Polishes used: SinfulColors Black on Black, Barielle Granite Glitter, Barielle Gold Digger, China Glaze Champagne Bubbles, NfuOh 61, Barielle Green Opal, OPI Stranger Tides, and marquis rhinestones

That's all.  Thank you to all of you for your wonderful comments and support throughout this challenge:)  Here's a quick recap: 

Time Warp Challenge--Day 6

Today's challenge is...

They sure don't make 'em like they used to!

Today is brought to you by the letter "d" and the number "11."  Ok, but really let's be honest, they really don't make things like they used to.  Today's theme reflects classic toys and games of our past or from history.  This one was so easy to think of ideas for, but so hard to pick one to do.  My top choices of inspiration sources were pick-up-sticks, Parcheesi, Yahtzee, marbles, and dominoes.  Do you want to see which one I picked?

Fun fact: my family still plays this every new year's day!

Polishes used: (too many) Zoya Purity, SinfulColors Black on Black, OPI Skull and Glossbones, Barielle Surf's Up, Barielle Life of the Party, Barielle Sunshine, Essie Fear or Desire, Barielle Lily of the Valley, Essie Barefoot in Blue, PritiNYC Geisha Girl

What game or toy would you have chosen?

A Forever Fall Favorite

This polish is (and most likely will always be) a favorite of mine to wear in the fall.  OPI Russian Navy, from the Russian Collection way back in 2007, is beautiful.  It's a shimmery navy blue with blue and even reddish-fuchsia shimmer.

In indirect light

In direct evening sunlight (hence the warm cast on the photo).

Isn't that shimmer just delicious?!?!?!  DO NOT wear this polish while driving, it will distract you;)

This IS part of their permanent/core collection so you should be able to easily get your hands on this beauty for about $8.00 wherever you can buy OPI.

What polish do you find yourself grabbing (or getting excited) for every fall?

ALSO if you're looking for something to do, check out the Zoya Gloss giveaway at FabFatale & vote for your favorite entry (or mine if your so inclined!) here: http://www.fabfatale.com/2012/09/manicure-mondays-zoya-gloss-giveaway/.

Time Warp Challenge--Day 4

Today's challenge is...

Lights, camera, action!

This one was hard for me. I'm not sure why it was so hard for me to think of a nostalgic movie, song, or piece of literature.  I reflected on what I listened to, read, and watched growing up but I could not come up with any ideas I liked. Then, while I least expected it, inspiration struck.  I remembered reading a certain poem over and over because of the nonsensical gibberish in it.  It was introduced to us kids by my dad (who is the best story teller ever) and my sister and I became obsessed.  So without further ado, I introduce you to my friend...

...the Jabberwocky!

The poem, by Lewis Carroll, was originally from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There however, I was unaware of this until I was in high school and reading Through the Looking-Glass.  As the many years have passed, my sister and I still know the words to this wonderous poem and although it is full of nonsense words, you can still make sense of it as the words used are imitations of words.  It's my favorite poem ever.  Now on with more manicure pictures...

My nails say "...and with it's head he went galumphing back." This are the last lines in the fifth stanza and since I painted the Jabberwocky it was only fitting to slay him as painting him sure did the same to me:)

In Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There Alice comes across a book written in what seems like a different language language. She soon realizes that everything is written backwards, so Alice holds a mirror to the book and reads the reflected verse of "Jabberwocky."  Because of this, I included some shots with a mirror just for fun;)

I know it's kind of a mess (and that many of you probably dislike it), but I love this manicure.  It was SO time consuming, but I love the result!  It would be PERFECT for Halloween!

Polishes used: OPI Skull and Glossbones

What movie, song, or piece of literature would you have chosen?

OPI Skull & Glossbones

This is the last polish that I own from OPIs spring 2011 Stranger Tides Collection.  I only own the minis and I have showed you all but this one...Skull and Glossbones.

 

(indirect and direct lighting)

Skull and Glossbones is a lightened grey cream with a touch of yellow.  In some lighting it appears grey and in others more taupe.

The Verdict:
As was the case with the other 3 minis, I found application difficult due to the watery formula, stiff brush, and teeny handle.  Other than application, I enjoyed the color.  This was a pretty neutral and it paired nice;y with anything and everything.  Due to my fair skin tone, I find some grey polishes to appear very dark on me so I really loved having a grey this pale.  Perfect for spring and summer due to the touch of yellow that makes this grey warm toned.

OPI nail polish retails for around $8 and can be found in many beauty retailers.  This collection is no longer available, although Ulta's summer collection contains many polishes from this collection.

OPI Stranger Tides

This is my last week at the beach:-\

While digging through swacthes & past manicures to post about, I realized that I had only shared 2 of the 4 OPI Stranger Tides minis I own!  This is the perfect week to share the other 2.  Today I'm sharing Stranger Tides, the namesake of the 2011 spring collection.

 

This color is a greyed-out dusty, dingy sage.  This cream polish required 3 coats to even out & reach opacity.

The Verdict:
I love the color but hate the application.  ALL of my mini OPIs are a pain to apply because of the dinky brush with stiff plastic bristles.  I think if I had a full size of this it would have been a different application.  This color is kind of ugly, but it's so ugly it's pretty.  I found myself staring at this color all day at work when I wore it.  I guess I'll have to track down the full-size:)

OPI nail polish retails for around $8 and can be found in many beauty retailers.  This collection is no longer available, although Ulta's summer collection contains many polishes from this collection.

Summer Fun Challenge--Day 5

Lindsey at the Neverland Nail Blog is so incredibly creative.  I love her blog so very much and about 3 weeks ago she announced The Summer Fun Challenge.

Day 5: ARE WE THERE YET?

I have been traveling quite a bit this summer so this phrase hits rather close to home.  I'm actually at the point that I'm sick of traveling & all I want is to stay at home.  Unfortunately that is not going to happen...yet.  So to celebrate this mantra what could be better than MAPS:)  First you should be impressed that I even own an atlas, even if it is an old German atlas:)  

 I'm rather directionally challenged so my husband thought it was hilarious that I painted maps on my nails.  I always have some sort of GPS in my car at all times!
This manicure began as a base of some Sally Hansen white polish.  The beige looking squiggles (mountain tops) were actually created with OPI Skull & Glossbones, but my brush was a little dirty for some reason from a crazy pigmented red and made it look a tad pink.  The green parks/forests were made with OPI Stranger Tides.  Then I squiggled Barielle Berry Blue for rivers & lakes, made dots for cities out of Sinful Colors Black on Black, and finally connected the cities with Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby roads.


I like how this turned out, especially since it was created while I had a migraine.  Yay for maps!

Take a peek at the other Are We There Yet? manicures:

Sparrow Me the Drama with Dots

So a while back I was wearing OPI Sparrow Me the Drama, which is a lovely dusty pink, and I wanted to liven it up a bit.  So I decided to add white dots of varying sizes.

It ended up pretty cute.  It definitely looks like a spring manicure.  I can't say this is my favorite manicure ever, but it is an easy way to add a little something extra to a manicure.  This would work particularly well if you could see nail growth since your last manicure and wanted to cover it up.  I think this would look amazing using a white, grey, nude, or black and using bright or neon polish dots/speckles.

How would you change this mani for the summer?

OPI Planks A Lot

This polish was released last Spring as part of OPI's Pirates of the Caribbean Collection.  The majority of the collection is filled with pretty pastel creams.  I had high expectations for these lovely shades because i love pastels.  Here is the darkest of the bunch, Planks A Lot...

 This is 2 coats.  This polish was so frustrating to apply.  OPI minis are so hard to work with, they have a dinky brush with hard bristles that cause tons of cuticle drag and pooling.  I got rather frustrated with this polish and stopped after 2 coats.  I decided I HAD to do something with this crappy polish job I did, so I tried a herringbone manicure...

 It did not turn out as I had hoped, so I will have to practice & try it again.

The Verdict:
While I love this color, this polish definitely disappointed me.  I know that most of it was the fact that i have a mini and not a full size bottle.  I was however disappointed in the streaky thin nature of this polish.  I will have to give it another shot with a different base coat.  Needless to say, I do not recommend the mini of this polish (all of the minis of this collection were like this, but this one was the wateriest).  I really want to love this, but after looking at the pictures, I was saddened.  I love the color though:)

This polish was part of last spring's collection so it may be easiest to find at online retailers that sell OPI polishes.

All That Glitters...OPI Spark de Triomphe

Confession: I am afraid of glitter polishes.

I LOVE glitter polishes in the bottle.  I LOVE the potentially amazing things you can do and create with glitter polishes.  BUT they're a pain to take off & sometimes they make me feel like a little kid.

This week I am going to share with you my silver, gold, & glittery friends that do not get the credit that they deserve.  "All That Glitters.." week has already taught me to love my glitters more.  Check it out:

All That Glitters is...

OPI Spark de Triomphe

Say "hello" to my favorite glitter.  Spark de Triomphe was sold as part of the Serena Collections.  This beautiful glitter is packed with mostly silver microglitter and small silver hexagonal glitters, but it has some gold fine glitter and hex glitters sprinkled in there too.  This is one coat of this beauty, it takes only 3 coats to reach full coverage of this gilver stunner.

The Verdict:

This is a favorite for sure.  I was lemming this glitter for so long and when I got it, she did not disappoint.  I love how this transforms in different light.  Every moment with this beauty on your tips will make you love it more.  Application was a breeze and the glitter was smooth against the nail.  I highly recommend this polish to any gilver lovers:)

This OPI was part of the Serena Collections and can be found at some beauty supply stores and also online with certain suppliers.  Most OPIs retail individually for $8.00.

Pink Week: Sparrow Me The Drama

This week has been deemed "Pink Week."  My posts will feature a pink-ish polish that has not yet gained its due recognition:)  


This is the last of my under-recognized pink polishes.  Today I present to you an itty bitty baby (mini) polish.  I received this polish as a set with 4 other mini friends from the OPI Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides Collection (2011).  This polish was given to me graciously by Danielle of PrincessPolish.  Without further adieu, OPI Sparrow Me The Drama:

Sparrow Me the Drama is a dusty medium pink cream polish.  It had a very glossy finish but took 3 coats for full, even coverage.  This pretty springy pink has hints of grey and lavender in certain lighting.  


The Verdict:
Sparrow Me the Drama is a lovely pink.  It is a versatile pink that can probably hold its own during any season.  I found this tiny beauty to be easy to apply, but I just wished it took fewer coats.  It is very flattering against my pale wintery skin.  If you need an ageless pretty pink that will flatter nearly everyone check this little lovely out!


You may still be able to locate this mini collection on Amazon, eBay, or at a local beauty supply store that doesn't get rid of inventory quickly or ever.  This polish can be bought here, prices vary.