Team of Destiny

I'm not sure how many of you are football fans, but last night was the AFC Championship game and the Ravens beat the Patriots. Which was a pretty big deal, considering the Ravens played the Patriots in last years AFC Championship and lost. Now WE'RE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL! (I'm really excited incase you couldn't tell) Last night, before the game, I painted my nails Ravens style.

I used these images for the pointer and middle finger:

And I did sort of a glitter gradient for the rest of my nails using Julep Oscar and Cover Band Sticks 'N Stones.

Overall, I'm really happy with how they turned out and even more excited that it's gonna be a Harbowl!

Will you be watching the Super Bowl in two weeks?

31DC2012 Day 7: Black & White

I wasn't quite ready to part with The Count, so I did this manicure on my right hand. People always say that painting with you non-dominant hand is hard; however, they never tell you how difficult it is to take a photo, which is why I'm only posting one picture. It was the best one I could get.
Also, using my dotting tools was probably as good an my non-dominant hand can do. I like it though, so yayyy!

I used Sally Hansen Whirlwind White and China Glaze Liquid Leather.

Check out others who are participating in the 31 day challenge!

31DC2012 Day 6: Violet

It's 10:20 pm where I'm at, so sorry that this is being posted so late. I had school and blah blah blah let's talk about these nails!

For day six, I honestly had no idea what I was going to do. I spent the day at school thinking I was going to paint some purple pansies and by the time I got home, I didn't feel like it anymore. Then it came to me, I wanted to do The Count from Sesame Street. I don't think I've ever done anything this complicated before and I'm so happy with how he turned out (and those cute little bats...awwww).

I used a medium length striper brush for this manicure. 

The polishes I used are Orly You're Blushing, OPI Funky Dunkey, Julep Meryl, a mixture of Julep Anne and Penelope, Julep Emilie, Finger Paints Pop Art Purple, and Jordana Pop Art striper polishes in black and white. 

Check out other ladies nails for today :)

31DC2012 Day 5: Blue

Day five is blue. I had to do something simple because of school so I figured I'd try out a seran wrap mani. I like it, it looks like water to me. if I would've had time I would've done bubbles or pool toys.

For this I used Julep Jessica, Color Club Chelsea Girl, and OPI snow for the little white dots.

Check out the other bloggers participating in the 31 day challenge!

31DC2012 Day Four: Green

Okay, I said yesterdays nails were my favorite, but I think I love these wayyy more. Also, I own too many green polishes, I even have tons of green glitters but I was trying to limit it to cremes. I used twelve green polishes all together, and I wouldn't have had to repeat if it wasn't for my thumb.

Here's the long list of polishes used-

Julep: Alma, Courtney, and Emilie.

China Glaze: Four Leaf Clover and Electric Pineapple.

OPI: Did It On 'Em, Jade Is The New Black, Mermaid Tears, Who The Shreck Are You?, and Stranger Tides.

Zoya: Tracie

Orly: Viridian Vinyl

and Jordana Pop Art striper brushes in black and white.

Check out the other ladies doing the 31 Day Challenge!

31DC2012 Day Three: Yellow

I'm loving these nails. One of my favorite color combinations is yellow, black, and white, so these are perfect. I just wish my topcoat didn't go all smeary on me. It's not really noticeable in person at all, so just pretend you don't see that, okay?

For these nails I used China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, HGL mixes with white (that I used on my jellyfish nails), Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, and China Glaze Liquid Leather.

These are definitely my favorite nails of the challenge so far, but it's only day three.

Here's a recap:

Check out others participating in 31 Day Nail Art Challenge!

31DC2012 Day Two: Orange

Day two is orange nails. I'm definitely stumped when it comes to these color days. I've done something similar to this before and I liked it so I thought I'd recreate it in orange.

Took my photos outside this time but there's no sun. I usually take photos in my room, but if you follow me on instagram you'd know my room is currently under construction.

For this, I used Julep Alyson (my favvvvvv nude), Orly Old School Orange, Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, and China Glaze Black Leather.

Here's a recap of all the days coming up. Only 29 to go!!

Check out other bloggers taking part in the 31 Day Challenge!

31DC2012 Day One: Red

I've decided that I'd take part in the 31 day nail art challenge. I'm going to try my best to post everyday, we'll see. Day one is red. I'm not really sure what's going on with my nails, but I kinda like it. Can't go wrong with stripes and diamonds, right? Right.

Yeah, I know in my last post I said I only owned like two reds, but I lied. Not purposely, I just forget about the OPI minis I have, like all the time.

I used OPI Sanguine, OPI Pedal Faster Suzi, and Julep Delaunay. 

And heres a photo describing all the days (from Chalkboard Nails).

Octopi, Octopuses, or ... Octopodes?

Day 7 of the Superfluous Nail Art Challenge is animal spots. I had to think about what to do for this one quite a bit, but then it hit me. I decided to do the Blue Ring Octopus. A quick google image search will show you that these octopuses are any color from a light beige to a bright yellow but they always have these vibrant blue rings.

And now for a little English lesson. I've done some research, and while all my life (and maybe yours too) I've been told that the correct way to pronounce multiples of octopus is 'octopi.' However, throughout history it has been referred to as 'octopi,' 'octopuses,' and 'octopodes.' Here is a nice little video about that, if you're interested.

I decided to go with the taupe/beige color for the base, and put a bright orange/yellow in the middle of the rings. I do think this manicure is sort of strange, but for some reason I can't stop staring at it, seriously, I just love it.

The colors used were Julep Alyson, Julep Parker, Color Club Chelsea Girl, and China Glaze Liquid Leather.

And, out of curiosity, what word to you use for multiple cephalopods?

Color Run 2012 New York

This past Saturday, I participated in the Color Run in New York. On their website the Color Run is described as "a unique experience focused less on speed and more on crazy color fun with friends and family. Color runners come from all different ages, shapes, sizes, and speeds; but everyone toeing the start line has a blast. Whether you are a casual morning mall walker or an Olympic athlete, the 3 miles of the Color Run course will be the most memorable and colorful run of your life!"

Of course, I had to do my nails for the occasion! I decided to base my design on this photo from their website.

I started with a white base, used black polish and a striper brush to create a path, and then used the splatter method with a straw to make the splashes of color.

For my right hand, i just used the splatter method, I'm not sure which hand i like better.

And here's a photo of my manicure after the run.

So. Much. Pink!

It was a lot of fun and I'll definitely be doing it again next year. Here is the Color Run website in case you're interested. 

For this manicure I used Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, Color Club Chelsea Girl, China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, China Glaze Four Leaf Clover, China Glaze Make An Entrance, Zoya Arizona, and a black Jordana striper polish,

(Not Your Average) Galaxy Nails

Day 6 of the Superfluous Nail Art Challenge is Galaxy Nails!

This is my first time doing galaxy nails and I wanted to do something a little different. Obviously, these aren't the kind of galaxy nails that people are used to seeing with the black background and splotches of bright colors.

I love how the middle finger looks like it has swirls of fluffy clouds.

To create this manicure, I used the same technique as regular galaxy nails.

The polishes I used are Revlon Royal, China Glaze Black Diamond, China Glaze Frosty, China Glaze Snow, and Nox Twilight Disco Darling. Let me tell you, Royal was the perfect color for this, perfect formula and perfect dry-time.

Windestine Swatch Spam!

Today I decided to show some swatches from the indie brand Windestine. This post is very picture heavy so let's get started!

First up is Spica *Swirl*. Windestine used to sell a polish just called Spica, which was very similar, but from the swatches I've seen, it looks more like a royal blue than a navy. Spica *Swirl* has a navy blue/turquoise base with various sized holographic silver and light gold glitters.

There are even little crescent moon shaped ones!

Each brushstroke is filled with all different types of glitter and I had no problems with glitter placement.

I used three coats for the above swatches. There was a teeny tiny bit of shrinkage that you can probably see in the photos but it wasn't as noticeable in person.

Next up is Bellatrix, which I would say is the sister polish to Spica *Swirl*. It has a dark maroon base with blue, pink, gold, and silver glitters. There are crescent moon glitters in this one as well.

This polish doesn't appear as glitter heavy on the nail as Spica *Swirl* is, but I'm not sure if that's because there aren't any larger glitters besides the moon.

I used three coats for the photos above and Bellatrix also had a little bit of shrinkage. The shrinkage could be caused by my topcoat; however, I've never had it shrink anything on me before.

Next is Asbestos, a polish with a clear base filled with tiny white square glitters.

I wore this recently in my ombré manicure. Love this polish.

I wore one coat of Asbestos over Zoya's Arizona (which appears to be a color my camera hates).

This last one is Carbon Copy. Carbon Copy is the brother... sister... (whatever you would like to call it) to Abestos. This polish is full of teeny tiny black glitters in a clear base.

There's also a slight shimmer to it, which isn't as present on the nail but can be seen in the bottle.

In the photos above, I used one coat of Carbon Copy over OPI's Stranger Tides.

Overall, the formula for all of these was thick, but I had no trouble with glitter placement for any of them. I was a little bummed about Bellatrix. When I saw swatches of it, I thought it was going to be my favorite; however, it just is kind of blah to me. Maybe it's just because it's still summer and the base color is so dark or it could be something as simple as I could have used another layer of top coat. Either way, I love all of the others.

Windestine polishes can be bought at either her Etsy or Big Cartel stores. Spica *Swirl* and Bellatrix are both $8 each for a full size a bottle, where Asbestos and Carbon Copy are $6 each.