Seven Deadly Sins - Pride

This weeks theme, and the final theme for the whole challenge, is Pride.

I chose to do the prompt that reads "Recreate your own work to make it even better."

There are a lot of mani's I've done in the past that I could definitely revisit and make better, and maybe one day I will redo all of those, but this week I decided to redo my geometrics lines manicure that I posted back in January.

At that point in time, I did not own any striping tape and I even mentioned in the post how I wish I had had it.

I'm really happy with how this turned out. I know the design and color aren't exactly the same but I changed some things up because striping tape is kind of a pain to place on your nails.

I actually had quite a bit of trouble with my pointer and middle finger because at first I had painted the base color as the teal, placed the tape down (after it had dried), and then painted the black over top. Unfortunately, since the black is a jelly polish, when I pulled the tape it took more polish with it than it should have. So then I had to color the base black, place the tape so that it made the outline of and "X" and then paint the teal using a striper brush inside of that outline. Very frustrating and not necessarily as clean as I would have liked, but better than had I done it free-hand.

The ring finger and pinky, on-the-other-hand, turned out perfectly. My thumb, actually, ended up looking the best but I a an idiot and didn't manage to take any photo of it.

The colors I used were Daring Diva TNT and OPI Mermaid Tears (previously I had used Zoya Neely and China Glaze Liquid Leather). I really love how the glitter in TNT sparkles, its a very gorgeous polish, even though I really really hate that song. (Yes, you can hate me now, I don't like AC/DC. I also don't care for the Beatles much either).

I also decided to add square studs, because why not? You can never have enough studs in your life!

Please make sure you check out the other challengers!

Born Pretty Store Striping Tape Review

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't posted lately. Today I have a review for you of the striping tape from the Born Pretty Store.

My next couple posts will be guest posts from other blogs, so to keep with that theme, I will be featuring my moms nails today.

For this nail art, I did a gradient using OPI Steady As She Rose and OPI Pink Friday. My original intent was to place the tape, paint another color over top and then remove the tape, revealing the gradient underneath.

When I first attempted to peel off the tape, the layer of paint underneath came with it. I felt like her nails were dry enough, but it's possible they weren't. The tape was also very sticky, so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it either.

Instead I decided to just apply the tape as stripes and leave them on there. I actually think I like this much better than what my original plan was.

I really love how the holographic look of the tape looks when paired with the creme gradient. My mom was quite please as well :)

This is what the one roll of tape looked like. There was a bit more tape when I received it, but I messed around with it some before I took this photo.

The tape was very easy to use, just unroll some, cut it, and place. Like I said, I did have difficulty with using it in such a way that I would be peeling it off to reveal what was underneath, but that could definitely have been user error. For the way I did use it, I just applied a layer of topcoat over it to help it stay longer.

Striping tape can be purchased from the Born Pretty Store for $1.90 a roll or $7.00 for all 12 different colored rolls.

As a gift, all my followers can use the code NHL91 for 10% off.

This product was sent to me for review. All of the above statements are my own honest opinions.

Born Pretty Store Heart Studs

Daisy from the Born Pretty Store contacted me to review one of their products. The Born Pretty Store is full of nail art supplies as well as other beauty items. I asked Daisy if I could review their Gold Heart Studs.

I had a bit of trouble with deciding what to do with these studs, so to google I went. I saw The Crafty Ninja's Valentine's mani and I knew I needed to recreate it. I actually love this mani way more than I probably should and it probably has something everything to do with my newly purchased OPI Steady As She Rose. Have I ever mentioned that I love every polish from OPI Pirates of the Caribbean collection, because I do.

This is my first time applying studs to my nails, it was quite easy. I just dabbed a bit of top coat where i wanted the heart to go, then added a dab of top coat to a dotting tool to pick up the stud, and placed the stud on the nail. Since I have pretty small nail beds, I wish these hearts were a tad bit smaller (as you can see, the stud is taking over my pinky nail haha) but I still really like them.

I used OPI Steady As She Rose and OPI Pink Friday to create this look.

These studs can be purchased at the Born Pretty Store in either gold or silver for $5.83 a bag. Though I didn't count how many were in my bag, I say there's quite a bit to last me awhile.

As a gift, all my followers can use the code NHL91 for 10% off.

This product was sent to me for review. All of the above statements are my own honest opinions.

I Love Nail Polish Swatches!

Hello everyone! I have some very exciting swatches to show today from the brand I Love Nail Polish. I love these, even the packaging, which I will talk about at the very end.

Matthew Peri is made of periwinkle, gunmetal, navy blue, and prism glitters in various sizes and shapes. I love this, and I imagine over white, it would look very wintery. I watch Friends on the regular, so I love the name of this. The formula was great, not too thick, not too think. In this photo, I have one layer of Matthew Peri over Julep Meryl.

So Ghoul is a Halloween polish with silver, black, purple and even a few yellow glitters. I don't have many polishes with yellow glitter so it's very unique to my collection. The formula is nice, not too thin, not too thick. In this photo, I'm wearing So Ghoul over Orly You're Blushing.

Bad Mogwai is a Gremlin inspired polish and a combination of black and green glitters. There are hexes, bars, and even squares. This polish was also made for the Halloween collection, but as you can see, it doesn't have to be just for Halloween. In this photo, I've layered it over OPI La Paz-itively Hot. The formula for this was also great. Even if I didn't love this polish, which I do, I'd love it just for the name. My pugs name is Gizmo, after the mogwai in the Gremlins movie. When he was still a puppy, we would say that at certain times of the day, he would turn into a gremlin himself. Now he just sleeps all the time :)

Now onto the packaging!

Each polish comes in its own box, with a die cut heat, showing off the labels on the bottles. The designer in me just swooned when I saw this, seriously. So in love! The handles are nice too, they kind of have a rubber/grippy feel too them so it's easy to open the polishes.

And the bottom of every bottle has a color coordinated label with the name of the polish.

I Love Nail Polish can be purchased on etsy for $10.00 a bottle. The Winter Collection looks absolutely stunning.

*Products provided for my honest review*

Leopard Print + Gradient Tutorial

When I did the 31 Day Challenge, I had someone ask me for a tutorial of this manicure. Here it is!

1. Start by painting your nails yellow. I used China Glaze Happy Go Lucky. Let this dry completely before going on to the next step.
2. Create the gradient using a makeup sponge. Paint the colors directly onto the makeup sponge next to each other in stripes (like this). I used China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, Zoya Arizona, and Julep Drew.
3. Add purple leopard spots using a small striper brush. I used OPI Funky Dunky.

If you have any questions, comment below :)

Zombified

Halloween is probably my favorite holiday. I love everything about it, especially zombies. I've noticed recently zombies have become quite popular, probably due to shows like The Walking Dead, and I decided I do some zombie inspired nails.

I realize these are kind of gross and may not be practical for everyday wear, but I love them. And it's October, so I say who cares?

I used a China Glaze Matte Magic top coat to add to the rotting undead zombie flesh.

31DC2012 Day 16: Tribal Print

These aren't super tribal, but it's kind of ikat-ish...maybe? Honestly, I don't really care,  I just like the colors. Finally, some fall colors.

I'm a big fan of my pointer and ring fingers. I wish I had made my middle and pinky a little neater but ikat is supposed to be messy, right? Right.

For these I used OPI Skull and Glossbones, OPI It Color, and OPI Funky Dunky. (I mixed the last two to create the shades I wanted).

Tomorrow is glitter, which I'm super excited for. I've purchased a bunch of glitter polishes and i'm super excited to finally get to use them!

Check these out:

31DC2012 Day 14: Flowers

Floral print is one of my favorite type of nail designs. They're so easy and they always look awesome! Also, almost halfway done this challenge! Super exciting because balancing this with school is rather difficult.

For this I used Zoya Natty, China Glaze Snow, Butter London Trout Pout, and OPI Mermaid Tears.
Do you have Zoya Natty yet? Because if you don't you need to buy it right now. Go. It is a gorgeous color and the formula is amazeballs. Also, I'm so happy to finally own BL Trout Pout, it has been a lemming of mine for ages.

As always, check out the other amazing ladies doing this challenge.

31DC2012 Day 13: Animal Print

I wanted to do something different than the usual animal print nails. I started looking up photos of lizards and found this guy.

Isn't he pretty?

I used a gradient technique and then a added black spots using a dotting tool. To make it resemble the lizard skin, I added lighter colored dots all over. Make sense? Probably not, I'm terrible at explaining things.

I really love this but it's not fitting my current autumn mood. I used OPI Who the Shreck are You?, OPI Fly, China Glaze Liquid Leather, and China Glaze Snow.

Check out other blogs!

31DC21012 Day 11: Polka Dots

Okay, I know I just posted like 2 hours ago, but it's already the next day, so I'm gonna go ahead and post this. FInally have gotten to another section the challenge! I wanted to do something a little different than just plain old polka dots, so I did kind of polka-stripes. I also wanted something sort of patriotic, since it's September 11. I decided to go with a non-traditional red, white, and blue. I really like how this turned out. It kind of has this mod feel to it.

The polishes I used are OPI Red Lights Ahead... Where?, OPI I Have A Herring Problem, OPI I Vant To Be A-Lone Star, and China Glaze Liquid Leather.

Check out others participating in the challenge!

31DC2012 Day 10: Gradient

I still really cannot take photos of my right hand, I even had my boyfriend help me. Anyway, I decided instead of doing normal gradient nails, which I've done often, I would just do simple gradient dots with the dotting tool, since that's about the highest skill level my left hand is at.

I kind of reminds me of dinosaur eggs for some reason. Also, I apologize for my cuticles, I tend to neglect my right hand.

For this manicure, I used OPI Skull and Glossbones, OPI Fly, China Glaze For Audrey, and China Glaze Shower Together.

Finally done the color section, tomorrow starts patterns!

Check out some other blogs!

31DC2012 Day 8: Metallic

I spent the whole day yesterday thinking Day 8 was rainbow and came up with the perfect idea. Then when I went to do my nails, I double checked and realized it was metallic. With no idea what to do, I just did whatever popped into my head first. 

Anyway, I only have one photo for today as well because I was having a hard time photographing this polish.

I used Maybelline Mirror Magic, OPI Mermaid Tears, and a Jordana Pop Art white striper polish.

Go ahead and check out some other bloggers participating in the 31DC2012!

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 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 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).