Cloud manicure

It's so easy to spend too much time doing your nails when you're on summer break, oh well! Cloud manicure (on my ring finger) this week. Search for it on Pinterest, it's all over in so many fun colors!

I painted all of my nails the pretty coral color (Sonia Kashuk), then added the white layer and the purple (it was so difficult to correctly capture the purple color, it looks blue here) layers by freehand.

Close-up, but still couldn't really get the colors right.

Chevron with nail stickers

Playing with the chevron nail look today, incorporating The Beauty Department's easy nail sticker method (paint nail polish on tape and cut tape into desired shape).

Here are my 'nail stickers' on the edge of my desk.

I used tape for the metallic triangles, and free-hand painted smaller black triangles on top using the metallic triangles as guidelines.

The beginning of summer means I have time for these things now :)

Neon French mani

Studying like crazy so not much time for personal aesthetics (well, aesthetic 'extras.' I'm still showering regularly and everything), but I couldn't resist a quick manicure!

So here it is, the Neon French!

It's got me in the mood for the summer that is quickly approaching! :)

Polka dot mani

I love all of the polka dot manis that I have been seeing lately! Thought I'd try one of my own. Inspiration came from cute creations like these:

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As much as I love these looks, I needed a more toned-down version so I just polka dot-ed my ring finger. 

 With a pure white base, a few pinks, and my homemade dotting tool (see instructions here!) I dotted away!

Bright tips

A bright mani for spring! I've seen brights and neutrals paired in everything from shoes to decor, especially nails!

The look was time-consuming to achieve, but I was in need of a bit of me time :)

I used a basecoat, then added two coats of my beige/tan color (which ended up much darker than I had expected/hoped), using my thumb nails to wipe off the tips (I tried taping off my tips, but it just got too complicated). When that was done, I simply added two coats of the colors to the tips and finished with a topcoat.

Nails nails nails

Love having the time to shop without the guilt of not studying! Spent my Monday shopping with my Mama, using up old giftcards to places like Sephora, where I got this cute set of nail polish minis :)

The resulting manicures:

Spring toesies!

Favorite mani

Think I have a new favorite manicure! I've done this one twice in a row now, which is unheard of for a polish-addict like me! I used a cheap ($1.50!) NYColor polish with my essie flakie on my ring finger. Love the look of a subtly unique ring finger.

Since I have a huge test coming up, that's it from me today!

New flakie polish

As you can probably tell, I have a bit of an obsession with nail polish. Although I have many polishes, I didn't have a flakie until now! A flakie is a nail polish with irregularly shaped flakes in it, which makes for some pretty cool effects.

This is the one I got, from essie. As you can see, the flakes are pretty light, but I love the look of a flakie over a dark color.

I used this Sinful Colors which is black with faint blue glitter in it.

I added the flakie, and it came to life!

The next step was to mattify it, with essie's matte about you. Here it is indoors,

and outdoors in direct sunlight!

V-day nails

Plans are made, preparations are in effect, it's almost Valentine's Day! Honestly, I'll take any chance to celebrate romance and be feminine and work with a theme. Therefore, Valentine's Day nails!

Super light pink with a big red heart!

Fun mani

Had to try the Aztec/tribal nail art that's going around Pinterest like crazy. It's so cool! A bit overwhelming and it looks weird with the majority of the outfits I wear, but overall I'm pleased with the results. I achieved the look with Revlon basecoat, L.A. Girl Flare in Flushed, Revlon in Minted, Sinful Colors in What's Your Name?, and Rimmel French White Tip Pro.

I started with a basecoat, and then did three stripes on each nail of the Flushed, Minted, and black (What's Your Name?). This was finalized with a lot of random designs with the white. The key to this whole look was the skinny brush that this white comes with (since it's for French manicures), or else it would have been nearly impossible. A nail pen would have also done the trick nicely.

Not sure how long I can stand to have all of this on my nails, but they are fun for a few days :)

Ombre nails

Tried an ombre mani today, inspired by the one found at this site. First, I painted two coats of the silver color, then I added the black at the tips with a make-up application sponge, darker at the tips.

Marbled nails

Have always wanted to try water-marbling my nails and today I finally had the time to do it!

Now that I have finally figured out the whole process, it probably wouldn't take me very long to replicate it. However, it took me almost an hour of trial and error today.

Here's what works:

Start with a small cup of warm water (the smaller the cup, the less nail polish wasted)

and nails with a basecoat and one layer of a neutral polish (I used a Revlon basecoat and an Essie polish)

Choose at least two colors of polish for the design

Drop dots of polish into the water, each inside the last (the circles will expand as more dots are added)

Drag a toothpick or orange stick through the polish, carefully avoiding dipping it into the water

Tape around your nail (if desired) for easier clean-up then submerge the nail into the cup. Aim for the part of the design you want on your nail. Dip your entire finger into the water and use a toothpick/orange stick to circle your finger and pick up excess surrounding nail polish. Repeat the process for each nail

The end result! Honestly not as hard as it looks, just make sure to keep the water warm and use relatively new nail polishes. I tried with older ones and the drops just sank into the water, not spreading out like necessary.

Unique ring finger nails

Playing with the essie matte about you a little more and jumping on the unique ring finger bandwagon :)

Although the matte finish is great (and velvety to the touch), it doesn't actually work that well as a topcoat. My nails chipped within a day or two. Also, it doesn't stay matte for long. It picks up all of the moisture from any water or lotion that touches your hands and eventually turns kind of satin-y but not in a good way. Still fun for a bit though :)

Matte topcoat

Finally got my essie matte about you! I really love the look on dark nails.

For this look I used a basecoat and two coats of OPI Russian Navy.

Then I added a coat of matte about you. The colors aren't really accurate (they are more navy blue than as black as they show up in the photos), but you get the idea. I love the look!

Rainbow Connection

Finally! OPI's Rainbow Connection, part of the Muppets Holiday 2011 Collection. 

It's AMAZING! The SPARKLIEST! 

This was incredibly hard to photograph, but this is the most true to color. This was three coats of Rainbow Connection, with a base coat and a top coat. 

I'm in love!

Newspaper nails

So, I did it. Newspaper nails.

...and I love them!

Super easy, much more so than I thought. I painted my nails with Essie Sand Tropez (pretty close to the color of newspaper paper), dipped them in astringent (we didn't have rubbing alcohol, which I have heard is the normal form of ethanol used for this), pressed a piece of newspaper on my nails, removed it, and voila!

So fun, I've been staring at them all day!