Caviar Beads

Somewhere along my path to nail polish hoarding I acquired some "Caviar Beads" for nail art. They've been sitting in my kit since I got them over two months ago and I've contemplated using them a few times but never got around to it. I finally decided to change that and just go for it the other night, so this mani is the result of that. 

The beads were surprisingly easy to work with and didn't stick out on my nail as much as I was expecting. The problem with these, however, is the fact that I'm a very tactile person. I like to touch and pick at things and little plastic balls stuck on my nail are a pickers dream. Needless to say, these only lasted about a day before I could resist the urge to pick them off. 

These are a bit of an odd look, but if you're wanting something unique and fun, an accent nail or two could be really fun :) I liked trying them out and I don't think this will be the last time I use them. 

Happy Polishing :) 

Sparkle Gradient with BL, CG and SOPI

Today's nail art challenge is Sparkles! I'm really loving this look and it's super simple to create. The base color is Butter LONDON's Royal Navy and the gradient is made with China Glaze's I Herd that and the chunky glitter is Sephora by OPI's Only Gold for Me top coat.

I'm off to dinner. Happy Polishing :) 

Sparkles and Glitter and Gold, Oh My!

Polish makes everything better. Adorably cute mini Essie Fall Collection polishes are even better. And  it just so happened that these lovlies appeared on my desk yesterday!  

Not to be too melodramatic, but I LOVE these colors!

I of course had to use them immediately and went with the dark green Stylenomics as my first color. It's such a stunningly deep green that almost looks black in certain light. I love these greyed out colors. Totally fall/winter feeling to me. 

I also wanted to try another entry into the December Nail Art Challenge I previously participated in. I didn't end up doing a plaid pattern, but the next theme up was SPARKLES!!! Yee!!! I immediately pulled out all my bottles of glitter and sparkles and got to thinking. I ended up doing some taping on my thumb, and a little freehand sparkly star on my middle finger. I wish that the green of this polish showed better and that the golds showed as gold and lovely as they are in real life! First world lacquerista problems, right here. 

(Indoor lighting)

(Sunlight)

For this look, I used the following (with my favorite base and top coat of course):

Essie Stylenomics

Essie Beyond Cozy

Sephora by OPI Only Gold for Me which I purchased with their Tinsel Town Collection

Happy Polishing :)

Is it too early for a Christmas mani?

Autumn and Winter are by far my favorite time of the year. I love being able to bundle up on the couch next to the fire with my hot cocoa and a great book. Reading and nail painting are essentially tied for favorite things to do so don't make me choose! (Maybe I'll do some book reviews on here occasionally...hmm). Anyway! The past few days have finally begun to be gloomy and cold (only took to the end of November!..but that's what you get in California) and driving home after work with the sun already down and all the Christmas lights up really solidified the feeling that it is in fact winter! My favorite! 

I was feeling inspired by the time of year and landed on PRESENTS! Everyone loves to give and/or receive gifts and I've been slowly finding presents to give to friends and family so it seemed fitting. 

I used, YET AGAIN (sorry!) Sephora by OPI's Mr. Right Now because it is my all time favorite red and I am going to have to go buy more soon. My striping accents (you have no idea how many times I checked to make sure that didn't say stripping accents...) are Ulta's Concrete Evidence and a mini Sephora by OPI called Already Famous that came as part of their winter Tinsel Town Collection. 

Here's my Christmas Present-esque look all together. I ended up using striping brushes that I got off of Amazon. They can be found here. 

When I use nail brushes, I like to make sure that I'm working on a flat surface (table, desk, closed laptop with a towel over it?) and have both hands resting on the table so that I eliminate any shakiness. There are a two basic methods to ensure a straight-ish line. The first is to have the brush do the moving while your nail remains stationary. This one can be a little bit tricky if your brush hand isn't as steady. This method might work best for when your dominant hand has the brush. When you're painting your dominant hand (brush in your non-dominant hand), holding the brush stationary and moving your nail beneath the brush removes the battle of creating a straight line with your non-dominant hand. Through all of this, I make sure my hands are resting on the table to eliminate additional movement. 

 Happy Polishing :)

SOPI, gummified!

My obsession with matte polishes is I am sure unhealthy, but can you blame me?? It looks so amazing. Like gummies on my fingertips! One of my all time favorite reds is Sephora by OPI, Mr. Right Now and while this polish does not disappoint as a stand alone color, I absolutely LOVED it with a coat of Essie's Matte About You. So amazing and good enough to eat! 

I decided after the fact to add a little extra flair by striping across my ring finger with some Zoya Storm. I left the Zoya as is with no matte finish. 

Happy Polishing.