robin eggs nails!

i have had this design on my list for a while, so i'm excited to show you guys!
let's get right to it.

i just had Lime Crime Once In A Blue Mousse sitting out and i was thinking, hmm, that looks like a robins egg! this is 2 coats and then just some scattered dots to make the speckled effect! i started with a dotting tool and Julep Otte to make faded looking dots, then did some dark ones with a nail art pen.

these nails make me super happy. i love the idea so much, and it was beyond easy to execute. everyone with a tiffany/robin's blue polish should try this design out!
super excited to show these babies off!

super cute doily nails!

these were fun & also one of the more detailed things i've done in a while!

i was inspired by a nail art account i follow on instagram, who was inspired by her phone case. so i changed it up a little bit and they came out looking like delicate doilies!

this is 2 coats of Barry M Cobalt Blue & some nail art done with a light blue nail art pen. Cobalt Blue looks an awful lot brighter in the bottle, so i was somewhat disappointed with this polish, but it still had a really nice formula and good coverage.

i got a lot of compliments on these nails! people said they also looked like a pysanka (ukranian decorative egg) which is also true!

the only bummer is that i got too impatient and my topcoat dragged the art on my index nail ;( oh well!

baroque pattern (sorta!)

this is definitely something i would've worn during the actual holidays, because the berry color is so Christmas-y!

i received a "mystery wristlet" from Julep and was excited to test out one of the colors, so i came up with this pretty, free-hand design :)

 

this is 2 coats of Julep Sharon. it's a pretty red-berry shimmer polish that is absolutely gorgeous. a red shimmer is a must have in any collection, and this one applied great. 2 coats for full coverage is good with me!

then i free-handed a baroque inspired pattern onto my nails. i did full nails on my ring & thumb nails but only accents on the rest so it wouldn't get overwhelming. 

these were really classic looking and i got tons of compliments! still can't get over the nice color.

gold sparkly tribal

i recently became a julep maven, despite all of the disappointment i've heard about terrible formula & bad service. but i have to say, with the exception of extremely slow shipping to Canada, i love it so far!

this is a mani i did with one of the colors in my introductory box. (this post is a tad picture heavy!)

this is 2 coats of Julep Otte, a coat of Ninja Polish Shattered Star & some line art with a black striper! this mani was extremely fun & easy to do. which is awesome if you ask me. i was inspired by Nailside, where Jane does a mani similar to this, but i could only do the 2 arrow stripes because my nails were shorter. 

shattered star has also become one of my favorite glitters. it's the perfect gold (not too yellow) and has lots of holographic glitter! this was part of Ninja Polish's holiday collection. overall i really liked that such a simple design could be so striking!

here's a swatch of Otte by itself. i wasn't sure about this color on my skin tone, but i still love it. neutrals have me in a hold right now that i cannot describe. and this is a unique color too! like a nice camel/sand creme.

& i'm back! only a month later...

so i took a much needed break from just about everything over the Christmas holidays, and then extended it over 'till about now. but that doesn't mean i didn't do my nails many a time! so i've built up a little stack to show you all.

i've also decided to make a few changes in the blog;
less swatching, more art. gotta get back to what i actually enjoy doing!
& i hate capitalization. i started this blog thinking if i capitalized properly and whatnot that it would seem more professional, but that's not me & i want this to be casual fun for me.

that being said, onto what i think was my favorite mani of 2012!

this is Barry M Blue Moon! i took the plunge and recently bought a couple Barry M polishes & i am not regretting it. i love pastels and this color was great. this is 3 coats (+ a coat of China Glaze Ghoulish Glow, i went out that night and thought it would be neat).

then i added some fun gold square studs i purchased from ebay. some of these turned a little bronze-y in color after topcoat? you can kinda tell, top stud on my ring finger was the worst. but i didn't mind.

this was awesome and didn't chip for like 5 days, which is top notch when it comes to me (i can never make it last). Barry M polishes will definitely have to make their way into my collection more often!

Pretty & Polished Holiday Collection!

I took these swatch photos of part of the Pretty & Polished Holiday Collection forever ago and I totally forgot to post them, so as we get closer to Christmas I thought it would be a good time to show them off!

I had an opportunity to preorder the polishes from the collection that I liked, and bought about half the collection. So here they are!

This is Ruby, the first of the Happy Holodays Duo. It's a berry red scattered holographic polish with a jelly base. It's a really nice color and something I'd wear around the year. This is 2 coats. It covered beautifully and was a really impressive polish from an indie brand. So nice to see what the non-glitter indies are like!

This is the second of the Happy Holodays Duo, Glitter Topper. Its a mixture of red and green holographic hex glitters in a clear base. Its a really cute Christmas glitter that cold be layered over red, green, white, whatever to spice up any holiday manicure. This was 1 coat plus a little dab here and there to fill in bald spots.

Next up is Everybody Loves Penguin. Extra chunky black glitters and medium yellow glitters in a creamy jelly white base. I had to fish a bit for the extra large glitters, but other than that, this was my favorite of the bunch! Super interesting and fun. This was 3 coats.

Lastly, Love Always, Candy Cain. This is an assortment of micro, medium & large white and red hex glitters with white & red heart glitters as well! I've shown it here over Lime Crime Milky Ways. I had to fish less with this one. This is one coat dabbed on.

Overall this is the most fun I've seen in a Christmas Collection so far & I'm really glad I purchased these!

The Christmas Collection is no longer in stock, but lots of other Pretty & Polished pretties are in stock in her Etsy shop. You can also keep up with updates & new polishes on the Facebook page.

Fabulous Glitters From Jindie Nails!

I recently came across Jindie Nails on Etsy and I was totally wowed by some of her creations. They are really different from any other indie polish brand, so I had to pick up a couple!

I will show you the (first) 2 i bought (because I obviously now have more on the way!)

First up is Jindie Nails BeTrixed. It is blue & yellow micro glitters with pink & black small hex glitters in a clear base. It is pictured here over Lime Crime Milky Ways. I really love the combination of colors! It applied beautifully and one coat was all I needed to get this cute topper look. A coworker compared these nails to the look of a roadmap. Isn't she so right!?

And this is Jindie Nails Happy Dance. It is a combination of micro & small teal, pink and pastel purple hex glitters with micro, small & large red hex glitters in a white jelly-creme base. This is 2 coats of the polish and that's all you needed for full opacity! It applied like a dream for being so glitter packed. The color combination is unlike anything I've ever seen for a white based glitter polish so this one really excited me.

You can purchase Jindie Nails Polish on Etsy. Both polishes are currently in stock, so go get them!