Gradient Nails

Well, hello all! I've got some exciting news - my blog has been viewed 1,001 times. Since I'm not some big time blogger, but do this just for the fun of it, seeing that people have looked at my nails and writing 1,001 times is pretty exciting. Okay, nerd gushing is now over.

Today the hubby and I had our pictures taken. We've been together 5 years, married for 6 months, and we have not had any professional pictures taken. Ever. In his words, "I thought the roller coaster pictures from Sea World were a nice touch." This is what I am working with ladies and gentlemen. There is never a dull moment in our home.

I've been dying to try a gradient nail after seeing tons of tutorials and I thought today's photo shoot was the perfect occasion. The dress I found for today's pictures has a fuchsia, blue, white and black pattern that swirls together. I wanted to incorporate those same colors for my nail art. I've never done gradient nails before, so I was not sure how the end result would look. Here is what I got.

I like how it came out. Next time I try this technique out I will use more contrasting colors. It would  be fun, possibly bold. Today, however, did not call for a bold look. I wanted soft, demure, and romantic.

I even took a picture of the colors I used so I could remember them. I decided to do my nails around 10:30 p.m. and once I took pictures and edited them, I was dead tired. Taking a bottle shot was the only way to remember all of the colors. So here they are in all their glory.

From left to right: A-England Order of the Garter, China Glaze Strawberry Fields, Zoya Cristina and Pandora

 I started with two coats of Pandora as my base. Then for the gradient look I used Order of the Garter, Strawberry Fields and Christina. It was all topped with Seche Vite. If you are interested in gradient nails just search "gradient nail tutorials" on Google or any search engine. I got tons of hits and then used the one that made the most sense to me. I like simple approaches so I followed a tutorial that uses a make-up sponge for the color application. Find what you like best.

I can't wait to see how my nails look in the pictures . The photographer took some nice shots of us holding hands and she spot lighted our wedding bands. I'll have to  post those pictures when I get them.

Well that's it for tonight. Ta-ta!

Hugs and love,
Karen

Summer!

Hello, hello, hello! Once again I am back and ready to bring on the nail fun. After posting about my nails for the parade, things just got really busy. It was my first time ever ending a school year as a teacher and it wore me out. I could barely stay awake long enough after work to eat let alone do my nails. And any polish I did put on my fingers didn't last long enough so I could take a picture. I'd always chip my polish off during the school day. Anyhow, like I mentioned, I'm back. I have the entire summer off (to job hunt) and so I'll be polishing with pretties again.

I did manage to do a quick and bright mani for the last day of school. I figured some bright colors would lift my mood. This year was my first time saying good-bye to a class that was mine. It made me pretty bummed because my students were awesome and I don't have the luxury of seeing them next year in school because I was only a long-term sub. Usually pink and orange will make me happy and so that is the color combo I used

I went with a polka dot design because a) they are easy to do, b) they are cute, and c) I would love to own a bathing suit like this. I used two coats of an Ulta orange as my base and mixed the orange with China Glaze Strawberry Fields. I used the mixed color for my polka dots. I'm sorry for the horrible picture, but I took it right before work and I did not have time but for a few fuzzy shots before heading out.

I really want to enjoy bright, fresh shades for this summer. I think this is a good start.

As always, hugs and love.

Karen

The Bead Parade Nails

Hello ladies! Well last night I had an adventure. A friend and I participated in a local parade last night. What was going to be a promising night turned into a rain-soaked story to grumble about when reminiscing on old times. We got POURED on for about 15 minutes before the float we were on had a chance to actually make in the parade; and then at the end of the parade my friend, myself and five other USF parade participants were stranded in no-man's land for an hour and a half before we were picked up from the end of the parade route. My nail design should have been an indicator of how the night was going to turn out.

The original idea was to use dots so that it looked like the beads we throw out to the crowd were also stranded across my nails. I wanted them to match my shirt that my friend made for me (white, green, gold)The idea did not translate to my nails. The dots look so random and weird. I tried, haha.

Also I dislike, with great passion, Zoya's Christinna. I used it as my base coat because it is the only white I own. It's streaky, I always make a mess out of it and I have to call it quits on this polish. Time to invest in a good white cream polish. The other colors I used for my "beads" were Zoya Midori and a gold China Glaze color that I cannot remember the name of. I would check it out, but my kitten is curled up on my lap and it would be a shame to wake him up. :-)

Overall, the design worked for the event The other girls there liked it a lot. I like the color combo of white, gold and bright green. I'll have to use them again for another day.

Me on the left and Danielle on the right. This is just before we were rained on.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Hugs and love,
Karen

China Glaze Full Spectrum

Hello ladies! What a beautiful Saturday it is turning out to be in sunny Florida. I am enjoying it in my air conditioned home, so I'll let you know if the heat makes it less beautiful.

Today I feel like sharing China Glaze Full Spectrum from the Prismatic Collection. When I went to Sally's I saw these gems sitting on the shelf, untouched (who could pass them up!) and they said to me, "Take us with you." So I grabbed them. I tried out Full Spectrum first.

In this picture I am wearing two coats of Full Spectrum with two coats of Seche Vite. I wanted BLING for my high school friend's baby shower. She is having a little girl and I thought the color would  be appropriate. I got a lot of compliments on this color.

Even in shade, this color is eye catching.

There is so much to love about this color. For instance: iridescent duo chrome like you are looking inside of an oyster shell, glitter and foil finish? It's amazing, really. My only complaint is that the life of this polish does not last with my teacher life. It chipped really easily. Even with the Seche Vite. I will also layer it for now on. It was bit of a gritty finish too. But it was fun to wear as is for a special occasion.

Now I have to create fun nail art for the Bead Parade (it's a popular annual parade in the Sarasota/Bradenton area that has a much more dignified name). Like the parade name suggests, beads are thrown out by parade participants (ME!) and I want my nails looking just as great as those shiny beads.

Hugs and love,
Karen

I Heart Sally's

Hello ladies (and any gents)! I am finally moved to my new apartment and my nail polish is back in order. Time for  some new nail art! Oh and my birthday is this Tuesday, so that meant a birthday present from my amazing grandmother. I marched right over to Sally's because they are having a buy 2 get 1 free deal on their nail polish. This is what I got.

I purchased China Glaze Optical Illusion, Full Spectrum, and Magnetix in Drawn To You. I CANNOT wait to try all three of these out. Tomorrow I am going to a friend's baby shower and I am feeling a cute mani coming on using  Full Spectrum.


Hugs and love,
Karen

Mermaid Nails

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I do not have green or rainbow nails for today's post, but I do have something that will still feel like you found the gold at the end of the rainbow. I have mermaid inspired nails. I'm letting the secret out of the bag: I LOVE mermaids. Since it was spring break this week and I have been at the beach as much as possible I wanted the inspiration of those beautiful sea people on my nails. I was able to do it from this simple tutorial on Little Nails. Check it out!

Mermaid's tail inspired

This was such a simple design to create. I only wanted to do an accent nail to try it out and now that I know how simple it is, I will do each nail in this mermaid design for now on.I used bobby pins to make the dots, but I will use a dotting tool next time for larger sized dots. The colors I used for the mermaid nail were: Sinful Colors Cinderella (base coat for all of my nails), Zoya Rica, OPI Planks A Lot, Rally Pretty Pink, Not Like the Movies, and China Glaze Custom Kicks. The other nails then had one coat of Not Like the Movies painted over Cinderella. I wanted them to look like the inside of a sea shell. 

Also, excuse the messed up nails. Right after I finished this beauty I had to save my sister from getting red hair dye all over her face. I haven't had a chance to fix it because I've been so busy hosting my aunt while she visits Florida. Still enjoy the mermaid nail though!


I see many more mermaid manis in my future for summer. I plan on being a beach bunny all summer long and this nail design is perfect for it. 


I hope you all have a happy, fun and safe Saint Patrick's Day.


Hugs and Love,
Karen

China Glaze Gothic Lolita

Hello all! March has finally made it's presence known. If I were up in NJ right now I'd start itching for spring. I loved saying, "March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb." Then once March left that meant April! I'm an April baby so naturally I love the ultimate spring month. Since I am feeling springy I  wanted to share China Glaze's Gothic Lolita with you!

 This beauty, from China Glaze's Electro Pop, Collection just screams "OMG WEAR ME!" I love that it is a blue based purple. It's bright, but not too washed out. Sometimes I see a pretty purple in a bottle and then when I put it on it's bright, or not pigmented enough. It's just blah. Not Gothic Lolita, though!

The formula on this gem was very easy to apply. It glided on so smoothly! I used two coats and then used a top coat of Northern Lights because who doesn't love a holographic sparkle? 


Enjoy March 1st! I hope it came in like lamb for you as did here in sunny FL. Until next time...


Hugs and love,
Karen

Winter-speration

Hello all! Today I bring to you a mani that was supposed to be full of fantastic stamp art to an unplanned sponge mani. I wanted to make some winter inspired designs. I haven't been in the holiday mood too much and I thought perhaps making my nails look and feel festive could give me a boost. 

So I put on my base coat and was about to stamp when I started getting frustrated with my nail polish and the stamping process. Two of my brands are too thin to withstand the scraping action on the BM plate. It was really driving me up a wall! I did not want to change my color palate and I remembered I had cosmetic sponges I had not used yet. I just played around and this is the result. 

My base coat is Sinful Colors Tokyo Pearl. It has a grey undertone to it when applied that I did not notice in the bottle. It is also a wee bit on the streaky side, but two coats helped reign it in. I still like it though. I then applied CQ Electric Indigo with a cosmetic sponge to the middle of each nail. I sponged two oats of Electric Indigo because ,as I stated before, this is one of the brands that tends to be thin. After that coat dried I then applied Finger Paints Art Dealer Teal-er over the CQ color. The final touch was China Glaze Fairy Dust (which let's be honest here - glitter makes everything better). I put a top coat of SV to seal the deal.

This mani surprised me. I really like it. The colors and design remind of fresh glittering snow and icy windows. After being away from NJ for 10 years a girl begins to appreciate the colors of winter!

I hope you enjoy!

Hugs and love,
Karen

It's Graduation Time

Hello all! I'm back and with awesome news.
Tomorrow marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new journey. That's right, 12-11-11 marks the day that I graduate from USF. I'm going to be a teacher. :-) That's a lot of the reason why I haven't been posting lately. Toward the very end of my internship it got busy and down to the wire. I had lots of time to think about what I wanted my nails to look like for graduation though while I got important papers together and a portfolio made. With the work of Zoya and China Glaze I came up with this elegant and understated design. 

I used Zoya Gemma on all of my fingers except my pointer. On my pointer finger I used China Glaze Passion, it's also the color that I used to make the polka dots. Then to add a little sparkle to my pointer fingers I put a dusting of China Glaze Fairy Dust over the Passion.

And what I love about Gemma is that it can look darker in some lighting and lighter in others.The blue shine underneath the green is stunning. I love this look because it came out exactly how I had it pictured in my head! This is my first time making polka dots on my nails. LOVE THEM!


And in case you didn't know, USF's colors are green and gold. Finally, I'm a college graduate!!!

Josh Groban Nails featuring Zoya Gemma

Hello all! I am writing to you today from the high I am on after watching Josh Groban preform live in concert. I loved him as a musician before I saw him live and I love him even more. The concert was phenomenal. I am so happy that my buddy came with me. We both had a blast. I'm revved up and ready for Josh to come to my area again; and this time I am going to meet him!

Of course I had to give my nails some loving for this most special of occasions (it's right up there with my fiance popping the question last January). I was thinking, "What do I see when I listen to Josh's music?" It sounds weird, maybe, but sometimes the music tells a story that I can see in my head and a lot of times it evokes colors and designs. Yeah, I'm weird. Anyway, I came up with this design for the concert. 

My first ever perfect stamping result!

I used Zoya's Gemma for my base. I was not impressed with this color when I saw it online. I thought it was just another green, nothing special. Then I saw it in Ulta one day and I took the time to look at it. I immediately  myself for not purchasing it before. Gemma is a mossy green with a blue undertone to it that shines in the light at certain angles. It is really noticeable in the bottle. The formula was wonderful to apply and the color was fully opaque in two coats. 

I then used China Glaze's Passion for stamping. The pattern is from my new Konad plate B51. OMG I love love love how easy it was to use Passion for stamping. Easiest brand and color so far. Has anyone else experienced this with other China Glaze colors? 

Sadly I topped it all off with SV and I forgot about the shrink factor when you put Zoya and SV together. It's not like it was going to last long anyway. I need to make some Halloween designs for my  kiddos at school. 

I hope you enjoyed this design and post! And just for your enjoyment, here is one of the better pictures I could take with my camera phone while at the concert. Oh goodness how I love Josh Groban! 

He is an angel!