All Smiles

No, not smile “lines”…actual smiley faces!
Yesterday was quite a busy, brain-frying day, so I decided that bright, sunny smiley faces would help me get through the rest of this week. I love the turquoise polish too…it’s rather flat on it’s own (though it *looks* sparkly in the bottle), but a couple coats of topcoat got me that “wet look” I was going for.

What I used:

1 coat Zoya Anchor
3 coats Nocti Nip and Tuck
Smiley face nail art stickers
2 coats Zoya Armour
Qtica half-time drops, of course

My biggest pet peeve with nail art stickers is that inevitably, the edges pull up as soon as I put top coat on them, making them stick up off my nail and the center of the sticker looks “dented”. In this case, though, I think it creates a nice rim around the smiley faces, so I’m not so bothered by it (though I still wish I knew how to avoid it!). Water decals are my favorite by far…they look just like the design was air-brushed onto the nail, gorgeous and professional. Unfortunately, they’re really hard to find in stores anymore, and I haven’t ordered any online yet. Why can’t someone make a super-thin nail art sticker that would look professional with no visible edges? It can’t be that hard, can it?

But enough ranting for today…don’t worry, be happy!

Earth Day Green

It’s Earth Day today, and I thought it only fitting to pick a green shade for my nails as we focus on green living this week. It was a difficult decision, but L8TR G8TR from China Glaze won the toss, and I’ll admit to being mesmerized by my own nails every time the light hits them differently. The holographic hexagons add just a touch of super-shiny sparkle that only shows in the right light. The picture above was taken without a flash, outside this morning, the one below was with a flash, also outside on the patio.

What I used:

1 coat Zoya Anchor base coat
2 coats China Glaze L8TR G8TR
1 coat Zoya Armour
Flat holographic hexagon shapes (put in place with a plastic “orange” stick – moisten the pointy end, then pick up and place each shape individually with that)
1 coat Zoya Armour to seal
It did take some time to get all those little flat shapes put on my nails individually…a difficult but not impossible task, and the extra subtle sparkle is worth it, I think. China Glaze and Zoya are both “big 3 free” – free of Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Formaldehyde and Toluene, chemicals that may be absorbed through your nails (not to mention inhaled), and could be bad for you. For more information, check out this post from All Lacquered Up. And read her most recent posts for information on natural nail polish removers, which I’m going to make a concentrated effort to find next time I’m ordering.

Here’s to “living Green”!

Frosted Fingertips

This week I choose another Moodies color, since I was feeling a bit moody myself. I really do love these temperature-sensitive polishes…it’s so interesting to me to have a quick “airbrushed tips” look and nails that are constantly changing. And the color changes are so gradual that it’s calming, or these colors are, anyways. I had to take quick pictures before they were cleaned up this morning, because I forgot to set my alarm last night, but I did get cold and warm pics of my thumbnail, below. The picture above is my warm hands with cooling tips this morning.

What I used:

1 coat Nubar base coat
3 coats Nubar Moodies “Silver Sparkle to White Linen”
2 coats Nubar top coat
Flat back pearls and emerald-cut rhinestones

The “cold” color of this polish is Silver Sparkle, and when my hands are warm, the nail beds change to White Linen with silver tips. This would be a great winter manicure, or a wedding or anniversary design, I think. To center the design, I started with the rhinestones and centered one in the middle of each nail, then worked out from the corners with the flat-backed pearls. I think it turned out quite beautiful, even though the top coat did bubble a bit. The rhinestones are set off more when the nails are white, and the pearls are highlighted when the nails are silver.

Next week I think I’ll go teal…I just got a stunning bright teal color by Nocti that I’m dying to try out.

Cherry Cola Vamp

Hubby decided red or blue was the color this week, so I decided to try Garnet Gems, the Milani polish my Crochetville swap partner Tammy sent last month. In the bottle, it looked very red and glittery. In actuality, the base polish color is black, with red glitter squares throughout! Very dark, vampy, and it reminds me of Cherry Cola! Unfortunately, it really wants to pull away from the tips, as you can see by the small line of white at the edges of my nails. I don’t think this one will last a full week, but dang, it’s a great color for going out on the town! I put it on my toenails too, but ran out of rhinestones for artwork.

It’s hard to see the glitter in the first picture, but there’s a closer picture of my thumb below.

What I used:

1 coat Zoya Anchor
2 coats Milani “Garnet Gems”
2 coats Zoya Armour
Red square rhinestones (to call attention to and bring out the red sparkles…alone it just looks like a reddish black).

I really wish I was going “out on the town” with this polish – it deserves to be “seen”. I’ll remember that next time I have some sort of “event” to attend.

Thanks again, Tammy!