eye ♥ U

Valentines day nail medley featuring  bleeding hearts, eye <3 U and pink roses.

I used Sally Hansen - shell we dance?, NYX - NP 21 flash, Sally Hansen - pink promise (#06), Anise - a bud for you, Butter London - rosie lee, American Apparel - coney island, O.P.I. - ogre-the-top blue, Revlon - revlon red (#680), Nail Star - white, Nail Star - yellow, Nail Star - red and black gouache.
For decoration I used iridescent pink bar glitter and rhinestone cabochons. Finally I sealed the design with Seche VITE - fast dry top coat.

funky foil

super simple manicure, i just wanted something that was sparkly, but i didn't want to just overlap another polish, so i used purple foil.
I recently picked a 12 pack of Martha Stewart Glitter 12 color "vintage Leaf" pack, and like all Stewart products, it looked like candy!
The obvious problem with using a material not intended for nails is that there are complications. For This manicure the problem was that the foil, which has the consistency of irregular confetti did not want to stay flat on my nails, so in order to make this manicure not have a sharp surface i had to apply a ridiculous amount of top coat! Overall i think this manicure is better appreciated at a distance because it really picks up the light, and the purples are so pretty together. However up close you can see the individual pieces of foil and it looks sort of messy.

For the bases i used O.P.I. - funky dunky and the color foil, as i said was from the Martha Stewart "vintage foil" set, is named chariote. I then use 4-6 coats of Seche Vite - quick dry top coat.


I think next time i'll use the foil more sparingly, because removing this was extremely difficult.

Review

Review on Martha Stewart Halloween Glitter/Glue 6pk.

So I bought these glitters actually in August of this past year, and have become obsessed with her glitters ever since!
Now as you probably know her glitters are priced on the higher range of craft glitter, but let me tell you, THEY ARE WORTH IT!

The quality of the glitter is outstanding, and if you love glitter as much as i do her colors are DELICIOUS and her packaging i super clean too!
 This pack of glitter comes in black, silver, red, green, blue and orange, colors which are perfect for the halloween/fall season.
They are super fine and loose so the glitter never gets sticky and clump together.
Perfect for a light dusting as well as creating a super metallic surface that goes on smooth and clean no matter how many layers. The viles of glitter are generous, depending of course how often you glitter, but mine are still half way full after 4 months!

Note: The only problem with using a lot of layers of glitter both loose and polish is that you need to be prepared to scrub harder when removing it!!

One of the most important things about using any sort of embellishment whether it be craft glitter or micro beads is how the colors hold, and Martha Stewart glitters deliver! Some glitters bleed into nail polish or when your at the end of manicure and it bleeds when putting on top coat... that's the worst!
However I have found that Seche Vite - fast dry top coat is less likely to cause bleeding, and O.P.I.- top coat almost always makes poorly dyed embellishments bleed, which can ruin the design!

Now as far as the glue is concerned I haven't used it, but I'm confident it is more than adequate for crafting on paper and such, but obviously not meant for nails.

All in all if you see Martha Stewart in a craft store next fall I highly recommend buying it! you will not be disappointed! This specific 6 pack of colored glitter is seasonal, however there are other color combos offered all through out the year.

You can buy the 6 pack of martha stewart glitters at Michaels, Jo Ann fabric and crafts, and other craft stores, or online HERE

mommicure II

My mom was so excited about the last manicure I gave her, that she had asked me to do another!
Her outfit was black with silver and gray accents, so i wanted them to match! Again, she was so proud, and it was so cute! Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday!

I realized i never include this part, but I ALWAYS use O.P.I.- natural nail strengthener, and O.P.I. - natural base coat before doing any manicure.

For this manicure I used 2 coats of O.P.I. - lucern - tainly look marvelous.
Then I created a pattern that went around the base of each nail and moved towards the top, on her pinky, middle and thumb, with small hexagonal glitter in black and silver. Once I did the first nail it went so quick, but it was incredibly time consuming, placing the glitters one by one.
I then secured it with Seche VITE - quick dry top coat.

24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 19

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Another "nouveau" french design mixed with the 1/2 moon, for day 19 of the 24 day challenge! The theme for today was SANTA HATS, and there were 3 elements i wanted to include fur trim, ball tassel and bells (but in this case, gold nail art beads)

The base coat was done using O.P.I. - i'm not really a waitress, 2 coats
The 1/2 moon and french tip were done with 2 coats of O.P.I. - kyoto pearl, next i put the glitter down over the white parts, but because the red is so powerful and the kyoto is so sheer the snow has a pink tint. The glitter I used is a iridescent white micro glitter which catches the light adding specks of greens and pinks. Next I created a window pattern on the red with gold beads for the "bells," finally a heavy coat of Seche VITE - quick dry top coat


Tomorrow is SLEIGH/SLED themed!

To see more SANTA HATS check out these ladies blogs:

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❉ Polish, Oh My! ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ❄ My Wet Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅ The only way is Nails! ❃

Thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 17

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Hello hello hello. 

sorry this is a late post. These are my nails from yesterday, I did these then i painted my moms nails for a christmas party and so I became lazy... SO, NOW...here is day 17 of the 24 day challenge! The theme was TINSEL!
I wanted to keep this simple (again) so i did a nouveau french! I incorporated real tinsel, beads and tinsel like glitter polish!

The holo bar glitter tinsel-like base was done using Love & Beauty - black/silver, 3 coats. The one thing i dislike about Love & Beauty nail polish is the naming issue. It's an issue because they name all their colors the same... i.e. al greens are green all reds are reds. RARELY do they name the actual color like lavender or mint, but they seriously need to be a little more creative, a little more descriptive or at the vary least put a freakin' number! For the sake of better description lets just call it black/ holo tinsel! jeeeze :)

ANYWAYS.... next i put a single layer of Sally Hansen X - in the spotlight (#35) which is a clear nail polish with slightly larger and less tinsel per coat, just to add a little size variation.

For the embellishment I used a single strip of real tinsel (from the little bundle in my hand) on the tips of my nails to make it a "french".  Finally i added silver nail art beads in a windowed arrangement to accentuate the silver strip and give it a little more flare.

i'll be posting todays theme a little later, which is STOCKINGS!

want more TINSEL? check out these ladies blogs:

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❉ Polish, Oh My! ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ❄ My Wet Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅ The only way is Nails! ❃

Thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 14

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A few days ago my parents, my boyfriend and I decorated the christmas tree! As I unwrapped the ornaments I was flooded with memories. Memories of being a kid and LOVING how some said my name, some i made, some that were my grandmothers, and some that have been on the tree for as long as I can remember. It was nice to see the ornaments that i remember from my youth, as well as a few new ones that I decided for todays challenge, with the theme ORNAMENTS I would look at and recreate some of the ornaments from the tree! Now because my nails are not as big as i want, and my design included other elements I couldn't do the really complicated ones, but still the ones chosen are tied to my christmas history.
Below are the ornaments/ decorations I was inspired by, and my ORNAMENT themed nails!

For the base color I used Sally Hansen - spark (#06) which is a really beautiful color. the polish itself it a greenish blue (which can only be noticed if smeared), but appears as a solid micro micro micro glitter iridecent blue to purple effect. Maybe its because this polish is not so new, but it was a one coater! I get tired of using the typical christmas palette so I thought a deep blue purple would make the ornaments and decoration pop out as well as be refreshing to use.


Next for all the fingers I took my Nail Star - silver (#114) and made a 1/2 moon of tinsel/branch for the ornaments to hand on. Then using my Ruby Kissed - french white  I dotted some circles on the silver.
Also after each ornament was finished i filled in the negative space with more dots and snowflake/stars in the same silver. Finally gold nail art beads were placed on top of each ornament to act as a ornament hook.


Starting on the thumb: for the ornament with the bow I used Love & Beauty - gold, then put gold bar glitter on top the O.P.I. because the ornament i was inspired by is a large glass orb with a gold netting around it. For the bow I used turquoise nail art beads to tie in some of the same color of one of the angels. The peppermint swirl ornament was inspired by this really beautiful Waterford Crystal peppermint ornament, and is kind of opal and metallic looking. To capture that shine I used Ruby Kisses - french white  and Kiss - red, and then added micro glitter on top of the red for the shine.


The index and ring finger with the angels were done the same so i'll do them together... So first I used round and (american :) ) football shaped cabochons in magenta, pink and aquamarine, the wings i used Kiss - white striper with Kiss - gold  glitter striper.  For the bottom of the angels and the center between the head and body I used magenta, light pink and light blue nail art beads. These angels were inspired by ornaments my grandmother gave to my mom. They are Swarovski crystal and are colored according to my families birthstone, my mom feb- amethyst, my sister oct - rose quartz and mine and my dads- march - aquamarine. These are my favorite nails because i think they were most successful.


The stars were done similar to the wings, I used A base of Kiss - white striper, Kiss - gold glitter striper then added some yellow micro glitter. Finally for the heard I used Nail Star - silver (#114), then covered it with red micro glitter.  Then 3 thick coats of Seche VITE -  quick dry top coat.


Tomorrows theme is PRESENTS!

For more ORNAMENT themed nails check out these ladies blogs:

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❉ Polish, Oh My! ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ❄ My Wet Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅ The only way is Nails! ❃

Thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 8

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Day8 of the 24 day xmas challenge! Theme is CANDYCANES! YUM!

all i wanted for my candy canes was GLITTER GLITTER GLITTER!

Its hard to tell in these pictures, you can better see it in the second, but these things look AMAZING with direct light! so sparkely! like candy striped ruby slippers!

Heres what i used: 10 professional nail lacquer - perfectly clear

a thick layer of Martha Stewart crafting glitter

Kiss - white stiper

2-3 thick coats of Seche VITE - quick dry top coat

More CANDYCANE nails can be seen HERE:

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❉ Polish, Oh My! ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ❄ My Wet Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅ The only way is Nails! ❃

Thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 4

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It's day 4 of the 24 day x-mas challenge, and todays theme is SNOWMAN (men) :)

I'm posting this on the early side because otherwise I wont be able to do my snowmen nails till late late tomorrow night, and I might as well make use of my night owl habits! As you will see, I was inspired by a still from Frosty The Snowman, although i kept to the traditional lump of coal and carrot face, the color background and framing are similar. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to use a base color other than blue, red and green, the typical December holiday palette, which so happen to be the three colors I were least often. I thought the thistle color was really pretty, but i wanted more contrast to make my snowmen POP! I also thought my snowmen should wear bow ties instead of scarves because i thought it would be cuter!

still from Frosty The Snowman (1969)

                                                 1                    2                   3                 4              5

Okay, first off (post B.C.) i used Love & Beauty - lavendar, the amazing thing about this, was, it was a one coater! unvelievable! I mean i know there are better nail polishes out there, but L&B seriously is one of my favorite brands, so cheap, nice colors, and not too thin! 

ANYWAYS... Next, for the snowmen: Ruby Kisses - french white, coal and hat Ruby Kisses - black eutopia,  carrot Love & Beauty - orange, shading on the carrot I mixed L&B- orange with Orly - bus stop crimson (weird name), and the highlights for the eyes, carrot and hat I mixed Ruby Kisses - french white with Ruby Kisses - black eutopia for various grey tones.

For each of the bow ties i wanted something different (it took every ounce of me to not just bedazzle the crap out of these little guys, can't over do it!) 

[1] Sally Hansen - cardinal, Love & Beauty - Mint (green glimmer), Ruby Kisses - french white, Ruby Kisses - black eutopia.

[2] Kiss - blue striper, Kiss - gold glitter striper, Ruby Kisses - black eutopia

[3] Orly - bus stop crimson,  Ruby Kisses - french white, NYC - starry silver glitter (#105)

[4] Ruby Kisses - french white, Ruby Kisses - black eutopia, L.A. Girls Flare - hunter green

last but not least...

[5] Sally Hansen - cardinal, Kiss - blue striper

All topped off with a nice HEALTHY coat of Seche VITE - quick dry top coat!  (the best!!!)

phew! well, i look froward to seeing the rest of the snowman challenge designs from the other ladies participating, and I hope you enjoyed mine too! :)

For more SNOWMAN themed nails be sure to check out:

❅ nails and stuff ❃ obsessed with glitter ❉ Polish, Oh My! ❇ paint that nail ❄ red hair and black nail polish ✺ Ruby's Nails ❅ finger painted ❃ My Polish Stash ❉ Me, Myself and Nail Polish ❇  KK Nails ❄ My Wet Nails ✺ Life with Salpi ❅ The only way is Nails! ❃

Thanx for stopping by :)

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24 days of XMAS Challenge : Day 3

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hello! :) Here is my ICICLES themed nail design! I did these nails when i was still up at 3am because i love this challenge, and unfortunately i have been busy bus busy so i've been waiting to post all day! SO, FINALLY here it is... I got my inspiration from ice caves particularly THIS IMAGE. I love the way the icicles look layered with all the different shades of blue! I however avoided the blue palette because I used blue as my primary nail color for yesterdays challenge. 

Starting after the base coat: 3 layers of Sinful - out of this world (#842) for the base and distant icicles (you can only really see it where it's that light grey under the whiter icicles. Next was actually a happy mistake, i kind of made a franken finger! It happened by first putting down a layer of O.P.I. - austin-tacious turquoise, only to decide it really was TOO turquoisey for what i wanted, so I put a layer of O.P.I. - lucern- tainly look marverlous on top. For some reason the turquoise pigment overpowered the steel grey glitter and created this deep grey-green. WEIRD! This was to  make the back shadowy part of the cave. Next I needed to make MORE ICICLES, but not completely cover up the silver section by using Kiss - white striper.  At this point I used my Seche VITE - quick dry top coat because I needed to do some finishing touches that top coat would only cover up. 

If you have been following me thus far you have probably realized that i REALLY like using rhinestones, glitter and such, and luckily i have the PERFECT thing for the holidays (which in order to not wear out i shall try to use sparingly... maybe?!) white powdery snow-like glitter!

I used a light sprinkling on the tip (its kind of hard to see because i don't have a nice camera), and topped off the design with a silver rhinestone on my ring finger and thumb.  If you check out the little oval nail swatch you can see the glitter better!

I FORGOT TO MENTION! I also used individual pieces of silver bar glitter to seperate the silver (sinful colors) and the grey/green, because its nearly impossible to see in these pics! 

Be sure to check out more ICEY nail designs at

 Nails and Stuff, obsessed with glitter, Paint that nail, Red hair and black nail polish, Ruby's Nails, Polish, Oh My! finger painted, My Polish Stash and starting a bit later in the challenge wickless and polished! 

thanx for stopping by :)

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glitter globe

quick polish before bed. inspired by snow globes!

Colors include Sally Hansen complete salon manicure - shell we dance? (#160) for the base color and

Kiss - red striper  for the base of the globe. There are 4 types of glitter including super fine white and small hex white which are used for the snow and globe in the background, and small hex silver and large hex silver glitter for the larger/closer flakes. I also used silver nail art beads to emphasize the half moon which is the base of the snow globe... also because i am just obsessed with these beads!!!

long day!

Just spent all morning driving back from vermont and was in need of a pick me up. I was looking through my stash and realized i still haven't tried my Butter London - Rosie Lee that i picked up weeks ago!!! it's the most amazing pink glitter, seriously delicious looking... thus, the inspiration... cupcakes! this nail design includes pink glittery frosting, multicolor sprinkles all on top of soft spongey cake!

Due to the playful theme, and excessive decoration i thought the layout of the nails should remain on the tamer side. For the base color I used O.P.I. - bubble bath (3 coats), Kiss - white for the dots, Butter London -  Rosie Lee (3-4 coats) and of course, nail art beads (my new obsession!!)  adhered with O.P.I. - top coat.

these nails were super easy to do and other than dry time, which is always longer when using these nail art beads (better safe than sorry) the design does not take a long time to complete.

Now  that i am finished i am going to go look for something sweet to eat!  :)

THANKSGIVING part 2.

feast your eyes on more thanksgiving nail fun!

I went a little crazy with the theme, symbols included are maize, cornucopia (with fimo fruits :-)) and a hand-turkey, and two fingers (pinky and pointer) with random designs.

For the base coat i used O.P.I. -  designer... de better, for the designs i used mixed nail art beads, large glitter circles, and Nail Star pen & brush in yellow, bronze, gold and red to fill the beaded designs.

in case you want to attempt your own just know that doing just one hand took well over an hour, not including dry time!

Hope you all had a happy holiday

:)