Half Moon Spider Web Nail Art!

Good afternoon, readers! I can't believe it's November already! I know this post is a little late, but I really wanted to show you what I wore on my nails for Halloween yesterday. I did a sneak peek on Instagram last night, but here are some more pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Cutesy Alien and Galaxy Nail Art!

Good afternoon! TGIF! I have some fun nails to share with you that I'm wearing for the weekend. If you haven't noticed by now, I tend to gravitate a lot toward cutesy animal/creature nail art (I am Mommy to a 6 and 2 year old after all). For this look, I created a girly galaxy with my favorite colors and a cute little alien accent nail! This is such a "Jacki mani" that I am pumped to be wearing them!

Patriotic Galaxy Nail Art!

Happy Fourth Of July to my US readers! For the past few days, I was struggling with some kind of red, white, and blue nail art to wear this weekend. To be honest, I just don't think the three colors look that pretty together. (Please don't throw your American flags at me!) I'm just not a fan of the combination for nail art so I tried and failed to create a look I was happy with until this one. Now, I'm glad I gave it one more try before being a rebel and just wearing bright purple or something.

Funky, Tribal Half Moon Mani!

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Good morning! Mr. Adventures In Acetone and I were walking around the mall last night (kid free!) and I came across a gorgeous shirt in one of the department stores. I wish they had it in my size, it was bright and chartreuse and I loved it! Also, I told the hubby that it would be an awesome nail polish color. Fast forward to this morning, as I'm sitting at my nail desk: I look up at the rack of OPI polishes and OMGOSH(!!) I have a polish the same color as the shirt! OPI Life Gave Me Lemons from the new Neon Collection-- I had forgotten about it because it's not a color I typically reach for to wear. 

I knew I wanted to do some kind of pattern over it, and I think I may have gone a little overboard with this mani. I tried to combine half moons with tribal print, but the other colors seem to have been washed out after I added the matte top coat.

Tutorial Tuesday: Beach Ball Half Moon Nail Art!

Good afternoon! As promised, this week's tutorial is the Beach Ball Half Moons I wore last Thursday. These seem fairly simple to recreate (I was able to do them on all 10 nails) and they are perfect for a "not so typical" summer mani! The use of half moon guide stickers make this even easier than it looks.

Summer Nail Art: Beach Ball Half Moons!

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Good morning! Is Summer in full swing where you are? It definitely is here, we've been spending our weekends out on the boat at the sand bar, or in our pool and it's lovely! I was trying to come up with some kind of summer nail art and as my kids were throwing beach balls around the house yesterday, it hit me! (Okay, a ball didn't literally hit me, but the idea did.) Partial beach balls with the illusion of a half moon mani! These weren't too difficult so expect a tutorial for the next Tutorial Tuesday post!

The Digit-al Dozen DOES Metal, Day 3: Fishing Nail Art!

Hello readers! It's the middle of Metal Week with The Digit-al Dozen and I have another silly interpretation of the theme for today. Drawing from more parts of our family life here in Florida, we love to go on the boat and go fishing together! Don't worry, we don't keep the fish, but its still a fun hobby. Fishing hooks are made of metal so it fits with the theme, right? Some cute little holo fish are too smart to fall for the bait in this mani.

Friday Florals with RBL Aqua Lily!

Good morning! Woohoo for the weekend! Do you have any fun plans? We are hoping to take out our boat if the weather is nice and hopefully we can have some pool time as well. Maybe I'll grab some neons or holos to put on and take advantage of the sun! How's the weather on your side of the globe? 

After seeing this tutorial by Wondrously Polished earlier in the week, I wanted to try my hand at a simple floral design. I am not really good with floral patterns but I am trying to practice more for improvement. I was already wearing Rescue Beauty Lounge Aqua Lily, one of my very favorite polishes, and realized that Illamasqua Seance matched the shimmer. So that became the flower color!

Metallic Taped Chevron Nail Art!

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Good afternoon! It's been hard for me to get back in the blogging groove after the long holiday weekend and Hailey being on summer break! Also, we've been working on some really exciting new things for AIA lately that take up a bit of my normal "blogging" time. I'm hoping to find a balance again soon. In the meantime, I have my current nail art mani to show you. It combines the look of a "half moon mani" and chevrons!

Raindrops on Yeti's Broken Heart

Good morning, readers! I have a manicure that I probably should have worn the week of Valentine's Day today. And technically the title is a big backwards, but it sounded cuter than Yeti's Broken Heart on Raindrops.

Anyway,  I've been wanting to use some of my untrieds this week and I used 2 in this look so YAY for that! Elevation Polish (LE) Yeti's Broken Heart looks amazing over Illamasqua Raindrops.

The Digit-al Dozen DOES Vintage, Day 4: Huckleberry Hound Nail Art!

Hello, readers! It's Day 4 of Vintage Week with The Digit-al Dozen and I have another tv show character inspired manicure today. The hubby requested that I do Huckleberry Hound from The Huckleberry Hound Show and that's what I'm wearing on my nails today! The Huckleberry Hound Show came out in 1958 so I think this qualifies as "vintage," don't you?

Dress Inspired Nail Art!

Nail art inspiration happens all the time with lots of different things. This time, it was this gorgeous dress from Light In The Box that my friend Kim shared and I knew instantly that I would love this color combo on my nails! I set out to do the awesome top half of the dress (as you see on the left hand side of the collage below), but I fell in love with the fan brush gradient on my tips and decided to take that off and do a full mani as the gradient instead (shown on the right side of the collage below). 

Nail Art Fail: Crochet Copycat

Hello, readers! Not every nail art idea turns out how I wanted. That's life, right? But I tried so hard on these yesterday that I felt like they deserved a post anyway.

I recently saw this picture from Rebecca Likes Nails on instagram of a square she had crocheted and I told her it would make awesome nail art! So, I tried, and failed, to make it cool nail art.

Violet and Teal Half Moon Mani!

Good morning, readers! This is my first official nail art post of 2014! If you follow me on instagram, you would have seen my awesome nail mail package of 9 Barry M Gelly polishes! I've only tried one so far (in this mani) but I love it and feel like I'll need more!

After wanting to match my new cell phone case that the hubby bought me for Christmas (teal and violet), I set out on google to find some inspiration. This is loosely inspired by this mani from The Nailasaurus, but I added some pretty Moyou London Princess Plate 14 heart stamps as well!

Christmas Party Nail Art!

Good morning, readers! Last week, the hubby and I went to a Christmas party for his work and I had to find something fun to do on my nails! Unfortunately, my dress was teal with a black sheer overlay so I didn't go with the typical Christmas nail art and colors even though I wanted to. Instead, I did a design that matched the dress!

Happy Birthday, Caitlin! Cupcake Nail Art!

Good morning, readers! It's my little sister, Caitlin's, 22nd Birthday today!! Let's all wish her a Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Caitlin!!!

 She is an amazing young woman and I am so proud to call her my little sister. She is currently teaching at a Christian school in Cambodia for 2 years and this summer she was in Africa on a mission trip, so it's been a while since we've been able to hang out. I wish I was wearing this mani to a birthday party for her to see in person, but I hope she will see this post and know we were all celebrating with her in spirit.

Here is a picture of us together during our few hours at the airport in between her arriving home from Kenya and leaving on another plane to Cambodia:

Isn't she cute in her African attire?! 

I did some cupcake nail art for her birthday! I finally got to use The Nail Junkie Cupcake for my original reason for buying it. The base is Illamasqua Seance and of course I couldn't help but add some candles and "22" on top of the cupcakes! 

What do you think? Did you notice I've decided to try out rounded nails? I'm definitely digging them! Thanks for reading!

Love you, sister! Can't wait to see you for Christmas break! xoxo

Turquoise Waterfall Nail Art!

Hello, readers! I was able to take some time to put up a post tonight for you! It's been crazy getting Hailey ready to start Kindergarten next week, and the hubby and I started watching Doctor Who on Netflix so every night we are watching that instead of me having nail time! Haha, its addicting.

Anyway, tonight's post is a nail look I did last week. I followed this awesome tutorial by The Nailasaurus but went with one of my favorite color families--turquoise-- for my version of the look!

My base is is Dior St. Tropez and I did the waterfall stripe lines in Illamasqua Muse, Zoya Zuza, Milani Quick Teal, and Cult Nails Let Me Fly. I also couldn't decide on shiny or matte so I'm going to show you both and I'd love to hear what look you prefer!

Here are the shiny top coat pictures:

And the matte top coat pictures:

So what do you think? Which do you prefer: shiny or matte? Have you tried "waterfall nails" yet? Thanks for reading! 

Stamping Sunday: Illamasqua Seance Swirls!

Good morning, readers! I have a simple stamping NOTD post for you today. I recently bought Illamasqua Seance and was totally blown away once I applied it. It was almost a one coater but I added a second to even it out. It is so pigmented and the shimmer is out of this world! It dries to a nice satiny finish but I had to add topcoat to see the shimmer at it's true beauty. I only stamped on a few fingers because I didn't want to completely cover it up.

I used Pure Ice Silver Star and a swirl design from Cheeky plate CH53. I've also been using HK Girl top coat and it is really amazing for nail art and stamping and I was super pleased it didn't smear the design!

What do you think? I thought I could pass on these new Illamasquas but I may been picking up the other two as well! Thanks for reading!

Born Pretty Stud Review!

Hello, readers! I have a funky mani to share with you today. I have some fun studs from Born Pretty Store and I wanted to share some different looks I came up with using them! I've done one look on each nail instead of 4 separate photos.

This is what came in my set:

Nail glue, orange sticks to help position the studs, and 2 stud wheels.

Here is a bit more of a closeup of the wheels so you can see the different colors and shapes. There are stars, squares, circles, hearts, triangles, and more in different sizes and colors! Lots of things to choose from!

And here is my mani to show off 4 different looks using the studs! I used Illamasqua Vice (dries to a rubber finish) and Nails Inc Leather Effect in NoHo to tie in the stud look.

They were really easy to apply and laid flat on my nail with the exception of the big heart on my pinky. My nail was too round so the edges stuck off and got caught on things. The smaller shapes worked nicely! 

You can get these nail studs and other nail art supplies from Born Pretty Store for $12.99 here:

http://www.bornprettystore.com/heart-square-elliptic-hollow-star-multi-shaped-colorful-stud-rhinestone-nail-wbox-glue-p-5275.html

What do you think? Will you be ordering these or any other things from The Born Pretty Store? If so, please use my 10% off code with your order: JACJ61. Don't forget that Born Pretty ships free worldwide!

Thanks for reading!

*These products were sent for me to review with my honest opinion.

The Digit-al Dozen DOES Art: Watercolor Nails!

Hello readers! I am happy that I am getting the post for day 2 up before midnight! I decided to try out the nail art technique referred to as watercolor nails. I used Rebecca's tutorial HERE! It wasn't that difficult and I loved wearing these nails!

I used:

Duri Rejuvacote

2 coats of Milani White on the Spot

Illamasqua Noble, Cameo, and Nomad

Acetone and a brush to "water down" the dots

Poshe top coat

What do you think of my first water color nails? I really like how these turned out and it wasn't difficult once I got the hang of it! Thanks for reading!