The Lacquer Legion, Reinvention: Steam Punk Nail Art!

Hello, readers! Have you heard of The Lacquer Legion? It's a monthly nail art challenge to connect the nail polish community and I am so excited I was able to find the time to join in for this month's theme! You can go check out The Lacquer Legion on Facebook for some more info. This month's theme was "Reinvention" and it took me a bit to decide what to do for that. It was so broad that it was troubling me but as soon as I asked the hubby, he told me Steampunk would be great because a big part of it is taking things and reinventing them.

I was really excited because I haven't done steampunk nails before and I had to figure out what aspect I wanted to bring to the nail art. Gears and clockwork are what I instantly thought of, as well as those neat blimp-looking air ships. I decided to go with a sketch of an "airship" for my accent nail and various gears on the other nails.

Oopsie Daisies Four Leaf Fortune Swatches!

Hello, readers! Are you ready for my first St. Patrick's Day post? Hard to believe we are less than a month away! I am loving all of these holiday themed indie polishes and today's glitter topper from Oopsie Daisies is no exception! (And let me just ask, how CUTE is that brand name!? I love it).

Four Leaf Fortune is, "the magic at the end of a rainbow, with gold coins and plenty of shamrock green glitter. A clear based polish with three types of matte green glitter, tiny metallic emerald glitter and round gold 'coins'!" It was nicely packed with glitter and I'm showing one generous coat below! I didn't have to dig for glitter and had only minimal manipulation of the glitter. I love love love the gold "coins" in this polish and think it's a super cute idea for a St. Patrick's Day polish! Shown below with one coat and top coat over Essence Walk on the Wild Side.

What do you think of Four Leaf Fortune? 

You can purchase this polish for $8.50 at the Oopsie Daisies Etsy shop below! 

Oopsie Daisies Links:

Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/OopsieDaisiesNails

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OopsieDaisiesNailPolish

Thanks for reading! I have 3 more Oopsie Daisies polishes to show you this week so come back tomorrow!

*The polish in this post was sent for me to review with my honest opinion. 

The Digit-al Dozen DOES Art: Banksy Graffiti Art!

Hello readers! It's Art week with the Digit-al Dozen! I'm an hour late on posting for day 1, but it's been a really busy day getting my daughter signed up to start school in this new area so the nails had to wait.

I am really not familiar with art so I was stumped for ideas to do this week. My husband actually told me about the graffiti artist, Banksy, and helped me pick one of his works to recreate on my nails!

Here is the google image we found:

source: http://thinkpress.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/balloon_girl_by_banksy.jpg

This is my attempt at recreating the girl with the balloons. I didn't get her full image onto my nail but I still like how it turned out!

I used: 

Duri Rejuvacote

2 coats of Essence Movie Star

Milani Black Swift, a dotting tool, and striper brush for the image

What do you think? I still have no idea what my other art inspirations will be this week so check back each day! Thanks for reading!

Butter London Slapper and Teal Comparison

Hello readers! I have a quick post for you tonight before I head to bed, yawn! I have Butter London Slapper  and then the teal comparison I did after I wore Slapper and thought it was similar to others in my stash.

Two coats of Butter London Slapper

Comparison of Essence Bella, Butter London Slapper, and Milani Fresh Teal

As you can see, Essence Bella is much more green than the other two. Milani Fresh Teal pulls more blue than Slapper but they are very similar that I doubt you would need both. Shown as 2 coats of each, Bella is the only one that has the potential to be a one coater. 

What do you think? Do you have any of these? Thanks for reading!

Teal Gradient+Glitter Bomb!

Good morning, readers! I'm not sure that there can ever be TOO MUCH glitter, can there? As I was trying out ideas for this mani on a nail wheel yesterday, I was deciding between 3 glitter toppers for my gradient and I ended up layering all 3! Why not? Live a little-have super sparkly nails! LOL, that's my motto anyway!

Anyway, onto the nails. My camera couldn't focus on this glittery goodness in the direct sunlight this morning so I've got some indirect sunlight pics. They show the different glitters fairly well, but minus the crazy sparkle that only comes from seeing in person. You will just have to trust me on this one!

Ever since I received Zoya Zuza in the mail, I knew I wanted to do a gradient with Zoya Charla. As much as I love gradients, I can't seem to leave them alone. That's where the glitter bomb comes in. Take a look:

I used: 

Orly Nail Defense

2 coats of Zoya Zuza

Ripped up damp makeup sponge and Zoya Charla for the tip gradient.

1 coat of Ozotic Elytra 528

I coat of Cult Nails Hypnotize Me

1 coat of Essence Edward

1 coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

I just love macro shots when you layer multiple glitters! You get to see so many different shapes and colors!

As I said, it's super crazy sparkly in person because of the holo glitters in Edward. I love the multichrome colors of the Ozotic Elytra peeking through as well! And I've decided that everyone needs Cult nails Hypnotize Me in their life. 

They are completely smooth after one coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast. Another reason these 3 glitters rock. 

I may have a teal obsession...but I just love how these turned out. What do you think? Thanks for reading!

Final Challenge Nail Art Post!

Hello readers! It completely slipped my mind that I forgot to do a mani for the final challenge day of the kids nail art challenge. So here you have it! This post is "Dedicated to my child." I've been dying to use Dandy Nails Colorblind since it arrived last week and am so glad I finally did! It's awesome!

I did it over one of the essence twins--Bella, and I love how both the black and white show up easily. And what accent nail art would be better for black and white spots than a 101 Dalmatian puppy? I'm still getting used to my new art brushes so the lines could be smoother. I'm working on it :)

Cute, isn't he? I wish I knew the name of the puppy, but it was just based off of a google image result for "101 Dalmatian Puppy."

 I used:

Orly Nail Defense

2 coats of Essence Bella(1 almost did it but I wasn't being careful)

1 coat of Dandy Nails Colorblind

(OPI Alpine Snow, OPI Black Onyx, and Essie French Affair for the puppy)

1 coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast

How awesome is Dandy Nails Colorblind? I am totally in love with it! It's my only black and white glitter polish and really don't feel the need to get any others after seeing how great this one is. I can't wait to buy more of Sandy's polishes in the future! You can get yours from her Etsy Shop when she restocks TONIGHT! She is planning on restocking at around 10pm PST all of the colors, as well as a new color!!  Here is her Facebook Page to keep updated about new restocks. 

What do you think? Thanks for reading!

Zoya Bevin Gets Hypnotized by Essence Edward!

Good morning, readers! Hope you are all enjoying your last weekend day! I have some pretty layering to show you today. Wendy of Nailsalicious recently posted her Nails Of The Day featuring Chanel Nouvelle Vague topped with Essence Edward and I loved the look! I hadn't thought about wearing my Edward over a lighter color and couldn't wait to try it! Of course, I don't have the gorgeous Chanel Nouvelle Vague(which will cost you a whopping $90+ on ebay these days), but I did recently get Zoya Bevin from Bloom.com and it has a similar(although, it's greener toned) look.

After I put on Bevin, which is so pretty, I realized that I still hadn't tried out Cult Nails Hypnotize Me from my prize package! I must be crazy for waiting this long to try out that beauty! It added some gorgeous teeny glitters before I topped everything off with one coat of Essence Edward.

My hubby even complimented my on these nails yesterday! I must add, that these are much more sparkly in person and I hate when that happens! The holo bits in Edward don't really show up on camera that way so just take my word for it.

You can really see the gorgeous teeny glitters of Hypnotize Me under the bigger glitters of Edward!

What do you think? Sometimes it's nice to see what you can come up with when it comes to layering instead of stamping or other nail art. It's a nice change and I'm digging it! Thanks for reading!

Louise and Edward over Big Smoke

Hello readers! Now that the challenge is over, I've started to try some new polishes I bought during the challenge month. There seems to be a lot going on with this mani, but I really like it in person and can't stop looking at my nails! I appologize for the pictures, it's been rainy here so they didn't come out as good as usual.

This was just essence Louise over butterLONDON Big Smoke. I could have stopped there, but I wanted more color.

This is with essence Edward added. They are much more sparkly and colorful in person, I wish I could have gotten a better picture.

What do you think? Should I have stopped after Louise? Thanks for reading!

Nail Mail and Haul Post!

The past 2 weeks have been big for me in terms of getting nail polish! I got a lot of nail mail, and also had some new hauls from Ulta, Sally's, and Kroger. Here are the pictures(please click to enlarge!):

 a-england Lady of the Lake and Tristam! Purchased at Llarowe

 Ozotic 528, 505, and piCture pOlish denim from my husband!

 OPI Roadhouse Blues and I Lily Love You from Kroger grocery store!

 China Glaze Traffic Jam from Sally's Beauty Supply!

 My Ulta Haul on the butterLONDON sale day!

 L-R: Ulta Taupe on a Rope, Ulta Chic Peek, bL British Racing Green, bL Big Smoke, Ulta Army of 1, and Ulta Material Girl.

 The entire Wet n Wild On The Prowl Collection!! My friend Alyssa was able to find these for me and send them my way! 

L-R: Buy Me A Drink, Ready To Pounce, Behind Closed Doors, Tangled In My Web, Correction Tape, Jungle Fever, Ink Well, and Cougar Attack

essence nail art twins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(the extra bella and edward for my giveaway aren't pictured). Ruth was able to send these to me from Spain! I love them!!!!!

L-R: Bella, Edward, Thelma, Louise, Chuck, and Blair.

Such an amazing 2 weeks of polish for me!! Hope you enjoyed reading!

Day 10: Gradient Nails

Hello everyone, thanks for stopping by! Today's challenge in the 31 Day Challenge is Gradient Nails. I have really been wanting to try out my new Bella and Edward Essence Nail Art Twins since I received them on Monday and today was a day I could fit them into the challenge. Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win a set of your own!

What I used:
Base Coat: Opi Nail Envy
Base Color: Essence Bella
Then I sponged Nubar Star Sparkle(for more of the smaller holo glitter that can be found in Edward) almost 2/3 of the way up the nail with a makeup sponge.
Then, I sponged Essence Edward on the tips and a little bit up the nail to spread some of that gorgeous square and hex glitter.
Top Coat: Out The Door

What do you think? I really like this, and even though I am excited for my next challenge tomorrow, I probably won't be happy about taking this off. Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a safe weekend!