Today's mani: Gold on red stamping

Hiya folks! Today I decided to finally try out the squishy stamper I got last winter, as well as one of my newest MoYou stamping plates. And I was definitely impressed with both of them! Check it out...

The base polish is Cult Nails Iconic, and the stamping is done in Maybelline Bold Gold. The images come from the MoYou plate Doodles 03. I love this plate because it's entirely covered in lots of different circular patterns, so you can use any spot on the plate and get an interesting design. And my squishy stamper is sooooo much better than my old Konad one, I just can't believe it! The images came out almost perfectly!


I have to show you my other fingers too, since each one is different! (Wow, haven't posted my right hand in a while.)

This is definitely one of those manis that I can't stop staring at. Even Mr. ALIQUID noticed it!

An ode to brown polish

Hey there! Fall is almost here, and that means pumpkin pie, apple cider and brown nail polish!! I love brown polish of all shades, but I know that's a pretty unpopular opinion. I see a lot of comments like, "that's a nice color, but I never wear brown."

But I think brown gets a bad rap. Think about how many shades of brown there are; you are bound to find one that you like and that goes nicely with your skintone (don't forget that nude/off-white shades are technically brown too!). Brown polish can work as a great neutral/work-safe shade, or a super vampy shade that's a little less harsh than black.

I have over 30 brown polishes in my stash, and I picked out a range of them to show you how versatile brown can be. Join me, won't you??

(I apologize in advance for the yellow stains on my nails in some of these photos. I accidentally got Yellow #5 all over my fingers!)

Today's mani: nubby watermelons

Hi all! Tomorrow hubby and I are off on vacation for a couple weeks. First we're visiting his family and seeing my favorite band, Barenaked Ladies! Ahhh can't wait! Then we're going to my family in Michigan and taking a little trip up north. We're going to some of the places that inspired my polish collection, which will be awesome.

Since we're driving, I'm going to be able to bring some polish with me, so I'll try to post my manis as usual. I'll also post a lot of vacation pics on Instagram! So you guys hopefully won't miss me too much.

I decided to cut my nails down to nubs just so I won't have to worry about them breaking on our trip. I dunno how you folks with nubby nails manage! I can't wrap my tips properly! Also my fingertips hurt when I type...I guess they're not used to being pushed on!

I knew I would need a fun mani to cheer up my tiny little nails. What's more summery than watermelon nails??

I started with Zoya Kate, which is the perfect watermelon-colored jelly in my opinion. The seeds are Revlon Stiletto, and the rind is Maybelline Porcelain Party and OPI You Are So Outta Lime!

I love watermelon manis, but I'm actually not that big of a melon fan in real life. Cantaloupe is especially gross!

FingerFood's Theme Buffet: Gradient cartoon nails

Happy Summer Solstice! The sun woke us up around 5 AM today (the downside of living on the eastern side of the time zone), so yeah, it's definitely summer! Make sure to enjoy the sun before the days get short again (don't forget your sunscreen)!

For this week's FingerFood challenge, we did cartoon/comic manis. I knew I had to try out the famous cartoon look--it's one of those classics that every nail artist should do at least once! I made it a little more exciting by starting with a neon gradient using China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy and Orly Tropical Pop. As usual, my camera couldn't really capture the neons accurately, but they are definitely eye-searing in real life!

For the black outline I used a Sally Hansen nail art pen, which was much easier than using a brush, although the paint tends to crack when it dries, so I had to go over some spots several times. I added the "glare" with Maybelline Porcelain Party. Then I mattified everything using Revlon matte topcoat. I'm really happy with how this turned out!

2014 Blogger Challenge #11: My polish stash...photographed!

Good morning! I'm finally returning to the 2014 Blogger Challenge. You might have noticed that I haven't done it for a couple months--there were some prompts I didn't have much to say about, then I kinda got distracted. But I thought today's topic would be a perfect place to get back on the horse. The prompt is collections. What do I have a giant collection of? Nail polish, of course! If you like to see pictures of organized stuff, you will like this post!

This will obviously be image-heavy, so click the jump to see it all!

FingerFood's Theme Buffet: Yet another galaxy mani

Good morning! For this week's FingerFood's Theme Buffet we're doing galaxies. I think this is my third attempt at a galaxy mani. My previous efforts were mediocre; I think this one is the best I've managed so far.

I'm actually most proud of the fact that my star placement is pretty random--I really have to struggle not to make everything symmetric! I used Zoya Storm for the base (because really, how could I not?) and Maybelline Porcelain Party, Color Club Age of Aquarius, Julep Bea and Revlon Passionate Pink for the rest.

This mani reminds me--have you been watching Cosmos? I think it's great to have some real science on TV again, since all the "educational" channels have switched to reality shows now. I think the show does a great job communicating the mindblowing-ness of nature! If you like it, you should definitely read some of Carl Sagan's books--he was an all-around amazing human being.

The Neverending Pile Challenge: matte gradients

Hey folks! Today's Neverending Pile Challenge prompt is gradient. Another great excuse to use multiple untried polishes! For this one I decided to go all neutral and all matte (I have a surprisingly large number of matte neutrals!). I think this is the first time I've done horizontal gradients. I made each nail carry on one of the colors from the previous nail so each blends into the next.

I'm not sure what this reminds me of--TV static maybe? (Do you guys remember static??) The polishes I used were Maybelline Mod Moss, Julep Noelle, Julep Nora and Julep Amber. Interestingly, I tried this mani with a topcoat and didn't like it--I think it accented the different colors and made the mani look kind of confused.


Total untrieds tried: 45


 

FingerFood's Theme Buffet #18: Thai motif

Hey all! I have a job interview tomorrow!! It's only for a temporary job, but money is money, right?? I have to decide what to wear on my nails...

Anyway, this week's FingerFood's Theme Buffet prompt is Oriental. I have always been in love with Thai art and architecture, since it seems to be such an interesting mix of South and East Asian influences. So I Googled for some Thai art motifs and picked a (simplified) one to do on my nails.

I still need more practice freehanding (and maybe an even tinier brush!) but I had a lot of fun doing this mani! I used Deborah Lippmann Just Walk Away Renee, Maybelline Bold Gold and Revlon Red Carpet.

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Maybelline Wine & Dined

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Hi everyone! It's positively summery outside today, and I finally opened a window for the first time since last fall! (Then the dog next door barked at Trudy so I had to close it again.)

Today's Neverending Pile Challenge theme is drugstore. I only had time to do a swatch, so I'm wearing Maybelline Wine & Dined, a decidedly NOT summery polish.

Wine & Dined has a sheer brown base with burgundy shimmer and gold and purple sparks. Super vampy!

Maybelline Wine & Dined. Three coats with Out the Door topcoat.

I needed three coats for full opacity. I was happy with the formula--somewhat on the runny side, but it applied smoothly and easily. This polish was slow-drying. Wine & Dined actually reminds me of a couple polishes from my Silmarillion collection!

Total untrieds tried: 15

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Today's mani: deconstructed Easter egg

Happy Easter! I hope everyone celebrating has a great time and some great food! Sadly I haven't had a real Easter dinner in seven years, and since it's still Passover there's a lot of stuff my husband can't eat. So I celebrated today by doing my nails (of course)!

I decided to do a mani that was reminiscent of Easter eggs but not full-on pastel. I'm calling it the deconstructed Easter egg. :-D

On my index and pinky fingers, I used a base of Julep Kimberly from their most recent mystery box. I still can't get over those speckled polishes! This one reminds me of those Easter candies that are egg-shaped and taste like malted milk balls. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

On my index finger I painted a chick using a small brush and the corner of a makeup sponge (because what comes out of a deconstructed egg? A chick!). I used Julep Bea, China Glaze Peachy Keen, and Revlon Stiletto. Mr. ALIQUID loved the chick and named him Frankie!

On my other two nails I used a base of Revlon Trade Winds and added some Easter-egg-style patterns. (Middle finger: Essie Neo Whimsical, Julep Bea, Zoya Blu; ring finger: China Glaze Peachy Keen, Maybelline Green With Envy, Essie Play Date.)

I finished everything with Revlon matte topcoat since eggs are matte!

What's your favorite thing to eat on Easter? Mine is lamb and mint jelly, followed by Jelly Bellys!

FingerFood's Theme Buffet #3: weather

Good morning! It's time once again for FingerFood's Theme Buffet! The prompt for this week was "weather". I decided to recreate another mani I did about a year ago (pic is down below).

First, today's nails:

It's a beautiful day! (Unlike the weather here lately!) I started with a gradient of Zoya Blu and Wet 'n' Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint. Then I made the clouds by sponging on Maybelline Porcelain Party with a little corner of a makeup sponge. The trick to doing clouds is to make sure there's not too much polish on your sponge--you want the clouds to be fuzzy and translucent. Finally, I painted the hot air balloon with Revlon Red Carpet, Sally Hansen Lightening, China Glaze Hanging in the Balance, and Julep Otte; I sponged one more cloud on over the balloon to give a little 3D effect.

Now here's my old mani that inspired this one:

The clouds are a little heavy-handed, but I still love this mani! I don't think I would have been able to manage the balloon a year ago though. :-)

Don't forget to check out the rest of today's challenge manis below or by following the Pinterest board!

Today's mani: Christmas tree

I decided I'd jump on the bandwagon of Christmas manis, since it's only two weeks away! (How did that happen??) I was a little apprehensive of doing nail art with my left hand (the nail that broke on that hand a month ago still isn't long enough for my liking), but it turned out pretty well!

The background color is Julep Scarlett. I outlined the tree with striping tape and filled it in with Scherer Emerald City (this is one of the few polishes that I still have from high school!). The gold and silver are Maybelline Bold Gold and Julep Harley.

What's on the top of your wishlist this Christmas? For me, it's nail polish, because I've been very good about not buying polish for several months now!

31-Day Challenge #24: inspired by a book

For this challenge I chose one of my favorite books, Tolkien's The Silmarillion. The book covers the history of Middle-Earth before the events of The Lord of the Rings, and is basically full of elves being badass.

I attempted to paint the Two Trees of Valinor, which shone silver and gold. They were killed by a giant spider but before they died, their last flower and fruit were taken and became the sun and moon.

For the silver tree I used Zoya Storm, Julep Harley, L'Oreal Eiffel for You, and Color Club Wild Cactus (unfortunately the picture doesn't show that the trunk and branches are a slightly different color than the silver leaves--I mixed silver with brown); for the gold tree I used L'Oreal Not a Cloud in Sight, Maybelline Bold Gold, Revlon Stormy Night and Revlon Sassy.


Here are today's other literary manis!

31-Day Challenge #18: half moons

This was another mani that I barely had to think about. I already knew what color scheme I wanted to use--I borrowed it from this outfit in Dragon Age II:

I like the way the coral contrasts with the blue-grey! So this is what I came up with:

The coral is Julep Gloria, the grey is Essie Maximillian Strasse-Her, and the gold is Maybelline Bold Gold. To make the half-moon shape, I used Orly French tip guides, but they didn't give me enough curve so I touched up the half moons by hand.


Now go admire today's other half moons!

31-Day Challenge #8: metallic

I couldn't come up with a cute name for today's mani, but I like it! I was playing around with my newfound ability to use striper brushes. (Please forgive the dog hair stuck to my finger; somehow I always miss those...)

The designs are kind of like abstract flowers, or at least that's what they remind me of. I used Maybelline Bold Gold for the base and Zoya Logan and OPI Sprung for the designs. (Sprung is really pretty--I wore it on my other hand!)


Look at all the other amazing metallic manis!

31-Day Challenge #2: orange butterflies

The butterfly wing mani is something I've wanted to try for a while, and I thought orange would be the obvious color for it! I followed this tutorial from I Feel Polished.

The base color is Julep Parker, with Julep Natalie sponged on top. For the black I used my Sally Hansen nail art pen. Now, I owe Sally Hansen an apology: last time I tried to use this pen, the color bled a lot, and I kind of dissed it in this post. But this time it worked perfectly! Not sure what happened there. Sorry, Sally Hansen, I like your nail art pen! The only thing I noticed was that as the black dried, it cracked in places, but I think this can be lessened by coloring over the same spot twice.

I used Maybelline Porcelain Party for the dots, and put a coat of Gelous on top. Somehow a bunch of scratches showed up in the topcoat--can't be sheet marks, because I did this mani at 2 PM! Oh well. This mani made me happy. :-)

Check out the rest of today's orange manis!

Today's mani: the rusty skunk

OK, I know that's a weird name for a manicure. Just sit back and listen to my story, dear reader, and everything will become clear...

On Friday night the hubby and I were watching TV (Michael Palin's Around the World in 80 Days, if you want to know). Suddenly we smelled the familiar scent of skunk, but much stronger than we had ever experienced. The stench filled our apartment in a matter of minutes. It was so strong I thought something might be on fire outside...but no, it turned out our landlord's dog had been skunked just outside the house.

When it was time to take Trudy out for her evening pee, I figured the skunk would have left the scene of the crime. But when we came out, it was still sitting there, ten feet from us with its tail up! Naturally both of us freaked out, and I pulled Trudy behind the house. Back there it's just a little dead-end alleyway, but I thought we might be able to escape somehow.

While fumbling around in the dark, I stepped on an old board with some nails sticking out...can you see where this is going? Yep, a nail went right through my flip-flop and into my big toe. Now I was panicking and also gushing blood from my foot. I knew I had to make a break for it, so I grabbed Trudy and dashed for the door, right past the skunk. Luckily we didn't get sprayed--wouldn't that have been just perfect? I called my husband, who was a bit freaked out at the sight of my bloody foot, but he did a good job cleaning me up.

Naturally, we decided it would be a good idea to pay a visit to the hospital, where I got a tetanus shot and some X-rays. They found that the nail had actually nicked my bone, which apparently is a risk for some bad infections, so I got a prescription for antibiotics. For the past two days I've been pretty much immobile. But it's a fun story to tell at parties, right??

To commemorate my first visit to the ER, I decided to create a mani...and thus the Rusty Skunk was born.

See, white stripes like a skunk? And the dots are like...drops of blood? Yep.

Polishes used: Maybelline Porcelain Party, Revlon Stiletto, and Julep Minka. Minka is a matte metallic; I absolutely love this finish. On the nails where I used Minka, I did one coat of polish, one coat of topcoat, then another coat of polish. This is supposed to make matte polish last longer. I also used Revlon's matte topcoat on my accent nail.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the skunk was apparently sick or injured, because it lay in the same place for several hours, then mysteriously disappeared. It may still be out there somewhere...

Swatch: Maybelline Dotty

The polish in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Hello all! I relieved some of my pre-wedding stress by doing my nails yesterday (my last mani stayed on for a full week! Must have been the Gelous). I picked up this new Maybelline Color Show shade at the grocery store. It's part of a collection called "Polka Dots" and reminds me a bit of the recent China Glaze Glitz Bitz 'n Pieces collection, except better because 1) it has a colored base and 2) no bar glitter, which I HATE!

Dotty is an orange jelly (or maybe it's a crelly?) with three sizes of black and white hex glitters.

Maybelline Dotty. Two coats with one coat Out the Door and one coat Gelous.

As you can see, at two coats it's still a bit sheer, but I felt there was enough glitter coverage to camouflage my nail line.

Dotty was pretty easy to apply; I did have to dab the glitter on a little to fill in some gaps. It dried pretty quickly too. This polish would be great for Halloween, maybe over another orange to make it bolder. Or in a jelly sandwich!

Oh, and just before I took this picture, my ring finger nail tore 1/3 of the way across. That makes three of my nails that are held together with nail glue. Just have to make it one more week...

You can find Maybelline in pretty much every drugstore and grocery store (in the US at least). I think I paid $3 for it (7 ml). The collection has several other colors with the same glitter, so you can choose your favorite!

The polish in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Polish Days: To boldly go...

I'm back from my short hiatus and excited to be participating in my second Polish Days! This month's theme is sci-fi and outer space. I wasn't very creative--I had been meaning to try out galaxy nails for a long time, plus I already did a Star Trek mani! So here's my first attempt at galaxy nails:

(In case you're wondering why you're seeing my right hand today, it's because the mani somehow turned out better on that hand.)

Here are the polishes I used: the base is Zoya Storm, which is a perfect outer space polish! Then I sponged on Maybelline Porcelain Party, Revlon Plum Seduction, and Color Club Age of Aquarius. I used Porcelain Party again with a dotting tool to make the stars. Thanks to my compulsion to make everything look even, I made too many stars, but otherwise I think it looks cool!

And here's a bonus pic with my tribble!

Live long and prosper! And don't forget to check out some of the great nail art linked below!

Polish Days: The number 5

I'm excited--this is my first time participating in the Polish Days blogger event! The theme for this month is "the number 5". This is a pretty broad prompt, so I thought for a while about what I should do. Then it hit me: the five wizards!

If you're at all familiar with The Lord of the Rings, you know about the wizards Gandalf and Saruman. But did you know there were actually five wizards? They were angelic beings incarnated in mortal bodies, sent to help the people of Middle-Earth fight Sauron.

Gandalf the Grey/White gets place of honor on my thumb. (Did you know his real name is Olorin?) The base is Maybelline Porcelain Party, and I painted his G rune in acrylic paint. (I love acrylic! So great for nail art!)

Saruman is on my index finger. I used Revlon Carbonite as the base because it reminds me of the war machines he built at Isengard. Then I painted the White Hand (the symbol his orc soldiers wear) with acrylic paint.

On my middle finger is Radagast the Brown. He's mentioned a few times in Lord of the Rings. He was the one who sent the Eagle to rescue Gandalf from the top of Orthanc (no magic moths in the book!). He was mostly interested in animals and plants, and didn't do much to help fight Sauron. Radagast's real name is Aiwendil, 'bird-friend', so I gave him a blackbird.  The base color is Sephora by OPI Leotard Optional, and the bird is done in acrylic (I think it turned out really well!).

Finally, we don't know much about the last two wizards, except that they were friends and wore blue. They traveled far to the east, off the known maps of Middle-Earth, to fight Sauron's influence there, and were never heard from again. Their names were Alatar and Pallando, or Morinehtar and Romestamo ('darkness-slayer' and 'East-helper').

Since we don't really know about their personalities, I chose to give them a kind of wizardly-looking sweep of dots. :-D The base color is China Glaze Hanging in the Balance, and the dots are Julep Millie, Orly Royal Navy, Wet 'n' Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint, and Wet 'n' Wild Shameless. I'm a little mad that I blurred the dots on my ring finger, even though I waited an hour before putting on topcoat!

Well, am I a geek or what? How did I do? I had fun doing this mani, and I'm hoping to participate in future Polish Days!