Swatch: Zoya Cecilia

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

Hi gang! I wanted to quickly show you the polish I wore on my first day of classes last week! This is Zoya Cecilia, a bright turquoise creme. It's from the latest summer collection, but I think it works great for early fall as well!

Zoya Cecilia. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

The formula was unfortunately a bit thick and sticky. (That might have been partly due to the high temperature/humidity in my office.) So make sure not to overload your brush. On the bright side, it was nearly a one-coater.

I'm going to try to do some nail art for class this week. Gotta make a good impression!

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

Today's mani: Anniversary peacock nails

Heya gang! Yesterday was my and Mr. ALIQUID's second anniversary--it definitely doesn't feel like two years already! We celebrated with some big steaks at a nice restaurant (OK, I ate about a third of my steak and took the rest home). And of course I wanted to do a nice mani for the occasion!

The other day I watched this tutorial about how to make stamping "decals" without actually having to let them dry and peel them up. This kind of blew my mind (I'm probably the last person to discover this technique, right?). So I decided to try it out, and it actually works! Stamping decals without bubbles and wrinkles, hooray!!

I started with a base of Zoya Song and added a coat of Out the Door. While that was drying, I used the peacock feather stamp from MoYou Pro 03 with Julep Harley and colored in the spots with Zoya Ziv and Ivanka. I let the stamp dry on the stamper for a minute or so, then stamped it directly onto the nail. I guess the topcoat grabs the stamp even after it's mostly dry!

Today's mani: Spring watercolor gradient

Hi all! Have you entered my bloggiversary giveaway yet??

Today I decided to retry the watercolor gradient method that I learned from Nailasaurus (my first attempt is here). This time I was thinking about "April showers bring May flowers" for the color scheme and picked four teal/green colors: Revlon Trendy, Zoya Wednesday, Illamasqua Nomad and Essie Mojito Madness. I also mixed the polishes together to get more colors in the gradient. What do you think?

I really like the painterly look you can get from this method, and it's almost impossible to mess up!

Happy weekend!

Quick swatch: Zoya Chita

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

Happy Sunday! Today I just have a quick pic of what I'm wearing right now! We went to visit my in-laws for a few days this weekend, so I decided to wear a Zoya PixieDust because they tend to last longer on me. I picked Chita, which is a classic PixieDust in dark green. Love it!

Zoya Chita. Two coats.

During our visit, we went to a restaurant in NYC that does a family-style prime rib dinner, and it was AMAZING. Here is our waiter helpfully posing with our giant hunk-o-meat:

I also finally picked up Helmer #2, so I once again have room for my whole collection (for now)! Quite an eventful weekend!

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

Today's mani: Dotted double gradient

Hi folks! Today we are getting yet another snowstorm. This might be the most snow I've ever seen on the ground at one time. We're running out of room to put it all!

Yesterday I decided to fool around with some new Zoyas I got during their last sale. I got three cremes that ended up looking nice together, so I tried out a gradient dotticure with them.

The base color is Claire, and the other two are Aubrey and Brigitte. I started by making a triangle shape in dots with Claire at the tip of the nail, and making each row one dot longer than the previous. I made the gradient more gradual by mixing the polishes together to get five colors in total. Once the triangles were done, I filled in the rest of the space using the same colors but starting with the lightest color at the bottom. Then I mattified everything!

I think the end result looks pretty cool, although I have to work on getting my dots more even.

My five favorite swatches of 2014!

Hi guys and gals! As promised, I'm going to show you some of my favorite posts from last year. Today I narrowed it down to my top five swatched polishes, which was pretty hard, believe me! Are we surprised that they're all purple or teal??

In no particular order (each title is linked to my original post):

1. Glam Polish Leapfrog

2. KBShimmer Sugar Plum Faerie

3. Glitter Daze Poised

4. Zoya Neeka

5. Indigo Bananas We Are the Music Makers

Which of these is your favorite?

Tomorrow I'll be back with my favorite nail art from 2014!

Today's mani: Ikat chevrons for Hanukkah

Good evening and happy Hanukkah! Although I'm only Jewish by proxy, I decided it would be fun to do a Hanukkah manicure since I'm seeing my in-laws tomorrow. Plus, the blue/white/silver color combo looks really good on me!

I decided to try my hand at an ikat-style mani for the first time. I have to say, ikat is a lot harder to do than it looks! It's supposed to be a little messy, but not too messy, and that's the hard part. I'll definitely have to work on this!

The colors I used were Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, OPI My Signature is "DC", Zoya Sailor and OPI My Vampire is Buff.

We'll be traveling starting tomorrow, but I'll do my best to keep you up-to-date on all my nail-related activities!

Today's mani: Sideways ruffian for my birthday!

Good evening ladies and gents! Today I turned 29. That means after today I've officially stopped aging forever (right???).

The highlight of my day is the chocolate cake, still upcoming, but of course I did a fun mani as well. I used a brand new polish that I bought myself as an early birthday present: OPI My Dogsled is a Hybrid. It's a pretty light teal that I think is different from anything else in my collection. I decided to do a sideways ruffian, because I've just started seeing the design everywhere and it's really classy!

The sideways ruffian is very easy if you want to try it. First you polish your nails with your base color and let it dry completely. Then stick down a French tip guide along the curve you want for the ruffian (use tweezers to make it easier). Paint the side of your nail with color #2 (in this case Zoya Ziv) and immediately remove the tip guide. Done!

Nail fail(?): monochrome stamping decals

Good morning! Today I have what I consider to be a nail fail. I wanted to have another go at making stamping decals. Previously I had tried the method where you let the decal dry on the stamper, the disadvantage of course being that you can only make one at a time (unless you have multiple stampers, I guess). This time I made them on a plastic baggie, starting by putting down some splotches of topcoat and letting them dry, then stamping on top of that.

Here you can see the decals in progress (and one where I screwed up the stamping):

I used a stamp from Winstonia W111, which is a cool sort of art-deco pattern. I stamped with my go-to silver, Julep Harley. Then I decided to fill in the little arches with various shades of sparkly teal: Sally Hansen Jet Set Jade, Julep Valerie, Zoya Zuza and Scofflaw Wraith Pinned to the Mist (I really must swatch this one alone sometime).

So far, so good. The problem came when I went to put the decals on my nails. I just cannot figure out how to prevent them from getting all bubbly and lumpy! The result:

I put on a matte topcoat to try to obscure some of the imperfections, but they are still glaringly obvious to me. I can't help being a perfectionist, I guess.

If someone out there has mastered the art of stamping decals, please share your secrets!!

Today's mani: Sunset gradient

Hi all! Boy, I've been a bad blogger lately, haven't I? The truth is, I've barely done my nails at all lately. I sometimes feel like it's not worth it, because my mani will be ruined by either 1) making nail polish or 2) packing up orders. Yesterday I decided I had to do something because I had a tutoring job to go to. So I threw something together which I'm not 100% happy with.

First I did a gradient using Picture Polish Citrus, L'Oreal Orange You Jealous?, Revlon Passionate Pink and Zoya Audrina. I can't remember the last time I did a 4-color gradient (have I ever??) and it turned out nicely. I just keep forgetting that orange looks better in the bottle than on me!

The stamp is what really annoys me. I first wanted to do a cloud stamp, but after I finished the gradient I realized the stamp I picked wasn't going to work (it stamps the sky, not the clouds themselves). So I switched to this sun stamp (Winstonia plate W111), and of course I didn't manage to center it properly. Bleh. Plus I have shrinkage on my tips.

Today I've been grouchy too (lip balm making is giving me trouble, plus the endless stress of trying to find a job). But I'm going to try to perk up and do my nails more regularly. He Picks My Polish is coming up in a few days, and Mr. ALIQUID already knows what colors he wants!

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: Wave of dots

Hey kids! Hope you're having a great day! I've gotten a bit rusty at nail art over the past month or so, so I decided to get back into it today with my old standby, the dotticure!

I started with a base of Zoya Audrina, a lovely Radiant-Orchid-esque creme. I added dots in an abstract wavy pattern with Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow. Dotting is so easy but looks so cool, don't you think?

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!

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Independence Day mani!

Happy 4th of July to my fellow USians! It's been raining nonstop today thanks to Hurricane Arthur, but we still had burgers and potato salad for dinner. Plus we could see some fireworks from our bedroom window last night!

My 4th of July mani also satisfies today's Neverending Pile Challenge theme, which is free polish (meaning a polish you got for free). I used China Glaze Man Hunt, which I got in a Secret Santa swap, as my base color, and made some faded-looking stripes using Zoya Carmen, Julep Harley and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I was inspired by this beautiful mani by Manicurator!

Since the Manicurator post didn't have any directions on how to do this pattern, I had to work out my own method. I put down striping tape above where I wanted each stripe to go, then I sponged on each color using the edge of a triangular makeup sponge. I wanted the stripes to be crisp on top and fade away on the bottom. I really like this style, so I'll have to do it again sometime!

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend!


Total untrieds tried: 69 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

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!

The Neverending Pile Challenge: What was I thinking?

Good morning! It's time once again for the Neverending Pile Challenge! Today's theme is a great one: what was I thinking buying this? I think every nail polish hoarder can relate to this one! Sometimes you just impulsively grab a bottle and then instantly regret it.

My "what was I thinking" polish is from the Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat collection of bar glitter toppers. All Yarned Up is a clear base with short yellow, peach and periwinkle bar glitters. Now, I hate bar glitter, and I'm not a huge fan of glitter toppers either, but for some reason I decided I needed a polish from this collection. OK, past me, that was a weird choice. Anyway, I did a glitter gradient using All Yarned Up over another untried, Zoya Willow.

OK, from an objective point of view I can see why this polish is cool...it looks like sprinkles or little feathers or something. It might come in handy if I do a cake or ice cream mani. (Which means I probably won't be able to part with it...I'm such a hoarder.) It's just not really my style though. Plus the little glitters kept poking me through the topcoat.

Are you a fan of the bar glitter trend?

Total untrieds tried: 51 + chevron decals + 1 stamping plate


 

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.

He Picks My Polish: Orange and blue dots (plus a nail fail)

Double post today! I had to squeeze in a round of He Picks My Polish before the deadline! You may remember that for last time, my husband picked colors to match the superhero Jean Grey. This time he went for his other favorite female character: Dr. Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation. (Do you think he has a thing for redheads?)

The polishes Mr. ALIQUID chose were Zoya Robyn, Zoya Amy, Revlon Stiletto and Revlon Trendy. I actually ended up doing two manis, just like last time. I'll show you the second one first:

This mani was loosely inspired by this dots-and-stripes mani by My Adventures in Nail Art. My stripes aren't even, and I think I made the middle finger a little too busy, but overall I like the result. It kinda reminds me of a circuit board--very sci-fi!

OK, here's my slight "nail fail" first attempt. It started out fine at first, although the lines aren't as clean as I would like, but then I added matte topcoat too soon and it got all bubbly. Don't you hate it when the last thing you do to a mani kind of wrecks it?

Oh well. I like the pattern, so I'll probably attempt this mani again sometime.

FingerFood's Theme Buffet / Neverending Pile Challenge: A cloud of untrieds

Happy Friday! I'm doing yet another multi-challenge post today! This week's FingerFood's Theme Buffet prompt is something new, and the Neverending Pile Challenge theme is use as many untrieds in one mani as you can. Well, I didn't go crazy trying to cram a million polishes into one mani, but I did manage to knock six polishes off my untried pile!

To satisfy the something new prompt, I decided to try a technique I had never used before: the cloud mani. This kind of nail art, like the fishtail I did recently, seems simple on the surface but requires a decent amount of motor control. Mine isn't perfect, but I really like how it looks! (Pardon the glare in the photo...it's the bane of my existence.)

On three nails, I used Zoya Dove, Zoya Wednesday and Essie Mind Your Mittens. On my accent nail I used Julep Eden, Sephora by OPI Break a Leg Warmer! and Julep Evelyn. I love the combo of greys with all sorts of colors!

Total untrieds tried: 28

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!