Freehand Roses

 For today's nails I did a freehand Roses. I think these turned out very well.  

I used Zoya Skylar as the base.  Then I used Zoya Bevin for the leaves.  I used Color Club Sugar Sheer for the base of the flowers and then I used Barielle Cosmic Kiss for the accent on the flowers. 

I really like these. They only took about 20 minutes to do.   :)

XOX Caitlin

Stamping Sunday: Queensday

 Stamping Sunday.  I haven't participated in a while, and since yesterday I moved all my stuff home and got settled, I thought I would go ahead and participate. :)  Today's theme is Queensday, because it is Queensday in the Netherlands!

For the base I used Revlon Royal, then I stamped using Cheeky CH11, Then I took the seed beads from the dollar tree and i made the Crown design and put dots on the nails where the lines from the stamp crossed. I used gold beads.

Its kind of hard to top the amazing Union Jack nails, but I think that these look pretty cool. :)

What do you think? Do you like it?

XOX Caitlin

getting ziggy with it

Sooo I don't have anything really new to show you guys yet, I wore those awesome Union Jack Caviar nails for 4 days. (that's the longest I have been in a few months! lol)

Tomorrow I am moving back home, and moving my stash as well, and so all my pretties are all packed up and ready to move home.  When I get there, I may do a stash post when I get my polish desk all set up. :)

Also, I have an idea for some awesome Michael Jackson nails that I am going to attempt tomorrow.  I went to the Michael Jackson Cirque Du Soleil show tonight, and it was AMAZING.  I am such a huge MJ fan, and the show was so amazingly awesome.  The acrobatics are so amazing, and they are all so flexible and talented! If you ever have an opportunity to see a Cirque show, definitely go!  It is such an amazing experience.

Just so this post has a photo, I have a photo of some stamped nails I did about a week ago, I used China Glaze Traffic Jam as the base and stamped with white using a Red Angel plate, I don't remember which one.

XOX Caitlin

Union Jack Caviar Nails

Ok, so originally I was not fond of the Caviar Manicure, but.... these are just so pretty!

Once again I used my beads from the Dollar Tree, these 3 colors came in a pack together.

The polish Color is Revlon Royal, and on the accent nail are the 3 colors of seed beads from the Dollar Tree.

I really love these so much!

What do you think?

XOX Caitlin

Happy Little Clouds

I have a quick post for you today, some Clouds! These clouds are inspired by Nailside, who does the most amazing clouds.

The base color is China Glaze Concrete Catwalk, The green is China Glaze Electric Pineapple, and the Pink is China Glaze Traffic Jam. The white dots are with Sinful Colors Snow me White.

Just saying happy little clouds reminded me of Bob Ross. lol.

(Image from google)

Who doesn't love Bob Ross?!? ;)

XOX Caitlin

Fish Egg Manicure

The Caviar Mani.  This has been around since Fashion Week of 2011 (Check the date of this link if you would like. or this one too)  And now Ciate is trying to claim the idea of "Caviar" nails/Manicure as their own.  This really bothers me, because it was not their idea, and now they are going to make money off of it.  They have even sent Cease and Desist letters to bloggers who show how to recreate the mani for cheaper than their $25 price tag.  There is alot of talk about this in the nail community, and I don't think that sending cease and desist letters to bloggers is really going to help their reputation. I know I certainly will not buy from them, even though now they will be sold at Sephora.  If you want to know more there are many, many bloggers talking about it recently, so if you just search for ciate caviar manicure cease and desist, plenty of blogs will come up.

Also, the price it cost me to do this manicure?  approximately 12 cents.  Yes. 12 CENTS. I will share more on that later.

The blue color is Zoya Skylar. The beads are from the Dollar tree!

OK, here is the good part.  The price of my manicure.  I got these adorable mini bottles of glitter and random things at the Dollar Tree.  The mini bottles were packaged together in sets of 8 for $1, which is why this cost me .12 cents. At the dollar tree they had a package of mini seed beads which i used for this manicure, and it had 8 different colors.  They also had misc. glitter, and shape glitter, and bar glitter, and crushed shells.  they are just enough to do one day's nail art, and I think they are a good deal because I don't really use glitter/seed beads that often anyway. And when I saw them I couldn't pass them up!  .12 cent or $25 for a temporary manicure? I will go with my dollar tree nail art. :)

XOX Caitlin

Charlie the Unicorn!

 I am doing this nail art as a submission to Neverland Nail Blog's Nail art contest, which is titled "Do you believe in Magic?" and of course I had to do Unicorns! and how awesome is this nail art??

The unicorns are freehand.  The base is Color Club Twiggie. The pink unicorn is Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream, the purple unicorn is Barry M Berry Ice Cream. The white unicorn is Sinful Colors Snow me White.  The Candy Mountain is Color Club Poptastic, and the black accents are Wet N Wild Black Creme.

Here is a macro of the unicorns. :D

What do you think?

XOX Caitlin

Clarins 230 Franken... What??

 Today's polish is a franken I made.  As many of you know, the beloved Clarins 230 is hard to come by, it is so rare and beautiful it has been named Unicorn Pee.  I have been in search of it for some time, and with it going for $70+ on ebay(which is the only place to find it unless you know someone willing to part with it) I decided to do some research on it.  I came across a blog, More Nail Polish, which had some color morphing pigments that looked similar to Clarins, and I fell in love.  I knew I had to have some.  So I went to the Brides of Frank group and begged for someone to have some in small enough quantities that I could purchase for a smaller amount than the jar on ebay for $45.  And someone bought some and resold to the group.  I can not express my thanks enough, because now my lemming for Clarins 230 has been squashed.

The pigment is called Chameleon Pigment in Copper Red/Green, and unfortunately it is being discontinued. :( I'm glad I got some before it goes away! and I just mixed it into a Color Club topcoat bottle I had, and voila! I have to shake it to get the pigment to disperse if I leave it sitting, but that comes with the territory, because I don't have any suspension base.

Here I layered it over NYX Girls Ink Heart, and 1 layer of my Franken.

(a little warning though, Ink Heart stains like no ones business, so it is definitely best to wear a basecoat with it, unless you want blue nails until they grow out. lol)

You can click to enlarge these beauties. ;)

I don't normally do macros but I had to for this one... It is just such a beauty.
 

 Here the Red shines bright!

And here the green shift shows amazingly!

Ladies, I don't own Clarins, but from photos I have seen, this looks pretty close.  I absolutely love it and don't want to take it off!

XOX Caitlin

Nautical Nail Art!

Today I have for you some Nautical Nail Art! Who doesn't love stripes?

For this design I used Sinful Colors Snow Me White as the base, some red metallic striping tape I got from Ebay, and China Glaze First Mate for the anchor using my dotting tool. 

I think this came out pretty well. :)

What do you think?

XOX Caitlin

Swatch Sticks + Nubbins + Some news

Hi all!

Warning long post ahead! You can skip down to the pretty pictures if you don't want to read about my life.   :P

First news: I am switching universities next year! I am no longer going to be a student at University of South Carolina, I am moving back home and going to University there. So if I don't post regularly over the next few weeks, its because I am in the process of finishing exams and moving my stuff back home!

I have a few updates for you all, I haven't posted the last few challenge posts because:
1) Classes are beginning to go into exams, and I haven't had alot of time to paint my nails
2) My nails are nubbins now, and it kinda makes me sad. :(
3) My Partner in crime on this challenge, Bec, has not posted either, due to cutting her finger with the fimo slicer. :(

More news: I am soooooooooo excited to get some color morphing pigment from Lori Hill Shadow, she was soo sweet to order some and dispense it to all of us.  The pigment i am getting is called Chalemeon and it is made for car paint.  Lori found out that this pigment will be discontinued, so I snatched it up quickly!  It looks amazing, like CLARINS 230!  When you mix it with topcoat and put it over black it has the same copper red/green that clarins has.  OMG I AM SO EXCITED. I can't wait to mix some up and show you guys!

and even more news! I have reached 300 followers! I am so excited about this guys!

aaaaaaand I am going to London over the summer to see my amazing boyfriend. I got my passport in the mail last week!

I have also been swatching most of my stash. :) I have a Pic for you all of my swatchsicles. (this photo kind of reminds me of a runway.

And one of them attached to the screw thingy:

If you would like the link to the swatch sticks, leave a comment saying so. :)


And to show you guys my nubbins, I have 2 photos from these past few days in which I have not posted.

China Glaze Urban Night - 2 coats.  See how short they are!!

and this is Milani Totally Cool.  I originally wanted this because i is supposed to have a clarins 230 esque apearance, and it does in the bottle.  but on the nail it doesn't translate, which is kinda dissappointing, but it is still a beautiful deep rich color. and I love it! 

XOX Caitlin

Day 17: Creative Lacquer Challenge Gradient Ombre

I loved my nails so much yesterday, and today's challenge is gradient/ombre, so I did another today. :)

Today's ombre is Pink. :)

I started with a base of Sinful Colors Snow Me White
The pinks used are:
Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream
Color Club Trippie Hippie
Zoya Renee
China Glaze Traffic Jam

Then I stamped with Red Angel plate RA112
with Sally Hansen Insta Dri Silver Sweep

XOX Caitlin

Day 16: Creative Lacquer Challenge: Rainbow

Today's challenge is Rainbows.  I did one mani earlier, that was an EPIC fail, so I had to re-do it to something that was decent to post. :P  This turned out AMAZING.  I absolutely love the way this turned out! Lets just get on to the pictures!

 Isn't that a beauty!

So here is how I created this mani: I used a cosmetic sponge to paint the polish on my nails.  it is as simple as that.

 Here is a photo of the sponge next to my thumb so you can see how the gradient worked itself out.  I literally just put paint lines on the cosmetic sponge and it soaked it all up and when I dabbed it on my nails the colors magically blended together.

and a photo of all the fingers for good measure. :)

I started out with a base polish of white, I used Sinful Colors Snow me White

The colors I used for the gradient are(from base to tip):
Color Club: Pucci-licious
Color Club: Chelcea Girl
Color Club: Twiggie
Color Club: Almost Famous
OPI: Orange mini from the Spookette set
Color Club: Cadillac Red

Stamping: Wet N Wild Black Creme
Cheeky CH5

I love this manicure! What do you think?

XOX Caitlin

Day 15: Creative Lacquer Challenge Favorite Band

Today's nails are a tribute to middle school me.  My favorite band in middle school was AFI.  Over the past two years they have virtually dropped off of the face of the earth unfortunately, because they were my favorite band in middle school.   They have been around since before I was born, and their popular songs include Miss Murder and Love Like Winter from their album Decemberunderground.  Before that their most popular song was Sing the Sorrow from the Sing the Sorrow album.


In this manicure I used Sinful Colors Snow me White as the base and freehanded the bunnies and AFI logo in Wet N Wild Black Creme.

It looked much better before I put the topcoat on, because I put on the Barielle Manicure Extender Top Coat, and it did not play nice with my nail art. :( I should have stuck with my good ol' Seche Vite.  That is why my nails are streaky, because of the topcoat. :(

This is what I was replicating in case you are not familiar with AFI:

The smeary lines kinda make it look like its rusted or something, you know those stains from water?

Anywho, What is your favorite band?

XOX Caitlin

Day 14: Creative Lacquer Challenge Funky French

Ahhhh the Prismatic Collection.  These glitters are the hardest thing in the world to photograph.  I never wanted them from seeing all of the swatches, but when I saw them in person I had to get them. 

I used China Glaze Prism from the Prismatic Collection for the funky french.   I really hate glitters, because they are such a pain to remove.  this one was no exception, it was a pain in the rear to remove, but it is just so pretty it was worth it.
 The stamp used for this funky french is from the Cheeky Set CH23

Do you have any of the Prismatics?

XOX Caitlin

Day 13: Creative Lacquer Challenge Vegas

I knew I would figure out a way to use the naked girls on the red angel plates! lol.  The challenge for today is Vegas nails.  and I did these dancing girls on my nails.   they were supposed to be fairies, but Red Angel didn't print their wings, so they were naked girls on my plates, rendering them useless until today for this mani.  What do you think?

The base is Pewter from Love and Beauty from Forever 21
The red is Color Club Cadillac Red
 the black stamped is Wet N Wild Black Creme
The dancing girls were on the Red Angel Plates RA111, RA112, RA113

XOX Caitlin

Tutorial: Brushstroke Mani

I had a few people ask me to do a tutorial on the BrushStroke mani I posted here.  So here it is! Let's get started.


The tools you need:
a fan nail art brush
a palate for your polish
your base color (i would suggest a light color)
and  3 colors for the accent colors(or more depending what you want to do. :))

Step 1:  Apply base color (shown here is OPI Skull and Glossbones)

 

Step 2: put a few drops on to the palate to pick the paint up on the brush. 

Step 3: Pick up the paint on the brush and disperse it through the brush.  you only need a little bit on the brush to transfer. I kind of brush the paint out away from the dot and smear it out a little on the palate to get away excess. (shown in step 5 photo)



Step 4: apply lightly to the nail in random places, some big some small, apply as much or as little s you want. have fun with it!

Step  5: do the same with the 2nd color, and fill it in a little bit more leaving a little bit of space for your last color.
Here in the background you can see how I smear it away to only get a little on the tip of the brush.  you don't want too much polish on the tips or it will cover the entire nail. (personally I think I used too much blue in this one)

Step 6: Repeat again with the last color filling in any missing gaps.  It is great to overlap colors especially if they are sheer and create new colors!  I did quite a few times.  the point is to just make a piece of art on your nails. So it is your creation, do with it what you please! 

Here is my finished result with Seche Vite Top Coat and cleaned up the colors that got onto my cuticles.

Do you think you will be trying this?

XOX Caitlin

* (the lighting may be a little off in these photos, I got a new light, and am working on figuring out the settings for my camera. :D)*