City Skyline Nail Art

Hey guys! I went to New York City this past week for a visit to the Museum of Natural History, and I did my nails to match!

These are my city skyline nails...

Here's how I did it:

I started off by doing a sunset gradient. I used a makeup sponge and blue (Sinful Colors Blue By You), pink (Sinful Colors Cream Pink), and yellow (Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, the original). 

I then used black (Sinful Colors Black on Black) and created buildings by stroking down with the brush. Using the same yellow, I used a tiny dotting tool to make windows. I then finished off with topcoat.

Done!

I love the Museum of Natural History. The human origins exhibit is my favorite. Have you ever been there? What's your favorite exhibit?

XOXO

Is

Quilted Nail Art

Hi guys! Happy Monday! Did you guys tune into the Super Bowl last night? I didn't except for Katy Perry, because I'm not much of a football person! Haha!

Today I have a quilted manicure to show you. I first saw this type of manicure on The Polishaholic, and was inspired by two of Jen's quilted mani's, this blue one and this matte and shiny black one. 

For my quilted manicure, I chose to do black matte and shiny but add some flair with gold microbeads!

I had to include this picture... so shiny!

I first applied a base coat and then my OCW black polish, Sinful Colors Black on Black. I then applied NYC Grand Central Station to speed up the dry time.

Once the black was fully dry, I used striping tape to create the quilted pattern. I then painted over the whole nail with a fairly thick coat of  matte topcoat. I used Wet N' Wild Wild Shine (irony) Matte Top Coat. Seriously, this topcoat rivals Essie Matte About You, my former go-to matte topcoat. However, once I ran out (actually, I still had about 1/4 left, but it was too thick and flecked with white specks to be usable) I decided to try out Wet N' Wild's. In terms of mattifying abilities, it's fantastic! Probably just the tiniest smidge less matte than Essie's, but I find that this gives it more depth and a "plush" look.

After applying the matte topcoat, I immediately peeled off the striping tape and was left with a cool, luxurious looking mani!

From there, I decided to enhance the feeling of luxury by adding gold microbeads at the areas of intersection of the shiny lines. 

Done! (No topcoat to preserve the texture.)

For my "Cinderella" hand I did plain matte black with an accent nail of OPI All Sparkly and Gold, a fine cool gold glitter topper. These kept the mani cohesive, but allowed me only spend two hours on this mani instead of four, lol. Because really, ain't nobody got time fo dat. ;)

What do you think of this mixed texture mani? Thanks so much for reading!

XOXO

Is

Chrome Geometric Negative Space Nail Art

Hello ladies! How's your 2015 going? I hope it's a happy healthy one filled with lots of achievements and blessings. 

Today's nail art is a really cool design, in my opinion. I tend to do intricate nail art on the weekends, since that's when I have time to relax. 

I was inspired by this manicure that I saw on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/312366924127751652/

For this manicure I started with a base coat and a layer of topcoat, then added two coats of Sally Hansen Color Foil in Titanium Flush, a pink mirror-like chrome. These polishes are pretty finicky, so be sure to see my post on How to Make Your Sally Hansen Color Foils Look Perfect: http://nailsniche.blogspot.com/2014/07/how-to-make-your-sally-hansen-color.html 

Once that was dry, I took a nail art brush and Essie Spin the Bottle, a creamy nude, and free handed a thick horizontal line in the center of my nail. After that, I used Sinful Colors Black on Black to make the outline of the nude stripe and the zig zags. I finished off with topcoat.

I initially was going to use tape over my bare nail and add Titanium Flush, but because of the quick-drying nature of the Color Foil I just couldn't get a clean line, so I substituted the negative space bare nail look with a nude polish and a tiny brush. 

I really liked this look. The geometric strip across the center combined with the reflective metal finish was really cool. I went to get a pedicure after I did this and I got so many compliments from the ladies who work there! 

What's your favorite nail art look to do when you have time? Have a great day!

XOXO

Is

Edgy Negative Space Nail Art

Hi guys! Today I have some nail art to share with you.

Negative space has been a big trend lately. I personally am a huge fan!

Here it is! I really enjoyed wearing this- I wore it for two whole days, a rarity for me!

First I used my base coat (CND Stickey) and let it dry completely. If you have stained or discoloration, you may want to use a ridge filling base coat or a sheer pink polish, but be sure to let it dry fully before moving on to the next step. Using Scotch tape, I cut of the jagged edges on one end and then positioned it at the base of my nail in a triangle shape and then user Sinful Colors Black on Black to fill in the exposed area. Then I immediately removed the tape.

Next, I used a striping brush dipped into Essie No Place Like Chrome and made two intersecting lines, each parallel to the edges of the bare triangle. (Geometry, guys. Yes.) 

I finished off with topcoat (Essie Good to Go) and added a silver Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art rhinestone. 

What do you guys think? I really like negative space nail art. You can really do a lot with it! How bout you guys! Do you like negative space nail art?

XOXO

Is

Glittery Funky French feat. Orly Bubbly Bombshell

This mani was inspired by Erika from Chloe's Nails. Unfortunately, she doesn't post anymore, but her blog is treasure chest of nail art ideas, especially for those of you whose skills lie in tape and stamping rather than freehand. Erika's nails are perfectly squared off, which allows her to use regular Scotch tape to create her signature style, the funky French, usually with black tips. However, my nails aren't perfectly square, so having a perfectly straight tip looks kind of strange on my nails. However, my nails are a bit too square to use the reinforcement method (I showed you that technique in this post; however, it looks best on rounder nails, in my opinion). Finally I figured out how to get the perfect French tip for my nails: freehand it with a tiny brush! Lately I've been doing a lot of freehand work, so I had the idea to use a small brush, because that would be the easiest method for me. 

I started with two coats of Orly Bubbly Bombshell, a super dense, ultra sparkly fuchsia glitter (with the best name. So effervescent!). I actually saw this polish first on Erika's blog, and snapped it up at Sally's! I applied one coat of Essie Good to Go topcoat to smooth out he glitter and I then used Spoiled Visually Slimming and a thin paint brush for the black tips, which is actually Erika's go-to look, as you can gather from her blog. I finished off with one more coat of topcoat. Voila! My first funky French! I adore this look, and I'll definitely be attempting more of them in the future. I've already tried another combo out, Maybelline Impeccable Greys (medium gray) topped with China Glaze Fairy Dust (fine holo glitter topper) with Essie Fiji (light pink) tips. Swoon!

And now for some spam. ;)

Whats your method for creating French tips? Got any suggestions for me? What's your signature look? Comment down below! Thanks so much for reading.

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XOXO

Is

Chains Nail Art

Today I have a really edgy mani to show you. Combining matte black, silver, and chains creates a great punk look. Check it out:

I started with a base of Spoiled Visually Slimming and added a coat of Essie Matte About You. (Which I've spotted in CVS; it's about time it started going retail. Woo-hoo!) I then used a thin brush to paint silver chains zigzagging across my nails, so each chain kind of flowed into the next, making it a little more seamless. I used Essie No Place Like Chrome for the chains. I did not use topcoat for this mani. The contrast between the matte black and the metallic silver is so striking, I think, and the fact that the chains are kind of messy makes it so much more edgy.

What do you think of this mani? 

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XOXO

Is

NOTD: Plain Old White (With Added Pizazz!) Sally Hansen Disco Ball

Hi guys! I have today's mani to share with you. It's not much, but I was in the springy mood yesterday (temperatures are rising!) and wanted to do something clean and light.

That turned out to be plain old white (Spoiled Correction Tape) with some fine glitter on top (Sally Hansen Disco Ball from the Xtreme Wear collection).

Generally, I reserve white for summer, but it was so warm yesterday I couldn't help it!

I rather like it! The glitter doesn't show up that well in the photo (my apologies) but it adds a nice bit of sparkle and fun to the plain white polish. Disco Ball is very versatile that way... it adds pizazz to any color. I tried it with black as well...

You can see how the glitter really pops against the black.

So there ya go! A quickie little NOTD post. I'm so excited for the warmer weather! I really love Disco Ball as it can be used with any creme, and is fun without being to over-the-top.

What polishes do you use to jazz up plain colors?

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XOXO

Is