WrapArtist Nail Decals Make Cool Girl Nails Easy

Nail decals aren't a new thing, but when I first saw them, WrapArtist's water decals immediately stood out to me. The designs are awesome. They just totally get it, you know? The decals are chic, cool, and trendy, not to mention fully opaque, sometimes metallic, and really simple to use. I put together this look in just a few minutes, and it feels like something that could have come out of a New York nail art salon!

Each set of water decals comes on a small sheet like this. To use a decal, you just cut it out of the sheet, soak it in water for a ~20 seconds, and then slide the decal off of the white backing paper. Position the decal on your dry nail and dab it on a paper towel to remove any excess water, then finish with a topcoat.

One thing I really appreciated about these decals is that the clear part of the decals around the designs are already trimmed. You don't have to cut super close around the design to avoid excess clear around the edges...the work is done for you! Just slide it and stick it.

You can also use them in gel to get a lot of mileage out of your WrapArtist manicure.

For this look, I started with a base of Deborah Lippmann Like Dreamers Do from the new spring collection (swatches soon). The glitter accent nail is Nicole by OPI Get Carrie'd Away.

I added decals from two WrapArtist sets: Being Negative and Say What. The Say What set is especially awesome for those of you that like to get a little saucy, as it includes profanity & other buzzwords.

If you are interested at all in these decals, I highly recommend browsing the Wrap Artist site. There are lots of killer sets, and I've only given you a taste of the awesomeness here. I'm already scoping out some additional sheets to grab for myself.

WrapArtist decals are available at wrapartistnails.com. Decals range from $5-6 per sheet.

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Deborah Lippmann Celebration Nail Lacquer Trio Swatches and Review

Deborah Lippmann has been a busy gal this holiday season! There are lots of great mini lacquer sets available from the brand right now, and one of them is the Celebration Nail Lacquer Trio, made for Deb's 15th anniversary. The three polishes come in a nice gift box with an artistic marbled background featuring the shades in the set.

Big Spender is a yellow gold metallic foil. I used three coats for the coverage you see here. Unfortunately, I don't think this shade is very flattering, but others may enjoy this kind of vibrant gold.

It's My Party is a blue, peach, gold, and red glitter topper in a clear base. The mix of colors is so cute! I chose to layer one coat over Deborah Lippmann Don't Stop Believin' (not included in the set) to show the glitter more clearly. I want to try this one layered over black.

New York State of Mind is a glowy cherry red shimmer. People that aren't normally into reds may be swayed by this beauty. It covered perfectly at two coats. Totally gorgeous.

This set retails for $29 and includes three mini lacquers (.27 oz). Lippmann mini bottles are my favorite -- they are just like her full size square, heavy bottom bottles, except cuter! It's not an inexpensive brand, but the mini sets are a great way to dip your toes in if you've been curious about Deb's polishes.

The Celebration trio is available now from retailers like Nordstrom and Bloomingdales and is also available from DeborahLippmann.com.

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Black Blooms Floral Nail Art

Though this design isn't explicitly Halloween, it is pretty morbid/somber and definitely seasonally appropriate. These black roses are a variation of my sweet rose floral nail art that I shared during the 31 Day Challenge, with a monochromatic twist. I paired the black blooms with ugly/pretty chartreuse leaves for a pop of color.

Nail polishes used:
Orly Highlight (base)
Formula X Dark Matter (black)
LVX Oyster (light grey)
LVX Anthracite (dark grey)
Deborah Lippmann Weird Science (chartreuse)

I began by applying Highlight as my base. I wasn't thrilled with the formula of this one, though I do love the color. It was fairly thin and sheer. I used three coats here.

The roses were simple. I put down a black blob shape, then used a small nail art brush to add the dark and light grey detailing. Chelsea Queen has a great rose tutorial you can check out for guidance. I then added the leaves, making sure they ended in points, and sealed everything in with HK Girl topcoat.

This is the second time I've been pleasantly surprised by the weirdness of a Deborah Lippmann shade; the first time was I Wanna Be Sedated. It's cool to see a brand that I usually associate with "pretty" shades do something odd, and the shimmer/foil in this one is showstopping.

I often do florals, but they are usually softer and more delicate. I am enjoying the contrast in this manicure, and still feel like I'm getting in the mood for Halloween!

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Metallic Herringbone Nail Art

Here's a pattern I haven't tried before: herringbone! I gave it a go with some metallic shades for a look that feels very "Gatsby" to me. If I had a black base it'd be pretty on the nose, eh? Halfway through the pattern, I alternated the way the herringbone was going for a little extra twist on the look. Is this a look you would wear?

Nail polishes used:
Deborah Lippmann Harlem Nocturne
Deborah Lippmann Autumn In New York

Like a few other chromes that have come out recently, these new Deborah Lippmann shades dry down to a brilliantly reflective finish with high pigmentation and very few brushstrokes. However, they also suffer from some of the issues that can plague chromes, like streaky application and quick chips. I applied Harlem Nocturne over a bare nail, which seemed to work fine. If you're having issues with chips, try combining the chrome with a creme base in nail art for a look that will probably last you a bit longer!

Have you tried herringbone nail art before? I want to give it another go, maybe with shades of grey and thinner lines.

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Anna Inspired Frozen Nail Art

It's "inspired by a movie" day in the 31 Day Challenge and I've done some nail art inspired by a movie that is sure to be a popular choice among other participants this year: Frozen! These tips are inspired by Anna's dress, which itself drew inspiration from a traditional piece of Norwegian clothing called a bunad. Her look features a black bodice, gold lacings, and flower details.

Nail polishes used:
Formula X Dark Matter (black)
Deborah Lippmann Autumn In New York (gold)
Essie Mojito Madness (green)
China Glaze Happy Go Lucky (yellow)
Misa Loveliest of Lilacs (purple)
Misa Lovely Lychee (pink)

I painted my nails black and then added the gold tips using the fishtail technique. The flowers and stems were painted freehand using my Edinburgh Realism #4 brush, and I used a pinpoint and small dotting tool to add the decorative dots. Everything is sealed in with two coats of Glisten and Glow HK Girl.

I have done quite a few movie manicures in the past! Check out what I've done previously for the challenge:

• Star Wars inspired nail art
• Eye of Sauron nail art from the Lord of the Rings trilogy
• Titan nail art from the movie Hercules

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Louis Vuitton Pattern Freehand Nail Art

Today is "inspired by a color" day in the 31 Day Challenge. I always take this prompt to mean "take inspiration from a polish color," particularly drawing inspiration from the name. This year, I reached for China Glaze's Lug Your Designer Baggage from the All Aboard collection for Fall 2014.

Nail polishes used:
China Glaze Lug Your Designer Baggage
Deborah Lippmann Autumn In New York

My inspiration for this look came from Michelle's review of the collection on All Lacquered Up. She mentioned that the name of the polish, plus the color in it, reminded her of a Louis Vuitton trunk. The color alone is really interesting -- it's a dark brown with golden flecks. I needed two coats for coverage.

I initially had trouble creating this pattern, and even came close to giving up on the look entirely. I posted my pinky on Instagram, intending to show off the one nail that had turned out well, but felt so encouraged by everyone's comments that I decided to try it one more time. My final attempt was passable, so here we are!

Check out my "inspired by a color" looks from past years:

• OPI Skull and Glossbones
• China Glaze Kalahari Kiss
• Color Club Wild Cactus

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Blue Dripping Chevron Nail Art

Blue! More inspirational to me than green was yesterday. I've painted some dripping chevron nail art, inspired by a pattern I saw on Pinterest. Of course, I had to modify the colors a bit to put them in line with today's 31 Day Challenge theme, but I just had to keep the metallic gold accent from the original piece. It's the right addition to break up the all blue palette.

Polishes used:
Essie Bikini So Teeny
Cirque Colors NYFW
Zoya Sailor
Deborah Lippmann Video Killed the Radio Star
LVX Laguna
Priti NYC Chrysanthos (gold)
Glisten and Glow HK Girl (topcoat)
Essie Matte About You (matte topcoat)

This look was simple to do but pretty time consuming. Each chevron was painted freehand with a small nail art brush, and then at the end, I extended a few of the chevron points into drips. I sealed everything in with glossy topcoat and then, after that was mostly dry, finished off the manicure with a matte topcoat.

 More blue for you!

• Barielle Blackened Bleu
• Blue and white china pattern
• Blue V tape manciure

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Bold Bolts - Deborah Lippmann 80s Rewind Nail Art

This summer, Deborah Lippmann has released a collection of bright cremes called 80s Rewind. They are all named after 80s songs and come in fun colors well-suited to summer. Of course I had to take the opportunity to do some totally rad nail art with the shades, and created this lightning bolt negative space manicure!

I used all six shades from the collection in this nail art:

• Walking On Sunshine (yellow)
• Whip It (pink)
• Don't Stop Believin' (red orange)
• Video Killed the Radio Star (blue)
• She Drives Me Crazy (teal)
• Maniac (purple)

As for the quality of the polish, they are all nicely pigmented with good formulas. I used two coats of each color, then finished the manicure off with a coat of Seche Vite and a coat of OPI Matte Topcoat.

This manicure is also the first time that I've used Nail Vinyls, and I have to say the experience was pretty great. For those of you that are unfamiliar, they are vinyl stickers precut into standard tape manicure shapes, which makes your tape manicure easier to do and more consistent. These lightning bolts are one of the shapes that came in the combo pack that I purchased.

This is a really simple look that has a lot of wow factor! The nail vinyls made the color blocking a breeze, and the polishes all worked great together.



Deborah Lippmann 80s Rewind shades can be found at Sephora.com, Nordstrom.com, and DeborahLippmann.com, as well as other high end stores.

OPI Matte Topcoat is available on Ulta.com.

Nail Vinyls are available in the Nail Vinyls shop.

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Punk Vectors - Texture and Glitter Combo

You probably know of my deep-rooted and unending love for texture polishes, but one area of the trend that I haven't really dove into yet is creme textures. These polishes are a single flat color with no sparkle, glitter, or shimmer, but with the same texture effect that you know and love. Opinions seem to be pretty mixed on these; many people just don't like the finished effect. I thought I'd give them a fair shot and incorporate one into an edgy, punky manicure to see if I could make it work.

The yellow-green texture polish I've used here is Deborah Lippmann I Wanna Be Sedated (Amazon, Deborah Lippmann). I gotta give props to Deb for taking a risk, not only in making a creme texture but for also making it in such an weird color. I keep going back and forth between loving how interesting this shade is and being unsure about how it actually looks on me. As far as application, it went on easily, needing just two coats.

On the two outside nails I've used three coats of Dandy Nails Bound to Fall as the base. This polish is a beautiful medium-dark grey with a flecked appearance. As far as grey polishes go, this one is a winner! Then I added one coat of Cirque Vectors over the top. Vectors has different shapes and sizes of black matte glitter plus just a touch of sparkle. It's really great and the glitter is plentiful.

I finished the look with two coats of American Apparel Hassid to my thumb to create the grounding black accent.

I love when a manicure makes me think twice. This ugly-pretty texture might be a bit too much on its own, but I do like the way it works in with the other elements of this manicure.

What do you think: too weird for you or just edgy enough?

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Deborah Lippmann Limited Edition Wicked 10th Anniversary Collection Swatches

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Broadway's Wicked, Deborah Lippmann has released a limited edition trio of shades inspired by the magic of Oz. Each polish in this trio of mini lacquers embodies a certain point of inspiration from the story, and each is named after a song from the show. I don't know about you guys, but I am a big fan of Wicked. My delightful boyfriend took one for the team and went with me to see it, bless his heart. Anyway, as a fan of the show, I was really excited to try out this set!

Popular is a squishy hot pink shade with a blue shimmer. This color was made to match Glinda's dress from the "Popular" number. It's super girly, as intended! I needed three coats for full coverage. The formula was smooth and easy, not too thick or too thin.

Defying Gravity is a jade green shade inspired by the color of Elphaba's skin. Obviously you can't have a Wicked collection without including an Elphaba green! Again, I used three coats for the opacity shown here. The formula is creamy and smooth with a great shine, even without topcoat.

One Short Day is an jewel toned emerald shade inspired by the glittering lights and glamour of The Emerald City. Again, another perfect point of inspiration! I love the mix of tiny shimmers and smaller glitters in this. It's nicely refined and not too over the top. Very classy representation! Here I've shown one coat over Defying Gravity.  The glitters applied evenly without clumping.

Which of these lacquers speak to you? I'm personally loving One Short Day.

This product is only sold as a box set of all three mini lacquers. Deborah Lippmann's signature square bottles in mini size may just be the cutest thing ever, by the way. So adorable, I just want to hug them. These particular bottles are printed with the Wicked logo (shown above) as well as the Deborah Lippmann logo.

Availability: DeborahLippmann.com and Sephora for $29.

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