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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Neon Block Drips - Color Club Poptastic Remix Nail Art

These 'drips' are a little different than the nail art drips that I normally do. While my other drips are flowy and realistic, these drips are blocky and unrelenting. I quite like the way they came out, and would definitely try this nail art again. Read on for details.

I started out with a base of 3 coats of Color Club Right On, a neon purple with shimmer. I freakin' love this shade. It's so pretty and electric.

Then, using the polish brush, I stacked on 'drips' using Color Club Not So Mellow Yellow (neon yellow-green), Color Club Foxy Mama (neon orange), Color Club Peace Love and Polish (lighter pink with shimmer), and black.

This technique is kind of similar to the way you use the brush in Nailside's cloud manicure, except a little less organized. Just keep your strokes as steady as possible, and make sure you have enough polish on the brush to make the drip in one swipe.

This is definitely a look I'd like to try with other color combinations as well. I think it has so many fun possibilities!

The Color Club Poptastic collection is available now on shopcolorclub.com.

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Busy Bee - Freehand Gel Nail Art for Cosmoprof 2014

As I started planning out the manicure I wanted to wear for Cosmoprof, I knew I wanted it to be three things: freehand, unique, and done in gel. I thought back to the bee manicure that I did in September 2013, and remembered how much I enjoyed wearing it. I chose to go with a similar theme, but tried to bump up the difficulty a bit.

For my thumb, I used Lexi Martone's glitter gel technique to create a sparkly black nail. I started with a black gel base and then applied a mix of black craft glitter and Wet N Wild Fantasy Makers holographic glitter. The black glitter didn't show up very well, but it did help to space out the holographic glitter more evenly. Then, I used nail glue to attach a bee charm from Hex Nail Jewelry and sealed it in with gel topcoat.

The honeycomb pattern, bee silhouettes, tribal-inspired pattern, and honey drips were all painted freehand. I was really pleased with the level of detail I was able to achieve in the gel, and it lasted the entire time I was at Cosmoprof! The nails definitely got a lot of attention!

As this was my first time doing gel nail art, I was unsure how it would go. I remembered that the talented ladies at Hey Nice Nails use Presto Gels for their gel art and gave the brand a try myself. I used the black and white art gels as well as Presto Gel in Gradevole for the yellow base color.

Though I don't have much to compare it to, my experience with Presto was great. One thing to note, if you are ordering, is that many of the shades come in gel pots. If you are only used to the regular polish bottles that many at-home gel systems use, getting pots delivered can be kind of jarring. Regardless, it worked out great for me and I'm sure I'll be ordering more in the near future.

Bee-lieve it or not, I was even able to get the same amount of detail on my other hand! I think the mani-gods must have been smiling down on me that day.

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TUTORIAL: Molten Metal Drip Nail Art

This month's Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art theme is "Liquid Mani-a," inspired by all things textured, metallic, shiny, and embellished! I've been in love with the new Color Foil metallic line (um, hello) and just had to use one of the shades in my newest tutorial. The finish of the polish combined with the drips had me thinking molten metal!

This drip tutorial can be used with any combination of polishes and finishes, but I do think it looks particularly glamorous with the purple metallic.

I used two Sally Hansen shades here:
Sally Hansen Insta Dri - Petal Pusher
Sally Hansen ColorFoil - Purple Alloy

You will also need a dotting tool and nail art brush; I grabbed mine from the I Heart Nail Art Tool Kit.


There are so many possibilities when it comes to drip nail art. Experiment with colors and finishes to make the look your own!

I've also paired this metallic nail art look with the appropriately named "Nailing It" gold cuff bracelet from BaubleBar.

Enter the Sally Hansen #IHeartNailArt contest at sallyhansen.com for a chance to win $500 and a trip to NYC to compete in the grand finale. The grand prize winner will become a Sally Hansen nail art ambassador and receive $2000! No Purchase Necessary. See Official Rules for full details.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Sally Hansen. Products provided by PR.

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The Lacquer Legion Adoration: I Adore Nail Art

I was brainstorming for The Lacquer Legion's "Adoration" prompt and, while there are many things I adore in the world, nothing seemed more appropriate for my post than nail art dedicated to... nail art! This manicure represents how much brighter nail art has made my life. Doing nail art, wearing nail art, looking at nail art, talking about nail art, I love it all.

I also threw in a little nod to a brand that I adore: OPI! I used all OPI shades for this nail art and tried to represent the ProWide brush (my fav) as the polish brush.

Shades used:
OPI My Vampire is Buff
OPI Big Apple Red
OPI In My Back Pocket
OPI I Just Can't Cope-acabana
OPI Who the Shrek Are You?
OPI Ogre the Top Blue
OPI Funky Dunkey

The technique I used in this nail art is similar to the technique that I used in my Trippy Drippy manicure. It basically involves making a manual gradient by creating custom blends of color to connect each shade to the next.

So, for example, on my middle finger, I painted red on the left side of the nail and orange on the right side of the nail. Then, I mixed my red and orange together and painted it in the middle of the nail. I did a bit more custom mixing and refining to make the transition smoother, but you could keep it simple if you'd like.

The polish brush, wand, and cap are all freehanded using white, black, and grey mixes.

Thank you, nail art, for being such a bright spot in my life!

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31DC2013 Day 03: Yellow Bee Silhouettes

I've always had a fascination with bees. It's hard to say what it is, really, but I think they are so cool. Maybe it's their diligence? The way they all work so hard towards a common goal? I've always wanted to do a bee manicure but have had trouble coming up with an original and interesting way to do it.

For day three of the challenge, I thought I'd give it a shot.

For the base of my nail art, I started with three coats of Zoya Darcy. I figured that the warm, rich yellow color would contrast nicely with the black accents I had in mind!

I freehanded the bee silhouettes on my middle finger. I used a short, thin nail art brush which allowed me to get fine lines on the legs and have better control over the rest of the body. I also freehanded the honey drips and the dotted fly-lines.

The honeycombs on my ring finger are stamped with Vivid Lacquer plate VL002.

The stripes on my pinky were done using a tape manicure technique.

I loved wearing this manicure so much.
First, I love yellow polish a lot and don't wear it as much as I should!
Second, bees are awesome.
Third, I think the bee silhouettes are some of the best freehanding I've ever done -- I'm so proud of the way they came out.

More 31 Day Challenge
View upcoming prompts!
My yellow nails from 2012!
My yellow nails from 2011!

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Hipster Mix and Match - China Glaze Sunsational Nail Art

Everyone has a little hipster spirit inside of them, and in today's nail art, I couldn't help but embrace mine! I pulled out all the stops: chevrons, bows, drips, geometrics... The only thing I left out were the nebulae. ;)

Press Sample 

Side note: isn't it funny how hipster is basically just the newest word for 80s?

For this look, I used all six of the China Glaze Sunsational collection creme shades. The collection also has 6 jellies but I'll be showing those off another day.

Sun of a Peach is a neon peach; you can see it used as the base on my middle finger. Unfortunately I had a hard time photographing this one correctly next to the other shades! It's a bit brighter and a touch lighter. Lots of fun. The formula was a little bit difficult to work with -- I used three coats to even things out.

Highlight of My Summer is a bright neon mint green. I used it in the dots on my pinky and the triangles on my ring finger. Again, it is a touch brighter than in the photo. I had trouble with application because I didn't wait long enough between coats. I ended up using 4 thin coats to even everything out.

Too Yacht to Handle is a bright teal. I used it as the base on my thumb and for the drips on my middle finger. The formula on this one isn't too bad... I think I used three coats for opacity.

That's Shore Bright is the purple base of my pointer finger and the second layer of dots on my pinky. A bit darker than I was able to capture, this one had the best formula out of all of the cremes. I used two coats for opacity and it applied easily.

Neon & On & On is the coral-y shade on the base of my pinky and as the chevrons on my pointer. I like this shade a lot, it's super bright, summery, and fun. I used three coats for opacity.

Bottoms Up is the pretty pink that I used on my ring finger and as the bow on my thumb. The formula on this one wasn't bad either, needing three coats for opacity.

I recently lost my trusty striper brush, so I was forced to use a different nail art brush for this look. I was surprised to learn that I actually liked the replacement better!

I started with a shorter brush and then cut the amount of bristles down by half using cuticle nippers. If you've never cut a brush before, Candice did a great video tutorial on it that I would recommend checking out. The shorter brush gives me better control, and lowering the amount of bristles let me keep the fine lines that my old striper brush created. Here's an Instagram shot of the new brush if you want to check it out!

What do you think? Do you want to be friends with my inner hipster?

The China Glaze Sunsational collection is available this month at fine salons and beauty supply stores nationwide.

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Come for the party, stay for the nails

My roommate Dayna and I host get togethers for our friends at our place sometimes. At one of the events a while ago, I started doing some nails for one of the guests and it turned into a thing! I ended up doing a lot of nails that night and thought I'd share some of the more exciting looks with you guys. The photos were impromptu and taken with my iPhone, so they are a bit of a departure from my usual aesthetic. Still, enjoy!

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I was uber happy with the way these galaxy nails came out. I'm telling you guys, China Glaze Fairy Dust is where it's at for the starry look!

The color combination that was chosen for these gradient dots turned out so minty and cute. I believe this was China Glaze Re-fresh Mint and China Glaze For Audrey in addition to the white.

Jellyfishies! They are on a gradient base but unfortunately it is a little difficult to tell in this photo. I also painted over them with glow in the dark polish so they would, well... glow in the dark.

Sexy glowy purple leopard. Always a winner.

And finally, drips! I like the tone on tone effect here.

Would you wear these looks? I think these came out well considering I was in a social mindset. What would you have requested if it had been you getting your nails done at the party?

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Trippy Drippy

When all else fails, paint some drips.

That's my motto. Or it should be, anyway. Drip nail art is awesome. It's easy and fun and it looks pretty impressive. I sat down to do some nail art last night and was unsure what I wanted to paint. The idea to make a lineup of rainbow drips eventually came to me, and as I was painting them, I realized it would look even better if I could turn the colors into a gradient. I kind of changed course a bit to try to make that happen. Thankfully, I think I was successful!

My red shade is China Glaze Snap My Dragon which is a new shade from the Avant Garden collection. I grabbed Zoya Arizona for my orange, and then picked China Glaze Happy Go Lucky for the Yellow. The green is Lime Crime Pastelchio and the blue is China Glaze Hanging in the Balance. I finished off the rainbow with China Glaze Gothic Lolita for the purple.

This gradient technique was a bit different than a normal sponged gradient. I ended up making custom mixes of each of the two colors I was gradient-ing and then lightly brushing it on to create as smooth a transition as possible.

I painted rainbow stripes using the same colors on my thumb.

Doesn't Zoya Arizona look like nacho cheese in the pic above?

Hope everyone is enjoying a relaxing Sunday, and thanks for reading!

Some of the products in this post were provided for review.

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Cake Batter & Glaze - China Glaze Cirque du Soleil Nail Art

Hey guys! I have my third China Glaze Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away nail art manicure to share with you today (check out my first and second, too!). This look was partially inspired by a really fun manicure by Algae Veronica; I just changed it up a bit in a few key areas!

First, you'll see that instead of using China Glaze It's a Trap-eze for the drips like Algae Veronica did, I chose to use it as the base in my manicure! This white based polish is stuffed full of glitter and was opaque in two coats. It's so full of glitter that it's almost a little tricky to apply! Just be sure to take your time between coats, and paint carefully. You definitely don't want to rush this one!

Then I added my drips using China Glaze Creative Fantasy, the purple jelly in the collection. I began by using a dotting tool to place dots where I wanted my drips to end. I finished the drips by connecting them together using my medium length striper brush. You can see that even when applied pretty thickly, this polish is still fairly transparent.

These two colors together remind me of funfetti cake with glaze dripping down the sides! Mmm, tasty...

I've also got a bonus swatch of It's a Trap-eze alone for you! Isn't it party-riffic?

The China Glaze Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection is available now at salons and specialty beauty retailers nationwide, including Sally Beauty Supply and ULTA stores. Individual nail polish shades retail for $7.

Products provided for review.

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