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

Read More

Quick Fiery French - OPI Brazil Nail Art

There are few colors in the new OPI Brazil collection that piqued my interest more than Where Did Suzi's Man-go?. It's orange, but a soft orange that looks like a mango and a cantaloupe had a baby. I wore it alone for a day but wanted to freshen things up when the next day rolled around. Do you ever add to or change your manicures to get more mileage out of them?

I reached for OPI Red Hot Rio to use as the second shade in this manicure. It's very glossy and somewhat jellylike with a nice formula.

I used the polish brush to add the fishtail-style tips (visit my tutorial!), and then a small nail art brush to add the stripe down the middle and the smaller fishtail-style accents. I have been trying to loosen up with my brushwork a little bit, and this was a result of that. A little less concerned with perfection, a little more "free," a little more painterly. I still need some practice but it does feel good to let go.

OPI Brazil is available now at professional salons incuding Ulta and Ulta.com. I highly recommend picking up Where Did Suzi's Man-go? if you are a fan of oranges. Even if you aren't -- maybe it will change your mind!

Read More

Sweetheart Tips - Zoya Naturel Collection Nail Art

With Valentine's day right around the corner, this sweetheart nail art is a great option for people who want to do something festive and romantic but that don't want to go the classic red/pink route. The Zoya Naturel Collection contains six shades of nude and rosy hues, and I've combined three of them together in today's soft-and-sweet look.

The base of this manicure is two coats of Zoya Chantal. I added white polka dots using Zoya Purity to add to the cute, romantic feel. Chantal is a lovely shade, definitely a great nude for me.

Then, using the fishtail technique (check out my tutorial if you missed it), I added the heart tips with Zoya Brigitte and Zoya Odette. Brigitte was a bit more sheer than I was expecting; I used two coats for what you see here and some of the polka dots are still peeking out a bit. Odette was more opaque.

The Zoya Naturel collection is available now on Zoya.com. I'm hoping to put together a more traditional Valentine's look for you before Friday -- keep an eye out!

Read More

Sweet Spring Mix Over Nude

There's just something about spring that makes me want to "go nude"... on my NAILS that is! But going without polish just isn't in my programming, so instead I chose to include partially nakey nails in today's nail art design.

I know that I used Nicole by OPI - Hit the Lights for the yellow here, and Essie - Bikini So Teeny for the blue. But shame on me, I just can't remember what I used for the pink. Oops! I should have posted these faster instead of sitting on the post for a while!

The design on my pointer was created by placing a piece of tape over the lower half of my nail and then freehanding stripes in the remaining space. The rest of the designs were also freehanded! My thumb was done using a more relaxed version of the abstract brushstroke technique. It basically involves just swiping some random bits of color on the nail with the polish brush.

Before doing this design, I did buff a few of my nails to remove my staining. I wouldn't recommend this, as my nails have felt weakened and thin for a few weeks now (and they are normally pretty strong). It did make for a nice canvas, though!

Which design is your favorite? I think I am liking the falling flowers and the geometric triangles.

Read More

Subtle Spring Fishtail - Zoya Lovely Nail Art

It's been a while since I've done any fishtail/chevron nail art, so I decided to take the cremes from the new Zoya Lovely Collection and combine them into a finished look. Since they are all very light pastel shades, there wasn't a lot of contrast between them, but I kind of liked that! It was a refreshing change from the fishtails I've done in the past.

The three shades used are Zoya Jacqueline, Zoya Neely, and Zoya Blu. Application of these shades gave me no trouble -- which for pastels is a big win!

Jacqueline, the cream colored shade, is my absolute favorite out of this entire collection. It's a lovely and delicate color, very ladylike. It makes me want to have a tea party in a fancy, well kept garden! I used three coats for opacity but it didn't feel thick on the nail.

Neely, the pastel green, is a welcome addition to my collection. I don't think I have any green shades as light as this, so I'm certain it will be used a lot. I went over the fishtail layer twice for opacity in this nail art.

Blu, the baby blue polish, is also quite nice. I was worried it would be chalky on my skintone but it really surprised me. Like Neely,  I went over the fishtail layer twice for opacity.

If you would like to try out the fishtail manicure, I've done a video tutorial which may be helpful!

The Zoya Lovely Collection is available for purchase now on Zoya.com. Each polish retails for $8. Stay tuned for another post featuring the three other shimmers in this collection soon!

Products provided for review.

Read More