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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Iron Fist nail art

Woopsie, no post yesterday, had things prepped but time flew by too fast and at the night I was too tired. So let's start by taking a look at no. 25 in the 31dnc, which is inspired by fashion. For this theme I decided to be inspired by fashion I like and this time by a brand called Iron Fist and their high heel shoes. I really liked the result, and I hope you do too. :)

And below my source of inspiration:

Source

Polishes used:
Claudia  - 607
Jordana Pop Art - Black Mark
Jordana Pop Art - Contemporary White
Nordic Cap - NP12

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Chowder's 6th Birthday! Squeaky Toy Nail Art

Today is the most special day of every year: my dog Chowder's birthday! I love doing nail art to celebrate the occasion (last year I did some rainbow and confetti pawprints). This year I decided to copy the patterns from his new toy. He got it as a gift from Grandma, AKA my mom, and he really loves it despite the fact that it is about as big as he is. There are five squeakers in it! Can't beat that!

The toy is some kind of winged caterpillar type thing and each segment of the body has a different pattern on it. They look really cute together and I thought they would make delightful nail art!

Nail art details:
Thumb: Large, medium and small polka dots. Using Seche Dives In Head First, China Glaze Grape Pop
Pointer: Freehand checkerboard. Using Misa Blueberry Blast, China Glaze Man Hunt
Middle: Freehand bone pattern. Using LCN Fanappleistic, Essie Blanc
Ring: Freehand abstract pattern. Using Essie Blanc, China Glaze Man Hunt, Misa Blueberry Blast, Zoya Arizona, Zoya Darcy, Duri Into the Further
Pinky: Freehand bone and paw print pattern. Using Essie Blanc, Duri Into the Further

I am so happy with this nail art. The black and white print on the pinky is my favorite, but they are all so fun together that they are more than the sum of their parts.

Here is my baby boo with his new toy.


Chowder is so sweet, protective, and spunky, and probably the cutest dog of all time, too. If you like looking at him, you can find more photos on my Instagram. I am definitely a crazy dog lady and am completely unapologetic about it.

Happy Birthday Chowder, I love you!

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31DC2013 Day 26: Inspired by a Pattern (Pretty Paisley)

It's #ThrowbackThursday, and for today's pattern manicure, I thought I would draw inspiration from an older post. Way back in November 2011 I attempted my first paisley manicure. I definitely knew that I would be able to improve on my look from back then, and so I set out to do it!

Press Sample

For this look I used three COVERGIRL Outlast Stay Brilliant Nail Gloss shades. I had actually never tried CoverGirl polish before this so I was definitely eager to give them a spin!

The base of the manicure is COVERGIRL Lav-endure. This light purple shade is subtle and pretty, and only required two coats for opacity. The formula was on the thinner side, but not runny. I was pleased!

The majority of the paisley design was handpainted using COVERGIRL Reliable Red. This bright, almost pinkish red was nice and opaque, and flowed well in the nail art. The black accents were painted with COVERGIRL Black Diamond. It's definitely not the most opaque black I've ever used but it got the job done, to be sure.

For those of you interested in checking out the line, COVERGIRL polishes can be found in drugstores and other large scale retailers for around five bucks each. 

I love the way these colors paired together and I definitely can say that my paisley skills have improved since 2011. Gotta love #TBT!

Have you ever rocked a paisley nail art design before? If not, would you?

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

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Ivory and Turquoise Antiqued Baroque

Good afternoon you fine folks! I have some nail art today for you, hooray! Here is my ivory and turquoise baroque patterned nail art.

Originally, I planned to do a design based on the curtains that Maria used to make the kids' clothes in The Sound of Music. After a few moments of patting myself on the back for being so original, I googled it and found that Debbie had beat me to the punch! D'oh.

That was okay though, I had received butter LONDON Two Fingered Salute in the mail yesterday afternoon and was itching to use it anyway. It's a bit too turquoise to pass for the curtains in the movie, so I used it to make a pretty baroque design over my base color of Lime Crime Milky Ways.

I freehanded this design using my trusty medium length striper brush (I know, you're shocked). Two Fingered Salute was a bit sheer for nail art, so I did have to go over my embellishments twice, but I am enamored with this color and didn't mind at all. As for the actual patterns, I just made them up as I went. I did have to re-do a nail or two because I wasn't pleased with the way the pattern had come out.

I love the copper sparks in the turquoise base, and layering it over an ivory shade really just made for a nice vintage look.

What do you think? Are you feeling the vintage vibes?

butter LONDON Two Fingered Salute is a Nordstrom's exclusive and can only be found in Nordstrom stores, on Nordstrom.com, and on butterlondon.com.
Lime Crime nail polish can be found on the Lime Crime website and on Harlow & Co.

Post contains affiliate links. 

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