Clouds

I know I've been MIA lately. Grad school is done and graduation is on Mother's Day! And then 5 days later, I'm getting married!! So, I've been a little busy, but I have been keeping up with my nail art just fine!

I just wanted to show you all a few cloud nails I did.

 This manicure was created using an Enchanted Polish and 2 Sally Hansens.

 This manicure is 100% Zoya polish

Thanks for reading!
-Amanda

Clouds in My Coffee with Nail Art!

About a month ago, I managed to purchase myself a mystery gift bag from Llarowe. Contained within this mystery bag of polishes was Pretty and Polished Clouds in My Coffee. I remember wanting this polish when it first came out. SO happy it was in that bag!

Clouds in My Coffee is a gorgeous light brown mocha with various sizes of glitter in a few different shades of blue. It's such a gorgeous combination! Shown is 3 coats with HK Girl topcoat.

I wore it like this for a day and a half, and decided to do a little something extra to it! What better way than to keep with the theme of clouds and do the cloud technique! I used Zoya Breezi and Skylar to make it happen! I love this combination!

 I got quite a few ooohs and ahhs while meeting with wedding vendors this weekend. That always makes a gal happy!

Thanks for reading!
-Amanda

Julep Rose and e.l.f. Dream Maker

I broke down and got a Feburary Mystery Box from Julep. I got 6 really nice polishes and a lip gloss out of the deal. One of these polishes drew my attention right away. Julep Rose. It's an orange based red that in the right light, sort of takes on a bright watermelon color. It makes me think of sour gum and that makes me happy.

For my birthday last month, my sister gave me an e.l.f. polish called Dream Maker and I thought it would be the perfect topper for Rose. All pictures show 3 coats of Julep Rose with 1 coat e.l.f. Dream Maker with topcoat.

 direct sunlight

  direct sunlight

 direct sunlight

shade

Thanks for reading!

-Amanda

Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, all!!

i had initially done a Valentine's Day design with pinks and mauves, and the pictures got deleted!!! I was so bummed!! I had to post something, so I quick did up a Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day manicure all rolled into one!

I used Zoya Pippa and Holly, and Julep Morgan. I used some It's So Easy Striper brush for the designs and glitter.

Look at the blue sparkle in Jennifer! I love it!

Thanks for reading!
-Amanda

365 Days of Color - Crush on You

Recently, I took the plunge and indulged in 365 Days of Color's Valentine's Day Bag. The week before these bags were available, I purchased some of her hand cream, cuticle cream, and miracle balm. I love them all. My cuticles are 90% better since using the hand cream and that's with only 3 days of continuous use.

In the Valentine's Bag was this lovely limited edition nail polish called Crush on You. It's a light pink creme with pink and red round micro glitters. I don't even know where to start! This polish is, hands down, THE BEST Indie polish I have ever used. It wasn't gloopy and thick and the glitter didn't jut out all over the place on the nail. I didn't even need to use Gelous to smooth things out. Also, this polish lasted 4 days on my nails without tip wear. I'll definitely be trying out some more of her polishes soon!

I had to use 4 coats to achieve the look you see below. It's a relatively sheer polish that builds easily to opacity.

You can find 365 Days of Polish hand cream, polishes, cuticle oil, and miracle balm HERE.

Thanks for reading!
-Amanda

Let it Snow! Challenge #6 Winter Solstice

I've fallen behind!! I'm catching up now though!!

This challenge was difficult for me. I couldn't figure out what to do! When I think winter solstice I think of celestial bodies and deeply rooted traditions. I wanted to channel that a little and thought what better way than to depict a night sky.

I started with Zoya Storm as my background to serve as an inky sky full of stars. I then went in with my sponge and Sinful Colors Snow Me White and made the moon on each nail. I wanted it all to have a soft, uneven look. More wispy, if you will. I then went back in with my sponge and layered Zoya Harley, Zoya Carey, and Barielle U-Concrete-Me, making it look like clouds.

Hope you enjoyed!
-Amanda

Channeling Warmer Weather

This is the manicure I was rocking for a good portion of this week. I chose these colors with summer in mind!

I used all Zoya polishes again. This time it is Trixie, Zuza, and Mitzi.

Hope you enjoyed!
Thanks for reading!
-Amanda

Let it Snow! Challenge #5 New Year's Theme

Happy New Year to you all!!! (says the blogger that is a day late to the show)

Now, this manicure appeared differently in my mind than how it translated on the nail. Let me explain before you jump ahead and check it out.

The end of 2012 was a time of chaos and tremendous stress for me and my family. My grandparents were both injured and in the hospital (my grandma still is) and on top of that I had to deal with school related things. Now, as I look forward to 2013, I am hopeful. This is the year I marry my best friend (May 18th is on its way! Holy matrimony!!) and it's also the year I finally leave home. Big changes are coming!

When I think about the theme of "New Year" I think of a time of new beginnings. What better way to symbolize that than a clean slate. So, with that in mind, I began my manicure with the most nude color in my stash- Orly Kiss the Bride. Man oh man this isn't the best nude color for me and the quality of this polish is lacking. Very streaky but it did the job.

Another thing I think about in regard to New Year's is celebration so I added an amazing glitter polish (Lex Cosmetics Arcoiris) on top of Kiss the Bride to symbolize confetti and the act of celebrating. It didn't look quite right so I grabbed my new bottle of Zoya Bethany (a sheer french manicure nude) and applied one coat to each nail. It created a milky glittery pastel creation! It looks like something an Indie polish maker would create! I personally love it but it doesn't really scream HAPPY NEW YEAR! as much as it whispers Happy Easter! But it's alright. It'll do.

I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!
-Amanda

Let it Snow! Challenge #4 Christmas/ Holidays

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope you all have an amazing day full of love, joy, warmth, blessing, and good food!!

I wanted to quickly post my next challenge completion. This one is inspired by Christmas!
I went with a nice light blue base of Zoya Kristen then took my dotting tool and made some lovely ornaments! I used Zoyas for all of these (Trixie, Elisa, and Holly).

I really like how the blue snowy background works with the other colors!

Enjoy your holiday!!
-Amanda

Let it Snow! Challenge #3 Ugly Christmas Sweater

I had this manicure ready for your viewing pleasure for over a week already! Life has a way of throwing many unpleasant things at you that prevent tasks from being completed. My grandparents were in a nasty car accident last week and I've been in the hospital every day visiting and praying. It's been taxing and draining and so very stressful. If you can, please sent prayers and positive thoughts for my grandparents and my mom and uncle (it's their parents who were injured). It's greatly appreciated.

 I have a moment to breathe right now and just really wanted to post this completed challenge. Again, I had to use mostly cellphone pictures. I don't mean to slack like this, but I just need to work with what I have.

This challenge was difficult! It took me 2 or 3 attempts before deciding on this one! Initially I was going to use my stamps but gosh darnit, I SUCK at using them! I scrapped that idea and went with a freehand approach. I used my nail art brushes to complete this design. My idea was to have it look like a crazy knitted or plaid sweater. I showed my sister my nails and said she would want the sweater that looked like them. I guess that's a good sign! 

I used Zoya Trixie, China Glaze Velvet Bow, and China Glaze Holly-Day. The white is an It's So Easy nail art brush.

Thanks for reading!

-Amanda

Let it Snow Challenge #2- Inspired by Holiday Song/ Movie

I need to just preface this post by saying that it's so funny how things have a way of working themselves out! It's a long story and I'll attempt to sum it up so we can get to the nails!

It all started with the amazing nail polish deals on or around Black Friday. I had been eyeing up a few of the A Christmas Story themed polishes at DarlingDivaPolish (specifically Soap Poisoning and Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra). Well now, I LOVE A Christmas Story. It's an amazing movie. Naturally, I snatched these two polishes up when a nice discount was offered!

Now, I looked and saw that the next challenge was "Inspired by a Holiday Song/ Movie/ Carol". I received my two new lovelies in the mail (crazy quick shipping, may I add!) and looked at Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra and had an idea! See, these polishes are based on a Christmas movie, Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra is in reference to Deck the Halls being sung in a Chinese restaurant (a Holiday song!) -----> LIGHTBULB!!

I looked through my other nail polish and grabbed Zoya Isla and Zoya Holly (see what I did there? Deck the halls with boughs of HOLLY! I'm so clever!). I decided on an accent of Isla with Holly being the main star of the show.

I got so many compliments on this manicure! I loved it! It was so very festive!

Now, to continue my story!

My fiancé had told me a week or two prior to this challenge that he had an early Christmas surprise for me on December 1st. Everyone in both of our families knew what it was, except me. My family found great joy in tormenting me :). Well, I happened to have this manicure on the day of the big surprise!! As it turned out, he took me to NYC to see A CHRISTMAS STORY THE MUSICAL!!! Ahhhhhh!!! It was AMAZING! I love theater and have never seen anything on Broadway so this was fantastic and I found it hilarious that I had this manicure on that day. I got to wear something named Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra and Holly while watching the story that inspired one of the polishes! 

So there you have it! My manicure that is inspired by both a holiday song and holiday movie!

Thanks for reading!
-Amanda

Let it Snow Challenge #1 Snowflakes

I've taken on another nail art challenge! Some amazing women in a Facebook group I am a part of, came up with this new challenge and I love it! I'm really hoping I can stay on top of this one.

Challenge #1 is Snowflakes. I thought I would be able to just reach for a stamping plate and use that, but man was I surprised to find that I don't have any snowflakes on any of my plates! Back to the drawing board I went and decided on a nontraditional look. PLEASE excuse the poor lighting and blurry pictures. My house has sub par lighting and I don't have a light box.

Take a look:

This last picture is the one that shows my base polish's true color. It's a gorgeous polish! I used Lex Cosmetics Peabow. The colors in this are so shimmery! They kind of get lost when you apply more layers, but with the right light, it glistens! The blue is an acrylic paint I recently picked up, and the silver is Zoya Trixie. I topped it all off with HK Girl.


Thanks for reading!
-Amanda

My Backup Thanksgiving Manicure

After my first Thanksgiving manicure chipped off in less than a day, I set out to create my replacement! I've always wanted to try the cloud design that I first saw on the Nailside, so I began with that. I altered it slightly, but overall, I like the outcome.

I used China Glaze Velvet Bow, NYX Girls Chocolate Taupe, and Cult Nails Tulum.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!
-Amanda