NOTD: Gold Leaf

Keeping up with my current flower obsession, I did a metallic version of my five-dot flower manicure using Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Gunmetal, Sonia Kashuk Smoke & Mirrors, and Orly Luxe over Essie Licorice. I added a little gemstone on my pinkie nails for a little bit of interest.






As an aside, I'm also working on a little tutorial for the flowers which I hope to have up tomorrow. It's so easy and way quicker than a lot of other flower techniques I've seen on line and I promise, anyone can do it! The metallic look isn't the best example for these but if you look at my last two posts, you can probably see the details better. Anywho, thanks for reading!

- Kim

NOTD: Dragon Scale Nails

After seeing this tutorial on Rebecca Likes Nails, I decided I wanted to give the whole gradient manicure thing a try. I really wish I had thought to take pictures of the process but alas, I wasn't that forward thinking. Oh well...


I used 2 coats of Essie Smooth Sailing for the base. Then for the gradient effect, I used OPI Dating a Royal and Essie Licorice. I did this kind of backwards... I sponged on the black first using a makeup applicator sponge and then I blended with the blue using the same sponge tip. After that, I used one coat of SecheVite to smooth everything out and on top of that, I did one coat of China Glaze Matte Magic. Once all of that was dry, I got out my new Bundle Monster plates (yay!) and used the snake skin looking pattern on plate BM215 with Sonia Kashuk Smoke and Mirrors. Here is my final result...


I think this one came out really cool (way better than the previous Avon nightmare!) and I want to try it with a different color scheme now too. I was thinking an olive green to black fade with gold snake skin would look amazing!

And one last thing, I named these my Dragon Scales Nails because they remind me of the cover on the book Eragon by Christopher Paolini. (Yes, I'm a nerd. Don't judge me. lol)


I hope you guys liked this one and as always, thanks for reading!

- Kim

NOTD: Cinco de Mayo Fail and a List of Don'ts.

As much as I liked my mani from yesterday, I wanted to do something in honor of Cinco de Mayo for tomorrow. (or today since it's after midnight!) I picked a bunch of fiesta themed colors and got to work. I painted dots and swirls and even stamped on a couple of "mexicali roses" using my Monster Bundle plates. I was going for vibrant and this was my finished product.


"Why is your picture so blurry?" you ask. Well, it was the only picture I managed to take before I annihilated it. Yep, my clumsiness took over while I was trying to adjust my camera's settings and I dropped it. I instinctively grabbed for the camera and jammed my still-wet nails into bathroom counter/wall. Oh yeah, I'm awesome. I should have took a picture of the aftermath but I was too busy getting nail polish off the cabinets. FML.

So anyways... after playing around in acetone for a good 5 minutes, I repainted my nails using a design I saw in Woman's Day magazine today. (Gotta love break room reading material!) Their version was on a pedicure. They painted half the nail pink and half red, then did a line of silver down the middle. Then they used a manicure stick to squiggle the silver through the pink and red. I really liked their version... mine, not so much.


I used Milani Cherry Pie , Confetti Nail Color in First Kiss, and Sonia Kashuk Smoke and Mirrors for the silver. I don't really care for this mani at all. I just winged it since I didn't have the magazine with me for the instructions. Bad idea. The squiggles look more like an accident than on purpose. And then, the silver stripes I added on the rest of my nails came out aweful, lol. I honestly would take this off right now if it wasn't pushing 1:00 in the morning and my skin wasn't so dried out from all of the polish remover. So, I'll just have to deal with awkward feelings about my nails tomorrow. Yay.

So let's recap what I've learned:

1. Don't try to photograph your nails while wet.
2. Acetone has no mercy. I'm drier than an over baked muffin.
   
3. Don't take risks with design at midnight. You may screw up and won't have time to change... again.
4. Always follow the instructions and if you don't know, then you better ask somebody (or Google.)
   

I think I've learned a little bit from my mistakes today. Hopefully, my next nail polish adventure won't be a repeat of tonight's fiasco...