18K Jem

When I saw Zoya was offering a top coat with flakes of REAL gold leaf in it I knew I had to have it!  I was mildly dismayed to learn that it could only be purchased in a three polish gift box for $35 - the other two polishes being Purity (white) and Raven (black).  I already owned a black that I loved and a white that I was moderately pleased with, but I decided to bite the bullet anyway.  I am so glad I did!  Not only is the 18K top coat, Gilty, every bit as amazing as I hoped it would be, but the other two polishes are amazing as well.  Both Raven and Purity go on like a dream and only require one coat for full opacity - yes, one coat!

For this particular look I used two coats of Gilty over two coats of Zoya Jem.  The combination of the gold leaf over the rich burgundy of Jem creates a wonderfully opulent manicure.  Fit for an exciting night on the town.

What color polish would you use under the gold leaf top coat?

Happy Hump Day, Ladies!  Toodles!

Glitterati

I've seen many a beautiful and well done glitter gradient kicking around on the internet and while I've tried it several times I've never quite gotten it.  This time however I was determined to not fail and went straight to work with high hopes.

...and I must say I was thrilled with the results.  For this look I used China Glaze Glitz N' Pieces, which is easily in my top three favorite glitter polishes.  I love the array of shapes and sizes.  The downside to using this glitter polish is that cleaning up around the cuticle area is rather challenging and leaves the perfectionist in me wanting, but perfection is boring and a little extra glitter in one's cuticles never killed anyone!

I'm also head over heels for Essie Maximillian Strasse-Her.  It's such a dreamy blueish-green it might surpass my love for OPI Thanks a Windmillion - THAT's how much I j'adore this color!  For an accent finger I painted my ring finger with Zoya Marley.

For those who are curious as to how I achieved the glitter gradient, I just dropped a bit of the glitter polish near my cuticle and used a small piece of makeup sponge to distribute it over the area of the nail I wanted covered.  Easy, peasy - simple as that!

Happy Tuesday, Lovelies!  Toodles!

Dots Dots Dots!

...dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots!

One of the first things I learned in design school was that one's initial concept is rarely their best.  In line with said theory this was one of those manicures that I went into with a completely different vision, but things changed, so I went with the flow.  I am quite pleased and a bit tickled with the results.

On my thumb, index finger, and ring finger I painted two coats of Zoya Rekha.  My middle finger got two coats of Essie Licorice, and my pinky OPI Stay The Night, which is one of the Liquid Sand polishes from the Mariah Carey collection.  I've had Stay The Night for several weeks and keep meaning to show it to you in all of its textured, matte glory, but it didn't work out that way - it will have to wait for a later date.

I used a dotting tool to dot Essie Licorice onto my thumb and ring finger, and Zoya Rekha was dotted onto my pinky.  Metal studs from this set were used on my index and middle finger.  Despite how it appears I did not place studs on my middle finger and paint them over with black polish, I just went for a black on black look with black studs.

Happy Monday, Ladies!  Have a wonderful week.  Toodles!

Inspiration Thursday: Cherry Blossoms Tutorial

First off I would like to explain why I haven't posted in several days - someone thought it would be cute to give me a stomach bug.  So rude!

For this weeks inspiration I used one of my favorite wonders of nature - a cherry tree in full bloom.

Are cherry trees in bloom not one of the most beautiful sights?

Because I love to geek out on stuff like this I created step-by-step illustrations for my lovely readers.

For starters, paint your nails with two coats of Zoya Shay.  Once that has completely dried continue on as shown.

...and voila!

I wish my trees had turned out as neatly as my Illustrator drawings did, but that's my perfectionism talking - one of the thousand things I am trying to work on.

For an accent nail I used a real pressed flower, which came with this set.

As per requested I am going to attempt a manicure inspired by Rothko or Mondrian next week.  Any suggestions for subsequent weeks?

Happy Thursday, Ladies!  Toodles!

Pink Gradient

My new camera and I are still trying to figure out how to work together.  Hence the reason I haven't posted in a few days.

This beautiful gradient was done using all Zoya polishes.  Going from pinky to thumb I used Shelby, Jolene, Lara, Dana, and Moxie. 

For a little extra something I added two small clear rhinestones to my ring finger.

My camera and I will continue our counseling sessions and hopefully we'll have some collaborative work to post soon.

Happy Monday, Ladies!

Update March 26, 2013:
I received a few pointers from my amazing photographer mother and was able to get some better photos today!  

So much better!  It seemed no matter how much I tried to adjust the coloring in Photoshop I could never get it right.  The polishes are now actually showing true to life, which is exactly the point!

Red Ruffian

I've been seeing Ruffian manicures all over the nail blogs recently.  The first few times I saw them I was less than impressed, not by the execution but by the look - it didn't trigger anything inside of me that made me think, "I want to try that!"  It seems that a Ruffian is traditionally done with a light, neutral color at the cuticle and a darker color over the top.  That combination doesn't speak to me, so I tried my hand at using red and black - one can never go wrong with that combination!

I started out with one coat of Zoya Rekha - a divine classic red.  This polish I painted on as I normally would for any manicure.  Once that had completely dried I used three coats of Zoya Dahlia over the top.  It was remarkably easy to freehand this look - I painted the Dahlia as I normally would, just moved it down the nail bed a bit.

I was worried that this color combination would look like I had bloody cuticles, and Jeff said just that - even so I was very pleased with how it came out and it caught many an eye.

If you were to wear a Ruffian what colors would you choose?  Toodles!

Inspiration Thursday: 70s Wallpaper

Call me crazy, but I love the funky colors and patterns of the 70's.  I don't know that I could actually live in a home with green shag carpet and walls covered with large scale flowers in goldenrod, yellow, and brown, but a little accent here and there makes me happy.  

While this is supposed to be Inspiration Thursday I must admit that I had a vision in my mind and created it on my nails before I found an inspiration image.  So, I guess you could say that today is Reverse Inspiration Thursday.  After I created the design on my nails I started poking around and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to find several images that could have inspired this look.

Fabulous, right?  Or hideous - depending on who you are.  I just can't help but admire a time when people weren't afraid to surround themselves with such vivid color and bold patterns.

For this colorful manicure I used two coats of China Glaze Happy Go Lucky on my thumb, index, middle finger, and pinky.  Once that had completely dried I stamped these nails with Konad Orange special polish using Pueen plate 15.  On my ring finger I used two coat of Zoya Tracie.

I received my new camera a few days ago - soon, very soon, I will have nicer photos to post!

Find some inspiration and get painting, Pretties!