Just a Quickie : Christmas Tree Nails

Base : OPI Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow & Cult Nails Flash (fan brushed on)

Polka dots : acrylic paints

Glitter : ORLY Sparkling Garbage

"Garland" : Kiss Nail Art Paint Silver Glitter

Neon Gradient

Boy, oh, boy! It's hot! It's in the 90s here in Michigan and it's just so darn humid! I guess the heat wouldn't be SO bad if it wasn't for the humidity. I work at 5am and when I walked outside this morning (at 4:45) it was well over 70 degrees and steamy. Like, almost sauna steamy! Ugh! 

I, personally, HATE summer weather. I don't like heat, I don't like being uncomfortable, and I don't like sweating because of the heat. 

Summer does, however, bring out my love of neons. I'm all about bright eye shadow and bright nails! I got an urge to throw on a neon gradient mani so that's just what I did.

Born Pretty Review

*This product was sent to me in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

31DC2015 Days 23-28 : Yikes!

I fell a little behind in the challenge. Six days behind. It wasn't for no reason though. Life got in the way and the challenge had to take a backseat. It's okay though, because you know what I did? I did a nail art marathon and knocked out all six designs! Wahoo! I may have rushed through some of the designs and they aren't my best work, I'll be honest. But some of them turned out great and I loved them. So, let's get into this because this is going to be a loooong post!

Subtle Sparkly Gradient

I'm just getting over being sick for the last few week and it was hell on my nails. I don't know if it was the medicine I was taking or what but my nails are a disaster. They got super brittle and started breaking and peeling like crazy. I've spent the last couple of days nurturing my little nubby nails and trying to get them back in shape.

Meanwhile, I have a mani to share that I actually did a couple of weeks ago and forgot about.

Nude/Neon Gradient and Glitter

Lately, I've been gravitating toward neon polishes a lot. A LOT. When I found myself reaching for my neon stash once again, I gave pause. I almost talked myself out of using them but at the last minute decided on a compromise...with myself... I paired a neon color with a nude and a glitter for a mani that I ended up loving so much that I never wanted to stop wearing it!

Neon & Holo Glitter

Everyone close to me knows that my favorite color is orange. I seriously have to fight the urge to not just ALWAYS have my nails painted orange. But haven't you ever gotten a new nail polish and it's just the only thing you want to reach for whenever you do your nails? That's how I am right now with ORLY Mayhem Mentality. I bought it because it's orange. But every time I look at it I love it more and more.

Neon Gradient & Spots

Have you ever gone to the store for one thing and ended up getting far more than you planned? That happened to me today. I stopped by my local Ulta for something and they didn't have it. I ended up leaving with four new nail polishes, instead. Afterwards, I thought, "Well, I'm right by these other great stores; I may as well pop in for a bit." I did and bought stuff at both of the stores I stopped at. So, basically, instead of spending the $20 I planned to, I spent quite a bit more and didn't even get what I needed. 

So, anyway... I used two of my newly acquired polishes today and did some bright summery stuff!

Studded Stamping

One of my favorite nail polishes for Spring/Summer is ORLY Fancy Fuschia. It's my bestie's favorite, too; she reaches for it just about every time I do her nails. She loves it! So much so that I bought her a bottle of her own for Christmas. Anyway, I saw it the other day and decided to wear it.

Just a Quickie : Dry Marble

OPI My Gecko Does Tricks

ORLY Color Blast Indigo Color Flip

Punky Girly Marble

It's been about two weeks since I've posted anything and I feel terrible. So many things happened. To start, I had family from out of town staying with me for a few days over the holiday. I only get to see them once or twice a year so my focus was definitely not on my nails. And when I say that, I mean that I neglected my nails completely. They were in seriously rough shape by the time they left. On top of that, near the end of their visit, we had a pipe burst under our house, so we had no running water for a few days. 

Once family was gone and the pipe situation was taken care of, my nails were in need of some TLC. I wanted to get them back in shape before I posted any pictures for the public to see. I chopped them down, gave them lots of pampering for a few days, and now I think they're ready. They're short, but presentable. 

I didn't want to start posting Christmas designs yet. In my opinion, it's too early for that. I'm thinking maybe the twelve days leading up to Christmas. (Get it?!) Instead, I went with something girly but with a little edge.

Just a Quickie: Fan Brush Nails

Base Color: Zoya Kelly

Pink: ORLY Fancy Fuchsia 

Dots and Spots!

The inspiration for these nails is somewhat odd; my toes. I had just given myself a pedicure and painted my toes with ORLY Fancy Fuchsia. It's finally flip-flop weather and Fancy Fuchsia is perfect on toes in the sunshine. I didn't want just plain pink nails, though, so I grabbed my black and white Sally Hansen nail art pens and made some random polka dots. Hubby loved it and so did I. So much so that I recreated the look on my hands!

Spotted Marble

I started out doing this design wanting a simple cling wrap marble. After the fact, I decided that I had to add something to it. Of course, I chose polka dots. 

Spring is here?

It has officially been spring for a few days now. We aren't feeling it in Michigan, though. There is still snow on the ground and it was below freezing all day today. Regardless, the arrival of spring means that warmer weather is on its way. And, with a near record breaking winter here, most people are anxiously awaiting it.

To celebrate the official arrival of spring, I decided to do something floral and springy with my nails.

A Glimmer of Spring

Yesterday, us Michiganders had a gorgeous day. It was warm (to us) and sunny. Everyone was riding around with their windows down, myself included, and in t-shirts and sunglasses. Yes, there may still be several feet of snow on the ground but it was good enough for us. Now, it's cooling down and they're calling for six inches of snow. Nature likes to play with our emotions. 

To immortalize our beautiful day and to invite the real Spring to come soon, I did a little neon floral nail art!

Marbled French Tips

After using Julep Kennedy as an accent color and loving it, I decided to give it a shot as the main color in a design. On a whim, I gave making my own nail stickers a shot, too. I wanted to do something a little bit different. I used a plastic freezer bag and made a dry marble design. I let it dry overnight and cut it into strips with a pair of craft scissors. I used those strips to make a French manicure design. 

V-Day #4

It's been a very emotional and stressful week for me and, apparently, that makes my nails very brittle. I kept getting tiny little chips in my nails all week. Then, I had THREE bad breaks in one day! Ugh. Well, I only had one on my left hand (the one you guys see) and it wasn't terrible. It was just enough that I had to trim all of my nails down. The other two, on my right hand were terrible. Lame!

Anywho...

Well known fact : I love polka dots. So, when the overwhelming urge to do polka dot nails came over me, I contemplated just doing them in pink and red and calling that a V-Day mani. I convinced myself that I could make a fun twist on polka dots for Valentine's Day and I think I did just that!

First post of 2014

What a year it's been! It really seems to have just flown by. It was a great year for me and I hope it was for all of you, as well. And hopefully next year will be even better! 

Naturally, I had to do a manicure to welcome the new year!

31DC2013 Day 30 - Inspired by a tutorial

I had a hard time choosing a tutorial for this prompt. So, I did what anyone would do. I Googled nail art tutorial and picked the first one that caught my eye.