Shredded

I love using tape to make manicures. It's cheap, it's easy, and I keep finding new things to do with it. Recently, hubby offered his hobby knife set for my nail art use. I found out that it works great for making nail art stencils! 

 

Just a Quickie: Me and the Girls

 

Me: Sally Hansen Black Out with Art Club, Venice, Malibu, and Hollywood

Heather: ORLY Fancy Fuchsia and Sally Hansen Man-go Team!

Trisha: Pure Ice Iced Merlot and Art Club White

Follow My Blog With Bloglovin

Mixed Textures

Hubby and I went to Ulta today (not even for nail polish) and, on the way out, something caught his eye. It was the OPI Bond Girls display. He is a pretty big James Bond fan, so he was really interested. All six of the Bond Girls shades are Liquid Sand polishes. They are all so damn pretty! I couldn't help but get one. I ended up grabbing Jinx. I was so excited because this is my first textured polish.

This polish is amazing. Hubby and I both agree. It applies just as well as any good polish. Two coats does it. I paired it with Sally Hansen Snappy Sorbet.

I wasn't 100% sure whether or not I was on board with the textured polish trend. Jinx sold me. I love it. It's hard to capture the textured finish with my camera indoors (as usual it's too dark out) but it's great. Just rough enough to add some visual and textural interest but smooth enough that it doesn't feel scratchy or distracting. One thing's for sure, no camera can capture just how sparkly this polish is. There is a stupid amount of shimmer, sparkle, and shine that you almost forget that it's a matte finish. 

I can't wait to get my Julep Sea Salt polish to see how it compares to OPI's Liquid Sand.

Diagonal Stripes

I haven't done a tape manicure in a while so I thought that I would today. I picked out some pretty colors and went to town. 

I love these types of manicures because they are so quick and easy but they look fantastic! I started with Sally Hansen Celeb City as a base. Once completely dry, I put a strip of tape diagonally down the middle of the nail. I painted above the tape with Wet n Wild Disturbia and below the tape with Wet n Wild Teal of Fortune. Then, I removed the tape and top coated. Done! I love these three colors together!

Patchwork

I started off doing a water marble design tonight, but it was NOT working out for me. I kept bumping the cup and ruining the design right before I stuck my finger in. Or, I would scrape my finger along the side of the cup on the way out, scraping off most of the design. It was so frustrating. So, I scrapped it and started over. I still wanted all four of the colors I was using, but I went with something simpler and far less tedious.

 

I started off with a coat of Sally Hansen Silver Sweep. Then, I taped off sections and painted them using OPI Purple With a Purpose, Love & Beauty Green, and OPI Blue My Mind. Because my camera sucks, especially with blues and purples, you can't quite see the brilliance of these colors here. Blue My Mind is a vibrant electric blue with a hint of shimmer. Purple With a Purpose is a gorgeous royal purple. Love & Beauty Green is a beautiful emerald green loaded with shimmer. The three colors really play well against each other and the silver.

My mommy's manicure!

When we decided to come to Tennessee to see my family, I already had in mind to do my sister's and my mom's nails. My sister and I were sitting in the kitchen planning out her manicure and I ended up doing mom's. She wanted to try a tape manicure for the first time. She chose the base colors. They were all Wet n Wild fastdry. Then we taped off half of each nail at a diagonal and painted the second layer.

The colors are Buffy the Violet Slayer (left thumb and right pinky), How I Met Your Magenta (left index), FuchsiaRama (left middle and right ring), The Wonder Yellows (right index and left pinky), 9.0.2.1.Orange (right ring), Sage in the City (left middle), and Teal or No Teal (right thumb, unpictured). The white is OPI Alpine Snow. This was something different for my mom and she really likes the way they look. I do, too. Plus, it was really fun doing my mom's nails. 

Tomorrow, I'll post my sister's nails. *SPOILER* They will be Doctor Who and Harry Potter themed. :D