Nail Art

Dior Saint-Tropez + Gradient

I have a ton of polishes in two shades: red and aqua. And I also have only two Dior polishes as well–in red and aqua. I ADORE both polishes. (The red polish is the one I used in this video a few days ago).

Of all the aqua polishes I own, I repeatedly come back to Dior’s Saint-Tropez. Sadly, I don’t think you can find it anymore. I ended up buying it on eBay a couple years ago, and even back then it was hard to find. That being said, I just love it. The formula goes on like butter and it self-levels to a perfect finish. Just a lovely polish to work with.

(The red Dior polish I love, Rouge 999, is still for sale, though. The formula has been updated, but it’s the same color).

Anyway, this is Dior Saint-Tropez…

After painting my nails with Saint-Tropez, I thought I’d try another gradient. So I added Julep Monaco to the tips with the gradient sponging technique shown in this video.

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Revisiting Stripe Ombré Nails

One of my favorite manicures to go back and look at it is my Stripe Ombré Nails from two years ago. I thought it was high time to try recreating that look. :)

This time I chose a pale pink, light coral, bright pink, orchid, and dark burgundy color palette. Like the previous manicure, I painted my nails white first and then applied four strips of nail striping tape. Then I painted the different polish colors…

The result is a fun ombré look! I haven’t done a tape masked manicure in a while so I was a bit rusty, but I think by the time I finished up my thumbnail, the masking was working pretty well. I did discovered that the best way to prevent the colors streaking with a top coat was to brush on the top coat in the direction of the stripes.

So while time consuming, I really do love this look. :)

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Sheer Plaid Nails

I saw a manicure on Pinterest the other day and wanted to try it out, but with different colors. The colors I picked were a bit sheer, and it ended up creating a sort of plaid look. Super cool!

Polishes Used:
Essie Chinchilly
Essie Watermelon
Essie Resort Fling
Seche Vite Top Coat

I created this manicure by first painting my nails with the gray color (Chinchilly), appying a top coat, and letting it dry completely. Then I used scotch tape and masked off a portion of the nail so that I could paint the lighter coral color (Resort Fling). I made sure to do one nail at a time and remove the tape immediately after painting the coral color. Then I applied a thin top coat and let it dry. Finally, I taped off the other side of the nail, painted the magenta color (Watermelon), and peeled off the tape immediately. Then I finished the nail art design with a clear top coat. :)

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Disneyland Manicure #2 (Mickey Inspired)

Hi all! I’m back with another Disneyland manicure. I’m going to Disneyland later this month so I’m trying out different manicures that I might wear while I’m there. :) You can see the first one HERE.

For this design, I took inspiration straight from Mickey Mouse…

Index Finger: OPI Black Onyx with Dior Red Royalty on the tip. Then I used a dotting tool to add Mickey’s buttons with OPI Alpine Snow
Middle Finger: Obsessive Compulsive Comsetics Taxi with Cheeky CH6 plate stamped in Konad Special Polish in Black
Ring Finger: OPI Black Onyx. Then I used a dotting tool to add a Mickey shape using OPI Alpine Snow
Pinky & Thumb: China Glaze Ruby Pumps

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Disneyland Manicure #1 (Dots & Mickey Mouse)

I go to Disneyland each year with s good friend and I’m so excited our trip is coming up soon! I really want to have some cute Disney nails while I’m there so I’m trying out a few different designs.

I’ve been pinning some ideas on Pinterest that I’m going to try, but this one is my own design…

  • Black polish: 1 coat China Glaze Liquid Leather, 2 coats Girly Bits Into the Night
  • White polish: OPI Alpine Snow

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Nail Fraud Nail Decals

I tried out a different brand of nail art strips yesterday: Nail Fraud Nail Decals. I tried the Black and White Dots pattern…

Application was so-so. I still struggle with nail stickers like this. The perfectionist in me doesn’t like how the shape near my cuticle doesn’t match as perfectly as I would get it when using traditional polish.

I also don’t like that the “polish” doesn’t smoothy wrap around the edge of the nail. In the photos above you can see the very tip of my nails. My nails are generally really sharp so I like wearing polish on them to soften the edges. These nail decals don’t really do that since they don’t extend past the tip of your nail. :( And a day after I applied these, I can feel them lifting (and I even used a top coat over them). :(

Also, they’re not entirely smooth. As seen on my pointer finger in the pictures, they all have a weird “orange peel” texture. It’s strange.

So, all in all, they’re pretty cute, but I think I prefer regular polish and stamping. On the packaging it says they last up to a week, but I don’t think they’ll last that long. :)

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Patriotic 4th of July Manicure

Hi all! I’ve had a 4th of July manicure on my to-do list for ages, mostly because I knew it would take ages to get it done! LOL! This was my second attempt and it’s much better than the first. :)

Here I used white for the accents, but in my first attempt I used silver. The silver just didn’t pop as much (you can see it in a card how-to video I did earlier today), and I had some application issues, so I was more than happy to take that manicure off this afternoon and start over. And these are the results! :)

Base Colors: Nicole Listen to Your Momager (blue), A-England Perceval (red)
Stamping Color: Konad White
Stamping Plates: Konad m84 (stars), Cheeky Jumbo Image Plate I2 (diagonal stripes & pointer finger)
Heart: China Glaze White on White
Top Coat: Seche Vite

Things to note:
I created the small heart with China Glaze White on White and a dotting tool. I just dotted two dots close together to form the top of the heart and then “drew” the bottom of the heart with itty bitty dots. Also, the tip on my pointer finger smudged a bit after stamping so I ended up painting just the tip with White on White to clean it up. I ended up liking that better anyway. :)

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