Black Friday Blue Braid

Hello Dahlings!

I hope you're not all worn out with early bird black Friday shopping. If you are, I hope you got some great deals on polish for the effort! LOL Tonight's mani is a lesson in color choices for nail art. I used THIS tutorial from Lucy at Lucy's Stash, but didn't do as good a job at picking my colors as she does. Of course, she is Lucy & we have come to expect good stuff from her. LOL

Tonight's line up: Milani Key West, Orly It's Up To Blue & Witch's Blue. Key West & It's Up To Blue look more disimilar in person.

 

This is 2 coats of Key West. It's a lovely, shimmery teal that needs 3 coats for opacity. See the hint of VNL on my ring finger? It also tends to stain a bit, making clean up tedious.

 

Because Key West was on the sheer side I had to do 2 coats each time I used it to add a section of braid. It was also too close to It's Up To Blue & the 2 blend together in most lighting. So while not a total nail fail, it could have been better. Live & learn!

Thanks for stopping by!
~ Inky

 

1 nail, 2 nail, red nails blue nail!

Hello Dahlings!

Are you ready for Thanksgiving? I know I am, cuz I got my Seuss on!

Tonight's line up: L.A. Colors Live, Whimsical Ideas by Pam Seuss & Wet N' Wild Red Red.

This is 2 coats of Live over base coat. Shiney underoos!

 

2 coats of Seuss over Live.

 

I used my short striper to add French tips & the red stripes. And as an added layer of fun:

 

I undercoated my nails with Red Red! I've seen this done a few places, but the inspiration to do this tonight came from Anutka of Wacki Laki. She has a tutorial on how to undercoat your nails with color that you can see HERE.

Would you like to see more yummy indie polishes made by Pam? Check out her Facebook page HERE. She offers a high quality hand made polish! I haven't gotten into the indie craze like so many other bloggers have, but when I saw Pam's Peanut Butter & Jelly, I had to have it & have since bought several more of her polishes with no regrets.

 

 

Have a Safe & Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

 

Punk Plaid

Hello Dahlings!

While blog hoping over the weekend I saw THIS tutorial on The Lacquerologist's blog. She did a great job of showing step by step how to create what looks like a complicated plaid on your nails without going crazy or having your eyes cross. I used different colors, but that's the great thing about plaid. You can do it in any colors you like! I do suggest using more opaque polishes unless you want the crossover lines to show thru. If you want that color overlap look, make sure you pick colors that will blend well. Sheer blue over yellow will make green; sheer purple over yellow will make brown. 

Here's da line up: Ruby Kisses Electric Purple, Wet N' Wild On A Trip (my all time fav blue voilet!), L.A. Colors Black Pearl & Revlon Pure Pearl.

This is 2 coats of Electric Purple. It's a typical neon in that it dries to a dull finish & needs 3 coats for full opacity. It stained my skin a smidge, but I think I got most of it off in the final clean up. If not & anybody notices, they obviously have way too much time on their hands & need their own hobby. LOL

I started this mani last night later than I wanted, so by 2am I had to call it a night & go to bed with my nails dry to the touch & unfinished. I'm just glad my sheets are flannel & not corduroy. LOL I used my short striper brush to paint all the lines. On the thicker blue violet lines I painted 2 lines touching.

Seche Vite to the rescue! One coat mostly smoothed out this very textured mani. 8 coats over lapping at the crossings makes for an interesting quilted effect. LOL

Thanks to The Lacquerologist for making this way easier to do than figuring it out for myself!

Thanks for stopping by!
~ Inky

Bling! I made Bling!

Hello Dahlings!

What happens when you take a 20 year old bottle of Wet N' Wild silver glitter polish (bought for $.71 at a drug store chain that doesn't exist anymore) & you add half a bottle of silver holographic glitter from the craft store? You get BLING! Yep, I made a franken polish & I'm gonna show it to you. (be still my thumping heart...)

Tonight's line up: My very own Bling Bling holographic polish (the holo effect is hiding, but you'll see it, I promise!), Zoya Gilda & Orly Liquid Vinyl.

I started with a thick coat of white glue base coat, so I can get this off someday. You're looking at 2 coats of Bling Bling going commando! (dang, the holo is still hiding...) This is without top coat & notice there's no VNL? This polish is packed with glittery goodness!

There's my holo baby! This is after adding a coat of Seche Vite to smooth it out.

Ta Da! I used Gilda with a large ball dotter & short liner brush to make the bows & then outlined them with my short striper brush & Liquid Vinyl. I then added the dots with the small end of the dotter. Another coat of Seche Vite finished this mani off. I got the idea for the bows from Nicole Gets Nailed. She painted roses under her bows & I was not feeling that artistic tonight. LOL You can see her wonderful mani HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!
~ Inky

Foiled again!

Hello Dahlings!

I debated if I should post both versions of this mani or save one for later, but the Twitter vote was unanimously for me to show both. You win! I recently watched a YouTube video from ArcadiaNailArt on how to make your own gold leaf mani rather than pay big bucks for one of the gold flake polishes currently available. I don't know about you, but I ain't paying no $30 for a bottle of polish! LOL To see how ArcadiaNailArt made being gilty easy, go HERE.

Let's start with my left hand. Following ArcadiaNailArt's basic instructions, I shredded some Mardi Gras crafting gold leaf in a lil plastic jar. This did take almost 1/2 an hour cuz the pices need to be really small. This foil has green, gold, pink & orange-ish copper colors wafting thru' it.

I then painted my nails with 2 coats of China Glaze Awakening to get full coverage. Love that duo chrome look!

I then applied a 3rd coat, tidied my cuticles & used a soft flat paint brush to place bits of foil on my nails. Once I had foil where I wanted it I  carefully smoothed it down with the brush. A coat of Seche Vite & I was done, but it really could use a 2nd layer of top coat. Like some glitters, this really sucked up the top coat & feels a lil rough.

Now for my right hand: using the same method as before, I shredded up some Verigated Red gold leaf. This foil has reds from burgundy thru pink in it.

I then applied one coat of Sally Hansen Glossy. Yep, that's ONE coat! The polish is so dark a burgundy it looks black unless in bright direct light. Very vampy!

I applied a 2nd coat of the Gloss & added the foil as for the left hand, but alas, the red pretty much disapeared when I added top coat. Tho' the copper left behind is pretty, I was looking foward to the reds. (insert pouty face here lol)

Look at all the pretty colors! The Mardi Gras on the left is a go for this technique, the Verigated Reds on the right is not. I got both foils at Eureka Stamps. I know the $9.95 price seems like a lot, but those packages hold a lot of gold leaf! Like most of a sandwich size zip bag's worth.

Thanks for stopping by!
~ Inky

I have the Ruffle Mani Blues

Hello Dahlings!

Sarah from Chalkboard Nails does the most perfect Ruffle Mani I ever seen. (big sigh) This is my 3rd attempt & while its better than those that came before...I still need to practice this design more before I'll be happy wearing in on my nails. It also works for my Rainbow Challenge as my blue nails, so something good came out of this. I mentioned in my Dotted French Tip Glitter Ombre (a la Colette) post that I was trying the white glue base coat again. Here are the results:

Better! I still didn't get the polish off in one piece as reported by other bloggers, but I was able to get most of it off with just my jumbo orange stick. Both thumbs & my right pinky resisted all attempts to scrape the polish off the white of the nail, but like last time, the glue is no match for pure acetone & came off easily after a minute long soak.

Tonight's line up: Scandal Marine Blue, Sally Hansen Blue Me Away mini, Orly Snowcone, Finger Paints Blue Raspberry Taffy, Hello Kitty (no color listed), L.A. Colors Splash & Sally Girl 812097.

This 2 coats of Marine Blue over my usual base coat. In the bottle it looks like a very pale blue, but on the nail it has a hint of green to it. I could almost get away with 2 coats of this polish, but if I were to wear it alone w/o nail art (gasp!) I would do a 3rd coat to smooth out the smidge of streakiness & hint of VNL.

Check out the cuticle oil lube job! LOL

I used my largest dotting tool head & tried really hard to keep my dots the same size & in even rows. (Note to self: life is about progress, not perfection) I will master this design! Someday, after lots of practice, maybe? Anywho, after doing what I could I added a coat of the Sally Girl mini topper. It's a pearly sheer mint w/turquoise micro glitter. Last but certainly not least, a coat of Seche Vite.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Inky

 

 

P.S. Please forgive my wonky editing. I'm having 'puter coniptions tonight & hubby (the computer enginner) is asleep. I ain't waking da bear over this! LOL

Guest Post at Mimi Manicures!

Hello Dahlings!

I'm back again today to let you know that my beloved Mistress of Nail Art, Mimi from Mimi Manicures has graciously allowed me to guest post on her blog! If you want to know more about this mani, head on over to Mimi Manicures and check it out.

Well? Get going!

Thanks for stopping by!
~ Inky