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Thursday, July 31, 2014

Color block nails with Zoya Naturel2 Collection!

Hey guys! Today and tomorrow I'm reviewing the new Zoya Naturel2 transitional fall collection! How gorgeous are these brown and plum shades!! I die!

I used all 6 of the colors to create this look, and I used the 4 lightest shades as the background colors. I wanted to see how opaque they were over each other. Turns out, very! :)


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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Blue and Turquoise nails inspired by Margaret :)

I say inspired, I should say, replicated! Hey guys! Another fun post today :) One of my first nail buddies and friend Margaret of @m_a_tom is having a contest celebrating a milestone for her account! The rules are it's not a giveaway, its a contest. You have to do an inspired by (or replicate) mani of hers for your entry. She is my tape-spiration FOR SURE and the one who encouraged me to stop being afraid of striping tape and go for it. The rest is history! Who knew it would become my favorite technique! And she's Australian so obvious bonus points for that ;)

I peeped her feed and narrowed it down to 3, then this one. Again, grateful for  a design not to be on all fingers!!! I also had the 3 same polishes she used...lucky me.



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Monday, July 28, 2014

Zoya blues and greens (plus Winstonia clean up brush review)

Hello! More blues from me, haha! In continuing with my project to use the polishes I have (and not buy any more) I was rummaging through my Zoyas picking out blues and greens, several of which I still have from the Earth Day Sale I haven't even used yet!

I'm also trying to work down my list of new and different techniques out there that I haven't done yet. One is called "negative space" , where you basically leave unpainted areas on your bare nail. I've always been kind of on the fence about this, because I'm not a big fan of VNL (that's nail code for visible nail line, hahahaha!) So I knew if I did it I'd have to think of a way to cover that up. The solution? Stripes! I do love me some stripes!


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Sunday, July 27, 2014

Balloons inspired by Nail Storming :)

This is  just a fun little post of some nails I did super quick this weekend when I found out it was my friend Gianna's one year anniversary of being on Instagram! awwwwwww :) Mine is coming up next month!

This is a combo of a couple of her mani's but since she's not feeling well this week I thought it might help cheer her up :) My strings are totally blah but that's ok.


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Friday, July 25, 2014

Tribal Nails and Winstonia Brushes Review

Hey guys! Today I have my official review of the Winstonia nail art brushes I was sent (although there's another one coming up!) My fine detailing skills are severely lacking and boy was I excited to get these!

This mani is part of a Mani Swap I did with my friend Judy over at @Judyrox . She is all the way over in Spain! One of my favorite things about this crazy world of doing nails is getting to know  people all over the world, on line and in person! I just would have never of guessed  I would be in such a scenario!

Anyhoo-as soon as I received these brushes I went straight to Judy's page for inspiration...because she is the Queen of these kind of tribal nails in my book! I figured, why not just go for it and try something super hard, right? She graciously agreed to let me copy one of her designs :)



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Thursday, July 24, 2014

Shop Eighty 4 thermal polishes

Hey guys! Quick post for today. A friend sent me these temperature thermal polishes because I have been wanting some forever! These are Shop  Eighty 4 Berrly There (sheer pink transitions to cranberry red) and The Sea (blue transitions to teal)

I wanted to do some art combining the 2 much like I did with the Funky Fingers solar changing polishes...but I didn't have much luck! I think I read that temperature polishes do have a shelf life on them, I'm not sure what it is, but these aren't that old. I dipped my fingers in hot and cold water and saw no change really.

I also meant to do my chevrons differently on purpose, but I don't think they came out like I envisioned. The blue polish is totally gorgeous and I will definitely wear it on its own like a regular polish again. Ah well, chalking this up to a big giant nail fail and moving on!


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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Funky Fingers Partly Cloudy and Surf's Up (color changing polish)

Hey guys! So from yesterday's nails I added dots with the other polish I bought from 5 Below. I meant to do chevrons, but I just did not have time to wait for it to dry! Hopefully I will soon.
The base (teal) is Partly Cloudy which shifts from teal to a dark olive green....and the powder blue is Surf's up which shifts from light blue to purple :)


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Cool right! A totally different look! There are lots more colors to choose from, but these are the only 2 that stuck out to me.

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transition in bottle back to shade

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Funky Fingers Partly Cloudy (color changing polish)

Hey guys! I have some super fun nails today and tomorrow! This is a solar color changing polish from Funky Fingers, calld Partly Cloudy,  available only at 5 Below!

Cool right! Stay tuned to see what I did with them tomorrow!


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Monday, July 21, 2014

Drip Drop Nail Paint in A'hoye Amy

Hey guys!  Let's start with a PSA....If you don't like blue polish, you should just stop reading this now. ok? good?

OK. GUYS. LOOK.


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This is Drip Drop Nail Paint in A'hoye Amy, an "indie" brand and my first of this brand. It was a gift from my friend Danele of @lowcountrylacquer . She thought I would get more use out of it and she was right! Holy MOLY! It's so pretty!!!

And guess what else....this is ONE COAT of the blue. I'm not even kidding. I added a small accent nail with striping tape and OPI liquid sand in It's Frosty Outside, one of my favs for this type of thing. It didn't come out as clean as the last time I did this design here because I was super distracted but I still like it!


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Here are some pics of it before I added the silver. I'll be quiet now and let you take it in.
 

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Did I mention that this is one coat? Ok. Just wanted to be sure I mentioned it.

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Saturday, July 19, 2014

Beachy gradient nails with gold taped accents! (part 3)

Hi! Who's tired of seeing these nails! This is my final version. I new I was going to tape over these because a) I love the look tape gives and b) I need to get some mileage out of them! It took me forever to decide what color to use and what design to do but this is what I came up with!

I used striping tape to do another pattern that's been on my to-do list for a long time! The gold is another gift from my friend Marcella of @lovepurplepolish . Its called 50 Years of Style from the OPI Mustang collection. I hope I can pick up the rest of the mustangs soon! For details on the rest of the colors I used in this mani see here !

I felt like there was literally a million layers of polish on when I got done with this. But this is my favorite look of the three! I wanted to do a tutorial for this but I just didn't have time. Hopefully when the kids get back in school I'll be able to do more tutorials again!
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Beachy Gradient nails with Zoya...part 2

Hey guys! I'm not going to write as much on this post as yesterdays...for info on these see here !

A few of my friends recommended I add China Glaze Fairy Dust over my gradient. It helps it look more blended and adds sparkle. What do yall think? I definitely think it helps!

Again...lots of pictures because this is probably my first and last mani like this!



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Friday, July 18, 2014

Zoya gradent wth Taylor, Wednesday and Natty

Hey guys! Look what I have! My first actual gradient! Well...I did one on one finger a couple weeks ago with the Zoya Pixiedusts on one finger for the Fourth...and it didn't turn out terrible so I got delusional enough to think I could do it on all fingers. With crème polish. I'm reeeeeally trying to get out of my box this summer and finally attempt lots of different techniques that have been on my to-do list.... while at the same time, trying to use and document all the polishes I haven't used yet ("untrieds"....and thanks to the Zoya Earth Day sale I have *ahem* a few. winky face.


ANYHOO. Originally I intended for this to be a nice and beachy subtle blend of colors that seamlessly blended and I was going to paint little white caps on. Welllllllllll............ they didn't turn out like that but I don't think they are completely horrible.

But yall. I can't even with the amount of effort this takes. Give me tape any day! I don't know how the girls who do this all the time do it. The time I have to work on my nails is not often and small bits of time here and there. With gradients, you have to paint base coat, dry, tape off your fingers, paint on the sponge your stripes, dab on and blend around until it doesn't look terrible, and then repeat the dabbing like 4-5 more times. ON EACH FINGER. ugh! And don't even get me started on the cleanup. Even taping around my cuticles it still took forever. At least with tape, it's basecoat, dry, tape, paint, topcoat, done. I can do it here and there throughout the day and there's pretty much no cleanup.

That all being said, I'm probably never going to do it again! So I knew I had to get some major mileage out of these. Over the next couple days I'll show you what I did to change them up...aka....recycle!

wow...that was a lot of words. Now for the pics. I took a lot.


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The polishes I used are Zoya Taylor (tan), Wednesday (sage green, pictured), and Natty (navy blue)


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This is the base I used...also the lightest color in the gradient. Zoya Taylor. It's from the nude collecton they put out earlier this year. I only have the darkest one, Odette, I skipped the rest bc they all seemed really similar. I picked this up at the Ulta sale on Zoyas a few weeks ago and let me tell you....I AM IMPRESSED! This is one coat yall!! One coat! I couldn't believe how opaque it is.


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Thursday, July 17, 2014

Barbie Nails with OPI Mustang and Water decals!

Hey guys! I have more Born Pretty Store  decals to review today! I've had an idea to do a vintage Barbie-inspired look for a long time! If yall forgot, the first Barbie that ever came out had a zebra stripe bathing suit on-so ahead of her time, yes? I also am trying out some new nail art brushes from Winstonia Store and I will have more posts coming up on those!



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For this look, I started with Pink, Black and White polishes. The pink is called Girls Love Ponies from the new OPI Mustang Line...which I am jonesing for all of! My lovely friend Marcella of @lovepurplepolish gave this to me when I met her last week! How awesome is she? The black and white are OPI Black Onyx and Alpine Snow.

Next, I added chunky black and white matte glitter called Black Tie Optional from Hard Candy. I used the  Winstonia striper brush (which I was sorely in need of! ) to paint zebra stripes on my first finger. Then I cut out a Barbie silhouette and dipped it water, slid it off and on to the nail. Add topcoat every where and done! I will say, the decal kit that came with the Barbie shapes is a real mish-mash of designs....but they are all cute! They are available here. Be sure to use my code JEENX31 for 10% off your order! :)


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Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Emma Jean polish with Bird decals review!

Hello! I have more new stuff yay! I apologize for the state of my cuticles...my hands have not yet recovered from my travels :)

This beautiful blue polish was gifted to me by my friend Gianna of Nailstorming! It's my first scented polish...I never got any of the Revlons that came around. I have to say...its super weird haha! This is called Fresh Off the Clothes Line...and it totally does smell like "dryer sheets" when it starts to dry a little! So crazy right! It's a beautiful powder blue and I love it....obviously. It was a little thin on the first coat but filled in surprisingly well on the second!


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This super cute bird is a water decal! I used 2 here for this look...one bird and one flower I added second. These were sent to me from Born Pretty Store to review and I am having a lot of fun with them! The direct link for this sheet is here.  I am really happy with the way it came out!

All you do is cut out the part you want to use from the small sheet, dip in water for a few minutes and the design slides off on a clear sheet. You place it on your dry nail and add topcoat, that's it! I could NEVER free hand this kind of design and don't have any stamping plates so this is the only way I could ever get a look like this!

Born Pretty also sent me a discount code for yall so use JEENX31 for 10% off your order! Shipping does take about 4 weeks so be prepared for that!

*these decals were provided to me for my review and my opinions are my own :)



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Tuesday, July 15, 2014

OPI Neons with Born Pretty water decals!

Hey guys!  It's been a while, no? I took a couple weeks off blogging to enjoy the 4th and have a family road trip! I have (ahem) a few new polishes to share and some fun things I'm reviewing this week!


First up is some water decals I was sent from Born Pretty Store ! These are super easy to use...I was kind of surprised how easy! These come in a little sheet about the size of a business card and you just cut out the ones you want to use, place the little square in a dish of water for a few seconds, and the image on a clear background slides right off and you place it on the nail.  I didn't take any pictures of the process this time but I will try to next time!

For this look I cut out several little individual flowers and put them on one at a time, then added topcoat. They really look like they are printed on, you can't see the outline of the clear backing at all. The colors of the flowers (and the polish) are actually more vivid than they seem here, neons are notoriously hard to photograph, that goes for the decals as well!




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The polishes I used are all from the new OPI neon collection:
Push and Pur-pull, Hotter than you Pink, You are so Outta Lime, and Life gave me Lemons. I used Alpine Snow for the white accent nail. All the neons are 2 coats over one thin coat of white.

These decals are available in a kit with lots of other cute designs you can purchase here! They are really inexpensive :) They've also given you guys a discount code JEENX31 for 10% off your order- yay! The only down side is they did take a solid 4 weeks to get to me so you have to be patient! :)

*these decals were provided to me for my honest review. My opinions are my own!




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Sunday, July 13, 2014

China Glaze For Audrey and Atlantis

Hey guys! Happy Monday ;) I just have some simple nails today from a while ago. Sometimes a girl just needs a simple mani in her favorite color with a glitter accent! I am continuing a little project of trying to go through all my polishes and do mani's with them and then mark them so I know which I have used and which I haven't yet. Hopefully this will help me keep my wallet closed for a while!! (There are a few collections coming up that I realllllllly like so gotta save the pennies!)

This is China Glaze For Audrey, an oldie but a goodie. It was one of the first non-drugstore polishes I bought, and I still just love this Tiffany Blue turquoisey color! The formula on it leaves a lot to be desired....but I'll put up with a lot if I like the color enough! This is part of China Glaze's core line and can be found most anywhere it's sold.

The glitter is China Glaze Atlantis, which is super old and I found it randomly at a grocery store last year. It looked so awesome in the bottle so I snatched it right up! It's a blue and green holographic glitter in a teal jelly base. Only when I got home and googled it did I find just how hard it is to find! Score!


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Thursday, July 3, 2014

July 4 texture chevron

Hey guys! These were my final July 4th nails I wore the whole next week! Texture is the only way to go when traveling for me. They wear so well.  I just loved them so much-I was really sad to take them off.

Polishes used:
Zoya Sunshine (blue)
OPI Magazine Cover Mouse (red)
OPI Solitare (white)

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Wednesday, July 2, 2014

July 4 flag nails!

Hey guys! Here's another flag mani for July 4th! I'm back posting these because I wasn't blogging this week. I did these with  my star punch and striping tape!

Polishes used:
Zoya Red Door Red
White-Sally Hanson White On
blue- Sally Hanson Pacific Blue


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Tuesday, July 1, 2014

July 4 dry brush

Here is another mani I did for July 4th this year! I just love this dry brush technique!

Polishes used: all OPI
blue-I Saw...U Saw... We Saw... Warsaw
red-Lost on Lombard
gold-Glitzerland
white-Alpine Snow

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