Monthly Archives: September 2013

13 Sep

Purple and Black Woven Stripes

I’ve had a bit of a dry spell in the inspiration department lately. But I’ve noticed that several of the blogs I follow have been participating in the 31 day challenge (2013) that Chalkboard nails created and Mr. Nailinator suggested that I go with one of the prompts for that. Day 12 is stripes and I came up with this.

I started with two coats of Color Club Eternal Beauty and then used L.A. Girl 3D in Black Illusion and a striper brush to add the stripes. I’ve included a picture in warm light so you can see a bit of the holo shimmer. The sun didn’t come out all day today so there are no sunshine shots. Oh well! I think they look pretty darn cool. Don’t you?

I hope everyone is having a great day.

11 Sep

L.A. Girl – Sparkle Ruby (With a dash of Starrily Lemon Lime)

Today is Mr. Nailinator’s birthday! Whoop! For the occasion I’ve gone with a  maroon stunner in honor of his Alma Mater. Any guesses as to where he went to college? I’ve given you 2 clues (1. Whoop 2. Maroon ) It’s also The Shutterbug’s birthday. Happy birthday to you both!

This is two coats of LA Girl 3D in Sparkle Ruby. I love this polish so much! It was hard to photograph its awesomeness in the light box. So I’ve included a warm lighting shot as well. It’s soooooo pretty! The pictures still don’t do it justice.

The Shutterbug brought over her new babies to show me and I couldn’t resist slapping on a coat of Starrily in Lemon Lime just because I was intrigued to see what it looked like. I think it looks pretty cool. This polish has 4 different sized lime green glitters in it. So cool! What do you think?

I’ve been so preoccupied with having family visit and now getting back to school that I’m kind of running dry on nail art ideas. Any ideas or requests?

I hope everyone is having a great week!
07 Sep

I’m Not Lion! I’m in love!

Hi gals!
I hope you have enjoyed the guest posts this week on my blog. If you missed them then go check out the lovely looks created by Chit Chat Nails and by Craftynail. Thanks again to Marta and Jacqui for helping me out.
We have been having a wonderful visit with my husband’s mother. It’s always so nice when people fly halfway across the globe to come visit us. It was even nicer that she brought me my Color Club Halo Hues and China Glaze I’m Not Lion that I have been lemming for!
I’ve got a simple yet elegant look for you today. I couldn’t wait to try out I’m Not Lion for an accent nail. I was not expecting it to dry to such a coarse texture. Even with one thick coat of Oh My Golly colorless it was just as coarse as it was without it. Perhaps Seche would smooth it out? It’s a pretty color and I’m so glad I have it. I paired it with Caronia On The Go which is one of my favorites. I have 2 backup bottles… That’s how much I love it. To be honest, the formula of On The Go is the pits! It’s hard to apply evenly, does not self level at all and is really too thick even in a brand new bottle. But it looks way better after topcoat and the color is so great I am willing to endure the hardships that come along with the formula.
As you can see, I added a little sparkle at the base of my nails as well. I used I’m Not Lion and a striper brush and just applied it kind of randomly until I was happy with how it looked. I love it! Don’t you?
I hope everyone is having a great weekend!
04 Sep

Guest Post by Craftynail!

Hi girls!
Welcome to all the new faces! *waves* I’m so happy to have you here. I’ve got another treat for you today! I’ve asked the very talented Jacqui of Craftynail to do a guest post and I’m so excited to show you what she has created! She is always coming up with some very cool and clever designs. If you don’t already follow her, you need to! Go, go, go!

Take it away Jacqui!

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Hello all!
My name is Jacqui and I have a blog in the US called Craftynail! I’m so very happy to do a guest post for The Nailinator today! Rachael and I both participated in a nail art challenge together earlier in the year- and the rest is history. We’ve been blogging buddies ever since! I’m also signed up for email alerts so I won’t miss any of The Nailinator’s posts. Did you see her Van Gogh Starry Night manicure from July? What a masterpiece! So when Rachael suggested I do something artistic like that for this guest post I figured I’d give it a try! It’s a perfect theme for me since I live in a very artistic household. My boyfriend is an artist so at any given moment there’s a good chance that both of us will be painting- me with my nails, and him with his movie paintings. So I’m gathering up all that artistic juju and putting it towards this manicure. How about some nail art inspired by Van Gogh’s Almond Blossoms ??

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wiki_Almond_Blossoms copy

I started with a coat of Sally Hansen Maximum Strength and then applied three coats of a scattered holo from AVON called Celestial. I’ve only done a handful of guest posts so far, but I’ve realized that I used a holo basecoat for every single one! I’m seeing a pattern here. LOL! I can’t help it- scattered holos are just my style! They’re so fun and I think they make a great base for nail art.

I noticed that Van Gogh’s branches were defined and had dark outlines around them. So I gave my branches definition by first drawing them on with my black Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen . Then I filled them in using a detail brush and 3 different green & grey polishes: China Glaze Westside Warrior, Orly Jealous, Much? and Orly Faint of Heart. Then I hand-painted some blossoms using three different yellow & brown polishes: Sally Hansen Yellow Kitty, Sinful Colors Pull Over and Sinful Colors Nirvana . I topped it all off with my favorite Seche Vite topcoat… and there ya have it! Van Gogh-inspired nails!

van_gogh_nail_art

Thank you Rachael for hosting my post! I look forward to your fresh nail designs once you’re settled in after the holiday!

And thank you all for reading. I love meeting new faces so feel free to find me on my blog, facebook, pinterest, twitter or bloglovin.

xx Jacqui

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I just love these so much! Don’t you? She’s so very creative and she’s super sweet too! I hope you will drop by and visit her and show her some love.

Thanks a million Jacqui! I think you did a great job gathering up the artistic juju. Ha! We had a wonderful holiday and are still having a great visit. I look forward to getting some awesome nail art done in the near future too.

I hope you gals are having a great week so far. Toodles!

02 Sep

Guest Post by Chit Chat Nails!

Yes! You read the title correctly!
I’m honored (and pretty much in a state of disbelief) to have Marta of Chit Chat Nails guest post today. I have been stalking following her blog ever since my nail art addiction began and it is truly one of THE BEST out there. No one can match her skills with color combos, accent nails and stamping. If you aren’t already following her then you need to go do so now. 🙂
 
Take it away Marta!

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Hello Lovely Ladies,

My name is Marta and I run a little Canadian Nail Art blog called Chit Chat Nails.

When Rachael asked me for a guest post I was very flattered… and while I waited until the very last minute to submit my post (shame on me, I know, I’m so very embarrassed), I hope you like what I have come up with.

It really is an honor be be here!  While stamping is my nail-specialty, I chose a very simple look for today’s post… I sometimes stamp my little heart out, and then just crave a simple look (do you ever have that craving?).

For this manicure I used two coats of OPI Chic from Ears to Tail.  For the silver accent nails I used three shades:
First, one coat of Sally Hansen Celeb City (a silver foil)
Then, one coat of OPI Crown me Already (a dense silver multi-size glitter)
Finally, one coat of Animeniac Cosmetics Crash Landing (a black and white shredded glitter).

I really enjoyed how soft and yet sparkly this look was, and I hope you did as well.
Thank you Rachael for inviting me to post on The Nailinator- I’m so sorry I was fashionably-late 😉

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Do you see what I mean? So pretty, girly and sparkly! Thanks you Marta for doing a post for me. You rock! I definitely know what you mean about craving a simpler look after a lot of busy nails. It doesn’t happen too often though. Ha!
 
I hope you girls will go check out her blog if you haven’t already. You can find Chit Chat Nails on Facebook or Instagram as well.
I hope everyone is having a great week. We had a great time at the beach with friends and family last week and are still enjoying visiting at home. Lots of good times and laughter.
See ya!
 
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