Hi gals!

I’m sorry that I didn’t get this posted during the weekend as I had planned. It took longer to prepare the post than I had anticipated, and we had a very busy weekend.

Only 10 days to go until Christmas! I’ve got some serious baking to do this week! My boy has been learning fractions in math, so we will to work together on the recipes and baking as an extra fun school activity. Homeschooling rocks!

While I was in the US this summer, I got my hands on China Glaze Ruby Pumps which has been a lemming of mine since I saw Jemma of Eeeek Nail Polish post her swatch of it. I have been saving it for Christmas time. I added a nice little candy cane accent nail just for fun. I planned to do all the nails like this, but I just couldn’t find the time.

I have seen loads of nail art using Ruby Pumps. It really is the perfect red! I would describe it as a dark red jelly loaded with teeny tiny red glitter. The glitter is not as dark as the jelly so it has a nice bright shine from within. I love a good red, but red with gorgeous glitter is even better!

I’ve got a little extra for you today. A tutorial video! Please be forgiving as I am a complete novice at these types of things. Mr. Nailinator deserves a huge round of applause for being such a darling, I would never have even tried this if  he hadn’t promised to help me figure out how to get it edited and uploaded on YouTube. I’ve received a lot of requests for tutorials so, I figured I’d give it a try. Let me know what you think.

1. Place striping tape over dry base color.
2. Use orange wood stick to secure tape to nail edge.
3. Apply white polish.
4. Quickly and carefully remove tape.
5. Allow to dry then apply topcoat.

What is your favorite holiday inspired nail art? I’m looking forward to something extra flashy for the New Year!

Have a great day!
Rachael

The post Ruby Pumps Candy Cane Nail Art (with tutorial video) appeared first on The Nailinator.

Hi everyone!

Just a quick snippet tonight as I’m trying to get to bed at a somewhat decent hour. I posted a little teaser for these on my Instagram last night and now I’m happy to share this lovely nail art.

I started with two easy coats of Girlstuff Blues. Blues was a dream to apply. It evened itself out nicely and dried quickly to a very shiny finish. I used a striping brush and Jocarste’s silver glitter to add the icicles on the tips of my nails. Pretty cool, huh? (Pun intended!)
These are the only icicles I’ll be seeing this holiday season as it is always warm here near the equator. Oh well, I still enjoy wintry nail art.

I’ve got a little tutorial video I made for my next nail art post, but I’m still trying to figure out the best way to edit it. I’m hoping to share it this weekend. Are y’all having a great week so far?
Keep smiling!
Hugs,
Rach

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I hope this post finds everyone doing fine. I had EVERY plan of doing my nails several times this week, and it looked like it was going to happen until news showed that a tropical storm was developing to the east of us, and we found ourselves bracing for Super Typhoon Haiyan which will make landfall in the Philippines in a few hours. It is going to be devastating for those directly in its path. While the eye will probably pass over Cebu Island, we are not directly in the path so we aren’t expecting the full hurricane-force winds. But we are still expecting some very strong winds and lots of rain and we are doing our best to prepare. Please say a prayer that the storm will lose strength quickly and pray for the safety of those in its path.

On a happier note, my joint giveaway with Blooming Nail Cebu ended this week and I was able to contact the winners and get each package/packet sent on their way. Giveaways are such fun! I’m thinking the next one I do will give you the option of extra entries if you create and submit nail art according to a theme. What do you think? Would you join?

I’m showing you a sparkly mani today to cheer me up after a day full of gloomy, cloud-filled skies.

Outdoor shade

Isn’t it pretty? It’s very eye catching too! I started with 2 coats of Jocarste #28 which is a light pink foil polish that is easy to apply and easy to remove. Then I sponged on Jocarste #8100 which is a gorgeous glitter bomb with purple, gold (multi sized) and silver holo bits in it. My amateur skills were unable to capture the holo sparlies in my lightbox and it was not a sunny day when I sported these nails so you will just have to appreciate the pretty glitters and imagine how extra special it was with a holo twist. #8100 is very different from #28 in that it is a PAIN to take off. I guess all glitters are like that though. Maybe it has just been a long time since I did glitter tips but I was muttering under my breath about how I would throw way this bottle if it wasn’t so darn pretty. Yeah, I know… much bigger problems in the world. Tiniest violin and all that. Ha! Glitter tip manis are some of my favorites and apparently you all like them too because I get a ton of hits on this look I did early this year.

Lightbox… soooo shiny!

Well, I’m off to get some more things ready. I wanted to post something so things wouldn’t be too quiet around here this weekend. See you soon ladies and have a great weekend!

Hugs!

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I imagine if you haven’t read the books then this won’t be much of a manicure to you. But, even if you aren’t familiar with the MASSIVE back story behind the inspiration of these nails, consider how hard it was to free hand these stripes. Ha! It did take a while and I know they are not perfect. I planned to do both hands but it was so late after I finished these that my Cinderella hand just got skittles so I could get to bed at a decent hour. Then my topcoat bubbled in the middle of the nail. Oh well, sometimes topcoat kills the mani. I struggle at times to float the brush to avoid smudging and to avoid bubbling at the same time.

That’s all for now. I meant to get this up on Saturday but time got away from me. It tends to do that with two kids to run after. I hope you all have a great week.

The post Wheel Of Time Nail Art – The Stole of the Amyrlin Seat and The Flame of Tar Valon appeared first on The Nailinator.

Day 26 of the 31 Day Challenge is “Inspired by a pattern”. I’ve chosen to go with an Argyle pattern. I saw a tutorial by Cute Polish for this nail art way back when I was just getting into nail art and I tried it out on a nail wheel right away and it looked very nice. So when I saw it on a nail wheel the other day I thought it was time to try it out on my nails. I learned that doing my nails while watching episodes of the Doris Day Show makes for some wobbly stripes. Definitely not my neatest work. :/ Whatever! I still think they turned out cute. Don’t you?

The colors I used are San San Cloudy Gray, Caronia First Crush (purple), China Glaze For Audrey (green) and Jocarste White.

If you are just starting out with nail art I strongly suggest you check out Cute Polish on You Tube. She has some pretty cute designs that are really easy to achieve. Have a great day!

Hugs!

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I used a whole bunch of different polishes to do this and don’t particularly want to get my bum off the couch to list them all (it’s been a long day). Sorry. I guess it’s one of those days.

On a more exciting note, I’ve got a great week lined up for you gals. I’m going to be guest posting on not just one but TWO great blogs this week and hopefully I will have my very first guest poster come visit to wow us with her amazing skills! I am excited so stay tuned!

Just in case you missed it, I joined instagram a couple of weeks back and I would love to connect with you there especially if you want to see more pictures than what I share here or on FB. Find me @thenailinator (I’ve got a link in the side bar) and let me know you follow my blog too.

I hope you are having a fantabulous weekend. Talk to you soon!

The post Sun and Flowers Nail Art appeared first on The Nailinator.

All opinions are my own.

Today is the last day of the Rather Awesome 31 Day Challenge Giveaway, and we are tasked to recreate a manicure done by someone else. I want to take a moment to thank Brijit of Brijit’s Digits, Jacqui of Crafty Nail and Jemma of Eeeek! Nail Polish! for hosting this challenge. It has been loads of fun!

Now, before I show you what I’ve come up with, I’ve got to tell you about the very first blogger event that I was able to join. Last week, ORLY Philippines had a small get together, and I got to go and meet some of the ladies working with ORLY Philippines along with several other beautiful ladies from Cebu who have beauty and fashion blogs. I was so excited to finally connect with other bloggers in my city, and I hope to get together with them again soon.

At the event, we were given loot bags with samples, and when I saw ORLY Nite Owl, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

 
With all the great designs I’ve seen during the challenge, I was hard-pressed to pick an absolute favorite. So I decided to recreate the first manicure that I saw that made me think, “I haven’t done a look like that and I’d really like to try that.” And that brings us to this lovely look done by Jacqui of Crafty Nail for the “stripes” theme on day 11. (Please do check out her blog. She has some skills and she is super sweet to boot!) I’ve never done this look before so I had to give it a go, and ORLY Nite Owl was the perfect base for this look. I added somewhat random stripes using a striping brush and Jocarste Silver (26), Oh My Golly First Date, and Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet. My finished product makes me think of ice cream. What do you think?

Here’s a swatch of ORLY Nite Owl. I’ve got 2 1/2 coats on and it’s just gorgeous. I adore the shimmer, and I love how it’s work safe without being boring. Have a great day girls!

Here’s a swatch of ORLY Nite Owl. I’ve got 2 1/2 coats on and it’s just gorgeous. I love the shimmer, and I love how it’s work safe without being boring. Have a great day girls!

The post Copycat Stripes appeared first on The Nailinator.

Some products used were provided to me for honest review. 
All opinions are my own. 

Before I get to the nails I’d like to let you know that I joined Instagram a couple of weeks ago and, while I am still getting the hang of hash tagging and all that crazy stuff, I have been posting some pictures there. I will post my nail art and some other pictures that won’t be on my blog so if you are on Instagram, I’d love to hear from you. Look for @thenailinator  

These are my entry for the Comic Book or Character theme for the Rather Awesome 31 Day Challenge Giveaway.

When I was talking to Mr. Nailinator about what I could possibly do for this theme I had no idea what to do. I’m a bookie for sure but not comic books. Luckily Marvel has several movies out my hubby reminded me that the characters are from comic books. So my son said I should do Captain America nails. And this is what I came up with. I actually wore these a few weeks ago for July 4th. See how I thought ahead?

As I hope you can see, the pinky is supposed to be the A on his head piece, the ring finger is the red and white on the midsection of his costume and the middle finger is the round shield. The pointer is just going along with the color motif and the thumb has 3 stars like the top of the old school comic book shield.

Colors used for this look:
San San Blue Sapphire
Oh My golly Salsa (red)
Jocarste White
Jocarste Silver 26
Klik Super Star (glitter topcoat and stars)

The post Captain America appeared first on The Nailinator.

I think this would be a pretty wedding manicure. Don’t you? I started with two coats of Jocarste 28 which is a metallic pink and then stamped with Jocarste White using an image on the MJ plate #8 which was sent to me by the lovely Meann of MyOnline Shop. I think it’s lovely and enjoyed wearing it for the past FIVE days. Yeah, you know I’ve been way too busy when I wear a look for 5 days! Ha!

I hope you ladies had a great weekend!

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I got word from The Shutterbug that she has started on my wishlist of polishes to buy for me while she is in the US. She found Sally Hansen Golden-I and Sinful Colors Easy Going. I’m excited. Does anyone know where she can pick up a couple of LA Girl 3d Effects in a store in Texas? I know I can get them online if she can’t get them but I only wanted Sparkle Ruby and Brilliant Blue.

I hope y’all have a great day!

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