Tag Archives: sponging

23 Nov

Girly Halo Hues Gradient with MJ XXVI Stamping

Hello lovely friends!

I noticed that I have had a harder time keeping up with the blogging these past few months. I’ve got a good reason though. For the past three months we’ve had some visitors, I’ve been helping hubby with a huge renovation project, keeping up with school with the kids and had a few health issues to deal with. The good news is that the renovation is almost complete and I’m looking forward to things getting back to normal. I’ve still been doing my nails so I’ve got some fun looks lined up to share with you.  I am so excited to get to some Christmas nail art very soon!

Today I’ve got a pretty gradient and stamped mani to share with you. I started off with one coat of Miss Bliss. Then I taped off my cuticle area to minimize the clean up and sponged Eternal Beauty on the tips of my nails. Then I used my fabulous MJ XXVI stamping plate from My Online Shop. This plate is my FAVORITE floral plate. I can’t get enough of it.

Edited to add: I just noticed that My Online Shop is having a 10% off sale from November 24-30. Enter the code BLKFRIDAY2016 at checkout.

Color club Halo Hues Gradient With Stamping

Aren’t they magical? So girly and sparkly! I loved wearing these and I received lots of compliments on them. That’s always fun! Now for a mandatory macro shot….

Macro of Color Club Gradient with Stamping

Soooo pretty! This is one of my favorite designs I’ve worn so far this year. Gradient nails are so easy to do and the possibilities are endless. If you haven’t tried a gradient look, then grab a sponge and your favorite polishes and go ahead and give it a try! Maybe I should make a photo or video tutorial for you?

I’ve been testing out a new product that I’m so excited to share with you. Keep an eye out for my next post! Have a fantastic day!

Hugs,
Rach

 

27 Mar

CND Vinylux Midnight Swim Nebula Nail Art

Hi Dolls!

Today I’m sharing my latest Nebula (or Galaxy) art. This is one of my favorite looks to sport on my nails. Aren’t they pretty? Sometimes I think I’ll try something fancy with crazy colors and mix it up, but I always end up just liking it like this with pretty purple nebulae.

CND Midnight Swim with Galaxy/Nebula Nail art

Back in November when I swatched CND Midnight Swim, I knew I wanted use it as the base for my next Nebula nail art look. It’s such a pretty deep blue, and I was excited to test its durability with nail art over it! While the base color is CND Midnight Swim, all the purples, blues and glitter were done using  several Girlstuff polishes and a makeup sponge torn into small pieces. Check out my tutorial for nebula nails here. It takes a lot of sponging, but it is really easy to do. I added some stars using white polish and a small dotting tool. The criss-crossed stars were done using a teensy tiny brush that I cut into just a few strands.

I’ve been wearing this for 8 full days now, and I’ve got to say, I am SO impressed! Just look at this side by side of Day 1 and Day 8!

CND Midnight Swim 8-Day Wear Comparison

Can you believe it? I like this brand even more the second time around! This polish is out of this world! I would definitely recommend these CND Vinylux Weekly polishes for their long wear time. Check out my full review here.

You can get your own CND products by contacting CND Philippines on Facebook, Instagram  or Twitter.

Have a stellar day!
Hugs,
Rach

05 Jan

Pure Ice Spit Fire Sponging

Hi lovely ladies!

I hope you are having a great start to the year. While we enjoyed our holiday break, things got off to a bumpy start for us yesterday with getting back to work and back to doing school with the little ones.

I was originally planning on doing a glitter placement mani to ring in the new year. But since I was sick and preparing for a trip out-of-town, I wanted something that was quick and easy but didn’t skimp on the bling. I also wanted something that wouldn’t chip off while I was out-of-town.

Pure Ice Spit Fire Sponging Swatch

My hubby surprised me by bringing this beauty home one day while we were in Texas this past Summer. Pure Ice Spit Fire is a gorgeous glitter bomb with multi-sized hex and square glitters suspended in a clear base with a pinkish tint to it. The smallest glitters are light pink, but there are also some bigger silver holographic glitters that give this some major sparkle.

Pure Ice Spit Fire Out of Focus

I started with a thin coat of Color Club Miss Bliss which is a holographic pink polish. After that dried, I put scotch tape around my nail and cuticle area to minimize cleanup time. Then I used the bottle crush to put a drop of Spit Fire on the sponge and then dabbed the glitter onto the nail. I kept working until I was satisfied with the coverage. I included the out-of-focus shot so you can see more of the holo sparkle. I received many compliments on this flashy mani.

Pure Ice Spit Fire Macro

Check out this macro shot! Oh so pretty!

Tip: Use an orange wood stick to help with glitter cleanup around the cuticle area. Just use your flat brush to brush some polish remover on the cuticle and then gently scrape off any glitter that is crampin’ your style!

What did you sport on your nails for the New Year? I hope you have a great day and fabulous year to come!

Hugs,
Rach

22 Nov

Two-for-one Sparkly Accent Nail

Hi lovelies!

I’ve got  two-looks-in-one for you this evening. First up, I’ve paired this lovely hot pink with a gold glitter accent nail. I like to use glitter as an accent nail when I don’t have the time or inspiration for nail art but I still want something flashy and interesting. Do you do this too? This pink is Pretty In Pink by Girlstuff Forever. It is a two-coater creme polish that dries fast and is so bright and fun to wear. It cleans up easily too.

GirlStuff Pretty In Pink with 24K sponged accent nail

For my accent nail, I chose 24K which is also by Girlstuff. The bottle is packed with remarkably sparkly holographic gold glitter suspended in a clear base. You could paint it onto your nail for the typical coverage of any glitter top coat. But, if you want the coverage I have, you will need to grab a makeup sponge. I put tape around my cuticle (to minimize glitter sticking to my finger) and put a drop of 24K on the sponge. Then I sponged that directly onto my nail and repeated the process until I was happy with the coverage. The great thing about this method of application is that you can get all the glitter on the nail and most of the clear base will be left behind in the sponge. So you can have full coverage without having to use 14 coats of glitter. 😉 Make sense? Finish it off with topcoat to seal your glitter and enjoy the sparklies! The accent nail took a bit of elbow grease to clean up, but that’s typical for glitter.

Girlstuff Blues with 24K sponged accent nail

After wearing Pretty In Pink for a few days, I decided to try out Blues, another one of my new beauties from Girlstuff. This navy blue creme is another two-coater that dries quickly with a great shiny finish and also cleans up easily. ♥

The more Girlstuff polishes I try, the more I love them. I’ve heard they are good for stamping too, so that is on my “things to try” list. I’ll let you know.

I hope you are having a great weekend. Make someone smile today!
Hugs,
Rachael

03 Sep

I’m Guest Posting at Simply Rins!

Hey all!
I’ve whipped up something bright and fun for a guest post at Simply Rins. Rina is an uber talented nail blogger from the Philippines. She is a super sweet gal as well and I’m thrilled that she asked me to post for her. Perhaps you recall that she did a guest post for me back at the beginning of this year. It’s so fun to have friends that share your passion. Please go check out her blog! You won’t be sorry you did. Thanks again, Rina!

I’ve included some instructions and tips in my post on how you can get this look.

Go check out my guest post now!

Rawr! Summer isn’t over just yet. Thanks for dropping by. Have a fabulous day/night!

Hugs,
Rach

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