The Nail Challenge Collaborative Presents - Inspired by a Book - Look 3

I'm back with my third November Nail Challenge Collaborative look. This time, I was inspired by The Great Gatsby and the black and gold lavish feel of the parties that Gatsby threw in the book.

Polishes Used:
-Maybelline - Bold Gold
-KB Shimmer - Eclipse

I used striping tape and decals to create this cutout look. I loved the feel of this look and the gold popping through the black felt sort of dramatic.

Let's see what books inspired the other NCC ladies 3rd looks!

An InLinkz Link-up

Twinsie Tuesday: Sideways French

This Tuesday's theme is Sideways French. I wasn't 100% sure what that was, but I think it got it right :-P

Polishes Used:
-KB Shimmer - Eclipse
-Kiss - Silver Glitter

For this look I simply started with my black base and freehanded on some sideways French with my Kiss Nail Art striper. The look is simple but sort of edgy because of the colors I used; I liked it for something different.

Be sure to check out how the other Twinsies created their sideways French looks:

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace
Anna at Going to the Showing
Bridget at A Painted Nail

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

​

   Marisa at Polish Obsession

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision​

Traci at DrinkCitra

 

 

The Nail Challenge Collaborative Presents - Black & White - Week 1

Welcome to June! I seriously cannot believe that we are already into June. It's good because my Anniversary and Birthday are in June, but it's crazy how fast the year is flying by!

The June theme for the Nail Challenge Collaborative in Black & White; I voted for this theme so am excited to get some looks together. Today my look is Black & White and Neon & On & On. LOL.

Polishes Used:
-China Glaze - Neon & On & On
-Konad - White
-Konad - Black

For this look, I started in probably the most opposite way of having the China Glaze down first. Once that was dry I added the white half; which I really love because I used striping tape and got a nice crisp line. Unfortunately, I free-handed the black because I was impatient and didn't want to wait for the white to dry, you can definitely tell that I freehanded it because it just doesn't look clean. My bad for sure on that one. I also got a little impatient with the topcoat and you can see the result of that on my ring finger. Womp Womp.

Overall, I like this look, but would have loved it if I would have taken the time to properly execute.

Check out how the other ladies were inspired by Black & White for their looks:

An InLinkz Link-up

The Nail Challenge Collaborative Presents - Music/Movies/TV - Week 1

Happy Monday! April is a super busy month for me so if posts are somewhat sporadic, please bear with me.

This month's theme in the Nail Challenge Collaborative is Music/Movies/TV. I like this theme and have a couple ideas in mind. For my first look, I decided to use TV as my inspiration, specifically, a show that I watch every night while going to bed, Frasier.

Polishes Used:
-KB Shimmer - Eclipse
-White Acrylic Paint

This is a simple looking design, although I did have to freehand the Seattle skyline, which was sort of a pain. lol. If you watch Frasier, you know that this image is the last image in the intro before the show actually gets started. I am quite pleased with how this look came out, and even when I showed my husband my nails, he immediately said, "Frasier", without knowing the theme I was participating in. That made me feel good.

So let me know what you think about this mani, I'm Listening.

An InLinkz Link-up

P.S. Don't forget that that Nail Challenge Collaborative is currently accepting new applications for membership. If you can commit to 4 mani's a month that fit within a specific theme and are interested in joining, please shoot me an email with your blog link and your application will be reviewed.

The Nail Challenge Collaborative Presents - Inspired By A Tutorial - Week 3

Happy Wednesday!

Today I am back with my 3rd installment of the Nail Challenge Collaborative January themed, Inspired by a Tutorial! For this look, I followed a tutorial from Jaunty Juli for Abstract Zig Zag Nail Art (see her video here) This is not the first Jaunty Juli tutorial that I have followed, I did a Halloween look that you can see here if you want. I like watching her videos because she makes all the looks so easy to recreate!

Here is my look:

Polished Used:
-Nailtiques Formula 2 Plus
-Essence - Black is Back
-Assorted Acrylic Paints
-Out The Door

As you can see, I decided to go with bolder colors than what Jaunty Juli originally used  and I think that the colors I selected and perfect for me. (AKA pretty much the best colors out there, black, white, pink and teal lol). This look was really easy to re-create although the striping brush I used was a little larger than the one she did so I simply adjusted the number of lines in the look!

What do you think of this look? I am pretty sure that this is a technique that I will be using for many manis in the future, maybe nude colors to wear to the office even!

Don't forget to check out what the other lovely ladies of the NCC did for their 3rd Inspired by a Tutorial Look!

Crumpet's Nail Tarts Christmas Winter Challenge - New Year's Eve

Happy Sunday! I can't believe the Crumpet's Nail Tart Christmas Winter Challenge has come to an end. Today is the last theme; New Year's Eve!

 

Although today is not New Year's Eve, this is always a fun theme to play around with. Here is my look!

 

 

Polishes Used:

-Orly - Androgynie

-Maybelline - Bold Gold

-Hard Candy - Matte-ly In Love

-Cheeky Jumbo Plate 6 - Happy Holidays

 

A lot of people end up wearing a Little Black Dress on NYE and gold glittery accents, and I feel that this champagne /  bubbly look would be the perfect accent to compliment the LBD. I love how Androgynie looks mattified, the gold shimmers in the base with the translucent glitters really pop once matte.

 

This Challenge has been fun and although I didn't complete every theme (Toys & Christmas Food) I still enjoyed participating during the Holidays. Don't forget to check out what all the other ladies did for their NYE manis!

 

 





DIFFERENT dimension - Set It Free Collection

Happy Monday! Today I have a the 3 pretties from DIFFERENTdimenson Set It Free collection, Stronger, Wide Awake and Black Dahlia. All of these are gorgeous colors and although I just bought mini's I probably should have bought full sized bottles!

First up, Stronger:

Missi describes this polish as "Stronger is a blue leaning periwinkle scattered holographic polish with hints of different colors reflected in the light. It looks amazing by itself or layered over other colors." I really like this shade of blue and all of the dimensions of the polish. I am wearing two coats of Stronger with topcoat. 

Next up, Wide Awake:

Missi describes Wide Awake as "Wide Awake is a light pink scattered holographic polish with hints of different colors reflected in the light (a hot pink 'flash'). It looks amazing by itself or layered over other colors." As with Stronger, Wide Awake is a really pretty polish, and this is almost a neutral that I would wear everyday! I have on two coats without top coat. 

Finally, we have Black Dahlia:

Missi describes this as "Black Dahlia is a black leaning greyish purple scattered holographic polish with hints of different colors reflected in the light, it also has micro iridescent glitters in it. It looks amazing by itself or layered over other colors." This without a doubt my favorite polish of the collection, I am wearing two coats with no top coat. 

Overall, all three of these shades are gorgeous and I would reccomend if you're on the fence, to just do it, because you NEED them :)

You can purchase DIFFERENTdimension polish on Missi's Etsy Site here, but also stay up to date with new polishes and restocks by following DIFFERENTdimension on Facebook and Instagram!

Zoya - Raven

I seriously cannot believe that it is already April. The weather here is nothing like it should be in spring/April; well actually it is, dreary, check. Still cold, check. Anyway, I think that the weather is impacting my polish choices, because I am still loving the dark vampy colors.

I recently won a giveaway from Emma over at Manicurity, and one of the polishes I received was Zoya Raven. I own a creme black polish, but nothing like this, although its a creme there is some dimension to this as well which makes it special.

Polishes Used:

-OPI - Nail Envy

-Zoya - Raven

-No Time

I have on two coats of Raven in the pictures. This polish was a little streaky with one coat but the second completely evened it out for a nice cream finish. There is a slight shimmer in this as well; although in the pictures you can only really see it in the bottle, but I could see it on the nails in person.

This is probably going to be one of my new go-to black polishes. What are some of yours?

Essence - Black is Back

Happy Monday Loves!

Today I am showing you my go-to black polish, Essence - Black is Back. I really like this polish because it is creamy with full coverage and is super affordable! 

Polishes Used:

-OPI - Nail Envy

-Essence - Black is Back

-No Time

Isn't this a gorgeous creamy black?! Additionally, the new Essence bottles have the wide brushes which I really like for application. I tried adding some studs to this mani but I ended up hating it so I took it all off and re-did it. I don't normally completely remove a mani once I did it, but I just could not stand it; I loved how this looked plain so much!

Do you ever wear plain black polish? I like it, some people can think its "goth" but if you have nicely groomed nails, it doesn't look like that at all, just another lovely shade.

What are you wearing on YOUR nails this Monday?