So when I thought of Black & White (the basis for this challenge) I immediately thought of newspaper nails. I have seen them all over the blogosphere but never physically tried them myself. I didn’t have regular newspaper so I actually used a CVS ad I had layer around that looks like it’s printed on something similar. I even have a black & white photo, booya!

Maybe it was because it wasn’t printed on regular newsprint, but this didn’t transfer all that well. It just looked alright. My right hand actually turned out a bit better, slightly darker. I found I had to topcoat it super fast or else it would smear though. Again, not sure if that’s because of the newsprint I used. My base is Circus by Andrea’s Choice in Reverso. It isn’t my favorite base but it worked alright. I didn’t want to use a great white since I was just trying it out.

I felt like it needed a bit of pizazz so I went the my favorite black & white polish, Black Tie Affair from Nails by Laura. I swatched it here & actually wore it to IMATS 2012 over Zoya’s Wednesday. Its definitely a winner. The black half is Wet n Wild’s Black Creme, hands down my favorite black. I also needed a healthy dose of Seche Vite 🙂

The method I found worked best for Newspaper Nails:
1. Paint your nails a super light color, I chose white.
2. Make sure your nails are completely dry but not with a top coat.
3. Soak your nail in alcohol for like 15-20 seconds. Make sure its completely in there.
4. Going only one nail at a time, place a piece of newsprint over it. I found rolling it over & pressing firmly worked best. I did this for probably like 20-30 seconds each.
5. Lift off the newsprint with a rolling motion.
6. Repeat on your other nails
7. Seal with a top coat.

So that’s it! There is my black & white! I’m really glad I gave it an accent nail too. It lets the white glitter show on one side & the black on the other. I’m super excited to see what the rest of the ladies have come up with!

 
If you want to join in on the 31 Day Challenge, just let Kimber know! She’s first on the list of participants 😉

I’m not 100% sure this looks like an apple tree, but I honestly love it. I think it looks really pretty & fall friendly. Really love the way the leaves turned out as well. I would have gone with fall shades but then the apples would have just blended right on in there!

I love purples & they have their own shelf in my collection. I thought I’d take a break from nail art today to show you a new (to me) polish called Pampered & Primped that I picked up from Icing which is a brand by Claire’s. I believe these were BOGO at the time, but either way at full price its still only $5. & its a flakie. I’m obsessed with flakies. I’m looking at my collection & see over 15 just from here. Its probably a bit unhealthy at this point.

 Rarely do you find actual purple flakies, something about them is just crazy hard to make. Usually if they are in a purple base, they’re actually another shade like blue or orange. Not this one!

Pampered & Primped from Icing by Claire’s: A sheer light purple base with blue/purple & orange/bronze flakies. 

This is a THICK base which I didn’t realize when I did my middle finger first. It definitely needs a bit of thinner which isn’t a big deal. This isn’t hard to place at all after thinner & I think its a gorgeous mix of shades, especially over Monica from Zoya from their Fall 2012 Designer Collection.

I did just my tips to do something a bit different then topped it by Seche Vite. Super easy & really eye-catching in the sun or shade! 

 
If you want to join in on the 31 Day Challenge, just let Kimber know! She’s first on the list of participants 😉

So I joined up with ANOTHER challenge (indeed I am insane) but it only posts on Sundays. You won’t find loads of girly nail art on this blog so I thought this would be a good challenge to branch out a bit. & use pinks which I hadn’t realized were so rare on this blog. I have loads of them I assure you. So this is a linkup blog type deal & I’ll post the info at the bottom.

“Think Pink:Wear your favorite pink nail polish & nail art” was the basis for this first post. Although this isn’t my favorite pink (at the moment that would be Zoya’s Kimber which is from the Surf Collection but favorites constantly shift)however I did get a request to swatch it so I am. The brand itself isn’t one I’m a fan of, but I do like the polish. This IS my favorite way to wear pink most of the time though: a hot shade or a light shade with pure black tips. I pretty much always use Wet n Wild Black Creme. Its my favorite & a bargain so it lets me experiment more.

Now…the name doesn’t make sense. Fuchsia is a purple leaning pink but this shade is a hot pink. It even dries slightly matte & makes my camera freak out…another sign of a neon leaning shade. So the name is a huh but the shade is lovely. This is 2 coats. Its slightly sheer after 1 & still shows visible nail line after 2 but I didn’t feel the need to add anymore since I was putting black over it anyway. I topped them with Seche Vite.

The bottle is cool looking, but not exactly conventional to store. The bottle doesn’t say how much it contains or anything really but what you can see in my photo of the bottom label. I tried to color correct these but it still leans a bit more red. For questions about this challenge, contact the host.

So I totally love blue nail polish but when it came to coming up with some cool nail art, my options were pretty much sky or water. So…I went with both! I created these blue storms on my nails with some sponging & then cloud tips. The rain drops are clear/white jewels which I think give this a really cool look. Since I did a pattern for green, I definitely wanted to go with nail art this time for blue.

Base color is Zoya Natty which only took one medium coat. Next I sponged with Wet n Wilds Blue Wants to be a Millionaire lightly & sporadically. Then I dabbed a bit of Zoya Wednesday & again with Wet n Wild’s Blue Wants to be a Millionaire. The clouds were made using the Circus by Andrea’s Choice polish in Reverso & a dotting tool. This white kind of sucked when I tried to use it as a base once but its alright for nail art. Topped it off with the Seche Vite & jewels.

I got compliments from random people on them last night & found myself holding my hand out (it looks a lot more like storms from further away!) & smiling all night. That’s the sign of a good mani folks.

 
If you want to join in on the 31 Day Challenge, just let Kimber know! She’s first on the list of participants 😉

Let’s get this straight: I love green. I love green eyeshadows, nail polish, shoes, purses, plates, comforters…& just about everything else. I love green. So when my challenge was finally something other than yellow or orange, I was thrilled. Then I got overwhelmed. SO many options! I decided to go with something fun but simple…& green. I love this so much.

Colors used:
Base is I Only Eat Salads from Spoiled which is the bright lime
Lighter green is Parrot from Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure
Dark murky green is Evvie from Zoya
Metallic green is Meg from Zoya

Love love LOVE this pattern! I topped it with Seche Vite to seal it all together. I seriously want to do this a lot in the future! Woo!

 
If you want to join in on the 31 Day Challenge, just let Kimber know! She’s first on the list of participants 😉

So maybe its not so new to you guys, but its definitely new to me! I found it on the nail blog “The Nail Buff” & thought I’d give it a go for the Yellow part of our challenge. I considered redoing a manicure I did way back in the day which was the clean cut black & yellow bee like stripes, but this seemed so much edgier & fun!

This method was easy once I got the hang of it, but it definitely takes some time. It reminds me of pulling sugar strands like its namesake but thankfully its not as delicate. Thank goodness. I used my cheapest black…which also happens to be my most used in general which is my standby Wet n Wild Wild Shine in Black Creme. A one coater black. My base is Color Club’s Almost Famous which is a great medium yellow: not too bright but not too light. Overall…I think it looks pretty wicked.

Here it is about 2/3 the way done. I made a slight barrier with the yellow polish (ok a major one) because I didn’t know if it would pool up on the sides or anything:

Then completely finished. I didn’t clean up as well because I was too excited haha:

& after I added a top coat of Seche Vite:

Next time, I think I’ll use a thinner top coat & do multiple coats. Or a thin top coat then Seche Vite. It has held up amazing but I fill like Seche Vite had to struggle a bit to fill in all the grooves.

What do you think? I will definitely be doing this again…its original enough that the extra effort is totally worth it! Any idea on some yellows I should pick up? Will YOU be trying the Spun Sugar manicure?

 
If you want to join in on the 31 Day Challenge, just let Kimber know! She’s first on the list of participants 😉

Ah Day 2 of the Nail Polish Challenge 2012 is upon us. The topic: Orange. What to do…what to do…

I have some fab fall oranges stacked up but instead I went with Arizona from Zoya (see swatches of the entire Zoya Beach collection from Summer 2012 here!) since it has quickly become a favorite. Its a creamy dream colorwise & that really didn’t translate in these photos due to the other elements. For an accurate swatch click here.

So orange is the topic…so I went literal. I took Arizona as my base, added two orange slices, & then topped my nails with a bit of ridiculously reflective orange glitters. Orange overload no? I kinda love it which was unexpected. Is it super logical? Probably not. Not exactly work appropriate either. However, for a BBQ, pool party, or other social get together it would be fun!

What do you guys think?

 
If you want to join in on the 31 Day Challenge, just let Kimber know! She’s first on the list of participants 😉

I have one of the most nostalgic polishes I own to show you for Day #1 of the 31 Day Nail Challenge I’m starting. If you want to join, do check out Kimber’s Laquer Korner! My camera has never liked it but I honestly still can’t believe it hasn’t made it onto my blog. At one point, I owned 4 bottles. Used one up, gave one to my mom, & now I have this one & my backup. This is the older version of the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear polishes & on the top it say 19 Ruby Stilettos. Also, its mine. Mine mine mine. I did see when trying to research this shade (no info about when it was released or anything unfortunately!) that they have some available on Ebay for only $3. Something to keep in mind if you like it!

Ruby Stilettos from Sally Hansen- A very hot pink toned red with visible red micro glitter. 2 coats.

This is saturated enough that I used to wear one coat all the time now I just always do 2 within the last 3 years or so. Its gorgeous. I tried to photograph the glitter so you can see that its not shimmer but ACTUAL glitter. In the shade it appears to have almost a cool tone but in the light, well, it will blow you away with its glory.

Normally I’d like to go all out with a challenge, but this shade is always worn on its own. Always. It just makes me so happy. Now I want to eat a candy cane & put bells on my dogs. What? Nail polish doesn’t do that to you?

Be sure to check out all the fabulous Red Nails everyone is posting today! Just click on the links below:

-Kimber at Kimber’s Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
–Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby’s Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful
–Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
–Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista
-Greta at How Was Your Day?
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L