Peacock Pretty

Hi Ladies,

Even though we're moving towards the winter season, I got this idea in my head to paint a peacock manicure (more specifically, stamp a peacock manicure).  I set out with a few peacock-like colors and had fun.  Perhaps a turkey mani would have been more appropriate, but at least I stayed in the foul family.

Ciao for now!

Bright Colors With A Chevron Pattern

Hello friends,

A few months ago I bought chevron patterned tape just to try it out.  I'm not fond of the pattern, but the whole chevron thing is pretty popular right now. I used a few bright colors since fall is soon upon us and I want to hold onto the warm weather just a little longer.  I'm a July baby, so me + hot weather = happiness and bliss.
Ciao for now!

The New Spicy Mustard Polish By Little Black Dress Nail Lacquer

Hi ladies,

Before I get started with todays manicure I'm going to ask you to do something for me. Follow @LittleBlackDressPolish on instagram. I'll wait while you do that...

Ok, you're back. I have one more thing to ask of you (last one), take a look through the Little Black Dress online store. You can find it here. Or you can use this link https://www.etsy.com/shop/littleblackdressnail. 

That took a little longer, didn't it?  Well, thank you so much. You've been great. don't forget to pass on the word!  

Ok, now that that's out of the way, let's move on to today's manicure.

I used a couple of techniques to achieve this look. First, I applied a coat of a spicy yellow mustard polish and sponged an ombre effect using a green polish.  Last, I stamped a pattern using a gold MdU polish. 

When you were looking through the Little Black Dress shop, you probably ran across this Spicy Mustard Pantone Fall 2016 polish. It's one of the popular polishes chosen by the Pantone Institute for the fall season this year. This polish is a warm yellow with flecks of "spice". A perfect color for the season. 

I'll feature more of these popular seasonal colors in future posts so keep a watch out for them. You'll find sneak peaks of pre-released polishes, and you'll be able to purchase them here before they even hit the market. How great is that!.

Till next time,

Ciao Bellas!

A Nature Walk In Lieu Of A Much Needed Spa Day

Hi Ladies,

September is here! And I'm excited for the upcoming Labor Day weekend.  School started a few weeks ago, and I still haven't gotten into the swing of things. I'm trying really hard to keep everything running relatively smoothly, but I seem to keep running into little hiccups along the way. Already, I could use a vacation. Better yet, a few hours in a spa or a mindful yoga class or group meditation activity.  I'm dreaming of a spa day, but my cousin (the one person who I would enjoy a spa day with the most) is unavailable.  So, I'm going to wait.  In the meantime, I'm going to find time for a nature walk to clear my head. 

This manicure was inspired by the relaxing restfulness of nature and the peaceful cleansing it brings. 

I used reverse stamping for the leaves, and a chevron patterned stamping plate on which I painted shades of green and blue for an ombre effect.  I used a clear base coat.

I'm gonna go take that walk now.

Ciao for now!





Hot Floral For Hot July

Hi friends,
It's July, (my birth month) and the heat has finally hit hard. Some days I think I'll melt before I make it to my car. Despite the heat, I'm at my uptown office (Starbucks) sipping a hot Venti dark roast in the middle of the day. I'm always relaxed when I come to my uptown office. It's where I do my best work. Too bad I can't do nail art here. Maybe I could talk to the manager... No, I'd have a better chance getting free coffee than setting up a table to polish my nails. Perhaps I'll go for the free coffee then.

Today I have a hot floral design, well suited for summery flowers and sweltering heat. I used the reverse stamping technique. But if you're a regular reader, you knew that already, because you're familiar with my artistic handicap. I can barely draw a straight line, so flowers are out - abstract or otherwise. Im still trying to sign up for pre-K art classes, but the schools here are age biased and I haven't found one that will let me sign up. I'm a little older than 5 which seems to be one of the main requirements - silly rule I think. I'm not giving up though. I don't quit that easily!

Until next time,
Ciao for now.

O. P. I. - athon: Withstands The Test Of Thyme

Hi ladies, gents, family and friends,

For the first polish featured in our O.P.I.-athon, I chose a beautiful summery green cream polish named Withstands The Test Of Thyme.  This polish is a favorite for two reasons. First, it reminds me of a garden trellis scene complete with chirping birds and butterflies. It's a refreshing color that makes you want to sip lemonade on the front porch or on the patio. The second reason why I love this polish so much is because of its name. O.P.I. is famous for choosing names that are fitting to the color, whitty, puns, commical, creative, naughty, delightful and just plain old fun. Hands down, they own the Polish Naming award (if there were such a thing).

Choosing colors is serious business for this company. It's heavy, laborious work if traveling to great places, being sequestered for eight hours in top secret brainstorming sessions (and eaing cultural foods, ) sounds like heavy labor to you. What goes on in these top secret sessions? Probably a whole lot of laughter and fun when you consider the outcome. I sure would love to be a fly on the wall. Better yet, I'd be more than willing to work for them for free.  Yes, FREE!  That means I would pay my own traveling expenses and hotel and sit for eight hours or more even if I could only sit  outside the meeting room door. HEY O.P.I. FREE LABOR OVER HERE!!!!!!  I'll scrub your floors, empty your trash.  I do windows too!! I think I'm going to send them a letter begging them to work there for no pay and do anything, even the jobs that nobody else wants to do. I wish I could say that I was just joking, but....

Until I'm recruited to work for O.P.I., I'll keep posting and sticking with my day job.

Ciao for now.

[Correction: O.P.I. polish naming brain children might not actually travel to theses great places, but their hours long secluded polish naming sessions are probably a close second.]

Didn't Quite Cut The Mustard... Or Maybe It Did

Really?!?

Hi friends,



Can you see where I was going with this?  How was this supposed to work? What was I thinking?  Turned out more mustard than fuchsia. Looks like I didn't quite cut the mustard (excuse the pun, still coming down from yesterday's pun-capade).



You know how sometimes you want to match your nail design to your outfit?  But somehow The Order Of Nail Art Designs (not to be confused with The Order of Water Buffalos) doesn't grant you permission.  So you're left with a nice manicure that has no resemblance to your outfit. What do you do? Change your outfit? Right, like you're going to take that wedding gown back hours before you say "I do". Or in my case, go find a mustard color outfit (which I don't think I own).
Nope, you just gotta go with it. Nobody but you guys know that I screwed up.



I started out with good intentions.  A fuchsia base color, then a little purple glitter polish, orange glitter polish, a touch of yellow cream polish, and a smidgen of holo... now I see where I went wrong. Ok, so poor choice of colors. I should have actually looked at the skirt rather than paint by memory. Orange, yellow? Where did those come from?


The pattern was all wrong too. It should have had a more southwestern look, not the swirly spot on Jupiter. I didn't think this out, did I? (rhetorical question, don't answer that)
Big fail...but it looks nice if you don't consider what I was actually going for.


I have to try this again, wish me luck.
Ciao for now.



Earth Day 2016

Hi Friends,
Today's manicure is in celebration of our beautiful planet.  Let's be kind to Mother Earth, we need her.

Ciao for now.

Life's A Circus - Colors For The Big Top

Hello ladies,
As women, we strive to learn and perfect the art of multitasking. Not because we necessarily want to, but because we have to. We juggle our obligations to school, work, kids, parents, friends, spouses, and if we're lucky, ourselves. We are often like jugglers in a circus ring, with balls and bowling pins in one hand and fragile plates spinning on a stick in the other.  Our lives are colorful and full of surprises. And when time permits, entertaining and totally worth the chaos in the rings. Yes, we jump through a lot of hoops and fight to tame the beasts in our homes (and in our own heads). But, truth be told, when we finally get the monkeys off our backs, we sometimes miss the weight and look forward to the next round of shoving dear little clowns in mini vans and trapezing off to the next event. We may drop the ball on occasion because we aren't perfect, but as ringmasters, we're able to pull it all together again because the show must go on.

Today's manicure was inspired by the circus I'm living in. Lately, life has been like a circus, and I'm still adding more obligations to it like spinning plates. But I choose to stay balanced on that tightrope and spin those plates, and juggle batons of fire. Does that make me the clown?  Don't answer that, I'm speaking metaphorically of course.
Ciao bellas!

Hi Ladies,
I'm so glad to be back with you. I was down and out with the flu, and once I recovered, I had a heap of work,, and housework, and.... well everythng to catch up with.  Whew!  It's really good to be back and well.  Since I've been away, I haven't done a manicure for you.  Even now my phalanges are bare (Ohhh heaven forbid!).  My coworkers will know just how sick I've been for me to show up with no over-the-top design, worse yet, no polish at all. That's just not me. Anyway, I'm back now with an old manicure I had to dig up from a few years ago.

If time permits, 'll have a new manicure for you tomorrow.  Until then,
Ciao for now!

Orly's New 2016 Summer Collection: Pacific Coast Highway

Hello Ladies,
Today, I have another new summer collection for you. This one is by Orly, and I think it's a winner. The Pacific Coast Highway Collection includes six vibrant pastels that are all truly perfect for the summer.

Road Trippin is a bright yellow cream, Summer Sunset is a soft shimmery orange. Put The Top Down is a soft pink cream. Scenic Route is a basic lavender cream, Life's A Beach is an orange red cream, and last, Paradise Cove is a fuchsia shimmer.  A few are described as neons, but I don't think I'd describe them as such (maybe Road Trippin).
All six colors are also available in mini's.

If you pick up any of these, let me know how you like them. Till next time, Ciao for now.

A Superhero Neon Manicure

Hi friends,
This bright superhero neon yellow polish called for some superhero action. So, I added a glitter lightening bolt, and stamped on a comic book "BAM!" I'm ready to hit the streets and rustle up the bad guys. On second thought, I don't want to break a nail, so I'll leave the bad guys for the real superheros.

Ciao Bellas!

Inspired by Another Yellow Chair

Hi friends,
I hope you're enjoying your weekend. Mine is filled with errands and sports, and carving out a little time for a manicure and blog post.

Once again, I found an upholstered chair that grabbed my attention. This one, I wouldn't want to put in my living room, but I find it interestng and likeable. This piece pulls together coordinating stripes and circular patterns with a bright splash of yellow. Very well done.

For this nail design, I used a yellow pattern similar to the back of the chair, and silver and black stripes on the arms, seat cushion trim, and side wings. Since the chair also has a horizontal strip along the back panel, I used a similar strip across each nail. Then, since I couldn't just stop there, I decided to bling it out with studs and rhinestones from the Born Pretty store. You can find these in the Born Pretty store in the link on the right. Just click the box to use my discount.

Before I end this post, I want to congratulate my little guy and his team for winning their first game of the season. Congrats also, to my teen and his team for their win on Saturday too. To celebrate the occasion, they got to have their favorite pizza for dinner. A win, win, win for us all because I didn't have to cook ;)

See ya next week.
Ciao for now.

Colorful Floral and Striped Manicure to Chase Away the Rain

Hello lovelies,
It's been wet and dreary in my neck of the woods. I don't know about you, but wearing a bright and/or colorful manicure helps to alleviate some of the dreariness from my day. For this mani, I thought of pretty flowers and painted them on my ring fingers, along with a little sparkle. I used silver and teal hex glitter, and a few rhinestones for the sparkle.

A few of the polishes I used are:

Talia is a teal crème from the Zoya 2015 Island Fun collection. Flying Dragon is from China Glazes  neon 2008 collection called Ink. It's not meant to be a matte, but the finish is rough similar to a matte polish. Flying Dragon is fuchsia with a hint of purple. Lightning, by Sally Hansen, is a bright sunny yellow cream.

Do you have a go-to color or design to combat dreary weather?

Ciao for now.

Yellow, Gray, and White Manicure

 

Good morning friends,

I was searching through patterns and found some decorative paper that I found interesting. I duplicated the top middle sheet, and the left and middle bottom sheets.

Here's what I used.

MdU Pastel Yellow, White and Light Gray; China Glazes' Daisy Know My Name? and my own dove gray mix

Ciao for now.

Decorator Dreams: A Yellow Chair

Hello friends,
I've been searching through fabric swatches lately, and now they're stuck in my head. When I sit down to work on a manicure all I see is fabric swatches floating in my head. Florals, stripes, abstracts, you name it, they're up there floating around. It's the change in seasons, I think. Cooler weather brings visions of curling up by a fire with a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream on top. I envision myself in front of that fire sitting on a fluffy, comfy chair with a book in my hand and Coco Kitty in my lap. But the chair in my vision isn't quite right. Actually, the whole room isn't right. So now I want to look at furniture, fabrics and anything related to interior design to create, in my head, a beautiful environment that I'll never actually live in. In other words, I flip through magazines and dream. I'll go through this phase for a short while, then move on to something else. Until then, you just have to bare with me.

This manicure was inspired by a yellow and purple country French upholstered chair with a toile print fabric. The chair may not be your taste, but the design and fabric coordination is very well done. I could decorate a room around this piece.  Since I don't have the time or money to take up that endeavor, I can at least apply the concept to my nails.

Is there a particular design that you gravitate to? Do you duplicate it in other areas of your life?

Ciao for now.