A Graduated Purple Manicure With Floral Touch

Hello friends,
I haven't done a gradient is a while. Todays manicure would have been simple gradient stripes, but, I decided to add a stamped floral print over my pinky and ring fingers. 

I forgot how much I enjoyed gradients. I'll have to do another soon.
Till next time, Ciao Bellas!

MdU Velvet, Zoya Caitlin, Zoya Isa

Too Hot To Touch: Marble Stripe Mani

Hi Lovelies,
I wish the weather here was as hot as this manicure, but it isn't. It's down right chilly! And I'm sitting outside on a windy train platform with no gloves (because I'm typing). Train, please get here!  Ok, so this is gonna be short. For this manicure I used polishes from two of my favorite brands. On the higher end, there's Zoya, and on the lower end there's my favorite drugstore brand, Sinful Colors.  I made a few stripes of these down the length of my nails, then used a small striping brush to pull the polishes widthwise across the nail. This was a super simple design, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Ciao Bellas!

Zoyas Jolie and Arizona, Sinful Colors Feel the Vibe and GoGo Girl

Fast Food Frustration and a Teal Mani

Hi there friends,

I'm happy to post this teal manicure today because teal is my favorite color. Well, it's one of my favorite colors. I was inspired, once again, by room decor, and a frustrating drive-thru experience. Ok, the fast food had nothing to do with room decor or nail polish, but after failing to get my hands on my favorite food, I had to de-stress by flipping through pictures that led to this manicure.

Everybody who frequents drive-thru eateries has encountered a bad experience or two. Well, try three bad experiences in one day from three separate locations. The aforementioned restaurant will remain unnamed, because I'm sure not all of them suck.  Today, I had to have a southwestern salad that includes a fresh salad, a small cup of chili and a little bag of tortilla chips. My taste buds were screaming for it, my mouth salivated just thinking about it, and my stomach was on empty and letting me know of its discomfort.  I reached the first driv-thru ready to order and pay, but they didn't have my salad. I was disappointed, but not discouraged. There was another location across town. To my frustration, they didn't have my salad either. Ok, now I was getting mad and my angry stomach growled like a hungry bear. There was one last location in my area. They had to have my salad there because three locations not having the same meal is crazy and I'd have to blog about it.  I cannot tell you what sort of out of body experience I had when they told me they were out of southwestern salads.  I finally told them to just give me anỳ salad, a small cup of chili and the same little bag of tortilla chips, all of which they did have. Is it just me or was this one of those times when a half dozen isn't available, but you can get six? So, you see how I ended up blogging about my frustrating fast food fail? When I finally sat down to have my non-southwestern salad with chili and chips (that come with a southwestern salad), I ran across this interior design photo. I loved the lattice design in the rug, and the decorative mirror and lamp shade seemed to complete the set.

I'm so fixated on furniture and interiors that maybe I should blog about that instead. I could be very happy living with these pieces in my living room. A girl can dream, right?
Till next time, Ciao Bellas.

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.

Decorator Dreams: A Blue Chair

Hi lovelies,
Today I have another decorator's dream manicure. I have always wanted to reupholster a chair. I mean really reupholster a chair, not just popping off the seat of a dining chair and staple gunning a fabric over it. I've done that a few times. Since I don't have the time to take on a bigger upholstery project, a girl can dream right? I found a few tutorials on Pinterest, and came across a lovely chair that piqued my interest.

When I spotted this reupholstered chair, I thought, "Hmmm, time for a manicure!" I dug into my arsenal and found three polishes that were perfectly suited for the job.

Here's what I used.



Boho Blues by China Glaze, Jolie by Zoya, and Light Gray by MdU

I'm still dreaming of furniture, so I might be inspired just one more time. We'll see. Lately, I feel like a soccer mom, no, a basketball Mom. Now, my little one wants to play too, so I signed him up last night.  I hope this change in my schedule doesn't affect my regular posting. I will still try for three days a week.
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.

31 Day Challenge: Day 13 Animal Print Nails

31DC Day 13 Animal Print Nails

The assignment for today's challenge is animal print nails. After a few tries getting the right mix of colors I'm satisfied with the outcome. I chose cobra because I didn't want to do the usual leopard, zebra, or butterfly nails. I wanted to go outside the box a bit.

Here's what I used.

Tomorrow I'll have a floral nail design. See you then.

Ciao for now.

31 Day Challenge Day 5: Blue Nails

#31DC2015 Day 5 Blue Nails

Hi guys. Looks like I did it. I created a blue manicure without any teal involved. Hard work pulling my hands back from reaching for the mermaid teal, then the light sparkling teal, then the... you get the picture. As I shuffled through my stuff searching for inspiration for today's mani, I came across a package of french manicure tape. I had a few different shapes to choose from, but I decided on one with a hard angle. Just something different than a regular french manicure. I played around with the tape and after wasting a few I settled on this design. Let's see if I can describe how I did this.  Ok, I started with a simple light to dark blue gradient. I top coated with a quick dry top coat to make sure I didn't destroy the gradient with tape. Once the top coat was dry I added the tape and did another gradient, just over the nails with the tape.  This time,  light sparkling blue silver to dark sparkling blue. Off came the tape and on went a top coat of my favorite, Seche Vite. There you have it.


Here's what I used.

Come back to see tomorrow's violet manicure.
Ciao for now.

Zoya Week Sunday: Meet Edyta and Neely

Although I have more Zoya polishes to share with you, we've come to the end of our week long Zoya journey.  These last two ladies are in direct contrast with one another.  Edyta is a black/gold micro glitter while Neely is a pastel green creme.

Edyta

Since my new stamping polishes and stamping plates arrived, I haven't been able to stop playing with them.  I did several manicures, but somehow lost the pics (Painful. I can't talk about it).  But I did salvage these two.

Edyta is a black/gold shimmer polish that appears glittery in the bottle, but is more of a shimmer once applied.  I used gold Mundo De Unas stamping polish with a MoYou London plate from the Explorer set.  The Greco Roman theme worked great with this black/gold polish.

Mundo De Unas Gold 17 and MoYou London Explorer Collection - 09

Neely

I have two Neely polishes.  Once again, I unintentionally repurchased a polish. Maybe I could avoid this if I make a list of the polishes I have and carry it with me. Not likely, but it's a good idea. 

This polish is such a soft color that I wanted to add a soft design to it.  I stamped a simple floral design and used a dotting tool to create multi-colored circles.  Soft and simple.

What are your favorite Zoya polishes?   

Zoya Week Friday: Meet Caitlin and Daisy

Caitlin

The first time I saw Caitlin I knew I needed to have the unusual color.  In the bottle, it appears to be a muted lavender, but on the nail and from a distance it appears to be almost a soft gray. It glides on smoothly, although the first coat goes on a bit streaky. The second coat creates a streakless creamy, opaque finish.   This color is versatile. As a subdued and sophisticated neutral it works well in a conservative environment, but a splash of color or a top coat of a shimmer, glitter or holographic polish, will liven it up.  For this manicure I used a reverse stamping technique that allowed me to add color to an otherwise simple stamp.  I chose a masquerade theme because of the mysterious aura that Caitlin exudes.

Daisy

Daisy is as sunny. light and happy as the name implies.  This is a mellow lemon shimmer that requires three coats to be completely opaque.  It has green and blue micro glitter that gives it an iridescent quality in the light.  I think that the micro glitter makes it much more interesting and unique than your average yellow polish  I think it's impossible to be sad while wearing this perky color. So, if you're having a down day, throw on a couple coats of Daisy to brighten your mood.

Caitlins masquerade theme put me in a celebratory frame of mind and the colors I used in the masks reminded me of Mardi Gras.  Using some of those same colors I stamped Mardi Gras colored flowers and Daisy provided the perfect backdrop.

Tomorrow will be a no-plans Saturday.  I can only promise that the polishes will still be by Zoya.  Ciao for now.

Zoya Week Wednesday: Meet Rue and Jolie

You know that I love Zoya polishes, but I haven't told you why. Well, there are a few reasons.  I have strong brand loyalty, so once I latch on to a brand, it's full steam ahead.  And when I'm consistently impressed with a brand, my loyalty grows.  Zoya has never let me down yet.  If I find one I'm unimpressed by, I'll let you know.  Little things build my brand loyalty.  The shape of the bottle, type of brush, the name of the company and the names of the colors.  The more creative the polish names, the more I'm inclined to be drawn to a brand.  I admit that I have purchased a polish just because of the name.  A little obsessive, I know, but for me, it makes my polish experience all the more pleasant.  Zoya polishes usually have female names.  Or names that you could choose for your daughter. I love the simplicity and the added feminine touch the names bring to the brand.  There are other reasons why I like Zoya polishes. They are 5-free, meaning that they are free of 5 not-so-healthy chemical ingredients that are often found in nail polish.  Those are Tolulene, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde resin, DBP and Camphor.  Most likely, wearing these chemicals in small quantities on your nails won't harm you, but many companies are jumping on the 3-free and 5-free bandwagon so that they can advertise the natural and healthy qualities of their polishes.  Go green. Now, you understand why I love Zoya polishes.

I have two great polishes for you.  No glitter or sparkles today.  Instead, I have two soft neutrals that are versatile and appropriate for all occasions.  One is a cream, the other is a sheer pearlescent.

Rue

The first polish I want to show you today is one that I bought just because of the name. It's a beautiful soft blush cream called Rue.  Usually the color draws you to a polish, followed by other attributes, but I never considered the color of this polish until I got to the counter and really looked at it.  I thought, "Hmm, this might be cute". And it is.  The name attracted me because of the Hunger Games character, Rue.  I'm a Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Divergent fan (Yes, I admit to enjoying a few YA books) and anything that relates to my favorite book/movie series is a definite no-brainer for me.

For this design I used Born Pretty stamping plate BP-13 and Your Touch by China Glaze.

Jolie

Jolie is a sheer pearlescent ivory polish.  I used three or four coats to achieve this look and you can still see a hint of a smile line peeking through.  To avoid having a visible smile line, you can use a white base coat.  However, it works perfectly as a sheer top coat to tone down an otherwise overpowering polish.    I used a gold stamping polish (probably Konad Gold) for the design. Tomorrow we'll look at a couple more neutrals. Ciao for now.