Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge - Day 8

Day 8: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Sad day - I forgot to take pictures of the manicure I used for day 8 :(   

Luckily, I've done this type of nail art before and took pics, so it's not a complete wash.

When I did it for Day 8, I didn't use as many dots so it came out much 'cleaner' looking.  I used Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Blue on every nail - I managed to fit purple on one or two.


and thus was Day 8.  Next time I try to conform to a schedule, I would like one of you to remind me not to do it. 

Totally kidding there.  I think we all know I'll probably be participating in another challenge in just a few days, LOL

Check out these other awesome bloggers who are/were participating in the Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge:

Robin, Erin, and Anna - Polished Cousins
Ashley - Follow the Yellow Polish Road
Jodi - Captivating Claws
Danielle - Rock N Polish
Elly - Polishable
Olivia - Unprofessional Nails
Kate - This Charming Kate
Bethany - A Plethora of Nails
Lizzy - The Do It Yourself Lady
Eugenia - Talon-ted
Johanna - Neues vom Kellerkind
Amanda - Nox Nails
Ashley - Smashley Sparkles
Sarah - See Sarah Swatch
Emily - The Lacquerologist
Jess - LuvMyLacquer
Tressa - O' Natur Nail
ChiChi - I'm just me...ChiChi
CR - Color Me Silly
Amanda - Berry Polished
Bonny - Over Stuffed
Taylor - REJOICE!
Jess - Nearly Natural Nails



Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge - Day 7

Day 7: Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice

No excuses, just pic spam from Day 7 of Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge.

The solid red color is China Glaze "Long Kiss" and the red glitter is China Glaze "Ruby Pumps".  Base coat used was a Rimmel base coat and the top coat was Seche Vite.

This is before I had cleaned them up, but you get the point.  Red, to me at least, signifies 'spicy' when used to describe ones personality.



Check out these other awesome bloggers who are/were participating in the Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge:

Robin, Erin, and Anna - Polished Cousins
Ashley - Follow the Yellow Polish Road
Jodi - Captivating Claws
Danielle - Rock N Polish
Elly - Polishable
Olivia - Unprofessional Nails
Kate - This Charming Kate
Bethany - A Plethora of Nails
Lizzy - The Do It Yourself Lady
Eugenia - Talon-ted
Johanna - Neues vom Kellerkind
Amanda - Nox Nails
Ashley - Smashley Sparkles
Sarah - See Sarah Swatch
Emily - The Lacquerologist
Jess - LuvMyLacquer
Tressa - O' Natur Nail
ChiChi - I'm just me...ChiChi
CR - Color Me Silly
Amanda - Berry Polished
Bonny - Over Stuffed
Taylor - REJOICE!
Jess - Nearly Natural Nails

Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge - Day 5 (and Day 6)

Day 5: Gotta Love Chick Flicks 

and

Day 6: Who Inspires You?

I decided to do a two-for-one today. 

For the 'chick flick', I chose Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.  During one part of the movie, James Garner's character is talking to his daughter, Sidda (played by Sandra Bullock) and calls her the 'Patron Saint of Sunflowers'.  Granted, the flowers on my nails aren't sunflowers - but they're what I picture everytime I see that scene. 

The person who inspires me: my mom.  I know, I know - cheesy and overdone.  In all honesty, however, she does inspire me.  She has never once thought I was crazy for making some of the choices that I make, but will not hesitate to call me out if she thinks I'm acting a fool.  I didn't really get along with her until I was in my late teens.  We still have our minor disagreements to this day, but Mom is definitely someone I'd want in my corner at any given time.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is one of the first movies I remember going to see with just my mom.  We do not live as far south as the women in the movie, but we do like to keep in touch with our country roots.  As it is one of her favorites (and mine), I'm also using this manicure for Day 6.    

Base color: Essie "Barefoot in Blue" (Free, won in a contest)
White dots: NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel "French White Tip" ($1 from local Wal-Mart)
Yellow dots: Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Nail Color "Lightening" ($2 from local Wal-Mart)

Check out these other awesome bloggers who are/were participating in the Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge:

Robin, Erin, and Anna - Polished Cousins
Ashley - Follow the Yellow Polish Road
Jodi - Captivating Claws
Danielle - Rock N Polish
Elly - Polishable
Olivia - Unprofessional Nails
Kate - This Charming Kate
Bethany - A Plethora of Nails
Lizzy - The Do It Yourself Lady
Eugenia - Talon-ted
Johanna - Neues vom Kellerkind
Amanda - Nox Nails
Ashley - Smashley Sparkles
Sarah - See Sarah Swatch
Emily - The Lacquerologist
Jess - LuvMyLacquer
Tressa - O' Natur Nail
ChiChi - I'm just me...ChiChi
CR - Color Me Silly
Amanda - Berry Polished
Bonny - Over Stuffed
Taylor - REJOICE!
Jess - Nearly Natural Nails


ALSO: Big shout-out to Lacey from Lace & Lacquers for 'awarding' me the Liebster Award :)

 

Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge - Day 4

Day 4: Inspired by the Runway

While blue is typically my favorite color, I have to say that it didn't break my heart to come across a great outfit with which I could use a new nail polish. 

For the base color, I used Sinful Colors "Happy Ending" - which has a lovely sparkle by itself.  To add the flair, I used Sinful Colors "Call You Later".  I don't know if you'd call it a problem, but there was some slight difficulty in applying the glitter.  The consistency was more of a 'jelly' glitter than a regular polish, which made it want to come out of the bottle almost 'gloopy' (technical term, kids).  The little specks in the photo look black, but are actually dark green glitter that didn't want to cooperate with the camera.

In the meantime, check out these other amazing bloggers who are/were also taking part in the Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge

Robin, Erin, and Anna - Polished Cousins
Ashley - Follow the Yellow Polish Road
Jodi - Captivating Claws
Danielle - Rock N Polish
Elly - Polishable
Olivia - Unprofessional Nails
Kate - This Charming Kate
Bethany - A Plethora of Nails
Lizzy - The Do It Yourself Lady
Eugenia - Talon-ted
Johanna - Neues vom Kellerkind
Amanda - Nox Nails
Ashley - Smashley Sparkles
Sarah - See Sarah Swatch
Emily - The Lacquerologist
Jess - LuvMyLacquer
Tressa - O' Natur Nail
ChiChi - I'm just me...ChiChi
CR - Color Me Silly
Amanda - Berry Polished
Bonny - Over Stuffed
Taylor - REJOICE!
Jess - Nearly Natural Nails



Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge - Day 3

Day 3: Delicate and Elegant

Dotting tools: God's gift for people like me, who have 'the shakes' like a meth addict itching for their next fix. 

A few weeks ago, I entered the Toms "One for One" Giveaway.  In celebration of One Day Without Shoes, Essie teamed up with TOMS to create a polish for the occasion.  15,000 lucky winners received a bottle of Essie's "Barefoot in Blue" nail polish.  Now, I've heard conflicting stories - It'll be sold in stores, it won't be sold in stores.  I don't think Essie has released an official statement yet, but I'll keep an eye out. 

Anyway, today is day 3 of the Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge.  It was only natural that I'd want to do something with my new polish.  The dots themselves aren't so elegant, but the color adds a touch of sophistication.  I realize that the dots aren't even, even with the use of dotting tools (for real, if you're in the market for a set, I got these M.A.S.H. ones for like $5 on amazon) - but that's half the fun.  In creating an uneven design, you ensure that no one else will ever have nails exactly like yours. 

Tomorrow is Day 4....

Check out these other awesome bloggers who are/were participating in the Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge.

Robin, Erin, and Anna - Polished Cousins
Ashley - Follow the Yellow Polish Road
Jodi - Captivating Claws
Danielle - Rock N Polish
Elly - Polishable
Olivia - Unprofessional Nails
Kate - This Charming Kate
Bethany - A Plethora of Nails
Lizzy - The Do It Yourself Lady
Eugenia - Talon-ted
Johanna - Neues vom Kellerkind
Amanda - Nox Nails
Ashley - Smashley Sparkles
Sarah - See Sarah Swatch
Emily - The Lacquerologist
Jess - LuvMyLacquer
Tressa - O' Natur Nail
ChiChi - I'm just me...ChiChi
CR - Color Me Silly
Amanda - Berry Polished
Bonny - Over Stuffed
Taylor - REJOICE!
Jess - Nearly Natural Nails

Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge - Day 2

Day 2: Gimme That Bling

As always, We'll do pictures first and I'll tell you about it afterwards.

The OPI Natural Nails base coat worked okay for me yesterday, and as it is my only option until at least Monday, I used it for the base today.  The black polish is Finger Nails "Black Expressionalism", white is NYC Long Wearing Enamel "French White Tip", and the glitter is Sinful Colors "Queen of Beauty".   The black was 'thick' enough that I only needed to do one coat to get the bottle color.  I normally do two coats to be on the safe side, but this polish frustrated me today.  No matter what brand I use, black polish always makes it seem like my four year old niece (who has yet to learn to color inside the lines) did my nails. 

I tried to pre-draw the white tips using a Sally Hansen nail art pen and then doing the white polish.

Step 1: Draw line where the 'white' party of my nail typically is, using nail art pen
Step 2: Paint over this using white nail polish
Step 3: Decide it looks awful and begin to rage a bit
Step 4: Give up on doing it freehand and use the scotch tape method instead

After I was certain the white polish had finally dried, I applied two coats of the Sinful Colors glitter.  I've had this bottle for quite some time and am sad that it's rapidly approaching its last use.  I'll have to swing by Walgreen's sometime to pick up another - for $1.99, it's not a big deal.  Top it all off with Seche Vite, and you end up with the final product shown above. 

Check out these other awesome bloggers who are/were participating in the GG Nail Art Challenge :)

Robin, Erin, and Anna - Polished Cousins
Ashley - Follow the Yellow Polish Road
Jodi - Captivating Claws
Danielle - Rock N Polish
Elly - Polishable
Olivia - Unprofessional Nails
Kate - This Charming Kate
Bethany - A Plethora of Nails
Lizzy - The Do It Yourself Lady
Eugenia - Talon-ted
Johanna - Neues vom Kellerkind
Amanda - Nox Nails
Ashley - Smashley Sparkles
Sarah - See Sarah Swatch
Emily - The Lacquerologist
Jess - LuvMyLacquer
Tressa - O' Natur Nail
ChiChi - I'm just me...ChiChi
CR - Color Me Silly
Amanda - Berry Polished
Bonny - Over Stuffed
Taylor - REJOICE!
Jess - Nearly Natural Nails

Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge - Day 1

Day 1: Think Pink

Upon surfing through a few of the other nail polish blogs, I stumbled across the Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge.

I will post the pictures first, and tell you all about it at the end of this post - so as not to completely bore you ;)

Obvious lack of photography skill aside, I'd say day one was a success.  For once, It wasn't a complete pain to clean up the area around my nails when I was finished.

I start every manicure off with an OPI Natural Nails base coat. It has worked not-so-good for me lately, so this is it's last chance.  The last polish I used was a blue, and before that, a red.  It stained my nails so horribly, to the point where it looked like I slammed my fingers in a car door and they were all bruised up.  I refuse to let my fingernails without polish look like that any longer ;)  Since day 1 is 'Think Pink', I chose two bottles from my latest haul. Both are NYC In a New York Color Minute - the solid is Midtown and the glitter is Big City Dazzle. In reality, the glitter is meant to be a top coat, but to err on the side of caution, Seche Vite Fast Dry top coat was added afterwards.   Anytime you use multiple coats of polish, I'd suggest you also use Seche Vite.  For the longest time, I put off buying it due to the hefty price tag at my local beauty supply stores, but it's definitely worth it. 

Up tomorrow is 'Gimme that Bling'.  I'm kind of excited to see what I come up with...


Meanwhile, check out these other wonderful beauty bloggers who are/were also participating in the GG Nail Art Challenge:

Robin, Erin, and Anna - Polished Cousins
Ashley - Follow the Yellow Polish Road
Jodi - Captivating Claws
Danielle - Rock N Polish
Elly - Polishable
Olivia - Unprofessional Nails
Kate - This Charming Kate
Bethany - A Plethora of Nails
Lizzy - The Do It Yourself Lady
Eugenia - Talon-ted
Johanna - Neues vom Kellerkind
Amanda - Nox Nails
Ashley - Smashley Sparkles
Sarah - See Sarah Swatch
Emily - The Lacquerologist
Jess - LuvMyLacquer
Tressa - O' Natur Nail
ChiChi - I'm just me...ChiChi
CR - Color Me Silly
Amanda - Berry Polished
Bonny - Over Stuffed
Taylor - REJOICE!
Jess - Nearly Natural Nails


UPDATE: You really, really have to wait for each layer to dry before doing the next.  All layers need to be dry before doing Seche Vite (or whatever top coat you are using).  Every single one of nails are no longer polished less than six hours after painting them - all of the polish peeled off in one big piece :(