Stars and Half Moons

Hello all! Today I have exciting news to share, I finally received my light box in the mail which means I don't have to depend on daylight to be able to take my photos! Many of you on Instagram were curious as to where I purchased this. I bought everything from Amazon, my soft box was $14.95, my lamps for $13.99 each (I bought two, one on each side of the light box), and my daylight bulbs for $10.67. So far I'm pretty impressed, if anything I bought is out of your budget or you're looking for something better, I encourage you to browse Amazon.com, you can find anything!

Onto my nails, the other day I was browsing through Candice's lovely Instagram (@MrCandiiPants) and was completely inspired by her twist on half moons + a french tip! So inspired that I revolved my whole mani around them, adding stars for an extra touch of chic.

#NailArtJan - Sparkles

Phew, today was easier to figure out than Day 3 - Fresh! I have so many glitter polishes but I immediately knew which one I wanted to use. I recently bought Essie's Lots of Lux, it's been staring at me for a while and I realized that this was a perfect time to use it!

Lots of Lux is a cobalt blue, textured polish. In the bottle you can really see the blue, green, and deep purple shimmer throughout the polish. When applied, it dries to a matte texture that's somewhat gritty but really beautiful because of all of the sparkle. Did I also mention that it's 99% opaque in one coat?! Seriously, so many people have had the same reactions and I didn't believe it until I tried it. Of course, I had to add another coat because I just don't feel okay without it, but it's fine with just one!

Out in the sunlight, you can easily see the texture in Lots of Lux. If you prefer smooth nails, you could add a topcoat to this but I really love the fine grit to this. Overall I'm so happy that I purchased this nail polish! I haven't heard that many good things about Essie's Encrusted Treasures Collection but Lots of Lux sure seems to be a hit! I also purchase Ignite the Night and I'm praying that it's as fabulous as this! Not too sure if I'll be purchasing Belugaria or Peak of Chic any time soon but so far I love what Essie has done with Lots of Lux.  I'm so excited to wear this for the next few days, I'm afraid I won't be able to focus on school with nails like these :) So tell me, what do you think of the Encrusted Treasures Collection? Do you own any polishes from it or do you plan to? I'm personally on the fence about buying any more but Hors D'ouevres and On A Silver Platter just look so nice! Leave me a comment about what you think down below!

#NailArtJan - Fresh

It was honestly really difficult to think of a nail design that is seen as "fresh." I first think of fresh air, freshly cut grass and fresh fruit, but I didn't really want any of those things on my nails. So I decided on fresh flowers. I had seen a design a few weeks ago by @OrlyNailGirls and completely fell in love. The design included a sheer background and crisp, white flowers on top of it.

To start, I grabbed the nail polishes that I needed. For the nudey-pink base, I used Essie's Mademoiselle. I also needed a white polish for the flower petals so I used Sinful Color's Snow Me White. Lastly, for the center of the flower I used Mellow Yellow by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear. 

After painting my nails with two coats of Essie's Mademoiselle, I used a large dotting tool dipped in white polish to create a big flower at the top of my nail. As the flowers go down my nail and decrease in size, so do my dotting tools. I used a large, medium and small sized dotting tool for the flowers and a toothpick for the smallest daisy. 

Once the flowers were dry, I took Mellow Yellow and created small dots in the center of each flower. I then added a matte top coat and I'm done! I love this design and I think it looks very fresh and it's such a palette cleanser compared to all of the sparkly and intricate New Years nails. I hope you guys love these as much as I do and I hope you all had a fun and safe New Year! 

I'm Doing A Nail Art Challenge?

Because I'm on Winter Break I thought it'd be a good idea to participate in the January Nail Art Challenge. I've done these challenges before and I never quite seem to finish them... Oh well, it's a new year right?! This month's challenge seems really interesting and I can't wait to start! Thank you to @Californails for creating this challenge.

Diamonds In The Rough

Hi everyone! I had some time to spare yesterday and I decided to paint my nails! I've had this idea in my head for a while and I finally had the time to execute it last night. I used one of my new sparkly nail polishes that I got for Christmas and I really love it! I hope you like these nails as much as I do!

After my base coat, I began to paint my ring finger, middle finger and thumb with Superstar! by Pure Ice. This polish was difficult to work with, but after three coats it evened itself out and was streak-free. Since the layers came out thick, I allowed ten minutes for the polish to dry between coats. 

As I was waiting for the white polish to dry, I began painting my index and pinkie finger with Some Like It Haute by China Glaze. I got this from my uncle for Christmas and I really REALLY love it (not only because of the adorable silver cap). Some Like It Haute is a clear base with small charcoal grey glitter with larger holographic glitter scattered through it. Because it has a clear base, this is five extremely easy coats of the nail polish. If you're impatient or running out of time, I would suggest to use grey undies but I really loved watching the layers build up and become opaque. I noticed that this polish dried rough, almost like a textured polish. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be worn like that but I did add one coat of Seche Vite to add shine. 

The holographic glitter >

Once the white polish was dry, I took my black Stripe Rite striper and began by creating a diamond on a random spot on my nail. To make the diamond, I started by creating a black triangle. Then I painted a trapezoid on top of it with lines going through the trapezoid and triangle. It's really easy to figure out when you look at my nails, all of the diamonds are different shapes and sizes but have the same concept.

Once one diamond is done, I drew more and more on arbitrary spots on my nail. You can't do this wrong! I seriously just painted a diamond wherever there was space. When the polish was dry, I added one layer of my favorite top coat! These nails really make me feel bad ass and I love it! If you try these out please use the hashtag #InspiredBySabrinasNails or send me the picture through kik or email. I hope you like these and become inspired, see you next time!