Thursday, November 28, 2013

Striped Nail Fail?

Meh. I was on Pinterest and came across some pastel nails that I fell in love with! I tried them for myself and... they didn't turn out so well.
                                 

I honestly don't really like these. They look nothing like the photo I was inspired by and they're way too simple. These came off right away. What do you think? Nail fail or not? Let me know! I'll have something better for you all next time. See you later!

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Black & White Polka Dots With a Twist!

Hey! Today I was in sort of a rush so I wanted a nail design that was simple but still really cute. I decided on pink nails with black and white polka dot accent nails! This design was really easy to do and I hope you like it!


I began by painting my thumb, pinkie, and index finger with Essie's Boom Boom Room. I've talked about BBR so much since I've gotten it because it's my go-to pink polish. As always, the formula on this nail polish is perfection, opaque in two coats and it just glides on! This cream polish is amazing and I kind of feel bad for my other pink polishes because I use this one so much!


Next, I painted my middle finger with Superstar! by Pure Ice. It's not my favorite white polish but all of my other ones are streaky or thick. I then painted my ring finger with Liquid Leather by China Glaze. I feel like I've had this polish for years and it's still just as great as when I first bought it! It's opaque in two coats and it's also wonderful to use for nail art. 


Finally, I used black to add polka dots to my middle finger and white to add polka dots to my ring finger. One coat of Seche Vite and it's done! These nails make me very happy despite the fact that my index finger nail is a bit broken :( I hope you like these and have a great day!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Roses & Glitter Accents

I've recently been inspired by a few pink Essie colors in my collection. After staring at my polishes thinking of what design I could do, I was always drawn back to Muchi, Muchi, Boom Boom Room, and Mod Square, all by Essie! I finally decided on roses, and glitter gradients for my ring fingers.


I first painted my nails with four thin coats of Essie's Muchi, Muchi. This polish is sheer and sometimes hard to work with, but when you start to build a few layers of it, you get a smooth, light pink color! Once that dried, I took a large dotting tool and dipped it into Essie's Boom Boom Room. I placed three large dots toward the cuticle and let them dry. Next, I took Essie's Mod Square and a smaller dotting tool, to create the curved petals on the roses. With a dark green polish and the smallest dotting tool that I own, I made little tear drop shapes in arbitrary areas around the roses to act as leaves! The nail looked empty with just roses on it so at the last minute I took my white striper by Stripe Rite and created vertical lines on my nail. If stripes were to originally be in my design, I would've done them first to avoid accidentally overlapping the roses! 



I was really interested to play around with Jetset In My Sunset by Curtsy and Bow. After swatching it on a piece of paper to see how much glitter I could get in one stroke, I realized that the formula on this polish wasn't so great. With one swipe, I got about two pieces of glitter, which is a shame because the gold hex glitters are gorgeous! After experimenting with this polish, I realized that I could create a glitter placement gradient (that's a mouthful) on my ring finger! 


I began by dumping some of the polish out on a piece of paper (aka an old magazine I found lying around). With a toothpick, I grabbed each glitter individually and placed them heavily toward the cuticle of my nail. The further down I went, the less glitter I would add, until it looked like a gradient! The clear base in this polish helped the glitter stick to my nail. If you're using completely loose glitter, add a topcoat on your nail (to help the glitter adhere to your nail) and also dip your toothpick in topcoat to make the process of picking up glitter much easier! 

I hope you liked this design as much as I did and I hope you try it out for yourself! If you do, use the hashtag #InspiredBySabrinasNails or send me a picture through Kik or Email! Thank you and have a lovely week (:

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Nude to Blue Gradient

I was inspired by the gorgeous bright blue color (St Thomas Blue Me Away) that CurtsyandBow sent me, that I decided it was finally time for me to try a nude to color gradient. I have seen the trend everywhere and I think it's so pretty!


I began by applying two coats of a nude base (Trade Winds by Revlon) on my nails. Once that was dry, I took Trade Winds and St Thomas Blue Me Away and painted two horizontal stripes next to each other on a cosmetic wedge and sponged the colors onto my nail. This technique creates a flawless gradient every time! To help the colors blend and to add some sparkle, I added a coat of Fairy Dust by China Glaze, followed by one coat of Seche Vite. 


I think these turned out really nicely and I'm excited to try this again with different colors! If you'd like to purchase St Thomas Blue Me Away, please visit www.CurtsyandBow.com! If you try this design out, use the hashtag #InspiredBySabrinasNails or send the picture to me by Email or Kik! Have a marvelous day :)

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Reviewing Curtsy and Bow Polishes

Recently I was contacted by Curtsy and Bow to review a few of their gorgeous nail polishes! I'd been a fan of their polishes for a while and was extremely thankful for this opportunity! After a short two day of making the arrangement, a package came in the mail with three full size bottles of their polishes, along with a lovely note!

From Left to Right:
Jetset In My Sunset, St Thomas Blue Me Away & Shiraz With Tha Stahz
I'm so excited to try these out, they are all so pretty and that is my favorite shade of blue! If you'd like to purchase any of these or see more of their products, go to www.CurtsyandBow.com!



Saturday, November 2, 2013

Gradient Triangles

My sister and I decided to have a "Nail Painting Day" to paint our nails with a similar design. We decided on a design that we've been seeing everywhere on Instagram and Pinterest. There's no specific name for them but they look like triangles that start near the cuticle.


I started this design with two coats of white polish topped with Seche Vite for faster dry time. Since I used tape for this mani, I had to wait about an hour until the white polish was completely dry or else once the tape is added, it will pull polish up with it. Once the polish was dry, I added two strips of tape starting from the cuticle and meeting up with each other to create a triangle. I then applied a dark purple polish ( Spontaneous by China Glaze), a medium purple polish (Play Date by Essie), and a light purple polish (Sweet Hook by China Glaze) onto a cosmetic wedge and started to sponge it onto the nail. After a few coats of sponging and a coat of Fairy Dust by China Glaze, I carefully peeled the tape off to reveal crisp lines on the triangle. I added one coat of Seche Vite and Voila! They're finished! 


As I mentioned earlier, my sister also did her nails but she decided to do a pink gradient instead of purple. She followed the exact same steps as I did but her dark pink polish was Mod Square by Essie, her medium pink polish was Boom Boom Room by Essie, and her light pink polish was Muchi Muchi by Essie. We both loved how these turned out and kept these on for as long as we possibly could (a little over a week)! If you try these out, use the hashtag #InspiredBySabrinasNails or send the picture to me though Email or Kik! I'll see you next time!