Watermarble Nail Tutorial

Good afternoon dolls ♥ Today I have a long overdue pictorial to share with you! I'm so sorry for not being able to post this last Thursday like I planned to, I've been incredibly busy with school and tests :( I hope this tutorial can make up for it! Keep reading for written instructions on how to watermarble. 

Skimp or Spend? # 1

Welcome to the first post on my new series, Skimp or Spend? In these posts I will compare two polishes in my stash that are similar (not always exact dupes) but have two very different prices. I want to share that inexpensive nail polishes can often have a better quality than an expensive polish, and vice versa. Although I will be explaining my thoughts on the two, it's ultimately your decision. Would you rather skimp, or spend? ❤

Silver Glitter Gradient + New Nail Shape!

Hello everyone! Today I have a really simple design and a brand new nail shape. I decided to switch to almond shape nails after ogling Christine's gorgeous nails for a few months now. Not sure how long I'll have this shape for but I'll enjoy it while it lasts!

On my nails I have a silver glitter gradient over a sheer pink. This look is extremely elegant and perfect for a wedding, holiday parties or any time you want some glam nails!

I started this look with three thin coats of Mademoiselle by Essie. Mademoiselle is a new polish of mine and I really love it. It's sheer enough so you can slightly see your nail, but it's opaque enough to cover any stains I have on my nail. After the sheer polish was dry, I took Tiara by Orly and a makeup wedge and sponged the fine silver glitter onto 3/4 of my nail. 

To add even more glitter, I sponged on Set In Stones by Essie to the tips of my nails. Finally, I added one coat of Seche Vite to seal all of that glitter in! I am honestly in love with these nails and I want to keep them on forever! I hope you like them too :)

Matte Watermarble

After seeing @Mucking_Fusser do a watermarble design over a gradient the other day, I knew I had to try it! I'm definitely not as skilled as Corynn when it comes to watermarbling, but that doesn't mean I can't try!

I started off by creating a gradient on all of my nails. I applied Boom Boom Room by Essie (my all time favorite pink cream polish!) to the top of a makeup sponge, followed by Play Date by Essie to go underneath it. I then rolled and dabbed the sponge onto my nail to create this gradient effect! 

Once the gradient dried, I used Superstar! by Pure Ice and Orly's Sec N Dry for the watermarble that I put on top of the pink & purple. Check out Corynn's blog www.MuckingFusser.com for in depth watermarle tutorials! I topped off the design with Seche Vite and cleaned up the excess polish on my fingers with cotton swabs and nail polish remover.

This design looks great when shiny but I did add one coat of OPI's Matte Top Coat to this because it made this easier to photograph because there were no glares! I really do love how this looks when matte and I love this design in general. I do have to admit that this took quite a long time, (about 3 hours for both hands + clean up) but if you tape your fingers, I'm sure the process would go by much faster! 

I can't wait to try this design again with different color combinations and a more uniform watermarble! This mani will look good on almost every nail shape and length so please try it out! I hope you love this and have a fantastic day! 

Tribal City

Wow, a lot of you guys on Instagram really loved this design when I posted it yesterday! I wasn't expecting such a positive response after an entire week of nail fails which was the reason for my 6 day absence. I'm not completely sure what inspired this design but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out!

I began this mani with two coats of Love by Pure Ice. This is one of my favorite pink nail polishes because it is opaque with 1-2 coats, and it applies very smoothly. I've had this polish for about a year and it hasn't gotten thick or goopy. Not only is it inexpensive, it is also pretty high quality in my opinion. 

When that dried, I grabbed my white nail art striper and created a triangle near my cuticle. Then with the black striper I added details, such as lines, squares and a smaller triangle. I made sure to have a steady hand when creating these fine lines, I needed to stay concentrated in order for the design to look clean in the end. 

So far this mani was just pink, black, and white. It was honestly very plain and I was racking my brain to try and figure out what would make it look better. I then realized that it needed some kind of pop! Orly's Glowstick would definitely do the job. I took a thin nail art brush and filled in the smallest triangle and the stripes. I think that the neon yellow was a great contrast to the rest of the colors.

I honestly think there's something wrong with me at this point. I feel the need to make every design MATTE! But c'mon, everything is better when it's matte, right? Being Sabrina, I slapped on OPI's Matte Top Coat as usual to give this mani a special look. I really love this and I hope you do too!

Thank you to Nicole28_ on Instagram for giving this design a name! Tribal City is a perfect fit because it sort of looks like a skyline, and it also is very tribal! 

Summer Neons Haul

Today I dropped by Sally's Beauty Supply for a little early birthday haul! I was on the mission for some bright colors and I must say.. mission accomplished!

Since it's summer time in California, bright colors are perfect for the season. For the last few months I've been stocking up on spring pastels, now it's time to collect neons! I already own a few, like China Glaze's Orange Knockout and I'm With the Lifeguard. But I have definitely been missing these beauties in my life!

The first polish I got was Glowstick by Orly. I've been wanting this perfect highlighter yellow ever since I saw it on the talented @Jewsie_Nails! I'm not sure exactly what occasion this polish will be appropriate for, but I'll find a nice design to pair with it one day! I'm in love with this color and can't wait to put it on.

Up next is Shocking Pink by China Glaze. A polish I can finally cross off of my wish list! This is the perfect bright pink and I think it will look nice both on nails and toes! No other pink polish I have compares to this gorgeous color. 

I also purchased Turned Up Turquoise by China Glaze! This is a beautiful turquoise that also has a very slight shimmer to it. I'm excited to be wearing this and to be creating summer gradients with this color. 

Lastly, I bought Purple Panic by China Glaze. I don't have anything similar to this creamy magenta color. It's a bit more pink than it is purple but it's still wonderful. 

I'm so excited that I was able to purchase these polishes today! I can't wait to swatch them and use them in my designs. If you own any of these nail polishes, let me know what you think about them!

Cath Kidston Inspired

This week I decided to create something super girly and fun on my nails! I have been seeing this cute pattern by Cath Kidston around EVERYWHERE and I just had to have it on my nails. There was something about the colors, vintage vibe and roses (aka my weakness) that drew me closer and closer to this design.

 

To be completely honest, I'm thrilled with how these came out! They were very time consuming but I am in love with the outcome. I think the mint green (Jealous, Much? By Orly) pairs perfectly with the multi-toned roses. The roses are a bit messy and look more like blobs when you get extremely close, but from afar they look pretty nice! 

Haha see what I mean? When you get close, you realize that the flowers look like nothing more than a few flicks of red and pink. But, I'm still in love. And apparently so was my 23 year old sister because she insisted that I do them for her as well! 

For her version, since she loves blue, I decided to use Essie's Bikini So Teeny as a base instead. Little did I know that the pattern looks amazing on top of that color as well! I honestly think that the design would look great over almost any color. From pale pinks, dusty blues, grassy greens, to pastel yellows. I'm so excited to be rocking these for a few days. I hope I did Cath Kidston justice!

Overlay seen in the last photo from : http://shii-overlays.tumblr.com/

Blue Gradient Animal Print

Haha I say the words "Animal Print" because I honestly don't know if these are cheetah or leopard spots! Anyway, the simplicity of this design almost kills me because I love looking at intricate drawings on my nails, but I still think this is very pretty.

I really love how these turned out and I'm surprised at how easy they were to do! I only needed four nail polishes and a few bobby pins to use as dotting tools. Colors used were:

(From left to right)

Royally Yours by Loreal, Sunday Funday by China Glaze, Tiara by Orly and Liquid Leather by China Glaze.