Windians 2015!

A day late for the home opener, but this is the ridiculously awesome look I've been rocking this week!

Taken in natural daylight via cell phone.

I've done two past looks for opening week-- here's what I had for 2014 and here is 2013. I've got a good feeling about this year. New talent, an awesome bullpen, and a shiny new stadium redesign. As for our batting game... eh...

Polishes Used
Funky Fingers Gesso
Julie G Cherry on Top
Pure Ice All Night Long

Christmas in February!

Haha... I told you my posts were a bit dated! I wanted to share my Christmas look with you, so here it is! As has been the tradition in years past, I went with a mix-and-match array of designs in a Christmas-y color scheme.

Taken in random, splotchy natural light.

We've got a whole jumble of things going on here... glitter, pearls, gems! Waterfall, dry-brushing, dots, and saran wrap! Red and green and gold and white... this was definitely a fun look to rock for the holidays. :)

Polishes Used
Julie G Cherry on Top
Zoya Dakota
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
China Glaze New Birth
Piggy Polish Ivy Leaf in Santa Claus
Zoya Ziv
Daring Digits Robin
Glitterfied Nails 24 kt Gold

Giveaway Win: Super Black Lacquer Holos!

Hey there! I have finally gotten around to clearing out my picture stash... so here's a giveaway win all the way back from November! I won a three pack of Super Black Lacquer from Life of a Mad Typer, promptly took pictures, then never got around to posting this. Oopsies! 

Taken in sunlight!

Here we have some amazing holos that really shimmer in the sun... the pretty purply color is Heather, the gorgeous cranberry is Spanked, and the burnt gold is Guilty. I had never heard of Super Black Lacquer but I love their packaging and bottle shape, and was surprised to hear that they're located down in Columbus. Very cool!

Polishes Used
Super Black Lacquer Heather
Super Black Lacquer Spanked
Super Black Lacquer Guilty

Star Dots Featuring Zoya Dakota and Zoya Ziv

Hey there! This is an older look that I did a couple of months ago when we were still in the dredges of winter, so I figured I'd share now before we get too far into spring!

Picture taken inside under normal lights.

This was an interesting look I came up with, dealing with black and black-and-gold dots over Zoya's Dakota. I needed a red creme and bought Dakota... and I have yet to be disappointed! I then added on some black plastic rhinestone stars and dots to make this a bit more fun. Woo! 

Polishes Used
Sinful Colors Black on Black
Zoya Ziv
Zoya Dakota

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Manicure

Hey there! Today I've got a look the celebrates the new Captain America movie, which Sean and I saw on Thursday night at the first showing. I won't give away any spoilers, but let's just say it was awesome and makes me wonder about the future landscape of the Avengers and Captain America's future. Anywhos... on the nails!

Taken near dusk in natural light... check out all that reflection! :D

We've got the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo, Cap's shield, the Winter Soldier's arm, and Hydra's logo. Not gonna lie... my thumb is completely naked because I couldn't decided what deserved the final spot as a fair representation of the movie (I was leaning toward a heart, because woe is my shipper's heart). Still, this was super fun to do and let me try out the make-your-own "nail sticker" technique. It's a cool concept but a bit difficult to execute. But it does give me something to do with my horrible (maybe fake) Essie topcoat! Woo!

Polishes Used

LynBDesigns Sacré Blurple

Zoya Dakota

OPI Your Royal Shineness

Sinful Colors Bleeding Heart

Sinful Colors Black on Black

Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Play Ball! 2014 Cleveland Indians Nails

It's about time! Baseball season is back! YAY!!! Just like last year I did a mani featuring my team, the Cleveland Indians.

Taken via cell phone in natural light.

This year I skipped the water marble in favor of a bold color-block look. Recently I switched top coats to Essie's Good to Go top coat. I'm not sure if I got a bad batch or if I bought a dupe off of eBay but I am not impressed. It smudged the shit out of my colors even though they were all dry and my tip wear is ridiculous. Blech... we'll see.

Products Used
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Sinful Colors Bleeding Heart
Pure Ice All Night Long
Chief Wahoo temporary tattoos

Nail Fail: Red Watercolor and Hit Polish Glitter

Hi there! I've got a nail fail today. I made an attempt at a watercolor mani, hated the way it looked, then decided to add some glitter topcoat instead. The saving grace here is the glitter from Hit Polish... it's so pretty! There were heart-shaped glitter in the mix too, but I couldn't get any out of the bottle.

Taken in natural daylight, via cell phone.

Lessons learned? I should stick with a lighter base color, or should pick swirl colors that are super contrasting/ darker than the base color.

Polishes Used
Julie G Cherry On Top
Dots Metallic Bronze
Zoya Dakota
Wingin' It Lacquer Burning Leaves
Hit Polish Queen of Hearts

A Day Late... Christmas Skittles!

Hey there! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas holiday and (maybe) enjoyed some time off of work. Sorry I've been so scarce... I've been swamped with work and took my first ever business trip last week! Keep an eye out for my next post for more info on how that went. ;)

As for the look I have today, it's my traditional Christmas skittles! There's just something so fun about this time of year and all the nail art possibilities that I can't help but mix up my look with 10 different designs.

(Click to enlarge!)

This year we've got a doticure, penguin, gold glitter bomb, green with red glequins, and a glitter half moon on the left hand. On the right, we have a glitter striped pinky, glitter bomb with heart rhinestones, snowman, snowflakes, and candy stripes. Whew! Not my best work, or the most creative, but it's enough for the season!

Polishes Used (from left thumb to right thumb, and I'm not listing duplicates for each nail. :P)

Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Sinful Colors Bleeding Heart

Sinful Colors Amazonian

Zoya Ziv

Funky Fingers Dark Knight

Color Club Black Striper

CoverGirl #245

Funky Fingers Star-Studded

Nicole by OPI Gold Texture

OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air
Color Club Gold Glitter Striper
Daring Digits Robin

Fall Chevrons

Hey there! Today I've got a super fun look that I couldn't stop staring at when it was on my fingers! 

I got this idea from work / play / polish's guest post here... except she used neons. I've wanted to do this look ever since I saw it but I didn't get around to it until now. 

It's so luminous and warming and pretty and yes! It took a bit of time, but it was totally worth it! I started off with the white base, used striping tape to mark everything off, then painted in the colors. Add in some top coat and wow! A gorgeous design. :) Both pictures were taken in natural light. 

Polishes Used

Pure Ice Platinum

Wingin' It Lacquer Burning Leaves

Zoya Ziv

Dots Metallic Bronze

Giveaway Win: Wingin' It Lacquer Fall Shades

Hey there everyone! Great news- I won another giveaway! I can definitely say that I love being a part of the nail polish world with all of the generous giveaways that are always happening! :)

This time I won three polishes from Wingin' It Lacquer: Burning Leaves, Falling Leaves, and Sizzler.

For whatever reason, Burning Leaves didn't have a label on it, but no worries! It's still a stunning color- a gorgeous coppery red color with a gold-ish shimmer. Next up is Falling Leaves, a yellow-based jelly with red and orange shards and micro glitter. This looks so pretty layered! Finally is Sizzler, a plum color with a silver foil in it. It has so much depth and is perfect for late fall when you want something vampy. 

Here we have 2 coats of Burning Leaves, 1 coat of Falling Leaves over 2 coats of Burning Leaves; 4 coats of Falling Leaves (it's almost opaque!), and 2 coats of Sizzler. I love the way that Falling Leaves makes Burning Leaves a lovely orange color.... so perfect for fall!

A big thanks to Crystal from Wingin' It Lacquer for this fantastic giveaway gift!

Swatch: Black Cat Lacquer Bloody Kisses

Hi there! Today I have a swatch of Black Cat Lacquer's Bloody Kisses. It's a gorgeous blend of red and mahogany glitters in a darkened black-ish jelly base. The shapes in here are hexes and squares.

This was a last minute picture, so apologies that it's not great. This shows one coat of Bloody Kisses over Sinful Color's Bleeding Heart, taken in direct sunlight. I love how the blackened base really helped darken the bright red of Bleeding Heart. Gorgeous! I can't wait to layer this over black!

Swatch: Lush Lacquer Midnight Affair

Hello there! 

Today I have a random swatch for everyone to look at... Lush Lacquer's Midnight Affair.

I've shown one coat over Sinful Color's Bleeding Heart in shady natural light (also, with a bonus awkward leaf background!). Midnight Affair has matte white micro glitters, small black hexes, black and white bar glitter, and small red holo glitters. So pretty! Application was easy and required no dabbing- although you do have to be careful no bars are hanging off the side of your nail. Luckily the bars in this were flat on the nail too, so a beauty all around!

Happy 4th!

Happy Fourth of July! Here's a quick mani I did for the 4th!

I started with a white base, then free-handed the blue tips. I added some striping tape to outline the red Vs, then painted on the red. Once everything was dry, I stamped on the stars & arrows, added some top coat, and boom! Fourth of July nails!

Colors Used
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Sinful Colors Bleeding Heart
Pure Ice All Night Long
Bundle Monster Stamping Plates- the crappy first set of them with ridiculously small patterns

Manicure Monday: Stephen's Request!

At the (probably not serious) request of Stephen, who left a wonderful comment on my Pokémon nails, I present this look!

Just because Stevie Q is rad. :)

Things Used:
Sinful Colors Bleeding Heart
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Color Club White Striper
Color Club Black Striper
Warpaint Beauty Mattify
Lush Lacquer Midnight Affair
A good ol' black Sharpie

Manicure Monday: GO INDIANS!

I am a HUGE baseball fan, and my team of choice is the Cleveland Indians! Today marks their home opener against the *glare* New York Yankees. In celebration of another year of baseball I went with an Indians manicure.... water marble and dots, with Chief Wahoo and glequin accent nails.

Polishes Used:

Sinful Colors Bleeding Heart

Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Pure Ice All Night Long

Chief Wahoo temporary tattoos [x]

Flip/Flop February: Day 10

Today's manicure is a special one! The choice was between fish tail braid or half-moons. I've wanted to try the braiding method for a while, but I didn't have the time to in this challenge. Therefore, here are some half-moons!

This manicure is dedicated to my Grandpa, who passed away last year. He commented once on a half-moon mani I was wearing, so I wore this look to celebrate that moment we had. <3

Colors User:
Sinful Colors Bleeding Heart
OPI Your Royal Shineness
Color Club Black