It's time-- first Halloween mani is here!

Woohoo! It's thT time of the year again... Halloween is almost here! Which means it's time for Halloween nails!

Taken in natural light with cell phone

I've got a cute mix n' match to celebrate... these were inspired by a few images on Google. Giving credit where credit is due:

Spiders - JaeMarie2008
Ghosties - Incoco Spooktacular wraps

Polishes Used
Funky Fingers Dark Knight
CoverGirl #245 Go-Go Mango
CoverGirrl #240 Coral Silk
Zoya Creamy
Zoya Destiny
Salon Perfect Sugar Cube

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

Surprise! My Wedding Nails!

Yeah... so remember like a month and a half ago a bit ago when I mentioned I had one more Halloween manicure left to share and also had a big surprise? Well it's finally here!

Both taken in natural daylight.

I got married! YAY! This is the manicure I rocked for our Halloween wedding. I've got the something blue, ghosties to keep in the Halloween spirit, glitter, and romantic text... it's the perfect package! :D

I used the "make your own decals" method for this, which entails painting topcoat on a plastic baggie, tracing your design in polish (in this case, I did all the letters), cutting out the design, then adhering with topcoat. I added the hearts and ghosties using my dotting tools then added small smiles with a detail brush.

The wedding itself was performed at the local courthouse with just our families present. Sean & I have been dating since high school (7 years!), so it was just a matter of time before we actually got married. :P And we did it! The craziest part is that the next day we moved out into our own apartment, which explains the delay in posting. We've only just got officially settled into our routine and I finally found the motivation to post. Woohoo! So it'll be back to nails for a bit... up next is Thanksgiving!

Polishes Used 
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Salon Perfect Baby Blues
Daring Digits Holyfire

Stripey Spiderwebs

Hello! Today I've got yet another Halloween look to share... my first attempt at spider webs! I wasn't sure what to do with the other nails, so I went with a quick set of stripes. I seem to be in a stripey mood lately... strange!

Taken in office lighting.

Making webs with a striper brush was actually way easier than I expected. I've already had 5 comments on these nails this week, which is a larger number than normal. Clearly they're eye-catching (and spooky, for sure!)!

Polishes Used
Funky Fingers Riot
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Color Club White Striper
Salon Perfect Black Diamond
Sinful Colors Secret Admirer 

Black & White Challenge Day 10: My Choice!

The final day of the Black & White Challenge was a look of my own choosing. Woohoo! I went with bold stripes with colorful tips. Oh yeah... and it glows in the dark! 

Taken in natural daylight.

This look brings us happily into the Halloween season. FINALLY!!! I'm super pumped, even if I won't be spending my nights scaring the shit out of people at the local haunted house. I've traded in my haunt gear for something much more proper... more news on that to come soon! ;)

Polishes Used
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Sinful Colors Glow-in-the-Dark Topcoat
Sinful Colors Black on Black
Funky Fingers Riot
OPI Divine Swine
Broadway Nails Seduction Night (#4)
Fresh Paint Square Candy
OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air

Black & White Challenge Day 9: Water Marble

Hey! Today's Black & White Challenge asked for water marble... so here you go!

Taken in natural daylight.

I did a black and white water marble over a white base, then added some dots to liven things up. I realized halfway through this that more black polish would have been a good idea, but this reminds me of smoke with all of the grey-ish areas. Kinda cool!

Polishes Used
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Sinful Colors Black on Black

Black & White Challenge Day 8: Sponging

Howdy! Day 8 of the Black & White Challenge asked for sponging! I went for everyone's favorite... a good ol' gradient! 

Taken in natural daylight.

I think my sponge skills are getting better. I really like the merging of colors I was able to get with this look! Using grey as the middle color was a great idea to pull this look off.

Polishes Used
Sinful Colors Black on Black
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Petites Twilight

Black & White Challenge Day 7: Black & White with Glitters

Hey there! Day 7 of the Black & White Challenge was all about glitter! I went with a subtle glitter look combining glitter placement and a loose-glitter ombre.

Taken in horrible indoor lighting.

I always forget how much fun loose glitter is! It's a bit messy but you can definitely get some fun looks with it. Anywhos... I used iridescent clear glitter on the black polish, which is hard to see. I'm not sure what to do with that glitter, since it never seems to come out right once on the nail. Eh... I'll come up with something!

Polishes Used
Sinful Colors Black on Black
Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Black & White Challenge Day 4: White Base with Some Color

Day 4 of the Black & White Challenge is a white base with some color. I went with a bright and vibrant orange... and used a white color-changer as the base!

Taken in natural daylight.

Taken in direct sunlight.

Color changing polishes are definitely fun, but I'm never outside enough to take full advantage of the magic. Lil Miss Sunshine is easy to apply but has a strange scent to it that lingers. It smells like something floral and stays for 5-ish days... and kind of gives me a headache. >_< 

Polishes Used
Funky Fingers Lil Miss Sunshine
Funky Fingers Like Clockwork
Jade Holográfico Magia Negra
Color Club Black Striper

Black & White Challenge Day 3: Black Base with Some Color

Day 3 of the Black & White Challenge brings us to a black base with some color. I added some glitter & striping tape to complete the look.

Taken in natural daylight/sunlight.

I don't think my picture does justice to Private Show. It's got a  bunch of small glitters in there; I can see red, pink, teal, and gold. I really enjoyed this look (even my dad commented!) so it'll probably be making an appearance in my Remix tag. 

Polishes Used
Sinful Colors Black on Black
Pure Ice Private Show
Sally Hansen Marine Scene

Black & White Challenge Day 2: White on Black

Time for day #2 of the Black & White Challenge! Today's challenge was to do white on black (as compared to yesterday's black on white). 

Taken in natural daylight.

I decided to go for a v-gap mani, which I think look super modern given the contrast of colors. By the way... is this technically a v-gap? Has the nail world made a declaration on what constitutes a v-gap? I'm not sure... but I like the look!

Polishes Used
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Funky Fingers Dark Knight

Black & White Challenge Day 1: Black on White

Alrighty... here it is! The beginning of the Black and White Challenge! As I mentioned in my previous post, it was waaaaay past the time for me to do another nail challenge. Let's take a look at my first look, shall we?

Taken in natural daylight.

Very mod, right? This was my first time attempting a striper-only geometrical design, and I think it turned out pretty good! 

On a side note, almost all of the white polish used in these challenges will be Sinful Color's Snow Me White. It just so happens that it's the only white I own (aside from my white striper & nail art pen). See you soon for challenge day #2!

Polishes Used
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Color Club Black Striper

Summery Flower Water Marble

Howdy! Today I've got a fun water marble look to share with lots of neon orange and pink! I accented with white dots and some nail stickers I bought off of eBay.

Taken in daylight.

I think I need to find a better container for water marbeling... none of my designs are super complex. Then again, I usually only do one cycle of polishes before I mix them up and dip. And I am a sucker for the double-dipped look (as shown really well with the orange over the darker pinks!)... maybe I don't need a new container! :P

Polishes Used
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Funky Fingers Atomic Poppy
Sally Hansen Racy Rouge
Funky Fingers Kiss the Girl
Fresh Paint High Voltage

Futuristic Gaps Featuring Ulta Purplexed

Do you ever see someone's nail art and just go "Oh man... I have to recreate this!" I did that with a look from Lucy's Stash... I fell in love and knew I needed to do it. ... cue multiple failed attempts at creating the look, frustration over using acrylic paints and having a poorly sized brush...

Taken in natural light.

This is what you end up with! :D I still like this look... the contrasting gaps with the depth of Purplexed is a really cool thing... it definitely reminds me of something very sci-fi and futuristic. 

Polishes Used
White Acrylic paint
Ulta Purplexed

Better Late than Never! Easter Eggs!

So I'm definitely late on this... but eh. I've been busy at work lately since it's the end of the semester and I just haven't found the time to sit down and write up a post. But here we go! 

Taken in indirect sunlight.

This is the look I rocked for Easter. This is also the last of my manicures that will be using that horribly shitty (maybe duped) Essie Good to Go topcoat. I'll be using that for attaching studs, glitter, and all those other fun small things.... and I've since picked up Salon Perfect's topcoat and it's been lovely thus far!

Polishes Used
L'Oreal Royalty Reinvented
Zoya Creamy
Ruby Wing Gypsy
Cover Girl #240
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Color Club White Striper

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

Remix! Berry Princess

I inadvertently created a look that was similar to something I had previously created.... so welcome to my first remix post! This is a remixed look of my Berry Princess mani that I posted over the summer. 

Taken in natural daylight.

I kept the V half moons (gotta love tape manis!) then added small blue rhinestones and half pearls to alternating nails. I think I like the original look more, where I outlined the Vs... but I didn't want this to look too much like the original and I didn't feel like outlining by hand. :P

Polishes Used
Sinful Colors Snow Me White (as the base color)
Jindie Nails Burrrberry
Zoya Aurora

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

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