Winter Wonderland Nails

Hi Lovelies! Can you believe it's less than a week to Christmas!! It's especially hard for me to believe since it's still 80 degrees here during the day! I do love Florida, but I'm missing a little wintery weather. So! I've decided to make it snow on my nails!

I posted this picture to Instagram/Facebook/Twitter the other night and people seemed to really enjoy it, so I wanted to share with you how I did it!

First, this is a shirt that I got at Target probably four or five years ago--it is one of my favorite T-shirts that can really only be worn during the Christmas/winter season (because who wears snowflakes other times of the year??;) [sadly, thanks to the baby in my belly, I can't wear it this year:(]

This was the inspiration for my nails! I'm not sure why blue seems like such a "cold" color, but it does hahah!

First, is my favorite base coat!

Then two coats of Sinful Colors Cinderella--this is a really soft, baby blue, with light sparkle to it (one of my faves) and a coat of China Glaze Luxe and Lush from the Hunger Games. This polish has some chunky sparkles in that are multi-colored and kinda change color depending on the lighting.

With my Konad white polish and stamping set, I used Shany plate 17 which has a big snowflake right in the middle of it and tried to center the snowflake on each nail.

Once it dried, I used another coat of Luxe and Lush (this helped add additional dimension to my nails so it really looks like how snowflakes glisten in the sunlight when they fall:) And finished with Seche Vite top coat.

Sadly, I waited 'til late at night to take additional pictures and didn't use the flash so the quality isn't as good as I'd like and it definitely doesn't show just how amazing my nails look! So take this for now, and I'm going to try to get better (outside!) pix soon to post more!!

So what do you think? What special manis have you done for the holidays??:)

Nail Challenge Week 21: Fruit Mani

Strawberries! Bananas! Pineapple! Kiwi! Cantaloupe! What do all these words have in common?? They are some of my favorite fruits! (ooh peaches and plums too!!:) I was both excited and nervous about this week's challenge! A fruit mani. *sigh* As with all of these challenges, it could go sooo many different ways! As usual, for inspiration, I checked out Google. So many girls did so many fabulous designs on their nails! I considered doing a variety of fruit--almost like little fruit baskets on my hands! But that was just sooo much work...

So, I cheated. Again. And I know stamping isn't really *cheating* but it still kinda feels like the easy way out. Hahah.

Thank you Shany for making a plate with a strawberry on it!:) lol

My plan was actually to make it look like the strawberries had been drawn on and colored in on my nails. In my head, my inspiration was the Dooney and Bourke bags that looked like they'd been doodled on

via

So two coats of ORLY Opal Hope... p.s. how beautiful is this color??? I love that it's soft and shiny and changes colors in different lights. When applied by itself, it doesn't totally go with my skin tones, but for this, I think it was perfect! After that, I kinda did some red blotches with Sinful Colors GoGo Girl (still my fave shade of red right now!!;). Then stamping with Konad Special Black.

Someone at work pointed out they look like lady bugs... and I think they kinda do, but they're STRAWBERRIES!!:) Yay!:)

What's your fruit? What fruits would you have put on your nails??:)

Nail Challenge Week 20: Bow Mani

Hi Lovelies! I promise I actually did this mani  last week when it was time; I just haven't gotten around to posting it 'til now!

So this (well last, lol) week's challenge was for a bow mani. Bows! That could be almost anything! Hairbows, bowtie, rainbows... etc. I knew I'd be able to draw bows on my left hand nails with my right hand, but I was really doubting my left hand skills to do my right hand nails lol. Soooo I went to my ever faithful stamp book to see if I had any bow stamps!

I was in luck! Yay! So after a base coat and two coats of Sinful Colors Pink Cream, I did a quick stamping on each finger with my Shany Plate and Konad polish. For a little extra spin on it, I finished with Hard Candy's Matte top coat!

Now, the matte gave it a fun and unique feel (I'm really starting to like more polishes matte now! It's unexpected:) but I noticed it really faded/made the stamping polish run/disappear a bit. It was kinda weird... But anyway, here is the finished product!

And there it is! After I did the first hand stamp across the tips, I decided to do it more angled on my other hand. If I used this stamp again, I think I'd do it diagonal. It's just a fun look--almost lacy-like!

So have you done a bow mani? What kind of bows would you have done?

Nail Challenge Week 14: Striped Nails

Hey Lovelies! Okay! I am now officially caught up with the nail challenge! This week was a striped mani and I felt like the opportunities were endless! I could use Migi Nail Art Pens, Sally Hansen pens; it could be basic stripes, zebra stripes, tiger stripes.... What would I do!??

That's when I turned to my stamping plates... it's been a while since I've done any stamping and thought I might have just the right stamp!

And I did! Shany plate SH23!

So I set out using these polishes:

OPI Base Coat, ORLY Fabfuschia, Konad Special Black, Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

I didn't take as many pictures of the step by step process of this one, but I am really happy with how it turned out! I think using the stamps was probably my best bet, because there is no way I would've gotten such straight (and nearly perfect) stripes by drawing/painting on my own!

no flash

with flash

no flash

I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out! Very simply, classy, with a little pizzazz!

How 'bout you? Are you doing the nail challenge yet? What other colors would've worked together well for this mani??

Nail Challenge Week 8: Corset Nails

Hi Lovelies! I posted a couple weeks ago about a nail challenge I was going to start that a bunch of other bloggers are doing this year! This week's nail challenge was "corset nails." *sigh* I Googled a bunch and found many pictures of what other girls had done. (There are actually a lot more images of "corset nails" than I would have expected! This is not something I would normally think to do for my nails!)

Now before I get too far into showing my nails for this challenge, I want to post a disclaimer. If this is your first time reading my blog, PLEASE do not judge my nail skills on this post!! I am perfectly aware they turned out quite horribly, and I promise I am not THIS BAD at painting  my nails. lol.

Here is a pic to show you how they turned out:

You should be able to see at least kind of what I was TRYING to do. Hahaha. Kinda a lacy look up the sides and the crisscross straps/ribbon up the back:) Here is how I got to this point.

After OPI base coat, two coats Revlon Top Speed Cotton

A coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Lilac on either side and bottom

Konad Black with Shany Plate SH21 on sides

Migi Nail Art pen to create crisscross

So, there you have it! The good news is, I attempted it and count that as doing this week's challenge! The better news? I was able to take it off with polish remover right away and make my nails look better! haha

Did you try this week's challenge? Have you done "corset nails" before? How would you have done them? :)

NOTD: Pre-Valentines Week Nails

Hey Lovelies! So Valentine's Day is just around the corner! I've had so many fab ideas to do, I decided to let my nails celebrate the week before as well:)

Before I show you mine though, how gorgeous are these nails that I found on Pinterest? I figure with a few Sally Hansen nail pens, this is probably do-able. And simply FAB! Love, love, love these!

Okay, I'm starting to think I shouldn't have put that picture in with mine since mine hardly compare lol.

The polishes I used are: OPI base coat, Revlon Cotton Candy (it's SCENTED!! And yes, even with top coat, it still smells like cotton candy!), Konad pink stamping polish, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rockstar Pink, Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat. And I used the hearts design on Shany plate SH12 with the Konad scraper and double ended stamper.

Here's how they turned out!

And a close-up to see the heart design and the glitter!

I used the mutli-colored glitter just to add a little extra something at the tips:)

Have you tried any V-day manis yet? Or thinking about what you'll be doing?? I think for my actually Valentine's Day Mani I'll do red and white, but we'll see how many times I change my mind between now and then ;)

NOTD More Stamping

I have been wanting to do this post almost all day, but for whatever reason I could not get the polishes and my stamping to work together!! I know I keep saying how easy stamping is and I highly recommend it, etc. And really, I still do, but there was some major drama today. The stamps kept smearing on my nail. Not sure if was the polish of my base color or the new Konad polish (which worked just fine the other night) or if there's something wrong with my stamper... the polish was staying on the stamper and not going on my nail as right. Might need to look into that.

Anyway! Here we go!

The polishes I used were OPI Natural Nail Base Coat, two coats of Ulta's Tutu Cute, Konad Special Nail Polish white, Sinful Colors Nail Art Fashionista, and Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

For the design, I used Shany Plate SH23.

And ta-da! Here's how it came out!

As usual, the left hand looks better than the right:) But I keep telling myself it will get better with practice:)

And just for giggles, here's a picture of the mess left after all was said and done:)

New Konad Polish Stamping

As I mentioned yesterday, I was suuuuper duper excited to find Konad Special Nail Polish at a kiosk at the Prime Outlets in Orlando!! [insert "Hallelujah Chorus" here lol] Prior to finding this little gem, I had been getting all my stamping stuff online. This is fabulous though 'cause I'm able to see the colors to pick out which ones I want, there's no shipping, and I get them right away (yay for instant gratification!)

I picked up three bottles each for $8 plus tax:

I was soooo excited to try them, I didn't even repaint my nails (same paint since Friday. Revlon Top Speed 210 Jelly. Pretty color, chips easily.), just grabbed Shany plate SH13 and stamped them all.

They look amazing!!! I still have some trouble getting the design lined up just right on my nail, but overall I am extremely happy with the results.

If you haven't tried stamping yet, I totally recommend it! You can read some of my old stamping posts which talk about the different brands (Konad, Bundle Monster, Shany etc.) of stamping plates and the polish to use (so far, I really do thinkit's best to buy the Konad brand name stuff). It's easier than free handing (I think) and looks like it was professional done! Plus it's pretty fast and doesn't make a huge mess!

Santa Nails--Ho, Ho, Ho!!

Just a quick Tuesday Nail Day post! I'm still playing with different holiday nail looks! This past weekend I did Santa Nails!

My initial plan was to do a nude face with a white beard and red hat... but I'm still new at stamping, and I just could not get it lined up perfectly!

So I went all white, stamped the Santa face from Shany plate SH03 and my Konad black, and did a red over the top for the hat! They turned out pretty well (obviously, not perfect), but they seem to be a big hit around the office at work!:)

Now, the crackle polishes were popular this summer and I really felt that their time had come and gone (with the exception of my Halloween toes that turned out amazing). So, now I'm of the belief they're a good holiday polish lol. On my toes I used Sinful Colors GoGo Girl and used OPI white shatter over top--turned out like snow covered peppermints!:) I promise it looks super fun, I'm just not sure my toes are blog picture ready yet lol:)

Fall Nails Stamping

Hello lovelies! So much to catch you up on! If you've seen my recent tweets, I've been working on redesigning my nail polish storage rack (remember? I found it in the neighbor's trash a couple weeks ago?) Once it's complete (hopefully later this week) I will show it all to you in a step by step show. Oh, and if you're not following me on Twitter? Why not?? I'm GlossandGlaze and you should follow me!!:)


Anyway, just a quick unrelated post for you tonight. I did more stamping! Yay! And I didn't use Konad polish this time. 


I started with O.P.I. Natural Nail Base Coat then NYC Park Ave (which is like coating my nails in hot cocoa!)

(no flash)

Then, used Bonita Nail Enamel in Opal (BNP76) [thanks, Krissy, for giving it to me for my bday!] and Shany Plate 22:

so hard to get good pic of plates

And it turned out like this:

Yay! It's not as colorful and bright as I usually do, but my goal was to do something that felt a little more fall-ish. It's soft and the stamping isn't as noticeable unless the light hits it just right.


I still have to go put on the topcoat, just wanted you all to see it first! :)


What do you think? What are your favorite fall nail colors?