NailartFeb 2013- Hearts

I decided to do this challenge after coming across the challenge photo on Instagram. I like that this one is not a 31 day challenge, because those can be difficult to accomplish. I downloaded the wallpaper photo to show everyone which days correspond to what design and when they were. I have been crammed with tests and homework because I am taking 20 hours at school, but I am working on new designs everyday! Here is the first day of the challenge: Hearts!

 this was the sunlight photo I took. I rarely take photos of my nails in the sunlight unless the design has a varnish that would stand out in sunlight. the purple dots were not washed out thankfully, and the design is super vibrant in the sun!

I started this design looking to mix in the pop art makeup turotials and nail tutorials on YouTube. I started with french White Tip by NYC, then Lacey Lilac by Sally Hansen for the dottes portions of the nails, Then followed with rich & Famous by China Glaze, and finished with Salsa by China Glaze for the hearts. 

I used a medium sized dotting tool for the dots and a small nail art brush for the hearts and the purple explosion marks. 

This design is pretty easy, I decided to add the dots after the pink explosion marks because I could place them without messing with the hearts. This nail look also proves to look good on short nails too!

Thanks for visiting! Find me everywhere! I am grilled nails on every social network!


you can use a colored eyeliner to make any color mascara you want!
     - Hector c:

Nail Whitening Attempt

Here are what my nails look like once the polish is dissolved by a cotton call saturated in acetone. I have pretty bad yellowing, though I do find myself wearing my designs throughout the week. I rarely use a base coat because I tell myself that I will save it for when I do others' nails. I probably will start using a base coat when I know I am going to wear a polish longer than the usual 45 min. I usually do not wear the polish for longer than that if I want to get a couple of designs done in one day. This was my first time whitening my nails though I plan on trying different methods over the next few months so I can find out which of the recipes are actually effective for me.

I used Colgate Total plus whitening. This is my first time using tootpaste or anything for that matter to whiten my nails and this is what I've been using in the morning so I decided to just use a bit for my nails.

Here they are in all of their naked-ness! The left hand is pretty yellow while the right is relatively un-yellowed. Again I wear polish on my right hand pretty rarely, since I don't have time to do intricate designs on both hands every time I try a new design. I think this will stay that way for the most part because I tend to like the designing aspect of nails art instead of the whole look for myself, if that makes any sense at all!

Here is my right hand. I am aware my cuticles are horrible on this hand and that I have not shaped these since I have cut them. Again they have been rarely painted and usually do not go longer than three days with polish on.

Here is the bad hand, my over polished, ever yellow right hand. I recently cut them due a major break in my ring finger nail that had progressed from a small split to a complete break.

I dabbed a generous amount of toothpaste to completely cover the nails of my left hand and help take off some of the yellowing. I left on the paste for about 10-15 minutes, letting the paste dry a bit. 

The Results: I made a scale with 1 being no effect to 5 being a drastic change in color. I would rate this as a 2, since the treated hand only got about a shade lighter, not much of an improvement.

Another results and comparison of the untouched nails and the treated nails. The lightening was minimal. I would probably not recommend this toothpaste for treating nails yellowed by nail polish. Maybe it was the toothpaste or the method I used, I will definitley look into doing more treatments and testing their effectiveness soon! check back in a few weeks to see what results I get.


100% acetone removes polish with the best of ease, but leave skin noticeably more dry after removal.

     - Hector c:

Color Guard Nail Art

I wanted to do nail art based on color guard because I have come to like color guard in tha past year or so. I am still working on my actual skills, and I have a lot to learn, but I have big plans this summer! Here's the design I came up with, though I think there could have been a bit more creativity put into this mani!

I think the guard world needs more love for some reason so this is one of the products of that obsession. Base of China Glaze Flyin' High, then with a small nail art brush I colored the nails with Black Lace Creme and French White Tip by NYC. I used Pearl Silver by Klean Color. I did a water marble on the ring finger to give the flag a design that looks like something you would see on a Guard flag. The undies for the water marble is French White Tip, I also used Zoya Aurora, Flyin' High by china Glaze, and Pros and Bronze by OPI for the water marble itself.

I did Google "Color Guard" i used a silhouette photo that I decided to re-create on my middle finger, which turned out pretty well, considering I thought I did not have the skill to do it. But alas! it came out fairly well, I think. 

The rifle and the sabre were my favorite part of this manicure, because I love that they are just perfect to cross on each other for this mani. Plus, they are my favorite part of guard so far. 

I decided to have a bit of fun with this photo by posterizing it, though it looks pretty subtle. thanks for looking at my nails! 

Reduce your carb intake and then you can lose weight. 

- Hector c:

Geometric Shape mani

Geometric nails were something I was looking forward to doing when I looked into my idea book. I write down the ideas that I come up with, usually without drafts, and then I revisit that list when I am looking for a new design. I saw abstract, though I do not think mine really emulated, that because  they were more geometric, so I changed the name to a geometric mani!

I started with an accent nail of Spark De Triomphe by OPI which is probably my favorite silver glitter of all time.

I used my classic white: French White Tip by NYC, then I followed with Happy Go Lucky, Four Leaf Clover, Flyin' High, and Salsa by China Glaze.

The Four Leaf Clover (green) barely showed up, I think because it is such a blue leaning green. The camera exaggerated the blue and made it read blue in the photos. I'll have to pay more attention to that color the next time I use it.

This was my favorite shot, the lighting looks so scrumptious, I might look into replicating this lighting later!

I tried to be as random as possible with the white lines, I painted on the white lines first to make different shapes and then filled them with the four different colors. I did, then, go over with white after color filling to get cleaner white lines on the nails.



Wear sunscreen, even if it is pretty much full of cancer causing chemicals.

     - Hector c:

DCI 2013: Crossmen "Protest" Nails!

Yes, DCI, or Drum Corps International. Alright, for those of you who don't know what DCI is, a very watered down definition would be professional marching band, but that definition makes us who know of DCI a little mad, because it is far from that. When in doubt, google it!

 I am starting a series of nail looks based on the 2013 shows of  the top 12 world finalist corps from 2012, with first being last. I love drum corps, the work ethic, the impeccable shows put on by these talented performers. I have not yet tried for a corps, but I still have a few years, and when I do, I would be on the color guard. I am also doing a nail series for WGI, Winter Guard International, after the DCI series. I started here with crossmen, albeit, I only have the trailer to go off of so I did try to represent the show while still showing some of the most recognizable parts of the corps. Let me know what you think, so the next looks will turn out well!

Bones about it. I bought this Crossmen lanyard when I attended the 2012 tour that stopped in San Antonio, and I decided to include it in this photo since this is one of the few pieces of merch I have related to DCI.

 I started this look with a base of Orly's Decades of Dysfunction, followed by a white sponging of French White Tip by NYC. Then, I used Black on Black by Sinful Colors, and Salsa by China Glaze for the red. I did the entire look freehand, no tapes, stencils, though I did use a makeup sponge to dab on the white.

 I think I should have used a different base color to add a more dramatic effect to this look, you can barely distinguish between the white and the Decades of Dysfunction underneath.

 I am glad that the cursive "Crossmen" came out, as this was my first time writing in cursive with polish, not to bad.

I plan on auditioning for Crossmen, maybe, but based on my skill set with guard, it is going to be a bit of a while. 

- Try using 100% acetone, it takes off polish a bit easier, but can be drying to some.

     Hector c:

Zoya Storm Swatch

And here is the third polish from the zoya 3 free in 3013 sale. I would say this is one of may all time favorites, this polish is just gorgeous! I do not like star blacks, nor crazy shimmers, but this meshes those to into a perfect concoction and I love it! Excuse my cuticles, as I was not up for tending to them this week :/

This was my favorite photo from this shoot, I love the way my nails look, and the bottle looks so scrumptious! 

this polish applied well, with that said, I got full 100% opacity with two coats, which is alwyas a plus because who has time to paint their nails all day?... though I totally would if I had the chance!

I decided to do a bottle shot of this beauty because it just felt right. This captures the contrast pretty well, but there is always a bit more gorgeousness when polishes are in the bottle.

I would say the staying power of this polish is really good, and the polish did not stain my nails or cuticle area when time came to remove it.

This is my last swatch for the week, because I want to get back to doing nail art, that is what i am obsessed with now, but I will keep throwing swatches and other interesting posts to add some versatility!

Last one, I know some people hate the stark black on nails sometime, but this is far from that, far more sophisticated. Some describe this as snow during the night time, though being from Texas I have only seen snow a couple of times, so I could not describe it as that.


- Hair is 20% weaker when wet, therefore more prone to breakage. wait to brush it after its at the most 70% wet.

     Hector c:

Zoya Blaze Swatch

Here's the second polish from the Zoya 3 free in 2013 sale that ran in January. The sale consisted of three polishes that are free of almost any collection, except the upcoming pixie dust polishes. I chose the three holo polishes from the Ornate colection, Aurora, Blaze, and Storm. I decided to make thsese my first swatches, since I have never done swatches. I tried to get a couple of different angles, but and a couple of sunlighted photos. Here you go!

This color is a beautiful red, the photos do not show how vibrant this polish is in real life The holo is just so dimensional and well, juicy!

the application of this polish is pretty good, I would say it is not streaky and applies very smoothly.

This is the first photo in the sunset, you can see a bit more of the vibrant holo, this holo is not like your conventional holos, its a little different, but matches this color and gives it a unparalleled richness.

 This red could be anyones red because it is so gorgeous and has shimmer, but its a flattering shimmer, not over the top chunky glitter.

Here's the last sunlight photo, this one came out a bit funky but looks nice, the red is slightly too saturated in the photo compared to real life.

- You can use olive oil for all types of personal care, you can mix it with sugar to make a moisturizing scrub, you can put a bit on your skin before you go to bed to make your skin soft too.

     Hector c: