In the mood for some polish! ChG Velvet Bow

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Hi Ya, Long time no mani! But today I mani-ed!!! Sorry for being AWOL!

but lotsa things going on. Missed u guys!

Base: ChG Velvet Bow

Sally Hansen: Strobe light

Revlon: Sunshine sparkle

The base is lovely dark creme polish. Smooth in 2 coats. Topped with SV.

I was going for a gradient effect with the glitter, but eh!!?

Accent is dotted with Revlon sunshine sparkle, not one of my favourites. Its tacky, streaky and takes ages to dry.

Well, here's hoping to catch you again soon!

NailartMarch 2013 Chevron

This is the march challenge from Jasmine of Californails, and I decided to do this after completing her February challenge. The first day is chevron nails!

I started with a base of Happy Go Lucky by China Glaze, and followed with Da Bush by Essie, and I used Milani FX in Silver and took the glitters for the glitter border on the ring finger. 

I used a small nail art brush to place the glitters one by one, making sure they were in line. This was my second time doing a glitter placement of any kind and the right side of the ring finger came out a but splotchy, but is not too bad.

 The chevrons I did with a nail art brush, though it was difficult to sharpen the tips of the chevrons without messing up, but I will do another one of these soon, and maybe I'l get somewhat better at it!

I think this was a good start to this challenge and I am excited to get everything else done too!

Remove oils on the nail plate before a mani with nail polish remover, and using a base coat will lengthen the time of your manicure!

-- Hector c:

Liebster Award!

I got a Liebster award! Its from Kayla at lalalacquer. This award is for blogs that are under the 200 follower mark, and you have to award 11 blogs, though I am having trouble finding blogs to award!

The rules are as follows:

1. Post 11 facts about yourself
2. Answer 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you 
3. Ask 11 questions to the people you are nominating 
4. Find 11 blogs with less than 200 followers, and nominate them.

11 facts about me:

1. I hoard Bath & Bady Works products, though It is relatively under control now... I think! 

2. I am a Biology major, and a freshman in college.

3. I am obsessed with Jesus, Pringles, bread, oreos, and peanut butter

4. I play the Saxophone and Flute

5. I have a magazine, and drum corps obsession

6. I have two sisters, one older, and one younger, each by two years, and all our birthdays are in August

7. I am a bad addict to shows like Parks & Recreation and The Real Housewives. 

9. I love doing hair, and I have blue hair currently.

10. I am 5'11 and almost 6 foot. 

11. I love Beluga whales, and I was kissed by one at SeaWorld c:

11 Questions for me:

1. Have you ever had artificial nails? 

Nope, I haven't, But I kind of want to try them at least once. 

2. How often do you get a bad nail break?

I rarely get breaks, my nails are pretty strong and resilient, but I have only experienced one really bad one, where the entire nail edge came off (the white part) and they were really long at that time. 

3. What polish(es) started your obsession? 

I had always worn clear coat from time to time, but I got a neon yellow polish from hot topic and a blue one coat glitter from Milani and that was where everything began.

4. What is your favorite holiday?

 probably christmas, because of the scents and homliness of the season. I can also put some pins from Pinterest to good use!

5. What are some of your favorite blogs?

The Nailasaurus, Packapunchpolish, The Polished Perfectionist, and there are tons more I keep my eyes on!

6. What hobbies do you enjoy outside of nail polish/art?

Leaning how to dance, color guard, cooking, reading.

7. What are your favorite base and top coats?

 I like Beauty Secrets Base Coat, though I do not use base coat as much as I should! I also love Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in 110 Flawless.

8. Do you like the smell of nail polish?

 I like the smell of polish, I am so used to the smell, I sometimes don't even smell it!

9. Are there any brands you wish were more available where you live?

Not now, since I can order everything online for a great discount, depending on which site you go to. 

10. Where do you buy most of your polish?

Online, since that is where great sales are, I like NastyNails, Transdesign, 8ty8 Beauty, Cut & Blow. I'm constantly looking for more!

11. What do you friends and family think of your polish obsession?

My family is hesitant, with me being male, and my family being conservative Texans, but I think the more work I show them, the more they'll know I really take my polish seriously! My friends love my nail art, and ask me to do designs for them constantly. 

11 Questions:

1. How many polishes do you have? 

2. What is your favorite polish brands and why?

3. What do you think about nail art designs? When is a look too much?

4. Do you plan on doing more nail art, or swatches?

5. What are your top 5 favorite polishes?

6. Has anyone ever said you have too many polishes, or change your polish too often?

7. What look would you like to see more often outside of the blogworld?

8. What kinds of polishes are your favorite? Finish? Color?

9. Do you have any stories about having someone do something for you while your polish was drying, or something you are proud you did while your nails were wet?

10. What celebrity would you love to do nails for and talk with?

11. What do you think about the nail scandal with Kelly Osbourne's &250000 Azature black diamond manicure, in 2012?

I am looking for more people to nominate, but I only found a few!

I nominate:

Amy at Amy Fley!

DCI 2013: Spirit of Atlanta 2013 Speakeasy

Here it is! I am so glad I got to post this because I love the way this look turned out compared to my Crossmen nails. Again, I am doing DCI show nails based on the finalist corps, and going backwards, and so I started with Crossmen. Here is the 2013 Spirit of Atlanta show: Speakeasy!

 Okay, before anyone points this out I am going to say it... I did the ombre on the ring finger in the opposite direction. I started with a base of NYC French White Tip, and followed by painting freehand with Flyin' High and Kalahari Kiss by China Glaze, silver by Klean Color, and Black Lace creme by NYC.

 I did the entire design freehand, I used photos as reference for the DCI logo. I sponged on the ombre for the Spirit logo.

 If anyone has a request for a corps that is not a finalist corps, I would be glad to do a design for them, I just used finalist corps because they are generally the most popular/known.

NailartFeb 2013- Ombre

I tried my best to not do the regular makeup sponge ombre here, because I think that can get overdone, as well as the stripe ombre that is making waves across instagram.

 For this look I started with two coats of French White Tip by NYC, and used First Mate, Flyin' High, and For Audrey. for the spatter method I taped off the light blue section from the rest of the nail and used a coffee straw to deposit a splat of color. Each nai ltook about 2-3 tries to get good coverage. I then removed the tape and used the next two colors without separating them, and for some reason, it worked!

I think this is a awesome way to ombre, though some might sat it is messy, but I would call it artsy? maybe?


There are more germs on your keyboard and moused that you might believe.

     - Hector c:

NailartFeb 2013- Nude

This was my favorite part of the challenge when I first looked at the kinds of designs I could try. I decided to go with the tattoo look for this one. I think I could have used more tattoo elements too add to this but I love the font I chose and the way looks on the nails

 

I started with two coats of Kalahari Kiss by China Glaze, followed by the drawing of the letters with Black Lace Creme and French White tip by NYC, and then topped off the look with a matte topcoat from Hot Topic.

 I looked for fonts on Dafont, a website that offers thousands of great fonts free of charge, and found one that I thought would emulate the tattoo look I aimed for. The font was cleverly called "Tattoo Ink" can be downloaded and used for free.

Tattoos are great, just refrain from getting one of your boyfriend's/ girlfriend's name, you may just regret that tattoo.

     - Hector c:

NailartFeb Challenge- Bows

 Bows are the quintessential part of any girly girls' wardrobe and I made the usual a little bit more vibrant by using a pink glitter base. and classic black bows.

I started with Milani's Disco Lights, and then painted on bows with a small nail art brush using Black Lace Creme by NYC.

Though the bows could have turned out a little bit neater I love the contrast between the light pink glitter and the black bows!

If you touch your tongue then you can stop a yawn.

     - Hector c:

NailartFeb Challenge- OOTD

This was a weird one for me in terms of finding what design to do with the clothes I was wearing. I wore a purple shirt, and black shorts with white stripes running down the side. This design is pretty simple and took about 25 min. to do, including drying time.

 

I started with Grape Pop by China Glaze, then followed with Black Lace Creme and French White tip by NYC for the stripes. I used a striping brush to draw the stripes, which is a skinny brush with thin long bristles. I also used a small nail art brush to help fill in some mistakes.

This s a pretty wearable manicure in my opinion, because its crazy, but not crazy enough to call someone a whack-o for having something other than run-of-the-mill solid colored nails.


Glass cleaner sprayed on a stain, then ironed over with a rag inbetween the carpet and iron will remove stains quickly!

- Hector c:

NailartFeb Challenge- Candy

What an awesome challenge! Candy! In High school, my junior year, all I ate was asome form of chips and candy every day for lunch. I don't dare do that now, but I had fun eating crazy amounts of sugar. Here is the skittle mani!

 I wish I would just eat these! I started with the four bases of Grape Pop, Rougish Red, Happy Go Lucky, and Salsa all by China Glaze. Then, for the S's I used a small nail art brush to draw the S's with NYC French White Tip, which is probably the worst letter I can paint currently!

Cut down on soda and other sugary drinks like sweet teas, and energy drinks to trim your waist.

     - Hector c:

NailartFeb Challenge- Smooches

This is the Smooch! nail design I came up with. I like the idea of this updated ruffian manicure, since it adds a cooler texture to the conventional look, almost like snow. 

 

I achieved this look with using Sally Hansen's Gray by Gray as a base, the using a small piece of makeup sponge and French White Tip by NYC I crated this frosted effect, I then used a small nail art brush to draw the lips with Salsa by China Glaze

 This was probably one of my favorite manis of this challenge because I was a lot more creative with this and I think it cam out great!

Moisturize within three minutes of getting out of the shower, that is when your body will soak up the most moisturizer and stay hydrated throughout the day.

     - Hector c:

Nailartfeb Challenge- XOXO

The third day! This one was pretty simple, but I put a bit of a twist into this design by adding a two toned pink water marble! 

 

 I started with a base of NYC French White tip, then followed with two pinks for the water marble, Revlon's Temptress and China Glaze Rich & Famous. I then hand drew the x's and o's with a small nail art brush dipped into Black Lace Creme by NYC.

 I encourage people to try water marbling though it can be one of the hardest techniques to get down. It took me a few tries before I got a good result. Even then, I am still working on making the same patterns every time I drop my nails in the water.

Too much protein, keratin, can make your hair birttle , be on the look out when buying hair products.

     - Hector c:

Nailartfeb 2013 Challenge- Flowers

So Here is the second look, flowers! I decided to do just a dotting tool flower. I am thinking of learning the one stroke technique, but I would have to get some acrylic paints, since those are necessary for the one stroke technique!

 I started with a base of Sally Hansen's Gray by Gray, followed by a dotting of Revlon Temptress and China Glaze Flyin' High. I used a medium and small dotting tool for the flowers.

 I would rank this design as easy. The only semi-difficult part would be placing the dots within the flower the right space from each other, but other than that, you should be able to re-create this mani with ease.

Adding a teaspoon to hard boiled eggs while boiling will make the peeling process easier!
     - Hector c: