Vintage Mani

There are a couple of variations on how people interpreted this weeks Year of Polish theme: "Vintage" mani

It thought it was referring to the kind of manicures that were done in the olden days, where the tip and the half moon were left polish free. Which you can see in this vintage Cutex ad from the late '30s.

Even though this was my original intention, such a manicure was not going to work with my stubby nails. I barely have a free edge to leave polish free! Since that was not going to work, I decided to a vintage pattern mani! My poor little nails could handle that one!

I looked around the internet for some neat vintage patterns and came across this gorgeous wallpaper from the early 1800's

from http://www.historicnewengland.org

and "recreated" it using tape and stamping

Essie in Turquoise and Caicos

Sally Hansen in Wet Cement

Konad Special polish in White

Konad stamping plate M71

I really fudged the index finger but otherwise, I think my stamping has improved a lot. I remember the first time I tried stamping >_< it was a disaster! haha!

Don't forget to check out my Year of Polish page to see past nail art and future themes as well as to discover some great nail artists who are also doing this challenge.

Anyhow, maybe one day I will try the vintage manicure that is in the Cutex ad above. I just have to keep my nails from breaking! with that, I am off to moisturize :)

Has your nail length ever kept you from doing a manicure you had in mind?

Until next time ^_^

Color Block Mani

This is the week 3 mani of the Year of Polish Challenge

I didn't really have many ideas as to what I wanted to do with this one so I looked around the internet for inspiration and came across Everbella's nail art blog. She has a very cute color block mani that she posted in November and I thought I would try my hand at it. You can see her original design here. 

Since I wasn't going to wear this mani for very long (have to start on the next one!) I omitted the rhinestones. I also decided to go for some brighter colors because I am a fan of bright colored nails :)

Zoya in Ibiza

Joe in Iris

Joe in Crush

Sally Hansen in Lite

Sally Hansen in So Poppy

Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in Black

This is probably not my best work. I've been stressed all week about school and I think it shows with this one but oh well. The week is over now so hopefully things will get better!

Also, you can see a lot of tip wear but this is because of Seche Vite. The thicker the nail polish the more it likes to shrink! Even though this happens all the time, I don't think I will ever stop loving Seche Vite, it is just too amazing!

Don't forget to check my Year of Polish Page and visit other wonderful bloggers who are taking this challenge!

Until next time ^_^

Glittery Star

I was trying to figure out a nice mani to use mty Etude House "black" polish for and all I could come up with is a night sky... Original I know...

But I remembered this amazing tutorial by Blue Tape and Nail Tips for super cute shooting star nails. You can see her original blog entry here.

Since I dont have blue painter's tape, I use regular scotch tape.
Here are a few tips I have learned for taping manicures.

• cut all your tape pieces BEFORE you begin painting your nails. Scissors are not wet  polish friendly
• before you put the tape on your nail, stick it on the palm of your hand to remove some of the stickyness. This will prevent it from taking up the base layer.
• after you've placed your tape and painted one nail, remove tape immediately. Dont go on to the other nail until  the tape is off of the first one. You dont want the polish to dry on top of the tape and take off all of your hard work right?
• finally, wait until your base polish is just dry to the touch to tape things up. If it's too dry (like day after you painted your nails dry) the tape is more likely chip it off. If it's not dry enough... well you know...

tip wear. Partially due to seche vite and partially due to doing the dishes before taking the picture >_<

Green shimmer!

Purple shimmer!

Etude House in Black

OPI in Simmer  and Shimmer

Star is from Bundle Monster on Amazon

Thank you to everyone who has entered the giveaway and welcome to the new followers!

If you haven't done so already, enter the giveaway now! do it do it! Enter the Giveaway here :)

Until next time ^_^

Because Zoya is awesome

I decided to do a mani using a couple of my favorite Zoya colors in celebration of the amazing promotion they  had this week ^_^ 3 free bottles of good quality polish of my choice? beyond awesome!

I used a trick from Chloe's Nails that she called the shredded mani. Click on the link to see how to do it for yourself. It really is super easy!

Zoya in Charla

Zoya in Ibiza

If you have ever seen Charla for yourself, than you know that this picture does not do it justice. It is simply amazing. A foiley blue base with green micro glitter creates polish perfection.

Ibiza, though not as fancy, is a remarkable navy creme.

So there you go! A thanks to Zoya for their amazing promotion. I can't wait to get my stuff in the mail!

Until next time ^_^