Crushed Glass

So one of the girls at work picked up this little dish we sell. It was made of recycled glass and though it was smooth, it looked like the glass had been crushed then fused back together. Very pretty. She stared at it for a bit then told me I should try and do something like that for my nails. Good idea, so here's my attempt to recreate the effect. Here I have a base coat of Elmer's glue (Check out Wacky Laki's tutorial for this awesome basecoat!) 2 coats of "Caribbean Frost" by Wet n Wild's Wild Shine followed by "Happy Holidaze!" by Wet n Wild's Fastdry. The picture doesn't do it much justice, the color is a very sparkly teal. Then over that I stamped the broken glass image from Bundle Monster's BM-208 plate with "Silver Mercedes" by Pure Ice. Follow it up with a topcoat of Seche Vite. Hopefully tonight at work I'll remember to get a pic of the dish for comparison shots, but in case something tragic happens to the manicure before I get there I'm posting this now. I'm still working on perfecting the glue basecoat and its been known to peel off before I'm ready for it to be removed. More on that another day tho, I have to get ready for work right now :)

Update: Here ya go!

Nabi Magnetic Nail Polish

Nabi Magnetic Nail Polish. 2 coats and topcoat. Ring finger magnet
by China Glaze. All other finger magnets by Nabi.

When I first read about magnetic nail polish, I didn't believe it could do what it said it could do. It was one of the weirdest things I'd heard about. I decided I wanted to try it for myself but at the time there was only one brand that offered magnetics and that was Sephora, 18 dollars a bottle and available in 3 colors. Grey, Dark Grey and Light Grey. I'm not dropping that kind of money on polish I didn't think would work and was in boring colors.

Then one day it happened.

China Glaze's Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away

Check out what I just scored at my local Sally's Beauty Supply! 

"Whirled Away"

"Its a Trap-eze!"

It's China Glaze's Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away collection! I snagged the 2 I've been waiting for but there are so many pretty gems to be found in this collection. Close ups of my beauties after the jump...

Top It Off

Seche Vite. Almost empty, I'm gonna have to get a new bottle soon :)

One thing that helped my nail art immensely was top coat. Sounds a bit silly, but when I first started I used either a very poor top coat or more usually, none at all. Right now my favorite is Seche Vite. You can find it at supermarkets and beauty supply stores both. I get mine at Wal-mart and Sally's Beauty Supply. There are many brands of top coat that is good for nail art, but as I have the most experience with this one I'll talk mostly of Seche Vite.

Pros and Cons after the jump...

"Just Google It"

I've always had a mild interest in nail polish. I think up till last year I had a dozen or so polishes. Nothing fancy, just some glitters and some favorite colors. But last year that all changed rather drastically. On a random whim I painted my nails. I hadn't done it for years but I was feeling pretty that day. My co-worker noticed and we started chatting bout polish. Then she mentioned doing something I had never heard of, water marbling. She tried for several minutes to describe just what it was then, frustrated she said "just look it up on Google." So I did. And oh my goodness! The doors to Nail Art just blew open in my face! I was stunned not only by the water marbling but by the concept of nail art. After a little research, a few polishes, and an absurd amount of enthusiasm, I tried my first marble.

My First Water Marble
Sally Hansen's "Purple Potion" and CoverGirl's Nailslicks "Silver Belle"

I think if that first attempt didn't go as well as it did then thing may have turned out differently. However things did go very well and I was in love! That was just over a year ago. My dozen or so polishes are nearly 300 now. I've attempted so very many techniques and have had so much fun every step of the way. Now I'd like to share what I've learned for the next girl out there who was told to "just Google it."