Green Argyle

Ah, I remember this manicure. I was so excited because it was the first one I "designed". Up till then I was copying other mani's I saw online. Now Argyle isn't exactly an original idea, but I was so proud of it at the time. I had also just learned what a striper was. A striper is a bottle of polish that has a long, thin brush in it for sharper lines. I painted my nails white (Sally Hansen's "White On") then painted a green X on them with a green striper. Fill in the top and bottom triangles formed by the X with green, then a green sparkle on top of that. Then I used a black striper to cut the triangle/diamonds in half. Very easy but rather impressive. I'm not sure what colors I used, but I think the only stripers I had at the time were It's So Easy Strip Rite brand ones.

Tin Foil Glitter Removal.

Who doesn't love glitter polish? Seriously, it is a trend that has lasted for a very long time simply because everyone loves sparkles. The only thing to truly despise about glitter polish is that it is the hardest thing to get OFF your nails again. Glitter sticks to your nails like little suction cups and the nail polish remover simply can't get under the glitter flakes to dissolve the polish under it. There are many tips and tricks out there, but here is a tried and true method most people swear by.

Find out how to use Tin Foil to remove glitter polish after the jump...

Vera Bradley Nails

So we sell these purses where I work. Vera Bradley is a pretty popular brand, and I'll admit, I have a few myself. So when new colors come in, we kind of get swamped at the store of people wanting to get a peek at them. Last Sunday we had our Vera rep come in to give us a sneak peek at the new colors (love em!) and I decided to paint my nails to mimic one of the patterns. I really think Vera should licence out (loan out? give permission to? oh you know what I mean) so that Sally Hansen or some other company can make nail polish strips in Vera patterns. I told our rep that but I don't know if that idea will get passed along. I'd buy them, but you can't go by me, I buy anything nail polish related. Anyway, the top photo is the Vera pattern "Plum Crazy" and the one below is "Lime's Up" that I did last summer. The insert is the pattern I based the mani's off in case you are not familiar with Vera Bradley.

"Plum Crazy" is OPI's "Louve Me Louve Me Not". I then painted with a regular thin paint brush and dotting tool in Sinful Colors "Unicorn" "Sweet Nothing" "Hazard" and Sally Hansen Xtreme wear "Green With Envy".

"Limes Up" is Sally Hansen Xtreme wear "White On" "Blue Me Away" "Green With Envy" Insta Dri "Lightening" and stamped with Salon Express SE20 in Wet n Wild "Ebony Hates Chris".

Harvest Festival

While we wait for winter to be over and spring to get here already *glares at grey gloomy skies* how about a look at a fall manicure? Here is a 3 color gradient of China Glaze "Hey Sailor", Pure Ice "Hot Tamale" and Sally Hansen "Lighting". Stamped over that is BundleMonster BM205 in Maybelline Color Show "Bold Gold" perhaps the best gold stamping polish I've found so far. I was trying to use colors that reminded me of falling leaves and the stamp image worked so well with that. Not sure why I used gold for the stamp color other than I had just bought "Bold Gold" and was eager to use it for anything o.~

Shrooms!

I really liked this mani. Very simple Mario mushroom done for another game night. I think this was the first time I painted my nails for game night. Got to my sister's place early so we both did nerdy nails. Of course at the game none of the guys noticed, but afterwards at Barnes & Noble the cashier girl noticed and loved them. Sally Hansen "White On" for the white tip and Bath & Body Works "Candy Apple" for the red. We used the handle of a paint brush for the dots. Just a little bit of Wet n Wild "Ebony Hates Chris" for the eyes. I still really like this one. Maybe I'll do it again but in green for the 1UP mushroom.

Nail Polish Thinner

I like dollar store polish. I can get nearly every color in the rainbow for dirt cheap, but you take a chance with it. A lot of cheap polish I come across is cheap for a reason. It bleeds, stains, is super thin, or more commonly thick. For thick polishes there is an easy fix. Nail Polish Thinner is just a few bucks at your local beauty supply store and can restore polish that is nearly dried out. In fact I had a dried up bottle and a hefty squirt brought it back to life. I shook it up and left it for a few days and boom! It was polish again. Now even though it fixed dried up polish, I don't recommend it for that, as the once-dry polish is greasy. What you want to use thinner for is polishes that are getting gloppy like my Art Deco silver glitter striper was getting. I once heard someone using water to thin polish but I just can't see how that would work, because water and polish literally don't mix. That's the whole theory behind water marbling. Under NO circumstances should you add Nail Polish Remover or Acetone to thin your polish. Remover and Acetone are made to break down and destroy chemicals in polish, so adding it to your bottles will destroy what makes polish, polish.

Check out before and after photos after the jump...

Techno Stamp

Ah, here is a mani I was rather proud of. I designed this for Soguesswhat11's contest back in May 2012. It also happens to be one of the few videos I made. Don't laugh...but here it is. Claire's Starstruck collection "Drops of Jupiter" is the base with Bundlemonster.com's BM221 stamped with Wet n Wild's "Ebony Hates Chris". This is also the first time I played with gems. A small clear gem in the middle of the ring finger. I don't wear gems much as I'm always worried they will fall off. They also feel weird on my fingers but I'm sure that's only because I don't wear them much. I'm sure if I wear them more often I'd get used to it.