Sunset Polka Dots

I wanted to do a nail design with a sunset color scheme to it. I tried a gradient before and it didn't work out, it looked more like color blocks and I didn't like it so much soooo...here's a different angle. My base coat is China Glaze in Peachy Keen. I used 2 coats. I then used the Konad plate m79 for the polka dots. I just used the dark purple special Konad polish for this. I did a top coat of Seche Vite because I didn't want the dots to come off when I did the chevron tips. For the tips I used Big Spender by Essie followed by a few more layers of topcoat. I debated over adding a silver glitter stripe at the bottom of the chevron tips but ultimately sleep won out. :)

Starry Nights!!

I really liked the story behind the Ruffian manicure and how it was inspired by the moon and the night. I'm a night owl so I felt it suited me. :) For the "moon" I used Pure Ice in Silver Mercedes and then for the "sky" I used Essie in Midnight Cami. Now I know traditionally these have a matte finish but I'm not really into matte so much and like the glossier wet looks so I did not use a matte topcoat. I wanted it to have a little more to it so I used the stars/fireworks on Konad stamp plate m14 with the white Konad special polish and also added a rhinestone to each nail. The original design was to have the rhinestone in the center of the largest star but my rhinestones were too big for that...so I just added them to one spot on the nail. I really liked this one!!!

Crackling it up!!!

I had bought some of the China Glaze Crackle polishes awhile back and decided to experiment. I was trying to figure out a good color combo and felt a green and black would work. The base coat is Nicole by OPI in Iceberg Lotus. This color is an interesting iridescent green type of shimmer to it. I like more of an opaque look so this took about 3 coats to get it to an opaque I could deal with. The shimmer it has to it is pretty awesome. I wish I had photographed it prior to the Crackle but I didn't. I used the Black Mesh Crackle on top and was pretty pleased with how it came out. The green sparkles through the black. The picture doesn't really do it justice.

Bad Manicure Romance

This is a manicure I did over Memorial Day (I told you I was slacking :) ) I found some nail art stickers that I were interested in and thought I would try. Everything started out ok. I did my usual base coat and painted 2 coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Lavender Cloud. This was the first time I had used a color out of that collection, even though I have 3 colors from it. I liked the color but found the brush to be a little on the weird side for me. I didn't like the brush that much because of how it applied the polish.

Because I have klutz tendencies...I decided to use drying drops on it so I wouldn't have to redo a nail....bad mistake...I was using the OPI Drip Dry drops and it had an unusual effect...the nail polish got some funky looking skin on it...like when pudding dries on the top (nasty I know but that's the best way I can explain it..lol).

Then it went from bad to worse. I have a bad habit of doing my nails in bed. I sat my acetone down on my comforter and didn't know that the bottle wasn't closed all of the way. I didn't notice it until it had already gone through my comforter, top sheet, fitted sheet, mattress pad and all the way down into the mattress...Talk about pissed!!!! I had to wash them all at like 5 o'clock in the morning...I finally got the stickers on it and a couple coats of Seche Vite. Here was the final result. Not too bad but a lot of frustrations...