St. Patrick's Day 2014

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I have a simple mani for you today. I used Bettina Mojito for the green and Zoya Gilty which is their gold flake top coat. I did a void using a shamrock nail vinyl for a little fun. The vinyl did not want to come off the base coat so it pulled a bit. I also wish that Gilty had less clear base in it so that more flakes would go on the nail. I did one swipe then ended up with the dab method to get more flakes out. Overall, it's a simple mani that's pretty cute for St. Patty's Day.

Halloween Challenge: Zombies!

Today's Halloween challenge was zombies so I attempted some freehand for you. I suck at freehand (that's no secret) but I've discovered acrylic paints finally! Acrylic paints make it so much easier to control the consistency of your art, plus if you mess up, you wipe it off with water (do a quick dry top coat over your base before your paint). For this mani I stared with Bettina Mojito and sponged Essie Mojito Madness (total coincidence) then worked my way around doing eyeballs, stitches, a brain and failed blood drops on my little finger :) This was quite fun and I really want to do a patchwork mani now using the acrylic paint colors *puts it on to do list that's forever long*.
check out some of the other amazing girls participating in this challenge!

Bettina Polka Dots: Aqua and Cotton Candy

I had such high hopes for this mani but alas, you cannot win them all! I started with a base coat of Bettina Aqua for my middle and ring fingers and Cotton Candy for my index and little fingers. I did opposite colored dots on each and then it was all down hill... The inset picture shows China Glaze Fairy Dust which seemed like a good idea but the pink polka dots ended up lightening up and showing the aqua underneath so they turned like a tan.. I'm not sure if it was the Fairy Dust that made it worst or what but it looked fine before. I like corresponding dots and I'll do more dotticures for you soon :) 

Monkey See Monkey Do Monday: Skittled Flip Flops BM 309

First off let me just say I copied Kirsten from the Geeky Owl who in turn copied this mani from A Girl and Her Polish so yeah, popular cool mani that's easy to do. I started with all Bettinas, L to R: Aqua, Cotton Candy, Peppermint, Art Deco Yellow and used the new Bundle Monster plate 309 to stamp with black Konad polish. It's a super simple design but still really cute. I honestly think I should have gone a little more outside the box and did neons for summer instead of pastels but that's only because I'm neon obsessed :)
Kudos to both ladies :)

MY GIVEAWAY!

Monkey See Monkey Do Monday: Multi-Colored Louis Vuitton Nails!

Oh Rin, how you are so awesome! My Monkey See Monkey Do Monday mani comes courtesy of Rin from Rin's Nail Files... her mani was amazing! I started with a white Milani base, then added Sally Hansen Diamond over it which is like a flecky shiny top coat (holding in in the picture). I used Bettina: Peppermint, Cotton Candy and Indigo. The Fun2 plate is such an awesome plate but I want this design to be smaller and closer together like the Lilac plate that Rin used. It would make for a multi colored stamping much easier to see all the colors.  It's a cute mani overall and I think it would have looked fab just stamped with Peppermint.

Check out everyone else's MSMD manis!

Split Watercolor Mani with Glitter

Hi Monkeys! I'm busy moving today so you'll see a few guest posts fill in again while I'm transitioning :) I tried a split watercolor mani a while back I started with a coat of Sally Hansen Fog and chose Bettina Amethyst and Sapphire. Amethyst and Sapphire are both shimmers and very very pretty, I only did one layer of each over Fog so it would look delicate and I would stand a chance at blending lines better. I glitter tipped the mani with Color Club Beyond the Mistletoe which is a multi colored glitter and its very dense and very shiny :)

For the "watercolor" part of it I basically just painted my nails with the Bettinas then took a fan nail art brush with acetone and ran it over the top so soften the color up. I also added a matte top coat so the shimmer would pop even more. 

Blue Dot Funky French

I have a random blue dot Funky French for you today. I used Sally Hansen Air as my base (2 coats) then dotted with two different blues (forget which ones I used but the light one is probably OPI What's With the Catitude). I then added NYC Big City Dazzle for glitter funsies (retails for $1.99 in drug stores). It has mostly pink and red glitter but there's gold and blue thrown in for good measure. A glitter top coat is always a quick and easy way to spice up an already existing mani if you don't have time to re-do it but need to cover up a chip touch up or want a different look. 

*products provided by companies' PR*

Stamping Sunday!: Deborah Lippmann Constant Craving (Easter Mani)

This week's theme for Stamping Sundays was Easter (kind of obvious). I started with two coats of Deborah Lippmann: Constant Craving which is a pink that has purple/dusty undertones. The formula on this was OK, it was a little streaky but evened out pretty well thought I'm sure a 3rd coat would have benefited it.  I free handed a rabbit on my accent finger then used Shany SH08 to stamp a cute little chick sitting in the grass (used Milani White) then stamped with Bettina Mojito and CH16 for "grass". (also used Mojito to draw the grass around the chick). Overall not a bad mani, I have two more to show you as well (check it out below)
Happy Easter everyone!

Decals (custom and in stock) can be purchased from my Etsy store.

Happy St. Patrick's Day Mani!

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone! I have a simple yet fun green mani for you today. I used a coat of Bettina Mojito with two coats of China Glaze He's Going In Circles (a green holo) over it. It was super hard to capture the holo so I blurred the picture a bit (blurred for your pleasure heh.). I then stamped with Red Angel 116 with the huge heart clover stamped in Wet N Wild Black Creme the dropped in green rhinestones to the middle of the clovers. I quite like this mani however it is not the one I am wearing for St. Patty's Day... more on that Monday :) Have a great day monkeys!

Julep: Mandy and Hayden + OB10

I have a spring mani for you today! I used Julep Mandy as my main color; a dark coral pink creme that was opaque in two coats. My accent nail is Julep Hayden which is a great soft orange pastel creme, also opaque in two coats with no problems. I wanted to use my new fauxnaud plate I got off ebay, OB10 and some of the images did not stamp. I used Konad special black for over Mandy and on Hayden I used Bettina Aqua and Bonfire. You can see where the hearts didn't fully transfer (see the dots) it's still a super cute mani though and I got lots of compliments when I wore it. I topped with SV for that added shine and the Bettina smeared a bit but overall, it's a cheery mani and a win. 

Bettina: Mojito + RA-116

With St. Patrick's Day a little over a week away, I thought I'd do a simple mani for you today. I started with two coats of Bettina Mojito, a dark grassy green creme. It applied easily and was very opaque. I used Wet N Wild White on my ring finger as an accent, two coats of that and I was good to stamp. I used Red Angel 116 and stamped the clover using Konad special white polish and on my accent finger I used Mojito to test out the stamping... not too bad, not perfect though. I took a Color Club art striper that had silver holo glitter and did a little design around the clovers. Overall an easy  mani for St. Patrick's Day and I got to play with another Bettina. :)

Bettina: Over Dyed and Ozotic 528

I have another Bettina and Ozotic for you today. Bettina Over Dyed is a deep demin blue creme that is fabulous in coverage and application. I used two coats then slapped a coat of Ozotic 528 over it. 528 is a clear base with small color shifting glitter. You can see it shifts from teal, blue, pink, red, orange... it's all there and amazing! I really love this combo and I topped it with SV to finish the look and smooth out the Ozotic. I'm slowly becoming obsessed with the Ozotics and layering lately. 

Stamping Sunday!: OPI: Mod About You + M64

This week for Stamping Sundays the theme was a plate ending in "4" so I chose Konad M64. I used a base of OPI Mod About You which is a light soft pink (love this color!), 2 coats and it was smooth and opaque. I stamped using Bettina Aqua, which I've stamped with before (love it!). The plaid design is one I don't think I've used before so I thought I'd give it a go. I didn't realize how hard it was to actually get the lines all straight and even (you have to use the same pressure or else it looks wavy). I promise I don't have waves on my index and middle fingers, it's a reflection off my top coat. I missed the corner of my middle nail but other than that, I think it's a cute mani, especially on my new nubbies. It was time to file them down. I find this is pro-active gesture is better than dealing with breaks, uneven nails and the stress of them all not matching.

NOTE: the link for the Konad M64 image is a new project I'm involved with that databases all the stamping plates for easy reference. We are in the early stages and still organizing/moving things around etc, but feel free to take a peek and check back. It will be fabulous!

Stamping Sunday! 3 colored mani with spring flowers

This week's stamping challenge was to use three colors for a mani.  I chose to go a big springy this week using Finger paints Lemon sour ( a yellow creme ), and stamping with Bettina Bonfire (a coral red) and Aqua (creme) with my cheeky plate 16 in a flower design.  This mani isn't too fancy but I do like the multi colored stamping and it's been a while since I've done it and I wanted to play with my new Bettinas :) My top coat smeared a little bit and my middle finger didn't stamp perfect but overall, you couldn't tell unless you looked super close. One of the things I liked best about stamping with Bonfire and Aqua is when the colors mixed, they created a purple color, which was really cool and nice that it blended the lines.  All in all it was a cute and easy mani that rose to the challenge!

Bettina: Cotton Candy + CH15

This is my Valentine's Day mani that I've been wearing for 4 days now, may be even 5! I used Bettina Cotton Candy as a base (2 perfect coats). It's literally the perfect pink of cotton candy. I then took nail striping tape and taped off tips that I used Wet N Wild Black Creme on, then stamped using my Cheeky plate #15 which has these cute hearts going up and down.  I smudged my pinky a bit but overall I really love this mani!

Guest Post: Kelly from Konad and Nail Polish

While I'm in Hawaii, I have a treat for you: a Hawaiian nail blogger :) Kelly from Konad and Polish did some awesome stamping and colors for us! Stop by and show her some Monkey love! Mahalo Kelly!

Hi everyone (: I am super excited and nervous right now because this is my first time guest blogging and I am guest blogging for The Manicured Monkey which is one of my most favorite blogs. With that said I am just going to go ahead and get started and hope you all like my post (:

For this manicure I combined everything I love. Green, blue, stamping, and sponging. I personally think that this turned out super pretty. Only bummer is that my top coat smeared the stamp a little bit :(

For my base color I used Bettina Trees. A gorgeous green with flawless formula that dries extremely fast and shiny. Easily one of my most favorite colors. 

Anyway, a big thanks to the Manicured Monkey for letting me post, and I hope you all liked it :)

• Base Color: Bettina Trees
• Sponge Color/Blue: Bettina Aqua
• Stamp Color: Konad Black Pearl
• Plate: BM201

Thanks again Kelly for a great post! Don't forget my giveaway everyone :)