Valentine's Day Lace Nail Art & Tutorial

Hi, everyone! Today, I'm starting my four-part series of Valentine's Day nail art! I'm going to try and bring you some manicures that are fun and funky, along with classic and sweet. For the most part, you'll be able to do all of them at home!

Monday's manicure theme is lace!

This look was accomplished using two coats of OPI You Only Live Twice and and OPI Skull and Glossbones. But obviously, you can replicate this using any shades you like and two different sized dotting tools! (Or a toothpick and a bobby pin. Seriously, that will work too! It's what I used before I knew what dotting tools were.)

This is really easy to replicate!

Step 1: Paint your base color until opaque, as you normally would.

Step 2: Using your second color, paint a French tip. It doesn't have to be perfectly even because you're going to be covering it up anyway!

Step 3: Take your larger dotting tool and dip it in the second color. Make dots along the outline of the French tip, with the top 1/3 of the dot overlapping the tip.

Step 4: Take the smaller dotting tool and dip it in your base color. Place a dot in the center of each of the large dots.

Step 5: Let it dry for about fifteen minutes before applying top coat to avoid dragging.

Step 6: Go rock it and look fabulous!

So what do you all think? Is this something you'd try on your own?

Until tomorrow!

Top of 2012: Glitter Bombs

Happy New Year, my lovelies! What better to kick off 2013 than a sea of glitter? And no, I don't mean all of the confetti still stuck to your hair from last night!

 

Even though Christmas has passed, I'm still head over heels for R. Hobby Cosmetics's Peppermint Shatter. It's like I got a crushed up candy cane and decided to turn lemons into lemonade... or rather, nail art. It's really unique and well thought out.

The above is two coats layered over two coats of Zoya Holly.

Oh, Maisie Shine Aquarium. How I adore thee.

This glitter bomb consists of an aqua jelly filled with varying shapes and sizes of blue and silver glitter. Above, it's layered over Nfu Oh 61 for a really cool underwater look.

Here, you can see how I built up coats of Aquarium to create a really cool gradient effect. Every time I see the chunks of glitter, I feel like they're fish in the depths of the ocean.

So there you have it folks... my Top of 2012! I hope you enjoyed this little segment of posting while I was away and went digging through your own stash to find your favorites.

Happy 2013! (And take that Mayan Apocalypse!)

Swatch and Review: OPI ULTA Holiday 2012

Happy Saturday, everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend so far!

Today, I'm bringing you this year's OPI holiday shades exclusively for ULTA Beauty. I stumbled upon them at my local ULTA in East Brunswick. If you purchase two OPI shades this weekend, you receive a special gift of your choice of the holiday shades for free.

 

Last Minute Shopper is a juicy strawberry red metallic polish. It applied evenly and was opaque in two coats. It's not the most unique shade out there, but it's a very pretty one. It has a very subtle glow about it. I like that has depth to the color without being a glass fleck. This reminds me of You Only Live Twice from the Bond Collection for Holiday 2012 without the aforementioned flecks.

For the record, this has already been stolen by the Queen Mum (aka: Nana) and I have not seen it since. I have a feeling it will make an appearance when she heads back to Florida and I find it on her dresser during winter break there.

Next up is Skip the Gift Wrap, a vibrant emerald metallic polish that slightly skews towards the frost spectrum. The application was fine and even. The brush strokes in this picture are virtually unnoticeable in real life. I think it's the macro that brings that out.

As Pantone has announced, emerald is SO in for 2013 and I think Skip the Gift Wrap is definitely a color to rock in the new year!

The last of the trio is Gift Cards for Everyone, a blurple shimmer with scattered specks of sapphire glitter. Forgive the lack of a bottle... it has gone missing somewhere within my bedroom.

The glitter is definitely apparent in sunlight, but not as much as in the bottle. It's a lot more scattered on the nail. Though, the effect is mostly there.

Overall, I liked this trio better than last year's two rough glitters and shimmery red. All three are very wearable for me and while they're not incredibly unique, I think they're very pretty shades that anyone would like to find in their Christmas stocking or for their last night of Chanukah.

As I mentioned before, you can currently receive one of these shades free with the purchase of two OPI polishes at ULTA. Because I only purchased these three, they were essentially B2G1 for me. They retail for $8.00 each and are available only at your local ULTA store! They also have a mini set called Stuff My Stocking that retails for $12.50 and includes the three minis

Three OPI's for $16? Not a bad deal, in my opinion. (And the 20% off my total purchase coupon didn't hurt... so they wound up being closer to $12!)

What's your verdict on this holiday collection?

Princess Polish

Zoya Ornate Gradient

Good Monday morning to you all! I hope your weekend was more enjoyable than mine. I have midterms this week, so need I say more? Didn't think so.

Before all hell broke loose and my brain became a jumble of criminal law statutes and jibberish I'm convinced doesn't actually mean anything, I had a little fun with the scattered holo shades from Zoya's brand new Ornate collection!

Here are the three shades I used (left to right): Blaze, Aurora, and Storm!

I started out with a base of Aurora and then lightly sponged Blaze from the tip of my nail to just before where the half moons start. I repeated this about two or three times per nail until I was happy with the blend. Then I sponged Storm until a little below my visible nail line. I applied Storm lightly, but dabbed polish just at the tip a few times to make it a little more opaque.

Here was the end result:

What do you guys think of the finished product? I'm in LOVE with it!

Princess Polish

Swatch and Review: Zoya Ornate Collection

 

It's here! It's FINALLY here! I've been so excited for this collection from the moment the press release hit my inbox.

The Zoya Ornate Collection features six shades, three scattered holographic polishes, two foils, and a bar glitter. That's a pretty awesome variety for a seasonal release, which is usually saved for the same silver, gold, green, red, blue, and white shimmer/glitter bombs from year to year.

Also... five out of the six polishes share names with superheroes. So, that's not exactly a negative for me!

Warning, this is going to be a pic-heavy post!

Press Release: butter LONDON Holiday Collection

I can't wait for the new butter LONDONs to hit the stores, but here is an updated preview!

 

butter LONDON Holiday 2012:   




Fiddlesticks - A full coverage, semi-matte, magenta glitter suspended in a raspberry base.

Scuppered - An opaque, copper shimmer infused with pink, gold and green glitter.

Jack the Lad - An opaque, moss green shimmer with gold, turquoise and green micro glitter.


Fairy Cake - A full coverage, silvery lacquer with multi-coloured iridescent glitter in a light grey base.


Scallywag - A full coverage, bright turquoise glitter with a clear base.
   
Trends for Holiday 2012:    

Sparkle, Sparkle! This holiday season, butter LONDON is all about making a glittering statement. We drew inspiration from the jeweled collars, sequins and metallic embellishments seen at Fashion Week. Our holiday colours are unique and edgy, while still completely wearable and elegant. This collection covers the glitter gamut with colours perfect for every holiday event, whether the party calls for a sophisticated glitter or one that sparkles like a disco ball!

The new butter LONDON shades are currently available on butterLONDON.com for $14 per bottle. They will also be available at retail stores, such as Nordstrom and Ulta.

Announcing: Zoya Ornate Collection (Winter 2012/13)

It’s time to celebrate... so make sure you celebrate in style!

The NEW Zoya Ornate Collection is the perfect to decorate your nails with stunning jewel tone colors and special effect pigments this season. Featuring six stunning, glittering, crystal shades in our new Power Pigment Full Coverage Formula. Superior coverage and dynamic color in one. All in the long-wearing, toxin free (BIG5FREE) formula you love... Each one is as beautiful as the next.

Zoya WINTER/HOLIDAY 2012/13: ORNATE Collection

·       Blaze (ZP641) - Cranberry Glitter Glam Crystal - Featuring Power Pigment Full Coverage

·       Electra (ZP642) -  Holographic Tinsel Special Effect- wear it alone or layer it for extra drama

·       Ziv (ZP644) - Gold Foil Glitter Crystal - Featuring Power Pigment Full Coverage

·       Storm (ZP645) - Black with Multi Color Crystal Shimmer - Featuring Power Pigment Full Coverage

·       Aurora (ZP646) - Plum with Multi Color Crystal Shimmer - Featuring Power Pigment Full Coverage

·       Logan (ZP647) - Green Foil Glitter Crystal - Featuring Power Pigment Full Coverage

ZOYA IS THE NEW COLOR OF FASHION!

Ultra long-wearing, glossy nail lacquers by Zoya are BIG5FREE - all formulas are completely free of harmful industrial chemicals such as toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known to cause cancer and birth defects.

Find over 300 other Zoya shades at www.zoya.com. Each and every name has a color as unique as the women who inspired it.

$8.00 ea. US. Shipping October 15, 2012.

Find Zoya Ornate on Zoya.com