Spring is in the air... and on my nails!

It's spring! and there's nothing you can do about it! i'm shouting it from the rooftops! and by rooftops i mean my nails. cause let's face it, i don't shout anything.

Here's a little background on this mani. Whenever I don't have leopard print on my nails, I want leopard print on my nails. and whenever I do have leopard print on my nails, I like it that way, and I'm happy all day long. DEAL WITH IT.

So this is my RIGHT hand, meaning, yes, I have acquired the skills to paint leopard print with my non dominate hand. pure talent right there. (jk, painting weird squiggly lines is my left hands specialty)

fun fun fun fun. I painted my left hand with more muted/dusty colors. and I like it better. maybe.

I added a matte topcoat to all of these of course! with such dainty little colors, they looked weird glossy... they were just asking to be mattified. ("oh pleeease, Joy! make us matte! we promise we'll look good, you don't need to smother us in Out The Door to hide our flaws!") or something like that...

Okay, that was my quick little nail update. back to packing, moving, and general polish scheming.  (i'm working on making my very first franken polish. but it's adding up to be quiet the investment...)

31 day challenge: Inspired by a movie

Day 23: Inspired by a movie! OH man, this one was easy to think of. Bambi. that's right, Bambi. probably my all time favorite movie, or at least my all time favorite movie that would make cute nails. 

What I used: Milani Pink Rocks, KC Pastel Pink, Essence Mellow Yellow, Color Club Earthy Angel,CC Nomadic In Nude, Sinful Colors Happy Ending, SH Black Out, Catrice ASHley.

a flower, Flower (skunk), Thumper (bunny), Bambi (deer) Butterfly.

i wanted to keep these very simple and almost iconic. at least for the main characters. 

the little bunny tail is probably my favorite!

 So, whats your favorite movie. I know i watched Bambi at least every week for a while, that is until the Lion King came out. ;)

31 Day Challenge: Water Marble

Day 20: Water Marble... wow. this was a terrible mess! i almost did a dry marble, just because i knew how much cleaner that would have been. but i wanted to stay true to the challenge and do a water marble. keep reading to see why i hate water marbles.

okay, last time i did water marble i didn't tape up my fingers. this time i did, and i was hopeful that it would come out better!

all taped up, tape, cup, polishes ready to go!

pour the polish in the cup, room temp water, i did swirl these, just forgot to take a pic.

time it takes to dip fingers in water: less than a minute. time it takes to clean it up... lost track.

What I used: Barry M Turquoise, Kleancolors pastel pink, Essence Mellow yellow

the biggest problem was the water causing bubbles on my nails.

it did that to my thumb so badly it never dried properly and i had to take

it off and just paint some stripes of the colors on there...

 i like how the index finger shows a purple color, but i didn't have any purple in the cup... pink + blue = purple. not my plan, but okay.

re is no rhyme, reason, order, safe zone, or boundaries to water marbles, everything just goes everywhere and does whatever it wants. that is not my style. i like clean lines. i like crispness! 

have you tried a water marble? was it a failure or a success? 

31 Day Challenge: Galaxy

Day 19: Galaxy nails! I don't know who thought up the idea to put a galaxy on your nails, and make it a 'thing' to do to your nails, like french tips, and half moons, but i'm cool with it. Galaxy nails are fun. they're creative, and can pretty much look like anything. now that's my kind of mani! 

What I Used: SH Black out, KC Pastel Blue, POP beauty nail glam Ultraviolet, Ulta Alter Ego, KC Pearl Silver, Two-way nail art pen. PHEW!

Go go galaxy arms! i almost put holo glitter over the whole thing, i tried it on my thumb, but i just didn't like it.

I know you're supposed to put in a picture for refference, but i sorta used all the pictures if galaxies on google images, a few different actual manis, and my imagination. so that's that. :)

oh hey, here's my
first ever attempt at
galaxy nails that i did
a whopping 3 months ago.

31 Day Challenge: Glitter!

Day 17: Glitter! oh boy! right before is started taking pics for this i let out a maniacal laugh. something like this... bwahahah.... oh geez. i don't know what i was thinking. Martha Stewart craft glitter... oh yes...

What i used: Revlon Starry Pink, KleanColor Pastel Pink, and yes, Martha Stewart large hex craft glitter.

whammy! this is so silly.

The reason i did glitter day in pink is because this weeks PAA Monday challenge is pink nails for breast cancer awareness month. two birds, one stone.

this glitter is nuts! i actually bought it to franken with but.. it all sank to the bottom.
I figured it would be easier to just put them on top myself.

i layered starry pink over pastel pink just so it wouldn't take so many coats to be opaque, and to make it a little pinker, because starry pink is sorta grey/purple.

well, was this enough glitter for you? i showed them to my dad and he said,
"why didn't you do them all like that?" @_@

31 day challenge: Flowers

Day 14: Flowers! Well i've made it to day 14, two weeks! I had two options for flowers, freehand or konad stamp. i only have one plate with a flower on it, so i decided to try freehand. 

What I used: Sally Hansen Black Out, Kleancolor Pastel Pink,

Orly Flirty, Sinful Colors Happy Ending.

Since I have never done freehand flowers before I used  Rebecca Likes Nails tutorial which was great to go by, i highly recomend! 

I did a black background so it would have the 90's floral print dress look

(that is sadly back in style, oh my)

90's it up!

Hi Orly!

close up!

These were really fun to do! even though i don't have the BEST nail art brushes 

(i have old art brushes i found laying around my house) i made it work, and it turned out just fine! 

i would love to try them a little bigger so you can really tell what they are from a far, instead of looking like weird, pink jelly bean polka dots...right?

Thanks for reading, readers! <333

PS. I'll be posting my next giveaway later today. here's a hint...

On The Prowl, and glow in the dark!!!

31 day challenge: Polka Dots

Day 11: Polka Dots! When i think polka dots i instantly think of the 50's. poodle skirts, saddle shoes and other various retro elements. So i went with what i was inspired by and ended up with a cute little poodle on my nails. isn't he adorable? everyone say 'awww!'

What i used: Kleancolor Pastel Pink, Butter LONDON Come to bed red.

what up poodle, it's yer birfday.

I had never painted a poodle before, but it's really just 3 dots and a blob.

Then you connect them all together, add a snout and your done!

(no really i practiced this poodle on paper like 6 times, it was hard!)

so what do you think of my 50's inspired nails for Day 11?

31 day challenge: Gradient

Day 10: Gradient Nails! mhm mhm! I got my Nail Mail from Germany just in time. it included two sets of the Essence nail art twins. One of the sets being bella and edward (love the nail polish, hate the movie/book/whatever). i was super tempted to use Edward (the glitter) as an accent nail...but this mani is about gradients, not glitters. SO i stayed strong :P

What i used: KleanColor 142 Pastel Teal, Ulta Mint Condition, Essence 06 Bella.

Has anyone else noticed that Kleancolors dry incredibly slow!?? i've never used them for a tape mani so i never really paid attention, but, it took at least an hour to not leave fingerprints. 

So my base color was the Pastel Teal, then i did a half moon mani over it with Mint Condition.

Then i taped off the rest of the nails, and did the tips/ other 3rd of the nail in Bella.

Sometimes i wonder if there are some smaller circle stickers out there

to use for the half moons.

my pinky is so narrow you almost don't see the curved shape from the sticker.

So normally when i paint my nails i leave a window open, and put a fan in the window to blow some fresh air in. well this weekend a cold front blew through NC, (highs in the 50's) and let me just say that if this is an indication of what's to come this winter, i'm going to be doing my nails in a winter coat, and fingerless gloves! BRRR!!!

Thanks for reading!

Mini haul from Beauty Joint

My sister and a friend of ours did a massive, 24 polish order last weekend from beautyjoint. i ordered it thursday morning and got it saturday. speedy shipping ($15 priority mail though)!

Here's my little stash from the order. Plus two art brushes, black and white, that are not shown. WOO!

I'm so glad to have some pastels now, i don't know why i never had any! 

also a silver! can you believe i didn't have a silver?! 

ps. sorry for the crummy phone pic