Go Pink Wednesday and a self exam tutorial!!!

Good morning ladies!  It is Wednesday again and we have two more Breast Cancer Awareness inspired manicures for you as well as some important information on how to do a self breast exam.

In last week's Go Pink post we stressed the importance of self-breast checks as a front line defense in the early detection of breast cancer. Although breast cancer presents itself more prominently in women over 40, there is still just under 7% of new cases found in younger women. Check your breasts ladies!  Get out your calendars and pick a day each month to follow these steps taken from breastcancer.org.

Step 1: Begin by looking at your breasts in the mirror with your shoulders straight and your arms on your hips.

Here's what you should look for:

• Breasts that are their usual size, shape, and color
• Breasts that are evenly shaped without visible distortion or swelling

If you see any of the following changes, bring them to your doctor's attention:

• Dimpling, puckering, or bulging of the skin
• A nipple that has changed position or an inverted nipple (pushed inward instead of sticking out)
• Redness, soreness, rash, or swelling

Step 2: Now, raise your arms and look for the same changes.

Step 3: While you're at the mirror, look for any signs of fluid coming out of one or both nipples (this could be a watery, milky, or yellow fluid or blood).

Step 4: Next, feel your breasts while lying down, using your right hand to feel your left breast and then your left hand to feel your right breast. Use a firm, smooth touch with the first few finger pads of your hand, keeping the fingers flat and together. Use a circular motion, about the size of a quarter.

Cover the entire breast from top to bottom, side to side — from your collarbone to the top of your abdomen, and from your armpit to your cleavage.

Follow a pattern to be sure that you cover the whole breast. You can begin at the nipple, moving in larger and larger circles until you reach the outer edge of the breast. You can also move your fingers up and down vertically, in rows, as if you were mowing a lawn. This up-and-down approach seems to work best for most women. Be sure to feel all the tissue from the front to the back of your breasts: for the skin and tissue just beneath, use light pressure; use medium pressure for tissue in the middle of your breasts; use firm pressure for the deep tissue in the back. When you've reached the deep tissue, you should be able to feel down to your ribcage.

Step 5: Finally, feel your breasts while you are standing or sitting. Many women find that the easiest way to feel their breasts is when their skin is wet and slippery, so they like to do this step in the shower. Cover your entire breast, using the same hand movements described in Step 4.

Image taken from http://drugline.org/ail/pathography/793/

Image taken from http://drugline.org/ail/pathography/793/

Now that we have all the fun out of the way let's see some nails, shall we?  For Dom's mani this week she used Orly Artificial Sweetener and did a mermaid tail accent nail.  The polishes Dom used for the accent nail were W'n'W  Candy-licious, Sally Hansen Hard to Get, W'n'W Sparked and China Glaze Strawberry Fields. Lastly, Northern Lights holographic top coat was applied to all nails.  

w/ flash

w/o flash

SUNSHINE!!!!

Since we're fast approaching the best holiday of the year, E wanted her pink wednesday mani to be tinted with the holiday... the best idea? DRIP NAILS!!!!

For this mani E used Essie Cascade Cool as the base and butter LONDON Primrose Hill Picnic for the drips. This mani was easier to do than it appears, so check back soon for a tutorial!!

outside in natural, overcast, light

outside in the shade

inside under an Ottlite

We hope you enjoyed the second week in our Breast Cancer Awareness, Go Pink Wednesday mani series!

xo,

 & 

What a pretty penny!! Essie - Mirror Metallics Collection: Penny Talk

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY!!

So... I've been painting my nails on the sly every now and again... I know *hangs head* that's not exactly the best way to get my nails healthy again. Seriously though, did anyone ever believe that I could go a month or more without EVER painting my nails? Don't feel cheated though, none of my manis were noteworthy lol.

Of course when a friend of mine and fellow Beauty Blogger, Laura, from My Newest Addiction posted a picture of Essie and their new collection, Mirror Metallics, immediately I knew I had to find them. I mean yes, I have other foils or metallics, but these just didn't have the same shade or "look" of the ones I already have. These looked better... much better. Therefore... a NEED rather than a WANT formed.

Essie - Penny Talk with Julep - Chelsea accent nail

Luckily for my wallet I had just received my $5 coupon from CVS - Beauty Club Rewards program (every $50 you spend in qualifying beauty products you receive a $5 coupon to use on anything). So of course off I went in search of Penny Talk, the copper beauty from the Mirror Metallics collection. 

Unfortunately, I struck out on the first 2 stores. But the 3rd store had 2 bottles left and I happily snatched those up, informing the cashier that no, I did not need a bag lol. 

I read that the formula for these was difficult, so I was prepared when I started painting. BUT! Have no fear, in my opinion the formula is not difficult in these if you're an experienced "foil" user. Being a metallic they show brush strokes and if you're working at a slowish speed they'll pull and become ugly. My solution is to pull enough on the brush to try to do the entire nail in one brush dip or 3 paint strokes. 

***Pay attention***

These Mirror Metallics can be a one and done!

I did two coats because it's in my nature to always do 2 coats but truly I could've gotten away with 1 coat. 

In my car but also in the indirect light to show how shiny and pretty!!

I also have the blue Mirror Metallics, Blue Rhapsody, but I haven't worn it yet. I can't decide if I want to put it on next or something else... I might've gotten some Sticks n' Stones in the mail ;) so.... :D

gratuitous bottle shot :D

Thanks to all of you lovely followers and the fact that you keep coming back to check on us. Dom & I haven't forgotten all of you and believe me we have much love...  

xo, 

Purple Ombre tips with a side of matted NARS, please.

For my birthday I ordered a little bit of stuff from Sephora. Initially I was thinking of getting a couple Sephora by OPI colors but then I did some such random color search and came across the NARS Thakoon Collection. My eyeballs fell out onto my laptop. Seriously the amazingly beautiful and vibrant colors were show stoppers. Of course once I popped my eyeballs back in and rolled my tongue back up at the slightly steep $18/bottle cost my inner negative Nelly popped off with "they only look that pretty because they want you to fork over that $18! They won't be as nice in person..." She's such a bitch, I hate that damn negative Nelly... but she DID have a point...

NARS - Koliary (matte) with Ombre Purple Tips

However, let me just cut to the chase and say that I added and removed NARS - Koliary from my cart probably half a dozen times. I knew I only had so much money to spend and truly spending a decent amount on 1 bottle of polish was just kind of silly. But every time I saw the color it was like it sucked me in with it's mind control and bam! The bottle would be back in the cart!

NARS - Koliary 2 coats with base coat

Well, once my Sephora order came, my joy at finally receiving Nails Inc - Baker Street was quickly eclipsed when I saw the beautiful black NARS box. I thought "holy hell! I guess $18 buys my polish it's own little holder!" Then I opened the box... all the sounds around me faded away and I had tunnel vision. All I could see was this amazing vibrant shade of blue. I really and truly did make the bug-eyed-jaw-dropped face. The website described it as "cyan blue". My description? Happiness. Seriously if you love the blue family and all it's amazing hues this little gem will make you feel pure, unadulterated happiness.

NARS - Koliary made Matte with NYC Color - Matte Me Crazy

I wore this color for 3 different manicures in one week. No lie. I haven't done that in over 5 months. Below is one of those 3 manis. I love purple just as much as blue and thought I'd try to combine them. I still have mixed feelings about this particular mani though. I liked it but I didn't. I dunno. It's sorta like that feeling you get when falling in love with an outfit on the hanger... then you try it on and feel like some vital bit of you is hanging out in an unflattering way... but you cant FIND that bit. Yeah. THAT feeling :/

NARS - Koliary, NYC Color - Matte Me Crazy, Essie - Play Date, piCture pOlish - Wisteria,
Julep - Anne, Ulta - Celebutante, piCture pOlish - Grape

First I painted 2 coats of NARS - Koliary. Then I used NYC Color - Matte Me Crazy to turn the finish matte. Using my reinforcement circles I created a crisp edge, and from there I just used each purple polish in descending darkening shade on each nail to create the ombre tips.

My Instagram shot! Follow me @enjeliq

Hopefully you fall in love with this color like I did... and if you don't... well I guess that'll be just that many more back-ups I'll have access to! ;)

xo,

What about you? Have you ever had this love/hate feeling for a mani?

Q & A with celebrity manicurist Kimmie Kyees

Kimmie Kyees
Photo by Tiffany Kyees

For those of you who follow all things nails, the name Kimmie Kyees should ring a bell. If you are hot in Hollywood, Kimmie has most likely done your nails. Some of her regular clients include Rihanna, Katy Perry, Jenna Jameson and P!nk just to name a few (her portfolio and other professional information can be found HERE).

The 2011-2012 season has been a bright one for Kimmie Kyees.  She launched two awesome products this year; Kimmie Kyees Nails by elegantTouch (available at Ulta) and her own nail wrap design collection by Minx.  Knowing Kimmie, this is only the beginning of what she has in store for the nail community!

Instagram Photo by Rihanna
Caption: Thanks to my nail bitch @KimmieKyees this heaux is major as phuck
Photo posted 23 May 2012
Manicure for American Idol Season 11 finale performance

Kimmie has been a trend setting nail artist for many years and is responsible for some of the most talked about manis world-wide! We are so lucky and grateful to have been able to chat with her about all things nails including some awesome tips and tricks!

Mani Curiously: What exactly causes bubbling in polish? Are there any tips/tricks to avoid it?
Kimmie: Old polish, too thick application or formula or sometimes just a bad top coat.

Mani Curiously: So basically just like trying on shoes, sometimes you have to put some on and walk around before you decide if they're a good fit or not?
Kimmie: yeah, pretty much!

Mani Curiously: All of us love that nice clean "bumper" around the cuticle when polishing. What's the best way to get that for those of us still working on that?
Kimmie: Practice practice practice! By placing the brush down close to the cuticle and let the bead of polish/brush spread out on it's own then continue with your downward stroke toward the nail tip that will help create that lovely clean line. Also, if you do get too close to the cuticle you can always use a "clean up brush" to remove the mess up by dipping it in polish remover and wiping the mess ups away. Another tip though is to make sure the brush isn't too wet! You don't want to take off more polish than necessary. Lastly, you can actually turn the polish brush sideways and draw the crescent moon shape along the cuticle to give you a sort of "guide".

Mani Curiously: Alright, we'd love a few of your Faves...
Fave nail trends for the summer (colors, designs etc)?
Kimmie: I am loving Zoya's Fleck Effect top coats! The mylar fleck glazes change colors beautifully from green to blue and red goes to orange! They are amazing!

Photo courtesy of Kimmie Kyees
Rihanna wearing Kimmie's Minx nails in Lustrous Lizard
on the set of Rihanna's Music Video for "Where Have You Been"

Fave timeless color that you feel is never out of style?
Kimmie: Vamp colors will forever be fashionable. OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark is a great one. I also think the sheer baby pink will always be timeless, for example Essie's Mademoiselle or Sugar Daddy

Fave "high end" polish (msrp greater than $10)?
Kimmie: NARS! They have the MOST BEAUTIFUL reds on the market! Domiva is a stunning orange red and Jungle Red and Chinatown are gorgeous blue reds! You simple can't get any better!

Fave "low end" polish (msrp less than $10)?
Kimmie: Wet n Wild is easy on the budget and so is Sally Hansen! The Salon Effects by Sally Hansen are my favorite simple nail art... Katy Perry and P!nk just love them because they are easy and dry right away!!

Fave easy nail art technique or product?
Kimmie: Milani has great nail art polishes you can buy at the drug store. They have a thin brush inside that's great for making lines, french tips and moons! I clean the brush off with polish remover and use it in all different shades of polish!!

Mani Curiously: Tips on how to avoid shrinkage with the quick dry top coats?
Kimmie: Make sure to use the top coat in a thin layer and be quick

Photo courtesy of Kimmie Kyees
Fergie of Black Eyed Peas
on the Music Video set of "Imma Be"

Mani Curiously: What's your mani must haves?
Kimmie: Curette is a cuticle tool with a small half circle on each end. It's great for cleaning under the nail and pushing back the cuticles. It can easily be found at Sally Beauty Supply.

Mani Curiously: Filing vs. Clipping?
Kimmie: I normally don't clip fingernails unless the nails need to be dramatically shortened. If you do clip them, clip one side then the other and then the center. When you try and clip the whole nail you can cause fractures on the side walls and affect the overall strength and health of your nails.

Mani Curiously: Cuticle care... Any tips for making the most frustrating nail issue bearable?
Kimmie: Use your nail file! When the cuticles get hard and frayed on the sides using your nail file to buff them down with a nail file helps smooth them out easily. It's the same concept as using a foot file on rough skin. Also, push your cuticles back right after a shower.

Mani Curiously: Tips for nail biters, ex-acrylic users, those growing out their nails and anyone else that might be trying to "better" their nail situation?
Kimmie: Pushing your cuticles back. The stimulation will promote nail growth. Using a nail strengthener like OPI's Envy is great. Lastly, always use cuticle oil. It keeps the skin in good condition!

Photo courtesy of Kimmie Kyees
Ke$ha on the set of an ad for Baby G by Casio Watches

Mani Curiously: Nail shapes... Which one do you like best and why?
Kimmie: I am really loving the oval, pointy nail. I never thought I would be but it has grown on me!

Mani Curiously: How about a quick and easy nail art trick?
Kimmie: Magnetic polish is the easiest nail art and it looks amazing. Also, crackle is a simple way to get a neat look. Try polishing the crackle from left to right across the nail and it will shatter in a more "animal" looking pattern!

Mani Curiously: Ok, how about your fave way to show your creativity through polish with your clients?
Kimmie: My clients are entertainers so I have the opportunity to do things that they will only wear for a short period of time. So that really allows me a lot of leeway. For example the flower nails I just made for Katy Perry. They looked amazing but wouldn't have been the easiest nails to "live" with! It's also fun to make press on nails and use nail glue tabs to press them on, wear them for the night then take them off! So super easy!

Instagram Photo by KimmieKyees
Caption: Katy Perry's full bloom fingernails!!! I love how they turned out :)
Photo posted 7 May 2012
Nails featured in

Photo by Getty Images & Katy Perry's Twitter 

We would really like to thank Kimmie Kyees for her time and allowing us to pick her brain!  We will definitely be using these tips and tricks in the future. We wish Kimmie continued success in all of her future endeavors and we can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

To connect with Kimmie Kyees via social media:
Facebook Fan Page - Kimmie Kyees Nails
Instagram - KimmieKyees
Twitter - KimmieKyees

Please leave your comments below and I am sure that if any of you have questions that we didn't get to in this interview we might be able to get Kimmie to answer a few more!


and      


Dom has known Kimmie since high school and is so proud of her longtime friend for what the force she's become by believing in herself and pursuing her dream. What an awesome career she's had and it's only getting better!  (More nostalgia can be seen HERE!)

Color blocking with Red & Silver!

I've been in a red mood lately and my husband was in an "anything but" red mood. So being the loving wife I am, for his last weekend home I wore the ManGlaze - Santorum that he helped me win on their facebook Wheel of Fortune game a week or so ago. I love it, it's very pretty,  but honestly brown is NOT a summer color for me lol. So once I said goodbye to my love, I also said goodbye to that lovely deep brown shade of Santorum. Saying hello to a lovely red and silver funky mani.

I used Essie - Forever Yummy first and just decided different blocking for each nail. In my opinion, Essie - Forever Yummy is a lovely red that is just a shade darker than what I consider to be the iconic red- you know the one, bright and sexy? So when I saw Forever Yummy I knew it needed to be mine as I am a huge fan of reds but especially those iconic/vampy reds. Next I filled in the areas left open with Nicole by OPI - Give Me the 1st Dance. Now this silver is not your average silver. It dries super fast, covers in pretty much one-ish coat and dries in such a way it almost looks like a sticker or something solid- not previously a liquid... does that make sense? Either way I loved it and plan to do some more with it!

What I used L to R: Sinful Colors Liner - Time Off, Nicole by OPI -  Give Me the 1st Dance, Essie - Forever Yummy

Lastly, I used my Sinful Colors - Time Off (black) striper to line the edge between the red and silver to give just a bit more finished look to the mani.

This seriously took almost no time at all... it took so little time to do that I forgot to take a couple in progress shots, sorry.

I loved this mani and will be rockin it on through the night! And if you're reading this thinking how difficult it must be to do and how you can't possibly do it because it might be too different or too far above your ability... STOP right there. Don't be afraid to be different- remember you are an individual and letting that shine through is just as important as anything else! Believe me when I say it isn't difficult. All it takes is some patience and a willingness to get dirty and try, try again!

xo,

Purple People Eater

With so much going on the past couple of weeks my nails have fallen to the wayside a bit!  For that I am sorry.  Time management is not my strong suite, but I will do better!  LOL

I take pictures of all of my mani's and keep them in a photo album so that I can look at them from time to time when I need some inspiration.  While looking thru my photos today I came across a couple of photos of a mani that I did a few weeks ago.  I wanted to post these photos a while ago and just missed it!  Boooo for me, I know!  When I saw these pictures I knew I had to throw this post up because I really really loved this mani.  

If you've been reading the blog then you know that I am new to color!  I was a creature of habit and mine was only polishing in dark colors.  NOT ANYMORE!  E really opened my eyes to a world of fun, flashy colors and awesome nail art and there ain't no turning back now baby!  My Purple People Eater mani is probably not the most adventurous for some, but for me it was a bit of a stretch and one of the first in my burgeoning arsenal of fun polish colors.   This mani was done in the infancy of my evolution into girly-ness so be kind!  LOL  

Rimmel London Wild Orchid and Essie LuxEffects Shine of the Times/No Flash

One coat of each!  Looks SOOOOOOOO good!/With Flash

I'm not sure if you've noticed how much I LOVE Rimmel London polish... but, I LOVE RIMMEL LONDON POLISH!!!  I really wish they would expand their color line. The formula is one of my favorites, the brushes are amazing, and I can usually get a really nice full coverage in one coat.  

Essie LuxEffects Shine of the Times is such a fun treatment polish. Honestly, the entire LuxEffects line is really pretty but  this was the only one that I felt like I had to have.  

Well there ya have it and I hope you like it!  

Dollish Polish... Bringin' the heat! Bringin' the funk!

Yup! This lady has got some hot products! Bringin' the funk for those that need a little more pep in their step and a polish to those that could use a good... POLISHING!!

For those of you that have been living under  a rock in the world of Indie polish, she's the Host with the most! Dollish Polish makes and sells her own brand of fun in bottles of varnish and glitter. I know it may seem as though I am overly amped up, but truly I have fallen head over heals in love with her polish. My first time in I bought four; my initial excitement and everything involved with seeing them for the first time live and not Memorex can be read in my recent post, Nail Mail and an Epic Fail. But lets get on with the show and review these babies!

"Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe"

The first polish I used of course was Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe. I was so excited and eager that I honestly couldn't wait for the glitter to mix up well, so please excuse my eager polish job. Believe me the polish is way more awesome than my iPhone and my eager beaver polishing show in the following photograph. 

Don't worry- this beautiful polish will be making a very very quick return in some future mani's I've already got ideas for...

2 coats, no undies!

"He slimed me!"

Next up I painted my nails with He slimed me! This particular polish is so awesome I don't know if I have enough interesting adjectives to do it justice. However, I'll put it this way... If you've ever imagined what slime or specifically Slimer (from Ghostbusters) and his slime looked or felt like, this polish is that. Litterally it is the varnish equivalent of what I can imagine it being like. Wait a second though- before you jump to the wrong conclusion, I love and adore Slimer. I love the Ghostbusters movies and the way that the movies, characters and dialogue have impacted our culture. That being said, there really could be no higher praise for He slimed me. Honestly if I could afford it I would buy bottles to just give out to people that needed a funny, sunny pick me up. 

The day I wore this polish it wasn't meant to impress, I was just eager to try it (much like Barry's polish job lol). While I painted my nails before getting ready for an appointment I was talking to Dom via Skype and discussing the blog and other life things. She also likes He slimed me, so I kept showing her coat after coat what it looked like. I remember telling her "it is just SOOO pretty and SOOO fun, I just can't stop putting layers on!". He slimed me! can be worn alone and in my opinion 3 good coats would achieve an awesomely slime-rific appearance, however I was in the "zone"and wanted to see what it'd look like with just one more, and another and well just one more maybe... I lost track of how many coats I put on, but I'm going to estimate that it was about 5 or 6. Way more than I needed but it just kept getting prettier and prettier lol. I received several compliments and even referred 2 people to Dolly's shop on Etsy. 

**UPDATE 4/14/12: According to a post on Dolly's FB page "He Slimed Me!" will be moving to the Acetone Vault... so get your polish while its available people!!!

Crappy lighting and an iPhone don't do this polish/ picture justice!

"I'll have what she's having"

The same day I received my polish I didn't want to wait to put on the beautiful and multi-faceted I'll have what she's having. I also really wanted to see it alone. I can't wait for an opportunity to try out a really cool hot pink I recently picked up, but this time around I held off and put on 3 coats of I'll have what she's having alone. I never thought I'd love a PINK glitter as much as I love this one. I am NOT a "pink" girl. However, since this polish was delivered to my door I have purchased 5 different pinks including a neon and a crackle lol. I have SOOO many ideas for I'll have what she's having its nuts! Every time I look at it I find more facets to it. At first it has this soft pink base and pink glitter- sort of a "stock" ya know? But then some light shifts and WAIT! Is that? Why YES it IS flecks of a darker pink, almost fuchsia and possibly some more very very fine pink glitter along with the soft rose of the "main" glitter.

I'm just going to be honest and direct here... this line is from the scene in When Harry Met Sally and Sally is educating Harry in the fine art of a faked orgasm... in the middle of a busy diner! The scene is seriously epic and one of the funniest in the history of motion pictures (in my opinion at least!). The line is spoken by a woman in the diner ordering her meal. A little trivia, that woman was no actress! She was director Rob Reiner's mother! Also, just because the video is hilarious, here is a LINK to see Billy Crystal on John Stewart relating a funny story about the filming of the famous orgasm scene (skip to about 6mins to just see that part if you don't want to watch the whole vid).

Sorry... I'll get back on track! Sorry I get so wrapped up talking about movies. So just like He slimed me! this polish is exactly what I can imagine it to look like to live up to it's name. Honestly, a woman's orgasm... hmm sparkly, pretty, pink, multi-faceted and in a lovely sheer pink base? Check, check, check, check annnnnd CHECK! HA! Well done, Dolly, well done! Bravo!! I'm cheering from my seat asking to have what she's having!! 

Sorry I didn't get a better photograph, but just like the others- I have BIG plans BIG BIG plans for this lovely... you'll be seeing it again and believe me you'll fall in love with it just like I have. I promise you, it's definitely worth the purchase. The glitter doesn't need placement, it spreads nicely and honestly it's leagues better than some of the other glitters I've purchased that were supposed to be so great and wonderful.

3 coats, no undies!

"I wanna do bad things to you" 

I have a confession... I don't watch... True Blood. *GASP* *insert shocked face here* I know I know. What self-respecing Vampire literature loving woman doesn't watch that show!? I want to, I just refuse to pay HBO prices. It sucks (hahaha) everyone always talking about a show I have no clue about. So for this purchase it was purely because it caught my eye as an exceptionally beautiful red glitter. This was my first red glitter purchase ever. The previous red glitters in my stash are all fine and micro glitter with a dark red base, so truly it is a polish with glitter in it, not a glitter. Therefore I was really excited about this purchase because oddly enough, a good red glitter is hard to come by. I wanna do bad things to you is exceptionally pretty. It is jam packed with glitter and not just any glitter either! Beautiful sparkly round ultra red glitter, some tiny flecks of more red glitter and some other glitter that shifts purple! What an awesome addition to any bling-tastic mani! Of course like any glitter- especially such a dense glitter you have the not so fun task of clean up and removal. I swear glitter can be such a meanie sometimes! In closing I would definitely brave the clean up and removal for this beautiful concoction. It truly is the cat's pajamas for any red lover- especially a red GLITTER lover!!

Well I hope you enjoyed my lengthy lamenting on Dollish Polish! Keep your eyeballs peeled for these to make some appearances in upcoming posts! Don't forget to leave me some love and comment below!

Easter copy cat attack!

So this is just a quick post to show my daughter's Easter nails... I promised her I would lol. Basically when Julep posted their DIY Nail art of the day on April 6th I had an epiphany! Finally a cute Easter nail that I could do on my daughter's very very tiny nails!! YAY!! You can see their post here just scroll down a couple. Below is my finished copy cat version.

Pinky to Thumb: Essie - Play Date, NYC - Lexington Yellow,
 China Glaze - Rose Among Thorns, Revlon - Coastal Surf

In between and not so pretty! LOL Updated art, Pinky to Index finger: China Glaze Luxe & Lush, Sally Hansen - White On, China Glaze - Liquid Leather, NYC - Spring Street, Sally Hansen - White On & China Glaze - Fairy Dust

Finished!

Easter Nail Art, A long way to go... but it's a start!

With Easter around the corner I knew I wanted to do a themed nail but hadn't quite decided what. I've seen a lot of super cute stuff in the past month and have really felt the pressure! Well with the arrival of my brushes I was anxious to give them a test drive just that much more... but the question still remained test drive them with WHAT?

It came to me in a flash... of middle finger waving angrily in my direction on Southside Blvd in Jacksonville (FL).

Yup... it was like a lightning bolt made of soft creme colors and easter grass sparkle! I wanted to have 3D grass on my nails, eggs hidden in the grass and of COURSE an Easter Bunny! Yup! So simple... yet how exactly to achieve this and with which polish and in what order. Oh the logistics lol.

I formulated my plan while moving along in the hell that is traffic on that particular road for my 40+ minute drive home and got nowhere. Really and truly nowhere. I just couldn't see it yet. It was like I was mentally constipated or something. I had the idea and I knew I had the colors but the rest was just... stuck.

I went the rest of the day like that and let me tell you it was just as uncomfortable as the real thing! I can't stand being creatively stuck it sucks sour eggs!

The end of the day bled into the end of the night and while on Skype with Dom I just started picking out colors... before I even really realized what I was picking out colors for lol. The next thing I knew I had a base coat and my background of Julep - Leah on and drying!

Dom of course was asking me what I was doing because i looked so intent. I wanted it to be a surprise so I told her nothing and beat around the bush for a bit. The next part were the eggs. Now I knew I was going to do the grass so I needed to put the eggs about mid nail, so I had to sort of imagine the grass already there when picking out space for the different eggs on the other 4 nails. Next up, the bunny!

I learned a VERY important lesson that night... White nail polish (aka Sally Hansen - White On) is just like some paints... the white will pull the color behind it! So what ends up happening (in my case) was I had a verrrrrrrry light LIME GREEN EASTER BUNNY!!! ACK! So, what do I do? I put down another coat of white. And another. And another. And another. AND ANOTHER COAT OF WHITE POLISH! Yes people, SIX COATS of white polish to get a WHITE Easter Bunny lol. Seriously I had so much polish on my middle fingernail, the pile-o-polish was this little white mound as though I had some acrylic on my nail!

Moving on... the next step was the background for grass. For that I mixed a little pile of China Glaze - Holly-Day with Sinful Colors - Happy Ending to get this darkish green shimmer color. It was actually very pretty, but a little bit darker than Julep - Leah to give some depth and what not (or some such artistic blah blah)

Once that was done I very politely asked my husband to go to Wally's and get me some green glitter. Yup, 2am my loving husband said "I will... if you REALLY want me to..." my response? "yup, thanks! Love you!" LOL He chuckled and said he'd be back. A while later I get texts with pictures where he's asking me if I want fine glitter or regular or some such caddy thing. I love that man, he cracks me up.

Pre-Glitter Grass

While Dom and I wait for the delivery of glitter goodness I decorate the little eggs. I should back up and tell you the egg colors lol. NYC - Spring Street, Essie - Play Date, Essie - Turquoise & Caicos, Loreal - Tweet Me, Revlon - Indigo Night, China Glaze - Shower Together. I decorated each egg with glitter since they were so small I wasn't sure that an actual design would be visible, but glitter is! I used the small holos from OPI - Servin' Up Sparkle, Jordana - Blue Bash, Jordana - Celebration and of course, last but certainly not least my new Dollish Polish - I'll have what she's having. I saved that beautious pink confection of sparkle for the most important feature on a bunny- the pink hears and nose! I did try to do the Bunny's face in proportion but the whiskers came out bigger and thicker than I thought they were going to be so that part was poop, but I like his little blue eyes and cutesy ears!  I do  know in the pictures it won't look as though all these colors are represented but I promise they're there lol. Some got covered up with overzealous glitter glass application lol.

L to R: OPI - Servin' Up Sparkle, Jordana - Blue Bash, Dollish Polish - I'll have what she's having, Jordana - Celebration, NYC - Spring Street, Essie - Play Date, Essie - Turquoise & Caicos, Wet n' Wild - Tickled Pink, L'Oreal - Tweet Me, Revlon - Indigo Night, China Glaze - Liquid Leather, China Glaze - Shower Together, China Glaze - Holly-Day, Sinful Colors, Happy Ending, Julep - Helena, Julep - Leah *not pictured Sally Hansen - White On

Alright... the piece de resistance! My glitter-grass! A coat of OPI - Top Coat was applied where I wanted my grass to stick and then copious amounts of fine green glitter applied.

Finished!

TA DA!!

I hope you enjoyed my first attempt at free-hand nail art. It was a lot of fun and while my painting skills are rusty, they're in there... just have to blow the dust off and work out the kinks!

Side note: I wanted to mention that all my photos are done inside and with my iPhone. Unfortunately my camera has been in the shop getting repaired. Hopefully I will have it back soon!