Bold Watermarble

Bold because I used bold colors, and bold because I'm being bold by showing you some of my work that is not as excellent as I wanted it to be.  But nail art isn't about perfection, and this blog isn't anywhere near perfect, so because of that it's a perfect fit (odd huh).

Watermarbling isn't hard, really, as long as you have the right polishes.  However, if you want to make it look perfect, then holy dang it is hard.  I was really tired when I painted my nails so when I got to my right hand I had more of a "let's just get color onto my nails" mentality rather than a "let's do this the right way" mentality.  But fortunately you won't be seeing any of my right hand.

For this manicure:

• Base Coat - Bonder by ORLY
• Thumb, Ring, & Pinky - Angela by Julep
• Pointer & Middle - I painted My Vampire is Buff by OPI as a base color (which you can't see); I watermarbled using Lainey, Dawn, Joanne, & Ilsa by Julep
• Top Coat - Out the Door by inm

Approximate Completion Time: 2 hours

Watermarble art dries out quickly due to the thin coats of polish that are transferred onto your nails, so you don't even need to wait that long before you can confidently add your top coat :)

And here is an up close shot of the middle finger (aka the only finger that worked out).  I'm sorry for the travesty that is my pointer finger but it is what it is.  I wish I felt more pain looking at how the marble on that nail turned out but I've become so numb to imperfections.

Mm yes hello.

Goodbye.

Spring Transition Nails

Why is it still winter?

Whose idea was this?

I'm ready for spring, but I didn't want my nails to be aggressively spring.  So I created a more edgy/hip spring look.  It's a little bit rough and unrefined, but the weather right now doesn't call for the softer spring looks yet.

For this manicure:

• Base Coat - Bonder by ORLY
• Thumb & Pinky - Tribeca Silver by NYC with silver glitter from Shades of the Season
• Pointer & Middle - Bunny by Julep; then I sponged on 24/7 by Sinful Colors, Mellow Yellow & Lacey Lilac by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, Aquatic by L.A. Colors, & Too Yacht to Handle by China Glaze; then I added a coat of Hidden Treasure by Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure; I finished with Jewel Sticker by MODI x UNISTELLA
• Ring - Erin by Julep
• Top Coat - Out the Door by inm

Approximate Completion Time: 2 hours

If you look closely, I'm missing a pearl from the nail art sticker on my middle finger.  Oops.  It still looks cute even if the pearl is missing though.

Every day I wish for warmer weather, so my nail art is probably going to reflect my wish.  Spring can't come soon enough!

That's all for now.  Stay safe and stay warm y'all.

Triforce Heroes Nail Art

Hello all!  If you've been following Nintendo at all lately, you would know that they just released a new game for the Nintendo 3DS.  I played a demo of said game.  Triforce Heroes is so cute :) it has the art style of Link Between Worlds, and the online multiplayer co-op is truly a test of patience, skill, and achievement through limited communication.  If you have the 3DS, I would recommend you buy the game!

I too shall buy the game...after I finish Majora's Mask...uh...

But this isn't a post to review video games.  This is a post to show off the nail art that I made to celebrate the launch of the game! :D

For this manicure:

• Base Coat - Bonder by ORLY
• Base Color - Alexis by Julep
• Triforce Colors - good as gold by essie, Nadia by Julep, Ruby Ruby by Sinful Colors, Endless Blue by Sinful Colors, Happy Ending by Sinful Colors; decals made with Double Duty Base & Top Coat by Sally Hansen
• Top Coat - Out the Door by inm

Approximate Completion Time: 1.5 hours

I like how that picture makes the blue pop.  I was also really surprised that my camera was able to capture the purple.  Granted, I'm in direct sunlight, but cameras are notorious for losing the ability to can when it comes to the color purple.

I think I increased the saturation on my camera just by a little bit for this picture.  Maybe.  I forget.  But I'm really happy with this manicure :) for once, nail decals started to make sense to me and they didn't stick out so much in the photos, if even at all.  I used about 3 layers of top coat for the nails that had the decals, so I think the extra layers did the trick.

Hopefully I finish Majora's Mask soon so I can buy and play Triforce Heroes!  The reason why I haven't bought the game yet is because if I did, I know I would completely ignore Majora's Mask and only play Triforce Heroes, and it's a travesty because I'm so close to beating the game.

But why does Majora's Mask have to be so scary and stressful ;_;

Anyways, that's all for now.  I hope I'll be able to post another set of nails soon! :) But until then, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Nintendo Nails / Legend of Zelda Nails

Hello all!  I hope you are all as hyped as I am for this year's E3!  :D  If you're not...don't worry about it.  Just video game things being presented.  If that's not your cup of tea...well, if that's not your cup of tea, how the heck do you de-stress and fall into a new world?

Anyways, this past Sunday (14 June 2015), I was able to fill up my entire day with Nintendo-related events.  In the morning, I lined up at LA Live to get a Nintendo wristband for the Nintendo World Championships, which took place that afternoon.  During the evening, I attended the Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses - Master Quest concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, also in Los Angeles.  It was a Sunday fun day Nintendo day for me!  On a side note - special wristbands were given to people who cosplayed, so that they were able to sit closer to the front and therefore have an increased likelihood of being on camera during the filming of the event.  I got a special wristband for wearing a Legend of Zelda themed shirt.  I really don't think that counts as cosplay, but I'm not complaining.  You can find me smiling and pointing at the camera for a few glorious seconds in the full-length recording of the Nintendo World Championships :)

My nails were dressed for the occasion.  On my left hand, we have my Nintendo-themed nails:

For this manicure:

• Base Coat - Base Coat by Finger Paints
• Colors - Bunny by Julep, Ruby Ruby by Sinful Colors
• Tools - dotting tool
• Top Coat - Top Coat by Out the Door

Approximate Completion Time:  1.5 hours

I often think about that one video of that kid getting a Nintendo 64 console on Christmas and freaking out about it.  I feel the same about Nintendo.

And then, on my right hand, we have my Legend of Zelda themed nails - specifically, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time:

For this manicure:

• Base Coat - Base Coat by Finger Paints
• Base Color - Fiore by Julep
• Thumb (Triforce) - Nadia by Julep, good as gold by essie; design made using a striper brush
• Pointer (Kokiri Emerald) - Happy Ending by Sinful Colors, green glitter by Shades of the Season, good as gold by essie; design made using a dotting tool and a striper brush
• Middle (Goron Ruby) - Ruby Ruby by Sinful Colors, red glitter by Shades of the Season, good as gold by essie; design made using a striper brush
• Ring (Zora Sapphire) - Endless Blue by Sinful Colors, blue glitter by Shades of the Season, good as gold by essie; design made using a dotting tool and a striper brush
• Pinky (Navi) - Char by Julep, Endless Blue by Sinful Colors, Jeanne by Julep, Shelly by Julep; design made using a dotting tool and a striper brush
• Top Coat - Top Coat by Out the Door

Approximate Completion Time:  1.5 hours

You can tell that posing with my dominant hand and taking pictures with my non-dominant hand is definitely not my forte.  And especially since I had to do a weird pose to make all five of my digits visible!

The key for doing these nails is to make DIY nail art stickers!  :)  If there is any interest for a tutorial on how to do that, let me know.  I mean, alternatively, you can look it up on the internet, because literally that is what the internet is capable of - it is a world wide web full of information in every corner.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.  I'm currently still in the process of getting life figured out (read that as "applying for jobs and trying to function as a normal adult"), so that takes up a huge portion of my time.  So sorry.  Actually just kidding I'm not sorry.  I need a job.  Student loans are not kind o.o

I hope you all have a wonderful day! :)

Beach Day Fun Day! Nails

Hello all!  I apologize for my absence - it was caused by a plethora of events that all snowballed into each other and here I am, finally with the right sense of mind and enough decency to get back into blogging.

OH ALSO!  I got featured in a blog recently :) the blog owner likes to showcase the bare nails (and base coated nails) of nail artists.  It was really awesome to know that someone found my blog and contacted me for a feature :) anyways, you can find pictures of my bare naked nails here and my bare naked nails with base coat here :) additionally, click here to check out the rest of Natalia's blog!

So after my last post, my sister came to visit me for her spring break, so it was like I enjoyed spring break all over again.  Then my boyfriend broke up with me (so he's my first ex now; how odd), so I had to deal with all the emotions that came with that.  But don't worry you guys - I'm in a better place now, and every day I'm healing and finding more and more things to be thankful for every single day :) And then finals week happened, so I was "studying" for my "exam".  After finals week was graduation, which was boring, exciting, and hectic.  I got to spend time with my family so that was nice.  And after graduation, I had to move things out of my old apartment and into my new apartment (just subleasing for the summer), and also I've been applying to jobs.

I also bought a pet bunny! :D

But in the meantime, I have been painting my nails regularly.  If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my nail art.  However, I haven't been posting because of all the messiness that I had just described.

So here I am, making a post again after disappearing from the face of the internet.  I went to the beach recently, and I love the beach because I'm originally from Colorado, and they have no beaches there.  I like how I can just sit on the soft, warm sand and stare at the ocean and...it's so timeless.  There is something so soothing about staring at a wide expanse of water and realizing that in the end, everything is going to be okay.  I may be dealing with a lot of problems, but I will get through this.

It was a nice day at the beach though.  Here are the nails I had on for that day:

For this manicure:

• Base Coat - Base Coat by Finger Paints
• Thumb, Ring, & Pinky - Nadia by Julep & Shrimply Devine by Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure; gradient made using a make-up sponge
• Pointer & Middle - Kimberly by Julep, Too Yacht to Handle by China Glaze, good as gold by essie, & neon orange square stud from BornPrettyStore; polish was sectioned off using striping tape and gold line was added using a striping brush and stud was placed on using top coat
• Top Coat - Top Coat by Out the Door

Approximate Completion Time: 2 hours

So since I have a better grip on myself mentally and emotionally now, I will be posting about the nail art that I have created previously during my period of recession/dormancy.  I may or may not also be doing collaborations with other bloggers, so just keep an eye out :)

And as always, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this post.  I really do appreciate all of you!

Disneyland Nails

Hello all!  I had a wonderful 2 days at Disneyland this past weekend.  My friends and I visited both parks and I drank alcoholic beverages for the first time in a Disney park.  This is what it feels like to be an adult.

Anyways, I had these super amazing nails, but alas only one cast member complimented my nails.  And also this mom and her teenage daughter.  But that's it.  In a park full of thousands of people and millions of diseases, only 3 people noticed.  I'm okay.  I'm not bitter at all.  I painted my nails for me, not for others.

For this manicure:

• Base Coat - Base Coat by Finger Paints
• Thumb - Mellow Yellow by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, Mickey Mouse head made with Black Out by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear and a dotting tool
• Pointer & Ring - Molly by Julep, white dots made with Snow Me White by Sinful Colors and a dotting tool
• Middle - Molly by Julep, Black Out by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, & Snow Me White by Sinful Colors
• Pinky - Mellow Yellow by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, stamped with noir black by b.m.c. and SH 214
• Top Coat - Top Coat by Out the Door

Approximate Completion Time: 2 hours

Sorry for that blurry pic.  One day I will take good photos again, but I took this while extremely tired.  Also nail polish clean up takes a long time sometimes.  Some people hate the smell of nail polish and acetone - I think I'm addicted to it now.  It makes me feel comfortable.  Maybe this is shortening my life span.

Anyways, that's all for now.  Disneyland was fun.  I got pink eye from it but it's mostly gone now.  Yay!

Pastel Pop

...hello.  Slowly easing my way back into nail art - it's only Tuesday, but I've already had to prepare 3 presentations for my classes!  But that's over with now.  I am finally free! :D

In the meantime, I have had pastel colors on my hands because when life gets me down I need happy, peaceful colors to pick me back up and carry me on one day at a time.

For this manicure:

• Base Coat - Base Coat by Finger Paints
• Thumb & Ring - Mint Sorbet by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, In the Lime Light by China Glaze, Happy Ending by Sinful Colors, used with striping tape and a small square brush
• Pointer - Mellow Yellow by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, Snow Me White by Sinful Colors, used with a dotting tool
• Middle - I Gotta Blush on You by Sephora by OPI, Snow Me White by Sinful Colors, used with a dotting tool
• Pinky - Lacey Lilac by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, Snow Me White by Sinful Colors, used with a dotting tool
• Top Coat - Top Coat by Out the Door

Approximate Completion Time: 2 hours

It feels like spring already in California.  And by "spring" I really mean "summer", because California only has 2 seasons - summer and not summer.  

And with that, I wish you all a wonderful day!  I will post another manicure (hopefully) soon!

Spring Skittle

Hi guys!  I hope you're all doing well :)

I will be posting more than once a week for the next few weeks.  Crazy, I know, but I have a certain deadlines for special posts, and I want to meet those deadlines.  It will be a fun times for me and for you!

Without further ado, here is a (rare) shot of my right hand - my dominant hand!

A "skittle", from what I understand, is essentially like a mix-and-match set of nails/colors for a manicure.  I often employ this style in my nail art, but rarely do I ever call it a "skittle".  And speaking of skittles, is anyone else bummed that the green Skittle is now green apple flavored instead of lime?  Yeah, boo, that switch sucks.

Read more about these nails after the jump! :)