Neon Ruffians and New Nail Shape!

Notice anything different about me (other than my bangin' manicure)? I decided to try oval-shaped nails for a while and see how I like them. Before I started growing my nails out a couple years ago, my nails were oval-shaped because I just trimmed (or bit) them down to the nail bed and my nail bed is naturally oval-shaped. They weren't an intentional, graceful oval shape though, they were just ragged and ugly! Anyway, I was constantly breaking the corners of my rectangular-shaped nails and having to cut them down and file them to get them to be even again, so I thought I'd try a new shape and see how it works for me. I didn't really like the shape at first but now it's growing on me! And I haven't broken a nail so far!

Anyway, for my first mani with my new nail shape I thought I'd try something that would emphasize the oval-ness. I did a neon ruffian manicure using hot pink and orange! On my thumb and ring fingers, which were my accent nails, I did two coats of Revlon Tulip, a nice hot pink. On my other fingers, I did two coats of OPI A Roll in the Hague, a bright reddish orange. After my base color dried, I used the opposing color to create the "ruffian" style. It's pretty easy to do because you basically paint the second color like you would paint your nail normally, following the curve of your cuticle, just up a little higher! I did two coats of the second color too, just to make sure I didn't have any patchiness.

What shape do you prefer your nails in? What do you think of the ruffian manicure style?

Turquoise Gemstones

I am so unbelievably in love with this mani, you guys. I love turquoise - the color, yes, but also the gemstone. I saw this mani on the Tumblr Fuck Yeah Nail Art, and I fell in love. It looks just like turquoise! I had already been wearing two coats of L'Oreal Gorgeous Gold, an AMAZING (seriously amazing, guys, I should've taken a picture of it just by itself) gold metallic with medium gold hex glitters, for a day or two, and I thought it would be the perfect base to try this turquoise mani with.

I did a little variation on the technique used by Topcoat It. Here's what I did: I painted one coat of China Glaze For Audrey over Gorgeous Gold. Working one nail at a time, before For Audrey dried, I pressed a crumpled piece of plastic wrap over my nails to create some texture, like I thought a turquoise gemstone should have. Then I let all my nails dry. I then took some q-tips and filled my nail polish remover cap with some acetone-based remover. I dipped it very quickly so it didn't soak up too much remover, then I rubbed it gently over my nails. I rubbed harder on certain spots to get the gold to peek through just where I wanted it. After doing this on all my nails I finished with a glossy topcoat!

I absolutely love how this looks, although I think it would look even more like a real turquoise gemstone if I used a grayer base. Something like OPI Number One Nemesis (the Chanel Graphite dupe) would look awesome. I also think that using a glitter or metallic base makes it easier to rub away your top color without accidentally removing your base color because they are harder to remove. I think with any other color combination this might end up looking like crackle polish, so if you like that look but don't want to spend the money on a crackle polish or are frustrated that you can't get it to crack the way you want, you might try this. What do you think?

I'm back! With another gradient!

Hi folks! Sorry for the unexpectedly long hiatus - we moved at the beginning of the month, and when the cable guys came to install the internet, they discovered that the wires they needed were nowhere to be found in our building! So they have to come and physically install these wires in order provide their service to our building. That is going to take another few weeks!!! I've been going to Starbucks almost every day to do my homework, but the outlets there are a precious commodity and I'd feel bad hogging them to post pictures of my fingernails on the internet. Luckily, our upstairs neighbors were nice enough to give us their WiFi password over the weekend, so I'm back online!

I've amassed a bit of a collection of pictures to post while I was gone, but I'll start with the last ones I took at our old place. This is my favorite gradient I've done so far!

I started with two coats of China Glaze Electric Beat, a bright periwinkle blue. Then using a makeup sponge, I dabbed China Glaze Flying Dragon on the tips to create a gradient. (Check out this gradient tutorial for a good explanation of the process.) Flying Dragon is one of the most amazing polishes I've ever seen and I can't believe I never noticed it on the display before, as I think it's permanent. It's a bright, almost neon, reddish purple with chunky purple and blue shimmer in it! I can't wait to wear it on its own because I think the neon-ness will come out more.

I love the way Electric Beat brings out the blue shimmer of Flying Dragon. Unfortunately I took these photos after a couple days so the tips are a little worn, but I still think this mani is absolutely gorgeous. I've got to do another gradient mani soon!

EOTD - Bright Blue Eyelashes!

Here is another look I did with the MAC Zoom Lash colored mascaras! This look uses the blue mascara, Blue Charge. 

First, I prepped my lids with Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original. Then I blended NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Horseradish, a minty green, all over my lid. I set this on the outer half of my lid with Mojo Spa loose eyeshadow in Garden Party, a shimmery minty green. In the crease I blended Urban Decay Haight, a bluish teal. I darkened the outer corner with the Balm The Mother-in-Law, a dusty navy blue. 

On my lower waterline, I used NYX Retractable Eye Liner in Gray and smudged it with the Balm The Mistress, a gunmetal gray. I also smoked out my top lash line a bit with The Mistress. 

Again I prepped my lashes by using a coat of the Step 1 white primer side of my Maybelline XXL Pro Extensions mascara. I finished with two coats of MAC Zoom Lash mascara in Blue Charge. 

NOTD - Glitter Gradient

I learned my lesson the last time I did a gradient, so I went to Walgreens and bought some of those soft makeup sponges! I used those when I did this fun glitter gradient!

I started with two coats of Ulta Peach Parfait, a coral jelly. Then, I used the makeup sponge to dab some of Milani Gems onto the tips of my nails. I found that I couldn't get the opacity of the glitter that I wanted near the very tips, so when I was done sponging I just used the Milani brush to fill in the gaps.

After the glitter dried, I did one more thin coat of Peach Parfait to do a jelly sandwich effect! I finished it up with a coat of Seche Vite fast drying top coat to smooth out the bumps.

I think this mani is totally adorable and reminds me of cupcake sprinkles!

EOTD - Pink and Purple

I got the limited edition Zoom Lash mascaras from MAC recently and I've been trying to figure out different ways to wear them! Here is a look I did with the purple mascara, Plum Reserve.

First as always I prepped my lids with Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original. To start I blended Urban Decay Free Love eyeshadow, a peachy pink, all over the lid. Then I blended Urban Decay Woodstock, a bright shimmery fuchsia pink, into the crease. I accented the outer corner with MAC Passionate, a matte hot pink.

I lined my waterline with Urban Decay Rockstar, an eggplant purple eyeliner. I smudged that with Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister, a bright purple, and smudged a bit more Woodstock around the edges of that too. I highlighted my browbone and inner corner with Urban Decay Sin, a light peachy highlighter.

To finish, I coated my lashes with a coat of the Step 1 Primer side of my Maybelline XXL Pro Extensions mascara. If you want the colored mascara to be extra vibrant, or if you have naturally really dark eyelashes (jealous) then this step is important. Then I finished my lashes with two coats of MAC Zoom Lash mascara in Plum Reserve.

Would you wear colored mascara?

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains!

New amazing Revlon lip product? Um, hello, SIGN ME UP!!! The beauty blogging world has been in a craze over the new Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains. I was lucky to find a completely stocked display of them at CVS a couple weeks ago, where I picked up three, but then a few days later when I decided I wanted a couple more colors, I've had to stalk them down between various Walgreens, CVS, and Ultas! Now I have all five colors that I want, and I'm totally happy!

All of the balm stains are super moisturizing and feel really nice on my lips. They are buildable in color, so you can have just a slight tint if you want, or you can make it really opaque and have the color pop. They do stain the lips fairly well, especially the darker colors like Sweetheart and Adore.

First up is Rendezvous, which is probably my favorite because hello it's ORANGE! It actually leans a bit coral-tinged too. I love it :)

Next up is Charm, a light peachy nude. This is the only one I'm not super crazy about. It applies a little streaky and collects in my lip lines. The stain color for this one is actually a dark pink color, not a light peachy color.

 Here is Honey, which is my next favorite. It's a mauvey-pink that is pretty close to my natural lip color. Perfect for everyday!

 This is Sweetheart, a bright hot pink. It's not fuchsia. This is a great option for a bright pink summer lip! The stain color on this one is BRIGHT pink!

Last I have Adore, a dark brick red with subtle golden shimmer. I should mention that all the other colors I have do not have shimmer. I love this one because it's difficult for me to pull off dark, vampy lip colors with my light coloring, and this is subtle yet still dark enough to make a statement.








So have you jumped on the Kissable Balm Stain train yet?! If not, what are you waiting for?!