Copycat NOTW: Bat Swarm!

Why hello there!

Here's what I've been wearing this week! I was inspired by this pin.

Halloween Nail Art. 

I started with one coat of Duri Rejuvacote and one coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener. After that I used two coats of Color Club Fashion Addict sealed with one coat of Seche Vite. Once dry, I created a gradient with Color Club Fashion Addict and Wild at Heart. After another coat of Seche Vite, I used Konad Special Polish in Black to stamp my bat swarm from image plate, BM-H08. Everything was then topped with NYC In a New York Minute!

I've missed the blog -- if I can, I'll play some catch up with hauls and story-time this weekend. Life has been like a rollercoaster this past month leaving little time for nails. I'm a bit out of practice, so my right hand, pictured up there, turned out much better than my left. Even my nails have been in sorry condition lately, so I definitely need to refocus on moisturizing before we get back to swatches! Offda.

Hopefully, more soon! ^_^

Haul: October!

Hello!

This month unintentionally ended up being huge on the haul front! So, let's dive right in...

I started off small with a couple of Wet n' Wild eye palettes and a new luminizer product from L'Oreal. I picked this up on sale because I thought my beloved Stila Liquid Luminizer in Kitten Shimmer had been discontinued (fear not, I can still find it online, but my Sephora no longer has it in the store...). This will do if I have to switch to it, but I prefer the Stila.

CVS Loot. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I made a trip to Sally's to pick up a birthday present for my sister, and I ended up with these for me! Finger Paints Sarong So Right (from the All Lacquered Up collection), China Glaze Ghoulish Glow, China Glaze Itty, Bitty & Gritty, and some cheapy nail stickers of the Halloween variety.

Sally's Loot. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

A random Walgreens stop saw these two babies home with me: Sinful Colors Faceted and Kissy.

Walgreens Loot. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

My wonderful husband encouraged this next purchase: Too Faced's Ulta-exclusive holiday collection, Be Merry and Bright. I saw this reviewed at Vampy Varnish and immediately lusted for it. Mr. NWP told me I might as well get it right away since I'd probably miss out on it if I waited (I expect this to sell out quickly -- $45 for two palettes and a full-size mascara! As of time of posting this, it was still available here!).

Too Faced Be Merry & Bright. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I had a nice 20% off coupon as well, so I opted to add a few other things to my cart to qualify for free shipping rather than pay for shipping outright. Don't judge! I needed six more dollars worth of merchandise to get the free shipping or I could pay $5.95 for it anyway.... yeah, I grabbed an Urban Decay palette on super sale and the China Glaze polish, Bat My Eyes, from this year's Halloween collection, which after the coupon all added up to $50 exactly and qualified me for free shipping! Woohoo! It's like getting the little palette and the polish for free! And three free samples! Love it!

China Glaze Bat My Eyes, Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This Urban Decay palette was on clearance for $10! That's an incredible steal. Original price was listed at $38. I can't find this on Ulta's website any longer -- must be sold out! :(

Ulta Loot! Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

As I mentioned in Thursday's post, I impulse bought a  few thermal polishes from Polished by KPT. You have already seen Nightcrawler, but that other beauty is Harvest Moon.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

 Super shimmery! Nightcrawler is a thermal duochrome! Harvest Moon is a thermal holo! :)

Indoors, direct artificial light, no flash.

Lastly, I apparently needed more mascara. I need an intervention -- I have probably a dozen mascaras, and I keep buying more. I love mascara, but they are not so different to justify that many! What is wrong with me?! But, I have to say, I rather like this one: Revlon's new Lash Potion.

I have a problem.

Congratulations if you made this far! This one was a doozy! See you Monday!

More soon! ^_^

NOTW: Simple Spookies!

Hello!

Yay, Friday! I hope your Halloween was fun and full of treats!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

 I changed my polish quite a bit this week, but this is what I've worn the last few days.

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I started with yesterday's Polished by KPT's Nightcrawler swatch and added a few nail stickers. I sealed these in with a quick coat of NYC In a New York Minute. This was a very simple and easy mani to do, but I loved the way it turned out!

Indoors, artificial light and filtered sunlight (window), no flash.

More soon! ^_^

NOTW: Spooky Skittles!

Hello!

I am really excited to share these nails with you today! This was one of those mani's that turned out better than the vision I had of it in my head when I went to create it. It rarely happens, but I love it when it does!

Happy Halloween!

So, as I said yesterday, I started with the swatch of China Glaze Riveting. Once that was dry, I used the Nailasaurus' gradient technique to create my gradient with Riveting, China Glaze Stone Cold, and a tiny bit of Sally Hansen Black Out at the very tip. A coat of China Glaze Ghoulish Glow plus one of Seche Vite followed that up.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

One it was dry, I went to work stamping. There are so many great images on the Bundle Monster stamping plate sets that I have, that I couldn't pick just one -- or even a few! So, I went for skittles to show case as many as possible. I used images from plates BM-224, BM-225, BM-213, BM-H07, and BM-H06 with Konad Special Polish in Black. I also added a few nail art decals I picked up at Sally Beauty this past weekend. The skull on my pinky (below) and the ghost next to the haunted house are decals; the rest of the images are stamps from the various Bundle Monster sets.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I sealed in my stamped images and decals with a quick coat of NYC In a New York Minute, which is my go-to topcoat after stamping because it has yet to smudge an image for me. Once that was all dry, I finished the look with one coat of Butter London's Matte topcoat.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I am beyond thrilled with how these turned out! The stamps are clean, the decals incorporated into the design perfectly, and the gradient looks great as the base for the images! It's glowy, and spooky, and it glows in the dark! Love it!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Happy weekend, everybody! More soon! ^_^

Copy Cat NOTD: A Zoya Halloween!

Hello again!!

I know that Halloween has passed, but I've got more Halloween manicures to show you this week. This one is very simple, but I loved it. Not my original idea though. I found this one on Pinterest. Here's the link to the pin (it looks like it may have been a user upload because it's not tagged to a blog post or anything).

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

After a base coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener, I used three coats of Zoya Storm for all nails but my ring finger. These then got a coat of Orly Sec n' Dry. Storm is FABULOUS! If the sun ever reappears here, I'll have some swatches for you. It's a black jelly loaded with holographic particles! I really only needed two coats to get this opaque, but wore this look a little while before taking pictures. The third coat was just to freshen it up.

Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

My ring finger got a combination I've used often this month--Zoya Coraline over Zoya Arizona. This was then stamped with Bundle Monster plate BM-13 and topped with a coat of NYC's In a New York Minute.

More soon!! ^_^

"This is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge: Recreate

Hello again! Happy Halloween!!! One of my favorite holidays! It's so much fun!

Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

Today's prompt is "Recreate your favourite from another challenger"! I was blown away by Shannon's (from Somewhere Over the Polish Rainbow) gradient manicure from October 22nd. I knew once I saw this one that I had to try it.

This was really not easy!! My goodness! Two attempts later this is what I came up with:

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with a base of Zoya Arizona. Once that was dry, I used the narrow part of make-up wedge to blot on the red using OPI Got the Blues for Red leaving a center stripe of orange visible. I then did the same on the outer edges with Zoya Mimi. I went over this a few times, trying to blend the colors evenly. This part was the most challenging--I think because the colors were so different from one another that any mistake would show. I had purple in my orange, the red was really saturated and tried to take over the whole nail! In the end, I had to carefully paint the center stripe over with Arizona to cover my boo-boos. I slathered on some Seche Vite to dry all that polish and waited.

Once I deemed it dry enough, I used the end of a bobby pin to make the dots. I used China Glaze Riveting, Orly Star Spangled, and Orly Velvet Rope for the dots. Once the dots were in place, it really completed the overall look and hide some of my sloppy sponging. Another coat of Seche Vite, and I was quite happy with this attempt.

These look like jewels! The colors are gorgeous. Thanks for the inspiration, Shannon! Stellar job!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

See who everyone else took inspiration from today!



More soon!! ^_^

"This is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge: Trick or Treat!

Hello again!! As I'm writing this on Sunday night, I'm already hearing the wind and rain from Hurricane Sandy--by the time this posts, I doubt I'll have power, so I'll see you all as soon as we get it back! Be safe if you're affected as well!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Today's "This is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge prompt is "Trick or Treat!". This one can be open to a lot of interpretation. I went with costumes, decorations, and candy since these are pretty much the three major elements of the Trick or Treating that takes place on Halloween. I chose to do a skittle mani for this one, and it was rather fun to do. I started off with a base of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener on all my nails, but let's continue on by breaking this down one nail at a time.

On my thumb, I used a base of Milani White Out. After it had dried, I used two pieces of tape to create a straight edge for the orange in the candy corn design. This color is a super old bottle of Rimmel Tequila Sunrise, which I normally use for stamping. At the tip, I freehanded the yellow in Barielle Lemondrops.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

My pointer finger got a base coat of Pure Ice Wild Thing. Once that was dry, I used OPI Black Shatter. I used Konad Special Polish in black and white to create the monster's eyes. The mouth is done in OPI Got the Blues for Red.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

My middle finger got a base coat of what is becoming my favorite shade of orange--One coat of Zoya Arizona followed by a coat of Zoya Coraline. Once this was dry, I used Konad Special Polish in black to draw the jack-o-lantern face on using a bobby pin.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

My ring finger is a recreation of my Ghostie manicure from October 8th. I so loved that mani! I started with a base coat of Milani White Out and topped it with two coats of Revlon Spooky Skull. Once that was dry, some more Konad Special polishes were used to make his face.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

My pinky finger is more candy! It's three coats of Zoya Mimi stamped in Konad Special polish and Bundle Monster Plate BM-02.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Whew!! That was a ton of explanation. Everything then got a generous coat of Seche Vite. Trick or Treat! Hope your Halloween is full of fun!

Check out the others below!



More soon! ^_^

"This is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge: Graveyard

Hello again!! Ugh, Monday!

Today's "This Is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge prompt is"Graveyard".

I had such high hopes for this mani. I had envisioned a neat outline manicure, but alas, my nail art skills are lacking. It's pretty terrible, definitely not my best work.

Tombstone Nails. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with my go-to base of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener. Then I used one thick coat of Sally Hansen Wet Cement. At one coat, it was still a bit uneven, but I was going to layer it up anyway. Once this was dry, I used a corner of a make-up sponge with Sally Hansen Grey Area to sponge a marbled look onto my nails. I then used Butter London's Matte topcoat to give this a stone look. Once that was good and dry, I used Sally Hansen Black Out with a nail art brush to outline my nails and create a french tip. I was hoping the leftover grey would look like tombstones.

I then used Bundle Monster plates BM-01 and BM-13 for the crosses and "words" (Let's just pretend they say things like "RIP" I was really not up to writing on my nails with a brush lol).

Here's the final look. Messy, but maybe you can tell where I was going with this?

Tombstone Nails, Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

 See what the others did below!



More soon!! ^_^

"This is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge: Witches

Hello again!!

Today's prompt for the "This is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge is "Witches"! My first design ended up being mostly fail, but I thought I'd share it anyway. Sometimes, stamping works, and sometimes, it doesn't! I loved my base for this one--it's NYC's Battery Park Purple with Orly Fowl Play sponged on the tips then matted down with Butter London's Matte Topcoat. I totally can't take credit for this combination. Way back before I started blogging or even thinking about starting one, I saw this done on another blog and was blown away by it's gorgeousness. Fortunately, I pinned to my nail art inspiration board, so I can give credit to the Polished Perfectionist. It was first seen on a guest post she did for Ivana Thinks Pink. So awesome!

NYC Batter Park Purple with Orly Fowl Play in matte. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

For Halloween, I tend to associate deep purple with witches, so I thought the combination was wonderfully magical. My fail came when picking a polish to stamp with. I used Wet n' Wild's Hog-Quartz School, which has been reviewed to stamp well, but it didn't this time for me. It was my first time attempting to stamp with it, but I noticed this image is rather large and can look blob like if not done crisply. So, I think this particular image needs a polish intended to be used for stamping.

First attempt at some witch nail art--not great. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

My next attempt was done over Hits Demeter, a gorgeous orange linear holo, with Konad Special Polish in black and came out much nicer. I used Bundle Monster plates BM-13 and BM-04 from for the witch and her little kitty familiar.

Witches nail art and Hits Demeter. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I guess actual stamping polish made the difference with this design.

Second attempt--much cleaner but less interesting? Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Check out what everyone else did today!

More soon!! ^_^

"This is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge: Gradient

Hello again!! Happy Monday! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! Can't wait for the next one, yes? :P

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Today's nail art challenge prompt is "Gradient"! Yay! I love doing gradients. Well, ever since I read the tutorial by Sammy over at the Nailasaurus, I love doing gradients!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

For this look I started out with a base of Milani White Out. I then layered Orly Orange Crush over that. Orange Crush is a sheer, yellow-orange jelly. I topped all of that with a quick coat of Seche Vite to dry it faster. Once it was dry, I used a make-up sponge with some more Orange Crush and China Glaze Riveting. I love how this turned out--the light orange at the top and then fade to the darker and shimmery Riveting. Take a look at it in the sun:

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

After this was all dry, I used BM-13 and Konad Special Polish in black to stamp the spiders and their webs. I topped it all with a coat of NYC's In a New York Minute Fast Dry topcoat. My thumb came out the best.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Orange and black are classic Halloween colors, and I'm quite pleased with how this one turned out.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

See what the others did for this one below!




More soon!! ^_^

"This is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge: Bats

Hello and happy Friday!!!!

Today's "This is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge prompt is bats. I was going for a very wearable Halloween nail this time. I chose to recreate my black lace french tips from a few months ago with bat stamps added. The black lace looked eerie enough--like the intricate railings on an old haunted house, so I thought that would be a good start for this mani.

Bat Nail Art. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

As before, I used two coats of Zoya Rose, one coat of INM Northern Lights, a lot of dry time, then stamped the french tip design from BM-18 and the bats from BM-13 with Konad Special polish in black. I finished this off with a coat of NYC's In a New York Minute Fastdry Topcoat.

This ended up being a very subtle Halloween look, which was my intent. Here's a shot with flash. I think the green shimmer in Zoya Rose lends itself nicely to this look.

Bat Nail Art. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

Check out the rest of the participants' bat nails!






More soon!! ^_^

"This Is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge: Zombies!

Hello again!! How did it get to be Monday again?! My weekend went fast!

Zombie Nail Art.

Today I have another "This Is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge post. The prompt is "Zombies". Here are my zombies!

Zombie Nail Art. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

 They have just feasted!

 I started with two coats of OPI Skull & Glossbones. Once that was dry I used the Saran-wrap technique with Zoya Wednesday to create their mottled, diseased zombie flesh. I dotted on the eyes with Pure Ice Wild Thing. The black accents were done with Konad Special Polish in black. The bruises were sponged on with Essie Bahama Mama, and the blood red is OPI I've Got The Blues For Red.

Zombie Nail Art. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This was a fun one! I can't wait to see what everyone else has come up with! Check them out!

More soon!! ^_^