Gimme a Kiss!

One more Valentine's Day nail design! This was today's nail art, and I am excited to show it to you because my super kickass boyfriend surprised me with a package from Amazon today- something to help with the blog. What was it, you ask? A tabletop lighting set for my lightbox! You can say that not only am I head over heels for Chris, but he lights up my life --->Literally! lol  The reason I'm excited to show you this design is because I got to try out the new lights when I took the pictures. I definitely have a lot of learning/experimenting to do before I get everything how I want it, but the colors are far better with these new lights. I'm already super pleased!

This Valentine's nail design is another twist on a half-moon inspired design- Hershey's kisses! :) I'm totally in love with China Glaze Adventure Red-y, despite the fact that I usually loathe red polishes. Dunno, something about this one. the coverage, color, and application are fantastic.

Anyway, to the nails, I hope you like them!

I used:

Red: China Glaze Adventure Red-y
Silver: Zoya Trixie
Silver Shading: Zoya Trixie mixed with American Apparel Hassid
White: American Apparel T-Shirt
Blue: Zoya Yummy mixed with American Apparel T-Shirt

Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On

Topcoat:  Seche Vite

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Pucker Up!

Happy Valentine's Day! :D

I hope that everyone is enjoying the day with friends, their crush, their significant other, or their dog (like I am). To some, today is merely Thursday, but to some, Valentine's Day is kind of a big deal… :-P I meant to post these earlier, but work and whatnot got the best of me, so I'm posting them now. The thumb and ring finger are conversation hearts, and the other three fingers are lips, all of them are a different twist on a half-moon! :-D I hope you like them!

Please excuse the state of my cuticles, Michigan winter is not proving to be kind to them! :-/  They look sad and angry and very very dry (and this picture was taken AFTER applying Lemony Flutter, so just IMAGINE the state of them before!!)  

I also apologize for the picture quality. Ever since moving back I'm still trying to figure out lighting because it's so damn gloomy here.

I used:

Turquoise: Layla Softtouch 09

Pink: Zoya Areej (mixed with American Apparel T-Shirt for the heart on the thumb)

Red: American Apparel Downtown LA

Dark Red: China Glaze Adventure Red-y

White (used for highlighting): American Apparel T-Shirt

Black (used for shading): American Apparel Hassid

Yellow: American Apparel Manila mixed with American Apparel T-Shirt

Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On

Topcoat:  Seche Vite

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Sweet Talkin'

Who doesn't like candy? I'll admit, while I'm a mostly salty/savory kinda gal, I love to indulge in my fair share of sweets. In fact, I have an entire desk drawer at work devoted to sweets, and I have at each job I've held for 7 or 8 years. :) What can I say, I like variety, one kind of sugar won't do the job– I need SEVERAL. So tonight, when I was sitting at my nail desk stumped after 3 failed nail designs for the evening, I finally resorted to...the list. The list is a list (really?!) of nail designs that I want to do at some point, and I tend to avoid using it unless I'm totally uninspired or stumped for a design idea. Otherwise, I tend to do whatever pops into my head when I sit down (Hence the 3 earlier failed designs). Sometimes this method works fantastically; other times, not so much. So in any event, I knew that I had been neglecting the blog for too long after the contest and that I wanted to get a new design posted today. Speaking of the contest, I forgot to mention the winner on the blog (not to worry, they've been contacted and got their prize already), so I'll mention that AND the answer in another (quickie) post, not that you guys needed the answer- almost everyone got it right!

On with the show (all that candy reference actually had a point), I decided to do nails inspired by the rainbow-colored sweetness that we all know and love, the rainbow lollipop. You know– the coiled rope of twisted, colored goodness that sits atop a stick. It's funny, I never intended to leave the white at the tips, but I ended up liking it as I was doing it, so I kept it. :) The amusing thing is, I never noticed that I inadvertently made a funky french manicure of sorts until I looked at the photos and the white blasted me in my rods and cones. :)

I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On as a base, with:

Red: Zoya Carmen

Orange: Zoya Arizona

Yellow: CND Bicycle Yellow

Green: CND Green Scene

Blue: China Glaze Flyin' High

Black: American Apparel Hassid (duh) :-P

Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Do you guys like how I listed the polishes used better this way or my normal way? I want to make it easier for you to see what I used!

This manicure makes me want to go see a dentist.

Disclaimer: Zoya links in this post are Share the Love links, and all points accrued from these links will apply to giveaways, and are never for my personal use. By signing up and purchasing through these links, it means that I'm able to do more giveaways!

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Creme of the Crop?

I can only stomach about one regular sized one per year, or a few of the mini ones, but I LOVE Cadbury Creme Eggs. I love the chocolate, I love the gooey inside. YUMMMM!  I wish they were sold here! Unfortunately, they're not, so I decided to do an homage to them on my nails for Easter. :) I must confess though, this wasn't the original design. I started out with a manicure that featured a variety of delicious Easter candy treats. When I finished that manicure, the only nail I really loved was the middle finger- the opened creme egg, so I decided to redo the rest of the nails!

Here is the final design:

and the original design:

For the final design, I used:

Thumb: The egg!

Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme as a base, shaded with a mix of Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme and American Apparel Hassid, and highlighted with a mixture of Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme, American Apparel Cotton, and CND Bicycle Yellow.

Middle: Opened Cadbury Creme Egg!

American Apparel Cotton as a base for the filling, with Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme over it for the chocolate shell. For the 'yolk', I used American Apparel Manila. To shade, I used Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme mixed with American Apparel Hassid, and to highlight, I mixed Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme with American Apparel Cotton.

Index, Ring & Pinky: The foil wrapper!

Zoya Trixie as a base, with China Glaze First Mate for the Blue, CND Bicycle Yellow for the yellow, and American Apparel Downtown LA for the red. For the white, I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White on!

For the original design, I used:

Thumb: Easter basket with Peeps Bunnies

American Apparel The Valley as a base, with CND Bicycle Yellow for the bunnies, shaded with Zoya Jancyn. For the basket, I used Color Club Yum Gum, shaded with OPI Do You Think I'm Texy, and American Apparel Crescent Heights and Nubar Forest for the grass.

Index: Creepy closeup of chocolate bunny eye

Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme as a base, mixed with American Apparel Cotton to highlight and American Apparel Hassid to shade. For the eye, I used ORLY Lemonade shaded with Zoya Jancyn and Zoya Robyn for the pupil. I also used Essie Matte About You over the eye since they're that crunch sugar royal icing type candy.

Middle: Opened Cadbury Creme Egg

American Apparel Cotton as a base for the filling, with Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme over it for the chocolate shell. For the 'yolk', I used American Apparel Manila. To shade, I used Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme mixed with American Apparel Hassid, and to highlight, I mixed Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme with American Apparel Cotton.

Ring: Cadbury Mini Eggs- MY ONE TRUE LOVE.

ORLY Lemonade as a base, lightly sponged with a mix of acetone and Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme, then topped with Essie Matte About You to get that matte candy shell look.

Pinky: Jellybean

OPI Do You Think I'm Texy as a base, with American Apparel Port to shade and sponged lightly to create the spots. Highlighted with a mix of OPI Do You Think I'm Texy and American Apparel Cotton.



In case you're wondering what is all over my hands, it's mehendi! (or mehndi, depending who you ask)

Here are the pictures of it! These pictures were taken when it still wasn't at its darkest- on my palms it was so dark it was nearly black in places!

Oh, and have you guys seen/heard of this?

The Cadbury Creme Egg Twisted?!?!  WHAAAAAAAT?!  Can someone send me this? Please?  

Cadbury, are you listening?!

Ok, enough candy/chocolate p o r n for tonight.  Happy Easter! 

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