All Wrapped Up

PurchasedPress Sample

So good news for Dexter fans without Showtime...Season 8 is on NETFLIX! :D I'm surper stoked, and trying to pace myself so I don't devour the entire season in a single day. (I watched seasons 1-4 in a week, all while working full time, I have a problem.)

Aaaaaanyway. I actually did this nail design back in July when the show was on TV, but never posted it. I know, I suck. I based this off of a Season 8 promo image I saw, where Dexter's image is made up of blood spatter. On the remaining nails, I did blood splatters over a white background. Red is the worst color to do splatter nail art with, it's so hard to remove all the pink residue that remains from the pigments. I'm fairly pleased with how this turned out, the face isn't super obvious at first glance, which I like. :)

I used:

White: Chrome Girl Between the Sheets
Red: China Glaze Adventure Red-y
Dark Red: China Glaze Adventure Red-y mixed with American Apparel Hassid

One of more of the items used in this post were provided by the manufacturer for review, the remainder of the items used were purchased by the author.

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Moonicure Monday - GObama!

As I'm sure most of you know (if you're from the the US or not), tomorrow is Election Day! Of course I had to do presidential nails for the occasion! I know that the topic of politics is a hot button issue these days, and this post is my nail art in support of President Barack Obama! Living outside the US this past year, I have gotten a better hold on what others think of the US, its people, and our president, and it's pretty clear to me who they want.

Side note, my nails are more nubbiny now, I broke my thumbnail after accidentally 'scoring' it with a paring knife while cooking. Ironic that it happened the same day Katherine of Manicure Addict commented that my nails were getting really long! lol

Who are you voting for? Tell me in the comments! (Please be respectful. Rude comments will not be published. Thanks for being adults! :D)

I used:

White: American Apparel T-Shirt
Red: American Apparel Downtown LA
Blue: Pure Ice French Kiss
Red Glitter: Milani Red Sparkle
Blue Glitter: Milani Blue Flash

Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On
Topcoat:  Seche Vite + Cult Nails Wicked Fast

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Earning My Stripes

Totally lazy weekend. LA-ZY! We watched 2/3 of the Back to the Future trilogy, I read a book, and I swatched the Deceptive collection. (have to re-swatch, my photos were crap) While in the backyard with the hound today, Chris and I caught a peek of a lizard in our rubber tree. Super cool lookin' dude, even saw him poop. In fact, it barely missed me. lol Exciting stuff, right? It must've been wildlife day in our yard, because there were also a couple rad looking red and black millipedes. Photos of both Izzy the Lizard and Milly Pede at the end of the post. :)

Homer has been a bit of a pill tonight, someone nearby keeps shooting off fireworks. Each time one explodes, he jumps, then runs from my lap to Chris' (or vice versa). It's like an exploding game of musical chairs. He's a nut. He hates thunder too. Poor thing can't climb far enough into my lap, and he trembles so much! I feel bad for the little man. :-P However, his scaredy-cat-ness has caused this post to take about 4 times the time it normally does. He keeps sitting on the trackpad.

Anyway. Let's talk nails.

Prepare for Totally 80s. At least that's what it reminds me of. I could totally see one of Robert Palmer's girls rockin' it, you know? Don't get me wrong- Totally 80s is totally cool by me. :D I'm completely in love with striping tape masking these days! So much easier!

I used:

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On

Black: American Apparel Hassid

Red: Cult Nails Evil Queen

Topcoat: Seche Vite topcoat

Basecoat: Seche Vite basecoat

Creature Feature:

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Under My Umbrella-ella-ella

Imagine lounging comfortably on your couch innocently watching reruns of Season 1 of Grey's Anatomy, when all of the sudden—the cable goes out!? CRASH! BOOM! CRACK! FLASH! What? Where did that come from?! Five minutes ago there wasn't a cloud in the sky! Yeah well, welcome to monsoon season in India. I swear to god there is a switch somewhere 'upstairs' that someone flicks to change the weather here. It goes from pleasant weather to booming thunder that you can feel in your guts and lightning that looks like strobe lights–shall we call it strobe lightning?!

I know, I know. Another weather-related nail design, but Reader Rita said I HAD to do it since I mentioned it, and who am I to be a tease?! This design makes me smile when I see it, and I'm glad that I did it!

What's the weather look like where you live?

I used:

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Red: China Glaze Hey Sailor
Red Shadow: CND Bloodline
Red Highlight: China Glaze Hey Sailor + Zoya Arizona
Yellow: American Apparel Manila
Yellow Shadow: Zoya Arizona
Yellow Highlight: American Apparel Manila + Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Blue: MAC Breezy
Blue Shadow: Cult Nails Time Traveler
Blue Highlight: American Apparel American Denim + Cult Nails Time Traveler
Green: CND Green Scene
Green Shadow: CND Green Scene + Cult Nails Time Traveler
Green Highlight: CND Green Scene + Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Dark Brown: China Glaze Mahogany Magic
Tan: Essie Brooch the Subject + American Apparel Manila
Light Blue: American Apparel American Denim
Topcoat: Seche Vite topcoat
Basecoat: Seche Vite basecoat

Who else finds it ironic that I took a picture of these nails on a sunny day? (I swear it was a crazy storm last night!)

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Get to the Point

Uh-oh. One of those nail doodles happened. This started out being inspired by a F*(King awesome pencil skirt that Divya wore on the show 'Royal Pains' (If I can ever find a photo of it, I'll post it!), but evolved after it looked too bland. I'm actually loving how it turned out. The colors were bottles I already had on my nail table from previous designs (save for the yellow), and it seemed like a natural path to get to the picture(s) below. :)

Are you ever nail art inspired by fashion you see on TV shows or movies?

I used:

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Yellow: China Glaze Happy Go Lucky
Grey: Nubar Stronghold
Teal: American Apparel Peacock
Turquoise: Zoya Robyn
Topcoat: Seche Vite

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It Was Elementary, Dear Watson! Nail Art Tutorial

What?! Another Back to School tutorial?! Dang, if I keep this up, you're going to be super ready for school days to start, and no apples for those teachers will be required! :D

Today I did a tutorial geared more toward the younger kids and the parents of younger kids- something you either loved or loathed - Manuscript writing! :D This tutorial is based off of the It Was Elementary, Dear Watson! design I did a while back.

What do you think? Is it teacher's pet material or does it deserve a detention!?

What was your favorite thing about the first day of school? I always loved wearing new clothes, and using new school supplies. *NERD ALERT*

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Indian Flag Nail Art Tutorial!

You may know that I've been living in India for the past 9 months, and today is India's Independence Day! I could hardly do this Flags of the World tour and not include my current home, right? I figured that today of all days would be the perfect day to post it, too.

There's more to India than curry, saris, and Hinduism. I'll be the first to admit that this country is sometimes maddening, but to balance out the madness are some of the most kind, generous, and generally selfless people I've ever met.

In addition to my Indian flag, nail art tutorial, I wore a saree/sari to work yesterday! (We didn't have work today) I felt awkward and exposed all day, and have a whole new respect for the Indian women that choose to wear saris on a regular basis. I rewarded myself with wearing jeans today. :D My friend Sheba was an absolute godsend, since there was no way I could wrap this thing alone- every time I tried, it looked like a giant slate blue diaper.

At the beginning of the day- Jasmine flowers in my hair, bindi on, all put together. :D

My friend Diana fussing over my pleats to make sure they looked right :D

My friend Sheba fussing over my pleats at the end of the day before having pic taken again. Stupid things kept coming untucked.

The back view. I love the pallu (the hanging piece) of this sari- all gold and copper metallic threads. so pretty!

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That's a Wrap!

First off, thanks for the suggestions (and compliments) for my tutorials! I'm glad that you guys are liking them. I'll do everything I can to take your suggestions and use them to influence my future tutorials! Keep those suggestions coming though- don't be shy, I can take it! Don't forget- there's something in it for YOU too! :)

I work in an office, and our dress code by U.S. standards is pretty casual. Common attire is polo shirts and jeans, though the women usually wear kurtas (a type of tunic) with leggings or salwar (loose, pajama-y pants). I often wear kurtas with jeans, but when I don't, I wear cute, work-appropriate tops. Today my top, though bright-colored, felt a little plain, so I threw on one of my favorite scarves...I've had it for years, and it made the trip to India with me. I initially bought it because of the bold graphic print and the color combination, but it's grown to be somewhat of a frequent accessory in my wardrobe. Anyway, when looking at it today, I felt the desire to do a nail art design inspired by the print of the fabric. It's not the same, but it uses similar colors and patterns. The best part about this design? It almost exclusively uses a dotting tool to make the design, I only used the nail art brush in a few places!

I used:

Brown: Zoya Codie
White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Pink: Zoya Lara
Turquoise: butter LONDON Artful Dodger
Green: Sally Hansen Grass Slipper
Topcoat: Seche Vite

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A Dash to the Finish Line

So I know I've been posting a lot of tutorials lately, and not as much nail art, so I decided to post something other than a flag today!! :-D  (Speaking of, are there any that you want to see? I have a few requests already, but I'll get to them!  :) )

It always amazes me how designs change even while I'm painting them. This design originated as dashes of all the same length in white over black, with an occasional red accent dash. It eventually evolved to different lengths of white dashes on back creating a wave-ish pattern with no red. Finally, I added color to each nail, making a sort of rolling gradient across the dashes. In retrospect, I wish I would've stuck to one color family for the entire manicure, instead of a different one on each nail. The orange and blue nails were my favorites...maybe I could've done an orange palette with a blue accent nail? (or vice versa?) Maybe next time?

I used:

Black: American Apparel Hassid
White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Dark Orange: CND Electric Orange
Medium Orange: Zoya Arizona
Yellow: American Apparel Manila
Dark Green: American Apparel Hunter
Medium Green: CND Green Scene
Light Green: Sally Hansen Grass Slipper
Dark Teal: American Apparel Peacock
Medium Teal: Zoya Robyn
Light Blue: American Apparel American Denim
Dark Purple: Zoya Pinta
Medium Purple: American Apparel Imperial Purple
Light Purple: American Apparel L Esprit
Dark Red: CND Bloodline
Bright Red: China Glaze Hey Sailor
Pink: Zoya Shelby
Topcoat: Seche Vite

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Finnish Flag Nail Art Tutorial!

I'll be honest, I can count the number of things I know about Finland on one of my hands. I know that metal band Lordi is from there (and I saw them in concert in Vegas, and they're cah-razy. Impressive show though), there are 35 species of mosquitos (and I thought India was bad), the capital is Helsinki, and the flag is blue and white. There, that's it, and I still have my thumb remaining. Oh! One more- Finland looks beautiful; the pictures I've seen are simply stunning.

I actually got TWO requests for the flag of Finland- so here you go! :-D

Get it, Finnish(ed)?!

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Canadian Flag Nail Art Tutorial...eh?!

Growing up in Michigan, Canada was our fun (and cold) neighbor to the North and East! Trips to Canada weren't super often, but we did visit Sault St. Marie (pronounced Soo Saint Marie, and otherwise known as 'The Soo'), Sarnia, and Windsor on occasion! :) Heck, my sister and I even took a roadtrip to Toronto once. :) (I love that city!) Everyone knows the stereotypes of Canada; eh, aboot (about), hockey, BEER, just to name a few! I'll admit, I couldn't help but add an 'Eh' in the intro...don't hate me!

I know that we say it in Michigan- the UP (Upper Peninsula) especially! Heck- lots of Yoopers (people that live in the UP) have bumper stickers that say Say Yah to da U.P., eh!, which is a parody of the Say YES to Michigan! state slogan. That makes it OK, right? Kind of like the excuse 'My best friend is...' preceding whatever offensive term/race/sexual preference, etc. was used. :)

Anyway, to our cold and friendly neighbors to the north with the CN tower and Labatt's (gag), I salute you! (and make you this flag tutorial) 

By the way- the maple leaf on the Canadian flag is a pain to paint and have look like a leaf. I redid this video THREE times to get it right!

Did you hear the one about how they named Canada by drawing letters from a hat? The first guy pulled out the letter C, eh!!, the second guy pulled out the letter N, eh!!, the third guy pulled out the letter D, ehhh!, and that was how Canada was named. :)  (I love you Canada, I swear!)

I'm gonna get killed for this. If you don't hear from me soon, check your local ice-fishing hole.

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American Flag Nail Art Tutorial!

TOOT! TOOT!  Next stop on the Flags of the World Nail Art Tutorial Express (hot damn that's a long name for an express train) is none other than Old Glory, the flag of the good ol' U S of A!

Though I'm sure that the majority of you lovely readers have seen the American flag nail art a zillion times, a 'Flags of the World' nail art tutorial series wouldn't really be the same without it, right?

Well here you go:

Triangle.

Oh, and can someone turn off the dawnzer? (please someone get this reference)

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British Flag Nail Art Tutorial!

So, because I get requests for flags quite a bit, I decided what better time to do flag tutorials than for the OLYMPICS?! First flag tutorial—the British flag! I mean, the Olympics are in London this year...

 

In the comments below, post what flags you'd like to have tutorials for, and I'll do my best to make them! :)

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Olympic Rings Tutorial!

So I'm going to be doing a series of tutorials for the Olympics, and this is the first one! :) I decided to get into the tutorial spirit, and get my ass in gear. Unfortunately my internet disagrees. It takes a full hour to upload a 4.5 minute video! Awesome right?

Anyway, I hope you like the first in my Olympics-themed Nail Art Tutorial Series!

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Passing the Torch

I'm not sure if you guys know this, but there is a sports competition of OLYMPIC proportions that starts...tonight. Will you be watching the millions of hours of television coverage that they're sure to show? Are you super excited about the opening ceremonies? From rumors I've heard, I'm SO excited. I realllly hope that they're true! I'm one of those people that pretty much only watches the opening and closing ceremonies... I know what you're thinking—She's a communist! Right?! Nah, every once in a while I'll watch the events, it really boils down to what else is on TV, and how lazy I am at that time. Horrible, I know.

Anyway, with all the Olympic fever going around, I felt the pressure to do an Olympic-themed nail design, but I knew it had to be...different. I thought about it, and came up with this:

And the non-animated version:

I love how Big Ben/Clock Tower/Elizabeth Tower turned out!

And to show you my 'registration mark' to help with lining up the animation pictures.

I used:

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Black: American Apparel Hassid
Red: Acrylic paint
Blue: Acrylic paint
Blue (ring): Ultra Pro Blue Blaze
Green: CND Green Scene
Orange: CND Electric Orange
Yellow: American Apparel Manila
Light Blue: American Apparel American Denim
Tan: Finger Paints Catwalk Queen mixed with OPI Suzi Likes Cowboys
Grey: Nubar Stronghold
Topcoat: Seche Vite

Animating on nails is a pain in the ass. I must've repainted them a million times!

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Poppy Extravaganza!

Today I have a design that I did a few months ago for the Rite Aid Nail Extravaganza nail art competition. The judges were Suzi Weiss-Fischmann of OPI, Essie Weingarten of Essie, and Julie G of Julie G Beauty. Needless to say, I wanted to IMPRESS. With this design I made it to the finalist round, where I was sent a box of products that I had to use to create a new nail design. Here's the catch, I could ONLY use the tools/polishes in the box. Unfortunately this did not include A. topcoat B. a nail art brush. I did contact the PR people handling the contest to make sure I was not allowed to use topcoat or brushes, and they said if it's not in the box...no.

The kit included: a set of 5 polishes from the Jesse's Girl Julie G line, 2 Essies, a NOPI red, and 5 Sally Hansen Nail Art Pens. I spent 4 hours. FOUR. HOURS. trying to make these products work. Sure, the polishes were all AWESOME. Unfortunately not many of them coordinated, and on top of that, the lack of topcoat meant that anything I drew with the nail art pens wiped off. After several failed attempts (every time I drew something I was mildly OK with, the pen would shit on my nail and make a big splotch...there was a lot of unparliamentary language goin' on that night), I came up with something that I wasn't horribly embarrassed to submit. This round was voted on by the public... needless to say, my design didn't win.  You can view the other submissions on the Rite Aid Nail Extravaganza site.

In any event, I was REALLY happy with my initial submission. I tried a new watercolor technique where I painted the shape of where the color was the boldest/most opaque, then dipped my brush in acetone and 'pulled' the color to create the other shapes.

I used:

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Red: Nicole by OPI Red-y to Runaway Love, sometimes mixed with Zoya Arizona
Darker Red: Essie Blood Curdling
Yellow: CND Bicycle Yellow
Green: Essie Pretty Edgy, sometimes mixed with CND Bicycle Yellow

Black: American Apparel Hassid

Topcoat: Seche Vite

The OTHER design. 

I used:

Essie Merino Cool

Silver, Black, and White Sally Hansen Nail Art pens

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With Her Head in the Clouds

Did you know that today is Amelia Earhart's 115th birthday? If you've been to Google today you did! :-D  In honor of this inspiration of a lady, I did flying nails!

I apologize this post is super short in the ways of words, but my head hurts so bad right now I feel nauseous, and I really want to go get some sleep. However, I really wanted to get this post up on her birthday! :)

I used:

Blue: American Apparel American Denim
Red: China Glaze Hey Sailor
Red Highlight: CND Electric Orange
White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Black: American Apparel Hassid
Topcoat: Seche Vite

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Wherever the Chips May Fall

My nails are FUZZY!!!

I can't take credit for the fuzzy part- I was inspired by Jen over at The Polishaholic blog! The rest of the inspiration for this nail art came from being homesick, and from being bummed about missing out on CosmoProf North America right now in Las Vegas with all my other blogger friends!! *BUMMED*

In honor of all the lovely bloggin' ladies in Vegas right now, I made Vegas poker nails!!  I used green flocking for the felt, and poker chips to make the half-moons!

I used:

Green: CND Green Scene

Yellow: American Apparel Manila

Red: China Glaze Hey Sailor

Blue: MAC Breezy Blue

Black: American Apparel Hassid

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On

Topcoat: Seche Vite

Next year.

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Instant Gratification

I decided to something simple today- just a plain silver, satin-finish manicure. Im not sure how well it turned out- maybe this is why I do crazy nail art- I mean- look at it...it's horrible. Bumpy, uneven, and I mean, look at those brushstrokes. UGH. 

HA! Just kidding. While today's design/technique didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, I still thought it was a fun enough idea to share. 

I dunno about you folks, but I can't resist a good instant lottery ticket—my weakness? BINGO or crossword scratch-offs. :-D (I feel like I'm getting more entertainment for my money) Since they don't have lottery in Nevada, and obviously not in India, I only get to buy them when I'm visiting my home in Michigan, and I totally have to set a limit for myself. :-D They say that lottery is a tax on the poor, but I don't really play with the expectation of winning, it's more like a slot machine handle pull or a hand of blackjack for me... purely entertainment. When I was reminded the other day on Pinterest of a tutorial I saw a few years back about making your own scratch-off tickets, I knew that I had to do a scratch-off manicure! :)  To make the scratch-off finish- all you need is 1 part dish soap and 2 parts silver (or any metallic) acrylic paint. 

Granted, this is kind of a single-use and VERY impractical manicure, but you know me....

I used:

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On

Blue: American Apparel American Denim

Dark Grey: Nubar Stronghold

Topcoat:  Seche Vite

Scratch off 3 nail polish symbols and you're a winner!! 

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We Can't Stop Here...This is Batman Country!

Holy mix of pop culture, Batman!  For those of you wondering WTF I'm talking about... yesterday was Hunter S. Thompson's birthday (if he were still alive), and I'm sure anyone with a pulse and TV knows that tomorrow is the release of the latest and greatest Batman flick–The Dark Knight Rises. To understand why these two events work so beautifully together, one must read (or at least WATCH) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. From the book:

The car suddenly veered off the road, and we came to a sliding halt in the gravel. I was hurled against the dashboard. My attorney was slumped over the wheel. "What's wrong?" I yelled. "We can't stop here. This is bat country!"

–Raoul Duke, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson

You NEED to read the book.

Anyway, I've had this Ralph Steadman (the artist who illustrated Fear & Loathing)—slash—Fear and Loathing idea on my list forevvvvver (Chris is a major major major fan), and I figured what better way to do it than a Bat Country/Batman mashup, much like my Dexter/Dexter mani named He's Got a Way With Murder. In that manicure I took the Dexter (the beloved serial killer) logo, and an illustration of him in the style of Dexter's Laboratory (the cartoon) and combined them to celebrate the beginning of a new season of Dexter. (Speaking of Dexter, could you believe the Season 6 cliffhanger?! Season 7 premiere can't come soon enough!)

If you're not familiar with the art of Ralph Steadman, it's messy and well... slightly psychotic. (and creepy awesome) The best way to understand it is by seeing this:



I did the Ralph Steadman bats on all the fingers except the middle finger, where I did the batman logo in the style of Steadman, with splatters/drips.

So there you have it. An explanation of WhyTF I  did this manicure. And now, without further ado, the manicure you've all been waiting for...

And who could resist doing a Fear and Loathing manicure without taking a picture of it WITH the book. This is a First Edition of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and the first gift I ever gave to Chris!

I used:

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On

Black: American Apparel Hassid

Topcoat: Seche Vite

We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold...

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