Category Archives: Nail Art

DIY Studded Manicure

Posted on May 24, 2013 by | 5 Comments

Studded Manicure 3mmIf you follow TDV on Facebook or Twitter then you are well aware that over the past couple of weeks I have become completely obsessed with studded manicures. Ever since I saw Kate Spade use studded nails in their Fall 2013 runway show I’ve been dying to give it a try. Plus, I wear alot of very girly clothes so wearing a bit of an edgy manicure is a fun contrast.

I ordered nail studs from eBay for next to nothing. I’ve used 2 sizes in this post, 5mm studs (which I purchased from here) and 3mm studs (which I ordered from here). Otherwise all of the supplies needed are more than likely things you already have.

For a complete tutorial check below the jump! And make sure to leave a comment and let me know which of my studded manicures is your favorite!

Alli

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Nail Art: Textured Gradient (2 ways!)

Posted on May 15, 2013 by | 3 Comments

Textured Gradient Nail ArtSince it seems I’m in the business of hoarding the new textured polishes that have come out recently I’ve been trying to come up with different ways to use them. I already did textured polka dots using China Glaze Bump & Grind but I really wanted to try doing a gradient. I wasn’t sure how it would work but as it turns out I really liked the result.

I did 2 gradients; one using a white base (Ulta Snow White) and just sponging China Glaze Of Coarse! on top. The end result looked great but didn’t have near as much of a gradient look as I was going for.

The second gradient I did I used Revlon Blue Lagoon with OPI Just Groovy sponged over the top. I then added a matte top coat (I used butter LONDON Matte Finish Topcoat). After I let that dry completely I sponged a small amount of China Glaze Of Coarse! on the tips. While this version definitely had more of a gradient look I still liked my first attempt better.

Anyway, below the jump there are swatches of both versions. Let me know which you like better!

Alli

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Revlon Blue Lagoon (+ a matte blue gradient manicure)

Posted on May 11, 2013 by | 5 Comments

Revlon Blue LagoonThis is an old favorite I ran across when I was going through one of my Melmers the other day. It was originally from Revlon’s Summer 2011 Summer Romantics collection though is now part of the permanent line. There was so much gorgeous is such a small bottle I just had to put it on!

Blue Lagoon is a light baby blue with iridescent shimmer. The color is gorgeous (and a very close dupe of Chanel Riva) but the formula isn’t the best. I had to use 4 coats in my swatches to even out the color and get a level of opacity I was happy with.

I ended up wearing the polish for a couple of days and my manicure began to show tip wear. Instead of doing an entirely new manicure I sponged OPI Just Groovy over Blue Lagoon and then topped it with a matte top coat to get a matte blue gradient manicure. It was fun and certainly different! There are additional swatches of Blue Lagoon as well as swatches of my matte blue gradient manicure below the jump!

Alli

 

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Nailspiration: The Great Gatsby (+ a DIY 1920′s Manicure How To)

Posted on May 10, 2013 by | 12 Comments

The Great Gatsby manicureThe day has finally arrived. The Great Gatsby hits theaters today! I’m cautiously optimistic about the movie. I love the Baz Luhrmann version of Romeo + Juliet (it’s really quite brilliant) so I’m hoping he has the same success with Gatsby.

Last summer I got a Julep Maven box specifically because it contained a nail polish called Daisy. Gatsby has been my favorite book since I was a teenager (my English teacher assigned the first 5 chapters to us one weekend and I ended up reading the entire thing!). I read it once a year or so and I always find something new or different each read. When I got wind of the movie I was really hoping a company would release a nail polish line to go along with the film. Sadly, that didn’t happen.

This led me to do some research on nail polish trends in the 1920′s. My research led first to this wonderful soap ad. The model’s nails look amazing! Jordan Baker (played by Elizabeth Debicki) has a similar manicure in this still from the film.

I wanted to give a 1920′s era manicure a try. Basically, it is a half moon manicure that also has no polish on the tips. It’s similar to the manicure I did based on Water for Elephants, which was set in the 1930′s. The difference being in the 20′s there was not a contrasting color on the tips but no nail polish at all. This allowed the polish to last longer (plus it’s a difficult look to achieve yourself so it was sort of a status symbol).

After several failed attempts I finally achieved, what I think, is a pretty spot on 20′s manicure. It looks very strange to the 2013 eye! But I ended up kind of liking it. The look is very chic and understated.

For how I achieved this manicure check below the jump! And make sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think about the 1920′s manicure!

Alli

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Nail Art: Essie No Place Like Chrome + Neon Polka Dots

Posted on May 5, 2013 by | 7 Comments

Essie No Place Like Chrome + Neon Polka DotsI don’t even know where to start with this manicure!

Charlotte has been having a bit of season confusion recently. It’s supposed to be spring but it feels more like fall. It was a gloomy, cool day which seemed like a perfect opportunity to spend some time doing a crazy manicure.

I’ve been wanting to use Essie No Place Like Chrome as the base for a polka dot manicure for a while. So I applied No Place Like Chrome and was kind of unsure where this manicure was going. I decided to do something subtle so I added white polka dots. As it turned out I didn’t really like the result (there is a picture of that manicure below the jump). Instead of starting over I decided to make the polka dots neon.

And this is where this manicure went a little crazy. I couldn’t decide on one neon polish to use so I used 5 different polishes. There was no rhyme or reason to where I placed each color apart from the middle line of polka dots were a different color on each nail.

The end result was fun, and I liked it. But it’s certainly not a look for everyone!

Below the jump are additional swatches of my crazy mani plus a list of all the polishes I used.

Alli

 

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Nail Art: Small Metallic Polka Dots

Posted on May 3, 2013 by | 1 Comment

Small Metallic Polka Dots 3I found myself with an unusual nail dilemma last weekend. I had to attend a wedding and the Charlotte Symphony on the same day. This meant I needed a manicure that was both wedding and symphony appropriate.

The dress I finally found that was appropriate for both events was a magenta/fuchsia color so I wanted to go with a (mostly) neutral nail. Metallics are definitely my favorite way to rock a neutral manicure so I went with my most recent metallic discovery; JulieG Liquid Metal. I wanted to do an accent nail and thought a navy polish would compliment the rose gold. butter LONDON Royal Navy was the perfect choice! I added the tiny polka dots using a toothpick. It worked wonderfully.

Like the last metallic polka dot manicure I did, I fell in love with this manicure. It was perfect for both the wedding and the symphony. I even wore it through the weekend (including a marathon cooking session).

Make sure to check out the additional swatches below the jump!

Alli

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Nail Art: Textured Polka Dots

Posted on April 26, 2013 by | 9 Comments

Textured Polka Dot Nail ArtEver since textured polish has taken the nail polish world by storm I’ve been wanting to try to do textured polka dots. I wasn’t entirely sure how it would work or if it would work at all. Turns out it worked though definitely takes a little bit more effort than your normal polka dots.

The base polish is Revlon Eclectic (which is not my favorite formula wise but I do think it is a lovely color). I thought a bright pink would contrast the pale green nicely so I used China Glaze Bump & Grind for my textured polka dots.

The key to getting enough of the texture onto the nails is to do 2 layers of polka dots and be very patient as far as drying time goes. The texture comes out more and more as it dries. My polka dots needed a good 10 minutes before the texture fully developed.

I’m not sure this is something I would do often but it was fun for a change!

As always there are more swatches below the jump :)

Alli

 

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Nail Art: Temporary Tattoo Nail Art (+ why Auburn’s Toomers Oaks aren’t “just trees”)

Posted on April 20, 2013 by | 4 Comments

Auburn Nail ArtToday is A-Day in Auburn; the football team’s annual spring football scrimmage.  This is always a big day in Auburn but this year it’s just a little bit bigger. Today, after the game, the final rolling of Toomers Corner will take place.

As always, a themed manicure was in order! When I was in Auburn the end of last year I picked up some temporary nail tattoos. The only thing that makes them nail tattoos is the fact that they are tiny! Otherwise they function just like a normal temporary tattoo.

Using them is simple. Once the nail polish is completely dry (and I mean completely…) you just cut the tattoo as small as possible, remove the top sheet, place it on the nail then take a wet washcloth and hold over the temporary tattoo for about 20 seconds. Then just peel away the backing and apply a top coat. Super simple!

At first I did tiger strips on the rest of my nails and ended up kind of hating it. There was just way too much going on with that manicure. Instead, I applied a navy polish (Orly Star of Bombay) to the other nails. I really loved the result.

Below the jump there are swatches of both version of this manicure plus a fairly long spiel on Auburn, the Toomers Oaks and why they mean so much to me.

War Eagle!

Alli

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Nail Art: Metallic Polka Dots

Posted on April 15, 2013 by | 12 Comments

Metallic Polka Dot Nail Art 4Oh em gee y’all, I love this manicure!

I was wearing Essie Maximillian Strasse Her and wanted to make my manicure a bit more interesting. At first I was just going to do white polka dots but then I thought maybe silver polka dots might bring out more of the gray in Maximillian Strasse Her.

Using one of my DIY dotting tools I added polka dots with Essie No Place Like Chrome.

The result was pretty awesome. It almost looked like a design from Essie’s Sleek Stick nail applique collection.

As always there are more swatches below the jump!

Alli

 

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Nail Art: Golf Ball Nails

Posted on April 11, 2013 by | 8 Comments

Golf Ball NailsIt’s Masters weekend!

I grew up around golf and my boyfriend is a big golfer so the week of The Masters is crazy. Our life revolves around the television coverage. I, of course, wanted to have appropriate nails for the occasion! I’m really excited about what I came up with! I even gave many of you a little sneak peak.

Ever since I got Amour Arnold Palmer I knew I’d have to use it in a Masters manicure. But I wanted to do something a bit more literal. I started thinking of how to make my nails look like golf balls. What I finally came up with should have seemed obvious though it took me awhile to get there.

I applied 3 fairly thick coats of Ulta Snow White and a top coat. I waited several minutes then used a dotting tool to dent the nail polish to make it look (sort of) like a golf ball. I didn’t want all my nails to be golf balls so I just did this on the ring finger and thumb.

I was bit surprised how well it turned out! It will definitely be perfect for all the Masters festivities this weekend.

As always, there are additional swatches below the jump!

Alli

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