Tag Archives: Nail Art

Sephora by OPI Too Good For Him (+ a Glitter Gradient Mani)

Posted on June 6, 2013 by | 4 Comments

Sephora by OPI Too Good For HimThis was the first glitter polish I ever owned! I still remember when I bought this. It was way back at the end of 2009. Too Good For Him was part of Sephora by OPI’s New Year’s collection that year. I was browsing the Sephora by OPI display and saw Too Good For Him. It was love at first sight. And who can blame me? It looks GORGEOUS in the bottle!

Too Good For Him contains medium sized purple, blue and gold glitter in a clear base. Or at least that’s how I would describe it. Sephora’s description of this product is kind of amazing:

A vibrant lacquer inspired by empowering resolutions for the new year.What it does:The realization that you are too good to settle for less than the best can create a surge of energy like fireworks going off in your soul. This shade channels the brilliance of determined self improvement and the undeniable allure of self confidence.

Like fireworks going off in your soul! Well, I’m not so sure about that, but I will say my heart does beat a little faster when I come across this polish in my Melmer.

Formula wise, this is quite good for a glitter polish. I used three coats in my swatches and there are some bare spots but not enough to make it so this polish can’t be worn in its own.

This polish is quite versatile. Yes, it can be worn on its own, but it can also be used in other ways. I did a glitter gradient manicure with Too Good For Him and Pixi Luminous Lilac recently and was completely obsessed with it. Luminous Lilac is a gorgeous pink that is work appropriate and understated. By adding the glitter gradient to the tips it was transformed to a fabulous night out manicure.

Below the jump there are additional swatches of Too Good For Him (the MACRO shots are gorgeous!) as well as swatches of my glitter gradient manicure!

Alli

PS: Too Good For Him isn’t exactly easy to find anymore. Some good alternatives are Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink and SinfulColors Frenzy :) Continue reading →

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OPI Red Lights Ahead…Where? (+ Lady Bug Nail Art)

Posted on May 31, 2013 by | Leave a comment

OPI Red Lights Ahead…WhereThe last couple of weeks I’ve been really into red manicures. Essie Hip-anema has been a mainstay on my toes as well as my nails (for example…my memorial day manicure) so when I was changing my polish the other day I wanted to do another red manicure but wanted to at least switch up the polish. I was browsing my DIY nail polish rack and saw a bottle of Red Lights Ahead…Where?. Though I haven’t used it since it was released as part of OPI’s 2012 Holland collection I remember liking it quite a bit.

Red Lights Ahead…Where? is an orange leaning red creme that is almost coral. OPI categorizes this polish as a coral but it’s a bit too red to be a coral, in my opinion.

The formula is fantastic. This is almost a one coater, though I did use two coats in all my swatches.

I’m really happy I rediscovered this polish. I bought it for the name (I mean…who didn’t take a stroll through the red light district when they were in Amsterdam!?) but it’s a great polish regardless.

Though it’s not yet officially summer I decided to add a lady bug to my manicure. It turned out to be really cute and certainly screamed summer! Other than Red Lights Ahead….Where? I used Ulta Snow White and JulieG Black Sheep to create the lady bug.

There are additional swatches of Red Lights Ahead…Where? along with swatches of my lady bug mani below the jump!

Alli

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Nail Art: Watercolors

Posted on May 29, 2013 by | 4 Comments

Watercolor Nail ArtWhen I started this manicure I had no idea where it was going. I wanted to use one of the fan brushes that came with my new nail art brush set. I have no idea how fan brushes are supposed to be used in nail art. From what I understand they basically exist to brush off excess glitter and what not. But I wanted to do something a bit different.

To achieve this look I used Ulta Snow White as a base. Then I used Essie Shake Your $$ Maker and China Glaze Towel Boy Toy to create the watercolor effect by dipping the fan brush into drops of polish on a paper plate. Then I just swiped the brush over my nails until I achieved a result I was happy with!

I asked for suggestions on Facebook what to call this manicure and someone suggested seaweed. It really does kind of look like seaweed!

Anyway, there are, of course, additional swatches below the jump along with a picture of the exact brush I used.

Alli

 

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Nail Art: Aquatic Polka Dots!

Posted on May 27, 2013 by | 4 Comments

Nail Art - Aquadots2I woke up yesterday morning and decided I needed a fun manicure. I started off with a white base (Ulta Snow White) and got out a few polishes and my dotting tool! While I had originally thought I’d be doing some sort of patriotic mani, I ended up going in a completely different direction and just sort of went with it.

I used butter LONDON – Artful Dodger, LEX cosmetics – Atlantic, Milani – Dressmaker, Essie – Licorice, Essie – Where’s my Chauffeur, and GOSH – Holographic Hero.

I’m really kind of loving this manicure – it’s fun and different. It reminds me of mermaid scales. I really like the look of overlapping polka dots, plus it’s fairly fool proof for the nail art challenged (read: me!). I even like where the colors slightly bleed, I think it makes it look like raindrops :)

A few more pictures under the jump!

Happy Monday!

Katie

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Posted in butter LONDON, Essie, GOSH, Katie, Milani

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Nail Art: Memorial Day Acid Wash Manicure!

Posted on May 25, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Patriotic Acid WashHappy Memorial Day weekend!!

It’s the unofficial official start of summer and I am thrilled. I’m in Alabama this weekend splitting my time between Auburn, where I went to college, and Birmingham. Nothing says Memorial Day quite like a road trip, right?

I, of course, needed an appropriate manicure for this weekend. I wanted to do a patriotic acid wash manicure. The way I normally do an acid wash manicure I use a Q-Tip (you can see an entire tutorial here).  But recently I got a new set of nail art brushes so I wanted to try removing the top layer of color with a brush. Otherwise I did everything the same. I was surprised that it gave an entirely different look!

If this manicure isn’t quite your cup of tea and you are looking for some other patriotic nail ideas you can find a whole slew of ideas in this post.

Otherwise, there are additional swatches below the jump (including a list of polishes I used as well as the brush I used).

Have a fabulous weekend!

Alli

 

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DIY Studded Manicure

Posted on May 24, 2013 by | 10 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 | 4 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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Celeb Nails: Nicole Richie Met Ball 2013

Posted on May 12, 2013 by | 3 Comments

Celeb Nails Nicole RichieWhile everyone else is paying attention to the Met Ball fashion my eyes are always checking out everyone’s nails! The theme this year was PUNK: Chaos to Couture some really embraced the theme. One of those people was Nicole Richie. Her look was very pretty punk and her nails followed that same theme. Check out her entire look here.

I loved Nicole’s nails so much I wanted to recreate the look. It was easier than I thought it might be.

I started with a gold base coat (I used wet n wild Fergie nail color in Grammy Gold). Then I used OPI Pomegranate Me A Wish and angled the brush to make the points. After that I just simply filled in the rest of the nail. Easy!

This look is definitely a little bit more fall/holiday appropriate but it can certainly be done in different colors more appropriate for the spring and summer.

As always there are additional swatches below the jump!

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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