Grrrrrr!

I suspect a pink tiger might have more of a purr than a grrr, but I've been wanting to do this look for a while now, ever since I saw SuperWowStyle's video. She credited Nailpolishwars for her inspiration, although that original design wasn't done with glitter polish.  For my recreation, I started with a pale pink base and topped it with 2 coats of pink glitter. Then I used my black nail art polish to paint on the stripes. So here is the final look:

Matches my iPhone case, haha!

PS I did 3 practice versions of this on nail wheels, 2 of them with brighter pinks, but in the end decided I liked the lighter shade.

Platinum ~n~ Plastic Wrap

Today's look is icy and glitzy.  It starts with a base of white on all nails except the ring finger, which is painted with China Glaze Platinum Silver.  I also used the Platinum Silver over the white nails, but while it was still wet I dabbed it with crumpled plastic wrap to create the almost marbled effect. There are many tutorials on YouTube under names like "Saran wrap nails" and virtually any color combination can be used this way. Finally, the ring finger got a topping of sliver glitter (Sinful Colors Queen of Beauty) for a sparkly accent, and all nails got a Poshe top coat.  Coooool!

Sea Spray

Today's design reminds me of the Caribbean with its shades of blue and just gives a feeling of freshness. This is a mani on a budget too....all the polishes I used were under 2 dollars and I think the NYC was only about 93 cents!  Here is the pretty collection I used:

Even though the first one looks like a creme, and I thought it was when I bought it too, there is the tiniest bit of holo shimmer in it. I'm actually a little disappointed because I already owned Cinderella by Sinful Colors which is very similar, and I was aiming for a baby blue creme. There's no denying it is very pretty on your nails though!  Obviously, the other two are fine glitter polishes. Without further ado, here's the look I created!

The design is very simple. I started with a base of Skyline Blue, and I was able to get this opaque in one coat!  Once that was completely dry I taped off the corner and added Millionaire, then dotted along the transition line with Teal Of Fortune. Seche Vite was my top coat of choice here because it gives such a nice glossy finish. 

Sporting some shorter nails

Okay, I broke 3 nails on my right hand in a way they couldn't be patched. Either a corner broke off or the tip just whacked clean off. Luckily none of them ended up being nail-biter short, so after filing, they aren't so bad. I also filed down the left hand and tried to make myself go as short as the right, but they didn't quite go down that far. The difference is very small, in my opinion, so I think I'm okay.  In honor of the new polish collection I just got, the Candy Cast minis collection by Kleancolor, I did a fun, bright look with stripes and dots. The Candy Cast colors are bold neons, and I got a set of 6 mini size polishes.  I only used 4 of them for this manicure. I started with a base of orange, not the neon one that came in the set because I thought that  would distract from the dots, but a basic orange from Wet N Wild. Then I used a striper to add vertical lines in white to each nail, and finally placed tiny dots of the neon colors over the stripes.  This is a super easy mani to do even working with your non-dominant hand. I'm showing pics of both hands to show that even my right turned out great, and that's the one painted by my very uncoordinated left hand!

 

Razzle Dazzle

I started with the photo because I love the impact of this polish. It's Nicole by OPI, the Modern Family collection, in Luke of the Draw. I have to give a shout out to my sister-in-law Marian, who gifted me this polish on my birthday! There are fine glitter pieces and bigger hex pieces in a black base, and this is different from any glitter polish I already owned in that it's all silver, not holographic. It really pops with shine and sparkle. I have on 2 coats in these pics. Below is a view that shows more of the black base. I think it looks spectacular on its own, so that's how I wore it. I love, love, love this polish!

Ruby & Gold

Since my zipper decals were so much fun and so easy to put on, I wanted to try out the other set of gold decals I got from the Born Pretty Store. These are some exotic designs that remind me of a Bollywood type thing. I started off with a base of China Glaze "Ravishing, Dahling" and then added the decals. My pinky nails were too small for the circular design so I had to use a different little filigree there. I finished off with Out The Door top coat, and as of today the mani is going strong for 4 days.

Playing catch-up: 3 manicures

I have to quit procrastinating when it comes to editing and uploading photos! These are 3 looks I've had on in the past week or so. 

First up, a simple floral design on a green background that just reminds me of something tropical, or a beachy look. It has Sinful Colors Mint Apple as a base with white flowers and accents of orange dots. I really like this one....it's fun and easy to do.

Next up is the look I chose for my birthday. It's an edgier style based on black and gold. For the accent nails, I placed gold zipper decals over the black base and added 2 layers of top coat to make them nice and shiny. The rest of the nails have a combination matte base and shiny black French tip with gold striping tape marking the transition. This turned out to be problematic since I couldn't completely cover the tape with top coat without messing up the matte area, so consequently it peeled up very quickly. This look only stayed on for one night, but then that's how long birthdays last anyway!

By the way, I got the zipper decals from the Born Pretty Store and I LOVE them!  They are so cute and easy to work with. You dip in water, then slide off the design and place it on your nail, and the great thing is, you have time to get it positioned just right before it dries and sticks! 

The last look is my Easter manicure. Keeping it simple, I just did sponge gradients in 5 different pastels over white, then added white dots on top.  I love the result!