Fantasy of Perpetual Indulgence

Today's nails hardly needs any blog-talk accompanying it. It's so flippin' amazing, but it's also a rarity currently. The amazing glitter shown here is Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from Sonoma Nail Art. It's a seriously remarkable. I originally wanted to do it over yellow as advertised on the Sonoma Nail Art blog. I wanted to try something else though, so I chose a HOT pink, Flip Flop Fantasy (China Glaze).

I seriously considered buying 2 of these polishes to offer as a giveaway prize, but then I thought that wasn't fair to the other girls who were waiting for the shop to open like me. My heart was racing faster than ice cream on a hot tarmac. When I actually got this bottle and another into my cart, I was certain they'd sell out before I could finish PayPal's transaction, but they didn't and I got a confirmation message! I felt happier than a starved-for-attention actress mentioned for her terrible fashion choices.

Nude on Black

If I were to rate this manicure on a patience level from one to ten, ten being the highest amount of patience, it'd score a ten...easily. The results speak for themselves though and I'm happy to say I like the gradient results I scored!

Getting a good gradient is hard, and this one isn't nearly as nice as some I've seen. You have to get the edges, blend it well, and get a good effect. If you screw up, it's kind of hard to fix it. You just have to keep blending, little by little. Again, mine isn't perfect, but I'm mostly happy with it.

Another piece of patience crucial to the success of this manicure is the taping. Luckily, I didn't need to cut strips of tape to be the correct width. I ordered some 1/16" striping tape, originally designed for use in model cars or trains. There's 36 feet of the stuff too, so I didn't feel bad about using extra to run the length of my nails. (It's one of the instances I'm glad I have shorter nails though.)

The base (which I teased some Instagram followers with earlier) is Black on Black (Sinful Colors), and the gradient neutral color is Nomadic Nude (Color Club). Both are super cheap polishes, but both are beyond lovely and deserve their own solo debuts. I adore them paired with one another as well though. The colors remind me of Nugget's colors a bit actually.

As vicious as this looks, Nugget's as gentle as cats come.

Don't forget the giveaway

Enter here, and PLEASE take the time to submit your entries properly. I just spent an hour and a half validating entries and wound up deleting almost 200 invalid entries. If you need help with your entries, let me know (email) and I'll be happy to help.

What's Black, White, and Full of Glitter?

THESE NAILS!

I literally couldn't handle the giggling that kept spewing out of my mouth when I thought about all the awesome glitters I've accumulated. So, I did the only thing I could think of...put one on each nail!

Now some of these you've seen already, but I couldn't repeat a polish on another nail, so I resurrected them.

Here are the candidates:

• Left Hand
• L.A. Girl Uninhibited 
• All That Glitters Spotty Dottie White
• Lynderella Connect the Dots (linked to Ilarowe's shop where it's currently being sold)
  
• windestine Carbon Copy
• Sally Hansen Multi-Faceted

• Right Hand
• F4 Polish Holy Cow
• Dandy Nails Colorblind
• windestine Asbestos
• All That Glitters Spotty Dottie Black
• Sonoma Nail Art Sonoma County Gazette

Sadly, only Holy Cow is available from the Etsy shops, but you can definitely nab the Sally Hansen and L.A. Girl more readily.

Oh...and the green is Just in Lime! (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri). 

Utopia Bows Polish: Pop Art

I'd like to share some Etsy finds with you, starting with a seller I found simply by searching for "nail polish" in Etsy's engine: Utopia Bows. When I first discovered the site, it was about 90/10...dog bows. Yep...Virginia, the shop's owner, also specializes in the production of handmade dog bows. Hold your hesitation until the end of the show though. There's an awfully tempting swatch that may change your mind.

I layered one of Utopia Bow's polishes, Pop Art over Dream, a Savina polish. Two things should be said about my experience with these two polishes. First, I bought Pop Art one morning using the Etsy app. Obviously, the phone's text size is much smaller than my laptop's. So when I bought it, I mistakenly thought it was called Pop Tart, which is why one of the first color combinations I got in my head was the color of the Pop-Tarts' frosting.


Secondly, Dream looks way different against a background that's not itself. That is to say, the pigments as they appear all together in the bottle are a much happier, neon purple, closer to this shot.

The pigments, once applied to bare nail color, become less neon. Ultimately, the colors didn't transcend my train of thought onto my ten little canvases as I had envisioned, but they don't look unattractive together.


Pop Art was a little thick to work with. I added some clear polish in the hopes of evening out the ratio of glitter to base, so we'll see if that makes a difference. If not, I don't regret buying it. The glitter colors are interesting, with the yellow, pinks and even greens. The various sizes of glitter are also what attracted me to it in the first place (see my pinker finger).

Black and White Glitter Resource

Courtesy of TKB Trading

Thanks to parafrog's post, I've found the source of their power! The source of the most sought-after black and white glitters. Those beautiful pieces of glitter ranging from square, to hexagonal, to diamond. (Also, gold, but that's not what most people are excited about.) I've heard of some bloggers keeping the source of their products a secret, and in fact telling girls who ask them they can't share the information. Well nuts to that. The internet's a big place, so I'm sure girls would've found out eventually. I just want to aid them in their quest to create their own awesome frankens without trying to time the sales perfectly.

Find black and white glitters at TKB Trading. They're currently out of larger sizes, but you can grab sample sizes of them all in multiple quantities for just $1.50. parafrog said that just one sample size of each was plenty to fill her bottle of homemade Connect the Dots.

So go! Buy them now! Share this information with your friends and start making some really beautiful and unique polishes! And thank you SO much to parafrog for being so willing to share her finds with those of us dying to know where they come from. Here's to hoping TKB gets a massive stock of some great colors.

Summer Flowers

I love today's manicure...and it's all based on a pillow I'm currently resting on. It was done entirely with the MASH brushes I bought not long ago. I got mine here on Amazon and they've proved to be a pretty invaluable set. At first glance, the brushes seem similar, and I thought I was really only going to get use out of a few, but I was wrong. I used two different brushes for this manicure.

The base color is Brisk Blue (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri). This color is one of the first colors I remember buying for myself (besides those adorable Bon-Bon polishes we all used to grab from those plastic tubs when we were kids). It's pretty stunning no? The lighter orange is Papaya Punch (China Glaze) and the darker orange is Meet Me at Sunset (Essie). The black center is Black on Black (Sinful Colors) and its yellow center is Lightening (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri). I also used French White Creme (Wet n' Wild) so that I could get a better finish for Papaya Punch.

Veiled Audrey

Two in one day because I missed Saturday and Friday.

You've already seen 2 of the 3 Sally Hansen Jewel Overcoats I bought, Multi-Faceted and Ring-a-Ding!, and here's the third, White Veil over For Audrey (China Glaze).

The small white glitters are slightly transparent, and the larger gold pieces are just shiny and happy to be there.

Lovely color combinations, and an easy way to pop any manicure, I'm a big fan of the Sally Hansen Jewel Overcoats.

Clubbing with Cleopatra

One of my favorite title posts so far! Fun fact.

Dancing at Beta (a Denver nightclub) always require some glittery manicure. I can't help myself. I know no one will see my nails, but a club outfit is never complete unless it has some awesome nails to accompany it.

Yesterday was an odd day for me. I actually wore two different manicures, but smudged one to oblivion and wound up picking the whole thing off. I didn't even take pictures of it, so let's have a short moment of silence for the loss of polish involved. Saddest part? It used Katy, a Zoya color, and my name.

But my spirits rose quickly when I finished this manicure!

Here is Black on Black (Sinful Colors) and Cleopatra (China Glaze). I used the hole reinforcer technique to get the half moon shapes, and it was a piece of cake. I wound up dabbing a bit of Champagne Bubbles (China Glaze) on the tips to hide the black underneath, which you can just pick out if you look closely enough.

Nailventurous Fail pt. 2

I missed Nailventurous polishes again because I’m dumb and thought Central and Mountain were the same. Stupid drunk me last night!

Anyone got any they want to sell or trade for? I have an extra Connect the Dots...

4/20

One thing I've learned in life living in both Santa Cruz and Boulder, is that marijuana is everywhere, and the culture behind it runs thick. One of the most celebrated days surrounding weed is April 20th, or 4/20. I like to think of it as National Each Junk Food and Giggle Day, but you can read more about it here. Notice two of the images. One's from UC Santa Cruz, my Alma Mater. I've been out to that field just to experience it. Much like the naked run, it's a tradition that can't be missed. It's a harmless event out in an open field, where people literally just sit around all day getting high. At 4:20 PM, the lighters really burn hot, and a weed-cloud forms above the crowd. Then it'll peter out, and everyone goes back home to watch movies and eat some munchies. (It must be a good day for any delivery company.)

Moving to Boulder last year, I learned its just as big if not bigger here. I live right near the University, so I had planned to stop and see what it's all about over here. Unfortunately, they're locking it down this year, ticketing any non-students or faculty who pass through there. Again, it's harmless, but I suppose since it all technically happens on school grounds, it would be frowned upon if there wasn't some police presence.

So in honor of the most harmless and relaxed day of the year, I've done a little rasta-tribute using this tutorial and two new Etsy glitters from windestine.

On top of the three China Glaze's used here (Happy Go Lucky, Hey Sailor, and Starboard) are windestine's black and white glitters, Asbestos and Carbon Copy. I'm so unbelievably happy that I found and bought these two colors because they can completely change a manicure. The red was taking over most of my nail (oops), and I didn't like that. So enter windestine glitters and my problem's solved.

Born Pretty Store - Ring Giveaway

Want to get some free stuff? How about some bling?

Born Pretty is giving away 1000 elastic rhinestone rings. Become a fan of their Facebook page, share the news, and use the coupon code to get the freebie. Read all the instructions here.

While you're there, take a look at their other nail products. They've got a pretty amazing inventory of nail supplies, and I'll be teaming up with them soon to provide some reviews of a few of their products.

See something you like? Add it to your cart, be amazed by your cheap total because believe me, it takes a while to add up, and use the coupon code I've been given specifically for my blog. You'll get 10% off your order right away. Not too shabby eh? Here's the code: C10X31

You'll find this code available in my sidebar from now on, so don't feel bad about using it more than once. With enough entries for the coupon code, there may be a sponsored giveaway in the future!

Geometry was Never My Best Subject

But at least it translates onto nails!

This was done using my MASH brushes, Planks a Lot (OPI), Grape Pop (China Glaze), Happy Go Lucky (China Glaze), and Sand Tropez (Essie). Not much else to say about it.

Eyelet Skirt

If you haven't already joined Pinterest, I suggest you get yourself an invite...quick! It's full of some of the best things on the Internet, especially when it comes to beauty. It takes out all of the work of finding the cute outfit, and puts that burden on its users, who happily and readily pin things they find interesting. Find the right board, and you're set! I used a pin I liked for the inspiration of my manicure today.

Pinned from http://www.spool72.com/58417/727604/Dresses/Heirloom-Eyelet-Dress.html

This was a relatively simple manicure to do, though I'm unhappy with how bumpy it wound up being. The layers are composed of mainly China Glaze's, including Below Deck, Life Preserver, and Peachy Keen. I've made a mental note to break out Below Deck more often. It was hiding at the back of my Helmer, but it'll be used more now that it has seen the light of day. The only non-CG I used was Beige Blast (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri).

Instagram Into the Weekend

Should this be a new Nailed It tradition? A Friday post from my phone to get you into the weekend? Instagram (the noun) will provide the medium for the pictures, and will Instagram (the verb) you into the weekend.

This is Tinsel Town (China Glaze) and Ring-a-Ding! (Sally Hansen).

Trippy Tips

I've been wanting to try out this new lovely Savina polish I bought the other day since I bought it, but I just kept coming up with other, non-pink ideas. Today's the day though! Here's...Fantasia!

Isn't it so pretty? Those little flecks of sparkle remind me of Fairy Dust from China Glaze, but they're built into the polish. Ugh I can't stand it. It's just so pretty! And super easy and clean to apply. Looks great with another Savina, Neon Yellow. Guess whoever named that one wasn't feeling very inspired that day. The black in the middle of the flowers is Black Creme (Wet n' Wild), and it's all done with dotting tools and mini beads (which according to Ciate, are never allowed to be called caviar). 

I also like this shot, that I accidentally used the flash with. It really helps Fantasia work its magic. (See what I did there? Fantasia...magic...)

Show Your True Colors

I owe every bit of inspiration for tonight's manicure to an unlikely, but highly inspiring source: PixelgirlPresents. I found this site when I first got a laptop for college in 2006. That was six years ago, but now outdated Dell I was given as an awesome present from my Dad makes it seem like much longer. PixelgirlPresents offers graphic artists a chance to get their work on peoples' desktops, phones and electronic screens of other sorts. It's all run by one girl, and the submissions are always unique and colorful. I'm a fan of bold patterns and designs, so I've had this bookmarked for a long time.

Browsing it the other day for an updated background, I stumbled upon something I looked at and thought to myself, "Katy...you need to put that on your nails." I give myself great advice sometimes, so thanks past-me for that great thought (and for quickly saving the picture to your phone to reference later). 

The design I used as my guide was by the artist Plumeology, who, judging by their PixelgirlPresents bio page, has only submitted one design to the site. They do link to a company webpage though, and it seems they're a design company offering services like logo design, advertising, and business name consultation. See? Unlikely source for inspiration! If you're in San Diego, I bet they offer some pretty designs if their work is anything like their logo. 

So, without further ado, here's my interpretation of their beautiful logo!

I used Load (Illamasqua) as the base. The plumes were done with Electric Pineapple (China Glaze), Sea Breeze (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri) and Dream (Savina). Yes I know, I'm reusing colors, but I keep getting drawn to the same bottles. The decorative swirls beside the plumes were done with Pelican Gray (China Glaze), and it was all freehand. Maybe that's why only two nails got the treatment.

Rainbowed

Not much can be said about tonight's manicure...except it's fat and fully of color! (I will be fat and full of corned beef soon...if this slow cooker thing wasn't so slow.)

Another patient dotting manicure done with lots of colors. I gave a little teaser out to Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr (though the Tumblr tease didn't seem to go through) with Instagram (my name's kehteh on there if you're interested in following my grams).

Like I said...lots of color! Most of them are China Glaze, but Zoya and Savina were both used as well. The base is Secret Peri-Wink-le (China Glaze). Moving from the pink to the purple, here are the rest of the colors:

• Pool Party (China Glaze)
• Papaya Punch (China Glaze)
• Happy Go Lucky (China Glaze)
• Kiwi Cool-Ada (China Glaze)
• Light Mist (Savina)
• Breezi (Zoya)
• Dream (Savina)

I seem to be using the same colors for my manicures, but it's just so hard for me to pull away from bright, bold creme polishes. That's why I love the Up & Away China Glaze collection so much. 

Milky Glitter

Marshmallow (Essie) and Rainbow Connection (OPI) have been trying to get together for a long time, but the retailers they're sold through just won't put them near each other. It's not fair. Rainbow and white just never get the chance. They're always polar opposites on the polish display stand, and frankly, I'm sick of it. Let's fight this! Let's get rainbows and whites together at last! END POLISH SEPARATION! Take a lesson from The Posh Polish, and lay these two polishes in the same bed...nail bed!

(I'm in a weird mood.)

Easter Sunday Best

I've got another super tasty, super simple Saran Wrap nail design for you this Easter morning! I wanted it to portray the Sunday best you see so many folks wearing today, but unfortunately, the two colors I chose for the base are too similar to the white stamp I used (Konad m57 with White On). It certainly doesn't look bad persay, but it's a little too muted for my taste.

I used Bubble Gum (Savina) and Re-Fresh Mint (China Glaze) as the two colors for the base. I didn't take pictures last night after creating the manicure, so there was quite a bit of shrinkage. I'm a little surprised how much occurred, and get now why girls don't like Seche Vite for that reason. It's just itching for me to easily peel it off and try something new.

Maybe you'll see two Easter manicures today!

Saran Nails on Going Out Chic

I'm excited to announce that over the past month, I've been working hard to come up with a nail design and tutorial for the website GoingOutChic.

 Racking my brain for something I hadn't seen before, but was still spring appropriate, I finally came up with something I'm  really proud of, and can't wait to share with you all!

Check out my feature, Saran Wrap Nails, in the Haute Finds and How-Tos section. I'm excited not only about my work, but to discover such a fun site that shows such awesome trends. 

This manicure, done with Light as Air and Lemon Fizz (China Glaze) is super simple to recreate. All you need is at least two colors and some plastic wrap. You'll get a great, soft marbling effect without the headache of water marbling cleanup. I haven't yet been brave enough to try it, but now I'm not sure I'll need to.

Imagine the color combinations you could use! I chose two soft pastels in honor of spring, but a black and a hot pink would surely be irresistible. Once you add a topcoat (whether that be matte or shine), you'll be amazed at how your nails look.

Want to create this effect yourself? Check out the tutorial below!

I'd love to see your interpretations for this, so please share your links to your designs in the comments of this post!

500 Reader Giveaway!

After tabulating your survey answers from yesterday, it was pretty obvious that most of you were most interested in seeing a limited edition collection as my giveaway prize.

Well, ask and ye shall receive! To celebrate my 500 Blogger reader milestone, I'm offering everyone who follows my nail art (whether on Blogger, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest) the chance to win the Wet n' Wild Color Icon Ice Baby Holiday 2011 collection!

This collection consists of 8 super-snazzy glitters in all colors of the rainbow. There's a few bar glitters, and some serious bling in each bottle. This collection is no longer available in stores.

I'm opening this up to international followers as well this time, hoping the cost of shipping isn't completely outrageous if someone international does win. If you do win, and you are living overseas somewhere, bare with me when it comes time to deliver your prize. It may be tricky.

I'm also opening this up to any readers who have enjoyed my nail art through any of the 5 social outlets I use: Blogger, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and Pinterest. You only need to be a part of one of these outlets to be entered to win, and it doesn't have to be through Blogger. I'm celebrating everyone who has ever read or looked at my nail art.

Good luck, and please don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have so we can ensure your entry is properly counted. All entries will be counted using the Rafflecopter Widget below.


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Now who wants to see some swatches, courtesy of Scrangie?


All of these swatches were done by Scrangie at www.scrangie.com. I simple compiled her pictures from this post into one graphic.

Broken Music Notes

I wanted to do something really out there with the Spotty Dottie polishes I bought not long ago from All That Glitters, but like many girls recently, I have fallen prey to the deadly grip The Hunger Games has on us. It's like the black hole of books; the chapters keep sucking you in. I've already given up an all-out-there design for this book. I'm sure sleep isn't far behind.

The good news is, after working on this manicure I'm showing you today, I'm glad I didn't dedicate more time to a more trippy design.

What all the stripes and dots of glitter reminded me of on top of Black on Black (Sinful Colors) and French White Creme (Wet n' Wild) were music notes as they're written on a page, broken into little pieces. It's too bold to be cookies and cream, and the spots are too precise to be dalmatian spots.

I loved the effect these glitters eventually gave, but getting them to this point was a pain. Unfortunately, the ratio of clear polish to glitter was off, so I wound up with thick layers of polish, without much glitter. I think this polish would've benefited from being either sold in a smaller size, or packed with more glitter pieces. As it is now, it's a little frustrating, especially the white.

Giveaway Survey

Hey ladies! Celebrating big moments in my blog seems to be the best time to offer giveaways. I'd like to do another to celebrate 500 followers, but I'm having trouble deciding on a prize, so I need your help! Take a second to pick one of the choices below.

Crowned in Her Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

Thanks to everyone who wished my BBQ well! It went wonderfully, though most of us walked away with it regretting not wearing more sunscreen. I suppose we'll just call these burns our base tans, though the lines are sort of horrendous. Makes me wish I was wearing a bikini like my nails are today.

I've been seeing a lot of neons lately, but seeing Traci's manicure at Drinkcitra was the tipping point that made me realize I needed more neon in my life. I used Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (China Glaze) and Crown Me Already! (OPI) for this taped manicure. Nothing to fancy, but the color and the glitter, topped off with the striped line of Time Off (Sinful Colors) really makes my nails pop. Another crash-test-worthy set of nails I probably shouldn't drive with, especially with the sun so readily available now.

Also! Big news! I've reached 500 followers for my blog! I'm so excited! I've also seen some great advances in those interested in my other social outlets as well as you can see by these exciting numbers!

• Facebook: 231 Likes for Nailed It's page
• Twitter: 66 followers for my Twitter name, blognailedit
• Pinterest: 383 followers for My Nail Art board alone, plus others for my other boards!
• Tumblr: 3,042 followers for my Tumblr blog (I'm especially proud of this one, as on Tumblr, people tend to follow based on photos alone, so it seems people enjoy looking at what I work so hard to create).

So to everyone that has ever read, liked, repinned or reblogged my nail art compilations, thank you! You guys rock and it's so encouraging to get such awesome feedback from complete strangers!