Hey everyone! Maddie and I are both San Francisco bound (she left this morning, I leave tomorrow morning). Any tips on cool nail happenings/shops to check out in the bay area over the next week?
We will resume posting next week, have a GREAT weekend and HAPPY MARCH!
Robin’s Eggs On My Nails. I love robin’s eggs, not just the tiffany-blue-turquoise hue, but the little brown splatters that sometimes show up, so I tried to recreate it on my nails. The base is a franken that Maddie and I mixed a few months ago (we need to mix more as we almost used the WHOLE BOTTLE!) and I added some China Glaze - Refreshmint streaks over the top for contrast. The brown is a Bareille color, the sticker is gone, but it’s a deep chocolate brown.
It sort of reminds me of dinosaur eggs. Or those egg-shaped bubblegums you find in your Easter eggs that are all splattered and neon colored. Either way it’s egg related so I think it was a success.
![Summer brights! Because I’ve been in a nail painting rut lately, and because I couldn’t pick any single color. I picked all my favorites and put ‘em on my hands. It was fun to look at it and pretty much matched any outfit (since it has every color in it). Also helpful for comparing colors/formulas for future nail painting endeavors.
[Seashell necklace for sale here.]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzll6lCuS21r0klgto1_500.jpg)
Summer brights! Because I’ve been in a nail painting rut lately, and because I couldn’t pick any single color. I picked all my favorites and put ‘em on my hands. It was fun to look at it and pretty much matched any outfit (since it has every color in it). Also helpful for comparing colors/formulas for future nail painting endeavors.
[Seashell necklace for sale here.]
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! And now that it’s almost over, let’s kick it into WARM WEATHER mode!
Here’s the high-res images from the Lara Miller Summer 2012 photo shoot I mentioned a couple months ago. I mixed my own polish for the shoot, a creamy near-fluorescent yellow with a slight golden shimmer. I wore two coats in the photos and MAN it looked gorgeous! If you love bright colors, insanely versatile yet comfy pieces, and Eco-friendliness, then check out the rest of the summer collection on her website. Photos by Bret Grafton.
Sweet and tough textured nails. These are the nails I wore for the Lara Miller shoot earlier this week. I did a watercolor effect using China Glaze: Refresh-mint as the base, with OPI: Fly and Sally Hansen: Pacific Blue as accent colors. Then I carefully placed studs on my ring fingers to give some texture, it looks a lot like snake skin in real life. Love the look, the colors, everything. I could wear them forever!
Yesterday I had the awesome pleasure of modeling for Lara Miller, who coincidentally loves nail art as much as me and Maddie do :) You might remember that last time I worked with her, she let me mix and wear my own polish for the shoot. This time we shot her Fall 2012 collection and some bridal, all beautiful and eco-friendly/organic knits in some seriously awesome colors. I was totally inspired and rocked textural nails to pair with the collection. I’ll post the high-res photos of my nails from both shoots when I get copies, but for now here’s a behind-the-scenes pic. If you look REALLY closely at my thumb, you can try to guess what colors I’ve got on my nails.
Check out zpetals for more on the shoot!
So I decided to matte my manicure last night just to find that my nails still are not fully dry! We both seem to have this issue whenever we use Essie’s Matte About You. Our nails stay tacky for over a day (maybe even more, we re-do them by then!), and it is suuuuuper aggravating. Is it just us, or does anybody else have these issues with the topcoat??
![Cartoon heart tips! Alright so Valentine’s Day is the one season that I LOVE with the exception of the colors: pinks and red, ugh! You all know by now that I’m a blue/teal girl. So I did some heart tips but changed it up and used grey and blue instead of the typical V-Day color palette. Added a dark outline and white highlight to make ‘em pop. I love the outcome, plus they were super easy & quick to do.
[Loving that seashell necklace? Get it here.]
EDIT: After just browsing my dash I realized that Nailside’s cartoon hearts look similar, and although I wasn’t looking at hers when I did my own, she did it first, so go check out her take on the cartoon hearts!](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lykndyB4nN1r0klgto1_500.jpg)
Cartoon heart tips! Alright so Valentine’s Day is the one season that I LOVE with the exception of the colors: pinks and red, ugh! You all know by now that I’m a blue/teal girl. So I did some heart tips but changed it up and used grey and blue instead of the typical V-Day color palette. Added a dark outline and white highlight to make ‘em pop. I love the outcome, plus they were super easy & quick to do.
[Loving that seashell necklace? Get it here.]
EDIT: After just browsing my dash I realized that Nailside’s cartoon hearts look similar, and although I wasn’t looking at hers when I did my own, she did it first, so go check out her take on the cartoon hearts!
WHERE ARE YA SUMMER?! Decided to go bright this week with our own robin egg franken and Orly’s Passion Fruit. The holidays are over, we’re ready for NEONS and WARM WEATHER!
Anyone else dislike cold weather as much as us? UGH.
thisiscait asked: I think i have like really oily nails. and nail polish comes completely off, after one day, in one piece. its really frustrating. how can i avoid this?!?! why go to the trouble of making my nails cute if they dont stay.
We have had this problem before and it is COMPLETELY frustrating! Here’s a quick NAILPALOOZA HOW-TO that might solve your woes:
If you have trouble with flaking, you can also try applying an extra layer of top coat to your nails. Sometimes we apply a thin layer a couple days after our initial nail painting, especially if we notice some tip wear.
ALSO: maintain your hands! Use some lotion or cuticle oil if you notice your polish or nails flaking.
Why didn’t we think of this earlier?
Use your favorite nail polishes to color code your key ring! This is an AWESOME way to use all your favorite colors and get to look at them every single day. The best part? If you hate the colors next week, paint over it. GENIUS.
*HINT* make sure to use a white base coat for your more translucent polishes.
Inspired by this blog post.
Just took “Fly” off of my nails (Nicki Minaj for OPI collection) and, despite using my regular base/top coats, my nails are stained greenish-blue. And so is the skin around my nails. I like the color but probably going to return it :(
Anybody else have this problem?
Found the Nicki Minaj OPI collection at Ulta today, and after seeing them in person I decided I’m not crazy about any of them, the colors are eerily reminiscent of the Shrek collection from a few years ago. HOWEVER I dig the teal one so I bought it. This design is inspired by my first try at a Frank Llloyd Wright inspired manicure, the clean lines just make for great nail art, and I keep going back to his architecture/stained glass for ideas. I added splashes of different teal/blue/green colors in the corners for contrast. I love teals, I just can’t get enough!
The Nailpalooza verdict: great formula, cool color, not as creamy and opaque as I had hoped - this picture is two coats with a really thick second coat.
I haven’t bought much nail polish lately but was at Target getting some snacks the other night (I always end up there when I don’t NEED anything but end up buying LOTS of things) when I came across the entire Sally Hansen: Gem Crush Collection. Here’s the problem - I wanted them all. UGH. So…I did what every nail polish addict did, and tested them all on myself, then stared at them, then walked around and looked at clothes and shoes and candy and then came back and stared at them some more. I finally let myself buy only one, and the winner was Be-Jeweled. It’s super tiny purple glitters with bigger, holographic pink glitters. SO PRETTY! I did a gradient and then blinged-out my ring fingers and I love this combo.
The Nailpalooza Verdict: If you see any, buy them. Great formula and they upped their game with an excellent brush, which makes applying the glitter polish so much nicer :)
NAIL TATTOOS! So a new sports store recently-ish opened around us, and whilst I was holiday shopping awhile ago I saw these. OF COURSE had to get ALL the Chicago teams, but I was especially happy to find these bad boys since I went to a Hawks game last night. Accented with gold glitter tips and red with gold studs on middle/pinky (:
We are sisters who love nail polish. And lacquer. And paint.
