Spring Fever: Plum and Indigo

 Don't you just love this?  I couldn't help but lead with a picture, because I adore how this came out.   It was all inspired by this adorable skirt that was once on Zulily...

The translation isn't exact, of course, but it is still SO so gorgeous.   Ready for the breakdown?  The blue is Zoya "Ibiza", one of the most gorgeous deep blue cremes you'll run across.  I used this tutorial by Nailside for the ruffled effect.  The spotty layer is Sally Hansen"Ruby Rush" with accents of Zoya "Kendall" (Neutral) and Zoya "Zuza" (Teal) as the dots.  All of it was topped with two coats of China Glaze Matte Magic.

I know I'll be repeating this in the future, because I can't stop staring!

Spring Fever: Spring in Space!

I know, I know I've had this "inspired by things on Pinterest" thing going on lately...so here we go again.  A spin on the galaxy nails (a tutorial here can be found here, by the amazing Beautylish) I'd like to present my "Mercury's surface" nails.  Here's a peek:

The picture that inspired me is this one - I'm sure you can see why.  I missed the mark a bit on the purple tones, but I'm willing to try again!   And I'm still totally pleased with the result.

 

Let's take another look and I'll fill you in on the details:

The base color is Sally Hansen "Pacific Blue".  Next up were Zoya "Purity", Sally Hansen "Mellow Yellow", and China Glaze "Sun Worshipper" each sponged lightly.  The follow up was a glitterfest using Finger Paints "Twisted" flakies, Zoya "Sparkle Gloss" topcoat, and Essie "As Gold as it Gets".  Finally, a few dots of Zoya Purity as stars, and you've got the final manicure.   Hope you love it!

Spring Fever: Ruby's Nails presents "Picking Daisies"

Hey all! This is Jessica from Ruby's Nails. When Constantly Redone asked for guest posts, I of course was going to help her out! And I knew exactly what to do since she was looking for spring themed posts.

 For this mani I used a base coat of Sally Hansen Green with Envy. I used 2 coats here. Green with Envy is my go-to bright/spring green. The formula is good, the brush is nice, and it's Sally Hansen so it's cheap!

I've been experimenting with making my own polishes (just for fun!) for myself and some friends. This is one that I came up. It doesn't officially have a name, but I'm leaning toward Picking Daisies.

The polish is made of green shreds, green hexes, and pink and yellow flowers. The green applied really nicely, but I had to fish out the flowers. I'm still very very new to polish making so I'll have to play with this a bit more. This last picture is the best bottle shot I could get (I wasn't having much luck with photography that day!)

Spring Fever: Easter Grass!!!

 Don't you love those items that carry over from season to season?  I picked up Sinful Colors "Faceted" limited edition over the holiday season.  I'm not a big fan of hairy glitters, but it seems appropriate for the upcoming holiday! 
I love how the iridescence plays over Zoya's "Mira" (from the 2012 beach collection).

(Close up!)

What's going on your nails for Easter?  Something playful...a bunny mani maybe?  

Egg dyed patterns? Or something to match your outfit?  And what are you hoping to find in your basket???

Spring Fever: Butterfly wings...

Hello readers!  I'm totally in love with my nails today!   I can't take credit for the original concept, as that was MASTERFULLY executed by none other than Tenshi No Hana and I ran across it on Pinterest.   I incorporated some of my favorite colors from the Pantone Spring 2013 lineup. 

 This is my right hand - do you love it?

 As usual, my left turned out a little better:

The colors used:  2 coats Zoya "Purity", Zoya "Caitlin", Color Club "Clambake Coral", 

Zoya "Kieko", and Zoya "Wednesday". (Black was acrylic paint)

Spring Fever: Saffron and Grey

I have loved the grey/yellow combinations since last spring, so I decided I needed to do something with them for this series!   This, coupled with my amazing friend Mommy Does Her Nails picking up the perfect saffron yellow for me, resulted in this patterned manicure.   The grey featured is my go-to ""Cockatoo's Mystery" from Loreal's Project Runway collection a year or so ago. 

The yellow on it's own (can you see the shimmer in the bottle?)

The Yellow is Essence "Fortune Cookie", and I'm so in love with it.  It's a cheddar or egg yolk yellow, with a super subtle shimmer in it.  It IS a bit goopy with a brush I don't love, but I'm considering a backup bottle anyhow.  This is 2 coats.

Catch up post: St Patrick's Day nails!

 Hey loves!   Just a quickie here, as I finally got around to editing my St Patrick's Day nails photos.  Hope you enjoy!

Featured are:  China Glaze "Sun Worshiper" (Yellow), Zoya "Neeka" (Mint Green), Sinful Colors "Happy Ending" (Grassy Green) and OPI "Don't Mess with OPI" (Jade Green) with accents of Essie "As Gold as it Gets".   The black is acrylic paint ;)

Sneak peek and random ramblings of a crazy pregnant lady...

Hi nail friends!   I'm suffering from the insanity of being 39+ weeks pregnant, and having never gone to the full 40 weeks I have to say, it's torture.  So, any distraction is welcome...especially if it's a nail distraction in the form of a first look at Zoya's Summer 2013 collection!

The Girly Tomboy posted this lovely photo this morning.  I have been waiting for this since I'm not super into the Pixies that they've shown (though they are gorgeous, too)!  Are you as excited for these cheerful summer brights as I am????

I'm super in love with the name Hazel, and intrigued by the color.  Cannot WAIT to see some swatches!  I'm also betting Yana is going to be a win for my super-pale skin tone.  Which one are you drawn to? 

Here's a look at the pixies, in case you haven't seen them:

If you have an itch to purchase some of the pixies, or some of the pre-summer colors, take advantage of one of their promos running right now!   $1 shipping special using code "QQQ" through Friday March 22nd 2013, or if you'd like some of their ADORABLE minis, pictured below.

Stamps and swirls

Don't you LOVE new polishes?  I recently ordered Zoya "Neely", a delicate minty green from Zoya's Spring 2013 collection.  I used two, perfectly formulated coats for the base of today's look.  Stamped over it is Neely's darker, older sister "Wednesday" from Zoya's Summer 2012 collection, and I've accented with freehand brushing of Color Club's "SweetPea" from last year's Spring collection.  

(Close up shot!!!)

Spring Fever: Love&Beauty "Baby Blue/Hot Pink"

Hello lovelies!   I've decided to do a "Spring Fever" series over the next month-ish, and invited a few amazing bloggers to do some guest posts as well!  As you may or may not know, I'm having another baby boy any day now (see, tying the blue in here...) and so between some of the posts I've got stored up for you and my friends from the polish community, you'll be seeing a lot more here!  

On to a review of another of the "love&beauty" polishes I picked up recently, "Baby Blue/Hot Pink" has become my favorite from that trip.  It took me off guard, because I'm usually a purple girl, but there's something enchanting about this color.  I layered it over two coats of Zoya "Kristen", which is a perfect match to the base color.  It's got lovely application, and I find myself wearing it as a regular manicure. 

(A match made in heaven!)


Aside from the sky-blue base, this one features holographic and magenta hexagons, 

and itty bitty indigo round glitters.   Seriously gorgeous!!!

And just for kicks...let's mattify it!

I hope you love it as much as I do.   And I'm really looking forward to sharing some of my favorite spring colors, trends, and nail art with you!   I'm also so excited for you to meet some of my favorite bloggers, and experience their favorites with you!  <3

Plum Lovin'!

Love and Beauty "Purple/Multi"

Gotta love the thought they put into these names, eh?  However, for the prices and indie-like quality of some of their creations, the polish world has embraced Forever 21's polish collection.  I'm in love with this one - being partial to purples, the jelly plum base stole my heart, despite a slightly finicky formula.

You see, one coat hardly dispersed any glitter, and was a rather streaky mess.   I'd guess it could benefit from some thinner, but I've currently got none, so I can't test the theory.

 

The second coat placed a lot more of the hexes though - all the same size, but a number of colors - blush, magenta, emerald, sapphire, and gold.   Really eye catching and fun!  Plus, the base deepens to this luscious color I can't help but adore.

I also recently picked up China Glaze "Matte Magic", so I threw a coat of that over the final product.  This really brings out the colors of the hexes...love it!

Curious Kitties

These curious kitty nails were inspired by pinterest!

 The pin was a tutorial for a cute shoe makeover, but of course, I felt called to adapt it to my fingers instead!  The original source and tutorial (which can be followed pretty directly for these nails) can be found at Kittenhood.  I would suggest using striping tape instead of painter's tape on your nails, though!  

I used Zoya "Dea" for the brown, Fingerpaints "Black Expressionism" for the black, and Zoya "Purity" for the white details.  Followed by some Seche Vite, and China Glaze "Matte Magic" over the brown for a nice contrast of textures.

Meow!