Graphic Floral Stripes Nail Art

Purchased by me

Today will be my first time participating in one of these but I'm excited! I have decided to take part in The Busy Girl's Summer Nail Art Challenge which was created by @beautybykrystal, @drinkcitra, @mirandasmakeup and @beautybyarielle on instagram. 

Basically this is a weekly challenge that can be posted any time during that week (you can also skip weeks). Ill be posting my nails on my instagram using the hashtag #busygirlnails so if you prefer to see them there make sure you're following me. This week's theme was stripes! 

 

These nails refused to photograph (or even edit) well but I had a lot of fun doing them! They're fun without being too over-the-top.

 

I wasn't inspired by anything in particular when doing this design but I have a feeling this has been done before so if it has it's purely coincidental!

 

For this manicure I used black and white acrylic paint along with a nail art brush for the striped base. Then, using a small nail art brush, I created the rose pattern along the top of each nail using a variety of colors (just ask if you'd like specific names!). I drew leaves on only two fingers for a more unique look, I used Essie Mojito Madness for those and lightened it for the lighter green. Essie Matte About You was applied to create the matte finish. 

I loooove today's manicure! What do you think? Too much or just right?

*click image to read*

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Spring Floral

Purchased by me

Happy Friday!

The end of school is so close but the days are way too long. When I tell you that this week has been the slowest week of my life I am not exaggerating. Anyway, let's end this year-long week with some floral nail art!

I actually matched my nails to a dress I wore to a banquet and this was the outcome. Ill have to show you later! 

For this manicure I used Zoya Jacqueline as the nude base. I then created the flowers (following Getnailledd's tutorial on Doc Marten Floral) with Zoya Candylicious. The lighter pinks were created by adding small amounts of white to lighten it up. For the green leaves I used Essie Mojito Madness and added white to it for the lighter green shade. I finished this design with a shiny top coat. 

The roses were A LOT easier to draw than I expected. I love the finished look but I really love how easy this was to create. 

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Zoya Irresistible Summer 2013 Collection Swatches and Review

Press Sample 

As promised, today I have the Zoya Irresistible Summer 2013 Collection to show you. Last week I created a simple, floral design using these gorgeous colors and I loved it! I think this is one of my favorite Zoya collections ever. 

All of these polishes are shown with two coats and no topcoat.

One of my favorites in the collection, Tinsley, is a rosy pink metallic foil packed with gold shimmer. This applied so ridiculously smoothly. 

I would describe Kerry as a sunflower yellow-gold color. This has the same metallic foil finish as the other polishes in this collection, but no added shimmer.

Zoya Amy is a vivid orange metallic packed with gold and orange shimmer. If this could get any prettier I think I would die. 

Zoya Ricki is an apple green metallic with mostly silver and some gold shimmer packed in. I love the mix of gold and silver shimmer in this polish.

Zoya Hazel is a pretty slate blue metallic with gold shimmer. Not only is this one of my favorites but I'm also obsessed with the name! The formula on this one was a little thick but not hard to work with.

Zoya Bobbi is a red metallic foil with mainly silver and some gold and silver shimmer. As gorgeous as the color is in this picture is it's not quite this bright in person. Instead it is a true red, similar to the bottle you see above. It also does not have visible magenta shimmer as the picture suggests. 

Overall, I am 100% pleased with this collection. It is on point! I absolutely love the easy formulas and nice range of colors. Even when all the colors have the same finish, Zoya manages to give us diversity within the collection. I've seen many swatches of these polishes and it seems to be so flattering to all skin tones! Trust me, you guys are going to want these colors. My favorites are Amy, Hazel, and Tinsley.

Zoya's Irresistible Collection is available now on Zoya.com and retails at $8/bottle.

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Gradient Spheres

Press Sample 

Happy Hump Day!

If you're a beginner in nail art, in a rush, or you're just looking for a basic design then today's post is for you. This design is quick, easy, and still eye catching!

I gotta say, this is one of my favorite designs I have ever done. 

Confession: My nails are a little uneven at the moment so guess what Shaina did to even out this design? Yup, I had to overlap some colors. 

For this manicure I used Zoya Jacqueline as the nude base. Then, in order from dark to light, I dotted on the following colors: Wet N Wild Red Tape, Zoya Reagan, Zoya Shelby, Zoya Arizona, Bondi Brick Road, and a custom mix of Jacqueline and Brick Road for the lighter yellow. That's it! I added a top coat and called it a day.

This manicure could also be done with blacks/grays, purples, reds, the possibilities are endless! What color(s) would you use for this manicure? 

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Hawaiian Floral | Zoya Stunning Summer 2013 Collection Nail Art, Swatches, and Review

Press Sample

When the press release came out for the Zoya Stunning Collection, I already knew exactly what design I wanted to create with these beautiful creams! The Stunning Collection really is stunning...sorry, I just had to. 

For this manicure I used Zoya Rocky as the blue base. I outlined each nail (but not the tips) with a thin nail art brush and black acrylic paint. Using the same nail art brush (just cleaned off) and Zoya Micky I began drawing the floral details. I used a dotting tool and Zoya Thandie for the polka dots and other orange details. 

Keep reading for swatches/review of the entire collection!

Pastel Hex | Geometric Sponged Nail Art

Purchased by me

Bonjour!

Can you believe it's already April? I was just thinking about how freakishly fast this year has gone by.

Today's design is one I'm really excited to share with you! The color combination is unexpected yet so pretty and fresh. I'm probably a little too happy for Spring to be here; I was ready a long time ago! Hopefully you'll be seeing more Spring-y designs on the blog.

For this manicure I used Rimmel Peppermint as the mint base. Next, using a cosmetic sponge, I sponged on Revlon Strobe to random areas of the nail. Using a clean part of the same sponge I randomly sponged on Revlon Garden. Afterwards I used a nail art brush and black acrylic paint to create the hexagons at the top of each nail. I finished off with a thick coat of topcoat. 

La la la love this color combo, whats your favorite Spring color combination?
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3 Easy Beginner Nail Art Designs for Prom

Press Sample   Purchased by me

Prom season is here and today I want to share with you three quick and easy designs that anyone can recreate. I know this post is a little late for some but you can also rock these designs in other variations any time of the year!

I promise this is easier than it looks! If you're just starting out with nail art and are not comfortable with drawing letters, skip the black letters and just use any dotting tool to create the word "PROM" with polka dots.

Here is a quick tutorial on how I achieved this look:

Sweet Leopard

Inspiration really does come from anywhere! I say it all the time but this manicure is such a good example of that statement. While watching one of itsJudysLife's vlogs I noticed their baby daughter, Julianna, wearing a really cute bib! I quickly took a screenshot because I thought it would make the perfect manicure!

I'd like to believe I was right.

And here's the screenshot of baby Julianna's bib.

For this manicure I used Zoya Jacqueline as the nude base. Then, using my nail art brush, I drew the leopard print with China Glaze Below Deck and OPI Sparrow Me the Drama. I normally create leopard print by first doing the outline of the spot (the brown) and then filling it in. After creating the spots I used the same nail art brush to border my nails with the pink. 

So the "border" nail art thing still holds a special place in my heart. I've done it a few other times, 3 to be exact. But really...who's counting?

*Zoya polish sent for review

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Zoya Lovely Spring 2013 Collection Review, Swatches, and Comparisons

Zoya is at it again! Bringing new colors for Spring 2013. Spring collections are some of my favorites, I'm a sucker for pastels, lights, and even nudes!

The Lovely Collection features 6 spring lacquers with 3 of them being that unique Zoya shimmer and the remaining being cremes.

All pictures are in direct and indirect sunlight, no top coat, and 2 coats unless otherwise stated.

Neely (Originally designed for Peter Som/SS13) is a gorgeous light green creme. A mix between cool and warm toned, but not at all pasty. This one had two easy coats. One of my favorites, so beautiful! See comparisons of this color at the end of this post.

Next we have Zoya Blu. Blu is a crisp blue creme. I really love the brightness yet lightness of this polish. It's pretty refreshing! Almost a one coater but this is two coats here. See comparisons of this color at the end of this post.

Zoya Jacqueline (Originally designed for Peter Som/SS13) is just your basic nude cream, nothing unique. But if you don't own the perfect nude yet you'll want this polish! Not too gray or too peach-y, just right. Application was a bit patchy and uneven. See comparisons of this color at the end of this post.

Julie (Originally designed for Zang Toi/SS13) is a lovely lavender with white and silver shimmer particles. This is more of a blue toned purple rather than red toned. Easily one of my favorites from the collection!

Piaf (Originally designed for Fashion Designer Zang Toi) is a light Djon mustard yellow with the same finish as Julie (above)--white and silver shimmer. I gotta say, I'm not loving this color. Seems great for nail art though. See comparisons of this color at the end of this post.

Zoya Gie Gie (Originally designed for Zang Toi/SS13) is a light pink with silver and white shimmer particles. It's pretty but I didn't like it on me at all. The shimmer is the same as the last two polishes but it seems so delicate and iridescent in this particular polish.

Now for some comparisons...

First Striping Tape Design: Divided Gradient Stripes

Happy 12/12/12 Day!

Obviously not as exciting as 11/11/11 was for most people but whatever, it's the last "repeating number date" in a while so I plan on enjoying it.

Actually, let's do something random to..."celebrate" I guess. For each 12, I'll tell a random fact that relates:
12- The age I was when I went into middle school, oh the memories.
12- The number of pages I have on my blog (errm, some are hidden).
12- The number of black shirts I have in my closet...that's right, I counted.

Alright, now that that's done, moving on to the manicure!

For this manicure I used Wet N Wild Candylicious, Finger Paints Chrysanthe-Mum's the Word, and Zoya Breezi as the gradient. I sponged on each color onto my naked nail. I let that completely, 100% dry then took striping tape and laid down the pieces to create horizontal stripes across the entire nail. I painted diagonal sections of black (acrylic paint) and nude (Zoya Avery) over the tape. After letting it dry a bit I removed the tape and slapped on some topcoat.

Let me know if you guys would like a tutorial on this design, words are sometimes hard to follow.

P.S. Make sure to enter for Day 1's prize in the 7 Days of Christmas Giveaway!

*Zoya Avery provided for review

Gradiance Week | Tropical Explosion

Welcome to Day 2 of Gradiance Week!

Now I know we're in the middle of fall but I couldn't resist this manicure. It's so summery, bright, and refreshing! I'm just one of those people...I don't care what season it is, my nails will be whatever color, whenever.

I'm not alone on this am I?

For this manicure I used Wet N Wild Heatwave as the red base. Then I sponged on Zoya Arizona on the center of the nail. Lastly I sponged on Zoya Shelby to the very center of the nail. It almost looks like a pink stripe in these pictures but it is sponged on! I let it dry, hm...let's say 50%, then added a topcoat.

Super bright, super crazy, just perfect.