Have to love Houndstooth

My super cool BundleMonster image plates finally arrived today! Ok, I shouldn't say finally because they were technically here on Friday but since I left campus on Thursday I wasn't able to pick them up. Regardless, they are here and ready to be used!! What a perfect lift to a rainy Monday. I had to try to do a quick manicure before my 12:30 class because I was so excited. 21 new plates to play with!! I'll probably end up redoing them with something different because there are so many choices but...here's my first attempts!

I used Jordana Cabaret as a base and then China Glaze Awaken with BundleMonster plate 19 (BM19). I think they look great! :D I topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite.

For these mint green pretties I started with the Icing Mint 2 Be. Then I used BundleMonster plate 16 for the design with China Glaze Awaken. :) Finished off with a Seche Vite top coat.

In The Jungle

I've painted three hands of nails today: E's, S's, and my own. Phew, lots of nails! Anyway, these are mine...camouflage! It's something I've seen and I think they look pretty cool. I think my Konad stuff is coming in the mail tomorrow so I didn't want to do something I would want on my nails very long (not like I keep anything on very long anyway ;) ). Anyway, here they are (if you can see them!):

For this design: I started with two coats of China Glaze Tree Hugger. Then, I used two unnamed Sally Girl polishes (one was the darker green and the other was the light brown) and Color Club Art Club in Black.

Next are S's nails :D This is a design she found somewhere online and asked me if I could try. Since I love a challenge...I, of course, said yes! They came out pretty well, too! Can't say I wasn't shocked!

For this look: I painted two coats of China Glaze Frostbite as a base and then painted Brucci Jessica's Wedding Bells on the top half. I then dotted China Glaze Frostbite on the tip of the nail and Brucci Jessica's Wedding Bells in the middle.

EEEEEE-KG

As I was perusing the amazing work on Melissa's The Daily Nail blog, my roommate E saw a design she really wanted me to try: an EKG! The original, posted under "In A Heartbeat" on her blog looks like this:

E wanted to change the colors though (especially because I've recently "misplaced" my black that I love so much!). She decided to go with a deep blue and light blue. For most the nails the base is Ulta Skinny and the design is Color Club Art Club in Sky Blue but for the two ring fingers I used OPI What's With the Cattitude for the base and Ulta Skinny for the design (came in a package that was called I've Got the Denim Blues. Didn't come out too badly--until E smudged the one when she was in the shower!! UGH! x| Oh well....here they are!

It's Comcastic!

Today is my boyfriend's first day working as a Coop for Comcast Corporation! In light of the situation, I've attempted some COMCASTIC NAILS! I quickly realized one hand wasn't enough to write "comcast" and then I was in a rush because of my 12:30 class so I just went with the comcast C. Plenty of people would recognize the comcast C right? Eh, I tried. The thumb is a little blurry...but here we go: Congrats on starting at Comcast boyfrienddd. Hope your day was splendid. While you were at work, I was...at work on some comcastic nails!

For this look: I used China Glaze White on White as the base, Orly Liquid Vinyl for the tips and the "C", and Color Club Art Club in Red for the line and the outer C.

"Fainting distracts me." - Lady Gaga

Gaga was so insane last night! I ended up adding a red "Gaga" on my big toes. The addition is below along with two of the many Monster Ball Tour concert photos taken. Two of my favorite moments...Gaga saying "Nice hair bow hunny" and "Please don't faint. It distracts me." Gaga was so incredible and her performance was completely amazing. I can't wait for her new CD. There were so many people there dressed in Lady Gaga-esque costumes. Glitter, sequin, caution tape, telephone, leather, and lace galore!

Some photos for those who had to miss the Lady Gaga concert:

And naturally I've already repainted my nails AND I painted my roommate's nails this time, too! First, mine are a dark blue and light blue diagonal with silver dots down the diagonal.I used OPI What's With the Cattitude? for the light blue and Orly Witch's Blue for the darker. The silver dots were made with Essence Silver Surfer.

Roommate's nails are black with a unique kind of polish over it. I read about this nail polish "Krackpolish" on The Daily Nail Blog and found a bottle of it on transdesign. The one I bought it krackpolish in blue and this was the first time ever that I used it. She wanted it over three coats of China Glaze Liquid Leather. Turned out....interestingly.

That's all for tonight! More later :)

Have you ever tried krackpolish?
Let me know what you think in the comments below!

I'm A Proud Little Monster!

My sister and I are going to see...*drumroll please*...Lady Gaga in concert tomorrow!! 

I'm so excited! It feels like we've had these tickets forever and finally it's almost here! I can't wait to see all the crazy outfits of the concert go-ers and, of course, Lady Gaga herself. It's only fitting I do a special manicure for the event! After marbling my roommate's nails for the renaissance faire (that is shown in the Huzzah! post) I really wanted to try that technique for myself. What a mess I made through the whole process. I love the results though. Enjoy!

So, starting at the beginning or, I guess, the bottom really: My toes:

These started with two coats of China Glaze White on White. Then, I used Orly Glitz & Glamour to create a star (hopefully that is what you thought it was!) in the corner. Then, I alternated Kiss Brush On Nail Art in black and Essence Silver Surfer to create pinstripes. Finally, I outlined my star in Color Club Art Club in Sky Blue and painted one coat of Orly Won't Chip on each nail. I wish I had the skills and steady hand for writing "Monster" diagonally near each star in red. I think that would have looked cool.  

Next, my fingernails! Geez, I made such a mess (pictures later in the post) trying to do these. That's ok though. After all the cotton balls and Qtips I used were in the trash and all the acetone I breathed in had cleared...they didn't end up looking too bad. Oh yeah, since all the nails were different I decided to photograph them all. Of course, since I don't have 3 arms I ended up using my webcam and just holding my hands up to it. It worked but I feel like I messed up the quality of the picture or something. Eh, oh well-the nails looked ok and that's all I cared about!

For this little monster design: I used Orly Liquid Vinyl and China Glaze White on White to marble. See me discuss my first attempt at water marbling here. After cleaning the extra polish off literally half of each my fingers, I traced a line in the marble with Essence Silver Surfer for some extra oomf (not that they really needed it).

Since marbling is still something new to me, I tried all kinds of different combinations before choosing black and white for Gaga's concert. Take a look at these "experimental" marblings! For the middle finger on my right hand I knew I used Orly Liquid Vinyl, China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, and Orly Viridian Vinyl.  I'm sad I can't remember them all though, some ended up looking really cool!

The right hand had mostly been cleaned up already but see, I wasn't lying when I said I made a huge mess! K, that's all for now, I'm going to go pack my outfit for Gaga!!

Thanks for looking! Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Huzzah!

Good moro! This weekend a few friends, my boyfriend, and I all went to the Renaissance Faire! It was such a great day and we had so much fun. What about huge turkey legs, corsets and costumes, archery, jousting and juggling doesn't sound like the makings of a really fun time? It was only appropriate we tried to keep the colors of nails renaissance-y. My nails are a simple cross design. In fact, they kind of look like a banner that one of the renaissance knights was flying at the faire. We found out his name was, wait for it...."Sir Sexy Pants." Sorry for the blurry picture -- my camera skills are not stellar.

For this design: I painted all my nails China Glaze Foxy and then added Orly Glitz & Glamour for the gold cross.  

My roommate was among the crowd that went and she let me try a new technique I heard of....water marbling. YouTube had some great videos for instructions like this one. For my roommate's nails I used two colors: China Glaze Salsa and China Glaze Solar Power. The end result wasn't too bad (even though the red nail polish was all over my desk :p). Hey, practicing is going to be fun! :D

That's all for now guys...fare the well! ;)

Has anyone ever been to the Renaissance Faire? Did you sport some festive fingers?

Let me know in the comments below!

8th Grade Graduation

When I graduated eighth grade my mom took me to get a manicure (this was before I started painting my own nails). Shockingly, and it's a little odd I remember this but still, they were very similar to how I just did my nails. Obviously I have always paid close attention to nail designs! This time it's a brighter pink, a thicker black, and a straight line silver.

For this look: I started with ULTA Always A Bridesmaid as a base and then painted the top half of each nail with Orly Liquid Vinyl. Then, I separated the two colors with a line in Essence Silver Surfer line and finished it all off with a coat of Orly Won't Chip.

What do you think of the half and half look?
Let me know in the comments below!

Da Vinci would be proud...

...of this starry starry night nail.

All settled in at college and almost finished my first week of classes already. Needless to say, the college hasn't changed much. I had no idea how to do my nails today but I was sick of the way they were and wanted a change to keep things interesting. After class, I picked a base color and this is what happened...

My take on a starry night (in Florida because palm trees are cute)!

For these nails, I started with a base coat of China Glaze Midnight Mission. For the design I used Essence Silver Surfer for the palm tree, China Glaze White on White for the crescent moon, and Color Club Art Club in Gold Glitter for the stars. Despite having to hold my camera upside to get the palm tree facing the right way, I think it turned out pretty well.

Also, a bonus today! My roommate this year is one of my closest college friends and last year I used to do her nails all the time. Since I was doing my nails today, she asked me if I could paint hers. Sure, why not? After deciding on a green she really liked...I went with it to create this masterpiece! Haha, just kidding! These nails started with two coats of China Glaze Watermelon Rind and I made...well, some kind of arrow/chevron design using an unnamed gold polish from the Icing. I finished off these nails with a coat or two of Orly Won't Chip.