3 C's? CHECK!

The 3 C's of course would: Costumes, Carvings and Candy!


Halloween coming on a Sunday is kind of lame, I won't lie. I guess that's why all the little kids around the college went trick or treating Friday night and the college kids celebrated both Friday and Saturday (and I'm sure for some people tonight as well). My best friend and my boyfriend joined my roommate and I (and our other friends of course) for a party on Friday night. We all dressed up in costume (I was a chef!) and we watched scary movies including the Descent. What a weird movie by the way. We carved pumpkins too but mine had NOTHING to do with Halloween, I carved an Eiffel Tower since I am obsessed with France and everything French!


The nails today are kind of lame, eh I didn't really have time to do them :( Even so, I HAD to do something for Halloween!

For these I used Orly Liquid Vinyl as a base for the middle and pinky and 

China Glaze Orange Knockout for the index and ring. Then flipped each for 

the designs. For the ghost I used Color Club Art Club in white :)

Boo! Did I scare you?

National Candy Corn Day

If you did not know....today is National Candy Corn Day! Yep, the yummy yummy yummy orange, yellow, and white candy that everyone goes crazy for around Halloween. Mmmm, it's one of my favorite parts! My roommate and I bought a bag and have been enjoying them allllll week long :) Yum! In order to celebrate my love for candy corn AND for National Candy Corn Day I painted my nails! Feast your eyes on these...but be careful, they aren't REAL candy corn pieces!

For this one I used (picture coming soon!) OPI Flit A Bit, Orly White Out, and China Glaze Solar Power! Topped it off with Seche Vite top coat. Check out the Polish Collection link for more info on the polishes!

It's almost Halloween!

Halloween is almost here! Friends and I are having a party on Friday and we're all getting dressed up and going all out. The costumes are so random, I'm loving everyone's creativity. I'm deciding to go all boring--a firefighter. My roommate made her costume through tweaks and cutting up other clothes. Maybe I'll post a picture from the night later. It should be a good time. Party, scary movies, games, and so much candy we'll probably explode is going to be a good time. What's more fun than sugary treats on Halloween? Oh right, nothing!

My nails are boring tonight, plain orange with black tips and dots. The orange and black was very Halloween-ish though so I ran with it. I just realized this was one of the pictures before I had gone back and cleaned everything up with a Qtip and polish remover! Oops!

And what I used...no picture because it's really short. OPI Flit A Bit was used for the orange base coat and the design was made with Orly Liquid Vinyl.

What is your favorite thing about Halloween?

6 Roses for 6 Months

I've now been dating the boyfriend for 6 months. He surprised me with six beautiful roses when I got to see him. So adorable :) I needed to redo my nails and as I was thinking of ideas my eyes were drawn to the roses, a rose for each month we've been dating staring back at me beautifully arranged. I figured Hey why not give roses a go? Here they are:

And my amazing roses from my adorable boyfriend, too! :)

And, as promised, the picture of my "supplies"...

Essie Be Right Bag, China Glaze Salsa, Color Club Art

Club Green, Orly White Out, Seche Vite. 

I also used BM plate14 for the roses.

Spring Stripes

Today during the walk to class I was bitterly greeted by the increasingly chilly air outside. Winter is creeping in and I can feel it. I really do enjoy hot chocolate, warm fuzzy blankets, snow, and the staying indoors that all seems to accompany winter. That being said, I would LOVE to skip winter and go straight to spring again. As I was sitting in one of my classes I was, of course, thinking about nail polishes and designs I could do. Then it hit me...celebrate spring. These nails are my excitement for the spring (I'm a bit early, I know) with bright greens/blues and flower details. I love them and they're making the coming winter even more dreaded.

Oh yeah, something new for NikkisNailFiles! I'm going to be posting a picture of the polishes I use in each design rather than go link crazy under the picture like I've been doing (or not doing depending how lazy I was feeling that post). Also, I'm going to try to do swatches and stuff about each polish. I think I've said that before...like how I forgot about it? Anyway, I'm restarting and I'm actually going to do it this time. Maybe then I'll use every polish in my collection?? Until then...NO MORE POLISH PURCHASES! (Polish donations greatly appreciated though! Just kidding...kind of) Ok, onto the polishes! 

China Glaze Tree Hugger, Color Club Art Club in White, Black, Dark Blue, and Watermelon, and Kiss Brush On Nail Art Paint in Soft Blue and Silver Glitter. Topped it all off with Seche Vite! More info in The Polish List link on the top right of this blog :)


That's it, I miss spring. Wish I had a remote for the seasons. A click of the fast forward button anyone?

Are you my mummy?

Halloween keeps getting closer and I still don't have a costume to wear! Don't worry, I agree I'm a little old for trick-or-treating but the friends and I are dressing up regardless! Hmm, which reminds me...we should probably go shopping this weekend for them! Here are the nails of today: Mummies.

I used Orly White Out as a base and for the eyes. Then I speckled OPI Curry Up Don't Be Late over it to make it look a bit more battered and old. I used China Glaze Liquid Leather for the wraps and eyes. Topped everything off with a coat of Seche Vite.

Countdown to Halloween = 12 days!
What is your favorite thing about Halloween?

Always Aware

Seeing as October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I chose to spread the anti-cancer love in the form of a nail design. I really like the way it turned out. It gave me some nice practice with water marbling and I think they came out looking pretty darn sharp. 

I water marbled (a skill I'm slowly getting decent at! Yay!) a bunch of colors for the base: OPI Mother Road Rose, China Glaze Secondhand Silk, China Glaze Rosita, and Brucci Bare Essentials. I thought 4 colors was enough, lol. Then for the design I used Color Club Art Club in White and Brucci Jessica's Wedding Bells.
And yummm, check out these delicious cupcakes dining services made for all the students! I had to enlarge it from the picture my phone took so it's not exactly the best quality but you get the idea! :)

Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back.
Did you do a design in honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month?
Leave me a link in the comments so I can check it out!

A very Happy Birthday to my Big Sister today!!

Today is my older sister's birthday. I thought it would be a good idea to do a nice birthday manicure for her (on my nails lol) Anyway, she's turning 23 and where do you go when you're a 23 year old, graduate school student celebrating your birthday? DISNEY WORLD of course. :) I tried to make these nails a little Disney-like but the only real thing I found (and could do) was Mickey and some Cinderella carriage design that looked kinda funky. I gave Cinderella the boot. I settled on these!

Thumb - Happy 23rd Birthday! Jordana Holiday Red base with Kiss Brush-On Nail Art Paint in Silver for the "23"

Index - Cupcake mmmm! Jordana Holiday Red base, Kiss Brush-On Nail Art Paint in Black and White for the bottom of the cupcake, Orly Glitz & Glamour for the cupcake top and Brucci Jessica's Wedding Bells for the cherry (yeah yeah I know cherries are red...oh well :p )

Middle - Inspired by none other than Minnie Mouse herself. Essie Be Right Bag for the base, Jordana Holiday Red for the tip/swoop, outlined in Color Club Art Club Black, Bow and mini-mickey shadow done in China Glaze Liquid Leather.

Ring - MICKEY! Jordana Holiday Red base and the tongue, Orly Liquid Vinyl for the ears, nose, head, and eyes/pupils, Orly White Out for the rest of the face and eyes.

Pinky - The Phillies are playing while she's there and her boyfriend loves the Phillies so they'll probably end up watching a game or two (I'm sure she's thrilled). In honor of that Phillies Nail! Orly White Out as a base with Color Club Art Club in Red for the baseball stitching and "P". Go Phillies!

Hope you like your birthday nails Steph! 

Have a great time in Disney! Happy birthday! 

Just Me and My Jack

O' Laterns!


18 days until Halloween! While I still don't have any plans yet, I decided to get a jump on some kick ass nail designs for the quickly approaching Halloween. Some fun facts for you guys about Halloween: Jack O'Laterns originated in Ireland. People placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep spirits and ghosts away on the Samhain holiday. Also, pumpkins come in white, blue and green! How colorful!

Mmmmm the thoughts of Reeses Cups are twirling in my mind. Yum! I miss trick-or-treating like a kid. Free candy?! Yes, please!

Anyway, these nails are maybe the most recognizable sign of Halloween....Jack O'Laterns! I used this really cool glow in the dark polish that I put over them to make the faces glow but it left this hazy layer on the nails and the picture looks blurry. See for yourself.

For this catastrophe: I used China Glaze Free Love for the base and Orly Liquid Vinyl for the "Jacks". The glow in the dark polish was unnamed and from Sally Beauty Supply (one of the mini bottles).

Countdown to Halloween has begun :)

What do you think? Have you ever posted a nail fail like this one?

Let me know in the comments below!

Swoop There It Is

Fall Break already? It's unbelievable how quickly the semester is going by. It's even more unbelievable how many nail polishes I haven't used yet still thought I needed when I purchased them! That's it, no more polish. At least that was what I was thinking prior to finding out Ulta was having a buy 2, get 1 free polish sale. S and I bought some Ulta Professionals, Brucci, Essie, LA Colors and Zoya! They're all so beautiful and I can't wait to use them all! This design utilized one of the new colors: In the Limelight by the Ulta Professionals line. It's so shiny and sparkly, I think it's fabulous AND I didn't own one like this yet so...clearly I needed it. I may be broke...but my nails look awesome! Here's the current digits.

I used Ulta Professionals In the Limelight as a base coat and then used Color Club Art Club Light Blue for the swoops. Topped it all off with a coat of Seche Vite :)

Why so blue?

I haven't used this blue yet but I found it in my case last time I was doing my nails and it looked gorgeous! I think it's one of my favorite blues I have, too. So for today, voila!

For this look: I used China Glaze Caribbean Blue as a base and then layered a design off my BM04 plate in Color Club Art Club Black, Color Club Art Club White, and Essence Silver Surfer. Finished off with Seche Vite :) Nice!

Curly Q-ute!

Finally, another nail design for the blog! It was brought to my attention it's been a little bit of a while (*cough*sister*cough). Anyway, I have been doing my nails I just haven't had a chance to post them up on the blog. But...here you go! Feast your eyes upon these lovelies!!

Design 1: Culy Q-UTE! (they kind of look like slinkies, no?)

I used China Glaze Shower Together as a base and BM20 with Color Club Art Club White for the design. Topped it off with Seche Vite :D

DESIGN 2: O for October! These were done for my college buddy, E.

For this look: OPI What's with the Cattitude base with China Glaze Second-Hand Silk for the pink. I used BM Plate 19 for the designs. Finished these digits off with a coat of Seche Vite.

Happy October everyone!

Thanks for looking! Let me know what you think of these designs?