Inspired by: Indian Wedding?

I didn't set out to do these nails on purpose when I took a break from case reading today but this is what I ended up with. They remind me of a wedding in India for some reason. Do they have that effect on anyone else?? Maybe it's the really pigmented, rich red base, or perhaps it's a silver details, maybe it's the swirls? I don't know. Either way I kind of really like it. The design itself doesn't jump out at you from far away (it's barely noticeable unless you're pretty close to the nails) so it's a more subtle design (as compared to my juggling balls design which couldn't have been more attention grabbing unless I had it tattooed on my face). I googled photos of indian weddings and got the picture to the left from this blog post. Can you understand my inspiration now?

And when I tried to capture it with a flash this really cool contrast happened with the colors that made the design reallllly stand out. I liked the picture so much that I wanted to add it in and share it with you guys. If I had a do over I might consider doing this design with white stamping instead.

For this look I used Color Club Style Icon, BundleMonster Plate 2-201, and China Glaze Recycle.

Don't forget about my 100 Follower Giveaway that I'm doing! I'm accepting entries until February 13th at midnight and then I'm announcing the winner at some point on February 14th =) Check here for the giveaway details!

IT'S OFFICIAL: 100 Follower Giveaway!!!

Everybody put your party hats on because it's time to celebrate a landmark here at The Files...100 Followers! Although my total at the moment is 100 AND ONE follower (welcome 101st follower and thank you for subscribing!), I haven't yet officially posted the giveaway so I'm still celebrating the 100 landmark. I've been talking about it for a while and I'm going to go ahead and do it as planned. To celebrate all my fellow polish-addicted, manicure-loving blog readers, I am going to select ONE lucky winner to receive all of the following six Color Club Holographic Hues polishes: Beyond, Eternal Beauty, Cosmic Fate, Kismet, Miss Bliss, and Over the Moon. They are absolutely gorgeous and I bought a second set after deciding I just couldn't part with the one I originally ordered. I'm doing this old school where I use excel because I don't even want to try and figure out how to use that crazy Rafflecopter service. No no, excel is where it's at! As with all good things, there are rules.

To earn EXTRA entries:

• include in your comment or email one thing you'd like to see more on this blog (one extra entry)
• ask me a question or tell me any suggestion you can think of for my blog (one extra entry) (two if I decide to do a post about it)
• comment on any post from now until February 10th (one extra entry for each post comment)
• blog about my giveaway (include a link in your comment or email so I can find it!) (five extra entries)

I will stop adding entries on February 13th at midnight so I have time to make sure I get all the entries into my excel sheet!

That's it guys! I'm so excited for this! Be sure to spread the word and let our fellow polish-hoarders know that there's an awesome (if I do say so myself) giveaway going on here at Nikki's Nail Files!! Wow, do I sound like a game show host? I feel like I sound like a game show host. "Contestant Number One come on down to collect your BRAND NEW CARRRRR!!" Just kidding.

Good luck dears!
And thank you so much for making my blog what is it!!

Toetally Tuesday - Princess Sparkles

For today's Toetally Tuesday post I have a polish that can only be described as "Princess Sparkles" because of how sweet and sparkly it is. I used China Glaze Tarty for the Party as a base and then Orly Shine On Crazy Diamond on top to add some sparkle. Love it!

 I also did it on my nails. This is what kills me about photos though...I can never get consistent lighting. My toes look very pink and my hands look very olive-y.

And going off the fact that my dinner recently stole the show in my gradient post and the polka dot cup from above is in this photo too, please enjoy another dinner photo with the polka dot cup. My sweets (boyfriend) came over this weekend and we made delicious lasagna. Oh yes, I'm a chef!! Just kidding. We cheated by using oven-ready lasagna sheets (rather than boiling them ourselves) and by using canned tomato gravy instead of making our own from scratch. My poor Italian mother must be mashing her keyboard at reading this and hearing that I used canned sauce. I know mom, but I only did it because nothing can rival your gravy! 

Also, one last thing, some serious shout out blog love to one of my newest "followers" Dujour Whitespawn. Her blog is Nails Noob (although she has other blogs too) and you need to check it out right now!! She was my 100th follower so she triggered my 100 Follower Giveaway which will be posted TOMORROWWWWW!!

Yet ANOTHER attempt at gradient

I am hard core determined to get this manicure style right at least once in my life. I have tried it before but I haven't had any luck getting it to look as amazing as the gradients I see on so many other blogs. Why is this so elusive to me?!

I used Orly Ole, China Glaze Tart-y for the Party, Zoya Robyn and China Glaze White On White.

Toetally Tuesday - Summer Stripes

Using many of the same colors as my last post, I wanted to do a summery striped look for my Toetally Tuesday post this week. It makes me want warm weather soooo badly! As fate would have it though, the forecast for today is 6"-12" of snow (go figure!) and I've been watching snowflakes fall all day. Perhaps I should have done a snowflake pedicure instead!

I used Zoya Snow White, Kleancolor Nail to Toe in Hot Red, Color Club Art Club in Light Blue and Color Club Art Club in Yellow.

Also, I'm officially at 99 followers! Only ONE more before I host my Color Club Holographic Hues giveaway!!!

Wacky Skittlette Nails

So something is funky with this post because I had posted it earlier and then it wasn't showing up as posted (it was only saved and it didn't even include everything I wrote). It's annoying to have to re-write the post again and I can't really remember what I said. Anyway, this weekend was spent mostly doing schoolwork so I wanted a manicure that was happy, fun and made me think of summer. Enter, skittlette nails! I've never done "skittlelette" nails before I don't think and I'm excited for these :)

I love these nails. They make me happy :)

Toetally Tuesday: Nexus Nails

Hi all! As many of you know I am a student, particularly a law student, and therefore it can be expected that I have to lug around bags that are roughly 3/4 my weight full of my laptop, textbooks, notebooks, planners, pencil cases, chargers, wallet, water bottle, umbrella, keys, etc. Well, I am so thrilled that tomorrow my bag will be lightened by at least 4 pounds...my keyboard and case for my Nexus 10 finally arrived!! The Nexus 10 was a gift from my pops because he knew that I wanted something small, light, and transportable to take notes in during class and to replace my clunky computer. I'm ecstatic that I'll be able to bring my nexus to class rather than my giant laptop (even though I absolutely love my laptop too--I just bought it if you remember!).  In honor of my new note-taking system....I give you Nexus Nails:

Hahaha, I kept doing the x design on the smaller toes on my right foot but not my left...oops!

 I thought this was a cute design so I added it to my fingernails too!

 And the case/keyboard I've been waiting for! Not sure how I feel about navy blue but it'll grow on me.

What do you think? Ever paint your nails "tech" inspired?

Zoya....Miley?

Ok all, this is NOT a serious post. It's just something I found...interesting.

I was looking on the Zoya website for three colors that I simply HAD TO HAVE (because they're doing their 3 Free promo) and one color in particular made my eyebrows raise. Now, I'm a Miley Cyrus fan all around (don't hold it against me if you're not). Old Miley, New Miley, doesn't matter to me. And I know there are other girls named Miley in the world, too, but when I saw the shade that Zoya picked to name "Miley" I sort of just laughed. I mean, pastel purple? Really?

I mean, what about the Miley (on the left) has you thinking hmmm, pastels, yes? I would expect a more vibrant red or gold or even something with like shimmer, glitter, hex glitter, or something like that in it. Where's the WOW factor? I know Zoya didn't make this polish specifically for Miley Cyrus or even with Miley Cyrus in mind but, because Miley Cyrus is the only Miley I know of, she's the one I thought of when I saw it and the color just doesn't fit. I have both Zoya polishes named Nicole and Nikki (my names, obviously) and they are pretty fitting shades for me and my personality.

Either way, you go Miley. Keep doing your thing!

Now, the serious part of this post: Turns out I probably won't be purchasing Zoya polishes this time around. The shipping is super expensive ($12, although they also raised their polish prices to $9-$10 each so I guess it's still a good deal after all) and I just can't seem to find any polishes that simply MUST be added to my collection (did I just say that?!).

Quandary: Which 3 polishes for the Zoya 3Free* Promo?

I'm in need of assistance choosing three of these pretty shades for the Zoya 3 Free promo they're doing right now. Usually I stock up on Zoyas during their pick 3 sales, but this time I'm having a hard time finding ones I even want. I settled on these 10 as my choices. So now I have to narrow it down to 3. Any suggestions?

Which 3 would you choose?

Friday Favorites: January

New year, new installment of a post idea. I love to keep bringing new things and ideas to my blog here because I never want it to get boring or predictable (one of the reasons I don't do swatches only). Welcome to the first installment of Friday Favorites! On a Friday of each month I will post a few polishes or something from my collection that I'm obsessed with at the moment and/or designs that I'm loving at the moment. If the pictures aren't mine (like if I saw a design on someone else's blog that I totally loved the way they did it) I will give credit. If no credit is given, then it's all mine! I hope you enjoy a new installment here on NikkisNailFiles!

Without further adieu, here are a few of my January 2014 Favorites:

My favorite nail-related thing right now would have to be this tonnage (gallon) of Beauty Secrets Professional Acetone nail polish remover that my dear Mops (my mom) gave me as a gift for Christmas last month. I have dreamed about this ginorm bottle (er, bucket?) of nail polish remover because I go through nail polish remover like a doctor goes through bandaids and now I think I'm set until at least...next Christmas? Anyway, using nail polish remover has a horrid effect on my nails so I loved when I started using the Beauty Secrets Professional Acetone because, for whatever reason, it didn't dry my cuticles out as badly as the generic brand of acetone at Target did. The only problem is I threw out my last normal bottle (which looked like this) so now I have to use two cotton balls at once or risk flooding the place!

I'm also loving the line of Color Club holo polishes I bought from Amazon a few weeks ago. Seriously, I hope this trend never dies because I finally have my hands on some puuurty holo polishes. Now, if only I had a silvery one. Nfu anyone?

Lastly, my favorite design this month would have to be the Pantone Color of the Year Radiant Orchid orchid manicure done over on Chalkboard Nails. Is this not the most flawless design you've ever seen? All of her designs are incredible but this one in particular is like....impossibly perfect. Kudos to Pantone for picking such a great color for 2014! And kudos to Chalkboard Nails for having such great mani skills. Totes jealous.

(Photo from Chalkboard Nails. It is NOT my image.)