Glitter Gradient Nails

These nails were extremely easy to make, so much that I almost feel bad posting about them! But I love how they turned out SO much, I think they are super cute!
There are several ways to achieve the gradient effect, and I think that the most popular one is the sponge method, in which you paint your nail using a sponge instead of a brush. But I didn't do that! For this look, I used 3 coats of my glitter nail polish just in the tip of the nails, and then one coat that started right at the half of the nail.  I left the rest natural, because I wanted my glittery tips to be the center of attention.

I used Icing - Sparkle me happy and finished it off with 2 coats of Seche Vite to smooth it out and to add a gloss effect.

Fluorescent light

Natural light

Sophy Robson inspired nails: Dripping tips

Lately I've been totally obsessed with Sophy Robson's blog.  Robson is the "Nail Queen" of London, and her designs are just amazing.  She's known for doing the nails for a lot of designers on fashion week runways and a whole bunch of Vogue covers as well.  She is a trendsetter, and an inspiration.  You can check out her blog HERE.

This look is inspired by one of her designs, the "blood dripping" nails.  I used China Glaze's For Audry, and Finger Paints' Black Expressionism for the tips.  I used my dotter tool for the dripping and I just started drawing random patterns, and a dot here and there.  With the same dotter tool, I finished off the whole tip.  I thought about using the polishes' own brush, but I decided on the dotter tool because I thought I'd give the tips more dimension, and I was right.

I waited for it to dry a little bit before applying my top coat because I didn't want my colors to run or mix.

This is the final product, I hope you like it. 

Nail Fraud: Disco

I have another Nail Fraud post, and this will be my last one, because i'm out of decals, but I think I saved the best for last.  I have to say that this is my favorite print from the 3 sets that I got.  The design looks amazing, but I do have one big fat complaint, though.  This set was very different from the others.  The other decal's presentation was very similar to the Incoco appliques, they have a protective film on top, and they apply better, they kind of bend to match the shape of your nail.  But this ones really just look and feel like plane ol' stickers! They do not have a protective film and they are very hard to match the shape and curves of the nail, they feel kind of stiff on the nail. Also, they didn't came inside a sealed package.  On the other appliques, if you are left with wrinkles on them, they often disappear the next day (I think heat helps with this), but not with Disco.  I applied them yesterday and I still have stiff wrinkles towards the free end of my nails (and I don't think they are disappearing any time soon!).  Also, the print seems very fragile, like any little scratch is going to damage it, so I applied a thick coat of a glossy top coat over it.  In the end, the result looks pretty cool, because this design is amazing and colorful, so I am happy with how my nails ended up.  See for yourself. Click on the pics to make them bigger.

Hold decal with thumb and index, apply close to the cuticles. If you mess up, gently remove the decal and reapply

File off excess with nail file (Nail fraud includes this cool nail file!)

Final result! See the gloss? I used OPI's top coat

This is NF's Goldfinger sealed package, with a holding strip and protective film over decals

This is how Disco looks in the package, very different! It lacks all those cool extras that the other designs have!

Hard Candy Beetle

This nail polish is too much on its own, I really did NOT wanna mess with it.  This is a duo-chrome, it goes from olive green to a pinkish purple… It really changes as you move, and it looks way better in person. I was even told by someone that my nails looked like a chameleon! It is that impressive! 

I hear this is an Orly Space Cadet dupe, and I am glad because I couldn't get a hold of the limited edition sold out Space Cadet.  Another great thing about this polish is the price and availability: only 5 bucks and you can find it at your local Wal-Mart. 

Indoors

Direct Sunlight

Nail Fraud: Houndstooth

I'm using nail appliqués again.  They are just too perfect and easy to apply, they save me a lot of time and I end up having gorgeous nails without much effort… What's not to love about them? Well, there is one thing I do NOT like: the glue residue left on my nails after I take them off… but it's not a deal-breaker.

These are from Nail Fraud and they are called "Houndstooth Hottie", how adorable! I got TOO MUCH compliments on these manicure. I wore it during Christmas break, so a lot of friends saw it on me, and they really liked it. So here it is, review and all.  For more information about Nail Fraud, click HERE.

Hey, and if someone has any suggestion on how to do with my out-of-control cuticles (please see above pic for reference), I'd seriously appreciate it!