Cult Nails Tempest, Fetish & Blaze -Nail Art Look

Happy Friday!!! 

  Today I have a really cool look featuring Cult Nails' Second Year Anniversary Collection. A few days ago I showed you guys Fetish all on it's own, but I thought it would be cool to do a look that featured different finishes. It seemed only fitting that I found a way to combine all Three shades in the collection into a cool look! 

 This look started with Two effortless coats of Tempest. I topped my base off with some Seche Vite and waited for it to dry. Then using some wavy scrapbook scissors I cut some strips of scotch tape to create the wavy side panels using Fetish. To clean up the seam between Fetish and Tempest I used a short striping brush dipped in Blaze. Then I went back with a really small dotting tool and added some Fetish dots along the wavy line. I did not top coat the finalized look to keep the cool contrast between wax and shiny finishes. Plain and simple, I ADORE this look!! And best of all, it was SO easy and fast to do!! 

 Here is a swatch of Tempest. The most flawless, creamiest shade of White I own. Two easy coats and an amazing self-leveling formula make this polish an absolute must have in my book!

 I said it before and I will say it again... I NEED more polishes in that wax finish!! There is something about it that I am absolutely LOVING!! I am also loving Blaze. When I first saw it I thought I would be indifferent towards it and then I actually wore it and I could not stop staring at my nails! It is a beautiful, blingy, yet classy glitter! My thoughts on Tempest? FINALLY, the perfect white creme haha!!! And Fetish? ... Yeah... you need it!

 I'm so ready for the weekend, I'm sure you guys are too :D!  

(**CN products provided for review**)

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Etsy Mania! Aphrodite Lacquers Birthday Polishes Look

Good afternoon and happy Friday!! 

 Today I have a fun look featuring some Aphrodite Lacquer shades. These polishes are from the B-Day Collection. I really loved this small group of polishes. Right now there is only one of the shades available on the shop. I hope she will be restocking the B-Day polishes because they are SOOO cute and fun. 

  This look features It's my Party, which is a vivid Neon Pink shimmering creme-jelly. I LOVED this shade. It is SO vibrant, but squishy and shimmery. The shade of Pink is the perfect, neon Barbie Pink. Application was great on this shade. I used Three thin coats. The awesome Purple shade is Wrapping, Ribbons, Bows. This shade is a grape Purple jelly packed full of micro electric Purple glitter. The formula on this shade is a little sheer and need build up. It is also best to wait between coats. I used Three thin coats for my base. Both of these shades dry a bit dull and gritty so a good top coat is a must. I really loved wearing these shades. Isn't it funny how sometimes less really is more?

 And here is a swatch of the loveliness that is Make a Wish from the Aphrodite Lacquers B-day Collection. This shade is a lightly shimmering White crelly base packed full of Small Silver hexes. This shade is simply beautiful. The formula was a dream to work with and I only needed Three thin coats. Aphrodite Lacquers are seriously some of my all time favorite Handmade polishes. I love her signature "sammich in a bottle".

 What do you think of these pretties? Aren't they fun? I can't wait to see new goodies from Aphrodite Lacquers. In this mad, polished world of ours there are a LOT of talented ladies making beautiful polishes. It is SO hard to narrow down my favorite indie polish makers. I can safely say that Aphrodite Lacquers are definitely at the top of that list.

 Do you have an indie maker(s) that always blows you away? I have quite a few myself :D.

(**Aph Lacquers provided for my considreation**)

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@LCNUSA Blossom Sorbet Collection- Spring Nail Art Look

Good morning and happy Thursday! 

  A few weeks ago I received this, extremely adorable, Spring nail polish set by LCN. This cute little collection of Four is called Blossom Sorbet.  The Blossom Sorbet set is made of Four adorable pastel shades, right on trend for Spring 2013. The second I unpacked these cuties I knew I HAD to do something fun with them. 

 The formula on these polishes was great and easy to work with. I really enjoyed the creamy texture and  perfect pigmentation of these polishes. Oh! They also have a really nice, fluffy brush that fans out perfectly for flawless application. 

 This look started with a base of Soft Daisy. From index to pinkie for the moons: I Love Mint, Vintage Rose and Lilac Blossom. I then went back and added little dot accents above the moons in Soft Daisy. I gave the dots a minute to set and then went back with a very small dotting tool and dotted the centers with corresponding colors.
 For the stripes I used a long, fine striping brush and patience. I'm pretty proud of my stripes. I had never really attempted this technique. I found it surprisingly simple to do, as long as you are not in a rush. I topped my stripes off with INM Northern Lights to hide the little imperfections. After giving my dots some time to dry I topped all my nails off with some Seche Vite and called it a night :D.
  I must say that I absolutely LOVE these shades. They are just adorable and they compliment each other so well. I love when I look at polishes and I actually feel inspired by the colors alone. The Blossom Sorbet set did just that.

 Here is a swatch of my base color, Soft Daisy. This pretty pastel Yellow has the most subtle shimmer that makes the formula a dream to work with. Soft Daisy has a very smooth, even and just plain awesome formula. I used Three coats for my swatch.

 I'm loving the Spring pastels! I had so much fun with this adorable little set. LCN is pretty new to me but so far I am a happy camper!! I hope they keep this up!

**EDIT**- Here is a tutorial on how to achieve this look**

 What are your thoughts on this look? Are you liking the Spring pastels?

(**LCN products provided for my consideration**)

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31 Day Challenge 2011-2012 Re-Cap Post!!

Hello darlings!! 

  This is a quick post to update you guys on my new "31 Days of Nail Art" Tab. It has been updated with the photos from the 31 Day Challenge looks of 2012. But just for fun...

Day 1: Red 2011-2012

To see the rest of the looks just keep on reading :D! 

 For more details on these manicres you can head to my 31 Day Challenge tab under the Categories column or you can head to the [31 Days of Nail Art 2011-2012] Page at the top of the blog ♥.

Ok! I'm off to finalize my "top of 2012" lists... I keep changing my mind lol!! There were seriously SO many amazing colors this year!! 

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31 Day Challenge 2012! Day 24: Inspired by a Book

Hi my lovelies and happy Sunday!!

  I had a fantastic Holiday weekend! I hope all of you celebrating did as well! My thanksgiving was wonderful. The hubs and I went to my parents house for an awesome, Puerto Rican style, feast. I cooked a giant batch of Arroz con Gandules y Tocineta. My mom made a glazed ham with Pineapple and cherries, alcapurrias and tostones! For dessert we had Dutch Apple pie from an Amish restaurant. Everything was DELISHHHH! I think I gained like 5 pounds over the weekend!
 I didn't really do the Black Friday thing, did you guys? Black Friday scarred me for life when I worked retail. I just can't bring myself to enjoy shopping while shoulder-checking people left and right lol. The husband did all his shopping online, and is already teasing me about the goodies he picked out for me! I'll probably wait 'till the last minute to do my shopping like a TRUE American lolol!
  So onto the reason you read this blog hahah! NAILS! Today Rie, and I will be catching up with Sammy who posted her Day 25; Book inspired nails back on Thursday. The girls and I also decided that for the last few days of the challenge we will only be posting Challenge nails on Tuesday and Thursday. Those last few days are pretty though. Speaking of which, the look you will see today is the FOURTH take... Yeah.. I re-did this mani four times.. I was pretty frustrated...

 First the nail art, my base color is Zoya Dana. My dotting was done with Lime Crime Parfait Day. I then did a matte top coat over my dotted base and waited for it to dry fully. I then did some shiny Black drips with Milani Black Swift. I liked the cool shiny black drips against the matte Pink dotted base. I did my drips with a very fine brush. I finally got a hang of the technique (kind of!). I must say that after four tries, I am pretty much ecstatic with how these turned out. I used Twee & Honey This is Matteness matte top coat to take out the shine on my Pink base.  
  So the base for nails was inspired by my WAH Nails Book of Nail Art cover art! How fitting right? I found out about this book from the awesome Sammy. She posted a look she did a while back and I absolutely had to have the book. The black drips on the nails were done because the drippy nails are one of the looks that the book teaches you to do, and I was hell-bent on getting the drips down! I love this book BTW! It is a fun and well put together guide for great nail art.

 Even though it took me several tries to get them down, I really like the finished look! These were eye-catching and girly, with a twist. Now don't forget to stop by my challenge partners Rie and Sam's to see their Book inspired looks for day 24!

 

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31 Day Challenge 2012! Day 16: Tribal

Hi guys!

  Sorry for the lateness with this challenge. I got so wrapped up in the madness of The Makeup Show that I completely forgot to do my tribal nails yesterday for today's post. Not to mention... A year later, I am still absolutely hating on the tribal print trend. I just do not like it. I tried to make it interesting by trying to freehand a tribal for the first time... Here is my feeble attempt...

 I started with a base of Color Club's Model Behavior, which on its own is a beautiful Fall shade. I used a very fine, fine brush for the details. I used Cult Nails Nevermore for my striping. Nevermore is an amazing Black polish and very much my favorite. It has a perfect formula for many nail art techniques. I accented my crappy lines with some dots in Nevermore and Konad Special White polish because it was really close by haha! Can you tell I REALLY do NOT like tribal? I was considering skipping today all together hahaha. I wouldn't do that to my girls though! I topped it off with some Seche Vite and followed it with Twee & Honey's This is Mattenes top coat.

Now don't forget to stop by my challenge partners Rie and Sam's to see their Tribal looks for day 16! I know they did better than I! 

(**Products provided for consideration**)

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31 Day Challenge 2012! Day 11: Polka Dot Nails

Yo!

  So today is day 11 of the 31 Day Challenge. The task today is polka dotted nails. I'm super tired today. My new meds are doing a number on me in terms of energy... As in, I don't have any, EVER. I get tired really fast over nothing. Me no likey! 

 For my polka dot nails I started with a base of Chick Nail polish in Biker Chick. The dots were done using Cult Nails Nevermore, Pomegranate Lacquers in Blue Screen of Death and Julie G Oh Em Gee!. I initially didn't have a plan for my "dot placement" so most of my nails ended up with different patterns. These are cute, but they were cuter in my head lolol!! 

  Now don't forget to stop by my challenge partners Rie and Sam's to see their Polka Dot looks for day Eleven!

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31 Day Challenge 2012! Day Four: Green Nails

Hello and happy Tuesday! 

  Today Rie, Sam and myself are taking on the Fourth prompt in the 31 Day Challenge. The list calls for Green nails. I.Love.Green! Naturally I wanted to do something fun and with many different shades of Green so I went for a double gradient. This look features some of my favorite Bettina and Zoya Green polishes. 

  For this Green look I started with a base of Bettina Trees. I followed my base by doing a sponged gradient using Trees and Bettina #194, this created a pretty Forest Green to Grass Green gradient. For the dots I used the dotted gradient technique using all Zoya. Instead of starting at my tips, I reversed the gradient by placing the larger dots at my cuticle. I had tried a similar look a while time ago, this turned out much better :D! The Zoya dot Greens are done in Tracie, Meg and Logan. I love the revese gradients and how it all looks together. I topped it all off with some Seche Vite.

Here is a picture of all the pretty Greens featured in this mani.

Thanks for stopping by!! Don't forget to stop by my challenge partners Rie and Sam's to see their Green looks for day Four!

(**Products provided by PR or manufacturer for my consideration**)

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