Mixed Caviar

I whipped out the microbeads to try out another caviar manicure. It's a shame these don't last longer because they look so cool.

The polishes I used are Orly Ancient Jade, Orly Calypso Breeze, & China Glaze Spontaneous. 

The microbeads are from the "Recollections" brand sold at Michael's. I mixed up some of the blue, green, and purple for this random arrangement.

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Nautical Striping Tape

I went a little wild with my striping tape, once again. This time I used red and blue for horizontal stripes. Then I added gold microbeads placed in the shape of an anchor. :)

The base polish is Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud.

Both colors of striping tape came from here.

The microbeads came from here.

I just placed the beads individually while the topcoat was still wet.

Remember my other nautical looks?

Here, and here!

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Strawberry Nail Art

I like the idea for this, but I don't think it's really worth it. The amount of time dedicated to creating vs the amount of time it will last on your nails..... These beads will start popping off before you know it. It's just not terribly practical. But oh so cute!

I started with 2 coats of China Glaze Traffic Jam

Then used a small nail art brush to freehand some OPI Jade is the New Black leaves. I then highlighted the leaves using Essie Navigate Her.

Then a little white highlight using a white nail art striper polish.

Then painstakingly added the bullion beads/microbeads/tiny steel balls. I just applied a little topcoat at a time and stuck them on individually. Once they were all on, I put a layer of topcoat over the whole nail.

Some sweet strawberries to enjoy this summer!



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Born Pretty Store - Bullion Beads/Microbeads

I mentioned that I also received the Bullion Beads. They can be found here for $3.33. It comes in a wheel of 12 different colors. The beads are so tiny that they got a little mixed together despite the different compartments. It's a nice array of colors that are available in this wheel. I chose to use the dark teal on the top right of my picture.

 It was a perfect match for Essie School of Hard Rocks. This is 2 coats.

 I applied a generous coat of Seche Vite and then poured the beads over the nail until they covered the entire thing. (Remember the "caviar" debate?)

One solid nail used up a good bit of my beads of that color, so for the rest of the nails I just outline the half moon area with a line of beads.

 It's not a terribly long lasting manicure, but it's cute and a novelty. :)

More about → Born Pretty Store - Bullion Beads/Microbeads

Novelty Nails - Microbeads/Fish Eggs

Next up was microbeads! I wanted to try out the "Caviar" trend. I found this set of microbeads at Michaels for 50% off. It had 8 different colors in the mulitpack for a final price of $3.50. Much cheaper than the Ciate version....

You can attach these a number of ways... foil glue, nail glue, or still wet topcoat. You would probably get the best wear out of nail glue. When I tested these I had them coming off left and right after just 1 hour of wear. I just used still wet Seche Vite though.

 I'm wearing China Glaze Spontaneous btw.

 I prefer this as just an accent nail and not an entire mani. But that's just my opinion. :)

More about → Novelty Nails - Microbeads/Fish Eggs

Audrey's Bow

I'm so glad to now have these plates in my stash! Konad m59 and m79. I had trouble with the netting image to stamp completely. :( I had to fill in the larger dots with a dotting tool because the stamp came out with uneven hollow dots. But it was well worth it!

China Glaze For Audrey and Konad Special White Polish

 I added tiny silver bullion beads into the polka dots on the bow. I placed them in the not-quite dry topcoat and sealed it in with another layer of topcoat.

So dainty and pretty! I love it!

More about → Audrey's Bow