14 Days of Pink: Pink Zebra stripes

I'm digging pretty deeply now, arn't I? This is a much harder challenge than I thought it would be! lol!

So why not a pink gradient zebra? The gradient was actually some of my best work...the stripes...eh. But it was still pretty!

Sally Hansen Sweetheart, Rose Amore, Pure Ice Jamaica Me Crazy and Art Deco white

14 Days of Pink: Stamping white on pink

Today is Stamping Sunday---but the challenge of the group I belong to didn't match with my pink theme, so I'll have to share that manicure another day! But here's a really pretty manicure I did a while back!

Pretty, huh? This was my first stamping using Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri and it worked great! Nice smooth images without any smeary! Hurray! I may ACTUALLY be getting better at stamping! Here's what I used:

Revlon Cherries in the Snow, Sally Hansen's Insta-dri Whirlwind White MASH plate 14

14 Days of PINK!: Daisies on pink

Another day, another post! Today's manicure is so cute! Who DOESN'T love pretty daisies?

This is so easy using a dotting tool! It looks so complicated but when you break it down, it's only dots! You can do this!

Pure Ice Super Star!, Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow and Pure Ice Love and dotting tool

14 Days of PINK!: hot pink half moon funky french

Phew! How's THAT for a title?!  In honor of Valentine's Day I'm going to do a new manicure every. single. day from February 1st until the 14th! Not only will they be rapid fire manicures--but they will all be predomeniently pink or red! Weeee! That's some challenge! Here's today's retro half moon funk french:

Hot pink half moon funky french manicure

Weeee! So fun and retro! Using hole reinforcers is the key to a pretty darn cool half moon manicure. Here's what I used:

Pure Ice Super Star!, Pure Ice Jamaica Me Crazy, Hole reinforcers

Pink Wednesday: Fun With Dots: Pink, Brown and White

It's another Pink Wednesday! This pink is an o.g.  I've had it for years and years--so long that I cannot even remember when or why I got it. Here she is:

Neapolitan, anyone?

Fun, huh? I thought so. The brown is my first Finger Paint nail polish. It was part of my husband's foray into a Sally's beauty supply unsupervised.  He said, and I quote, "You like to wear brown, right?".  Yes, dear.  It really is a great polish though...ONE COAT! Shazam!

Pure Ice Super Star, Sally Hansen Rose Amore and Finger Paints Sketchy Character plus super cool dotting tool

Inspired By: Monarch Butterflies: Pink

This is so much fun. HERE is the tutorial.  Remarkably easy for the non-artist that I am.

Monarch Butterfly nails

 I SHOULD have done orange, but I really wanted to try out this pink. It went on really well!

Pure Ice Black Rage, Super Star, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Hot Magenta, Art Deco Black

Inspired By: converse Shoes

This manicure was a lot of fun and surprisingly easy with nail art pens. It would have been better if my nails had rounder tips, but it's all good.

Inspired by Converse Shoes

Cute, huh? It took a lot of different nail polish but it was fast and easy. Just take it step by step.

Wet N Wild Everybody Loves Redmond, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Crushed, Pure Ice Excuse Me, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away, Wet N Wild Wild Shine Eggplant Frost, Pure Ice Super Star, Sally Hansen art pens

Fun With Dots: White/Teal/Orange

Did everyone have a great holiday? I did! I got a lot of new polishes to show off too! Here's today's fun manicure:

Fun with Dots!

I did two coats of Nicole Do The Right Thing. I got these great Mash Dotting Tools for Christmas and couldn't wait to break them in! I used them using Nicole My Lifesaver (the teal color) and Pure Ice Super Star (white) to add the fun dots. Super easy.

Nicole by OPI The Right Thing, My Lifesaver, Pure Ice Super Star, Mash dotting tool

Inspired By: Holiday Braid white/silver/blue

This braid technique is something totally new to me, but lots of fun! The next time I do it I'll try to stick to nice creme colors so the overlapping won't show. I found a fantastic tutorial over at Rebecca Likes Nails.  All of our holiday decorations are blue and silver so I thought I'd try out these colors:

The holiday Braid.

First I started with a base coat of Pure Ice Super Star (white). Then I carefully used my Pure Ice French Kiss (the blue) which is phenomenal. I also used Wet n Wild Fast Dry Silvivor. Fun fun!

Wet N Wild Fast Dry Silvivor, Pure Ice Super Star, Pure Ice French Kiss

Funky French Freestyle

Speaking of the Funky French Freestyle...here's a lovely springy version (and yes, this IS my right hand...the Christmas version is on my left hand. Don't judge.). My lovely California friend, whom I affectionately will refer to as RevMo (the darling behind Morawk Creations) sent me some Nail Mail! She sent me two super cute minis of Sephora by OPI (It's Hippo To Be Square and Natural Environ-mint) and a black Salley Hansen Nail Art pen! Hot diggity! This shade of violet makes me swoon--so it was first to be used! This is Hippo To Be Square.

The Funky French Freestyle

I started off with two coats with Sephora by OPI in Hippo to Be Square. It's a pretty thin formula, but oh the color! Love love love it! Normally I would have tapped off for my funky french, but this was a quickie job! I just eye balled it this time and then took my Art Deco nail polish and added a swipe of white. I did do a final coat of Pure Ice Oh Baby, a beautiful iridescent polish. This nail art just screams Spring to me!

Art Deco white, Sephora by OPI Hippo To Be Square,  Pure Ice Super Star and Pure Ice Oh Baby.

Inspired By: Holiday Funky French Freestyle

How's THAT for a name? This is actually an Amanda original! It's fun, different and easy enough for even my left hand.

The Funky French Freestyle

This was a quickie. I started off with 2 coats of Wet n Wild Wild Shine in Red Red. Next, I just eyeballed a funky french with Pure Ice Super Star (white). Normally I would have taped, but I was in a hurry and I knew i would use the glitter to cover up any "whoops". I then added a swoop of Bright Green by Art Deco and then a swipe of Art Deco silver glitter. Quick and fast!

Wild Shine  Red Red, Art Deco in silver glitter and Bright Green and Pure Ice Super Star

Inspired By: Holiday Patchwork

I wasn't thrilled with my first Scotch tape patchwork manicure--but I like this one! It LOOKS complicated, but it's not. There are two tricks to working with tape (I just use a no name brand): 1) Always let your layers dry all the way before taping and 2) always stick the tape on the inside of your hand a few times to get rid of the mega-stickiness.

The Holiday Patchwork Manicure

I did two layers of Wet N' Wild Fast Dry in Everybody Loves Redmond. I love this polish! It goes on so well and not a single brush stroke. Once that was dry I taped off and used the fabulous Super Star white by Pure Ice. Last, I did the bottom of my nails using LA Craze silver glitter. Wet N' Wild Fast Dry can be found at almost any CVS, Dollar General or Walmart for about $2. Pure Ice is $2 at Walmart. LA Craze can be purchased at Family Dollar, Dollar General or even Dollar Tree for $1! Fun!

Wet N Wild Fast Dry in Everybody Loves Redmond, LA Color Craze, Pure Ice Super Star and tape!

Inspired By: Tiffany & Co.

I promise, I'm not brand loyal or usually swayed by advertising. But, Tiffany and Company has had my heart for a long, long time. ONE day, I shall have some sweet little treasure wrapped in Tiffany Blue. One day. Not only do I have fantastic taste in jewelry, I also have fantastic taste in friends. One especially lovely friend, Rox, sent me some amazing China Glaze nail polishes. She was so sweet to send me For Audrey, a China Glaze crackle and an awesome China Glaze Purple Panic. I'd never used China Glaze until today--and can I just say, love them?! LOVE THEM! Rox and I share a love for Tiffany's so she went on the hunt to find China Glaze Just Audrey (a dead ringer for Tiffany's blue boxes).

China Glaze For Audrey, Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen

 I've been wanting to do some kind of Christmas-y manicures since it IS the season and all--so I declare this one "All I Want For Christmas". Or, Inspired By: Tiffany and Company. I've terribly sorry this was a janky job--I was SO excited to have this color I did my nails while waiting in my car for my five year old to get out of school! Thank you so much, Rox!

Fun With Dots: White/Black/Grey

This was my first manicure with so. many. dots. It was kind of gutsy for not having a real dotting tool (like THESE).  Like most things in my life, I had to improvise to get what I wanted. In this case--it was bamboo skewer cut in half. Here are the colors I used:

 Pure Ice Kiss Me Here, L.A. Colors Art Deco and Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen.

The first step was 2 layers of Pure Ice Kiss Me Here. Part of me is so torn with grey nail polish. I love some tones of grey and others just make me feel like I have "morg fingers" or I look kind of...dead. I like this shade though. Next, I randomly dotted flowers on my fingers using a Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen. This stinkers are EXPENSIVE, but worth it for dots. It sort of just looks like a glorified white-out pen to me though. Then I took my rigged-up bamboo skewer and dipped it in my Art Deco black for the centers. Not too shabby!

Scotch tape Patchwork Manicure: white/pink/glitter

Have you ever used Scotch tape for a manicure? It's so much fun and easy! There's one trick to keep in mind: always put the tape on the palm of your hand a few times to make it not-so-sticky before placing the tape on your nails. Also, be sure to work one nail at a time and to remove the Scotch tape as soon as you are done applying polish (so, don't wait for it to dry!). Here are the stars of this time-consuming but easy, manicure:

L.A. Colors Nail Lacquer with Hardener in Cotton Candy, Pure Ice Spit Fire and Pure Ice Super Star (and some no name tape)

 First step was to apply a base coat of clear and then 3 layers of L.A. Colors Nail Lacquer with Hardener in Cotton Candy. You can find L.A. Colors Nail Lacquer in just about any Dollar Tree or Dollar General for .99.  They're not great, I'm not going to lie--but they get the job done. Cotton Candy is extremely opaque, more so than I had planed on. Oh well. It would make a good classic French manicure color. Once the pink was dry I got out the tape and went to town! Working one nail at a time, I taped off small patchwork sections of my nails and filled in with Pure Ice Spit Fire. I then applied a clear layer (I used Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri) and waited for that dry very well. Next, I taped off ANOTHER section and filled that in with white. You can see in the photo that a few of the white lines are not so great--the tape wasn't all the way down.  So, in other words, if you're going to attempt this, have some time on your hands! I finished with another layer of Insta-Dri and voila! Not exactly what I was expecting (The white was just too much of a contrast for me), but fun!