Week 29 - Inspired by Fashion

So I needed a cute themed manicure that would still go with a dress I wanted to wear to my friend's wedding today (Congrats Emily!!). I didn't really want to match it to my dress because I didn't feel like doing a black and white floral pattern with bright pink to match my cardigan, PLUS having to take a picture of me in it.  Basically, I knew I wanted a cute black and white funky french, polka dots, and little red bows and it was just a matter of finding something cute and fashion-y to base my vision off of!  

CG's White on White
SOPI's What's A Tire Iron? 
Zoya's Sooki

So, while this was inspired by this shoe, it was done with appropriateness to the special occasion in mind. It still went really nicely with my dress! I just did a straight-up solid application of the bright red I used for the bows (Zoya's Sooki) on my other hand but couldn't get a very good photograph before the weather turned bad. Here's the link to a quick review post because hey, solid color application clearly counts as a swatch, even if it isn't documented at each coat. 

Back to the my left hand (the one based off the shoe): While I worked darn hard on on the clean-up, my thumb's cuticle line was so stubborn (even after a hot shower). Also, my cuticles insist on being kind of dry here and there despite constant application of this cuticle oil I got from Sephora (by OPI) about a month ago. I've almost gone through the whole thing (with generous application): 

While the reviews on the cite are largely positive (and it does smell great), it only sort of works for me. I think my thumbs just refuse to hydrate no matter what I do (this cuticle oil + VS hand lotion + prenatal vitamins), so I guess I'm in the market for some kind of crazy hardcore cuticle moisturizer.

Also worth mentioning: Blue Cross Cuticle Remover is amazing and I do notice a difference between that and this OPI cuticle oil in most of my nails... but big guns are still needed from somewhere for my needy, stubborn cuticles. :(

Week 8 - Taping (November 21, 2011)

This one took forever because I didn't have any Seche Vite at the time. Still a newbie, wanted to try some new pretty colors I had gotten plus nail stickers!

 Purple, China Glaze Coconut Kiss
Green, OPI Sephora, Leaf Him At The Altar
Teal-blue,  OPI Sephora Mermaid to Order

Did a base color of the green (a muted, earthy green with a nice silver metallic shimmer) and let that dry. Then did a half-ways diagonal taping of the teal-blue (let that dry), and then carefully realigned more tape along the blue/green diagonal and added my final strip of tape down the middle, where I painted the purple on the top-left side of the nail.

I remember not liking the stickers much after I put them on, but I was really excited about my taping success and wanted to make it extra special! Either way, it was a fun manicure to wear and I got to combine some really nice colors.

I don't remember how many coats the green was (I think 2, no more than 3), but both the purple and the teal-blue were one coat each in this picture. As you can see, both are wonderfully opaque in their single coat applications. :)

Week 7 - Inspired by a Tutorial (November 16, 2011)

My first ever "nail art", this week's challenge was to make yourself try something new, fun, and challenging! This is the second manicure I had ever given myself, so it's a little rough around the edges, but all around not too shabby! I had no toothpicks or dotting tools, so I had to make due with... I don't remember what. But it was goofy. :P

This is the tutorial I chose to duplicate:

And this (below) is what I came out with. Cell pic, so sorry for the slight blurriness. Also, this is before I had any tools or know-how for proper clean-up, so I just focused on not flooding my cuticles.

Black, Sephora OPI What's A Tire Jack?
White, China Glaze White on White
Pink, Orly Elsbeth's Rose
Yellow, China Glaze Sun Worshiper
Teal, Sephora OPI Mermaid to Order
Glitter, China Glaze Fairy Dust