Cult Nails Riot, Orly Sparkling Garbage and Lac Attack Muggles

Hey everyone! I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged!!! Now that I've finally graduated college, I hope I can blog more regularly now. I graduated a week ago and hauled a bunch of polish in celebration. I used some of my new pretties for this mani :)

I started with two coats of Cult Nails Riot. This is such a gorgeous color! I love it a lot. Great application.

Then I used Lac Attack Muggles (a Harlow and Co. exclusive) and Orly Sparkling Garbage as an accent nail.

I think the colors in Muggles works perfectly with this color! I also think Riot is a great base color for Orly Sparkling Garbage. Sparkling Garbage applies great. Muggles takes two coats with some glitter fishing, but I think it was worth it :)

And I'll leave you with a macro shot of Muggles in all it's shredded glory!

10 Days of Nail Art: Holiday Treats

This next challenge is Holiday Treats! My favorite is sugar cookies, but I'm already decorating so many real ones that I didn't want to recreate it on my nails. I put on Lush Lacquer Peppermint Kisses and realized it was a great base for this challenge!

After three coats of Peppermint Kisses, I stamped some peppermint stripes using Sally Hansen Rapid Red and Bundle Monster plate BM301.

They worked perfectly together! This turned out better than I thought it would. I absolutely loved this :)

Teal Tuesday: Jelly Sandwich

It's jelly sandwich time! I don't have a teal jelly, so I had to brainstorm how to make this work. I started with a base of Blackheart Mint to Be. It's an awesome creme that glows under a black light! I'm really impressed with the Blackheart polishes I've tried out.

Then I topped it with Milani Hot Pink, OPI Don't Touch My Tutu, Essie Stroke of Brilliance and another coat of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu. I kept going back and forth on whether I liked it while I was wearing it, but I like it in the pics :)

Check out these other Teal Tuesday blogs! If you'd like to join us, click on the badge at the top of my page!

Missy at Gnarly Gnails

Rhonda at Nails Beautiqued

Kirsten at Geeky Owl

Amanda at Mandy's Polish

ColorSplash Nails

Simple-and-Beautiful

Aimee at Persistently Glittery

Nat at No Holos!

Ana at Cherries Sweet

Caitlin at Caitlin's Creative Corner

Ariane at The Frenzied Polisher

Kia at Lacquered Libra

Belén at Nail Polish Lane

Sam at  Polished Art

Jess at Once Upon a Polish

Jasmin at Subtletyisoverrated

Elysse at Elyssian Bauty
Laurie at My Rusty Nails
Gisselle at Ms. Meow's Nails

Blogger Friends Forever: 80s

Here we go for 80s day! Since I was only a fetus when this decade closed, I don't have any personal experience with it. I did some google and referenced The Wedding Singer for some help and came up with checkers, neons and splatter.

Checkers remind me of the 80s. Probably because of The Wedding Singer and his sheets. You mean you don't remember his sheets?! Good, you're normal. I started with a base of Pure Ice white, then stamped with Cheeky CH3 and L.A. Colors Circuits. Then I used straws to splatter with China Glaze Hang Ten Toes, Surfin' for Boys, Sun Kissed, I'm With the Lifeguard, Splish Splash and Beach Cruise-r. I was completely satisfied with my splattering and then decided to do one last blow on my thumb because it needed more purple.

That was clearly a mistake.

Here are the fabulous bloggers participating in this challenge:

Thiamere of On Beauty Stuff & What Else's

Pram of My Nail Polish Addiction

Bec of Lacquer Dreams

Kerrie of PishPosh and Polish

Caitlin of Caitlin's Creative Corner

Emma of Manicurity

Sally Of Nail Pron

And here's what we have in store! (My week is August 23-25)

Indie Swatching: Aqua Daisy Succulent

Today's indie swatch is Aqua Daisy Succulent. I saw this polish on someone else's wish list and decided I needed it. This is two coats. I bought a mini, so the brush is kinda hard to maneuver, but it wasn't horrible. The polish is advertised as "mint with pink glitter" but it's actually blue. I really thought mint green and pink would be adorable, but I love this combination too! This polish is so light and airy and happy.

I also bought Beauty School Drop Out, but I haven't gotten a chance to wear it yet. Aqua Daisy polishes are available here.

Blogger Friends Forever: Striping Tape

It's striping tape day as suggest by Pram! I was kind of worried since I've only used striping tape once and I didn't really like it. But that mani I left the tape on the nail and this one I used it as a polish block and took it off. I'm much happier this time around.

I started with two coats of Jade Deja Vu (amazing!), then place striping tape in the pattern I wanted. Then I polished over that with Zoya Carly and took the tape off. It was kinda difficult applying it with my left hand, but it was still pretty easy and was a really quick manicure.

I love how these two look together. And I had to take a flash picture, of course, to show the awesome holo. If you're thinking about getting Jades, take the plunge and do it. They're sooo worth it!

Here are the fabulous bloggers participating in this challenge:
Thiamere of On Beauty Stuff & What Else's

Pram of My Nail Polish Addiction

Bec of Lacquer Dreams

Kerrie of PishPosh and Polish

Caitlin of Caitlin's Creative Corner

Emma of Manicurity

Alyssa of Fancy Phalanges

Sally Of Nail Pron

And here's what we have in store! (My week is August 23-25)

Teal Tuesday: 3D

Since today was 3D Nail Art for Teal Tuesdays, I decided it was high time I used my knock off caviar beads. I started with two coats of Risque Husky. It looks more teal in the bottle, but it dried pretty blue. The application was amazing. I applied this with my left hand and needed almost no clean up.

Then I topcoated it all. While the top coat was wet, I dipped my ring finger into the pot of beads. I got these at Michael's on clearance, so they were hella cheap. 

I tried to touch up the little bald spots, but it didn't really work. I wish I could report on how well these held up, but I'm so bad at picking at my polish that these didn't last an hour.

Check out these other Teal Tuesday blogs! If you'd like to join us, click on the badge at the top of my page!

Missy at Gnarly Gnails

Rhonda at Nails Beautiqued

Kirsten at Geeky Owl

Amanda at Mandy's Polish

ColorSplash Nails

Simple-and-Beautiful

Aimee at Persistently Glittery

Nat at No Holos!

Ana at Cherries Sweet

Caitlin at  Caitlin's Creative Corner

Ariane at  The Frenzied Polisher

Kia at  Lacquered Libra

Summer Challenge: Summer Lovin'

I'm finally doing another theme from the Summer Challenge! The theme today is Summer Lovin'. I decided to draw from one of my favorite summer songs about love. I've already shown my love for Katy Perry on this blog before and it didn't hurt that I just saw the Katy Perry movie and ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! Go see it, it's fabulous!

I remember exactly when I first heard this song. I had spent half my summer studying abroad in Rome and heard California Gurls pretty much every day. They were obsessed with it. Then I got home and went on a road trip with my best friends. They were watching VH1 in the other room and I was curling my hair in the laundry room (it was a weird house). I heard the song through the water heater vent. I was so mesmerized that I put my straightener down and went into the other room to hear the whole thing. I was in love with it.

Here are the specific lines that inspired the nails:

"I'm a get your heart racing in my skin-tight jeans be your teenage dream tonight"

"I finally found you my missing puzzle piece I'm complete"

"Let's go all the way tonight no regrets, just love we can dance, until we die you and I, will be young forever"

"We drove to Cali and got drunk on the beach"

Colors used: Julep Mila, China Glaze Orange You Hot?, Splish Splash, Man Hunt, Flirty Tankini, OPI Last Friday Night, Essence Romeo & Julia, Color Club Turn the Other Chic, Kleancolor Funky Yellow, Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, Bundle Monster Plate BM 319. If you'd like any more details, leave me a comment :)

Make sure you check out the other awesome blogs participating in the challenge! Click the image above if you'd like to join us!

Blogger Friends Forever: Girly

Today's challenge prompt is girly. I started with one design, but was just having one of those bad polish days and gave up on it. Then massively broke a nail :( But it's ok because I saved it! Here's my second design. 

I started with three coats of Lex Cosmetics Tuilleries. It's a gorgeous milky pink base with pink, red, orange, white and silver glitter. It's so soft and delicate. I tried to stamp a French tip design, but my nails are just too small for any image to show up well and I had to paint over them. I used paper reinforcement stickers to block the parts of the nail I didn't want painted. I used China Glaze Passion for the tips. I like the result of the technique, but I preferred the look before I added the tips.

I got this polish from sneakpeeq. It's a really interesting website that offers special pricing and lots of specials while you're peeking...or peeqing. Check it out here (referral link).

Here are the fabulous bloggers participating in this challenge:
Thiamere of On Beauty Stuff & What Else's

Pram of My Nail Polish Addiction

Bec of Lacquer Dreams

Kerrie of PishPosh and Polish

Caitlin of Caitlin's Creative Corner

Emma of Manicurity

Alyssa of Fancy Phalanges

Sally Of Nail Pron

And here's what we have in store! (My week is August 23-25)

Rainbow Favorites: Pink

Today is the final day of the Rainbow Favorites Challenge! I'm normally not a huge fan of pink, but I have a surprisingly large amount of pink polish in my stash. Today's polish is another that I've shown you before: China Glaze Strawberry Fields.

In my previous post, It doesn't really show how shimmery this polish is, but this post does. And of course I added some Bundle Monster stamping. This is plate BM 311 and Sally Hansen Whirlwind White. 

This is one of the stamps I was most excited about. While wearing it today, I realized this stamp like ones before, look like a difficult to master nail art technique: Newspaper Nails! I was really impressed with how well this stamp worked, but a little bummed that a lot of the design didn't get onto my nail thanks to my tiny nail beds. Fortunately I managed to get almost all of it on my thumb nail!

Check out all the blogs participating in the Rainbow Favorites Challenge!

~on beauty stuff and what else's...~

9ml universe

atlcatsmeow

Captivating Claws

Fancy Phalanges

Fe's Nails

Follow the Yellow Polish Road

Football and Fingernails

Fresh Air & Fashion

Happy Nails

iHeartPrettyPolish

Jolien's Kingdom of Polish

Kelly's Kolors!

Lacquer Dreams

Lacquer or Leave Her!

Liesl Loves Pretty Things

Light Your Nails!

Manicurity

My Life In Polish

nailpolish is alive(:

Nail Polish Lane

Nubbin Nails

Of Color n Music

Polish and Such

Sincerely, Obsessed with Polish

So You Think You Can Paint

The Rantings of a Nail Polish Hoarder

To Polish or Not?

Rainbow Favorites: Yellow

I don't have a lot of yellows for today, but I knew which one would be my favorite. I bought Wet n Wild The Wonder Yellows last summer and I looooove it! It's so bright and cheery. It tends to be kinda brush-strokey, but the awesome color redeems it :)

This is 3 coats. It took forever to dry! Still love it though.

And since I'm enamored with my new Bundle Monster plates, I used them again!

This is BM 305 and Kleancolors Metallic Pink. If you don't have the metallics, you need them! They're gorgeous and work great for stamping.

Check out all the blogs participating in the Rainbow Favorites Challenge!

~on beauty stuff and what else's...~

9ml universe

atlcatsmeow

Captivating Claws

Fancy Phalanges

Fe's Nails

Follow the Yellow Polish Road

Football and Fingernails

Fresh Air & Fashion

Happy Nails

iHeartPrettyPolish

Jolien's Kingdom of Polish

Kelly's Kolors!

Lacquer Dreams

Lacquer or Leave Her!

Liesl Loves Pretty Things

Light Your Nails!

Manicurity

My Life In Polish

nailpolish is alive(:

Nail Polish Lane

Nubbin Nails

Of Color n Music

Polish and Such

Sincerely, Obsessed with Polish

So You Think You Can Paint

The Rantings of a Nail Polish Hoarder

To Polish or Not?

Sinful Colors Zeus

I'm currently taking Classical Mythology in summer school. To get in the mood for studying, I bribed myself with Sinful Colors Zeus. Zeus is a gorgeous dusty purple with pink shimmer.

This is two easy coats. I did have some shrinkage after top coat :( Like the other recent Sinful polishes, I was really impressed with application and coverage. A second coat was almost unnecessary.

Summer Challenge: Kites

Today's summer challenge prompt was Kites or Balloons. I chose kites! I'm not very good with kites, and in my part of the world, it has to be a pretty heavy-duty kite to withstand our wind.

I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Yellow Kitty...I just got that name. It rhymes with Hello Kitty...oh man, I feel dumb hahaha. Anywhooooo! Then I freehanded kites and tails with Color Club Hydrangea Kiss, L.A. Colors Circuits, Sally Hansen Heat Flash, Went n Wild FuchsiaRama, OPI Thanks a Windmillion, Color Club Sweet Pea, and OPI I Don't Give a Rotterdam. They're not perfect, but neither are kites swirling around in the wind :)

Make sure you check out the other awesome blogs participating in the challenge! Click the image above if you'd like to join us!

Debbie at The Crumpet

Danielle at Little Book of Beauty

Neivys at Maquiclub Girl

Jo at Northern Nails

Arlene at Nails and Vanities

Helena at Nail Wish

Róisín at Cuti-Clue-Les

Katee at A Girl and Her Polish

Sarah at Y Nails...Why Not?

Bec at Lacquer Dreams

Misha at Enigmatic Rambles

Sharon at What Color Is My Coat

Melissa at (Mis)adventures of a Wanna Be Martha

Laurie at Dressed Up Digits

Lucie at Lucy's Stash

Emma at  Manicurity

Caitlin at Caitlin's Creative Corner

Jane at Absolute Varnish

Amber at Never Naked Nails

Vic at Glowstars

Jackie at Mema's Manis

Rychelle at Colorsplash Nails

Stella at My Wet Nails

Missy at Missy's Manis

Kim at A Polished Addiction

Christine at Lost in My Reverie

Angie at Our Painted World

Bazzia at Polish My Mind

Missy at The Manicured Maniac

Michelle at Lacquer or Leave Her

Nikki at Lil Green Heart

Elizabeth at Nail Polish is My Crack

Ana Cris at Esta Cerrada la Drogueria

Shayleen at Simply Handy All Year

Dina at Secretary's Nail Art

Nayade at Toxic Vanity Toxic Vanity

Karen at Nails by Kaybel

Summer Challenge: Pink + Blue

This weekend I stopped by Sally's and pick up 3 of the new Orly Flash Glam FX polishes. When I saw the theme was pink and blue for today, I knew I had to use Orly Spazmatic. How awesome is that name?! "Spazzy" is in almost all of my screen names, so I had to have this!

I decided to put it over three OPI Too Hot Pink to Hold 'Em. Then I put on one coat of Orly Spazmatic. It's a really dense glittle with purple micro shimmer. LOVE IT!

This glitter would be really easy to build to opacity.

Make sure you check out the other awesome blogs participating in the challenge! Click the image above if you'd like to join us!

Debbie at The Crumpet

Danielle at Little Book of Beauty

Neivys at Maquiclub Girl

Jo at Northern Nails

Arlene at Nails and Vanities

Helena at Nail Wish

Róisín at Cuti-Clue-Les

Katee at A Girl and Her Polish

Sarah at Y Nails...Why Not?

Bec at Lacquer Dreams

Misha at Enigmatic Rambles

Sharon at What Color Is My Coat

Melissa at (Mis)adventures of a Wanna Be Martha

Laurie at Dressed Up Digits

Lucie at Lucy's Stash

Emma at  Manicurity

Caitlin at Caitlin's Creative Corner

Jane at Absolute Varnish

Amber at Never Naked Nails

Vic at Glowstars

Jackie at Mema's Manis

Rychelle at Colorsplash Nails

Stella at My Wet Nails

Missy at Missy's Manis

Kim at A Polished Addiction

Christine at Lost in My Reverie

Angie at Our Painted World

Bazzia at Polish My Mind

Missy at The Manicured Maniac