Thursday, May 24, 2012

Tutorial - Galaxy Nails

:::::Picture Heavy:::::

OK, so the most requested tutorial out of all of my 31 days of nail art was easily the Galaxy Nails. I'm not sure that mine are really, true galaxy nails... I would consider them to be more like Nebula's, as that's where I drew my inspiration (thanks Mom for all the Star Trek growing up lol).

These are really quite easy to recreate, the hard part is deciding on colors. I liked to have a different color on each nails, so it took a lot of polish...


You will need make-up wedges (I cut them in half so I don't have to waste as many of them), a very small dotting tool (or toothpick) and a piece of foil or a plastic plate. I used lots and lots of polishes lol. I will list every color under the final product down below.

Before I start, I collect all of my supplies... Nothing is worse than having to fish something out with wet nails. If you are not sure which color you are going to want, grab them all (the first time I did this mani, I had like 20 polishes out, it was ridiculous haha). Start off with your base coat and your favorite black (Mine is Nina Ultra Pro).


Next, take your white (I used Sally Hansen White On) and drop a nice amount on your foil. Use your make-up wedge (I stick to the corner for smaller coverage and more control) and sponge the shape of your galaxies. I did a different placement on every nail, because no two galaxies are the same.


Using the same dollop of white, take your dotting tool and randomly place your stars. I like to do this before I add the color, because the then color overlaps the "stars" and gives it more of a realistic look.


(This is my ring finger galaxy) Take the 2 to 3 colors you are going to use and drop a small amount of each on the foil. Start with the lightest color (In this case, Sinful Colors Gorgeous) and sponge it over the white. You want to make you completely cover the white. Going over the white onto the black is what you want.


Take your darker color (Orly Haleys Comet) and sponge it in the middle. Be careful not to cover all of your lighter color.


When you are done sponging, this is what it looks like. After this, I top it with a clear glitter (Nina Untra Pro Opal Elegance) to add an extra shimmer and act as smaller, shiny stars. Top coat, and clean up your cuticles...


Ta-da!!! Below is a close-up of every finger, with the list of colors used :)


Thumb: FingerPaints Lemon Sour, China Glaze Japanese Koi and China Glaze Riveting


Pointer: FingerPaints Blue Raspberry Tart, OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue, Barielle Blackened Bleu (for the shimmer!)


Middle: Sinful Colors Binkini, Unnamed Color Club (it's a deep, shimmery purple)


Ring: Sinful Colors Gorgeous, Orly Haleys Comet


Pinky: Anise Grape Escape and OPI Purple With a Purpose

If you decide you want to attempt my Nebula Galaxy Nails, please stop by my Facebook wall and share a picture of your creation! I would love to see it!! :D

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Dazzle Dry Review

Here is a post that is llllloooooonnnnnnngggg overdue. I got these products in the beginning of my 31 day challenge, and didn't have a chance to test out the durability until the challenge was over.

Before I get into the swatches, I wanted to take a quick minute to send a huge thanks to Vivian (the owner and founder of Dazzle Dry) for taking some time out of her busy day to talk with me. Dazzle Dry is located here in Arizona, and is literally a mile away from my office!! Here's a little of what I learned...

Vivian created the first UV top coat back in 1989; and improved upon the UV technology through the 90's. That is, until the studies started coming out that UVa radiation is just as bad (if not worse) than UVb. Vivian decided there had to be a better way to have a long lasting polish, that dries quickly and doesn't have all the dangers of chemicals and UVa radiation. She spent the next couple of years creating Dazzle Dry and let me tell you, it was time well spent!!

Dazzle Dry is not only big-3 free, it is BIG-5 FREE and a vegan formula. There is nothing else on the market close to this amazing line of polishes.

Enough of my gabbing, let's get on to the polish!!


I was sent Cherry Parfait. It's like they knew me! I love pink! This is a gorgeous cream polish (which you won't hear me say often, as I love anything sparkly and shimmery), this picture is pretty true to the color, although I would say it is a tad bit darker in person. I felt like I was struggling to get it to level, but found that just leaving it alone it eventually leveled itself out while drying. This is two coats.


I was also sent the Silver Lace Texture. I am not a huge crackle fan, but this is not just any crackle. This is super cool shred and added a nice little shimmer. I found the formula easy to work with, and have no complaints. If you love crackle, these Lace Texture polishes will add nicely to your collection.


Vivian was also kind enough to give me a gift of the a Jewel Effect Blue Topaz. This is a wonderful glitter, I did one thick coat over Cherry Parfait on my pointer finger. Then used thin coats on the rest of my fingers (one coat on middle, two on the ring, three on the pinky). It is very sparkly and beautiful!

I was also sent the 3 step system, which is AMAZING!! I will not use another fast dry top coat ever again, it is super awesome. It works just as well on non-Dazzle Dry polishes... and works better than Seche (in my opinion). The base is great too, but you have to want to keep your mani on because it works so well it's hard to get off! Haha

I wore this polish for a week, and didn't have a single chip!! That never happens. There was barely even any tip wear. When it came time to remove it, I had to treat it as I would a glitter polish thanks to the amazing 3 step system. That base coat is not joking around!!

The nail polish retails for $9.00, the Jewel Effects are $9.50 and the 3 step system is $28.50. It is all very worth the cost. I was lucky enough to see swatches of all of the polishes in person, and they knock your socks off! The bottle pictures on the ordering site really don't do any justice (I think the company would benefit more if they were to include pictures of swatches on their site). Some of my favorites (which means shimmers, because you know how I am!) include: Casablanca, Oasis, Pea Pod, French Quarters, Bleu Rose, Grape Lollipop, Evening Song and Aztec Blue.

Dazzle Dry can be purchased here. And make sure you follow them on Facebook.

I have a tutorial coming up tomorrow and more reviews to come!!


**The items in this post were provided to me for review. All opinions are honest representations of how I feel about the products.**

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Zoya Tracie

Can I say how strange it is to just have a solid color on?? Its been over a month since this phenomenon has occurred on my nails!

I don't have very many Zoya's in my collection yet, but when I saw this one I knew I had to have it. It might have something to do with my love-affair with green nail polish, but whatev :p


It's soooooo pretty (and was super easy to capture on camera! Love that!)!! The formula is a little more watery than my other Zoya's, but it was still opac in two coats and was easy to work with! This is a wonderful light green cream, with a great silvery shimmer. It is unlike all the other greens in my collection (and I have a lot haha).

All-in-all I enjoy this color very much, and am thrilled to have it in my collection! If you are looking to add a new green to your collection, I highly recommend it!

I have a tutorial that will be posted on Monday! One of the most requested out of all of my 31 day nail art ;)

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Black & White Contest Entry

So, instead of letting my nails rest, I decided to enter a nail art contest! Ahahahahahahaha... Great, now I'm addicted!


BerryPolished.com just reached 1500 Facebook followers, so in honor of it she decided to have a contest. You have to use both black and white, and only black and white. (You have until 6/1 to enter the contest! Go have some fun!).

I have seen those black and white manis where every finger is a completely different design, so I thought I would have some fun with it!


OK, so I wanted to give the water marble swirl another shot. I think this is my best one yet!! (I will do a tutorial when I figure out the video stuff. However, there is a tutorial for a swirl on Youtube already, if you are impatient lol).

Pointer: Paint drips (hadn't done it yet. It's fun!)
Middle: Konad plate m63 with a black frame (the frame is also something I hadn't done!)
Ring: I saw this little guy on pinterest today, had to re-create him! SO cute! (Pin tutorial here)
Pinky: Polka Dot

I had a blast with this. You should go check out the other entrants. She just announced it a few hours ago and there are already 3 other crazy people like me! :p

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 31 - Fan Favorite Floam Stripes Tutorial


 WOOHOO!! I'm so excited I finished the 31 day challenge hosted by Painting Outside the Lines. It was not easy, and I want to give a huge shout out and congrats to my fellow contest completers!!


OK, so I asked you... my lovely followers... to like your favorites in my Facebook album of all of my creations. There were a number of contenders, but the ultimate winner was Day 17, Glitter! As promised, I did a tutorial on how I created the look (the first of many coming from my 31 days of nail art!)

Couple of notes: please excuse the crappy photos during the tutorial. I hate the way the flash photos look, but I don't have good direct light pretty much anywhere in my house! Also, my hubby took the pictures for me when I was doing the actual striping... so big thanks to him for the help! <3

Here we go!


Floam is a bit of a pain to take off... the more layers the harder it is. So, I start with two coats of OPI Fly as a base.


Next, a nice even coat of Floam. At this point, I do top coat it. To free-hand stripe, a smooth surface is best and as we all know, glitter is not smooth!

Now for the stripes!! I always rest BOTH hands on the table when I'm striping. It helps stabilize the shakes (and I do have shaky hands some days... my husband can attest to how bad I was shaking while I was trying to do this tutorial! lol). I do plan on doing a video tutorial on my striping technique, but I have not done a video yet... so I have to work out the kinks! Quick overview, and hopefully this makes sense, I do not move the brush; I move the finger being striped. I pivot the finger away from the brush. I find holding the brush in one place simplifies it and makes for a cleaner line (I will do a video! Promise!)


Start with the bottom stripe... and work your way up!! (Again, thanks to my wonderful hubby James for his help with this part!)


Repeat on all except your two ring fingers!


Now grab your striping tape (or cut thin strips if you are like me and are still waiting on it from China... or wherever lol). Be sure you have allowed adequate time for your polish to dry before taping.


If you have striping tape, you can probably get all 4 stripes to perfectly mirror the other fingers and my OCD is totally jealous of you and your evenness... But, if you are like me, you will likely only be able to get three stripes!


Paint it black and carefully remove the tape. Now allow at least 15 minutes of drying (or be impatient and smudge it like I did... of course lol). Top coat it and do your clean-up.... and....


TA-DA!! Easy as that ladies! I expect to see your re-creations of this posted on my wall... or else!! You don't have to have Floam to create this! Use any polish you have!

Please go show some love to the other amazing ladies who completed the incredible feat! Because I can tell you, it wasn't easy!! And be sure to vote for me on Painting Outside the Lines page by liking this picture in the Day 31 album!! It would be greatly appreciated! :D

I am looking forward to having time to get some reviews up in the coming weeks. I also will be doing tutorials on all of the nail art requested in the comments on my giveaway (yes... every mani requested will get a tutorial)! I am going to TRY for every week... but will at least get them up every other week. If I can get into the habit of doing them in the morning on the weekend, I would actually have good light to photograph the steps! So we'll see!!

I guess what I am saying is... I'm not going anywhere! It may not be a post every day, but I will aim to get at least 3-4 up a week. Plus... You can always come hang out with me on Facebook ;)

Love you ladies! Thanks for all the amazing support and love over the last 31 days... it really kept me going when I got busy and it was tough to keep up!! <3


Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Giveaway Winners!

Since I am not allowed to post this on Facebook! The winners are:

OPI Spiderman Minis: Brenda Ortiz
Sinful Colors Cinderella: Alice Cheng

I have emailed you ladies! I need a response by 10PM PST tomorrow to claim your prize!!

peacelovelacquer@gmail.com

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 30 - Inspired by a Tutorial

 This is it! Tomorrow is the last day of Painting Outside the Lines 31 Day Challenge!


Today we are supposed to pic a tutorial to inspire us! I chose this tutorial and this is what I came up with!


Both polishes used today are OPI: Yoga-ta Get This Blue and I Have a Herring Problem. I allowed the polish to get stringy and pulled it across my nails. It was really, really messy... Like really messy lol.

This afternoon is the deadline for choosing tomorrow's final entry; which will be complete with a tutorial! I have to do it tonight when I get home to have time to get it done for you!!All you have to do is go like your favorites in my Facebook album (like as many as you want!)...

Also, please check out and show some love to the other entrants. I am so pleased to have so many wonderful nail addicts that have finished this huge undertaking with me!!

Monday, May 14, 2012

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 29 - Supernatural

There are only 2 days left in Painting Outside the Lines challenge!


Supernatural means anything considered outside of our natural realm... So, ghosts, bigfoot and...


The Lochness monster!!! This turned out so freaking cute!! I used China Glaze For Audrey for the base, with Sinful Colors HD Nails and China Glaze It's Alive for the monster. I used Haze Glase Mystique for the water and added some little white fluffy clouds!

Be sure to check out the other entrants on Painting Outside the Lines wall!!

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Sunday, May 13, 2012

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 28 - Flag Inspiration

I am in disbelief that the challenge hosted by Painting Outside the Lines is almost done!! Just crazy! Where does the time go?


Here are my American Flag inspired nails...


I am not totally thrilled with the stripes (I love the diagonal... I should've stuck with that!), but overall I like it. I used Sally Hansen White On and Red Carpet. To represent the stars, I used Haze Glaze Mystique.

I decided not to stop there... see, I am American... but I married a Canadian. What better to represent our household than to make my right hand the Canadian flag!


I used the same Sally Hansens, and used my very small dotting tool to create the maple leaf on the thumb.

Don't forget to check out the other entrants on Painting Outside the Lines wall.... Also, please be sure to go into my Facebook Album and like your favorites. Which ever one wins will be my day 31 and will have a tutorial created for it ;)

Saturday, May 12, 2012

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 27 - Artwork Inspiration

I am having so much fun with the inspiration section of Painting Outside the Lines challenge!


I decided to go abstract with my painting choice. While I love Monet (probably my favorite artist ever), I do not think I could do his paintings justice! I went with a Jackson Pollock (linked here) instead:


Here is my recreation!


I started with Zoya Freja, and used Nina Pro Black, Sally Hansen White On and Avon Nailwear Tangtastic to create the splatters. Boy did this one take a long time to dry!! :p

I'm loving the other entries! Be sure to check them out on Painting Outside the Lines wall!

Friday, May 11, 2012

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 26 - Pattern Inspiration

I was a little nervous for today in Painting Outside the Lines challenge... And it's my own fault for the pattern I chose!! :p


I found this pattern, and loved the colors (linked here) so I decided to give it a try!


Here is what I came up with!


I don't have a light enough purple to act as the lightest color, so I improvised. I started with Sally Hansen White On, and topped it with Essie Main Squeeze (it has a lavender shimmer). Then I used my Lavender Shimmer Stripe Rite and Intense Pink LA Colors Art Deco polish and free-handed the design!

I was pretty thrilled with how it came out ;)

Be sure to see the other amazing pattern inspired manis on Painting Outside the Lines wall!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 25 - Fashion Inspiration

One day close to completing Painting Outside the Lines challenge! Yay!


So, no one said it had to be good fashion, right?? (link here)


Horrid, right?? HAHAHA... I decided to give the fuzzy sweater nails a try, and I can't say I'm thrilled with it... but they can't always be winners!!


The orange flocking powder just wasn't dark enough. Foowy! Considering the limited color choice I had, it was the best I could do!

Be sure to head over to Painting Outside the Lines wall to see the other fashion inspired manis!!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 24 - Book Inspiration

Holy Cow!! I can't believe there's only a week left in Painting Outside the Lines challenge!!


I don't think my inspiration today really needs any linking... The Hunger Games! I loved this series, and I'm sure I will not be the only one in today's challenge creating a "Girl on Fire" mani!


I started of with Avon Nailwear Sunshine as a base. Followed by sponging of China Glaze Japanese Koi and Sally Hansen Red Carpet. Then I free-handed the flames using my LA Art Deco Black polish.

Head over to Painting Outside the Lines wall to check out the rest of the creations!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 23 - Movie Inspiration

I can't believe how fast this is going!! It's day 23 of Painting Outside the Lines challenge!


Today is inspiration from a movie. I love Burlesque, it got really bad reviews, and I disagree with them!! So I decided to give this look a go (linked here):


What else, but a Kaviar mani!! :p


I couldn't find pearl beads, so I had to live with clear. I also went almost naked (gasp!) with my nails, considering the movie I chose, it made sense! So, all I used was my OPI Top Coat (I got it for free, it isn't a fast dry and that seemed best). Then I used Konad plate m57 to create the fishnet on my ring finger (lots and lots of fishnet in the movie!).

As I suspected, the beads drive me crazy!! All I want to do it pick them off!

Don't forget to check out the other amazing creations on Painting Outside the Lines wall!

Monday, May 7, 2012

OPI Spiderman Mini's and Cinderella Giveaway

********CLOSED********

Woohoo!!! I cannot believe I hit 500 followers!! It's so surreal!! As a huge thanks to all of you wonderful followers, I snagged the OPI Amazing Spiderman Minis set, which include: Into the Night, Number One Nemesis, Just Spotted the Lizard and Your Web or Mine in mini form. And, as an added bonus, I am adding a second gift of Sinful Colors Cinderella!


Please enter using the Rafflecopter below. (US Only! Sorry international ladies!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks so much for all the love <3