Christmas Party Manicure

Last year I went to a Christmas party and did this manicure for it. I've discovered that I have taken many, many photos of manis over the past few years that I have never actually blogged. I've been sharing some of them earlier this year in October but thought I'd show another one today. It's really interesting going back and seeing what type of manicures and techniques I previously did and how I've improved so much. Not only in my skills for nail art, but also in taking photos of it.

This manicure is so dark in the photos and I waited a few days to take the photos of it (as evidenced by the tip wear...). I can also see the difference between this photo and how using nail oil has really helped around the cuticles. They look so dry here, but now they are so much better and healthier. (I've been using Bliss Kiss for about a year now).

I started with a base of Funky Fingers Ectoplasmic and then tried my hand at a few decals. I used Il Etait un Vernis Paint It Black, Konad Green, and Funky Fingers Gesso. I made decals for the bell and champagne glasses coloring them in with silver polish and red Sharpie markers.

Plates used are as follows:
-Dashica SdP 24 (Holly Berries)
-Dashica SdP 14 (Champagne Glasses, Bells)

(Since this is from last year I'm not sure which plate the large bell is from. One thing that I've learned is that I really need to write down what I'm using so when I post I can let everyone know. Also, I might want to recreate something or use an image again.)

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What do you think? How have you grown in your nail art over the past year?

Duochrome Peacock Feathers with Glitter Gal Contorted Mauve

Felt like trying something a bit different so I reached for Glitter Gal Contorted Mauve and my stamping supplies.

I started with a base of Kleancolor Pastel Purple and then painted 2 thin coats of Glitter Gal Contorted Mauve over all the nails.

Contorted Mauve is a duochrome that shifts between a mauvish-purple color and a very green leaning teal color. It's really pretty seeing the shift on the nails! Of course it made me think of peacocks so I decided to stamp some peacock feathers over it from Emily de Molly stamping plate EdM04

I finished it off with Glitter Gal Andamooka Blue flakie polish over the accent nail and top some blue sharpies to fill in the circles on he peacock feathers. That gave it a nice oil slick look then topped off with Seche Vite top coat.

What do you think?

7 Days of St Patrick's Day Nail Challenge: Day 7: Happy St. Patrick's Day

Today is the 7th Day of the 7 days of St. Patrick's Day Nail art Challenge!! Happy St. Patrick's Day :)

For today's nail art, I decided to go traditional St. Patrick's Day and do a rainbow, pot of gold, shamrock, gold, green, and fun.

I started off with OPI Fly as the base. This is a very easy to work with cream and I really love the tone of teal it is.

I then used lots of techniques, from stamping to glitter placement to decals to drawing with sharpies to create this look. So much to mention!

I used Messy Mansion MM04 for all the themed images. I used glitter placement from Kleancolor Tiara Gold. I used Sharpies to color in the green on the shamrock on the thumb and write the verse on the other thumb. Various Kleancolor polishes were used to create the rainbow.

The black stamping was done with Il Etait un Vernis Paint it Black and colored in with Il Etait un Vernis White Canvas.

Have you tried Sharpies in your nail art yet?