The Zoo

Today's mani was inspired by some different manis i've seen on Pinterest. On my pinky I have a lion, on my ring finger I have a panda, middle finger, is a giraffe, pointer is a monkey and on my thumb- which is my favorite I have a elephant. Everything on this mani was done with polish and dotting tools. No nail art pens!

I apologize for the horrific cuticle on my thumb.. the dry air in Arizona did nothing to help the cracking. 

Traveling Nails

I'm posting poolside in beautiful Arizona. Last night I did my nails- photographed them- and then... Fell asleep.. So without my computer in AZ with me, you get a mobile blog. I have an ugly non edited photo but these nails were just too cute to pass up. At 2 am I finished these nails- I woke up at 4 for my flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix. So- without further blabbing- here are my travel nails :)

The Perfect French

The french manicure is the most popular request at nail salons.And I have one question:

Why pay someone $25+ when you can do it yourself?

I know sometimes its nice to just have someone else do it, but the method i'm  about to show you is fool-proof! I can whip out a french in 5 minutes just by using 2 things I already owned, a make-up brush and acetone. 

Step one: 

Start with clean nails free of polish. Paint the top third of your nails white with short strokes until the nail is covered. 

Step two:

Take an angled eye shadow/liner brush, dip the brush in a cap full of 100% pure acetone. Using side-to side strokes start and the rough end of the polish and work your way up until you have the shape and thickness desired. 

Strep three: 

Finish with your choice of nude or clear top coat. I did 3 different options to show you the difference. All three polishes I used were Essie, and I labeled the picture with which ones which!

Try it out and let me know! 

Busy Bee

Last night I had a wonderful time doing my friends toes and fingers for prom. She wanted a French and they looked BEAUTIFUL. That day I went to the salon I work at and had a nail tech do French on my hands the way she was taught in school. I like my way more :) crisper white. Cleaner lines. Will post a tutorial for the perfect french tonight or tomorrow !

Notebook Doodles

Notebook Mani
Being a student- tests and quizzes are something i'm very familiar with. But this week I'm encountering the evil stepmother of normal tests... The AP tests. Ugh. Nothing worse. Locked in a testing room with 40 other fretting students testing on nearly impossible material. I like to do mani's themed with whats going on. At first I wanted to do burning books... Fahrenheit 451 -esq... but decided on this. Notebook paper with doodles. A reminder of why i'm about to do so poorly on these tests.. because I doodled rather than memorizing formulas or rhetorical devices.. oops.

Glitter Mani

Glitter Mani

For those of you who follow me on twitter I said earlier that I would be doing an intricate mani tonight... oops. I lied. While swatching out the polishes I bought today- I haphazardly layered my new glitter over my new gray. And I LOVED IT. I used 2 coats of Orly Mirror Mirror with 2 coats of China Glaze Techno followed by 2 coats of Seche Vite. 

This really shows the holo effect of the glitter but my cuticles were so bad... so I went and cleaned them up then took this...

Addicted

Hi I'm Julia and I'm an Addict...
The first step is admitting I have a problem and I do. I am completely addicted to buying polishes. This afternoon after spending time outside in the glorious weather, I made a trip to Ulta with the goal of buying purple polish for when I do my friends nails for prom... Well I got purple.. and then some... $80 later here's what I got...

From left to right:
China Glaze Liquid Crystal:
Here's a confession- I adore glitter and holographic polishes. So this is everything I want in a polish. Glitter and Holo!! This polish scream mermaid to me. With blue, green, purple and pink micro and medium glitter this is to DIE for. I love this formula as well... not too thick but 2 coats is opaque! Glitters are top coat eaters- so 2 coats of SV make this smooth.

China Glaze Techno:
This polish is a clear base PACKED with micro and large octagon shaped silver glitters. The larger octagon glitters are super holo meaning as you move your hand the light reflects off changing colors. (like the back of a CD). Ill be using this polish for glitter gradient tips.

China Glaze Coconut Kiss:
I've never really liked purples- but these next to polishes I really do like! With just 2 coats of this purple it is true, Minnesota Vikings Purple. So smooth and slightly pearled- it does look like gels!

Orly Frolic:
This is a purpley pink creme that matches a dress I own perfectly. Just one coat is opaque but i'll still do two for safe keeping. Would totally do this one on my toes once my obsession with China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy fades...

Orly Mirror Mirror:
This is a true gray color with no shimmer so you can't argue silver! I love a good gray... To me its a type of nude. This one is wonderful and opaque with 2-3 coats.

Wet n' Wild Gray's Anatomy:
I happened to stumble across this color and just about DIED. Holy holo... obsessed. I paid 99 cents for it so I cant really complain. In the bottle this is so amazing. But once you put it on its nearly clear.. First and second coat just tint... Unlike Color Club's Revvvolution, this is a light color with an all over holo, meaning it changes color under different light- rather than rainbowing as you move your hand. This polish goes teal, pink, silver, purple and blue so far! Love the idea but less than impressed with the formula.

Orly Space Cadet:
This is a bluey green polish with copper micro glitter giving it a holo feel. This glitter is amazing and catches every light. I don't see the holo that there was in the bottle- but I still love this!

Sally Hansen Pacific Blue:
This is much more periwinkle in person than the photo shows. Love these cheep polishes because they are super pigmented. Both Sally Hansen xtreme wear and Sinful colors, are my favorite to water marble with.