Spider Web Nail Art + On The 101

Happy Halloween! I did some fun spider webs for today. They didn't turn out as planned. I trimmed down a brush but the lines were still too thick. Something to work on, I guess. 

Again, inspired by Simply Rins - Cobwebs.  

I used Essie No Place Like Chrome with a small striping brush over Wet N Wild On The 101.

Wet N Wild On The 101 is a sheer black with red glitter of different sizes. Layers nicely to get an almost jelly-like appearance and lots of dimension with the glitter. I needed 4-5 coats to get some opacity and in the sunlight, still looks more gray than black, especially at the edges. 

Wet N Wild On The 101, low light 

Wet N Wild On The 101, sunlight 

Wet N Wild On The 101, sunlight, see how it looks more gray than black?

Wet N Wild On The 101, sunlight. Looks more black in not so bright light except at the edges. Sorry for extraneous glitter, it's hard to clean up!

With any glitter polish, removal is a hot mess unless you use a peeling basecoat, which I forgot to use since I was so excited to use this polish. Whoops. Clean up is also a nightmare since the glitter is hard to remove.  It was beautiful while it lasted!

Ghosts!

A ghost manicure is needed for Halloween isn't it? I certainly thought so!

This is another Halloween nail art inspired by Simply Rins - Not So Spooky Ghosts.

My favorite ghost. 

I chose to do the ghosts on a dark background of Wet N Wild Poison Ivy, which is a fantastic dark green with green shimmer. It's black leaning, but has enough green to retain its color even in shade and darker lighting and really is beautiful in the sun. This was part of the 2012 Halloween collection but I think it could also make a beautiful Christmas color as well.

The ghosts were done with white acrylic non-toxic paint and Wet N Wild Black Creme. I had to do 2 coats of Seche Vite (on top of a coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Flash quick dry top coat) because they were really rough from the white acrylic paint. You can still see brush marks, which usually doesn't happen, but I had trouble with this mani. I think it was painting under a fan (it's sooooo hot) and it dried quicker than usual.

Wet N Wild Poison Ivy, sunlight

Wet N Wild Poison Ivy, sunlight

Wet N Wild Poison Ivy, low light. Retains minimal shimmer but still looks green. Beautiful. 

Skulls and Stripes Halloween Nail Art

Time for Halloween nail art! I waited awhile this month to start but I was having too much fun with all the pink ribbons. This nail art is really simple but I loved it, and it wore suprisingly well. 

One coat of Wet N Wild Black Creme (love) and Essie No Place Like Chrome accent nail and stripes. Skull details are done with Wet N Wild Black Creme.



No acrylic paint used in this mani which made it a little more special since it's all actual nail polish. Small detail but makes me feel more accomplished. It helped that the nail polishes are opaque and easy to work with, no complaints here!

Based on Jack Skellington Nail Art by cutepolish.

Halloween Nail Art Ideas

With Halloween fast approaching, here are some of nail art ideas! I'm trying to find some that look fun and interesting for this year. All pictures link to post for supplies and materials used.

Halloween Nail Art: Monsters

Halloween Nail Art: Blood

Halloween Nail Art: Candy Corn

Halloween Nail Art: Tombstone

Halloween Nail Art: Spider Webs

Halloween Nail Art: Pumpkins

Halloween Nail Art: Mummies

Halloween Nail Art: Casper the Ghost

Halloween Nail Art: Spiders

Halloween Nail Art: Sugar Skulls

Let me know if you do any of these, I'd love to see them!

Preamp Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon

Orly Preamp is a gorgeous color that was released awhile back but as I just put it on my nails for the first time recently. It's prob in my top 10 polishes of all time. Please don't make me list the 10, I think I'd go crazy but that may be fun to do one day!

Orly Preamp, morning light

I added a pink ribbon for Breast Cancer Awareness. As you've seen, I've been doing a fair amount of these pink manicures recently. I think I'm ready for Halloween nail art! Ribbon done with black and white nontoxic acrylic paint and Models Own Pastel Pink.

Orly Preamp, shade

Preamp is a pinky purple with light pink shimmer. In low light, it's smooth and unassuming (see above morning light pic), but in the sunlight, it really pops. Gorgeous.  Feminine yet powerful.

Orly Preamp, sunlight. Look at that shimmer!

Orly Preamp, sunlight

Metallic Pink Ribbons

More Breast Cancer Awareness nail art!

Wet N Wild Black Creme (best black creme EVER, cruelty free and only a dollar!) and hand drawn ribbons with Color Club Foil Me Once. 

I like how the light pink polish pops against the black background.

Pink Ribbons

Two finger Breast Cancer Awareness manicure with Lime Crime Milky Ways and Lime Crime Parfait Days. I got a lot of compliments on these, and a lot of them were just on the pink. It's pastel, but bright. I'm not sure how to describe it but definitely a unique polish. Awesome.

The pink ribbons didn't pop as much as I had wanted, but it was fun all the same. The polish chipped in one day despite Seche Vite coat. I can't figure out how to get these polishes to stay on!

e.l.f. Studio Lip Stains

e.l.f. Studio Lip Stains promise long lasting color with the option of a clear gloss topper. All stains are two ended.

The nice thing about the gloss is it can be removed if you'd rather just have the stain in your purse or pocket and they cover nicely with regular balm or chapstick. Lipglosses, including the one they give you, tends to remove the color in patches and ball up on your lips. Not pleasant.

I've swatched them in groups of four just for comparison sake. Four are nude browns, one with shimmer. The other four are pinks and a red, one with shimmer. 

Mysterious, Bombshell, Heartbreaker, Lucky Lady
Nails: Orly Preamp

Mysterious, Bombshell, Heartbreaker, Lucky Lady

You can't really see it in the swatches, but Bombshell has a fine golden shimmer and Mysterious has a chunkier silver glitter.

And the fun ones!

Red Carpet, Fashionista, First Date, Birthday Suit
Nails: Pink Cheetah 

Red Carpet, Fashionista, First Date, Birthday Suit
(I wish Birthday Suit had been a nude color, would have
a little cheeky! No pun intended.)

Fashionista has a fine shimmer, the rest are cremes.

I've worn a few of these and they definitely aren't stains. They feel more like a long lasting lipstick.  Remember the original Cover Girl long lasting lipsticks? Same thing! I prefer to wear them alone  because most glosses tend to make them ball up and remove the color.

So far my favorite are Red Carpet and Heartbreaker. I wear Heartbreaker almost daily, but I've noticed the nudes are almost identical on the lips.

As I do lip swatches, I'll add them here for reference. Any color requests?

Available here for $3.00.

EDIT:

Fashionista!

elf studio lip stain in Fashionista, no gloss

elf studio lip stain in Fashionista, with gloss

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Pink Cheetah & French Nail Art

Metallic pink cheetah and french nail art. I think I went a teeny bit overboard with this manicure. It came off when I was done with these pictures. The first picture in all its glory, is also the best representation of the base color (see pinky!). Kleancolor Metallic Pink is a fantastic bright metallic hot pink that covers in 1-2 coats and doesn't lose anything with a top coat. 

Kleancolor Metallic Pink, Essie No Place Like Chrome, Wet N Wild Sea of Change

This was before the french nail designs. Outside in evening light. I think I would have worn this for awhile. Chunky cheetah print done with a dotting tool.

Kleancolor Metallic Pink, Essie No Place Like Chrome, Wet N Wild Sea of Change

Some pictures of Kleancolor Metallic Pink on its own. It totally freaked out my camera. Hence the first picture really shows its beauty. Someone at work mentioned it looked almost mirrored. Verrrry reflective.

Kleancolor Metallic Pink, flash

Kleancolor Metallic Pink, indoor lighting

Do you wear crazy fun nails while going out or do you do them for your own enjoyment and change them before going out? For me, I'll wear anything while going out (running errands, dancing, restaurants, gym, etc) but I try to keep it a little more toned down for work, although I still wear metallic pink and yellows to work!

Dots

My bright pink manicure stayed on like a champ. So long, in fact, I got bored with it. While it hadn't chipped, I needed something else. What better way to liven up a mani than some simple dots?

Barielle Life of the Party, Accent nail Color Club Ultraviolet (Single coat over Barielle. Don't you just love the shimmer?)

Bottle shot of my accent nail color. Color Club Ultraviolet. Totally awesome color, pinky purple with turquoise shimmer. Love.

Color Club Ultraviolet
Nails: Essie Pink-A-Boo over Models Own Pastel Pink

I used nontoxic, water based acrylic paint in white and dotting tools in different sizes. So many compliments!

Life of the Party

Continuing some pink manicures, I grabbed the pink that called to me the most. Barielle Life of the Party is a hot pink creme that goes in beautifully in 1-2 coats. It doesn't run or drag so it only takes minutes to do a full set of nails.

Barielle Life of the Party

Barielle Life of the Party

Previously swatched here in a light box, above pictures are full sun. I loved it then too!

L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara

I've been on the hunt for a new mascara. I've been trying out Buxom Lash Domination, Urban Decay Perversion (with and without Subversion), Too Faced Better Than Sex, all because my beloved Maybelline Falsies Flared is drying up again and I'm looking to replace it. I really like tube mascaras because I have lots of trouble with regular and waterproof mascara formulas. My eyes are very sensitive and tend to water a lot so regular mascaras run, but I'm also very oily and despite primer on my lids waterproof formulas tend to run on me. Tube mascaras stay in place very well until you're ready to take them off AND they don't leave behind lots of mess under your eyes or require lots of chemicals or rubbing to remove.

I've recently only ever used Blinc Mascara but it really does nothing for my lashes except darken them. No lengthening, volumizing, or separating. I've tried layering it over regular mascaras that do more for my lashes, but then removal is a mess.

I recently recommended tube mascara to a friend and found out L'Oreal has their own, including a primer, which really intrigued me. I bought mine at the local grocery store for around $10.

L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara in 575 Blackest Black

There is a waterproof version, I believe. This color was the only option available. 

Per the package, Step 1 is a nourishing and protecting base coat. Step 2 is an ultra-lengthening topcoat.

L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara, Step 1 primer wand

L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara, Step 2 mascara wand 

 And the money shots!

Bare eye, Primer, Mascara

Overall, it didn't do a lot for curling or separating. My lashes tended to clump together. I did find that painting my lashes like a regular mascara did work as well as rolling the wand from base to tip, which separated and gave me more product. It looks more messy up close but when standing 2-3 feet from it, my lashes look thicker. I've worn it almost every day since I've tried it using different techniques and I really like it. No more little smudges under my eyes and I don't have to use any special remover to take it off.

I'll continue to try my other mascaras but I really like this one!

Nails: Essie Pink-A-Boo over Models Own Pastel Pink 



Note: Not cruelty free.