The Digital Dozen Does...Tape Mani's

DDTape


It's time for another week with the Digital Dozen! This week we're doing tape mani's! For those of you who don't know, a tape mani is when you use tape (striping or otherwise) to make a design on your nails.  I LOVE the way some people can manipulate tape and make these stellar, super intricate designs BUT...I am not one of them. I lack the patience for one thing and for another, I'm decent at making straight lines with a striping brush so I just never really saw the point.  However, the point of this challenge is to...well...CHALLENGE myself. So I have forced my way through this week for you anyway!  I know some of the other ladies will have AMAZING things for you so you'll just have to bear with me and not judge too harshly. :P

So for this manicure I used the tape to section off the two sides of color, before running a white line over the place where the line was.  I added the yellow stripes kind of as an afterthought and almost wish I hadn't because they're not as bright as I'd intended. I still loved this though and I LOVE the neon nail polishes Funky Fingers is churning out this season. Fabulous. Check out the other ladies work and don't forget to tune in all week long for more tape mani madness!! Colors Used:
 Zoya Purity 
China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise 
Funky Fingers Power Play
 Models Own Nail Art Pen in White and Yellow

Stars and Stripes...

butter london


It's that time again!! Independence Day! This year I wanted to do something simple (as per usual) but less abstract than I have in past years. I also wanted to use some of the 3D nail art supplies I've had in my drawer for years and never got around to using! This is probably the easiest art I've ever done but I really like the way it came out! I hope you all have a safe and fun Fourth of July!! :)



Colors Used:
butterLONDON Pillar Box Red and Blagger
Models Own White Nail Art Pen

Coral on Coral...

coral reef


This is a post that I've had lying around for awhile and I'm so excited to be able to share it with you today! It was also featured a week ago on Peace, Love and Polish! The inspiration for these nails came from a pillow I saw on a design show.  I love how it sort of looks like flowers but it also sort of just looks like a cool pattern.  I'm also REALLY loving this color for Spring and Summer! It's bright, sort of jelly but opaque enough that it's wearable with no visible nail lines and it's just gorgeous on my skin which is saying a lot for such a bright color.  The white really pops against it which just made me love it more!!  I used all Models Own colors for this design. The base is Coral Reef, the white is their nail art pen and the pink is Pastel Pink. I hope you all enjoy!!

The Geeky Owl...

DDGeek


Well we have arrived at the final day of Geek Week with the Digital Dozen.  I'm super sad to see this week go. I loved sharing all my geekiness with you all!  For today, I'm paying tribute to the creator of Geek Week, Miss Geeky Owl herself!  These are my little geeky owl nails. :)  I actually love owls so this was a super fun one for me to do.  I also love Kirsten, of the Geeky Owl and I'm happy to give her a little love on my blog today. :) If you haven't already, please check out her blog! It's really great and she's a fellow owl lover and geek!  Thanks for following along with this week's challenge.  Stay tuned for next months theme. It's going to be WILD. ;P



Colors Used:
Lime Crime:
 Crema de Limon, Once in A Blue Mousse, Lavendairy, Parfait Day, Milky Ways and Peaches <3 Creme
Models Own Nail Art Pen in Black

The Digital Dozen does...Geeky!!

atoms

This week the Digital Dozen ladies have chosen to do "geeky" as a theme. I'm very excited about this because, well let's face it I know I'm a geek.  I'm probably also a big nerd because I always loved school and learning and I spout off ridiculous knowledge at people all the time.  :P  I had a million ideas for this week but since there are only five challenge days I tried to do some designs that I feel sort of round out my geek-ism and also semi-reflect my favorite geeky things! So I'm staring off today with something a little more nerd than geek leaning: Chemistry.  I LOVE LOVE LOVED Chemistry in school and at one point thought about making a career out of it but then I decided I wanted to go for something more people involved.  I intended to go a little more normal with this and do H2O, otherwise known as water on my nails. However, while I was executing it I had a major distraction and ended up making HO2.  Which incidentally, is Hydroperoxyl.  Never heard of it? Well let me enlighten you!

Hydroperoxyl is what you get when you remove a hydrogen atom from hydrogen peroxide or by pronating the superoxide ion. Hydroperoxyl exists in our atmosphere and is, sadly, what is responsible for the destruction of ozone in the stratosphere. It is very reactive and acts as a "cleanser" of the atmosphere by degrading certain organic pollutants. The chemistry of hydroperoxyl is of considerable geochemical importance for this reason. Yay for destructive nails.  Lol...but hey, we all learned a lesson today didn't we?

Don't forget to check out what the other ladies have come up with for the first day of Geek Week!

Colors used: 
Zoya Purity
Models Own Nail Art Pen in Black
Essence Kiss On Top of A Rock
Color Club Chelsea Girl

You can't have it both ways...

caviar


...or can you?  So it's no secret that the hot new trend in the polish world is texture.  With flocked, sandy, caviar and leather effect nails popping up everywhere, it's difficult not to notice.  While I love trends like crackle and spotted and now texture, I also hate that they're just that; trends.  We all end up buying tons and tons of these and let's face it: those 15 bottles of crackle polish you bought last year are just sitting in a drawer now getting zero use. Who wants last years trend on this years nails? I've tried to find new and exciting ways to use these effects polishes but this go round I thought it might be more prudent to find ways to get in on the trend without shelling out a lot of cash.  So here's a little experiment I did for you. :)  Above you see a combination of both Models Own Coral Reef and Zoya Godiva.  I chose Godiva for this experiment because she is a neutral color and therefore seemed the least likely to interfere with the color of the Coral Reef.  On the index, middle, and pinky finger I used two coats of the Coral Reef followed by one coat of Godiva on all nails but the middle, and two coats of Godiva on the middle finger.  As you can see, there is no texture.  On top of a flat polish Godiva simply looks like a gold glitter.  A pretty one, but a flat one.  So then I decided to turn the tables. On my ring finger we have two coats of Godiva (allowed to fully dry) and then a single coat of Coral Reef.  Bingo. Now we have a flat color with a textured look. This is similar to the look of the Milani's, Barry M's, and Nails Inc textures which have no glitter, but rather, a flat tone effect.  Here's a close-up comparison:



Again on the left here we have two coats of Coral Reef topped with two coats of Godiva. I'm guessing this is why they tell you not to use a base coat because it just looks like glitter on my polish. It was not raised in any way.  On the right we have two coats of Godiva followed by one coat of Coral Reef.  See how it's textured but the color is there?  Now you can turn any polish into a textured polish without ruining your bottle by mixing it or shelling out for a million different colors of polish! Magic!  If any of you try this with different colors, I'd love to see the results!!

A Vintage Twist

chevron


These nails were actually what I wore for my birthday.  It's been a really long time since I did anything super fancy on my nails and I have LOADS of fun beads and tapes and other such novelties so I decided to break them out for my birthday.  I used my favorite color combination for this one and one of my favorite patterns!! I started with a plan to use tape to make the chevrons but I gave up on that pretty early on.  It just seemed like too much work, so I free handed it instead.  The original design had just the green minty nails and the gold, pearls, and roses were sort of an after thought but I love the way it turned out! It's so vintage and Marie Antoinette. LOVE. The green base on these nails is Zoya Neely. Such a lovely soft green.  It's a hair less blue than butter LONDON Fiver so I feel great about getting both. Plus, let's face it I'm addicted to mint green!!  



Colors used:
Zoya Neely and Purity
Models Own Pastel Pink
Seche Vite

Models Own Trio

beth's blue

Today I have a trio of Models Own polishes to show you!  These polishes are now available on a website called, Littlewoods.  One great thing about the site is that allows you to purchase things out right, or to pay for them over a period of time so if you need to make a large purchase, you can do it without going broke all in one go!  Anyway on to the polishes.  The one you see above is called Champagne.  It's a gold metallic with a bit of a warm pink tone to it.  I really loved this one. It reminds me a lot of OPI Designer DeBetter but without the painful removal!  This is two coats of Champange.



Then we have Beth's Blue. Beth's Blue is a blue creme polish with a bit of a purple lean.  It's almost a periwinkle color but it's more blue than purple.  This is also two coats of polish and it dries to a shiny, gorgeous finish. These photo's have no top coat!  This color will be amazing come spring when pastels become big news!  Finally...



we have Coral Reef.  Honestly I expected to hate this one. It's so bright and in the bottle it seemed very orange.  It turned out to be my favorite of the bunch!  It's just an amazing bright coral and again, look at the shine!!  These applied really easily and were all  opaque in two coats.  The only complaint I have about this brand is the smell.  I'm pretty good about using three free brands and 99% of my polishes have a really subtle odor but these are pretty strong.  That's standard of the brand though.  I have quite a few Model's Own and I can vouch that they're a really great quality for the price!! Which one of the three is your favorite?

You can pick up these and more Models Own polishes (plus loads more!!) at Littlewoods.com.




These polishes were sent to me for my honest review. I have not been compensated for my opinion.

The art of neoplasticism...

art


It's the final day of the Digit-al Dozen challenge! Today is me only recreation of an art piece for this challenge. It's a recreation of a painting by Piet Mondrian.  Mondrian was a Dutch painter and a very important person in the De Stijl art movement. The basis of his work, and of the movement, was to use only white, black and primary colors and to use grids to create patterns.  The movement went on from around 1917 to 1931.  I really love the idea that these artists had only five colors and straight lines to use and yet came up with endless pieces of unique art.  It goes to show you that you don't need a lot to create when you have an imagination. :)  I hope you all enjoyed the challenge!  Please check out the art my fellow dozeners came up with for today's challenge and stay tuned for the next installment in my New Year New Nails series!  It will be coming this weekend. :)

Zoya: Purity, Pippa
OPI Red
Color Club Chelsea Girl
Models Own Black Nail Art Pen

American Graffiti

China Glaze

Here we go with day three of the Digit-al Dozen art challenge. Today's mani is inspired by graffiti.  I actually quite like graffiti.  I know it's basically vandalism but I think it's really interesting to see the different styles and types.  Street art is usually inspired by a very different muse than classic art.  That said I'm not super great AT graffiti.  My husband used to draw fat graffiti letters which were really cool but I failed at recreating them.  So this is a sort of lame attempt but I liked the results anyway!  I used a suede base to emulate concrete and then used a series of neons and some black and white polish to create the letters.  I used a matte top coat over the whole of it since I felt it looked more graffiti-like!  Don't forget to check on the other girls art work for today's challenge!



Nail art done using: 
OPI: Suzi Ski's in the Pyrenees Suede
Zoya: Purity 
Models Own: Black Nail Art Pen 
China Glaze: Hang Ten-toes, I'm With the Lifeguard, and Sun-kissed

Who Are You Wearing: Christmas Edition

China Glaze
It's time for another edition of Who Are You Wearing!! Today I'm doing a special Christmas themed WAYW post. :)  I guess I'm starting to get into the Christmas nail art spirit because I've had new Christmas art on my nails pretty much everyday this week!  Anyway here's the inspiration nails for today's post:


The nails above belong to one of my most favorite famous people: Zooey Deschanel.  I think they're actually from LAST Christmas but they're still cute! My husband has been on the lookout for an ugly Christmas sweater for a work function lately and it reminded me of these Christmas sweater nails.  I was pretty worried about the reindeer and the poinsettia...but it didn't actually turn out to be that bad.  Here's my version:


The base on my nails is China Glaze Winter Berry.  I used a Models Own White Nail Art pen/brush for the entire design. Yes....FREE hand.  It's easier than it looks.  I started on the pinky and then did the middle finger since they're just lines.  Then I did the dreaded deer.  Basically all you need to do is to make a rectangle in the middle of your nail.  Then wing out a tail add some lines for feet, a dot atop another rectangle for the head and lines for antlers. Easy peasy.  Then the poinsettia.  It's really just diamonds so I just made some triangles to form the center and then added the tops and the lines. Again...easy.  I actually was able to recreate this without much trouble on my other hand BUT I didn't attempt the reindeer.  I had a deer stamp so I used that and added some antlers and a flipped tail.  I ended up really loving them but I think it might have been fun to do one in green and white for a kick.  Have you done Christmas sweater nails?

Rain, rain, don't go away, the sun can come back another day...

3d


Well it's been a long few days for me and I've been sleepy and cranky and not really in the mood to do much. Lol...but today I had a little bit of free time and I had an epiphany which turned into this mani.  I don't use texture much on nails which is something I'd like to start doing more often. It just gets in the way at my job and falls off or gets ruined.  But today was a good time to do it since I wasn't really going anywhere.  I also really liked the little kawaii angry cloud!  He's just sort of creeping in there!  I used Lime Crime Once in A Blue Mousse for the base and then used Zoya Purity to make cloudy tips.  After that I used a yellow and a black Models Own Nail Art Pen to make the cloud and the lightning bolt.  I don't know why but I always struggle with lightning bolts. They seem dead easy to make yet mine always go all pear shaped after the first stroke! This one was a little better! But it took two tries to get it this way and the top is still a bit lopsided.  Oh well...practice makes perfect, right?  What did you do with your weekend?


Regina George is flawless

Models Own


Pink Wednesday is here again! This time, for once, I am actually participating!  I can still remember back when Pink Wednesday was the ONLY weekly challenge I had to do.  Now there are so many that I can't keep up and honestly, I rarely do any of them at all.  I got in on the Models Own 50% off sale again though, and this is one of...or rather TWO of...the colors I snagged.  There wasn't a ton that caught my eye during this sale.  The first time around I had NO Models Own and was excited to get my hands on some so I went crazy, ordering something like 17 colors.  This time I knew I wanted to replace my nail art pen (I use that thing for like, EVERYTHING) and grab a few new pen colors.  I wanted to get the Mirrorballs, but they were excluded and all the Beetlejuice ones that I wanted I had already picked up from wonderful swap buddies.  So...I grabbed just a few colors and this is one.  It's called Tickled Pink.  It's sort of a bubblegum pink but it packs a helluva shimmer punch. It's so shimmery it's nearly a foil.  It's also a tad sheer and it required three coats for full opacity.  After I got it on I decided to try it matte...I LOVE matte finishes and this one has so much shimmer that it looks amazing as a suede.  Then I threw some Models Own Pink Fizz on the tips, matted again, and called it a day.  What are you wearing for Pink Wednesday?

All You Need is Love

1967


It's the final day of the Digit-al Dozen's music challenge.  I'm kind of sad for this one to end! I had a few more design ideas but I might attempt them later just for fun!  No musical challenge would be complete without these legends of music; The Beatles!  So for today I did something fun and a LITTLE abstract but hopefully not TOO out there.  From left to right we have: John, Paul, George and Ringo represented solely by their facial  hair (and glasses!) in the year 1967.  This was one that I thought would  be super challenging which didn't turn out to be half as hard as I imagined it would be.  The worst part was John's glasses and they're a little off center but it's what it is!  Actually maybe it's his mustache that's off...either way!  I used Nails Inc Basil Street, China Glaze Foie Gras, OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys, Models Own Black Nail Art Pen to complete this look!  And for my song...obviously it's a Beatles song!  I couldn't choose a favorite (who could?!) so I just put up one that makes me smile. :)  Fun fact about the song?  It was meant to be much slower than it ended up being because they recorded it so many times and John hated it and got frustrated so he started playing it more upbeat.  That version made it to the album DESPITE the last part of the song where Paul messed up the vocals, singing that "Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face" instead of Molly. No one wanted to re-record it! :P  I hope you all enjoyed music week with us!! Don't forget to check out the other ladies art work for today!

Tape On Me...

calvin harris


Day four has arrived!!  Today I did something a little bit outside my box for the challenge!!  I really wanted to do cassette tapes but I'm not even kidding you...I was scared for the execution of it! First of all...my nails aren't square at the moment. Second, there are color choices since most tapes are grey on grey or white or black or something equally lame and dull and ridiculous to photograph.  Third there are those little wheely things with spokes, which by the way, are called the supply reel...nightmare! BUT I wanted to try it out anyway and when I sat down to do it I realized that to my horror...my nail art brushes were nowhere to be found. So ladies and gentlemen, I did this using only polish brushes and a dotting tool.  I think they came out pretty nice under the circumstances! One thing I will note is that on the pinky it actually looks like you can see some tape through the window...this was a happy accident caused by dragging the polish when it was still wet and therefore causing it to mix with other polish!  I used Deborah Lippmann Let's Hear It For The Boy, Zoya Dove, Carey, and Pippa, Models Own Moody Grey and Wet & Wild White On to complete this look. So for today's musical share?  I wanted something geared towards tapes but I don't get into 80's music much SO...I'm sharing a song that my sister and I have LOT'S of fun with!! 

 

Sing us a song you're the piano man...

billy joel


It's day three of the Digit-al Dozen music challenge! Admittedly, today was a bit of a lazy day where designs are concerned.  I really wanted to include a musical instrument and a piano just seemed like the easiest way to go.  I did think about doing a guitar but it just wasn't working out the way I wanted it to. Still, I love piano music so this turned out to be a great design!  I used Zoya Purity and Raven and my Models Own Nail Art Pen in Black to complete this look.  Even though my title here is a Billy Joel song, and I love him, I'm giving you a taste of one of my most favorite artists of pretty much EVER today for my musical share.  It's Dustin O'Halloran and I'm telling you, this man is a musical genius.  I could, and often DO, listen to his music all day long.  Even Aoife loves him, and we all know what a picky little princess she is!  Don't forget to check out my fellow dozener's work for today!!

The Digital Dozen does...music

butter london




It's time for another week of Digit-al Dozen nail art!! The Digit-al Dozen is a group of twelve ladies, including myself, who dedicate one week (five days) out of every month for themed nail art.  This month the theme is music!  I'm really excited about this theme because I am a total music addict.  I mean that VERY literally.  I have tons and tons of music, at least fifteen pair of headphones, and if I don't listen to right around three hours of music a day...you'll find me VERY cranky!  Since music is my love and since it's sort of connected to this week's theme, I'll be including some little bits of what I've been listening to lately with each post. :) So here's today's art work!! It sort of just symbolizes my love of music with the heart on my pinky and then the iPod on my index.  I actually have a total of two iPods and an iPhone all of which are full and my iTunes STILL has music on it that I can't fit onto any of them. First world problems if there ever were any!!  I used Zoya Purity, Models Own Black Nail Art Pen, Pastel Pink, and Prussian Blue and butterLONDON Diamond Geezer to complete this art work.  And for the song of the day?  One of my favorite artists of the moment...Eliza Doolittle! Enjoy and don't forget to check out what the other ladies came up with this week!


Models Own: Indian Ocean

Barry M
 

Today I have a swatch post for you!! This has been in my cache for awhile as evidenced by the sunny setting!  I meant to put it up awhile ago but got busy and forgot!  Still this is a gorgeous color so I thought I'd share it with you today. :) It's Models Own Indian Ocean from their Beetle Juice line.  Indian Ocean is a blue/purple duo chrome and as you can see from this picture, it's pretty sheer.  This is THREE coats of polish.  It does build up, as you can tell but as far as wearing it alone without VNL, it's a no go.

 

Here's a different angle so you can see the different colors in it.  The overall tone is a light blue but then there are gold and pinky purple tones to it too.  It's quite a stunner even without being opaque.  For a taste of what it might be like if it WERE more opaque....I layered it over Barry M Blue Moon...


This is a pic of the combo in the shade.  It's just fabulous! You can really see the duo chrome effect when you layer this over other colors.  I really loved it over the light blue because I think it makes the gold stand out more and also it's sort of demure and safe while at the same time being interesting and unexpected.  Here's an angled, sunny shot for you:

 

Gorgeous, right?  The formula on this is pretty standard for Models Own.  It IS a very sheer polish as I mentioned earlier but  these shots with the base coat are just one coat of Indian Ocean on top so you don't need much for impact!  

Do you have any of the Beetle Juice colors? Which is your favorite?

 

The New Black

bloobloo


Awhile back I was perusing the web for some nail inspiration and I came across a nail art design that The New Black had posted to be used with some of their new polish packs.  The premise is two nail colors and a nail art striper and they gave a series of designs for each combo.  This one is meant to be done with a pink/blue/black combo and since I have plenty of those things I decided to give it a go!  I used all Models Own colors for the design and it really didn't take me very long.  One thing I had to trial and error was the blue stripe.  At first I was polishing the whole nail blue and then going over it with the pink but then I decided that I liked it better when I did the pink as the base and just swiped blue across the bottom.  Obviously it's a bit trickier to keep a nice nail line around the cuticle BUT it keeps the whole thing from getting too thick!!  I used Utopia, Bloo Bloo and my trusty Nail Art Pen to create the look! Thanks for following!! Anyone have The New Black set used to create this?

Skellie, skellie in my belly -- wait...

DDHalloween


It's the final day of the Digit-al Dozen Halloween challenge! I can't believe it's over already! But there will still be plenty of time for more spooky designs!  This one was so easy to do and it was so much fun to look at!! I got a lot of compliments on it!  I used Wet and Wild White On for the base and then used a Models Own Black Nail Art pen to do the stripes.  I used a dotting tool and Wet and Wild Black Out to do the eyes and noses and then stamped on the accent nail.  For a twist, I did the colors opposite on my other hand (so the background was black and the details were white).  I hope you all enjoyed the art work!! Look for my next Rehab Your Nails post this weekend! It will be cuticle related! :)  Perfect for the cooler months.

Don't forget to check out what my fellow challengers came up with for todays post!!

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