Tri-Holo Lined Gradient Nail Art

Surprise—another stamping manicure! I swear I'm going to push myself to branch out a bit more in the coming weeks, but I just couldn't resist this one.

Zoya Spring 2015 Delight Collection

*press samples*

The sun is shining and it's trying to be a tiny bit warm where I live, so I think that makes it an especially apropos day to share these fresh & colorful swatches from Zoya's Spring 2015 Delight Collection.

One More Valentine's Day Manicure

*press samples*

I'm not entirely sure how or when this change happened, but stamping has become my fall-back option for nail art these days when I'm short on time and/or inspiration. I can remember the not-so-distance past when stamping made me want to pull my hair out, so it's definitely a surprise to have it become my default!

Picture Polish Valentine Water Marble

Now that I've discovered liquid latex as a liquid tape option for messy manicures, I'm much more willing to play with nail art techniques that tend to be cleanup-instensive. That's how this Valentinesy water marble was born!

 

Liquid Nail Art Tape: Four Options

I'm continually amazed by the ingenuity of nail bloggers. If there's a problem to be solved in the nail art world, bloggers are on top of it! One of my very favorite nail blogger hacks (for lack of a better phrase) is the idea of "liquid painter's tape" for nails: or, to put it less simply, a substance you can paint onto your cuticles/fingers that dries into a polish-masking barrier on your skin. Anyone who's dabbled in nail art knows what a mess it can be (helloooo, water marbles and splatter manicures), so tools that help cut down on cleanup time are invaluable. I'm already a slow enough nail artist—I'll take any help I can get to be more efficient!

I don't know who first came up with the idea of liquid nail tape or what product started it all, so unfortunately, I can't give proper credit where it's due. However, I've seen and tried a variety of options for my own manicures, so I thought I'd do a roundup of them for you guys here, comparing things like price, ease of use, and effectiveness. Each option definitely has its own pros and cons, so I hope this helps you find a solution that works best for you.

I'll be discussing four liquid nail tape options in this post: white glue (also called Elmer's Glue, school glue, or PVA glue, depending on where you live), OPI Glitter Off, Liquid Palisade, and liquid latex. These are the four options I've seen used most often in the nail art world, but I'd love to hear about others out there—maybe this post can have a part two someday!

From left to right: white glue, OPI Glitter Off, Liquid Palisade, and liquid latex.

Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl XLIX Nails

I wasn't sure whether I'd have a chance to do a proper Seahawks manicure this year, but yesterday afternoon I finally had some free time and inspiration, so I decided to go for it. After all, it's not every year that your team makes it to the Super Bowl, right? (Ahem.)