OPI Sheer Tinted Stamping

As soon as I saw the press release for the OPI Sheer Tints line, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with these unique polishes. I've seen people execute all kinds of creative looks with them, but what I really wanted to try was painting them over some white-on-black stamping—i.e., the same technique I used for my Painting the Roses Red Valentine's Day manicure.

Much to my delight, it worked fabulously!

Mini Matte Mani

Mini Matte Mani... it almost sounds like a long-lost Latin phrase, doesn't it? Or maybe that's just my many years of Latin classes warping my brain...? It's hard to say. :)

Anyway, I digress! I wasn't sure whether I wanted to post this manicure because I still don't know how I feel about it, but as a friend so kindly reminded me when I whined to her, I did learn a few things from the experience. So, I think that alone makes this worth sharing. Thanks, L!

The idea for this look came from a somewhat random place: I was driving home from work one day and saw a Mini Cooper painted this way. I was really drawn to the color combo and the off-center stripes, and I knew I had just the right colors in my polish stash, so I decided to go ahead and recreate the paint job on my nails that very evening.

12th Man Waterfall

The whole city of Seattle is super excited about the Seahawks' playoff run right now—me included! So I decided to try out a waterfall mani (a technique invented and made famous by The Nailasaurus) in Seahawks colors to match my 12th Man jersey and help celebrate the playoff spirit.

This was my first time trying a waterfall look on top of a dark base color, so I had no idea what to expect or whether it would even work, but it turned out great! I think waterfalls are really perfect for showing off your team colors because they're genuinely fun and easy to do, and they look impressive paired with a matching jersey or other accessories.

I used OPI I Saw...You Saw...We Saw...Warsaw for my base color, and the stripes were created with four different polishes:

• Nars Galathee
• FNUG Bandana
• Sephora by OPI It's Totally Karma
• Zoya Rikki

Galathee, It's Totally Karma, and I Saw...You Saw...We Saw...Warsaw are pretty much my go-to polishes when I want to do something Seahawks-themed. Bandana and Rikki were new additions this time, but I love the extra depth and sparkle that they add to the group.

What do you think—do you like the idea of using team colors in waterfall manis? What team's colors would make the BEST waterfall?

Thanks for looking! GO HAWKS!

Seattle Seahawks Nail Art

We're big Seattle Seahawks fans in my house, so when they played their big Monday night game recently, I decided to do some crazy Seahawks-themed nail art to celebrate (and to match my jersey!).

As you can see, I couldn't decide exactly what kind of look I really wanted, so I did a little bit of everything. I started with a base of Nars Galathee on my thumb, middle finger, and pinky, and then a base of Sephora by OPI It's Totally Karma on the other two fingers. Then I used striping tape on my middle and ring fingers before adding a coat of OPI I Saw...You Saw...We Saw...Warsaw and peeling the tape off. I applied the blue hex glitters (from the Born Pretty Store) to my pinky using a toothpick and clear nail polish, and a coat of ILNP Matthew Peri finished off my pointer finger. Finally, I applied the Seahawks helmet waterslide decal from Nail Country Decals to my thumb and finished everything off with a couple coats of topcoat.

After wearing this mani for a full week (butter LONDON P.D. Quick Topcoat does not mess around!), I decided that the design on my ring finger—the navy blue with the bright green stripes—is probably my favorite. The two colors together in a pinstripe just look really sharp, I think. What about you—which nail do you like best out of this random assortment?

Anyway, thanks for reading! Go Seahawks!!

31DC2013 Day 5: Blue Nails

Day five of the 31 Day Challenge was one of those "well, it was a good learning experience" days for me. Which isn't to say that I don't like how my nails turned out—because I definitely do!—but next time I try this kind of manicure, there are some things I'll do differently.

My "blue nails" idea was pretty straightforward: start with a sparkly blue base coat (butter LONDON Big Smoke, in this case), do some neat designs with striping tape, and then add a coat of creme blue (OPI I Saw...You Saw...We Saw...Warsaw) to create sparkly lines when the striping tape came off.

Well, that's exactly what I did, and it worked perfectly, but as you can see, I really should have picked two blues that were a little less similar. Photographing the tape designs was basically impossible!

The effect was somewhat less subtle in person, and I did enjoy playing with different tape designs, so overall, I was happy with how this turned out. Definitely going to use more contrasting colors next time, though!

Nail Art: Galaxy Nails Attempt #1

I've seen a TON of different takes on galaxy nails recently, and the concept seemed easy enough, so on a day when I had a dark base color already pre-applied and ready to go, I decided to give it a shot.

Nail Art: Inspired by the Michael Kors Resort 2014 Collection

I was feeling a bit uninspired recently, so I decided to spend an evening browsing through some designers’ recent collections in hopes of finding some ideas that might work well for nail art. Well, I ended up finding LOTS of things, so expect this to be the first of many fashion-inspired manicures from me!

As soon as I saw this eye-catching little dress in Michael Kors's Resort 2014 collection, I knew I had to do a manicure inspired by it. And although it took the better part of an afternoon/evening to do (with lots of long breaks to allow for drying time between steps!), I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!