Halloween Nails #3 - Harry Potter Nails Tutorials (pic heavy)

(Click any image to enlarge)

The final Halloween Nail Tutorial!
This time, as promised, I created a nail design involving my Halloween costume. This year, in honor of the final Harry Potter film, I did not 1, not 2, but 3 nail designs. As you can see from the photo above, I did three different base/background designs and made an appropriately colored lightning bolt for each. You can choose which ever design you want for your nails, I am just showing different options. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I am not a professional nail artist and do not claim to be one. This is my first time doing this design. Given my experience with this design, I hope that those of you who don’t think you can do will be inspired to at least give it a try!

TIPS:
Practice drawing a lightening bolt on a separate sheet of paper before attempting on your nail.


For Design 1 (red & yellow water marble)
What you will need: - What I am using:

• red nail polish - Sinful Colors in “Ruby Red”
• yellow nail polish - Sinful Colors in “Pull Over”
• shimmery gold nail polish - Stripe Rite in “Gold”
• clear top coat polish - Sally Hansen Mega Shine Top Coat

For Design 2 (black & red water marble)
What you will need: - What I am using:

• red nail polish - Sinful Colors in “Ruby Red”
• black nail polish - Sinful Colors in “Black On Black”
• shimmery gold nail polish - Stripe Rite in “Gold Metallic”
• clear top coat polish - Sally Hansen Mega Shine Top Coat

For Design 3 (red & yellow checkered)
What you will need: - What I am using:

• red nail polish - Sinful Colors in “Ruby Red”
• yellow nail polish - Sinful Colors in “Pull Over”
• shimmery gold nail polish - Stripe Rite in “Gold”
• clear top coat polish - Sally Hansen Mega Shine Top Coat

(L to R: “Gold”, “Ruby Red”, “Pull Over”, “Black on Black”, “Gold Metallic”, “MegaShine”)

The colors red and yellow are meant to represent Gryffindor and the black is the color of the student's robes.

For Design 1 (red & yellow water marble)
Step 1:
I’ve already done a water marbling tutorial. To keep this post from being too long, here is the water marble tutorial. Follow the same steps but using the red and yellow nail polish instead. Here are some photos of how I did this design.

Step 2:
Using my Stripe Ride in “Gold” or any shimmery golden nail polish that will stand out against the water-marble background, I created a lightening bolt. Practice on a piece of paper before attempting on your nail. I started with the horizontal center of the lightening bolt. Then, I fee-handed the rest of the lightening bolt.
Step 3:
Wait until design is completely dry and use a top coat. Finished!


_________________________________
For Design 2 (black & red water marble)
Step 1:
I’ve already done a water marbling tutorial, click here for the tutorial. Follow the same steps but using the black and red nail polish instead.


Step 2:
Using my Stripe Ride in “Gold Metallic” or any shimmery golden nail polish that will stand out against the water-marble background, I created a lightening bolt. Practice on a piece of paper before attempting on your nail. Step 3:
Wait until design is completely dry and use a top coat. Finished!


_________________________________
For Design 3 (red & yellow checkered)
Step 1:
This checkered design is supposed to mimic the Gryffindor crest, with the checkered background. Start by penciling in the 4 squares on your nail. Then, start with either the red or yellow nail polish and fill in the appropriate squares, as seen in the first photo. As you can tell, I did mine free hand.


Finally, use the other nail polish color and fill in the appropriate squares.
Step 2:
Finally, it is time to draw on the lightening bolt. After having practiced on a separate piece of paper, I used the “Gold” Stripe Rite nail polish to draw a lightening bolt, starting with the horizontal center of the lightening bolt. Then, I fee-handed the rest of the lightening bolt.
Step 3:
Wait until design is completely dry and use a top coat. Finished!

Here is a photo of my nails before drawing the lightening bolts. They still look great without the extra detail, so I guess this would count as my Water Marble Art, Take 5?

I hope you enjoyed my final nail tutorial this year and will try this design on your own.
Thanks for stopping by & Happy Halloween!

Halloween Nails #2 - Hello Kitty Frankenstein Nails Tutorial (pic heavy)

(Click any image to enlarge)

Time for another Halloween Nail Tutorial!
This time, I wanted to involve a character that I am sure many of you love, Hello Kitty! This is a French Manicure style of design, to make it a little more chic I guess you could say, either way it looks feminine and adorable. My roommate could not stop complimenting me on a job well done. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I am not a professional nail artist and do not claim to be one. This is my first time doing such a detailed design so don't be too harsh on me >.< Given my experience with this design, I hope that those of you who don't think you can do it will be inspired to at least give it a try!

TIPS:
Take your time with this, especially when using the nail art pen for the small designs.
Practice, Practice, Practice, on a sheet of paper before drawing the design on your nail.


What you will need: - What I am using:

• green nail polish - Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in “Green With Envy”
  
• light purple nail polish - Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in “ Lacey Lilac”
  
• yellow nail polish - Sinful Colors in “Pull Over”
  
• small, pointed brush - A double sided lip brush from a lip palette
  
• a nail art pen - Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in “Black”
  
• piece of paper
• Q-tips
• clear top coat polish - Sally Hansen Mega Shine Top Coat

(L to R: “Green With Envy”, “Lacey Lilac”, “Pull Over”, “MegaShine”)

Step 1:
Apply the green nail polish half way on all your fingers. Wait until completely dry. This will be the color of Hello Kitty’s face.



Step 2:
Use a Q-tip and dip one side into some nail polish remover. Use wet Q-tip to wipe away excess nail polish and create a straight line on each nail. Note: Give yourself some room For the design and let the green nail polish take up a third of each of your nails.


Step 3:
Using the nail art pen, lightly dab onto your nail, both of Hello Kitty’s eyes. Note: If you are using a nail art pen for the first time, practice the design on the piece of paper first so you are less likely to make a mistake.



Step 4:
Using nail art pen again, create a small bow for Hello Kitty. This will be an outline for the purple nail polish and will be mostly covered. Don’t worry if it looks messy for now.

Now, use your pointed brush and take a bit of purple nail polish onto the brush tip. Color in Hello Kitty’s bow. Wait until completely dry.



Step 5:
Using the pointed brush, dip the tip into the yellow nail polish and create Hello Kitty’s nose. This usually only take a light dab to do, probably the easiest step.



Step 6:
Almost done! Now, for the last part of the design, you will need the nail art pen. Using the pen, outline the outside of the dry purple nail polish to create a complete and neat bow for Hello Kitty. Also with the pen, draw on some stitches on each side of Hello Kitty’s face to make the design truly Frankenstein- looking. Wait until completely dry.



Step 7:
STOP! Have you waited until the design is completely DRY? You do not want to see all your hard work smeared away with one swipe of top coat.

Once DRY, gently add on a layer of any top coat of your choice to protect the design and you are done!

(flash)

(natural light)

(artificial light)

I hope you enjoyed my nail tutorial and will try this design on your own! I may just come back next week with a different Hello Kitty Halloween design.
Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Nails #1 - Bloody Nails

(Click any image to enlarge)

It's October! And Halloween is just around the corner! I thought I would kick things off with a Halloween nail design I got from the lovely AndreasChoice on Youtube. It was a great design so I had to share it with any of you who have not seen the video.

What you will need:

• dark, red nail polish
• clear top coat polish
• dotting tool
• piece of paper

Video tutorial (not mine) is included down below.

(right hand, natural light)

(left hand, natural light)

(with flash)

(w/o flash)

I will try to do a couple of original Halloween nail designs and do a picture tutorial for each one this month, including one that has to do with my Halloween costume! Stay tuned & thanks for stopping by!

Credit goes to AndreasChoice for the video.

Nail Of The Day - Sephora by O.P.I. "Because I Said So"

Click any image to enlarge

(flash, white background)

To celebrate the start of Fall, I wanted to change up my nail color to something darker and with a bit more sparkle, which is more my style anyway. I decided on "Because I Said So", a color from the Sephora by O.P.I. collection.

This polish is a dark burgundy color. This isn't the type of color that looks almost black when you apply more than 1 coat. It also has a bit of sparkle that gives "Because I Said So" good depth. It's noticeable but not in your face.


(flash, black background)

The best part about this polish is the formulation. Unlike my last NOTD, Zoya's Bela, this polish was not goopy in the slightest. No matter how many fresh coats I used, the nail polish is still easy to work with and put on.

(natural sunlight)

Sephora by O.P.I. can be found at any Sephora location.
Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Lovin' - Summer 2011

I noticed I have not done any "What I'm Lovin'" posts all summer long. And seeing how that Fall officially starts for us here in the United States tomorrow, Sept. 23rd, I thought this would be the perfect time to post my favorites from the entire summer here in one gigantic post. Farewell Summer 2011, see you in 2012!

BEAUTY

Hard Candy Glamoflauge Heavy Duty Concealer

- Concealer used to never be enough until I purchased this one. Now I can use less makeup and have GREAT coverage for all my flaws. It's one of my holy grail products.

Murad Oil-Control Mattifier Lotion SPF 15

- Another holy grail product I found this summer. I got this for free as a sample size but I WILL purchase the full size. It does exactly what it says and does not break me out. Hallelujah!

Revlon's Grow Luscious Plumping Mascra

Loreal lipstick - Opulent Organza

NYX Nude On Nude Palette

- A perfect, and cheaper alternative, to the Naked Palette.

Essie - Mamba

Essie - Sand Tropez

Essie - Absolutely Shore

Zoya - Bela

Zoya - Willow

Zoya - Charla

B&BW Body Cream - Signature Vanillas in Berry

Neutrogena naturals fresh cleansing + makeup remover

HOME

B&BW Candle in Flower Shop

B&BW Candle in Strawberry Patch

FILM

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part II (my love letter)

Fright Night

Drive

Crazy, Stupid, Love

Attack The Block

Bridesmaids

X-Men: First Class

Thor

TV(Basically the shows I've been catching up on before the Fall Season)

Sons Of Anarchy

Modern Family

Parks & Recreation

Breaking Bad

MUSIC

Katy Perry's Teenage Dream Album

Harry Potter Movie Scores (Yeah, I'm a Harry Potter Nut that way)

JLo Ft. Pitbull - On The Floor

Enrique Iglesias - Tonight

Afrojack - Take Over Control

TLC - All Their Classic Songs. I fell in love all over again.

BOOKS

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

- Had to read it before the American film adaptation comes out this Christmas

Nail Of The Day - Zoya's "Bela"

Three Light Coats + Seche Vite Top Coat

(with flash)

Today's color is a sheer nail polish color from Zoya called "Bela". It is a milky, creamy, baby pink color that just looks so adorable. And Bela is a star nail polish in its own right. It was featured in one of my favorite films last year, Black Swan. Here is the screenshot.

(with natural light)

As I mentioned before, this is a sheer color with one light coat so Bela works great as a french manicure color. Bela is also build-able to be opaque with two thick coats or three light coats. And as always, with one coat of Seche Vite, my nails dried within minutes.

And look, Bela is the exact same color as my Ipod cover. It was meant to be...

Click here to view and purchase from Zoya's website.

Thanks for stopping by!

Free Target Beauty Bag. Hurry!

Just earlier today (Sunday, 8/28), Target posted a new Beauty Bag available that comes with free beauty products. I'll forward anyone reading this to DrugstoreDiva's post about it since it contains more detail and is where I heard about this free beauty bag. All you have to do is fill out a short survey and your address and they will send it to you, for free. You will have to hurry over beauty because this beauty bag runs out quickly.

NOTE: The Target site is running very slow but try anyway.

Hope you get a free Beauty Bag!