Go Pink Wednesday - Matte Ombre Gradient

Happy Wednesday! October is National Breast Cancer awareness month and to show support I am blogging pink for Go Pink Wednesday. Of course, this is the 4th installment of this so most of you already know. (:

I sort of mushed a bunch of different styles together for this manicure. I have a pink to red ombre sponged gradient style and topped with my BL Matte Top Coat.

pink ombre gradient featuring ZOYA Sooki

pink ombre gradient featuring CG Go Go Pink

pink ombre gradient featuring ZOYA Kimber

I started with CG Go Go Pink as my base color and then sponged on ZOYA Kimber in the middle then ZOYA Sooki on my tips. When my polish was dry I topped it with my Butter London Matte Finish Top Coat.

If you are wondering if there is anything you can do to help raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness then the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure might be just the thing for you. This race is an international success helping to raise money to battle breast cancer. You can participate in a race or simply pledge your support for someone who is. To find a race near you check out this Susan G. Komen website.

Thanks for popping in and help spread awareness.

"This is Halloween" Gradient

Hey, all. I'm back with the Gradient theme in the "This is Halloween" nail art challenge. Jessica did a gradient for it as well. It's always fun to have someone painting their nails with you. We did them on the couch watching Burn Notice.

I did a gold and white gradient using BARRY M Gold Foil sponged over WETnWild White Creme. I then freehanded black stripes on to make a mummy effect and then used a dotting tool to add eyes.

Mummy Nails over gold/white gradient

BARRY M Gold Foil sponged over white

Jessica used ZOYA Arizona and sponged SH Lustre Shine Lava for her gradient.

ZOYA Arizona & SH Lustre Shine Lava

I greatly enjoyed my sister's visit and she gave me some more polishes to borrow! (:  Even though I had to hand over Creepy Pumpkin.

Thanks for popping in!

Autumn Trees Gradient

Today is the Autumnal Equinox which means fall is officially upon us. Fall is hands-down my favorite holiday. I love when the trees change colors and lose their leaves. I love wearing tall boots and scarves and drinking warm beverages. It means it's time to snuggle by the fire pit with my husband. Also, one of the BEST parts of fall is that Halloween is coming!

I found a beautiful nail art picture via Pinterest that I tried to recreate today. I tried searching to find where this photo originated from, but I could not locate the source. It's frustrating when people link their images back to their Pinterest Home Page just to get traffic instead of linking back to it's originating website.

Autumn Trees Gradient

Here is my inspiration picture. (if you recognize where this image is from, please let me know so I can properly cite the talented artist and turn this image into a link to their website)

Found on Pinterest - source unknown

It's beautiful, isn't it? I tried to make my trees as organically flowing as she did but needless to say I struggled with that a bit. Also, about 2 nails in I realized I was doing my art upside down, oops. This made it a bit more difficult to capture a good picture hence the upside down photos. Perfect capture of the trees changing during fall. I would LOVE to know where this is from!

Colors used in my photos:
   • FINGER PAINTS Cordur-Orange
   • CHINA GLAZE Lemon Fizz
   • JULEP Cameron
   • KONAD Special Polish in Black
   • Mixture of ZOYA Melanie & SALLY HANSEN Xtreme Wear White On

Well, HAPPY FALL to all of my lovely followers. Thanks for popping in!

Butterfly Gradient Skittles

Welcome back, ladies! Boy is it HOT outside today. It's going to get even hotter as the week goes on for us here in VA. I decided on doing more nail art today. My last nail post I did ladybugs, today I have butterflies! This one is also a re-creation from a Pintrest find originally done by Beads. Nails. Food. Pairing the gradient with the butterfly look was so gorgeous I immediately bookmarked it in my head to do later. I have been getting a nice little collection of shimmer polishes so I decided to pair a shimmer with a corresponding color for my gradient. Lots of polishes and pictures for this one so hunker down there, girls.

Butterfly Gradient

butterflies and flowers (that's a Gerbera daisy from my garden)

Little Miss Amoki admiring Momma's nails from afar.

Dpow smelling the daisy

Skittle Gradients before butterfly-ification

Colors used:
   ● thumb: ZOYA Midori w/ ZOYA Ivanka
   ● pointer: ZOYA Arizona w/ ZOYA Myrta
   ● middle: ZOYA Lolly w/ ZOYA Kimber
   ● ring: ZOYA Robyn w/ ZOYA Charla
   ● pinky: JULEP Anne w/ ZOYA Zara
   ● KONAD Special Polish in Black
   ● White Acrylic

all the polishes I used for this look!

I told you I used a lot! It took a while to achieve this look. I started with 2 coats of each base color (the ones listed first under colors used) and let it completely dry. I then used a small makeup sponge and applied the shimmery colors (second colors listen under colors used) on the tips down partially to the middle of each nail. I let this dry and then applied Seche Vite. It helps to use a top coat before adding nail art so if you mess up it's easier to remove your mistake without mussing up your base color too much. After that was dried I used my small art brush and freehanded the black butterfly lines and then added the dots with white acrylic using my dotting tool. After the detailing was COMPLETELY dry, I topped once again with Seche Vite to smooth out the look and help make it last. When adding top coat over any sort of nail art be sure it's 100% dry. If it isn't, the drag from the brush can smear your work.

Phew! Hope you could follow all of that. I love my summer toes and nails! I kind of have a mixture of things going on here; skittles, gradient, nail art... :-)

Thanks for popping in!

Green & White Gradient - Tutorial Included

Hello, ladies! Apparently I am having a green week in which I keep grabbing my green polishes to wear. There are so many different shades to choose from. Today I have a green and white gradient manicure to share with you. Gradient nails are always fun, doncha think?

taken in direct sunlight

taken in the shade

Colors used:
  ● FINGER PAINTS Papier Mâché
  ● ZOYA Midori
  ● ZOYA Ivanka

I actually made my first tutorial to show you how I did this look! My husband helped by taking the pictures for me so I could use both hands. What a great guy. I hope you find it helpful. :-)

click on image to enlarge

Thanks for popping in today! Have a great Monday.

Laser Lime Gradient

Hi ladies. It's almost March! That means I can get ready to decorate for St. Patrick's Day! I LOVE holiday decorations, and that includes sprucing  up my blog for the holidays. I decided that this occasion called for a green manicure.

So, I want to share with you my first gradient attempt. This is a manicure I did mid last year and took pictures of but never blogged on. My oldest sister was the one who got me into polishes and one of the first polishes she gifted me was China Glaze Laser Lime. I used this as my tip over OPI Stranger Tides.

all photos take in direct sunlight

Laser Lime (from the Tronica collection) is still the only Holographic polish I own. It was absolutely gorgeous in the sunlight! I don't exactly know if this really would pass as a gradient, but that was what I set out to do. I think it turned more into just a nice tip color, but regardless I really liked the final result.

See you next time ladies!