This Is Halloween - Movie Inspired

Happy Halloween!!!  I hope you all have some fun plans tonight, whether that be trick or treating, passing out candy, going to a party, or just chillin' at home :D  I will be taking my boys trick or treating, and this is the first time for my youngest!!

The theme for the final day of this awesome nail art challenge is Movie Inspired.  I went with Corpse Bride, because while it is not technically about Halloween or centered around it, it is a spooky film that is super fitting for Halloween.  C'mon, it's Tim Burton!!  Most of his stuff is definitely Halloween worthy.  Here is the design I came up with:

I wanted to see the difference in it if I did a matte topcoat, and I gotta say, I actually like it a lot better.  Here's what it looks like:

What do you think?

I'm pretty pleased with it.  She had a LOT of detail to put in her face and hair, it took me a little longer to complete her.  But in the end, I'm happy :)  This whole challenge was a LOT of fun!!  I hope you've enjoyed all the fantastic nail art, too ^_^  Below is are more blog posts on today's theme by the other lovely talented ladies in this group.  Check them out!

Have a wonderful (and safe!) evening!!  See you soon <3

An InLinkz Link-up

This Is Halloween - Villains

Today's Challenge Your Nail Art theme is Halloween villains.  I had completed a design earlier this week with the intention of posting it tomorrow - however, I really wanted to post this one today because it fits the theme so well!  Here is my submission - The Headless Horseman!

I used one of the movie posters from Sleepy Hollow as a reference for this image.  The background color is "Earth Day 2.0" by Above the Curve, I painted the moon using acrylic paints, painted two coats of Blue Glow by Indigo Bananas, then finished out more detailing on the moon and added the Horseman on his horse and the creepy tree.  All in all, I think it turned out pretty awesome!  Just wish I could have gotten a clearer picture of it glowing >.<

Here are the rest of the entries by the lovely ladies in this challenge - seriously, amazing stuff here!! :D  See you all tomorrow <3

An InLinkz Link-up

This Is Halloween - Pumpkin Faces

In my house, every Halloween, rather than carving our pumpkins, we paint them!  I've done everything from the usual witches and mummies to comic book characters - it's a lot of fun, and our pumpkins last a lot longer!  We used to live in Washington where a carved pumpkin would start to mold within a few days, so we always painted them.  Now that we live in Arizona, while it is a much drier climate, we still prefer painting out pumpkins :)

When the challenge for today's nail design was "pumpkin faces" I immediately knew I wanted to do painted faces :D  Check it out!

Yeah, I had to cut my nails down to the same size yesterday after one broke while I was closing a window :(  At least they grow fast!!  Just means no long pretty nail designs for a few weeks.  Bummer :(

Anywho, hope you enjoy this design!!  Check out below all the other amazing, adorable, and creative pumpkin face themed designs by the other fabulous ladies in this challenge group!!  So awesome to be among these super talented chicas ^_^

An InLinkz Link-up

This is Halloween - Classic Orange and Black

Two posts in one day?? Whaaaaaaat?!  I know, crazy!  But I told you I'd be packing in some rockin' Halloween designs this week!

I belong to this awesome group on Facebook called "Challenge Your Nail Art," and every month there are themes we all do designs around.  Since this is October, the theme is Halloween, and today's specific Halloween design is to be centered around the classic orange and black colors.  So, I decided to challenge myself to keep it simple, and this is the design I came up with:

I used "Sparks" and "Oxfordfest" by Model City Polish.  I think it turned out nicely!  You should check out the other gorgeous designs the super talented members of the group created by following the link here:

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a wonderful evening, everyone!!  See you soon <3

This is Halloween - My-Stash Lacquer Halloween Bundle

For today's Halloween-themed design I used four polishes by a new-to-me indie called My-Stash Lacquer.  I don't remember how I stumbled upon this brand (probably through Instagram), but I'm sure glad I did, because there are a LOT of gorgeous polishes for a ridiculously reasonable price!  Part of my recent order was the mini size of the Halloween Bundle.  Here are the polishes with a little nail art thrown in for fun ^_^ First up is Pumpkin Princess:

Pumpkin Princess is a glitter bomb polish with orange, white, black, green, and holographic glitters in all different shapes and finishes (matte, metallic, etc).  All these polishes (since they are all glitter bombs) tended to clump, so I dabbed the glitters on and smoothed them out.  I like the fun combination of colors and sizes - it really brought a lot of character to the polish.

Next up is Funky Frankenstein:

Funky Frankenstein is a lime-green crelly with black and white glitters in different shapes and sizes.  I am showing it in one coat over white in the pics above.  This polish applied a lot easier than the previous glitter bomb, so I didn't really have to dab it on unless there were some spots that were a bit naked.  

Here is Death by Candy Corn:

(Yes, those are hand painted candy corns, NOT stickers.  I also fished a few skull glitters out of one of the other polishes to add to the design).  Death by Candy Corn is a fun glitter bomb full of orange, white, and yellow hex glitters in various sizes.  Application of this one was just like Pumpkin Princess, so it required a bit of dabbing.  This one looked really nice in the sunlight because the orange pieces were a matte metallic and had a subtle shine to them.  

Last up is Bubbling Cauldron:

Bubbling Cauldron is a glitter bomb packed with so many different colors, shapes, finishes, and sizes - it's a lot of fun to look at!  Definitely a good representation of a witch's brew, containing all sorts of various ingredients :D  I especially love the skull and crossbone glitters - that is a very nice touch!

All the accent nails are hand painted by me :)  Just for funsies ^_^

Overall this is a really fun little set of polishes for Halloween!  Right now, My-Stash is having a big 40% off sale on the full size of most of these Halloween polishes, making them $3.75 each - what a steal!!  There's also one more of the mini set available for $10.00.  I also want to mention that the shipping time was extremely short.  I think my package was mailed out the same day I placed my order.  I am exceedingly impressed with this indie brand, and wish I'd known about them sooner!

Here are some links for you:

Etsy Shop: Here

Facebook: Here

Instagram: Here

I hope you all have a great Tuesday!  I'll be back tomorrow with some more Halloween themed nail art :D  See you soon <3

*NOTE: Polishes were purchased using no special codes or discounts,  Links are NOT affiliate (i.e. I get no kickback when you click on them through my page).  I simply provide them for your convenience :)

This Is Halloween - You Pick My Art Mummy

I know a lot of people who are super excited that Halloween is this Friday - I'm one of them ^_^  To celebrate, I have decided to upload one (or more!) Halloween-themed designs every day through Friday! :D  Let's start with last Friday's You-Pick-My-Art winner - the mummy!

I used Zoya's "Evvie" for the background color and the rest us freehand painted using acrylic paints.  I wanted to do a mummy that is not your traditional mummy wrapped in bandages and such.  Most mummies actually aren't found wrapped in bandages like that - only Egyptian royalty was really done that way.  I'm pleased with how it turned out!  I wanted it to look like it was crawling out of its coffin/grave, perhaps one that is on display in a museum!  I added a red eye to give it a real creep factor, since every time I tried just black/gray, it looked a little off.  Like I said, I'm pretty happy with it!

Here's a more creative photo, cuz I'm artsy-fartsy like that :P

Have a wonderful Monday, and keep an eye out for another Halloween-themed design tomorrow!  See you soon <3

Princesses and Villains: Cinderella & Evil Stepmother

Oh man, I am so happy it is Friday!!  I've got some Halloween costumes to finish this weekend, as well as lots of nail art :D  Good stuff!

So this is a very awesome post for me in more ways than just nail art - let me tell you why :)  Ice Polish is the very first company to ever send me pre-release polishes to swatch and review.  I was (and still am) a baby blog, and at that time was still trying to paint my nails without making a huge mess - and I was still working on my photo skillz.  For her to have sent me polish meant a lot to me, because it was giving me an opportunity, and I will always be very grateful for her taking a chance on me :)

Mushy stuff aside, let me show you the last Princess/Villain set, which happens to also be the set Ice Polish sent to me to review :)  Coming full circle!  Here is Cinderella and Stepmother:

Cinderella is a beautiful powder blue with a subtle holographic effect in the sunlight.  It is a thin formula, and took 3 coats to make it opaque for me.  Dried in under five minutes to a shiny finish.  Stepmother is a gunmetal grey with a more powerful holographic effect in the sunlight.  It took about 3 coats to make it opaque, as well, and also dried in under 5 minutes to a shiny finish.  Again, another perfect set!

Cinderella and Mulan have been the only two princesses I feel I was able to capture pretty well.  Though, I had to re-paint the skintone on this Cinderella, because what I had done before made her look like a Warhol painting O_o  Lesson learned about using low artificial lightning when painting.  But my Stepmother looks awesome! :D

I'm bummed this is the last set, but had a lot of fun doing these!!  I hope you enjoyed them, too ^_^  Today is Friday, which means another round of You-Pick-My-Art!  We're sticking with a Halloween theme since it is only a week away!  So make sure you check my Facebook Page for this week's options!  See you soon <3

*Note: Cinderella and Stepmother were sent to me as a press sample months ago, NOT for this art.  Links I provide are NOT affiliate (i.e. I do not get a kick back when you click on the through my bog).  I simply provide them for your convenience :)  

Polish Post: Different Dimension Gloss48 Exclusive Duo Swatches & Review

I know in yesterday's post I told you that today I would show you some new-to-me indies.  Well, I decided to instead show you some new indies, but from a brand I am familiar with, and actually featured a very long time ago when I first started blogging - my how far I've come! :P

Anywho, the brand I'm featuring today is Different Dimension.  I will be showing you the Gloss48 exclusive duo "River Charles" and "Boston Bean Latte."  Check them out below!

River Charles - Direct Sunlight

Indirect Sunlight

Boston Bean Latte - Direct Sunlight

Indirect Sunlight

Both polishes had a very smooth and even application, and only took 2 coats to make each completely opaque.  The polish also dried in under five minutes to a nice shiny finish, though I did add a topcoat in the photos above.  One thing I want to mention also is that it was really easy to clean the polish off the skin around my nail.  A lot of times, if a polish misses and gets my skin, if I try to scrape it off with a nail file or orange stick, the color drags and stains.  That is not the case here - the polish comes up very easily with little to no staining.  It's pretty awesome!!

The colors of each are also astounding!  I did not expect that holographic effect to be so intense on both polishes once I stepped into the sunlight!  It was pretty spectacular :)

Sadly these two polishes are not showing as available on the Gloss48 website anymore.  However, Different Dimension has a lot of other beautiful polishes to peruse and snag!  Here are some social links to help you do that:

Store Site: Here

Facebook: Here

Instagram: Here

Have a WONDERFUL Wednesday!  Tomorrow I will have the *sniff* last Princess/Villain set from the Ice Polish "Dreams Do Come True...Not If I Can Help It!" collection.  See you soon <3

*Note: Links I provide are NOT affiliate (i.e. I get no kickback when you click on them through this blog).  I simply provide them for your convenience :)

You-Pick-My-Art Frankenstein!

Ugh, I was a total bum with this design.  I hate to say it, but I was :(  This has not been the best week so far for me and my nail art.  I feel like the universe is trying to take away any time I may have for it in the worst ways - having my washing machine break while filling up with water, causing it to overflow gallons and gallons of water into my laundry room and hallway; causing my hallway and living room to now wreak from water-soaked carpet; dealing with two small children all day that refuse to nap; one toddler that refuses to go to bed and keeps getting up every 5 minutes; the list goes on.  It's been quite a hectic few days already - and it's only Tuesday >.<

So, by the time I was able to take a breath last night, it was already 10pm.  That pretty much left me with an hour (two tops if I wanted to risk being groggy the next day) to do this Frankenstein nail art.  I chose to do a minimalistic design in the interest of time, but one that still felt like a movie poster from the 1930's when the original movie came out.  I first found my favorite image on google of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster:

Image Source: here

I then pulled it up in photo shop and did some fancy settings to make it look like this:

Original Image Source: here

I used this version of the monster as the inspiration for the design you see on my nails here:

I used a speed-dry solid black by Milani for the pointer finger, Cynthia by Zoya for the middle finger, Evvie by Zoya for the ring finger, and Dove by Zoya for the thumb and pinky, with a black crackle polish on top by Barry M.  I wanted to paint "buzz" words that would have been used for the movie posters, too, and two of the most common were "Feind(ish)" and "Monster" - I couldn't fit all of the word Fiendish on my finger, so I shortened it ;)  

For a forced-simplistic nail design, it's not too shabby.  Not my best, but not my worst, either.  Thank goodness I still have almost 2 weeks left of October to do some more killer Halloween-styled nail designs that have more flare to them :D

Anywho, hope you enjoyed the art!  I'll have a new blog post for you tomorrow featuring some new-to-me indies!  See you soon <3

A Glorious Glitter Rain

*Press Release*

Ah, Saturday - such a wonderful feeling to wake up on the first day of the weekend ^_^  This weekend is super busy for me, though.  I have a 5k this morning with my Dad, followed by graduation in Taekwondo to Orange belt, and on Sunday I have my first Archery tournament!  Busy gal, busy gal :D

I have a quick post for you today of nail art I created using three beautiful polishes recently released by the new indie brand Black Dahlia Lacquer.  You may remember the post I recently wrote about two other colors sent to me by the brand.  Well let me tell you, these three colors are just as wonderful as those!  First, let me show you the nail art I created, then I will show you the polishes:

I had the idea to do a kind of "glitter rain" with a silhouette of a woman with an umbrella deflecting some of it.  Turned out rather nicely, I think ^_^  As far as the polishes, I used Japanese Painted Fern (first bottle shot) for the background grey on the nail with the silhouette; I used Basket of Gold (second bottle shot) for the glitter topper; and the final color (third bottle shot) is a lovely mystery mini sent to me that is a light gray polish with a purple flash.  

All three polishes applied very smoothly and evenly.  I did two coats of Japanese Painted Fern to make it completely opaque, then one thick coat of Basket of Gold.  The polish dried very quickly, too, which is always a plus for me.  Another fabulous experience with this indie brand, and I am loving every polish from them thus far!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  Frankenstein won for this round of You-Pick-My-Art, so I will come up with something super Vintage-Horror awesome for you!  See you soon <3

*Note: These polishes were purchased using a special discount code created for me by the Black Dahlia Lacquer company.  While given a discount, my opinions of the polish are in no way swayed and are ALWAYS 100% honest.  Links I provide in this post are NOT affiliate (i,e, I get no kickback when you click on them).  I simply provide them for your convenience :)