Sinful Colors Nirvana & Nailtini Millionaire

Hi there!
Besides looking for a steady job, I've been trying to stop procrastinating when it comes to crop & watermark pictures.  I love to blog but the picture part gets a bit annoying when you take 10,000 pics but you barely like one or two :(

In Puerto Rico, Spring & Summer is basically the same thing.  The seasons call for bright colors, but I can't help reach for something darker and rich like Nirvana!  I love how with colors like Nirvana you can go from elegant to sexy in a minute.

While looking for ideas on how to pair Millionaire with another polish, I came across this Chalkboard Nails look and decided to replicate it.

In real life Nirvana is darker than how it looks on this pictures

I'm thinking next time I'll pair Millionaire with China Glaze Trendsetter...What do you think?

Sinful Colors: Super Star

I promised to reduce the amount of glitter polishes in my collection, but this Sinful Colors got me; is kind of a perfect combo! :)
Superstar is a super pretty blue jelly with purple and aqua glitter.  In my experience, jelly glitters become somewhat difficult to manege when applying the second coat but this one was the exception.  

3 coats of Super Star over China Glaze Blue Years Eve
no topcoat

Sinful Colors: Ice Dream

Ice Dream can be easily described as a glitter explosion!
Its fully loaded with silver and blue glitters.  I recently dropped my camera two times and since then it have been acting up, specially when I try to photograph glitters, so this one gave me a hard time. 

indoors without flash

ring finger: 2 coats of Ice Dream over China Glaze Blue Years Eve

indoors with flash

Kleancolor Pink Gradient Nails

I feel like I'm so behind on nail art trends! :(  Usually didn't try new techniques because some seem very difficult or impossible to get a decent result with my -frustrating- shaky hands. Recently I've become determined to be more adventurous and try whatever tutorial calls my attention.

In my opinion making a glitter gradient over a solid color base is easier.  With glitter you can use the nail polish own brush.  Making the solid color gradient with makeup sponges is more messy, but I learned that if you have patience, the results can be beautiful!

I'm very happy with my results :D

butterfly ring from Charlotte Russe :)

the pink really pops! on pictures taken indoors with flash

What I used:

Kleancolor Sheer Pastel Gray (base color)

Kleancolor Pastel Purple & Pink Lady (for sponging)

Wet n Wild Hallucinate 

Tools:

makeup sponge - the ones that comes in wedges

** Tips **

While you master the technique, choose a base color similar (but not the same) as the first color you are going to put into the sponge.  This way the gradient seems more seamless. 

Wet your sponge before putting nail polish on.  The chemicals on the nail polish could "eat" out synthetic sponges and therefore, leave small pieces of the sponge in your nails.  Thanks to Desi for pointing it out!

If you see some separation between the base color and the first sponging shade don't panic; topcoat usually helps blending the colors even more.

Acrylic paints are a good option for gradients because you can cleanup with water.

Kleancolor Party Fever over Sinful Colors Savage Gone Matte

After my first try at matte nails I wanted to keep experimenting.  Just when I was looking for inspiration, Noelia from Its not my life anymore did this super cute & fun mani

Here is my take

I choose Savage because I didn't like how the glitter looked over any of the red polishes I own.  After a couple trials, this was the winner to pair with Party Fever

Kleancolor: Holo Green

Despite how it looks on this pictures, Holo Green is a bit paler in real life; like the pastel version of a holo so whats not to love about it! :)

Glitters and holo usually dries fast but Kleancolor polish base is on the thick side, this one takes a little longer.  Here I did 3 coats on itself but bet it looks prettier layered over a darker base.  It has a grainy texture so I recommend doing two coats of topcoat but! be sure the polish is completely dry to avoid shrinkage (specially with Seche Vite)

Happy Birthday to me + St. Patrick's Day inspired mani

Greetings to all the Irish community on the web & everyone else who celebrates St Patrick's!

Today is my birthday. Strangely (and sadly) I might not do anything special, no celebration, no cake, no going out; not sure about gifts either.  I'm going to stay home, probably catching up on my favorite tv shows and scheduling posts.

Anyway, here is the mani inspired by this festive occasion!  I used quite a few nail polishes and some acrylic paints too.

outdoors, no flash

indoors, no flash

my favorite part was the design on my thumb

What I used:

pinky

Avon Jade, white acrylic paint, Sinful Colors Innocent & Exotic Green.

ring finger

Sinful Colors Cinderella, Kleancolor Chunky Holo Teal, rhinestones to simulate a rainbow.

middle finger

Sinful Colors Cinderella, Kleancolor Chunky Holo Teal, black acrylic paint topped with China Glaze Agro and gold round glitters to simulate a pot of gold.

index

Avon Jade, green and green glitter acrylic paints.

thumb

Bettina Ortencia, Kleancolor Holo Yellow, green acrylic paint glitter, Orly Monster Mash and heart shaped glitters to simulate a clover.

Simple Glitter French

In preparation for Valentine's Day, I was overwhelmed by the amount of ideas floating on the net on how to do my nails.  After too much thought, I just opted for the simple but glittery route doing a French manicure using Orly Halo. I did my toes in the same fashion and they look super cute! Didn't took pictures of my pedi because -pet peeve alert!!! - I hate people looking at my feet.

Halo (2012 Naughty or Nice Collection) is a very neat glitter because it perfectly mixes gold and silver

Green Sponged & Jeweled Manicure

Oh my! I'm on a roll experimenting with the different techniques to do my nails.
There are so many blog, YouTube, Fb pages, Instagram, Pinterest and what not accounts dedicated solely to nail art that every time I see a picture I'm like "Hell yeah, I'm gonna do that!"  LoL

I kept in mind St Patrick's theme to give some love to my green nail polish stash

Used Sinful Colors Beau Khaki as the base color.  Then sponged China Glaze Agro, Kleancolor Metallic Green & Holo Green.  The final touch where the green rectangle rhinestones in the middle finger.  

Sinful Colors: Last Chance

Looks like I'm getting ready for St Patty's with all this gorgeous green polishes!

Last Chance is a very dark green, but just perfectly dark because you wouldn't mistake it for black. The  formula is a cross between creme and jelly, opaque enough with two coats.  From all the formulas, this mix of creme and jelly is my favorite because it makes application easy and the super glossy finish.

Here I did a jazz-it-up test with Kleancolor VIP & My Rightful Throne

Do you already have your green picks for St Patrick's? 

Hard Candy 2013 New Spring Products

Hard Candy just made my boring Friday night!
While browsing on Facebook and painting my nails for swatches, I found they posted pictures of their new products for this Spring.  I think the most eye-catching products are the nail polishes, specially the glitter ones; which will retail at $3.97

Here are some previews:

 This one is my top favorite so far! 

The base color and the glitter combination looks so weird and funky!

Jubilee

 

Fireworks

 

 Peach Pop

 Gummy Green

Glitter Jam

Tinsel Town

 Party Lights

Photo Credits: Hard Candy Facebook Page

Essie: Watermelon...and a tragedy

Couple weeks ago, I went to Rio Piedras (metropolitan area in Puerto Rico); in a part where they have lots of sidewalk kiosks selling anything from jewelry, to toys, fruits, electronics to even makeup & nail polishes.  In one of them I found brands like China Glaze, Orly, Nicole by Opi, Rimmel, Revlon & Essie from $1.50 to $2! This where my picks:

CG Cranberry Splash, Essie Watermelon, A Cut Above, As gold as it gets

Sorry for the horrible Instagram pic!

Here I used Essie Watermelon & A Cut Above

Then, something terribly happen after taking the pictures for the blog.... 

Don't know how, but the bottle just slipped of my hands, hitting the floor & staining the wall, my clothes and the sofa :(
I love how Watermelon looks on me, so I plan to go back for a backup.

Neutral? Shinny? Animal Print? A mani with all of the above

When doing my nails, I rarely have a clear, specific idea in my mind.  It all start debating the base color; then it develops into layering shimmery top coats, placing glitters, stamping and God knows what else.  An interest in just not having my nails naked ends up in a mild-bling-on manicure :)

I love this combination because it can be subtle but doing something slightly different in each hand, makes it fun at the same time!

Left Hand

Right Hand

Fast Track

Fast Track

What I Used:
- Color Club Soft Chiffon
- Serena Sparkling Rose
- China Glaze Fast Track (middle finger, right hand)
- Kleancolor Coffee Addict (for stamping)
- gold hexagon glitters
- Bunder Monster plate BM-221