Vertical Stripes Zoya Manicure

Hallo! Its Tuesday again, and for now looks like I'm back to once a week Manis.
Things have been a little busier than I expected, but I'm trying to get back to twice a week Posts again. So please be patient. 

On the brighter side I have a new look for you this week!
Inspired by my new Zoya Polish in Skylar Blue! 

 

Tada! 

How do you like it? The blue is such a great medium color that I wanted to pop it with some gold. I choose China Glaze - Passion as my accent color and love the Egyptian Look that resulted. 

I did actually tape off for the stripes on this look >_>;; I know, I'm just that anal. And in the end the stripes aren't the same width at all! But at least they have clean edges :3 

I really do love this new taping thing, I mean once discovered I'd say it changed my nail polish design life! So many more options, without taking as much time. Although, I suppose if I practiced enough with a steady hand I could be even faster with a striping brush. 

Sorry, I know this look is a little sloppy, I didn't have quiet enough time to let it dry before going to sleep, thus the small nicks and scratches in it. Also I realized that Skylar is kind of a textured coat, which resulted little bumps in my gold stripes :< Whoops! 

Well hope you all enjoyed! Thank you for reading! 

-wanyachu

Saharan Color-Block Manicure

Hi all! Hope you didn't think I wouldn't make it! Cuz here I am with my Manicure for the week! ^_^ 

Even though I had a busy weekend, and an even busier week so far

 I'm glad I was able to come up with something to share with you all <3

So here is my take on the Trendy Colorblock! 

This was kind of a fluke actually. Originally I had plan to do some fancy dots, bows and bling over this three layer cake, but once I had it done I fell in love!!! 

The simplicity of it all was really appealing to me, which is unusual since my taste is known to be a little over the top. But this color combo, of the pale pearlescent pink, deep dark raspberry, and almost neon coral color was too perfect to mar with extra distractions.

I think these colors worked so well with this minimal mani. It just oozes sophistication with a hint of playfulness in the pop of coral. 

So simple to boot! I just painted on the light pink and let it dry. Then I went back over the top half with the corally color. Once that was completely dry, I used tape to section off the middle portion and laid in my darker band. 

Lacquer List: 

Chanel  Le Vernis - Le Perle 

China Glaze - Evening Seduction 

Essie - Tart Deco 

I know, most people can probably do this without tape guides. But I'm just so anal it would bother me to no end >_>;;; Also I think, the crisp lines add to that Mod Look. 

So I hope you all enjoyed this look. Lately I've been going more simplistic over fruffy. I wonder how long that trend will last. ^^; 

What about you all? Do you prefer simple and clean or deco galore 

when it comes to your finger tips? 

I'd love to know! 

-wanyachu

Strawberry & Flowers Spring Mani

Happy Manicure Monday!

I hope you all had a fun filled Easter weekend. Even if you aren't celebrating for religious reasons, I'm sure there were lots of chocolate and candies to be had by all. :3 

In light of the lovely weather we have been having lately, 

I wanted to do a fun and fresh Spring look.

And what else says Spring more then some sweet, succulent Strawberreis!?    

Somehow...everything in my life is often associated with foods >_>;;;

So here is my take on the Strawberry Mani.

I know Strawberry Mani is not anything new or groundbreaking, so to jazz it up a bit I decided to throw in some of their cute, little white flowers into the mix. I did the flower with a dotting tool, and then added in some vines with a toothpick to finish off the look. 

I also made a quick little Photo Step - by - Step on how I did my Strawberries.

Lately, I'm really into using shipping labels as my nail art guides. I find them easier to cut into when you are various shapes (like the scalloped edge here) and I love that it isn't sticky until you peel off the back. 

I always have issues with the tape strips sticking everywhere but my nail. So the shipping label was a nice solution. Also I find these labels to be stickier than the normal hole punch protectors.

I cut this edge with some craft scissors, but I'm thinking you might be able to get some interesting shapes with a die cut punch! Can't wait to try! :P 

Here are my nails after Strawberry-ing them all up! I had originally done both hands as the fruit only, but decided that it wasn't exciting enough ^^; 

Lacquer List

Sephora by OPI - Personal Shopper as the red base

China Glaze - Entourage as leaves, vines, and flower centers 

Sephora by OPI - A-ha! Moment as flowers 

Pretty simple, but I think its nice and fresh for spring!. 

So I hope you guys enjoy this look! I think I might try a whole fruit series soon. Just trying to make a list of what other fruits would be Nail-able. If you have any suggestions lemme know in the comments too! 

-wanyachu

China Glaze Magnetix - Pull Me Close

Happy Manicure Monday to you all out there! 

Today I have a somewhat long awaited polish post, at least on my part, to share with you. 

It is China Glaze's Magnetix Polish in their silvery blue - Pull Me Close.

I remember being super excited when Nail Inc. announced their first Magnetic Polish last year! I managed to get a hold of their purple and have swatches here of  "Houses of Parliament". So when I found out China Glaze was also creating a similar polish set up, but with three types of magnetic patterns, I was ecstatic!

Also, I feel China Glaze was really smart about selling their magnet separately. Instead of including the magnet on the cap like Nail Inc. CG sells the three patterns on one magnetic plate by itself for $10. And then the polishes themselves cost an additional $10 a piece. Way my cost effective IMO. 

Aside from packaging though, I don't feel like any one formula was better than the other. Both Nail Inc. and China Glaze magnetic lacquers were very quick and easy to apply and lasted a good week once top coated.

Also, the red plate that these patterns are embedded in is really well designed, with the handy raised lip to help you align your nail just like Nail Inc.       

  

You get three different patterns, a Starburst, Chevron, and Diagonal Stripes on the plastic plate. And while I thought the Stripes produced a really crisp design I was somewhat disappointed with the other two. 

I noticed that when you first pull the magnet away from your nail the pattern it produces in the lacquer is very crisp. However, once you wait for it to dry a bit the lacquer spreads out and the design becomes blurry.  This is especially pronounced in the Starburst pattern. And while the images I have chosen below  are probably the best "before and after", many of my star nails ended up drying as blobs instead of stars. 

Before                                                    After

The Chevron pattern was also somewhat of a let down to me as it did not produce a clean angle as I expected. Instead you get a kind of wavy bump in the middle. I suppose this might be due to the the close proximity of the two converging lines that create the shape, but I am no magnet expert. :P 

So even though I was so excited about getting 3 patterns I only thought the stripes looked good enough to wear together. When I tried mixing and matching the others it just ended up looking too hodge podge. So I stuck with clean and simple. 

I suppose there might be some blurring with the stripes as well, but I think it is less noticeable because of the simplicity of the pattern. And in retrospect it was probably the same way with the Nail Inc. wavy pattern. I just didn't take time to notice in my Science Nails Excitement.

Have any of your got your hands on the Magnetic Nail Polishes? And if so what did you think of them? Either way I find them fun to play with and it really does create a unique and fun airbrush look you'd be hard press to get any other way. 

-wanychu       

China Glaze: Hunger Games - Fast Track

Happy Friday Everyone! 

It's my goal to try and edge in two post per week instead of my usual onsie on Monday. With that said, I am still trying to figure out which day will be best for that, so please bear with the strangely erratic schedule for now v_v;; 

Today I have another Hunger Games Lacquer for you from the China Glaze collection.
From District 6, I give to you Fast Track ~ 

I really fell in love with this color when I first saw it! Aside from Electrify, which just screamed Hunger Games, Fast Track was probably the first color to catch my eye as a polish. It's a lovely sandy nude, interspersed with sparkling, golden flecks.

I was kinda strapped for cash when this collection first debut, (otherwise I would have all of them!) hence my borrowing of Electrify. So I didn't actually buy this color that fateful night of our first meeting. Instead I ranted and raved about the collections awesomeness until my sister couldn't stand to listen to me anymore and she went out and bought it for me ^^;;; *spoiled* 

I really love the subtlety of this lacquer! Reminds me of  a sophisticated pair of nude pumps; very lady like! 

I ended up playing with my stamps and used plate m57 for the lattice print in Whirlwind White. One of my gals pointed out that it was almost snakelike! So I might actually try going for that look next time. Maybe use some sponging for lighter/darker areas and then a beige color to stamp the "scales" ~ 

What do you all think? Love the beige, nudes, and taupes lately? Or prefer something brighter with a bit more pop? 

-wanyachu

Cracked Lava - Girl on Fire Rehash

Hi all ~ ! I have a fun little re-hash for you today. ^_^

I was so in love with my Girl on Fire nails, but just couldn't leave them alone. So I grabbed a bottle of China Glaze - Black Mesh and went to town. The results are as follows:

A fun transformation, no? It's like Girl in Lava nails instead now...well that sounds kinda of macabre but the result is really cool IMO. ^_^

Also I am pretty happy with how well this polish cracked. I usually get a pretty good shatter effect with the black crackles, but the other colors tend to give me a hard time. However, after trying this out I think that the texture of the glitter from Electrify underneath really helped break up the polish resulting in consistent shattering.

Well I hope you guys enjoyed this litter interlude! And I can't wait til tonight! *g* ~ Fufufufuuuu !

-wanyachu

Hunger Games - Girl on Fire Polish

Hi all!!! I finally made it back to a Manicure Monday post! *Phew* 

It's been a tough week but I was adamant that this polish post had to go out the beginning of this week to celebrate the opening of Hunger Games on Thursday!!!! 

So I present to you, what me and my fellow Nail Lacquer Affectionados have dubbed
"Girl on Fire"

   

A little confused? That's okay because this is actually China Glaze's - Electrify from their Hunger Games collection layered over a reddish-raspberry OPI base color. (Sorry forgot the name T_T Nail Polish Blogger fail) 

As soon as my friend saw this color she immediately thought of it being the Girl on Fire! And with all that red and gold sparkle who could blame her? So once she showed it to me and called it that the name sorta stuck :P  

I tried to get a close up so you could see the gold glitter interspersed with red sparkles.  Its a fairly dense glitter polish which was a pleasant surprise and meant that I got really good glam coverage with just one coat.



All the other colors from this collection are gorgeous too but if I had to pick as the most "Hunger Games - ish" It definitely has to be this one so I'm glad its the one my gal decided to pick up in the end. ^_^ And even more glad she was kind enough to share and let me use it too!

So Hope you enjoyed. And is anyone else out there going to the Midnight Premier? :P I'm already debating whether I should deck myself out in some Capitol Garb or something for an added bit of fun while waiting line :P

-wanyachu 

Mod Plum & Green Two Tone Manicure Tutorial

Hi lovelies, I'm back again for another Manicure Monday look!

This time I tried to do something a little different and put together a picture tutorial for you all. 

(If impatient click here for Picture Tutorial)

But first here is the completed look I'll be sporting this week on my nails. I wanted to do something colorful and fun for the lovely weather we have been having in the Golden state.  

The color palette for this look actually comes from some bowls we are selling at work :P I thought it was such a fresh combo of lime and plum that I couldn't resist trying it out on my tips. So see! Work is not a complete drain of creative energy, sometimes it can be an inspiration as well!

Luckily enough I went home and dug through my polish box and came up with these two beauties.

The Nail Polishes:

I received the FACE polish as a gift, but never got a chance to try it out. The color is a sensuous medium tone violet called, Plum Forgotten. I had never heard of their polishes before and was pleasantly surprised with how smooth and saturated this lacquer is. Interestingly enough it also dries slightly matte, but you can't tell here because I top coated over the final look.

The lime green on the left is China Glaze in Entourage. This is a very saturated yellow-green, bordering on chartreuse with fun micro glitter. I've actually had this polish for quite a while, but it is just so overpoweringly electric when worn by itself I never gave it much thought. So when I stumbled upon it again I realized what great potential it had as an accent color! And thus this look was born! :3

So without further ado here is my little step by step. 
Lemme know if you guys have any questions!

Tutorial

Step 0: Paint your nails and let completely dry! Sorry forgot to take a picture of that but ya'll know the drill. I did alternating colors of Plum Forgotten and Entourage.

Step 1: To make a clean curve between the two colors I hole punched circles out of envelope labels. I wanted to use those paper hole protector thingys...what are they called even!? The reinforcement stickers that kind of look like donuts....

Anyways, the point is that I didn't have any, probably because I don't even know what they are called =_= So I improvised!

You can really use anything that will stick to your nail and has a curve to it. I even had a friend once who cut masking tape to match the arc she wanted...but that's super dedication I don't have v_v;

Step 2: Stick your guide (tape, label, hole protector...) onto your nail! Be sure to center the curve or else you will get crooked a crooked arc. Make sure the edge where you will be paint over is securely pressed down so you don't get any leaks.

Then go to town and Paint 'em up!

Step 3: Quickly but carefully remove your guide. I suggest taking it off right after you lay down your lacquer. You don't want to leave your guide on for too long, or else any leaks that did manage to seep under will get a chance to dry.

***more taping off tips at my Pink Petite Four Tape Tutorial***

Step 4: Get out a dotting tool (toothpick, bobby pin, whatever floats your boat) and go dot away! Here I used OPI for Sephora – You don't know Jacques and A-Ha! Moment.

Ta dah! Now you're done and ready to rock this playful retro, manicure!
Sorry ended up being more wordy that I had anticipated. So to make it up for your candy starved eyes some more pretty pictures:P

Are you guys sick of seeing my garden foliage yet?
I will try to come up with more interesting props next time!

Thank you for reading! And please leave me any questions, comments, criticism, love...it will all be much appreciated!!!

-wanyachu