Polka Dots and Chevron Nails with Zoya "Island Fun"

During the 4th of July weekend, Zoya ran a buy-3-get-3-free + free shipping promo. Add the salon discount and boom, I got 6 new shiny polishes for $13. I had been swooning over the Island Fun and Paradise Sun summer collections since before they were released, so I picked up some of my favorites from each collection. I'll get some swatches up soon, but for today I have a mani using three of the Island Fun colors I bought. 

I used my right angle nail vinyls to make the chevrons on my middle and ring fingers, and then polka dotted the rest of my nails with "Talia", "Serenity", and "Nana" over a white base. 

Silver Holo + Ombré Zig-Zag Nails

Since I have been slacking SO hard on here, I decided that this week I really needed to step up my nail art game. 

I had placed two separate orders from Nail Vinyls about a month ago and still hadn't used ANY of the vinyls I ordered! I busted out an old favorite of mine: skinny chevrons. 

First, I painted on OPI "Coronation" and let it dry. Then, I placed my chevron vinyls and used a makeup sponge to dab on Orly's "On The Edge" and Zoya's "Charisma" and "Ali" to my desired opacity. 

I forgot that doing chevron on EVERY nail eats up a lot of nail vinyls, and definitely looks a little busy. But it turned out so beautifully I was even inspired to match my eyeshadow to it using one of my favorite YouTube tutorials by Jaclyn Hill. 

In natural light 

You can't see the pink as much, but it's there! 

I'm sad that this mani is already chipping, but if it had to happen, it couldn't have come at a better time. Zoya had a buy 3 get 3 free + free shipping promo that I totally took advantage of, and those babies just came in the mail yesterday :) nothing to spark inspiration than new pretties! 

Color of the Month: Opal + Pier 1 Inspired Halloween Mani

Hey all!

When I sat down to do my October manicure, I realized that the birthstone is Opal, and that I have already done an Opal manicure, which you can see HERE. But for those of you who like the historical/geological aspect of COTM, I did discover that Opal is a formation of non-crystalline silica gel that seeps into crevices in the sedimentary strata. It then hardens to make the opals you know from the jewelry store! 

October babies also can claim tourmaline as their birthstone, a gem known for its color-shifting properties. 

Since I didn't have any new ideas for Opal, I decided to just link to my old mani and do a halloween themed manicure this week. My inspiration was a tea towel that we got in at Pier 1. 

I'm hoping to get a couple more halloween manicures done before the holiday. I have a couple cute designs in mind, so keep your eyes peeled!

Color of the Month: Amythyst

There wasn't a lot going on this past week, besides a rowdy night in AC that I'd rather not go into detail about. So I figured that maybe as a monthly addition to the blog I would do a spotlight on that month's gemstone and do a manicure featuring that color. 

For all you Februay babies, this week's manicure is inspired by amethysts. I did a simple purple gradient/ombre manicure with an ombre chevron accent nail. 

For the chevrons I used @teismom's Nail Vinyls, which have become an almost overnight sensation in the nail art community. I'll be doing a full review of her Nail Vinyls in next week's posting, so definitely look out for that!

I also forgot to take a picture of the polishes I used, but if any of you are truly curious feel free to ask in the comments. 

Pretty reminiscent of my salon wall, right?

I really loved this manicure. Simple, with just the right splash of fun. 

Next week will be much more exciting, with a write up on my Valentine's Day themed nails that I'll be doing later in the week, as well as a feature of a girlfriend's Scrabble nails that I did for her and the Nail Vinyl review. Lots of exciting things!