Happy Birthday Rose!

My sister turned 22 Wednesday, so I painted my nails in honor of her birthday (while singing the lyrics to 22 by Taylor Swift loudly and off-key).

These were inspired by birthday nails I did for my birthday last June. I really liked them the first time, but I've definitely learned a lot since then.

These are the original nails, I'm sure many other people have done candle nails before me, but I'm not sure who deserves the credit for this idea. If you know who started this design, please let me know in the comments below.

I used OPI's Black Onyx as the base color, topped with China Glaze's Fairy Dust. For the candles, I used Essie's In the Cab-ana, Boom Boom Room, DJ Play That Song, First Timer, and Ole Caliente.

 The cupcake is a Friendly's ice cream cupcake.

I really like these nails, they're not too obvious, but many people asked me if it was my birthday, so I guess it isn't too hard to figure out that these are meant to be birthday candle nails! If you try these out, please tag me on Instagram, @nailedpolish. 

The Fault in Our Stars

It's safe to say I'm a book nerd. I love reading, and if I have the time, I'll read a book a day. Currently, my absolute favorite book is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It's so incredibly emotional, and I both laughed out loud and cried hysterically while reading it. I saw a blog post on Strawburry17.com by Carla, and I was inspired to create a nail art look.

Here is the finished wall decor that inspired my nails. I also want to make this, I think it's adorable!

I used Lime Crime's Once in a Blue Mousse for the base, and OPI's Alpine Snow and Black Onyx for the design. 

This mani is pretty simple, but I absolutely love it! I wore it until it chipped, and actually filled in some of the chips so I could wear it a few more days. This is very rare for me, as I usually just do a new mani if one nail chips or smudges. If you like TFIOS, I would definitely recommend doing this design! It's pretty easy, the only part that takes some effort is the letters, which require a steady hand. If you try this design, please tag me on Instagram, @nailedpolish!

I'm on Bloglovin!

This is just a short, non-nails related post to let everyone know I'm on Bloglovin!

It's a great website where you can follow as many blogs as you want, and then instead of going to each blog and looking for new posts, you get a notification every time a blog you follow posts something.

This isn't sponsored, I just really like Bloglovin!

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/6338287/?claim=8bgpqj9rjgk">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Happy almost St. Patrick's Day!

As most people know, Saint Patrick's Day is tomorrow! Even though I'm Irish, you obviously don't have to be to celebrate it, or to decorate your nails in honor of it. I've been testing out different manis on a nail wheel, and I finally settled on a stamped heart/four leaf clover manicure.

I used a stamping plate I purchased on Etsy from Nailz Craze. Although I feel a little lazy whenever I use a stamping plate, it's definitely a lot faster and far more perfect than I could do by hand.

I used the middle design. I really love how unique the stamping plate is, it's so creative!

For the base, I used Essie's Good As Gold, and for the design, I used Color Club's Wild Cactus.

I really like the way this turned out, it was very simple but so cute! I'll probably wear it even after St. Patrick's Day is over. Happy Saint Patrick's Day! 

Why buy when you can DIY? Indie polish edition

So I'll be the first to admit that I have a problem- I'm addicted to buying nail polish. No matter how much polish I own, which is currently about 300 bottles, if I see something new and exciting, it's difficult for me to resist the urge to buy it. This is especially difficult when I hear that something is either limited edition or only in stock briefly. For example, many Indie polishes - Wicked Polish, Enchanted polish, etc. - are so popular that they can be sold out minutes after a restock. I always have a fear in the back of my mind that if I don't buy a polish immediately, it will be gone the next time I try to buy it.
Anyways, I've been trying to stop myself from buying all of the ultra chromes from I Love Nail Polish's newest collection (ilnp.com). They are $12.50 apiece, plus shipping. And knowing myself, I probably wouldn't be able to just buy one. My absolute favorite is the gorgeous ultra chrome Birefringence, which is blue and purple and incredibly amazing.

This is a swatch of Birefringence that BookPolish shared on Instagram. 

Since I already have so many polishes, I decided to keep my money and create a similar effect with a gradient. 

I used OPI Blue My Mind and Zoya Belinda for the gradient.

Photos don't do this gradient justice, it is absolutely beautiful! While it isn't the same as Birefringence, I'm satisfied with the result, and proud of myself for saving some money. After a few days of rocking this gradient, I decided to add a stamped design. 

I used the camo design on this Mash-38 stamping plate. 

The silver polish I used in the design is OPI's DS Radiance.

I really like the way this turned out, I think the colors work great together. And I'm pretty sure the design is supposed to be camouflage, but regardless, it's very unique and interesting.

Let me know if you have any Indie lemmings in the comments below!

Because stamps are for nails too

So I've never been very good at using stamping plates, but I watched a tutorial on how to use them and realized I hadn't been scraping the plate correctly. I was holding the scraper at a 90 degree angle, when it turns out you're supposed to hold the scraper at a 45 degree angle! It's crazy how much of a difference that makes when scraping off the excess polish before pressing the stamper onto the plate. I still have trouble getting the entire image on the stamper sometimes, but it's definitely a lot easier than before. Anyways, I've been really into stamping, and I did a recent manicure with a stamping plate I bought from Nailz Craze on Etsy. I used Lime Crime's Parfait Day as the base coat, and OPI's DS Radiance for the designs.

I also used my macro lens to zoom in on the designs, they don't show up that well from far away because they're silver, but I really like it! 

Newsprint nails

So I'm "watching" the Superbowl- not really, more like sitting in front of the TV and browsing social media while occasionally glancing up for interesting commercials - and I decided to use this time to write a blog post.

I recently had the opportunity to exhibit some pictures of my nail art in a local library. Every month, they have a different artist fill the walls of their community room with pictures or paintings. Last month, I got to showcase my nail art by printing 108 pictures of my designs and hanging them in this room. I'll post some pictures of my exhibit below.

Anyways, after I displayed my art, I was contacted by a librarian to paint the nails of the staff; they wanted to do a type of advertising through nail art. I absolutely love this idea, and of course I agreed. There were two events they wanted to advertise- a mystery book swap, and a red cross blood drive. My idea was to do newsprint nails, as they are librarians, and they wanted to advertise a book event. I had only done newsprint nails once before, so I did a few trial runs on my own nails the day before. If you've never heard of this technique, it's fairly simple. Paint your nails a base color, preferably light, and cut out some newsprint. You can also print something out via your computer, but this method didn't transfer as well on my nails. Pour some rubbing alcohol into a small dish, and dip your nail in the rubbing alcohol for 5-10 seconds. Then, place the print face down on your nail, and hold it firmly for 5-10 seconds. Lift the paper up, and the words should now be transferred onto your nail; it's basically like a temporary tattoo. Just a heads up - the print will be backwards/reversed on your nail, so you won't be able to read it. This is where the printer method comes in handy, because you can print the words in reverse and then when you transfer them onto your nail it will be legible. However, as I stated earlier, this didn't really work for me. For some reason, the ink didn't cling to my nail as well as it did with newspaper. Anyways, here is a picture of my newspaper nails! The print doesn't always come out perfectly, but I think that makes it look more antique. When I did the librarians' nails, I added hearts in the gaps between the words. I really like how unique this design is, it's definitely attention grabbing!