Category Archives: Nail Art

Water-Spotting Nail Art: Sky Blue Royal Purple

01 Sunday Feb 2015

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I have not painted my nails in almost a week! What is this? I just have not been in the mood really. What with Saachi’s recovery, my own flare and not being in the right mindset. I considered muddling through and forcing myself to paint my nails but I didn’t want my hobby to become a chore! What nail artist wants that??

Today I have an easy-going water-spotted nail art! It only took 30 minutes to complete it! On top of that, I was constantly amazed how quickly and easily this Emily de Molly polish cleaned up with acetone (even with the glitter pieces)!

I hope you like it!

 

Blue and Purple Splatter Nail ArtI started with 3 coats of Emily de Molly Candy Coated. I managed to get my hands on this polish during a Llarowe sale! I am not going to even lie: I always scroll through the sales page. I managed to get a Picture Polish lacquer once!!…Which is neither here nor there in this post but I thought I’d share anyways! 🙂

I “water-spotted” with hairspray, Revlon Parfumerie Fresh Linen and Zoya Haven. I had this image in my mind of the final result. I should have used an opaque white instead of Fresh Linen because the sheerness makes the base look thin in some spots. I promise that is not Candy Coated but Fresh Linen.

I protected the design with Seche Vite before applying a nice coat of INM Northern Lights Silver. Speaking of which, are they no longer selling the Gold counterpart? I use it for certain color combinations and recently ran out but can’t find it anywhere!

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Born Pretty Store: Stamping Plate Review

01 Sunday Feb 2015

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I have another Born Pretty Store stamping plate review for you! This is time I’ll take a look at one of the large rectangular plates.

 

Born Pretty Store recently re-vamped their entire stamping plate collection and have a massive variety to choose from. No matter what your design preference, BPS probably has a plate for you. Below I review plate BP-L005!

 

Born Pretty Store Plate L-005The picture above links directly to the product’s information.

 

I received the plates in the mail a couple of weeks ago but I wanted to play around with the images a little before posting the review. The rectangular plates do not generally have a “theme” like the circular ones do and while I am used to similar images grouped together I don’t mind the hodgepodge as I get to choose from a variety of designs!

 

Thoughts:

I felt lukewarm towards this plate. In general, I had success. The images were pretty, interesting and large enough to fit my nails. However, I had trouble stamping some of these images. A couple continually smeared on the stamper and did not transfer properly to my nails. I eventually got a clear image but it was after repeated trial. The second manicure was just a hot mess. I had a lot of trouble with that particular design and I finally gave up. It was a shame since the gradient came out very nicely!

I was curious to see which other images I would have trouble with so I decided to stamp on paper. Below are my results! I outlined the stamps I had the most trouble with in the last photo.

 

The images transferred well to paper but in the end it only mattered whether they transferred well to nails. I eventually achieved the proper look but I definitely lost the patience getting there.

 

Each plate has 21 images and even though I had trouble with a few at $5.99 a pop it is still worth taking a look if you’re interested. And, if stamping is not your cup of tea, Born Pretty Store has a whole myriad of other nail art supplies to choose from!

 

If you choose to place an order, feel free to use my 10% off code below!

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Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Sponged Nail Art: Butterflies and Scarves

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

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When I sponge, I always like how pink and blue mix the best. It does not matter which shades I use or which brands; just the colors in general! Maybe because the mix is not as jarring? Who knows…

Anyways, it was not until I flipped through my decals that I remembered my favorite butterfly scarf greatly resembled my current nails!

You’ve seen a similar manicure for the “fashion-inspired” prompt of the OMD 2 challenge back in July.

OMD2 - Day 28: Fashion-Inspired

OMD2 – Day 28: Fashion-Inspired

I rather like this more recent nail art better. It looks cleaner; it is fun to see how my ability evolves!

 

Sponged Butterfly Decals | The Rite of AgingI started with 2 coats of Color Club Warhol as my base.

I detailed with a sponge-tip applicator, Dance Legend 373, Barry M Matte Rhossili, Emily de Molly Candy Coated and Milani Power Periwinkle.

I used buttefly Pueen Cosmetics water decals on select “accent” nails.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Patchwork Nail Art: In Stitches

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

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Well, Saachi was scheduled for surgery after she collapsed earlier this week. I don’t really want to go into a lot of details right now as she is still in recovery and we are waiting on some biopsy results. I am happy to report she is mending nicely and hopefully will be home on Thursday if everything goes as planned (EDIT: She is recovering so well she may be home a full 24 hours early!)

 

DSCF1955 - Version 2

Anyways, this is the first patchwork nail art I’ve done that hasn’t made me cringe. I used acrylic paint and while it is not particularly perfect by any means I am proud of my creation!

 

DSCF3058_fotorI started with Barry M Gelly Lychee and Seche Vite as my base.

I achieved the watercolor distressed look with a square paintbrush, acetone, SpaRitual Howl, Running with Wolves and Barry M Gelly Lychee.

I used black acrylic paint for the stitches.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Nimbus Nail Art: Ticking Time Bomb

25 Sunday Jan 2015

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I am in a green mood. Okay, I am always in a green mood. Interestingly, it is not my favorite color but it is a chosen for nail art..is that odd? Maybe it is just one of my many quirks!

I am still not feeling one hundred percent yet. I am actually feeling worse so nimbus is a great nail art technique. What else is RA-friendly? Water decals! …and my Pueen Cosmetics ones have been long neglected..

I hope you like it!

 

Ticking Time Bomb | The Rite of AgingI started with 2 coats of Barry M Gelly Chai and 1 generous coat of Seche Vite as my base.

I nimbus-ed with acetone, Q-tips, China Glaze In the Limelight, American Apparel Neon Green, Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy High Stakes, and Pahlish La Royale.

I used clock decals from Pueen Cosmetics.

 

EDIT: I did not initially make this nail art for any challenge but realized it fits one of the prompts for the #31DC2015! Check out the other 3 shades of green or yellow manicures below!

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Born Pretty Store: Stamping Plate Review

24 Saturday Jan 2015

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I have another Born Pretty Store stamping plate review for you! I have a few more for you in upcoming weeks!

 

The Born Pretty Store is a massive online distributor with a large variety of nail art goodies for every style. I love stamping so I jumped at the chance to review more plates. BPS re-launched their stamping plates a few months ago. Before the re-vamp, multiple reviewers mentioned issues with etching and transferring but since the new release I have not heard anything about these recurrent issues.

 

BPS plate 19

Product ID: 17264

The above photo links directly to the product’s site. I used the plate before I scanned the image and boy does that Mundo de Unas polish stain! Do I need to say why I chose this plate? I have a weird obsession with leaves! Well, nature in general, but definitely leaves! I did not even think twice. These beauties were made for me! Check out some nail art below.

 

Fall Leaves Marble | The Rite of Aging

Stamping Fall Leaves | The Rite of Aging

Thoughts:

I already talked about the images but let me reiterate how wonderful they are: the perfect leaves! (!!!Look at that fern!!!) The quality of stamping is good. I experience clear transfer to the stamper, no smearing on the nail and I use an assortment of non-stamping and stamping specific polishes. As you can see, I have some trouble with the copper. I think it is due to my inexperience with Mundo de Unas polishes (they are wonderful and so amazingly pigmented). I experience a lot of excess pooling on the stamper itself (but I have this problem with other plates as well). I have some difficulty with the stems, as well, because the image is so fine it dries quickly on the stamper and does not transfer to the nail.

 

I recommend this plate as I had good experiences with BPS’ new line. This plate retails for $2.99 on the website and if leaves are not your thing definitely check out the other stamping plates! If you read my first BPS review you know how I feel about shipping…but at the low price of their products, it is worth giving them a try!!

 

If you are interested in placing an order, feel free to use my 10% off coupon code below! Have you tried any of the new BPS plates? What do you think?

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Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Saran-Wrap Manicure for A2Z Nails: K is for Kitchen Sink

24 Saturday Jan 2015

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Check the sidebar for more information.

I am all about chaos on my nails. How many times have you seen one of my manicures and thought…Monica definitely didn’t need to add that or this would look better with out this…Well, I certainly have. However, the kitchen sink idea just made me nervous! There is a method to my madness, whether I am using the same color scheme or technique.

Kitchen Sink prompts as many colors, techniques, embellishments, and designs as I can possibly fit on my little nails. CONFUSION!!!

Unfortunately, my wrists decided to leave me hanging again so I opted for some fun, simple RA-friendly saran-wrapped (read: bubble-wrap) and color foiled nails.

 

At first, I did not really like my final result but it grew on me. It is definitely not soemthing I would normally choose but it kind of sort of works, right? Maybe if I got rid of my pinky?

What do you think? Is this a miss?

 

Kitchen Sink Brights | The Rite of AgingI used (from index to pinky) China Glaze In the Limelight, American Apparel Parakeet, Girly Bits Supersonic, and American Apparel Neon Yellow as my bases.

I sponged Nfu-Oh Opals Nfu-51 on my index and pinky finger before applying color foils (from Born Pretty Store).

For the middle finger, I bubble-wrapped with Pahlish La Royale and American Apparel Neon Violet.

On the ring fingre, I bubbled wrapped with Color Club Warhol and applied a sheer coat of Zoya Maria Luisa.

When the index and pinky nails dried I sponged a little Neon Yellow to blend out the colors.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

 

Don’t forget to check out the other kitchen sink nails below!