Tag Archives: Essie

Nail Art: Snowstorm

22 Friday Nov 2013

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And for your reading pleasure…Dumb Sh*t Monica Thinks: I walked into Trader Joe’s to buy dog food late last week and wondered why there were so many turkeys for sale….In my haste to get to the winter holidays I totally forgot about the fall ones!

 

Everyone in DC drives like they are bracing a snowstorm…even when there are barely any flakes.

By the way, it has not snowed yet but everyone thought it would!

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I like the blurrier pictures because they lend more to the effect of snow flurries!

 

I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Triple Shine “Slick Black”. I am not a huge fan of Sally Hansen polishes but the color on this was too amazing to pass up. I needed two thick coats to reach full opacity. The polish is a lot more sheer than it appears in the bottle.

I stamped with Essie “No Place Like Chrome” and Bundle Monster plate “BM 323”.

I love marbling each color separately. Marbles are messy so they should look messy! Well, not all the time, but I like the look of a “messy marble”.

I marbled with Orly “Bonder” and Sephora by OPI “Go My Own Way”.

I then marbled with Orly and Slick Black. I love how it cancelled out the colors underneath. 

I stamped snowflakes with Julie G “White Orchid” and Bundle Monster plate “BM 319”.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Nail Art: Infusion

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

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To see the accompanying post click on the image below.

Not sure why I went with bubbles…or blue…Bubbles in any IV are bad news and the infusion is clear! But, these were the first things that came to mind!

For my next “Infusion” nail art I will try something more realistic….eh, who am I kidding…no I won’t! 🙂

 

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I used 2 coats of Julie G “White Orchid” for the accents and 2 coats of Essie “Naughty Nautical” for the others.

I then dotted with Zoya “Crystal”, butter London “Knackered” and “Hen Party”, and Revlon Parfumerie “Fresh Linen”.

Initially I wanted to marble the accents but I was very curious how Nfu Oh Opal “Nfu 51” looked over white so I added two sheer coats. I was pleasantly surprised by how bright it was! The flakies shifted between orange and green but were not very noticeable, even in person.

I finished the accents with 1 coat of Sephora by OPI Jewelry Top Coat “Lights, Glammer-a, Action!” and 2 coats Serum No5 “Happy Special Day!”. 

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Nail Art: Stormy Weather

16 Saturday Nov 2013

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Remember when I said it was cold? Apparently, I lied.

It got warm and rainy.

Probably means we are in for a very bitter winter!

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Bases:

Thumb & Ring: Julie G “White Orchid”

Index & Pinky: Milani “Black Swift”

Middle: Sephora by OPI “Metro Chic”

Detailing:

Thumb & Ring: Marbling – Orly “Bonder”, Sephora by OPI “Metro Chic” and “Go My Own Way”, Essie “No Place Like Chrome”

Index & Pinky: Sponging – Sephora by OPI “Go My Own Way” and “Metro Chic”, Wet n Wild “Blue Moon”

Middle: Sponging Gradient – Sephora by OPI “Go My Own Way” followed by Wet n Wild “Blue Moon” on the tips.

Stamping: Essie “No Place Like Chrome” and Bundle Monster plate “BM 312”.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Nail Art: Snow Globe

12 Tuesday Nov 2013

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To see the accompanying post, click on the first picture!

I really have to gush about this nail art. I wanted to go for a snow globe effect, which I had a lot of trouble photographing. In person, though, it looks exactly like a snow globe! There are a ton of top coat layers. This manicure better last!

 

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The picture below shows the snow globe effect a little better.

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Now on to the fun stuff. Let’s see if I remember all the steps!

I started with 2 coats Milani “Peacock”.

I dotted with Julie G “White Orchid” and Essie “No Place Like Chrome”.

I stamped with Zoya “Crystal”, Wet n Wild “Blue Moon”, and Bundle Monster plate “BM 319”.

I applied 1 heavy coat of Seche Vite.

I used water decals from Born Pretty Store on my thumb and middle finger.

I applied 2 coats of Seche Vite and 1 coat of INM “Northern Lights”.

I dotted again with the Zoya, Wet n Wild, and Julie G. 

1 more coat of Seche Vite!

 

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Nail Art: Peppermint Snow Day

07 Thursday Nov 2013

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Brrr! It’s cold! My little Affie needs her sweater to go outside! It’s time to turn those pjs inside out! (Did you ever do that for a snow day??)

When I set out to paint my nails today all I knew was I wanted to stamp. I did not even know what colors I was going to use!

I closed my eyes and grabbed a bottle and came up with Sephora by OPI “Cover Me in Petals” and I took it from there.

 

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Sephora by OPI “Cover Me in Petals” is extremely pigmented. Especially since I was stamping I could probably get away with one coat. I decided to do 2 just for insurance.

I stamped with Sephora by OPI “Caffeine Fix” and Bundle Monster plate “BM 320”.

I did a subtle design next. Since I already had rectangles I continued with sharp edges. I used Cover Girl glosstinis “Inferno” and Bundle Monster plate “BM 315”.

I wanted to use silver with these colors. Initially, I tried lines but the silver masked the designs underneath so….what looks better in silver than snowflakes?

 I love love love Essie “No Place Like Chrome” for stamping. It is so pigmented, I cannot go wrong. I used Bundle Monster plate “BM 319”.

One coat of Seche Vite and one coat of INM Northern Lights polished the look.

I love this manicure. It reminds me of peppermints and the holidays!

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Nail Art: Plaid

06 Wednesday Nov 2013

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I love plaid. It is my favorite. Anyone who knows me knows I wear  too much plaid.

I played around with the design before but could not get it right.

I really like how these came out: the color scheme, the lines, the shadows, everything! I think plaid especially works well for shorter nails!

 

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I used 2 coats Sephora by OPI “Ms. Can’t Be Wrong” as my base.

I alternated between Sephora by OPI “Go My Own Way”, Color Club “Poptastic”, and Essie “No Place Like Chrome for the plaid design.

I may try my hand at a tutorial for this…I really really really like how this came out, and it will help me remember how to do it! 😀

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Nail Art: Bleeding Firefly – Halloween Part Two

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

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The wonderful Brijit went out of her way to make a tutorial for me for the Dragonfly Wings manicure that I absolutely loved.

Since I do not own acrylics I decided to try with plain polishes. I did not get the desired effect and I will definitely re-try with acrylics.

I am not all that pleased with the outcome (as wings) but it still looks interesting. It almost looks like my nails are bleeding? So I guess it works out for Halloween. HAH!

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For the index, middle, and pinky finger I used 2 coats of Sephora by OPI “Cover Me in Petals”. The dots, Essie “No Place Like Chrome” and Color Club “Almost Famous”, were done with a dotting tool.

I realized afterwards that fire-flies had the lights…not dragonflies….and I’m a Zoology major >__<

 

For the wings, I started with a base coat and a generous coat of the Sephora by OPI Jewelry Top Coat “Come to Pappa-razzi!”. I added a generous coat of Seche Vite to protect the bottom layers from the nail polish remover.

I tinted my nails with Zoya “Reece”. I think the next time I will not tint them as much. I could not tell with the lighting but I thought it was a lot more sheer.

I used Sephora by OPI “Mr. Right Now” for the veins. I added Reece between the veins.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.