Tag Archives: Essie

Waterspotting and Dotticure Nail Art: The Fire Doesn’t Always Burn Gold

24 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by in Nail Art, Reviews, Rheumatoid Arthritis

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The last couple of days left me totally uninspired. Nothing in particular except for that time I shoveled snow and busted my spine…and that other time I had to lift my mastiff out of the car because she knew she was at the vets and dug her legs into every open crevice around the seat.

I could hear my doctor’s voice in the back of my head, and I could see his expression floating in front of my eyes but, I had to do what I had to do; even if it made me feel awful later.

Anyways…

 

Months ago Glam Polish released a limited edition Lord of the Rings collection of polishes. I did not delay in purchasing it…it sold out within days so I consider myself the lucky few who managed to grab the entire collection. I was so excited when I received the collection and meant to post swatches. Instead, I couldn’t bring myself to use them and placed them on my Lord of the Rings shelf (I did not just admit that to the entire interwebs)!

I finally used them and I can’t believe I waited so long. The holographic shimmer in these are amazing! As you all know, I do not generally post swatches but I decided to give it a try. The picture below was taken in fluorescent lighting. It really picked out the silver sparkle.

Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Fast Drying Topcoat

glam polish fires of mordorI tried to capture the polish in incandescent light as it showed the gold shimmer but I couldn’t get my camera to behave.

I can’t get over this polish and can’t wait to incorporate the other colors into nail art! The consistency was great. It was a little thick but in the good, unmoving, doesn’t pool kind of way!

 

Also, let me gush on how wonderfully this silver water-spotted. It reacted beautifully with the hairspray. It’s my favorite stamping polish and now it’s my favorite water polish too (Shhh, let’s not talk about cleanup)!

Waterspotting and Distressed Nail Art | The Rite of AgingI used 2 coats of Glam Polish Fires of Mordor as my base.

I dotted with Color Club Mrs. Robinson and Pucci-licious.

I water-spotted with Essie No Place Like Chrome.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Dotticure and Stamping Nail Art: Puppy Pink

05 Thursday Feb 2015

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I had no clear vision for this nail art. All I knew was I wanted to do a dotticure stamping combination. Almost a year ago I attempted a neon combination and I was crazy about it (linked here). Since then, this double combo has become a favorite technique of mine.

Previous trends prevail and Saachi still serves as my inspiration for my manicures. I am pleased because the last time I tried this stamp I had a lot of trouble transferring the image to the stamper. This time it worked with my favorite stamping polish!

I hope you like it!
Puppy Pink Dotticure and Stamping | The Rite of Aging

I started with 2 coats of Dance Legend 373 as my base. I loved how this color looked on me! I can’t wait to wear it again!

I dotted with Milani Mauve Medley, Sephora by OPI Mr. Right Now, and Color Club Warhol.

I stamped with Essie No Place Like Chrome and a Pueen Cosmetics plate from the Love Elements collection.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

31DC2015 – Day 5: Dotting Tools

06 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by in Community, Nail Art

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I made this on Sunday because I planned on rock-climbing Monday night after work. Of course, I forgot to post it until today. Whoops. I think it still counts I stayed on track! Just forgot about the whole blog thing, is all!

I go through phases with dotting. Sometimes, it is all I want to do, other times, I could not care less about it. Unfortunately, I am going through the latter. Although, I figured this was the best time to use those textured polishes collecting dust on my shelf.

What do you think? Does this look work? I am kind of luke-warm to it.

 

Textured Dotting | The Rite of AgingI started with 3 coats of Emily de Molly Candy Coated. This polish applies like a dream. It self-levels, great opacity. Awesome polish.

I dotted with Julie G Gumdrops Gift of Gold, Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer Taffy Tart, and Essie On a Silver Platter.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

 

Don’t forget to check out the other manicures below!

Challenge Your Nail Art: Decorations

16 Tuesday Dec 2014

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I had a couple of ideas for this prompt but none of them panned out properly. I am not too incredibly pleased with this manicure just because it was not my first choice. That being said, I really like the base!

I hope you like it, too!

 

Challenge Your Nail Art - Christmas Ornaments | The Rite of AgingI started with 3 coats of Zoya Suvi for good measure. I probably could have gotten away with 2 coats!

I achieved the base color by water-marbling without the marble Essie No Place like Chrome and layering Serum No. 5 Happy Special Day! on top. I saw this technique done on a very pretty manicure on Instagram but now I cannot remember  whose it was!! (EDIT: Thank you, PINTEREST! I pinned the exact manicure onto one of my boards. Check out this gorgeous snow forest manicure at @nailsbyjema’s Instagram)

I used Born Pretty Store Christmas decals on my index and ring fingers.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

 

Don’t forget to check out the other Christmas decoration manicures below!

Challenge Your Nail Art: Red and Green

14 Sunday Dec 2014

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I had these done on time but I forgot to post the pictures yesterday. What better way to do red and green than with a water marble? Unfortunately, the green and red did not want to marble together so I just did the one color and dotted the second.

 

I hope you like it!

Challenge Your Nail Art - Red & Green | The Rite of AgingI started with 2 coats of Essie No Place Like Chrome as my base.

I marbled with Sephora by OPI Mr. Right Now and dotted with Zoya Giovanna.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

 

Check out the other red & green manicures below!

Challenge Your Nail Art: Icy Blue Colors

12 Friday Dec 2014

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This post is super late. I had done one on time with this awesome water marble, but the sugar spun ended up looking muddy and the colors just looked disgusting. So, I re-did it a couple of days later without the sugar-spin but I couldn’t take pictures until this morning. There is a little tip wear so apologies in advance! Also, sorry for the pretty poor photo quality…I cannot photograph whites to save my life….I still need to play with the settings on my camera 😦

 

I hope you like it!

DSCF2125_fotor

Mergh…I’m sorry I don’t quite remember all the polishes I used…If you want to know please comment and I’ll find out. Ergh, I am sorry…the cold weather is finally getting to me…I am so out of it right now.

Oh, and I stamped with Konad and some new plates from the MoYou London Festive collection.

 

Check out the other icy blue manicures below!

Challenge Your Nail Art: Santa

08 Monday Dec 2014

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I am now on a water decal kick. Of course, this is the best time of the year to use them since most of the images I own are holiday/Christmas themed! Water decals. I love them. I cannot freehand to save my life so I love these little freehand cheats! They’re not really cheats…but you know what I mean!

At first I was going to do a base color with a glitter topper but thought that really was not nail art so I decided to go with a glitter gradient. I am about 110% positive I used this exact nail art base (Metro Chic & On a Silver Platter) last year! But, for the life of me cannot remember for what so I added a splash of OPI to “change it up” a little. Hehehe.

I had a little trouble photographing this look. I always have trouble focusing the camera on glitter. There is too much going on, I guess! It is so funny. Back in high school my little Fujifilm 12 megapixel camera was one of the best on the market. Now, PHONES have better megapixel quality. Technology is out of control. I still love my Fujifilm, it takes great quality photographs when I am out and about but it is definitely not meant for close-up or macro shots. I really would like to get another camera specifically for blog photos but I have no idea where to start!

Anyways…

 

I hope you like my Santa nails!

DSCF2097_fotorI started with 2 coats of Sephora by OPI Metro Chic as my base.

I used a sponge tip eyeshadow applicator, Essie On a Silver Platter and OPI Polka.Com for the gradient.

I used an assortment of Born Pretty Store holiday decals on selected nails. The decals are different on my left hand. They are of two Santas and a stocking full of presents. However, my cleanup was basically non-existent. I had a lot of trouble removing the glitter so I am going to cheat a little and wait for washing my hands to take care of the leftovers! 🙂

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

 

Check out the other creative Santa manicures below!