Tag Archives: Nail Art

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.

Distressed Nail Art for the Chinese New Year

20 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by in Nail Art

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My mom celebrated the Chinese New Year and after my first complete zodiac cycle she wrote me a card. I rarely keep cards but I couldn’t get rid of this one after her death. It has her handwriting on it and that makes me feel like she’s still around.

 

I thought I would do a simple, RA-friendly nail art for this Chinese New Year. I hope you like it!

Distressed Nail Art for Chinese New Year | The Rite of Aging

 

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I used Wet n Wild I Red a Good Book as my base. As you know, I am not a fan of true reds. They just don’t look good on me. So, for the purpose of nail art I bought a cheap one. Unfortunately, unlike my favorite Black Creme this polish is pretty awful. The formula mimics a jelly, but it is not a jelly polish. The brush is strange and broad but uneven so there is no way to paint my nails properly. Yay for acetone and cleanup!

I distressed with Sephora by OPI Mr. Right Now, Zoya Goldie and Revlon Parfumerie Fresh Linen.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Freehand and Watermarble Nail Art: Classic Colors

18 Wednesday Feb 2015

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Photos link to original blog post.

 

I was in a freehand mood this evening and thought I’d give it a try. I know, weird, right?? I cut down one of my brushes and think the thinner point works a whole lot better!

 

I wanted to try a black and white watermarble after I saw Peachy Polish’s valentine nail art and decided to doodle some flowers for contrast. I thought I would try something relatively familiar, I always doodle these on paper!

 

Freehand and Watermarble Nail Art | The Rite of Aging

peachy polish valentine 2015I know my marble does not even rival Valesha’s but I am pretty happy with my overall look. At first, I tried for two marble nails but I could not get the second to look right so I just left it alone. The polishes swam together and I did not get as crisp a line as I wanted.

For the watermarble I used Sinful Colors Snow Me White and Wet n Wild Black Creme.

I used Zoya Anais as the base on the other nails and white acrylic paint for the flowers.

 

I hope you like it…As you know, I don’t usually go for freehand but I just felt like giving it a go!

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Born Pretty Store Round Stamping Plate Review

18 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by in Community, Nail Art, Reviews

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When I saw the woodland creatures plate on the Born Pretty Store website I knew I had to have it. I mean, animals, forest animals…and a panda!

I have a short review for you today on another round, single plate. I hope you like the nail art I created with it!

 

bps plate review

I used a handful of images from the plate and some acrylics for the trees. I am really pleased with how this came out! It was exactly what I imagined!

 

BPS plates 35

The above image links to the product’s information.

 

Thoughts:

I am a huge fan of this plate. I had no issues. The polish swiped away easily, the image transferred crisply to the stamper and then to the nail. I have not had any other trouble with the round plates I’ve tried from BPS. I only wish the animals were just a little smaller. As you can see the images barely fit on my nails!

I definitely prefer these over the larger rectangular plates. Regardless of the minor issues I had with the rectangular plates, I prefer singular images over full-nail patterns. When it comes to pricing, though, you get more bang for your buck in buying the rectangular plates but you won’t find these cute one-off images on them.

 

Don’t forget to check out the Born Pretty Store nail art page for a whole host of different goodies. Stamping plates are just a small part of what they have to offer!

 

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

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Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Waterspotted and Stamping Nail Art: Finally…A Real Snow Day!

17 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by in Nail Art

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Well, sort of…We only got about 5 inches of snow but the roads were not cleared until the afternoon so I guess it did warrant a snow day!

I’m am super bummed though. I have to make up today’s class by tacking on an extra 30 minutes to the next two…and these lesson plans really only work for an hour, and don’t hold the attention of a typical 5 year old for loner than that. Ugh.

Oh well, what can you do?

I hope you like my snow day manicure!

 

Waterspotting and Stamping Snow Day | The Rite of AgingI started with 2 coats of Julie G Butterflies & Rosebuds as my base.

I water-spotted with hairspray, Color Club Pucci-licious and Sally Hansen Hunger Flames.

I stamped with butter London Cotton Buds and MoYou London plate Festive – 02.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Gradient and Stamping Nail Art: Pink Lemonade

17 Tuesday Feb 2015

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I woke up this morning and knowing the nail art I would do tonight. I had this vision swimming around in my head of a glitter-y beautifully blended pink lemonade-esque gradient.

I don’t know what I dreamt about last night but I am glad it ended in a nail art idea!

I hope you like it!

 

DSCF3708_fotorI started with 2 coats of Zoya Pippa as my base.

I created the gradient with a makeup sponge, Pippa and Barry M Gelly Grapefruit.

I stamped with Born Pretty Store plate BP – L004 and Milani Black Swift.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Gradient and Stamping Nail Art for NAIL (Feb 2015): Hearts

16 Monday Feb 2015

Posted by in Nail Art

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During the Valentine’s Day mania I saw stamped hearts over red and pink, I saw watermarble heart decals in red and pink and white and finally I saw free-drawn hearts in red and pink and…yup, you guessed it, white!

I have a ton of heart stamps especially from the Pueen Cosmetics Love Elements collection but I hit a major creative block with this prompt. I felt nothing towards the traditional color schemes but didn’t know how to proceed otherwise. Finally, I decided on a darker, fiery gradient with some well, okay, white stamping on top.

Speaking of stamping and Valentine’s Day, I am seriously falling out of love with Seche Vite top coat. It smears ALL my nail art and it’s getting really irritating. Seriously, what’s going on? I wait a generous amount of time for the polish to dry. I don’t press down to hard on the brush when applying it. Some of these techniques, like gradients, take so long to begin with I am never in the mood to re-do one or two or more nails!

Anywho! I hope you like my heart nails!

 

Please excuse my nail shape, my fingers and just overall photo. I don’t know what’s up but my fingers look insanely thin with gargantuan nails attached to the tips. I shaped my nails yesterday and they looked great. My flare is almost gone and maybe I filed my nails to fit that swelling? I tried to position my hand to make everything look better but something still looks off 😦 And, on top of everything else, because of the flare my hands were so shaky I literally only got 2 non-blurry shots! Yikes!

 

DSCF3685_fotorI started with 1 coat of Barry M Gelly Mustard as my base.

I used a makeup sponge Milani Mauve Medley, American Apparel Neon Red and Barry M Gelly Mustard for the gradient.

I stamped with Pueen Cosmetics plate PUEEN41 and Konad Special Polish White.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.