(Late) Day 18: Half Moons

I meant to post this last night, but I completely and entirely forgot...whoops. I did, however, actually do this manicure yesterday, so I think it still counts. I did black over Zafirah and lined the edges of the half-moons with Orly Luxe.

natural light

As you can see, I have a bit of tipwear and dry fingers, but other than that, I think it looks quite classy. I'll hopefully have my galaxy nails done and posted later today, so I'll chat more then. In the meantime, I have way too many papers to write, so I'm out - hope you're having a great weekend!

Day 17: Glitter (Franken: Zafirah)

Okay, so I'm guessing this was supposed to be glitter nail art, because this is the ten days of nail art, but since it didn't say that specifically, and I really wanted to use a franken I made a few weeks ago, I just used the franken. I used Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme, clear, Jordana Silver Jewel, Wet 'n' Wild Fantasy Makers glitter in Glitz, NYC Starry Silver Glitter, and China Glaze Fairy Dust. You really can't see most of the hexagonal glitter, but I'm quite happy with it as it is. Unfortunately, I didn't think of the fact that I should really take sunlit pictures since there's holographic glitter in it, but you get what you get. I'm going to be layering over this for the half-moon manicure tomorrow, so hopefully the sun will be out then (though it's supposed to be cloudy, so I doubt it).

 indoors, with flash

 indoors, with flash

Sooo pretty...I wish I had taken pictures in the sunlight so you could see it in its full glory. I used two coats here, and I named it Zafirah, which is an Arabic name meaning "successful." I'd say Zafirah was a success, wouldn't you?

Here are the other lovely ladies doing the challenge with me:

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Day 16: Tribal Print

I almost forgot to post today - whoops! Fortunately, I remembered before 12:00, so it still counts. Since it's late, though, I'll keep it short. I had no idea what I wanted to do for tribal nail art - there are a ton of great options out there, but I didn't have time to do most of them, because the ones I like the best are incredibly complex. Instead, I ended up freestyling something of my own, and I hope it looks tribal enough. I used Sally Hansen Sun Kissed, Sally Hansen Green with Envy, Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, a Nubar nail art pen (I used the striper end), and a dotting tool with Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme.

 indoors, with flash

indoors, with flash

I like it, but I'm not sure I'd be really keen to do it again...I got several compliments, though, so maybe that's just me. Anyway, I'm going to either go to bed now or work on a paper; I can't decide. Either way, goodnight - but before you go, here are the ladies doing the challenge with me this month (which we're now halfway through, and that seems totally unreal):

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Adopt a Polish Press Release

Adoptapolish.org announces the world’s first adoption drive for in need nail polish, available for

U.S. and Canadian applicants.

Every day, thousands of nail polishes are abandoned or abused. They are not sticky or old, they

are fine new polishes, stuck on a shelf because they are forgotten or out of season. All they

desire is to be used, and maybe taken for a night on the town in return.

“We have so many polishes who need a good family to take them in” said AdoptAPolish.org

executive director Nikki Smith. “All it takes is filling out an application form describing how you

can provide a better life for one of our in need nail polishes. We select the best application and

take care of all the expenses, delivering your newly adopted polish directly to your door.”

One current nail polish, Charleston, held back tears well describing his life, “I spent two years of

my life stacked in a dark room crammed together with thousands of others just like me,

hundreds pressing down on my shoulders at any given time. I’m a shimmer and I have never

seen sunlight in my life. Oh and don’t get me started on CND Shellac, I just can’t keep going as

long, why would any women want me” he continued.

Please don’t let the agony go on any longer than it has to. The first round of adoptions closes December 31st. Apply to Adopt a Polish at http://www.adoptapolish.org/category/current-adoptions/

About Adopt a Polish

Adoptapolish.org is a not-for-profit organization funded by the people at Nail Polish Canada. We

are grateful they’ve spent the time and money to set us up, but we know they only did it to look

like charitable people. They are jerks! All they care about is selling you things. This entire

organization was set-up by them to manipulate you.

Don’t worry about us being influenced by them, we cash their cheque, move on with our lives,

and get back to saving lives. We would never compromise out ethics by telling you to shop now

at http://www.NailPolishCanada.com and take advantage of free shipping over $29.

Contact Info

Sam MacKay

Communications Manager - Adopt A Polish

sam.mk@adoptapolish.org 

Days 14 and 15: Flowers and Delicate Print

I didn't have time to paint my nails at all yesterday, so I combined yesterday's challenge with today's, and did a delicate flower manicure. I really don't like how it turned out, and I couldn't seem to get any good pictures, but I'll show it to you anyway... I used Icing Mint 2 Be, Color Club Overboard, and Color Club Yachty, Yachty, Yadda.

I'm going to leave the picture small because it really does not look any better up close. The pinks are fairly accurate color-wise, but the mint green is waaaay off for some reason, and believe it or not, this is the most color-accurate picture I got out of about thirty. Anyway, the nice thing about the challenge is that I felt perfectly entitled to just take this manicure right off again! Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

The other ladies doing this challenge:

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Day 13: Animal Print

Today's been one of the few days in the past week that I haven't had to agonize over what I was going to wear - this time, I knew it would be leopard print - in my opinion, it's the easiest animal print to do, and I was short on time as usual. I decided fairly quickly on using grey, black, and gold, and voila!

 indoors, with flash

I'm really happy with the color combination I chose - I think it looks very classy. I used Lex Seattle Sunshine, Orly Luxe, and Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme, along with Aly's dotting tool (again...I should really get that back to you, Aly!). I'm always a big fan of leopard print nails, though I'm not a leopard print person in other areas of life. I suppose there are a lot of things I'd wear on my nails and not on my body! Another reason I'm a fan of leopard print nails is that it's a pretty easy pattern to do. I'd venture to say that it's the only "real" nail art design I've done that I didn't have to redo a nail (or two, or ten) on the first time I tried it. So, if you'd like to try nail art but are afraid you wouldn't be good at it, I'd definitely encourage you to start with leopard print, as it's a great way to ease into nail art. 

The other lovely ladies doing the challenge this month (I'm so glad I remembered to do this...for the first time in several days...):

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

I hope your weeks get off to a great start tomorrow morning!

Day 12: Stripes

I really, really did not have time to do stripes today, so I half-assed it and turned yesterday's polka dots into badly done stripes.

indoors, with flash

Look familiar? Sorry for the short and mediocre post. I hope it's not like this for the rest of the month.

Day 11: Polka Dots

Happy 11/11/11! Don't forget to make a wish tonight at 11:11:11. :) I hope you didn't have your fill of polka dots after my rainbow manicure, because I have more for you today. This time, I just did two vertical lines of polka dots on each nail, and I really like how it looks. I used a base of China Glaze First Mate, and the dots are in Sally Hansen Green with Envy and Color Club Overboard.

 indoors, artificial light

natural light

I can't believe I'd never used First Mate before! It's really gorgeous, and I think the green and pink complement it well. The only thing I don't like about this manicure is that because my pinky nail is so much small than my other nails and the dots are the same size, that nail looks a bit odd. Other than that, though, I'm happy with it - and even if I wasn't, I'd only have to wear it for today. Again, have a great day!

Day 10: Gradient

Today's post will also be a brief one, as I once again have way too much reading to do in too little time. For today's gradient, I used Sally Hansen Sun Kissed, Revlon Victorian (from the Just Tinted collection), and China Glaze Golden Enchantment. I was very happy with the way it turned out, and then I went to bed and got sheet marks. Whoops.

natural light

natural light

natural light

natural light

That's all! I promised a short post, didn't I? :)

Day 9: Rainbow Nails

Once again (it seems to be a theme), I had a hard time choosing what to do for today's manicure. There are so many ways to do rainbows, but I wanted to do something that was fairly easy and quick. I decided on dots - and then discovered that I have apparently mislaid my dotting tool at some point since I got to college, because I used it once or twice, and now I have no idea where it is. Fortunately, Aly was around, so I just borrowed hers (thank you, by the way). This is what I came up with:

 natural light

natural light

I think it looks pretty cute! I used Sally Hansen All Fired Up, Sally Hansen Sun Kissed, Ulta Sun-sational, Sally Hansen Green with Envy, Zoya Robyn, and China Glaze Grape Pop, with Wet 'n' Wild White Creme as my base and Essie Matte About You as a top coat (I also used Insta-Dri underneath the matte top coat to prevent streaking).

It's rather nice to have a cheery design on my nails, as it's quite bleak outside today - it's not actually that cold (only 60 degrees Fahrenheit), but it's extremely windy and a bit misty. Eurgh. I hope the weather is better where you are!

Good grief, I just realized I forgot to do this for the past two days...failllll. Anyway, here are the other bloggers doing the challenge (the Aly who loaned me the dotting tool, by the way, is the Aly Loves Lacquer Aly, just to clarify). Go check them out, and have a great day!


Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish