Boil Boil Toil and Trouble Ultra Purple Witch Nails

October 22, 2013happyjoylove Glitter/Holographic, Holiday/Theme Leave a comment

I don’t want to type much today. Here are my purple witch nails. I put loose glitter on the non-accent nails that make me think of mermaids. Usually I match my right and left hand, but in this case I only did a witch on my right. I love the purple color by Ulta, but I was having some trouble with the brush and also this color responds strangely to topcoats. Enjoy!

Polishes Used:

Seche Vite Base Coat
Ulta Ultra Violet Femme for the purple background
Sally Hansen Xtremewear Black Out for the black witch’s hat and eye dots
Sally Hansen Xtremewear Perfect Pear-ing for the witch’s face
Sinful Color’s Summer Peach for the witch’s hair
Ulta High Roller for the gold buckle
Sally Hansen Xtremewear Wet Cement for hat accent
Loose glitter that I got from the Dollar Tree, woot!
Poshe Top Coat

I Vant to Suck Your Blooood! Vampire Nails

October 15, 2013happyjoylove Dotting, Holiday/Theme 2 Comments

After a lovely weekend of camping on the California Coast at Costanoa KOA my nails were tore up (literally I tore a couple nails) so I decided to just chop them all off. Even though they’re nubbins right now that doesn’t mean they can’t be cute! Vampire Nails I have to say there is something strangely comforting about wearing black and blood red nails. I think because it harkens back to my childhood days when my sister was goth and Elvira was on late night. Black nails were in 20 years ago and 20 years ago was a good time for me!

I used a fine paint brush and my homemade dotting tools to accomplish the designs and I think this design has a lot of versatility; you could just do the face and paint the rest of your nails black or red for a simpler version.

Polishes Used:

Seche Vite Base Coat
Sally Hansen Xtremewear Black Out for the black base
Sally Hansen Xtremewear White On for the spider web stamping
LA Colors Blood Red for the red pinky and blood drips
Poshe Top Coat

Spooky Spiders and Wicked Webs – Halloween Nails

October 7, 2013happyjoylove Dotting, Glitter/Holographic, Holiday/Theme, Stamping 2 Comments

All weekend I was thinking about doing some kind of witch theme on my nails, but come Sunday evening I flip-flopped into designing a black widow spider and webs.

The spider is hand painted – first I made two dots to form the body and head, then used a fine paintbrush to do the legs and the distinctive red mark. The web design is from my stamping Cheeky Jumbo Plate A – it was initially a pattern I didn’t think I would use, but it is actually one that I gravitate towards the most and it was perfect to give the spider web vibe. I think a cute alternative to doing webs on each nail would be to do black and white stripes; still very Halloweeny.

This was my first time using a mint Nailite polish that I got on clearance for a whopping 42 cents (directly from their website). It took two coats to be opaque, and although it seemed a little streaky when applying, the color became even after drying. The brush is pretty thin so you can’t cover your whole nail in one swipe, but nonetheless it turned out well.

Now all I need is a Spider WOman costume :).

Polishes Used:

Seche Vite Base Coat
Sally Hansen Xtremewear Black Out for the black base
Nailite Polish Mint Green for the accent finger green base
Sally Hansen Xtremewear White On for the spider web stamping
Sinful Colors Under 18 for the red marking on the spider
China Glaze Fairy Dust over spider web nails
Poshe Top Coat

Weekend Wedding Nails Plus a Refresh

September 8, 2013happyjoylove Brand/Product Reviews and Comparisons, Glitter/Holographic Leave a comment

One of my friends all the way back from high school had her wedding reception this past weekend so I decided to do a simple white pearl manicure with heart accents to honor the festivities. I achieved the shimmery white by using one coat each of three different polishes listed below. The adorable gold hearts are from the stud set I previously spoke about from BornPrettyStore.com.

Halfway through the week I opted to refresh the manicure by painting different China Glaze polishes on each hand. The left hand got two coats of CG Seashell while the right hand got two coats of CG’s Holographic Not in This Galaxy. I love how Seashell looks; it is painted over the white so I’m not sure how that influenced the color, but it’s a “just right” color for me….and it’s very shiny.

The other CG polish has very fine holographic particles so it is quite subtle (not really noticeable indoors, sunlight really does the trick for this one). When inside, it looks more like a metallic polish, when outside you can see the full holo spectrum.

I have to say the consistency of both these polishes was great (not thick) and the brush was high quality and thin for accurate application. Even though it’s September I feel like I have February Valentine nails going this week!

Polishes Used:

Seche Vite Base Coat
Sally Hansen Satin Slipper (for the original white manicure)
Jesse’s Girl Firefly (for the original white manicure)
Ulta Diva (for the original white manicure)
China Glaze Seashell
China Glaze Holographic Not In This Galaxy
Poshe Top Coat

CONGRATULATIONS LIESA AND JOHN! I WISH YOU MANY YEARS OF JOY AND HAPPINESS…and beautiful nails 🙂

What a beautiful bride!

Studded “Princess” Nails – Covergirl Timeless Rubies and BornPrettyStore Studs

August 29, 2013happyjoylove Brand/Product Reviews and Comparisons, Glitter/Holographic, Tutorials 1 Comment

I feel like playing Mario Brothers after doing this manicure – am I dating myself? This design makes me think of princesses, specifically Princess Peach; obviously the pinkish color contributes to the thought, but I think the gold studs (especially the diamond shaped stud) actually remind me of a crown.

https://nailsmiles.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/fdcbb-princess-peach_420_1194999440.jpg

What is Princess Peach doing in this photo?!

This manicure is done with Covergirl’s Timeless Rubies polish. This is the first time I’ve bought their stuff and I’d say the color itself is great. I don’t think these pictures do the color justice and it was such a busy week that I didn’t make the time to shoot photos in different lighting for the best effect (these photos were actually taken in the parking lot of my work).

It’s a combination of a shimmery look, a bit metallic and a bit of a duochrome as well. Depending on the lighting orange and gold pops out from the pink, and even a bit of grayish blue? The brush was fine and the polish was thin enough to control the two coats I did; not sure if a third coat would make much of a difference. I didn’t get any big chunks chipping off, but the tips did start to wear pretty fast within the first few days.

The studs I used are from BornPrettyStore.com and they’re a pretty good deal for over 200 pieces. They have a bunch of other really cute stud options including a new set of colored dots. When my set arrived it was a bit messed up from the transport so the tiny dots were everywhere (see below), but it actually only took a few minutes to fix and organize.

After almost a full week of wear all the studs are still stuck to my nails and they don’t get caught on anything. I was impressed with how well the larger diamond shaped studs curved to fit my nail (which I’ve found can be an issue when attaching larger accessories). I’m excited to play around with the other shapes and get some creative designs! Use code EAG10 for 10% off an order at their online store!

Polishes Used:

Seche Vite Base Coat
Covergirl Outlast Timeless Rubies (2 coats)
Pinky tip has China Glaze Angel Wings (which is gorgeous/holographic and you can’t tell from the photo)
Poshe Top Coat

Holy Holo! BornPrettyStore.com Holographic Polish Effect #9 Review

August 20, 2013happyjoylove Brand/Product Reviews and Comparisons, Glitter/Holographic Leave a comment

I have rainbows on my fingers; it’s a good day. This lovely shimmery manicure is made possible by BornPrettyStore.com’s Holographic Polish Effect #9, and it’s a big wowwy wah woo for me. (Reminder use code EAG10 for 10% discount on their site).

I did a different base color on each of my nails and then painted one and two coats of the holographic polish on top. I can’t decide how I like it more, because both styles are equally pretty. My thumb has a white base, pointer has gray, middle finger has black, ring finger has fuchsia and my pinky has no base, just the holo polish.

At one coat the base colors show through quite nicely; the black really makes the rainbow shimmer from the polish pop and the white really highlights the purple hue, but really every color I tried worked with this holographic polish. At two coats it is pretty opaque and only a bit of the base is even apparent. I didn’t try three coats, but I’m sure at three coats the bases would not show at all.

It’s a small bottle, but I’m sure it would still last and the brush was very flexible and soft, plus a good workable size. The polish itself is not thick, went on really smooth, and dried quickly. It also wasn’t very smelly, which is always a plus! I completely recommend this polish because I can’t stop staring at my nails!!

Polishes Used: