Groove Is In The Heart Neon Nails with Stamping

January 29, 2014happyjoylove Dotting, Glitter/Holographic, Stamping, Tutorials Leave a comment

Where to begin? You may have noticed that I haven’t posted in about 3 months and that my last post was something to the extent of “I don’t feel like writing, here are pictures”. Well, when it rains it pours and unfortunately my father passed away from cancer along with another close family friend within a month of each other. To top it off, these sad events happened during the holidays (I hosted Thanksgiving too)…oh yes, and I got a horrible full body rash (from stress I’m sure) that was unbearably itchy and horrendous and I would never wish it on my worst enemy! I’m hopeful that the scarring will go away :\.

Point being, I fell off the bloggy wagon (even though I did continue to paint and photograph my nails) and so now I’m hopping back on, full speed ahead!

I’m jumping back in with a super bright manicure I did to match my dance performance costume. I have been taking an adult hip hop class and this past weekend we had our performance – we danced to the song “Groove is in the Heart” by Deelite so I went for 60’s style bubbles with a heart on the accent finger.

I did my nails on Monday so they’d be ready for both dress rehearsals (plus group photos) and figured I’d have to do them again before the performance. Well guess what? I didn’t, because they lasted for the whole week. Look at how they held up, the photo below was taken on Sunday.

Not only do I give credit to my Making Your Mani Last techniques, but I’ve also been doing a newer process which makes a big difference. Do a layer of topcoat in between each layer of color for extra wear time! This mani was done with cheap LA Colors and Sally Hansen polishes, so it’s not that I was using some amazing expensive magic polish. I will give credit to Poshe Top Coat, though, because I used a super thick layer on top, so I’m sure that helped too.

The process was one layer base coat, one layer white, two layers neon colors, one layer INM Out the Door top coat, stamping with black, glitter on accent nail, dotting tools for pink and white circles, 1 layer Black Tie Optional on thumb and then a thick layer of Poshe Top Coat.

Sunday nails that were painted at the beginning of the week, look how they held up!

I shared my neon polishes with some of my dancing buddies 🙂

Shout out to everyone Studio Gray for an amazing show! I had so much fun and maybe I’ll post some action dance shots when I get them.

Polishes and Supplies Used:

Sally Hansen Double Duty Base and Top Coat
1 Coat Sally Hansen Xtremewear White On
2 Coats generic LA Colors neon pink and yellow (got a mini set from Ross, no color names)
1 Coat INM Out The Door Top Coat
Wet n Wild Black Creme for stamping
Salon Express stamping plate for the heart and Konad M85 stamping plate for the bubbles (I have a knock off konad plate from BornPrettyStore, but they are no longer selling it, same design)
LA Splash Baby Octopus for the holographic silver glitter on the accent nail
1 Coat Hard Candy Black Tie Optional on the thumb
Poshe Top Coat

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

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!

Holy crap I won more stuff!

August 31, 2013happyjoylove Uncategorized 1 Comment

There’s a saying about adding insult to injury, but I feel like this weekend just started out as the opposite of that saying. Not only is it a 3 day weekend, I also just woke up to read an email saying I won a contest from My Life of Makeup, NailPolish, and Beauty Addictions! Her site has some great tips and reviews for both nails and other beauty products.

Apparently entering contests actually pays off and I’ll soon be the recipient of the full Fuzzy Coat collection. I guess it works out that Sally Hansen didn’t send me them :). Thanks so much to Janella for putting on the contest!

Sally Hansen Prizes Finally Arrived!

August 29, 2013happyjoylove Contests Leave a comment

As you may recall from a previous post back in July, I won a Sally Hansen’s Take It Off, Show Off contest for my Fourth of July nail art. Well, my prize bag o’ goodies arrived in the mail Saturday, check out the spread!

Sally Hansen didn’t specify what the prize pack worth $100 would include so I spent the entire month of August predicting what I thought would show up in the mail. Most of my guesses were about right on what prizes they would send – a spread of their newer skincare line of products, some polishes, some Salon Effects polish strips plus a matching file and toe spacers. I thought for sure they’d send a few of their newest polish lines “Fuzzy Coat” and “Sugar Coat”, but that’s where I was wrong! 😦

I’m very grateful for the fabulous package; the only real tragedy is that I already own two out of the three actual polishes that they sent me! Fortunately, the one I don’t own (the muted mint green “Jaded”) is one I’ve been eyeballing for a long time. Strangely enough, I think I’m most excited about the zebra print toe separators for pedicures because my old set disappeared :). Thanks again to Sally Hansen for the goodies!

Keep an eye out for an upcoming contest I’ll be posting where you can get some Sally Hansen’s products and more for free!

Jody’s Gray and Green Nails with Maybelline Color Show

August 22, 2013happyjoylove Brand/Product Reviews and Comparisons, Dotting, Glitter/Holographic Leave a comment

My friend Jody purchased some new polishes last week and requested I give her a doticure with them. How could I say no?

On a side note, this may be my signature style manicure since I’ve had it requested by multiple people.

It was time well spent because we got to hang out and while I was at her house I learned about an organic farm festival happening the following day, which I ended up going to. I also found out Jody has a pear tree she doesn’t pick; I think pears for manicures is a fair exchange :).

The polishes used for this manicure:

Maybelline Color Show Impeccable Greys as base color
Maybelline Color Show Go Go Green as lime green dots
Maybelline Color Show Green With Envy as mint dots
Sally Hansen Xtremewear Celeb City as silver dots
I don’t know what polish the gold dots are
Sally Hansen Nail Treatment Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

This was the first time I have used the Maybelline Color Show brand. The brushes were workable and the colors are very current. The gray definitely needs two coats to look good and you can see in the photo near the cuticles how it looks if there is only one coat. The mint and green dots were opaque with one application and I think the glitters help tie the whole thing together. I love this color combo and because we did the right prep her nails lasted all week!

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:

Seche Vite Base Coat
Sally Hansen White On Thumb + Holo
Sally Hansen Wet Cement Pointer + Holo
Sally Hansen Black Out Middle + Holo
Ulta Plum Perfect Ring Finger + Holo
Only Holographic Effect #9 on Pinky
Poshe Top Coat

Disclaimer: I received the holographic polish as a free promotion, however all opinions expressed are my own!

Cute Animal Stamping Plate From BornPrettyStore.com Review

August 14, 2013happyjoylove Brand/Product Reviews and Comparisons, Glitter/Holographic, Stamping, Tutorials, Uncategorized Leave a comment

From the time I was a little girl going into Hello Kitty stores to my adult life watching anime and visiting Japan I have always loved the kawaii (meaning cute in Japanese) culture and characters.

I recently got the S10 “Cute Rabbit Cat Animal Design Nail Art Stamp Template” from BornPrettyStore.com and using this adorable stamping plate was high on my priority list after a week long trip to visit my dad in Canada… it’s true, I was suffering some nail art withdrawals from being away :D.

The stamping plate has 7 different little characters on it – bunny, kitty, teddy bear, chick, panda, giraffe and the seventh is what I like to call the “mystery animal”; I think it’s a sheep? My confusion lies in the fact that what would appear to be horns and ears look more like two sets of ears – I think it’s a cute character either way, but would love to hear your guesses!

I started out with a different color on each nail, all topped with the beautiful, glittery, pearlescent Ulta Diva (I love putting this over a bunch of different colored nails because it ties them all together and makes them look a little more pastel).

Each nail is also stamped with a different color, none of them are made specifically for stamping. I used a combination of thick quick-dry polishes and thinner shimmers to see how both turned out.

The thin outline images on the plate (the chick, bunny, kitty, panda and mystery animal sheep thing) seemed to work better with the thin nail polishes. When I tried to use the insta-dri polishes on the thin outline images they didn’t transfer well; I think this is because the lines are so fine that the thick polish dried almost instantly. The Insta-Dri polish worked great on the bear (which doesn’t have thin lines) and pretty well on the giraffe where there are big spaces for polish to fill.

Overall I’m really pleased with the plate and for 99 cents and free shipping I don’t think it can be beat!

A total of 11 colors plus Seche Vite Base Cout and Poshe Top Coat

Ulta Peach Parfait
SH Insta-Dri Petal Pusher
Ulta Cream of the Crop (on clearance in some stores)
Ulta Mint Condition
Ulta Bam-Blue-Zled
Ulta Diva
SH Insta-Dri Sonic Bloom
SH Insta-Dri Snappy Sorbet
Chi Razzle Dazzle
Ulta Dance Teal Dawn
Ulta Ultra Violet Femme

On a side note I’m really happy that I picked up the Poshe Top Coat, it’s very similar to Seche Vite, but without the toulene. It didn’t smear the polish underneath, not much shrinkage and no chipping as of day 3. Much better than the Orly Top Coat I recently purchased!

If you get anything from their online store use the code EAG10 for a 10% discount.

As an exciting bonus if 10 people place orders with that code BornPrettyStore will sponsor a free giveaway contest for my website! If it’s for free, it’s for me :D.

Coming up next will be holographic polish and nail stud reviews!

Disclaimer: I received the S10 stamping plate as a free promotion, however all opinions expressed are my own!

I Won I Won! Sally Hansen’s Take it Off, Show it Off Contest

July 25, 2013happyjoylove Holiday/Theme 1 Comment

I’m so excited to announce that I won the Sally Hansen’s Take it Off, Show it Off Contest for Fourth of July style (along with 4 other lucky gals). The hardest part was having to wait to announce it until Sally Hansen officially posted the winners. So what does this mean? It means I get $100 of free Sally Hansen’s products and yes I am planning on passing along some of those items to my readers in the near future! I’ll be sure to post when the box arrives so I can share more of my excitement…it’s like waiting for Christmas or my birthday now! Here’s the original post I did about the Fourth of July manis. Thank you Sally Hansen, the first nail polish I ever owned!

Happy Fourth of July – Independence to Paint your Nails!

July 4, 2013happyjoylove Glitter/Holographic, Holiday/Theme, Uncategorized 1 Comment

This week’s fun (and first) installment of Emma’s Nail Notes is dedicated to one of my favorite holidays, the Fourth of July! I was born in Canada, but raised in California since the age of 2 and I wholeheartedly consider myself an American. Sure, we’re celebrating the country’s independence from Great Britain, but my real love of The Fourth comes from the inevitable fireworks (pretty sparkly things), BBQ’s, the heat, and, most importantly, a great excuse to play fashionista with the good ol’ red, white and blue.

A great way to make your mani’ work for both before and after The Fourth is to get a basic color gel set done and then just do your decorations in regular polish on top. After the holiday you can just swipe off the patriotic design with regular polish remover, but still have your gel nails for a few more weeks! Red, white or blue are obvious choices, but silver and black would make great bases for designs as well.

Here are my top ten picks for Fourth of July nail art this year:

10. If you’re rushed for time, just paint your nails alternating red, white and blue solid.

9. Crackle, use white as a base with red and blue crackles on top.

8. Blue nails with a red accent nail, put little white rhinestones on the blue for stars.

7. Fancy french tips, instead of white, alternate red white and blue on the tips.

6. Get mini star confetti and apply to a solid blue background.

5. Red, white and blue “dotticure” – just get a toothpick or pin and go to town!

4. Try your hand at taping some red and white stripes, you can buy thin striping tape for $1 on ebay.

3. Fireworks! Use a brush and some silver or sparkle polish and make fireworks on a black or dark blue background.

2. Anything sparkly – you can’t go wrong with red, silver or blue sparkles.

1. The Classic Flag painted in neon or pastel hues for a current twist! Just get a thin brush and it’s easy to do.

What are your 4th of July Nails?