Serum No. 5: Day Glow

As you may or may not know, I am a complete child on the inside. So obviously the whimsy of anything glow-in-the-dark greatly appeals to me, especially when it's in nail polish form. I owned a few glow polishes already, but I heard that Serum No. 5's Day Glow was the glow-in-the-dark polish. Naturally, I had to have it.

Day Glow is that pale yellow color that I associate with glow-in-the-dark stuff. I layered three coats of it over white to make it even.

The formula was okay; a little difficult but nothing too bad. And it's totally worth it for the glow on this polish. I "charged" it under a light for like fifteen seconds, then took the following picture:

It glows spectacularly! I couldn't stop staring at my nails when I was trying to sleep, ha! And the glow lasted quite a while too.

Overall I'm very pleased with this polish, and I definitely want to buy the rest of Serum No. 5's glow polishes!

You can purchase Serum No. 5 on their website or their Etsy shop.

Throwback Thursday: Duochrome Gradient

Today's Throwback Thursday features one of my favorite nail art techniques: a gradient!

Space Cadet by ORLY is just a great color. Its weird purple-y green duochrome is so interesting! I noticed that Gleek Out by Sephora by OPI is a similar green to the green flash of Space Cadet, so I decided to do a gradient. I used Gleek Out for the base color and sponged Space Cadet on the tips with a makeup sponge. Simple, but pretty.

That's all for today!

Nautical Skittles + Anchor Tutorial

I've been such a bad blogger lately! Sorry about that - I've been really busy with friends and my internship. I have a tutorial to make up for it :)

Nautical skittles! I really wanted to try out vertical lines, and it made me think of a nautical theme so I did an anchor accent as well. Here's the tutorial for how to freehand an anchor:

It's pretty straightforward, really.

For my thumb and middle finger, I used a base of China Glaze Sea Spray then topped it with two coats of Candeo Colors Divebomb. For my index finger and pink, I started with a base of OPI Goldeneye. I let that dry completely, then I used striping tape and China Glaze First Mate to create the vertical stripes.

For the anchor nail, I started with a base of China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise and used a makeup sponge to add a gradient of Goldeneye. I freehanded the anchor using First Mate and a striping brush. All of my nails are sealed with Seche Vite for smoothness and shininess :)

I really love how these turned out! Vertical stripes really appeal to me, and I think my accent nail is especially cute.

(Belated) 21st Birthday Nails

Okay, so I know my 21st birthday was over a month ago, but I just got around to posting these now. Oops!

I didn't have that much time to do my nails, so I wanted something quick but also festive. I started with a polish that is gorgeous on its own, Octopus's Garden by Enchanted Polish. I layered one coat of that over a base of China Glaze Liquid Leather.

Nothing says birthday like multicolored glitter, so that was the next step - I added a gradient of Lynnderella's New Year's Eve Eve to the tips of my nails, leaving my index and middle fingers bare. Then I used a striping brush and China Glaze Glistening Snow to add the 2 and 1 to each finger.

Just look at that duochrome!

And Lynnderella's gliterbombs always make me drool. There are just so many different glitters in there. I'm so glad I was able to snag a bottle of this. Definitely my favorite multi glitter.

You can see the duochrome here. It's hard to capture on camera, but it shifts from purple to reddish to copper to blue.

My 21st birthday was pretty crazy, but it was fun!

Throwback Thursday: Strawberry Fields Forever

Welcome to another Throwback Thursday! Sorry this is so late - I've been very busy lately with my summer internship at Good Housekeeping. But anyway, here's the manicure:

I was inspired by the name of this polish for this manicure. The pink I used is Strawberry Fields by China Glaze, so I decided strawberry accent nails would be appropriate! The accent is Tree Hugger by China Glaze, and I used Therese is Red Hot by Brucci for the stamping with my Konad stamper. I topped the accent nails with a coat of High Fashion by Milani to complement the gold flecks in the pink of my other nails. I think it's pretty cute, and I'm a big fan of the Beatles so I'm happy.

Sticks 'n' Stones and Cotton Candy

Happy Sunday everyone! Sorry for the late post today; I may have gotten caught up in playing the new Animal Crossing game that came out today. (I'm an adult, I swear!) But anyway, I have some super awesome nail art for you today.

I had seen black and white glitter layered over a gradient before, and I absolutely loved how it looked. So that was my inspiration.

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Bubblegum Pink. I let that dry, then I used a makeup sponge to add a gradient of Barry M Blueberry. Then I layered one coat of Ninja Polish Sticks 'n' Stones.

I really love how the black and white glitter looks with the pastel gradient. I'm totally in love with this manicure. The gradient reminds me of cotton candy colors, too. I used to love getting cotton candy when I went to hockey games as a kid.

Black and white glitter looks good over pretty much anything! I'll have to try it over more gradients.

Throwback Thursday: Blurple Glitter Gradient

Hello everyone! It's good to be back on Eastern Standard Time. Today, I have another Throwback Thursday for you.

I used a base of Galaxy Girl by ORLY, then I used a makeup sponge to add a gradient of Blue Flash by Milani One Coat Glitter.

Thanks for reading!

Nautical/Patriotic Floral Print

Today, I have some accidentally patriotic nails for you. But they're extra appropriate because:

I'M HOME!

I returned from my semester abroad today, and I'm officially back in the good ol' USA. It's really been such a crazy, wonderful, eye-opening, unforgettable semester. The past four months have really flew by, and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to study in England and travel throughout Europe. I've grown so much as a person, and I've made so many memories that I'll cherish for the rest of my life. I'm really, really going to miss it, but I'm also so happy to be home. So many emotions!

But anyway, nails:

I've seen a few combinations of stripes and floral that inspired me to do my own. I reached for some colors that I thought would work well together, and they just happened to be red, white, and blue! Nautical or patriotic; either way, it's a good color combo.

For the striped nails, I started with a base of China Glaze White on White. Then I used striper brushes to freehand stripes of First Mate, Hey Sailor, and Sea Spray, all by China Glaze. The lines aren't perfect, but I think they came out pretty well! The topcoat smudged my ring finger a bit, but oh well.

For the floral print nails, I started with a base of First Mate. Then I used a dotting tool to make the flowers using White on White, Sea Spray, and Hey Sailor. I used a smaller dotting tool to make the dots inside the flowers. For the leaves, I used a nail art brush to freehand them using Sea Spray.

I really like how these came out, imperfections and all. And it feels so good to be back in my home country :)

Saran Wrap Contrast

I've only tried the saran wrap (or plastic wrap, whatever you call it) technique once before, but I remember thinking it was really cool! So I decided to give it another go.

I wanted to use two colors that would really pop against each other, so I chose a bright neon and a dark creme. I started with a base of China Glaze White on White then layered two coats of ORLY Melt Your Popsicle over that. I let that dry completely.

When that was dry, I layered a coat of Barry M Indigo over one nail at a time, pressing a piece of crumpled plastic wrap against the coat of Indigo to remove some of the polish. And voila! Instant nail art.

I added some rhinestones from the Born Pretty store for extra detail.

I'm surprised at how dark Indigo wound up looking - it looks purpler in the bottle. But oh well, the effect is still cool.

It looks like fire! Thanks for reading :)