Going Bananas

My stamping skills have definitely improved since I started this blog, and I have a really cool stamping manicure for you today! It's pretty Warhol-esque and I love it.

Bananas! When I was little people always tried to call me Hannah Banana, but I hated it and refused to let anyone call me that.

Anyway, onto the polish. I started with three coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow. I let that dry, then I used a Cheeky stamping plate and China Glaze Liquid Leather to stamp on the banana image.

As usual, everything's sealed in with a coat of Seche Vite.

I love this pattern and will definitely be using it again! I also totally recommend Cheeky brand stamping plates; they always give a really clean image and come in a cute little storage box

Deranged Split

Sometimes, I want to try out a new polish color, but I don't want to do just a plain manicure. Doing a split manicure is a great way to reconcile that.

Sephora has been going through the process of revamping their polish line, and I picked up this one last winter before they actually discontinued their Sephora by OPI line in favor of the new Sephora X polishes. I think the bottles actually look different now. It's called Deranged, and it's a purple duochrome sort of color that flashes olive gold.

I paired it with China Glaze Exotic Encounters, which I actually used as the base here. I painted that, let it dry, then used tape and Deranged to make the diagonal split.

I think Deranged is a cool polish, and I'd like to try out more of the Sephora X polishes, although they're a little expensive for my tastes.

Coral and Gold Glitter Gradient

Sometimes, a little glitter is just the thing.

I love glitter, and I especially love glitter when it's miserable and snowy out (like it's been for the past month and a half in Pittsburgh). Gradients are a quick and easy way to wear glitter polish.

I started with a base of Essie Sunday Funday, which is a great polish name. However, the polish was a bit thin and runny, so that was sad.

I used a makeup sponge to add a gradient of Milani One Coat Glitter in Gold Glitz. I added some Seche Vite, and we're done! Super simple, but pretty.

I really love the coral and gold color combo :)

Purple and Peach Leopard Print

I've been a bad, bad blogger.

This semester has been pretty rough -- I've been so focused on my thesis, submitting to literary magazines, and applying to jobs that I've neglected my blog! And for that, I offer my sincerest apologies. I'm gonna try to get back into the swing of things, I promise.

To make up for my absence, have some really cool nail art!

This was my first attempt at a leopard print, and I will definitely be doing it again. It's so much easier than it looks! All you need are 3 colors and a dotting tool.

I used China Glaze Sun of a Peach for my base color. Then I used a large dotting tool to add spots of purple (China Glaze That's Shore Bright) randomly on all of my nails. Next, take a smaller dotting tool and black (China Glaze Liquid Leather) and add some dots around the purple dots. Add topcoat, and you're done! So easy and SO AWESOME.

I really can't believe I've never done leopard print before. I was always intimidated by it for some reason. But now I'm gonna try it in a ton of color combos.

That's all I've got today, but check back soon and keep me on my toes!