Halloween 2013: Starfire Nail Art

Happy Halloween! I was going to post a Halloween-themed manicure today, but my Macbook's SD card drive has decided not to work and thus the pictures are now trapped in a weird limbo. I'll show that to you as soon as I solve that problem, but in the meantime, I have the nail art I'm wearing to go with my costume for this year! So it's still Halloween themed. Sorta.

Anyway, this year, I'm being Starfire! She's an alien princess superhero from the DC universe. She appears in the comics, but my costume is based on the popular cartoon, Teen Titans (not her comic book counterparts - those costumes show WAY too much skin for me!). I was/am obsessed with that show, and this year, my friend and I decided to dress up as characters from the cartoon. She's being Raven. We made our costumes by hand, which in retrospect was an insane idea. I can hardly sew, but I managed to create Starfire's entire outfit by hand! I haven't had a chance to take a lot of pictures yet (which is why I wanted to post this manicure later), but you can get the gist of the costume from the picture I've included at the end of the post.

Okay, so after that long introduction, here's the nail art! Starfire's powers include shooting bright green starbolts from her hands, so I did a manicure that was mostly a bright green. I also wanted to give a nod to her alien heritage by adding some futuristic detailing.

I started with a base of China Glaze in White on White so the neon would really pop. I layered China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard over that, which is a great, shimmery neon green. Then I added a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust for some tiny holographic sparkles. I let all of that dry, and then used a striper brush and Sephora by OPI Queen of Everything to freehand the striped pattern. I added purple rhinestones for a pop of contrast (and to match the purple of her outfit).

I'm pretty pleased with how these came out. They're super bright, and my freehanding skills are definitely improving. Even my right hand doesn't look bad!

Here's my costume! Starfire has really bright green eyes, so I used makeup to show that. I really wanted to use colored contacts, but sadly, my eyesight is absolutely awful so buying a pair of green contacts in my prescription would have been too expensive to justify. But I'm really proud of myself! I think the costume came out really well (especially since this is the first time I've attempted to make any sort of clothing). I also have really long boot covers on my legs, but you can't see those here. But trust me, the whole effect is really great.

I hope you all have a really awesome Halloween!

Lynnderella: Witch Cauldron Was It?

Let me preface this post by saying that I have lusted after Lynnderella's Cauldron Drippings forever. But every time it popped up on eBay, it was just too expensive to justify. So when Lynnderella re-released a new formulation of Cauldron Drippings, I caved immediately.

And so without further ado, I present Witch Cauldron Was It?, an updated version of Cauldron Drippings.

I started with a base of Nicole by OPI Fresh Squeezed, an orange shimmer. I decided to also do an accent nail, so I used Essie Sexy Divide on my ring fingers. Then I layered just one coat of Witch Cauldron. Look at that glitter density!

Witch Cauldron is mix of a myriad of glitters suspended in a clear base. Most of the glitters are orange, but there are some green, purple, and gold glitters as well.

As is the norm for Lynnderella's, the polish went on smoothly even though it's incredibly dense with glitter. I didn't have to do much to get the glitters in place.

Please excuse the Band Aid - my finger was still recovering from a nasty run-in with some scissors!

This polish definitely lived up to my expectations. It's so lovely! Lynnderella polishes can be purchased from her eBay store.

Different Dimension: Smashing Pumpkins

Today, I bring you photos from my new camera! Wooo. I got a Nikon Coolpix S8200. I'm still figuring out its settings, so bear with me.

Anyway, on to the polish: Smashing Pumpkins by Different Dimension.

Taking macro bottle shots is tricky with my new camera :( Smashing Pumpkins has orange and black hexes with iridescent, pearly square glitters suspended in a sheer gray base. Oh and guess what: It glows in the dark!

I started out with two coats of Recycle by China Glaze. Then I layered two coats of Smashing Pumpkins. I think I would have liked a little bit more of the bigger glitters in this polish. Otherwise, I have no complaints! Consistency was good, and the glitters were easy to work with.

Close ups are hard too!

Not only does it glow - it glows in orange/yellow! I don't have any other polishes that glow that color. I think the glow is a little weak compared to polishes that glow green, but I like it!

This polish was part of her Halloween collection, so I don't think it's available anymore :( But she has lots of other great polishes available in her Etsy store.

Halloween Nails: Gypsy/Pirate

I didn't actually dress up on Halloween this year, but I did dress up for Halloweekend, aka the weekend closest to Halloween where college students dress up and throw parties. I hate spending money on costumes, so I came up with ideas that were relatively easy to dress up as. I was a gypsy the first night, and the second night my friends and I dressed up as the characters from Peter Pan. I was Captain Hook :) I decided to do nails that could work for both costumes. They needed to be glittery and over the top. So I came up with these!

These (sadly) are iPhone pictures as well, so I apologize for any lack in quality! Anyway, I started out with a base of Midtown Magic by China Glaze, an almost black brown with lots of different color shimmer. Then I used a makeup sponge to add a few layers of a glitter gradient. I started with Another Heart Breaks by Dandy Nails, then I added Divebomb by Candeo Colors, and finally topped those off with Batman by Daring Digits. I loved how it looked just like that, but I decided to go bigger.

I pulled out some rhinestones that I purchased from the Born Pretty store online and added them to every nail. I picked colors that complimented the colors of the glitter, too. I think the rhinestones gave this mani the extra drama it needed for Halloween!

I'm a big fan of dramatic Halloween makeup, so these nails were a lot of fun for me to do! My friends and I had a great time, and we took lots of great pictures :)

Here's me as Captain Hook:

Hope you all had a great Halloween as well - even if this is a bit late!