Black and Yellow Skittles

As you may or may not know, I go to college in the great steel town of Pittsburgh, PA. It's definitely an interesting place to live, and I have to say, I did miss it while I was abroad. And today's nails are unintentionally Pittsburgh colored skittles!

I started by painting all of my nails (except my ring fingers) with a base of Sun Kissed by China Glaze, a neon yellow. I used Liquid Leather by China Glaze for my ring fingers, then topped that with two coats of Humblebee by Ninja Polish. 

I used a makeup sponge for the gradient, a dotting tool on my pinky, and freehanded the stripes and flower.

Pittsburgh's sports culture is borderline obsessive - everyone here really loves their Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates (I personally am not a fan of their teams, but I digress). All of the teams share the same color scheme of black and yellow. Although I originally based my color scheme on the colors in Humblebee, my friends all commented about the Pittsburgh colors!

I have to say, I'm gonna miss this city when I graduate. And I do love the contrast of black and yellow.

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.

Ninja Polish/Nail-Venturous: Floam (Bonus Accent Nail Art!)

TGIF! I've had a particularly long week, so here's to a great weekend :)

Today, I have Floam by Ninja Polish (formerly by Nail-venturous).

Floam is a mix of tiny, matte lime green and turquoise glitters suspended in a clear base. Which makes it pretty much perfect in my eyes - two of my favorite colors!

I started with a base of Turned Up Turquoise by China Glaze (I've actually put quite a dent in this polish). Then I layered on two coats of Floam. I decided I wanted to do a little bit of nail art as well, so I skipped the Floam on my ring finger. When applying a thick polish like Floam, give it some time to dry between coats so you don't wind up messing up the previous layers. I didn't have any problems with application; I think the formula was pretty good!

As for the accent nail, I let Turned Up Turquoise dry, then used triangles of tape to block off the top. I added a layer of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Black Out and let that dry. Then I took more tape triangles and blocked off the turquoise and most of the black, and used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Green With Envy for the last layer. I used some Seche Vite to smooth everything out!

I'm really happy with this polish - it's so fun!

You can buy Floam directly from Ninja Polish. They have other colors of Floam; collect them all :)