Pastel Skittle Stripes

If you don't have the Lime Crime Les Desserts d'Antoinette collection, you're missing out. They're just perfect bright pastels, and they go together so well for nail art!

See more after the jump!

Subtle Saturn Stamping

Last week was Carnegie Mellon's spring break, so sorry for the lack of posts! I went to San Juan, Puerto Rico with six of my friends. It was so much fun! And I got a little tan, too :)

Anyway, today I have a stamping manicure for you. I've gotten so much better at stamping since I've started, so it just goes to show that practice really does make perfect.

I started with a base of Butler Please by Essie. I let that dry, and then I used a Saturn image from the Cheeky Summer Collection stamping plates. I used Comic Fate by Color Club, an orange holo, for that stamping.

I really think the use of a credit card type object as a scraper has been the key to my success. Previously, I used a regular scraper and always had trouble getting it to scrape cleanly.

I really love stamping manicures, so look out for more in the future :)

Lime Crime Pastel Dot Gradient

I finally got around to purchasing the Lime Crime Les Desserts d'Antoinette collection, and I couldn't be happier with it. These bright pastels just beg to be used together in nail art, and they're really opaque! Even usually tricky shades like yellow are pretty good.

I decided a dot gradient manicure would be an easy way to include a bunch of colors, so that's what I did! For this manicure, I used the whole collection: The base is Milky Ways (nude), and the dots are Peaches <3 Cream (orange), Crema de Limon (yellow), Pastelchio (green), Once in a Blue Mousse (blue), Lavendairy (purple), and Parfait Day (pink).

I started with a base of Milky Ways, then I used a dotting tool to add dots in all of the other colors that climb about halfway up the nail. It's really easy; you just have to be patient and not smear the colors.

I am literally in love with these polishes. They're so pretty, and the formula is great.

I'll definitely be working with these colors again soon!

Throwback Thursday: Nude Glitter Gradient

Sorry for the late post today! I was in the library for most of the day working on an essay. Ugh, finals crunch time is not fun. But anyway, I have another Throwback Thursday for you! It features one of my favorite quick nail art techniques - glitter gradient.

I used a base of Nite Owl by ORLY, which is a really lovely nude with silver shimmer, and used a makeup sponge to add a gradient of Silver Dazzle by Milani One Coat Glitter.

I think black and nude is always a great combo, don't you?

Nude and Maroon

Hello all! Today I have some nail art for you. I really love the way this came out.

I started with two coats of Kalahari Kiss by China Glaze, a nude beige creme. After that dried, I taped off the top half of my nails and painted on a coat of Purr-fect Plum, also by China Glaze. Then I took a dotting tool and made some Purr-fect Plum dots on the nude half of the nail. Simple but very pretty.

I really like this design...I'm sure I'll be repeating it!

Happy Hands: Flowers On The Highway

I have another indie for you today. This one is by Happy Hands; it's called Flowers On The Highway.

Flowers On The Highway is a glitter topcoat. It contains an assortment of matte/satin glitters: small pink and black hexes; medium green, lavendar, and pink hexes; and large yellow and white hexes. I love the name of this one. It really does remind me of flowers growing wildly along the highway!

Glitter close-up

I decided to layer this over one of my new polishes: Kalahari Kiss by China Glaze. Kalahari Kiss is a camel creme. I used two coats of that, then added just one coat of FOTH. Look at how dense that glitter is!

It did take some dabbing to get the bigger hexes where I wanted them. They had a tendency to migrate to the end of the nail, but I was able to move them around.

Even though it did require some dabbing, I didn't have to fish for any of the bigger glitters! What you see on the nail is what came out on the brush. I topped it off with one coat of Seche Vite. My nails feel a little bumpy (if that bothers you, I'm sure another coat of top coat would smooth it out), but the glitter lays flat to the nail.

Thumb detail

Overall, I'm really impressed with this polish! There are so many layering possibilities. I can't wait to try out the other polish I purchased along with this one. It's called Afternoon Thunderstorms.

Happy Hands polish can be purchased from their Etsy store. Full-sized bottles go for $8.00, a pretty good price for an indie brand!