#ManiMonday: Stars & Stripes

On today's edition of #ManiMonday Im doing a Stars & Stripes edition. I actually took some care of the tips since I need the design to last all the way through the weekend. 

Undies: Orly Base Coat

Top Coat: Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat

I did 3 different colors this week. On all tips except my ring finger is a gorgeous sparkley - but not glittery - blue from the wonderful Butter London (Scallywag it is surely named). I did 3 coats of this polish... Not because 2 coats didn't work just fine but I had to do 3 coats of my accent color that I thought why not?

To accent it off, I put (as mentioned above) 3 coats of Revlon Colorstay in Calla Lilly. It's not a true white, but more of an eggshell with slight gold sheen.  The coating of this is actually pretty bad considering its in the Colorstay line. This would be better off as a thin (suuuuuuuper thin) coat to add a nice hint of iridescence- otherwise you're going to put multiple coats on to get an opaque color. 

Now, to celebrate Amaricas independence, I took Nailtinis Bloody Mary & drew a little star in the center of my ring finger. Let's just say, be glad I photographed my left hand... My right is a giant blob of a star; no where near cute or dainty. Haha. 

With 4th of July around the corner, what's on your tips? 

{Belated} Mani Monday: Memorial Day Nail Art

I know this is a few days late but better late than never... Right?

This weeks mani was done in Honor of those men & women who have died in the line of duty. May God rest your soul & heal your families hurt. 

The base of the nails is an Essie color that I can't quite remember the name (I'm doing this post while out & about). The base of the stars is Sinful Colors "Snow Me White" while the stripes are Nailtini "Bloody Mary". 

I took a small detailing paint brush to draw both the stars & the stripes on them. Easy peasy (:

What's your mani this week?

Valentine's Day Nail Tutorial

FOREWARNING: This post is heavily picture ladened. You have been warned.

Happy iheartyou day, everyone! I hope your loved one has treated you well & if you're single, I hope you treated yourself well today! No need to be sad on this "day of love" when you can be your own Valentine & spoil yourself rotten & make yourself feel beautiful with something as simple as a fun mani using drug store nail polish! What's that mean for you? Cheap beauty! Here's our arsenal:

 NYC #111 in Fuschia Shock Creme
Sinful Colors #101 in Snow Me White
Wet'n'Wild Wild Shine #424A in Black Creme
NYC Matte Me Crazy top coat
Small nail design brush {side note: I actually went to Walmart & in the arts & crafts section I pick up a 5 pack on brushes designed for miniature doll house painting. Works wonderful although the brushes are a little stiff}

First things first, make sure your nails are prepped, clean & ready to go! If not, remove any excess polish, clip, flip, whatever! The apply 2 coats of Sinful Colors "Snow Me White" to you thumb, middle, & pinky fingers.

 While the white is drying, take Wet'n'Wild's Wild Shine in "Black Creme" & apply two coats to your index & ring finger. This step is not neccessary if you use a thick coat but I like to apply thinner coats to get a nice even coating. Even one coat was good but I wanted to do 2 just to be safe.

 Now here comes the fun part! Take you thin nail art brush & the "Black Creme" again. Now we're going to draw the tic-tac-toe board on the thumb making x's in all the boxes except the 3 going diagonally.

 After we're done carefully placing our x's we're going to take NYC #111 in "Fuschia Shock Creme" & our small brush again. This time, we're going to draw a little heart in each empty square on our thumb as well as a big heart on them middle & pinky.

 & voila! Now the final step is optional, but I don't really like the look of high gloss black so I took NYC's "Matte Me Crazy" & did a nice coat on my index & ring finger to kind of offset the textures a bit.

See? Isn't that just the cutest little mani!? It's great if you're not too girly but still want to have a valentines day mani. What do you think? Would you rock it? If you do, show me pictures! Tag me on instagram: @JustaGirlx826 or hashtag me on twitter @JustaGirlx826 #vdayblogmani
xox.