Monthly Archives: May 2011
Stars and Stripes Forever
It’s Memorial Day, a day to honor those military service-people who fought and died for us to enjoy freedom as we know it. To the fallen soldiers of the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard and Reserves, we love you and your sacrifice will never be forgotten. In honor and memory of those brave soldiers and as a part of my 1st Nail Art Challenge/Contest, I completed this American Flag manicure according to Syreeta’s suggestions. The base color on my thumb and index nails is China Glaze Frostbite and they are covered in rhinestones. I used a one coat of OPI Top Coat under the rhinestones then a coat of OPI Top Coat and Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat to affix them. On my middle, ring, and pinky nails, I used Orly Winter Wonderland for the base color and Art Deco Nail Art Striper in Red Glitter for the red stripes.
Right now, Syreeta has the only submission in my 1st Nail Art Challenge/Contest and she’ll be the only to get Orly Bonder and Essie Quick-e Drying Drops unless someone else makes a suggestion soon. 😀
China Glaze Frostbite, Orly Winter Wonderland, Art Deco Nail Art Lacquer Red Glitter
China Glaze Electric Pineapple Signature Manicure
I went out last night for my birthday and did a signature manicure to compliment the gray dress I wore (pictured as the backdrop of these photos). I used China Glaze Electric Pineapple as the base color, then added silver and silver glitter Art Deco Nail Art stripes on one half of each nail. I wore all gray and black so this manicure and my Electric Pineapple toes provided a pop of color. Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you’re enjoying this lovely Memorial Day weekend!
Crocodile Nails (Snakeskin Nails Remix)
Sooo, it’s my birthday! Woop woop!! But I had a hard time thinking of a good birthday manicure. So a fellow nail polish fan suggested I do something having to do with my birthstone, which happens to be the emerald. So I googled images for ’emerald green’ to get some inspiration. And…
Eek!! There are like 15 different shades for emerald green!! But wait…do you see that picture? All the way to the right? Second one down? What is that?
My God, it’s a clutch. And it. is. gorgeous. This Emerald Green Givenchy Crocodile Embossed Melancholia clutch was featured in an article on BagBliss.com. Check out the article here for more about this beautiful bag. Welp, that’s all the inspiration I needed. I used the same technique from my Snakeskin Nails post in April, but I used China Glaze Paper Chasing for the medium green and China Glaze Jolly Holly for the darker green. I hope you like it. I certainly do. 😀
Name Change! I’m now The Enamelista…
Hi Folks,
Yesterday, I thought I’d start a twitter account for nail stuff alone and I discovered that someone had snatched my blog name (and the corresponding twitter name, gmail address, etc.) from me. I looooved the name The Nail Buff, but I guess someone else loved it more. They established their blog just about a week after mine. But, I’ve let bygones be bygones and now my new name is The Enamelista. I hope you like it. If you don’t, keep it to yourself for like a week or so while I mourn the loss of my old name.
My coworker sent me this comic from www.nataliedee.com a few days ago though. I just remembered to share it…it makes me smile through my grief. I may change the way my site looks soon too…
The Enamelista’s Signature Manicure
So I was headed to a BBQ Sunday evening but I really needed to redo my nails. I didn’t really have time to research and execute a brand new look so I looked at the bracelet I planned to wear and that was all the inspiration I needed. I quickly painted a design that looked different based on the angle using colors that best matched the bracelet. And with that, I think I’ve found my personal “Signature Manicure”. I love creating the illusion of 2 (or 3) different looks in one design based on the angle at which it is viewed!
So for this look, I used Orly Bailamos for the base color (teal), then Essie Shift Power (gold) on one side of my nail. I sponged Orly Luxe (another shade of gold) on the line separating Bailamos and Shift Power then included a stripe of Art Deco Gold Glitter on the golden side just to add a little pizazz. I think turquoise and gold make a good color combo!
P.S. I’ve been thinking of doing a swatch gallery–to paint my nails with every color I own once and taking pictures to document them all. But the thought of doing 80 or so manicures feels like such a daunting task…I’ll have to keep you guys posted. Below is an example from a loooong time ago, way before this blog was even thought about. The color is OPI A Good Man-darin Is Hard To Find.
Free Zoya Summer Nail Color TODAY ONLY
Great googly moogly! I don’t know why these sites give so little warning, but TODAY ONLY UNTIL 11:59pm, Zoya is giving away one of their summer nail colors FOR FREE, all you have to pay for is shipping and handling! You can choose one from their Summertime, Sunshine, or ModMatte collections.
Quick background about Zoya – While many popular nail polish brands boast that they are “3-Free” (which means their formula is Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Formaldehyde and Toluene), Zoya is actually “4-free” as none of their formulas contain the above 3 nor do they contain camphor. Zoya is also a vegan company! Zoya is quickly gaining popularity and now is a great time to try it for yourself. Click here and you’ll be taken to the Zoya blog page that explains how you can claim your free bottle of polish. But do it today!
If you’re interested in what chemicals actually make up nail polish, check out this article from the Nails Magazine site explaining how nail polish *works* and the whole deal about terms like “3-Free”.
China Glaze Freebie – Expires Today!
Hi Nail Polish fans!
If you’re a Sally Beauty Club member, you can get a free bottle of China Glaze with any $10 purchase. Unfortunately, I just found out about this today and it expires today. You can go here to print the coupon. You have to present your Beauty Club card and print the coupon to get the deal.
Nice way to stock up on some summer nail colors if you can make it to a Sally Beauty store today. 😀
Neon + Shatter + Matte
In fashion, I most admire the designers and stylists that are able to combine more than one trend in a single look while keeping it from looking ridiculous, i.e. mixing floral and stripe patterns or purposeful color clashing. You have to have a keen eye to make sure your clashing looks well-planned/chic and not thrown-together/tacky. As I’ve been studying up on nail trends for the summer, OPI’s Shatter polishes (along with China Glaze’s Crackle, etc.) are holding on to their popularity among nail artists and nail polish fans alike and neons are popular again for Summer 2011, especially those with a very fine micro shimmer or creme finishes. But Zoya’s Mod Matte Summer Collection caught my eye because they’re a matte finish unlike every other major polish brands’ summer collection that I’ve seen. While I love Zoya’s colors (and will probably end up picking them up eventually) I decided to go the cost savings route for this mani.
I wanted to combine the OPI Shatter Movement (yes movement), the neon summer nail color trend, and the matte finish trend. After A LOT of experimenting on practice nail tips and my own nails, I settled on this half-and-half design. I applied a base coat, then one coat of China Glaze White on White because it’s a good base for neon polishes. Next, I painted half of each nail with China Glaze Shocking Pink and the other half with China Glaze In The Lime Light. It took 2 coats on each side to get the opaque color you see in the picture. Next I applied one coat of OPI Silver Shatter diagonally across one half of each nail then followed with one coat of OPI Black Shatter on the other diagonal half. Interestingly, all 4 of these colors dry with a matte finish, but to add an extra layer of protection, I finished with one coat of Essie Matte About You.
Does it kind of look like a girly graffiti to anyone else? 😀
From what I read, matte finish polishes and top coats don’t last nearly as long as high gloss finishes so I won’t be sad if this starts chipping sooner than I’m used to. For now, I’m loving it.
P.S. After MUCH trial and tribulation, I can say with confidence that OPI Silver Shatter does not apply the same way as OPI Black Shatter. It took a slightly thicker coat than the Black Shatter for the shatter effect to actually take place. I have to wonder if the shimmer within it is an indicator that a different formula was used….has anyone else bought and tried the Silver Shatter yet?
It’s the claaaawww…agaaaaaiiiin…because no one’s given me ideas for a good way of showing all five nails yet…*hint*
1st Nail Art Challenge/Contest
It’s time for my first contest!! I was trying to wait until a certain milestone before announcing my contest but since I bought 1 item for the prize pack I plan to give away, I couldn’t wait any longer.
I’m constantly surfing the internet, looking at art and my surroundings, and observing fashion trends searching for inspiration for nail art. I feel now is the time to challenge myself and take requests from you!
Here’s how it’ll go:
– I will take your suggestions for nail art that I haven’t tried yet. It can be a current or vintage fashion trend, a piece of artwork, or anything you think might be a fun nail art design. Feel free to send/post links to pictures if it’ll help in describing what you want to see.
– I will execute your vision to the best of my ability and post the pictures of how I interpreted it. When you see your post, if you think I could jazz it up in some way, let me know, I’ll try it and repost!
– I can tell how much people seem like a design by how many site visits it gets, so whoever suggests the design with the most hits will win a prize pack of nail goodies! It’ll be your job to spread the word about the nail art I did based your suggestion. 😀
– As the suggestions die down, I’ll announce an end date for the contest. On that day, I’ll check out which design was viewed the most and announce the winner!
It’s a win for me because I love taking on challenges and it will be a win for you because of the goodies I plan to give away….
Prize #1: Essie’s Quick-E Drying Drops —
I have used these when I was in a serious rush after doing my nails. After applying a top coat, as long as the polish color underneath is fairly dry, these drops can almost instantly create a hard finish to your manicure. Now I wouldn’t wash dishes right after, but if you need to run out of the house, these can help prevent a completely ruined manicure. Someone I know actually does her nails in the car on the way to where she’s going. I won’t say any names, lol. But this would be a good product for ladies who want a finished manicure but don’t have all day to wait for it to dry.
I have more ideas of what to add to the prize pack so when the suggestions start rolling in I’ll announce what else the winner will receive.
Spread the word folks! I’m ready to do the first suggested design TONIGHT!
P.S. Thank to my girl C.A. for sparking the idea on how to run the contest. Luv ya!